anyone up in here ever had to try a wheat-free diet?

HOW do you live without pizza? and jimmy john's? and... wheat thins and bread and pancakes and... alll the foods i love to eat????

I haven't done a gluten free diet. But I've gone very low carb a few times.

Once you get past the initial carb withdrawal (which is both mental and physical, and can take anywhere from a couple weeks to a couple months), you really don't miss that stuff. I actually went several years only having pizza about once every six months. And I still don't eat pasta except, maybe, once a month. (I do love the mac and cheese at Panera bread. )

You find substitutes. For example, realizing that I missed spaghetti and meatballs, I started putting meatballs and red sauce on julienned, sauteed zucchini. Much less fattening - and a lot tastier. Or instead of putting smoked trout spread on crackers, I put it on cucumber slices.

It can definitely be done. It's a little painful in the beginning, though.

Genesia said:

You find substitutes. For example, realizing that I missed spaghetti and meatballs, I started putting meatballs and red sauce on julienned, sauteed zucchini.

I'm very intrigued by this. Did you slice the zucchini into "noodles"? (If so, I would assume they'd be relatively fettucine-size?) And then saute them in olive oil?

Genesia said:

I haven't done a gluten free diet. But I've gone very low carb a few times.

Once you get past the initial carb withdrawal (which is both mental and physical, and can take anywhere from a couple weeks to a couple months), you really don't miss that stuff. I actually went several years only having pizza about once every six months. And I still don't eat pasta except, maybe, once a month. (I do love the mac and cheese at Panera bread. )

You find substitutes. For example, realizing that I missed spaghetti and meatballs, I started putting meatballs and red sauce on julienned, sauteed zucchini. Much less fattening - and a lot tastier. Or instead of putting smoked trout spread on crackers, I put it on cucumber slices.

It can definitely be done. It's a little painful in the beginning, though.

it feels like the entire food world is trying to kill me when i read the ingredients. everything has freaking wheat... even stupid salad dressings.

am i supposed to go through life with a food taster? wtf??

Efan said:

Genesia said:

You find substitutes. For example, realizing that I missed spaghetti and meatballs, I started putting meatballs and red sauce on julienned, sauteed zucchini.

I'm very intrigued by this. Did you slice the zucchini into "noodles"? (If so, I would assume they'd be relatively fettucine-size?) And then saute them in olive oil?

not me. i'm gonna quit eating "food' for once and for all. went to GNC. from now only - protein powder only. that should help.

XxAxX said:

anyone up in here ever had to try a wheat-free diet?

HOW do you live without pizza? and jimmy john's? and... wheat thins and bread and pancakes and... alll the foods i love to eat????

I’m sure he wouldn’t mind me sharing… Anx has recently been diagnosed with celiac disease. Since we’re all good friends, we eat together fairly regularly and I have had the privilege of sampling some really tasty gluten-free pasta, gluten-free banana bread and some awesome gluten-free brownies. He made some gluten-free cupcakes as well that were good but slightly odd in texture. Something to get used to, anyway.

He's really taken it as a challenge to learn all sorts of new recipes and to try new foods.

There are LOTS of resources out there for gluten-free recipes. Thankfully, it’s becoming more common all around, with restaurants and bakeries offering products and better quality alternatives becoming available.

CarrieMpls said:

XxAxX said:

anyone up in here ever had to try a wheat-free diet?

HOW do you live without pizza? and jimmy john's? and... wheat thins and bread and pancakes and... alll the foods i love to eat????

I’m sure he wouldn’t mind me sharing… Anx has recently been diagnosed with celiac disease. Since we’re all good friends, we eat together fairly regularly and I have had the privilege of sampling some really tasty gluten-free pasta, gluten-free banana bread and some awesome gluten-free brownies. He made some gluten-free cupcakes as well that were good but slightly odd in texture. Something to get used to, anyway.

He's really taken it as a challenge to learn all sorts of new recipes and to try new foods.

There are LOTS of resources out there for gluten-free recipes. Thankfully, it’s becoming more common all around, with restaurants and bakeries offering products and better quality alternatives becoming available.

thank you, that's encouraging. just had a nice baked potato. maybe i could eat only potato chips from here on out

Efan said:

Genesia said:

You find substitutes. For example, realizing that I missed spaghetti and meatballs, I started putting meatballs and red sauce on julienned, sauteed zucchini.

I'm very intrigued by this. Did you slice the zucchini into "noodles"? (If so, I would assume they'd be relatively fettucine-size?) And then saute them in olive oil?

Actually, they end up being match-stick size. I used to use a mandoline slicer, but I find a julienne peeler easier...

[img:$uid]http://www.cnet.com/i/bto/20070830/julienne_peeler_270x270.jpg[/img:$uid]

I don't bother peeling the zucchini - I like the color of the peel and the fiber content is better. You just swipe the julienne peeler the length of the zucchini, working it into a square by doing each side. It gets harder when you get to the seedy part in the middle, so I just toss that.

If the zucchini is fairly long, I cut the lengths in half. I salt it and let it sit for about 10 minutes, so some of the liquid drains out. Then I rinse it and squeeze it dry in flour sack toweling. I sauté it in a little olive oil, adding some Penzey's Sandwich Sprinkle (which is basically their Italian herb blend mixed with garlic salt).

CarrieMpls said:

XxAxX said:

anyone up in here ever had to try a wheat-free diet?

HOW do you live without pizza? and jimmy john's? and... wheat thins and bread and pancakes and... alll the foods i love to eat????

I’m sure he wouldn’t mind me sharing… Anx has recently been diagnosed with celiac disease. Since we’re all good friends, we eat together fairly regularly and I have had the privilege of sampling some really tasty gluten-free pasta, gluten-free banana bread and some awesome gluten-free brownies. He made some gluten-free cupcakes as well that were good but slightly odd in texture. Something to get used to, anyway.

He's really taken it as a challenge to learn all sorts of new recipes and to try new foods.

There are LOTS of resources out there for gluten-free recipes. Thankfully, it’s becoming more common all around, with restaurants and bakeries offering products and better quality alternatives becoming available.

I tried gluten-free pasta at a local restaurant not too long ago. It's the weirdest thing - when I have regular pasta, I feel really bloated and gassy afterward. But I could keep eating the gluten-free stuff 'til I burst - because it just doesn't feel like anything in your gut. It's almost like you haven't eaten, at all.

Are there still very few places that offer gluten-free pizzas? I don't pay much attention, but I assumed they were becoming pretty standard in the menu mix.

Genesia said:

Efan said:

I'm very intrigued by this. Did you slice the zucchini into "noodles"? (If so, I would assume they'd be relatively fettucine-size?) And then saute them in olive oil?

Actually, they end up being match-stick size. I used to use a mandoline slicer, but I find a julienne peeler easier...

[img:$uid]http://www.cnet.com/i/bto/20070830/julienne_peeler_270x270.jpg[/img:$uid]

I don't bother peeling the zucchini - I like the color of the peel and the fiber content is better. You just swipe the julienne peeler the length of the zucchini, working it into a square by doing each side. It gets harder when you get to the seedy part in the middle, so I just toss that.

If the zucchini is fairly long, I cut the lengths in half. I salt it and let it sit for about 10 minutes, so some of the liquid drains out. Then I rinse it and squeeze it dry in flour sack toweling. I sauté it in a little olive oil, adding some Penzey's Sandwich Sprinkle (which is basically their Italian herb blend mixed with garlic salt).

Cool. Thanks!

I'm glad I ventured in here. Really great ideas.

I'm not gluten intolerant, but have found that the South Beach diet, (which is basically a gluten free/low carb type deal) really helped me loose weight.

I'm a carbaholic, so it's really torture for me as much as I like the foods. But using cucumbers instead of crackers and zucchini instead of pasta...great ideas!!

Kalyn's Kitchen (spelling may be wrong) has great ideas. Google "South Beach Diet recipes" She has gluten free and South Beach friendly recipes.

.]

[Edited 10/4/10 12:42pm]

XxAxX said:

anyone up in here ever had to try a wheat-free diet?

HOW do you live without pizza? and jimmy john's? and... wheat thins and bread and pancakes and... alll the foods i love to eat????

I did a gluten elimination diet once for 18 weeks

6 weeks without gluten

6 weeks back on

6 weeks without again

Turned out I'm not gluten intolerant, but I AM intolerant to many gluten free foods

I really had trouble with it.

ZombieKitten said:

XxAxX said:

anyone up in here ever had to try a wheat-free diet?

HOW do you live without pizza? and jimmy john's? and... wheat thins and bread and pancakes and... alll the foods i love to eat????

I did a gluten elimination diet once for 18 weeks

6 weeks without gluten

6 weeks back on

6 weeks without again

Turned out I'm not gluten intolerant, but I AM intolerant to many gluten free foods

I really had trouble with it.

it's been only a lttle while but the difference is amazing! i no longer have discomfort. and, some of the other symptoms subsided literally in a few days.

it just seems, so, weird that i could have been poisoning myself for a while now and not even have known it. they *say* that whole wheat breads and things are GOOD for you! bastards!

okay, so i screwed up. someone made the best macaroni and cheese dish and brought it to the office potluck.

i figured, "what the heck? i've been off wheat for a couple of weeks, i feel perfectly okay. this whole thing is just some kind of big old misunderstanding, perhaps a stomach flu of some kind." and then i ate a half a plate of macaroni and cheese. it was delicious~!

woke up the next day with a fierce headache, retching and vomiting, joints aching.

called my mom and told her what is going on and guess what she said? "oh yeah, you know who else couldn't eat wheat? your grandma. she was violently allergic to wheat.."

well fuck me. i'd have thought she might have mentioned this before. a family history of gluten intolerance...

don't get me wrong i love my mom but i really, really wish we'd talked about this before.

okay. it's allll good. from now on, i will eat only doritos and cheese. what could possibly go wrong?