<p>I have used the corn pasta and really like the taste and texture. You can boil the pasta with a teaspoon of oil to avoid clumping.</p>
<p>By the way, oats are not GF. But they do sell GF oats.</p>
<p>The issue with oats is that wheat is typically introduced into the manufacturing process. (I’m not a scientist or engineer to know why). Some people with gluten issues cannot even eat oats that are marked as GF. I am one of those people.</p>
<p>njmom – it’s been our experience with celiacs in our household that well-intentioned people always buy Betty Crocker mixes, then put them in Aunt Martha’s old cake pan with the built up years of gluten all over it. Or they make the regular brownies at the same time, and the flour migrates through the air into the gf ones (and for us, that’s all it would take). Or they stir the pasta with the same spoon they used to stir the regular pasta. Or they cook the gf burgers on the grill that has 10 years worth of whatever all over it. Nobody wants to send someone home sick, nobody wants to miss the family gathering because they are doubled over in the bathroom. DH licked a stamp once, and within 10 minutes was throwing up in the driveway instead of going to work :(</p>
<p>My point being that it’s not just what you make, it’s HOW you make/store it, too. (And we can’t eat oats either.) Our extended family has many food allergies, 2 vegans, 3 celiacs and 2 diabetics. Needless to say, everyone brings their own food!</p>
<p>I am very strict about cross-contaimination in my kitchen - no stirring GF stuff with spoon that have been in regular pasta, no re-using colandars that held regular pasta, no re-using a knife that cut regular bread and I wipe down the cutting board all the time. I guess my baking pans are clean enough that I don’t a build-up problem. (not sure what you put on your grill, but I don’t think there’s ever been gluten on my grill!)</p>
<p>For those that don’t know about gluten, you quickly learn it’s everywhere. Besides the obvious pasta & baked goods, the big items to avoid include soy sauce, beer, and all grain-based alcohol. You also embrace reading food labels, as wheat flour and MSG can lurk in the middle of the list. (who knew the #2 ingredient in Twizzlers is wheat flour??). </p>
<p>General Mills has become one of my favorite food cos, due to their commitment to increasing GF packaged foods. Kellogg’s, not so much - they won’t make regular Rice Krispies GF, due to the barley malt. (supposedly they have released a GF Brown Rice Krispies, but it will be much more expensive).</p>
<p>Many Ice Creams are NOT gluten free. Many have cookie dough, oreos, etc that contain gluten. Some just use gluten itself because of its elastic properties…</p>
<p>Snickers and Butterfingers (not Butterfinger Crisp) are my go-to GF snacks.</p>
<p>ANything that has MALT, or soy sauce in it (terriaki sauce, for ex) has gluten in it.</p>
<p>It you have a Trader Joe’s nearby, they have hundreds of GF items…even GF Mac and Cheese.</p>
<p>Be VERY CAREFUL with cross-contamination. Once a knife that has spread the butter on bread goes back in the butter - the butter is contaminated. Colendars, toasters, ovens, microwaves, kitchen mitts, and most utensals can be dangerous sources of cross-contamination.</p>
<p>Ben & Jerry’s is the worst for having gluten in their products. It seems like their product line is based on smashed baked goods these days.</p>
<p>I have a friend living in our house who is GF. I am amazed at how in the last year the mainstream companies have really jumped on the GF bandwagon.
My D is allergic to a laundry list of foods, many fruits and vegetables as well as soy. While she is technically allergic to wheat she finds that wheat products and gluten don’t seem to bother her.She has learned to be pretty careful about what she eats. She is presently working in China. She has found that the Chinese don’t seem to have a word for allergic. She has a card printed out with foods she absolutely can not eat and the person who wrote it in Chinese has written these food make her ill. She has found that people don’t understand and just think she doesn’t like something. With the language barrior she finds she can’t get them to understand that if she eats certain foods she can’t breathe.</p>
<p>^^thanks: note to self: Celiac D is never going to China if I have any saying the matter…</p>
<p>To the OP: we always bring GF baked goods to others when we visit; the expense itself is not fair to incur on other people…</p>
<p>Not all ice creams are gluten free. Blue bell, for example, has their chocolate ice cream with flour in it TT_TT which uttery bites because my family raves about how good it is. Dryers (sp fail) on the other hand is heavenly.</p>
<p>Also, certain corn tortillas are gluten free and make good wraps. I get the white corn ones by that one big brand (whos name is slipping me at the moment).</p>
<p>Kraft lists if it has wheat in it, as do several other companies.</p>
<p>I don’t consider what Ben &jerrys sells as ice cream More like candy with dairy added.
I’ve never made this but it sounds interesting.
[How</a> To Make Creamy Ice Cream with Just One Ingredient! | The Kitchn](<a href=“http://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-make-creamy-ice-cream-w-93414]How”>http://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-make-creamy-ice-cream-w-93414)</p>
<p>There is gluten free soy sauce now.
[url=<a href=“http://www.san-j.com/product_info.asp?id=3]San-J[/url”>http://www.san-j.com/product_info.asp?id=3]San-J[/url</a>]</p>
<p>I mostly eat gluten free. I am sensitive rather than allergic. Once my gut healed, I can eat it every once in awhile, ( not more than a couple times a month)but too often and I get bad stomach ache.</p>
<p>GlutenFreeda makes a delicious gluten free ice cream sandwich, but expensive.</p>
<p>Mexican is a winner for a large crowd and really everything is or can be GF if don’t use flour tortillas. Make up a huge thing of taco meat or grill chicken. Can also easily find refried beans. Cheese, Salsa, sour cream, wholy guacamole, lettuce, onion, tomato and do huge mexican taco/nacho bar. Can add flour tortillas for others if comfortable. Betty crocker cookies or brownies, ice cream, (Joy brand cones are now GF) plus fruit and whipped cream for toppings…can also crush many candy bars.</p>
<p>Newly gluten-free SIL visited last Christmas. It wasn’t as difficult as I expected, although we didn’t worry about contamination from clean pans and utensils. Meat, fish, vegetables, fruit, quinoa (and quinoa pasta), potatoes, corn, rice, and nuts are gluten-free. Lots of normal meals can be made from those ingredients. Just watch out for hidden wheat in processed foods–fortunately, if it is gluten-free, the label will usually say so. </p>
<p>The taco bar is a great idea.</p>
<p>Thanks so much everyone! Taco bar does sound like a feasible idea. I plan to print these pages off and give them to my sister in law in case there is something here she can use. Great ideas!</p>
<p>lachoy soy sauce is gf, but many people react to the msg in it.</p>
<p>I <3 the pasta with the corn quinoa in it. Sooooo gooooooooood.</p>
<p>the thing about regular oats is that producers will rotate the fields between wheat and oats, thus cross contamination occures. GF oats are grown in dedicated fields.</p>
<p>Honestly, all ya really need to do is to make sure to read lables. Its a good practice anyway.</p>
<p>Youngest DS is 10, has struggled with encopresis for five years. It has been suggested to us to try going gluten-free and see if that helps. If we do that, how long would it take to notice a difference? A two-week trial, perhaps?</p>
<p>He does not have severe stomach aches or vomiting like some of the more severe GF folks seem to have. We have started him on lactose-free milk (he drinks a lot of milk) to see if that helps, and I think it might be helping. He’s not 100% lactose-free because we still have cheese, butter, etc., although milk would account for probably 75% of his dairy intake. </p>
<p>Gluten-free is one of those things that seems almost “scary” to me, like it’s a whole new language – hey, sort of like learning how to speak FAFSA! 
– but this thread is showing me that lots of the things we eat now are GF (Mexican food, in particular).</p>
<p>So to help a very new newbie to the GF world, the main things to look out for would be bread, buns, etc. and “white” or “wheat” pastas?</p>
<p>Have you been to celiac.com? Lots of helpful folks there.</p>
<p>You have to be completely gf to see a change, but within a couple weeks it should make a difference. There are tests (blood tests) to assess the likelihood of celiac disease, and you need to be eating gluten in order for the results to be reliable. So you might want those, first. </p>
<p>If he is, in fact, an undiagnosed celiac, it is likely his villi are damaged enough that right now he is also lactose intolerant. (insert complicated explanation about intestinal tract!) That is common in the newly-diagnosed, and is not permanent.</p>
<p>Gluten is in everything, everywhere. Bread is only the tip of a large iceberg! You can pm me if you have specific questions. Both my son and my husband were diagnosed almost 10 years ago, back when gluten-free wasn’t trendy!</p>
<p>greenbutton is right…if you think your son might have celiac disease, don’t stop the gluten before he’s tested.</p>
<p>Just apropos of nothing, the gluten free buns at Subway are terrible…like sawdust. I was so excited that they were test marketing them here, but I’m having one now and it’s almost inedible. I’ve tried them a few times - I keep adding things, hoping to make them better (this time, avocado), but still really bad.</p>
<p>^^that is truly unfortunate…</p>
<p>Totally forgot about this thread…have found so many great GF products lately, but forgot to post…</p>
<p>the latest: Bella Monica frozen pizzas; both personal and regular size…the crust is amazing…this is a restaurant in Raleigh, NC but they are distributing the pizzas through a GF distributor…</p>
<p>i have a dream that one day Trader Joe’s will start selling GF pizza…</p>
<p>PS - search this forum with the word ‘gluten’ and you will find several threads with lots more ideas than this one.</p>
<p>Agreed, get him tested before you go gluten free.</p>