Diet (other): Gluten free

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When trying to buy items that are gluten free, there are many different ingredients to look for.  Gluten is much more than flour, wheat, and bread.  One thing to consider is the less ingredients your item has, the better it is for you.  If you are looking at a product that has many items you can’t pronounce and aren’t sure about, I would just leave it on the shelf.  If in doubt about the gluten content, don’t risk it. 

 Often under the ingredient list is a statement about whether a product contains, wheat, dairy, and soy.  This is always a great place to start looking.  It gives you an obvious “no” answer quickly.  But remember that just because something say wheat-free doesn’t mean it is gluten free.  So always check the whole ingredient list before eating an item.

Here are your main gluten full ingredients.  The ones that are easy to spot with a quick glance at ingredients.  If you are new to eating gluten free, even some of these items may come as a surprise.   Wheat, rye, barley, oats (or oatmeal), and spelt are your main gluten grains.  You will find that these are sometimes billed as alternatives to wheat but are not gluten free.  Look for ingredients that contain any of these words.  Many cereals, even Rice Crispies, have barley malt which you will notice contains the word barley and thus has gluten.   There are also terms that refer to the specific kinds of wheat, like bulgar, durum, farina, macha, matzo or matza, kamut, graham, or semolina.   Always look for the word gluten as well.

There are some items that may be listed individually but are actually made from multiple ingredients.  Some products will have the broken down but some won’t.  Here are a few of the main culprits.  Malt, soy sauce, beer, germ, bran, and sometime bouillon or broth. 

Making a quiche, scrambled eggs, egg salad, or a breakfast casserole can seem impossible without eggs.  You don’t have to do without. 

 These can all be done with tofu.  The texture of silken tofu or crumbled regular tofu is surprisingly similar to boiled or cooked eggs when used in a similar recipe.   Adding a bit of mustard, turmeric or nutritional yeast will give your dish a yellow hue.  Your eyes will be tricked as well as your taste buds. 

 While I don’t have any recipes for these on my site yet, keep coming back.  Until then, go online and give a few a shot.  Report back to me and I’ll make sure to get them up quickly.