Some of my favorite gluten-free foods all in one post.
I haven’t been eating gluten-free for very long, so I am still in the exploring stage. I began the first of June and it has certainly helped my stomach pain and headaches.
When people think of gluten-free, they automatically go into panic mode and think of all that soft, yeasty, delicious bread they will miss. I know this because I used to panic, too! But when you hurt bad enough, you are willing to skip out on the bread. I am one of those people who has to hurt really bad and really long before making huge changes to my diet.
A Few of My Favorite Gluten-Free Foods
Bread
Giving up bread for the first bit wasn’t actually as hard as I thought it would be.
Then I began to explore gluten-free breads in the health food section at our store. Oh gross. They were so dry and just plain yucky – according to me anyway! I would be in the middle of eating a sandwich with gluten-free bread and decide this “cardboard” wrapped around my meat and cheese was not worth it.
Then one day I was at Costco and saw they had Franz Gluten-Free 7 Grain Bread. I decided I would try one more kind, especially since it felt rather soft through the package. I took it home and have loved it! Now you must realize that it is hard to compare any bread to soft, moist, homemade wheat bread like our french bread . . . but in the gluten-free world, this loaf of Franz Bread was awesome!
I am able to purchase it at our local supermarket, however it costs almost double there what I can get it for at Costco. So if you have a Costco close by, that is your best bet.
Flour Mixes
I had been told by a good, gluten-free friend of mine, that Pamela’s Flour is great for cakes, etc. So I hightailed it off to the store and couldn’t find the all-purpose flour. Grabbing the Pancake & Baking Mix flour, I tried to make a cake with this – for company!! That was a mistake. I forgot that it would already contain a rising agent, so my cake went up, up, up . . . and over the sides of the pan. You can laugh, it was rather funny!
So once I have used up this baking mix, I will be purchasing the blue bag – Pamela’s All Purpose Gluten Free Flour! I did make biscuits the other evening with this baking mix, leaving out the baking powder in the recipe, and they turned out nice and soft. They were drop biscuits instead of cut biscuits since gluten-free dough does not have much elasticity.
Pamela’s also has a bread mix which I have not tried yet. I will put all three flour mixes here for you to look at (clicking on the picture will take you to more info).
Almond Flour
I like to purchase my almond flour at Costco. I know I wouldn’t have to get this, but I like to use this in my cookies. The almonds make it moister than your gluten-free flour mixes. In fact, there is yet another mix that I purchased at Costco (which I won’t even tell you about) that was not very good – way too dry. I know I could add more wet ingredients to the drier gf mixes, but I have found that I like the texture that using half almond flour contributes to the cookies. It also adds in extra protein!
Miscellaneous Items
Bob’s Red Mill Brownie Mix is a good item to have on hand if you love chocolate as much as I do . . . and are nearing the end of your patience with trying new gluten-free recipes! Someone else did the work and experimentation on this one – so you can throw them in a pan and eat warm with vanilla ice cream.
Crunchmaster Rice Crackers are a great treat at my house. Again, I get these at Costco and they come with two flavors in the pack – Toasted Sesame and Artisan Cheese. When the family is eating elk bologne and cheese with Club crackers, I don’t have to miss out on the cracker part of it. But my favorite way to eat these is with a dab of cream cheese and hot pepper jam on top! So yum.
Now the next two items I have not tried yet, but would like to when I get a chance.
Rice Ramen – your popular ramen noodles made from millet and brown rice instead of wheat.
Barilla Gluten-free Pasta – we have stopped eating as much pasta since I cannot eat it. It’s a funny thing, but if the cook can’t eat something, it sort of disappears over time from the menu! Or at least it is saved for a treat. Which, considering the calories and carbohydrates in pasta, that is not a bad thing.
Naturally Gluten-Free Foods
We have been enjoying foods that come naturally gluten-free such as all of our meats – elk, chicken, beef, sausage, pork. Rice, sauerkraut, white and sweet potatoes – these are great side dishes to meat.
I know that some people have to watch what oats they buy, in case they are processed in a plant that also processes wheat. But thankfully we do not – so anytime I mention oats on here, please remember that you may need to get yours certified gluten-free if you are very sensitive to gluten.
My favorite recipe for oats is one that I will try to share with you soon. It is our morning breakfast of homemade granola with all kinds of yummy toppings! We do add Honey Nut Cheerios in with it since they are gluten-free. Otherwise, it is our attempt to cut out a chunk of cold cereal . . . and also cut down the grocery bill a bit.
We also eat lots of nuts and seeds, some of our favorites being peanuts, almonds, pumpkin seeds, pine nuts, and pecans.
If you have an Aldi’s close by, they might be a good place to try for gluten-free items. But in my neck of the woods, Aldi’s is no where around . . . so we shop at Costco for quite a bit!
Here is an excellent article on what you can buy at Costco, regarding gluten-free foods:
{ Gluten-Free Products Available at Costco }
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Mom Graber says
Great post, Kendra! Franz’s bread is a good tip. I can identify with the the sawdusty feel of a gf sandwich.