Gluten-free diet, lifehacks or tips?

[faerywings]

Because I don't need another dietary wrinkle in my life just now-- then again, who does? :noidea:
But my hubby's stomach has been giving him a lot of issues and he is trying a GF diet for the time being to see if it makes a difference. He has been on it for a little over 2 weeks and it seems like it is helping. However, I am running into trouble finding dinner ideas that we all will eat. My DD is a vegetarian, DS and I don't eat beef or pork, and now DH is GF.



I made rice and beans enchiladas (corn tortillas for him, flour for the rest of us) and a Thai pineapple fried rice (Finally found GF soy sauce) and they were really good. But for the most part GF foods are really expensive.

I am looking for some hacks on how to cook GF in a family friendly/budget friendly way.
Are there any brands that you recommend or ones to stay away from?

 

[VickiStegall]

I've been mostly gluten free for somewhere around 10+ years - since before there was a ton of gluten free products. The easiest/cheapest way to do gluten free is to just eat naturally gluten free things and skip the bread, crackers, etc altogether.

There are some good breads and crackers, but they're mostly made with almond flour and while that's fine in moderation, they are super high in oxalates which are a huge issue for me after too many years of a high oxalate diet.

yeah, my best advice is to not bother with gluten free substitutes and just go with things that are naturally gluten free. Giving up bread is hard in the beginning but really worth it. That said, it is HARD. So, if you want breaded things - grind up pork rinds, mix it with a little Parmesan cheese and use that to bread chicken nuggets and pork pounded out thin. You'll be surprised how crunchy and yummy it is!

I have no idea what to do for vegetarians though because we're pretty much carnivore over here

 

[Cherylndesigns]

I'm thinking of trying GF after we move and get settled in. I'm so limited as to what I can eat now and am basically vegetarian. I've been eating a vegetarian lasagna a lot that I hope I can get there. I get my vegetarian pre-made food at Publix but may have to start preparing them myself. (Not looking forward to that because cooking's not my thang.)

 

[janedee]

A couple of years back we tried the Whole 30 program for a month - no dairy, gluten free, no processed food. There were a lot of recipes out there for the program.
Now we're vegetarian/pescatorian but there are still a few of the whole 30 recipes I use - here's a link to my Pinterest board for it.

https://www.pinterest.ca/janesdavies/whole-30-recipes/

Some of my faves were twice baked sweet potatoes, shrimp fajitas, zoodles, cauliflower rice, breakfast bowls, sweet potato apple bake, chia puddings.

 

[faerywings]

Vicki- I don't know if I could handle pork rinds! I do eat chicken/ground turkey but touching raw meat gives me the heebie-jeebies. :madgrin: Not sure how I would do working with them. I did get a can of GF breadcrumbs and will use that only for his things.

Cheryl- good luck with cooking after your move. Is the kitchen going to be a good one to work in? Mine sucks and I am always jealous when I see nice, practically set up, lots of counter space areas.

Jane- I am looking at your recipes now. TFS !

Gary read that most canned veggies are cross-contaminated. Are there brands that are better than others with that?