GFree 101 [One Month Challenge]

By Brooke

Okay, so you actually want to know what it’s like to be gluten free. Here’s your cheat sheet to all things GF.

Major things to avoid: wheat, rye, barley, oats, malt, soy sauce.

Say no to ANYTHING coated in flour, marinated in soy sauce, or fried in the same oil with anything breaded or coated. That means no french fries that are fried in the same oil as fried calamari, chicken fingers, fried eggplant, falafel, etc. It sucks, but it’s the way it is. If you’re gluten intolerant and NOT Celiac, you can probably handle foods fried in the same oil, but for my Celiac sistas out there, always ask if the french fries are fried in the same oil as anything with wheat or breading. They’re fried separately? Yum. Now make sure they’re not coated in anything like flour or modified food starch. This goes for nachos too!

Noodles:

Rice noodles are a great GF substitute at Asian restaurants, but they cannot be boiled in the same oil as wheat noodles. This goes for Italian restaurants too, or anywhere with pasta or zucchini linguine. Whatever you order gluten free, make sure it is boiled in a fresh pot of water! Another great idea is to bring your own pasta to restaurants so you can carb up with all your family and friends. Which brings me to my next point…

Sauce:

You MUST make sure there is no flour added to any sauce – whether that be vodka sauce, marinara, white wine, lemon, etc. A lot of places add flour to thicken it up and that’s a very easy way to get contaminated. That also goes for creamed spinach, mashed potatoes, and soups. Oh, soups… Make sure there is no chicken or vegetable stock in the soup as well as flour, because chicken/vegetable stocks often have modified food starch which is NOT gluten free. Gluten is super sneaky…

Meat:

Okay, meat. Fish is more times than not coated in flour. No, no. Make sure any of your protein is NOT coated before you take a bite, ESPECIALLY if it feels crispy. Happened to me and my sister in Puerto Rico. Rude.

Garnishes:

Anything that comes out on top of your food that looks fried is probably a no go. Once my GF steak came out with fried onion rings on top and I had to send it back for a new one. You CANNOT just scrape off or eat around anything that has gluten on it. If something with gluten touches your food, it is contaminated. You need a new one. Make sure this is 100% clear at a restaurant so they don’t try to pull a fast one on you and just clean it up in the kitchen and give you the same contaminated dinner. Trust me, it’s happened.

Salad Dressing:

Salad dressing is a tough one… Most of the time dressings have some sort of modified food starch in them, making them not gluten free. Your safest bet is to have some balsamic vinegar or olive oil. I’m not big on salad, I prefer cookies, so if you have a specific question about gluten free salad dressing feel free to comment and I can ask my sister – she’s the healthy one. Also, crumbled bleu cheese is NOT gluten free when it is from France. Otherwise it is safe. Random, but true.

Are you so sushi? Spicy mayo is not gluten free. I’m sorry if I broke your heart. But you’re welcome if your stomach aches magically disappear. Japanese mayonnaise isn’t gluten free, but you can totally make your own at home if you take some mayo and mix it with Sriracha. Regular soy sauce isn’t gluten free, but they do make gluten free soy sauce. If your favorite sushi place doesn’t carry it, bring some with you. Never be embarrassed, you deserve to eat too!

Breakfast:

Breakfast you need your oatmeal? Regular oats are not gluten free. The way they are harvested is usually near wheat, and there is a huge amount of cross contamination going on in the field. Slutty. But they make certified gluten free oats as well as gluten free oatmeal mixes. Don’t panic, everything you could’ve thought of has already been made.

Alcohol:

Okay, enough about food. Let’s party. Regular beer is a no go, but feel free to buy some Redbridge or Bard’s Gluten Free beer. They’re a little richer than regular beer, but still do the job. Hard ciders are safe so pick up some Woodchuck’s Hard Cider. And wine is always chic and Celiac friendly. Hard alcohol is safe – vodka, tequila, whiskey, etc. Just stay away from flavored vodkas unless you confirm that they’re gluten free – you can do this by googling the brand. Avoid Smirnoff Ice and other Smirnoff pre-mixed drinks because they have barley malt in them, as does Mike’s Hard Lemonade. But Mike must be Celiac because he just declared his Mike’s Lite Hard Lemonade to be GF. Mikey’s on a diet, I guess, just like Miley. Read more about GF alcohol here.

Those are the major basics of being gluten free. Always remember to have a snack in your bag so you never go hungry, avoid cheating, and stay in school. The Celiac life isn’t that bad, and I hope you learned a lot in this one month challenge! Please feel free to post any feedback or questions, and me and my sister (Celiac Sisters) can be contacted here. We love hearing suggestions, restaurants, and recipes from fellow Celiacs, and we might even blog about some! Enjoy the GF lifestyle, it’s just so fabulous.

Peace, Love, Gluten Free,

Brookitaa