I am not gluten intolerant, but am allergic to wheat-- from a can/can't standpoint, I tend to eat like a celiac. It was daunting at first, but it's really not that complicated once you get the hang of things. The increased availability of GF foods makes things easier, but I will admit that I tend not to buy them very often. Some recommendations/warnings: Eating at Home * Rice pasta is a lot closer to regular pasta than any of the other pastas in my experience. * Most GF bread in stores is pretty awful. There are a few brands that are okay, but they're also expensive for what you get. * Try to focus on foods that wouldn't have wheat in them anyway-- there are plenty of non-GF foods in the regular aisles because those foods never contained gluten to begin with. * I haven't gotten into trying a lot of the GF packaged foods because a lot of them are on the junk food end of the spectrum and are expensive to boot. * Most of the from-scratch recipes for baked goods you'll see around require a lot of different kinds of flours. I don't do a lot of baking, but have taken to substituting All-Purpose GF flour for the various flours in the recipes. So far, the results have been coming out fine. Eating with Friends * Most of my friends are pretty willing to be careful and just make things that wouldn't contain wheat anyway when they invite me over * That said, I usually offer to bring a side dish that I know I can eat just in case. It's nice to contribute, plus they don't always know what to look for-- if I bring something, I know I'm covered and they don't have to feel badly if I'm allergic to the main dish. Eating Out * If you're eating out, always tell the wait staff. Problem ingredients aren't always obvious from the menu. * You may need to be careful about anything that's fried (e.g. french fries)-- if they fry gluten-containing things in the same oil, you could have a reaction. * Even if they assure you that there is No Way something contains a problem ingredient, trust your body's reactions to things. With celiac, you won't get the same immediate reaction that I do, but you'll know after the fact. If you have a bad reaction somewhere, don't go back. * I try to avoid Chinese restaurants because of how thoroughly soy sauce permeates the recipes-- anything that has normal soy sauce has wheat. And I also avoid Italian restaurants because of the pasta problem. * Mexican, Thai, and Indian restaurants tend to have better percentages of safe foods. * American food restaurants usually have a few things that are already safe or can be made safe by leaving off bread and sauce. Travel * I always bring some just in case food with me. Most airport food is not GF and I'm wary about cross-contamination. * I generally bring food not only to be covered during airport time/flights but also to provide at least 1 meal substitute wherever I'm going. I just feel more secure that way, and it means that if the plane gets in late or if I have a super-early start in the morning, I don't need to stress about food. Alcohol * I'm not really a drinker, but since you mentioned it- there are GF beers available. I have no idea if they're any good, but they exist. Other Products * I don't know if celiacs need to be careful about hair/make-up/etc. products or not, but some of them include wheat starch in the ingredients list. I have had reactions to them. Professional Help * I would recommend getting a referral to a nutritionist and having at least a couple of appointments with a good one. I see one periodically who makes suggestions that I wouldn't know about on my own. * That said, the first nutritionist I saw after my diagnosis was someone who was so unhelpful I still wonder if she was really a nutritionist. If the person you see doesn't give you helpful advice, suggestions, and recipes, try to find someone else. And one more thing-- even if you don't want to fully commit to trying the GF diet while you're in hotels/restaurants this weekend, it might be worth experimenting with it a little. More and more often, I see menus that either flag the GF items outright or say that they have a GF menu that can be provided upon request. See if there's anything with the GF label that you might want to try just because it sounds good! It can't hurt!

Another vote for Udi's bread. It looks and tastes like the real thing. Who knew heaven could be found in a grilled cheese sandwich? LOL I tried Redbridge beer and hated it. My reaction was "ugh, why bother?" but you need to know that I love dark, rich beers. Give me a Black Butte Porter or one of my hubby's homemade chocolate porters (made with real chocolate, yummm) any day. Redbridge reminded me of lite beer. Not even close for me. I have 5 beers left of the 6-pack I tried so I'll give it a go in a recipe and hope for the best. I guess it's a good thing that I'm more a fan of wine than beer. My restaurant experience has been hit and miss with no rhyme or reason regarding my success getting GF meals. The worker at Chipotle Grill put down a fresh paper wrapper on the counter before making my corn tacos. He did it without my asking, which was simply amazing to me. My catered meal courtesy of Wolfgang Puck's in Dallas included green beans laced with soy sauce. The staff had been alerted to my GF status, I also talked to my waitress before the meal was brought to me and yet, I still received a non-GF meal. The staff apparently were clueless that soy sauce contains wheat. D'uh. Thankfully, I hadn't eaten much of the meal before I realized this screw-up and my reaction was mild (I am GF intolerant, not celiac) but several of my fellow GF-diners became quite ill. Oh, yeah, we voiced our grievance with the manager. Stupid, stupid mistake. I had the most trouble while attending a symposium in September (the banquet meal was part of the same symposium). There is a basic misunderstanding of what GF means, add in language barriers and oh, wow, the fun starts. The servers at breakfast tried multiple times to bring me French toast or crepes - the vegetarian meal - instead of my GF meal. For 2 of the 3 mornings, they served me scrambled eggs and bacon. The last morning, they served me 3 slices of bacon and steamed broccoli! Oh, yum, I love me some bacon and broccoli in the morning. Why? Turns out someone finally realized that the egg mixture they use contains flour (to thicken it). My server took pity on me and brought me 2 fried eggs. At least I finally had the answer for why my stomach had been so upset. Our organization's rep told me that caterers don't need to fulfill food allergy requests. They only need to meet ADA requirements. I'm not sure if this is correct information (it astounds me that they would not want to meet food allergy requests, wouldn't that be a liability issue?) but the lesson I took away is to always, always, always carry GF snacks wherever I go, to request a fridge for my room (cost might be waived for us GF sufferers) and to question everything multiple times. Oh, and never, never, never eat scrambled eggs at a convention again. The hardest thing for me has been discovering the hidden sources of gluten. I was crushed the day I realized that red licorice has wheat in it. :-(

Oh! Interesting. I know a guy who had something like that. He got food poisoning from tempura and couldn't face any Japanese restaurant for years after. You're right. It is similar to my brain telling me to spit out mango juice flavored vitamins even though I figured out they'd be safe to eat. :) Allergies are weird too, though, like the way many people can't eat a cooked egg without a violent intestinal reaction but can eat non-eggy baked goods with some eggs in them with no problem. There really are some people who can take onion powder or very cooked down onions, but if they're pretty solid they get intestinal reactions. Bossyvossy, Have you been checking out the Cooking forum? Grainlady and others have been posting more good information about gluten free baking there.

I never liked soft white breads (including burger buns and dinner rolls), void of any fiber and nutrients, before going gluten-free, and I REALLY don't like the gluten-free versions I've tried. I made Cloud Bread once --- thought I was eating scrambled eggs because of the flavor of it. It's interesting all the bread recipes I've tried, especially early on after going gluten-free. In January I made "Gluten-free Sourdough Oat English Muffins" using starter made with quinoa flour (recipe from Cultures For Health: http://www.culturesforhealth.com/gluten-free-sourdough-oat-english-muffin-recipe). They were actually very good, but don't keep well (even frozen), which is another problem with a lot of gluten-free breads - poor keepers, and they also crumble easily the older they get, or after being frozen - yet another characteristic of many gluten-free breads. The next time I make this recipe I will only make 1/2 a recipe. The bread we like currently is a yeasted, dense, seedy bread (more like a traditional steam-baked pumpernickel - looks more like a brown brick kind of bread) which works best toasted. I remember my mother (who had celiac disease) would crave something with yeast in it, so that's why I gave this recipe a try. I find making gluten-free pancakes, waffles, and muffins far better, and more convincing baked goods, than sandwich-style breads. I serve those all the time to family/friends who are visiting and they can't tell the difference. -Grainlady