Gluten free Thanksgiving

[lunabee34]

My mom has been sick for awhile, and she had a colonoscopy/endoscopy last week. They took biopsies, and she has celiac disease.

I will do my own research, but I want to do some crowd-sourcing from you guys because I know several of you have extensive knowledge.

Do you have any recipe, product, websites, cookbook recs I can pass along?

We are hosting Thanksgiving, and I want to show her that gluten free can be good, tasty, and easy.

Gluten comes from wheat, right? So gluten free foods include meats and vegetables, right? (I am so ignorant about this issue; I feel like I'm asking stupidly dumbass questions)

Mom is really upset, and I suspect that part of it is because she's worried that my dad won't be supportive and she'll be stuck having to cook/be around a lot of food she can't eat. :/

Gonna go call her now; she sent out a mass email to the family.

Anything you can tell me is appreciated.

ETA: I have totally sold my dad short. He has actually been super supportive and told mom that the whole household would be gluten free and that they were doing it together. I kind of feel like an ass for assuming he'd be an ass about it, but past behavior seemed to indicate that he would. Whew!

Comments

[umadoshi]

I've never had to cook or eat gluten-free, as it's one of the few dietary restrictions none of my local friends have (that we know of), but back when I read food blogs a lot I found Gluten Free Girl, so that's what I generally recommend even though I've never used the recipes/info myself. (One of the first links in the sidebar is "New to Gluten-Free?", and she's got a ton of recipes on the site, and has a few cookbooks out...and I just poked through the recipes section a bit, and there's a holidays subcategory!)

[lunabee34]

Oh, cool. That New to Gluten Free tab has a lot of useful info. This will really help. Thank you!

[umadoshi]

Yay! No problem. ^_^

[the_rck]

Some other grains contain gluten. I have a friend with celiac, and my MIL and SIL are gluten free for other reasons, and I *think* rye and oatmeal are both problems. (If I recall correctly there's some argument as to whether oatmeal is a problem because it's pretty much always contaminated or because it's a problem on its own.)

You will need to read labels on absolutely everything. I've run into canned beans that contain wheat. Soy sauce almost always contains wheat, and sauces that derive from soy sauces are also potentially dangerous.

You will need to figure out how sensitive your mother is to gluten. My friend can't eat things prepared in kitchens that also prepare foods containing gluten because of cross-contamination.

At the very least, when preparing food for her, you'll need to wash everything, both surfaces and utensils, even if it looks clean. You may want to designate specific measuring cups and measuring spoons to use when cooking for her that you never use for regular cooking. Do not do what my husband does and measure things like flour and then toss the measuring cup back into the drawer without cleaning it.

There's a lot of online support these days for folks with celiac. There are product reviews and recipes. There's a local Yahoo group where I am glutenfreeannarbor. I don't think they'd mind someone from outside of the area dropping in and asking for help. A lot of the local advice wouldn't be useful, but these are people who have been living with this for a long time. There are some folks that go in directions that seem kind of down the rabbit hole to me, but...

I've heard good things about a pasta brand called Banza (but I think it may be local). I know that it's possible to get soft, soy noodles that my MIL likes a lot.

There is an app to help people find restaurants that say they have gluten free options. I think it's called findmeglutenfree. The main complaint I've heard about it is that some restaurants sign up on the strength of having a basic salad that can be made without croutons.

If you'd like to talk to my friend, evalerie, she's never posted on LJ, but I think a PM there would get to her as she logs in frequently to read. She comments on my posts three or four times a week. If nothing else, she has a lot of sites bookmarked and is always happy to share.

One thing-- Celiac often causes lactose intolerance. I *think* that that tends to get better as the lining of the digestive system recovers. It's also hereditary, so you may want to get tested, too

[lunabee34]

This is extremely helpful. I didn't know anything about it being related to lactose intolerance, and it never ever occurred to me that gluten could be in broth. Wow.

I think these first couple of weeks of making lists and looking at labels will be tedious, but then I think it will rapidly just become background once she gets an idea of what she can and can't eat.

I'm going to talk to my endocrinologist at my next appt about being tested. I think it's likely that I might also have it as I have every other physical ailment my mother's ever had. LOL

Thank you so much.

[monanotlisa]

Urgh, that's not a great fate -- but it's great that she knows and hopefully gets support! If your father is not supportive, depending on your level of meanness, send him news about people dying of colon cancer and all the other diseases scientifically proven to be results of not or of badly managed Celiac's.

...wow, that escalated fast. Sorry. I may have some issues with a certain parent endangering the health of family members and being an ass about it.

Anything you can tell me is appreciated.

The comment above is helpful: Wheat, rye, and barley are the culprits, and I'd focus on them. The bad, that stuff's in a lot of foods -- but the good is, less so in the United States! Everything here is corn-based, which has its own downsides but generally doesn't trigger many people.

General Info on GF Eating:

Pretty handy primer: http://www.med.umich.edu/1libr/MEND/Celiac.pdf

https://celiac.org/live-gluten-free/glutenfreediet/food-options/

http://www.celiaccentral.org/Gluten-Free-Food/the-gluten-free-diet/

Food blogs I follow, because they have gf options or good tips:

http://civilizedcavemancooking.com/periscope/10-tips-for-gluten-free-baking/

http://smittenkitchen.com/blog/category/gluten-free/

http://glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com/ is a little too crunchy for me, but eh, I've baked some of her stuff with modifications

And, advanced, for going out, I use this:

http://www.findmeglutenfree.com/

[monanotlisa]

And, oh, THIS IS WHAT SHE NEEDS FOR THANKSGIVING:

http://www.bobsredmill.com/gluten-free-pie-crust-mix.html

It makes GREAT pies. Trust me. :) (The other flours don't work as well -- their properties are very different.)

http://monanotlisa.dreamwidth.org/tag/gf
or
http://monanotlisa.dreamwidth.org/tag/gluten-free

[lunabee34]

I've got some amaranth from that company so I know at least some of their products are sold at our local Kroger. Yay!

[cathexys]

I love the Internets. I was just gonna come in her and tell lunabee to check out your journal for great recipes, info, and support. But of course you already know each other.

waves at both of you!

[lunabee34]

Heeeeeeeee. I know all the best people, dahling, present company included.

[lunabee34]

See my ETA to the post about my dad; he is apparently being really supportive, and I am an asshole for doubting him. I'm so sorry someone in your family is not supportive. That sucks so hard.

Thank you so much for these links. They are really, really helpful.

[sallymn]

That's rotten for her... send her my best wishes. I don't know much about gluten-free, just what I've picked up from one or two people on my list who have to stick to it, but the ones thing I have realised when shopping is that (and I say this without for one minute having a dog at the people who either need it, like your mum, or even those who just feel better for following it) fluten-free is popular, even trendy among health-food followers at the minute, so the number of products, cookbooks and websites for them seem to be expanding...

[lunabee34]

*hugs*

They mostly eat fresh veggies and fish, so I think the only place this is really going to deeply impact her is places where it's inexplicably hidden like soy sauce or when they go out to eat somewhere. Most of what they eat is already gluten free, and as you say there are so many more resources now.

[musyc]

Awww. My sympathies. I try to cut back on wheat/bread products in general, not because of an official diagnosis, and it's hard. I can understand how it would be upsetting for her.

I don't have any specific suggestions, but I do like the Bob's Red Mill mixes. We used the pizza dough one a lot and it was pretty good. And Kroger has a store brand spaghetti noodle that's GF and is no different to my tastes.

[lunabee34]

Cool. I have been enjoying Bob's Red Mill's amaranth, so I'll be happy to check out their other products. Thank you.

[executrix]

Me again! For Thanksgiving, flourless chocolate cake, pavlova, and tortes made with a nut crust are GF options.

The family can gang up on your dad and say that it's going to be a GF house. I don't know if he's retired or not? If he isn't, he can go out for lunch every day and get his bread fix. If he's retired, he can make regular trips to a cafe serving They Shall Not Pass baked goods.

[lunabee34]

See my ETA to the post; Dad is actually being awesome about the whole thing even though I feel like an ass for doubting him.

[executrix]

I am so glad! Pleasant surprises are rare in this world.

GF Thanksgiving Links

[spikedluv]

I'm not trying to fool you by coming over here to talk now, I just had DW open. o_O I Googled 'gluten free thanksgiving' and got a bunch of links that I thought I'd share.

~Make a Traditional Thanksgiving Menu ... Completely Gluten-Free (celiacdisease.com)

But believe it or not, it's possible to make just about everything on the typical Thanksgiving table gluten-free — you just need to know where the gluten lurks and what to substitute to avoid it.

~gluten-free thanksgiving (foodandwine.com; the ads made it difficult to see the site)

~Give Thanks for These 22 Gluten-Free Thanksgiving Dishes (bonappetit.com)

~Gluten-Free Thanksgiving Recipes (allrecipes.com)

~Gluten-Free Thanksgiving Recipes & Tips (glutenfreegoddess) [She also links to this The Gluten-Free Diet Cheat-Sheet: How to Go G-Free that she created.]

~Gluten-Free Thanksgiving Menu (bettycrocker.com)

~26 Gluten-Free Thanksgiving Recipes (food.com)

~Gluten-Free (if Not Guilt-Free) Thanksgiving Desserts (nytimes.com)

I'm tired of looking at all these websites now, so you're probably of it, too. *g*

Re: GF Thanksgiving Links

[lunabee34]

These are awesome, especially that cheat sheet. We are going to have the best Thanksgiving ever!

Re: GF Thanksgiving Links

[spikedluv]

I'm glad!

Yes you will! Probably the first Thanksgiving in ages when your mom can enjoy it without feeling ill after.

[archersangel]

I kind of feel like an ass for assuming he'd be an ass about it, but past behavior seemed to indicate that he would. Whew!

i usually rely on past behavior for what people might do too. anyway, i'm glad he's on board with this.

[executrix]

Sometimes men who have not done a lot of cooking in the past can be snookered persuaded to work on major diet changes on the grounds that gf cooking involves hard-core masculine technical skills.

[lunabee34]

Heeeeeeee. Dad does a fair share of the cooking, but that's a good point to frame it as a challenge rather than an obstacle.

[lunabee34]

*hugs*

I'm glad I'm not the only one.

[torachan]

Carla's childhood friend and friend's mother both have celiac and have had it for a very long time, way back before gluten-free stuff was a trend. Back then it was super difficult and you had to really limit your choices and make almost all of your own meals, but these days it's so much easier.

It does still limit you for sure, but a lot of products are now being made gluten-free, and you can find a lot of recipes online with good substitutes for flour and such.

The big thing to be careful about is hidden gluten in things that don't seem obvious. For example, unless it is specifically made gluten-free, soy sauce contains wheat, so it does have gluten, which means you need to avoid a lot of Asian food that uses soy sauce, unless you make it yourself with gluten-free soy sauce.

[lunabee34]

I am so glad she's finding this out now when it is really easy to find stuff in the stores and when the internet makes searching ingredients, etc. so easy. I can't imagine how hard trying to figure this stuff out was 20 years ago.

Thanks so much for weighing in. *hugs*