Welcome to the group! I am sure others will have some good advice for you as well.    While it is overwhelming at first, it is a great diet in that it is healthy. 

 I’d suggest going through your pantry and either getting rid of all that is not gluten free or marking each with a big black “X” so you don’t accidentally use what will make you or your celiac family member sick.  Since my husband can eat whatever he wants and our kids are grown I didn’t just throw things out.  But eventually you may want to work in that direction and end up with no gluten in the house.  It is hard to eat things in front of the celiac (especially children) when you are telling them they can’t have what you are eating. 

 If your celiac is a child, I’d suggest a date night for you and your husband occasionally so you can go out and eat what you want without feeling guilty.  My husband eats gluten free at home, but when we go out he has a chance to have whatever he is missing or craving.  One of our daughters has to be gluten free and visited recently with her family.  We had great food and even great desserts.  I made a cherry pie, and peanut blossoms and a ‘Million Dollar Pie’ chocolate dessert.  You will learn what your family likes and how to cook/bake with different flours.  You don’t need to try and learn it all at once.  Do the basics of putting good plain food on the table.  Fresh foods (fruit, veggies, plain meat, poultry, fish) are fine.  You can find some ready made items that will bridge the gap for you until you get used to it all. Pamela’s products are great (costly) and Glutino and ever so many others. 

 Heinz catsup is gf, Hellman’s mayo, read Kraft labels in detail to help you learn about salad dressings etc.  Take your cell phone with you to the grocery store and call the 800 numbers on the labels and ask questions.  Hormel (and all ConAgra companies) is one of the meat brands with full disclosure.  It won’t say gluten, but should say something like ‘derived from barley’ to let you know it is not safe.  Other companies besides Kraft and ConAgra are Hershey’s Nestles, General Mills, and Nabisco.  I well remember my first trip to the grocery store and looking at labels and thinking there was nothing I could buy.  It really is not that bad. 

 Ask us lots of specific questions.  What kind of chicken broth?  There are several.  I use Swanson’s Natural Goodness Chicken Broth…but it has to be the label that says ‘100% fat free’ (in red letters) as the one they make that says 99% fat free does have gluten in it.  Please don’t give up on us, keep asking questions. 

 Do try to make the next meeting and meet some of the people who will be more than willing to give you ideas.  We almost always have samples of gluten free foods at the meetings and some people bring goodies they have baked as well.  We often have a speaker (doctor, dietitian, or someone who specializes in an area of benefit to us).  Hope to meet you soon.

 Beverly

Beverly Bauer, Resource Unit for East TN

CSA/USA, http://www.csaceliacs.org

865-458-9181, bevbauer@charter.net

Celi-ACT support group, http://www.celi-act.com

New Celiac myself, looking for support.  Never had to watch what I eat, including for weight.  Big life change for me, 32 years old.  Both my Dad and Grandmother have Celiac as well.

Hi Eric,

Welcome to our group.  You will find a lot of help here as all of us remember how overwhelming this diet can be initially.  You will find that in time, it is much easier.

The doctor that sponsors our support group has a great deal of information on his website: http://www.giforkids.com  And as always, ask questions!

I suggest that you go to http://www.celiac.com for a list of ingredients that are safe and not safe.  The link can be found on the bottom of the left side of the page.  You can print that off to take with you. 

Earth Fare has a GF cooking class.  You might want to call the store to check on the date and time...777-3837.  I would suggest that you try to attend those as they were very helpful to us!  You can also purchase many of your GF items there.  Kroger in Knox Plaza and Powell are doing a nice job of stocking items in the Healthy Food sections.  Go Nutrition in Farragut has many items as well.  If you live in a different area, just let us know.  There are different stores in different areas.

We will be having our Lunch Bunch tomorrow at PF Changs at 11:30.  We would love for you to join us.  Please let us know if you want to come.  PF Changs has a GF menu! 

I also encourage you to come to our meetings.  We meet every other month on the 3rd Monday of the month at Children’s Hospital.  Our next meeting is March 16 from 6:00-7:30pm at Children’s Hospital.   There is free child care provided for the children in a different room with some simple games, movie, and books for those who do not want to stay in the meeting.

Please ask any and all questions because they have been asked before.  It will get easier in time!  Hang in there!

Take care!
Alisa W.

Celi-ACT Board