Need some of your favorite everyday products for gluten/dairy/egg/soy/corn free foods?

[HappyGrace]

I'm just starting on this elimination diet and no clue what products are good to check out! And on a limited budget, I'm hoping to see what other people have tried and actually LIKED and use a lot!

 

One thing I really need is a yummy tortilla-I eat a wheat tortilla for lunch everyday and will need a substitute!

 

Also, would appreciate any tips, etc.

 

Thanks!

[Random]

I made a lot of Miracle White Bread for my son, when he had an extremely limited diet.  I used the basic recipe for pizza dough, muffins, etc.  I also made the rice chips recipe on this page.  They were really good!

 

You can search for "Enjoy Life" brand foods at Vitacost or Amazon.  We've liked most of this product line.

 

The rice tortillas from Food For Life are pretty good, too.

 

One of my yummiest egg-free finds is Vegenaise in place of mayonnaise. 

 

As a side note, most of the Ener-G  breads and snacks we've tried have been kinda yucky.

[Mnemosyne]

Meat and veggies. <.<

 

I find it hard to do substitutes at first, makes it a lot more difficult to stay with the diet. :(

[Spryte]

We are wheat and dairy free, but we have other considerations (nut and seed allergies) and we do eat corn and soy - so some of this may work for you, some may not.

 

We use Rudi's tortillas and breads.  Those are my family's favorites.  Udi's makes a decent roll (hot dog buns, hamburger buns, dinner rolls) but we rarely buy them.  The kids like Udi's double chocolate and double vanilla muffins, too.  Both Rudi's and Udi's are usually in the freezer section.

 

For a butter substitute, we use Earth Balance.

 

Milk substitute: we use coconut milk.

 

Enjoy Life products are generally good, though we don't like all of them.  Kinnikinick products as well.  (We are addicted to their K-Toos, oreo substitute!)

 

If you have a Wegman's nearby, some of their products are not bad, too.

 

Gluten is very tricky, so definitely check out some lists - it can be in all kinds of things you'd never expect.  Condiments especially!

 

 

[momto3innc]

I can't have any of those. Haven't been able to for a long time. It's tempting at first to find "subs" for anything. It's expensive and ultimately I just don't do it. Or not much. I eat lots of veggies, fruit, meat...and that's about it. Some nuts, olives, different oils, rice, hummus, etc... If you look up paleo recipes, you'll get great recipes because they leave all those out (some leave in dairy but that's easy to take out). I use almond milk, coconut milk, or rice milk. So Delicious makes a coconut milk ice cream. I usually make frozen banana ice cream I really like. I use Earth Balance (make sure to get the soy free one). As far as tortillas go, the health food store in our area sells rice based ones. Not sure of the brand...haven't bought them in a long time.

[Hikin' Mama]

Meat and veggies. <.<

 

I find it hard to do substitutes at first, makes it a lot more difficult to stay with the diet. :(

I agree and did the same when I first found out I had to be gluten free. I still don't use many subs, except for So Delicious coconut creamer in my coffee.

 

If I were trying to eliminate the various food groups you are, I would do a paleo diet.

[simplemom]

We don't eat free of the listed ingredients, but limit some of them due to past allergy issues in the family. We eat a lot of rice and potatoes as a base. Here are some meals or snacks I can think of off hand:

 

Shepherd's pie with mashed potatoes on top. I put chicken stock or rice milk in for the liquid in mashed potatoes, and olive oil instead of butter.

 

Chicken noodle soup with rice noodles from the Asian market.

 

Apple ring "sandwich" with nut butter in the center.

 

Tacos with a couple crispy romaine lettuce leaves as the shell.

 

Meatloaf with rice milk for the liquid, smashed rice chex for the bread crumbs, and egg replacer or flax gel for the egg.

 

Fudgesicles made from raw cashews, banana, milk substitute, splash of vanilla, and cocoa powder blended together.

 

Plantain chips and raisin mix for snacking.

 

Jambalaya with rice.

 

Spaghetti with brown rice pasta or with hearty veggies like eggplant or zucchini instead of wheat or corn pasta.

 

Chili on baked potato.

 

Kabobs with meat, bell peppers, mushrooms, tomatoes, zucchini (roasted or grilled).

 

Salad as a main course with things such as steak or chicken, goat cheese, olives, nuts, diced veggies. I make my own croutons with gluten free bread.

 

Hummus with veggie tray or rice based chips.

 

Potato soup, mash 1/2 the potatoes after the potatoes are tender to add creaminess, toward the end of cooking I add diced green onions, ham bits, and corn.

 

Baked sweet potato instead of bread as a side for salads, roasted chicken and veggies, etc...

 

Not sure what stores you have access to, but Trader Joe's has a good price on brown rice pasta. Aldi's has the best deal on Rice Chex and some produce. The local Asian market has the best deal on rice noodles and plantain chips.

 

I use coconut milk in smoothies or desserts sometimes.

[Plateau Mama]

Soy & corn free is really hard to find packaged items. Beware that anything that had xantham gum is not corn free. It is on any things that state they are corn free. I have no idea how they get away with it. And that my friend, will eliminate the majority of baked goods.

 

My son cannot have any of the items you listed. Some of the things he will eat are:

 

Zing bars (like a protien bar)

Enjoy life granola

Enjoy life chocolate chips

SO coconut yogurt

Cinnamon Chex

Maranatha

Namaste Pancake mix (only Namaste mix he can have)

Kettle Chips (read package not all are dairy free)

Andean Dream makes a GF, Corn Free pasta that is tolerable.

 

I have yet to find a tortilla he can have. If you can manage xantham gum there are a few. He uses a thin rice cracker we get at Whole Foods for his bread replacement. It's made by Suzie's. But read the label, one is just rice the other is corn & quinoa but the packages are similar.

 

If you have a trader Joes around there are things there that he likes as well.

 

That being said none of it is really affordable and your best, cheapest options is meat, veggies and fruit.

[Plateau Mama]

We are wheat and dairy free, but we have other considerations (nut and seed allergies) and we do eat corn and soy - so some of this may work for you, some may not.

 

We use Rudi's tortillas and breads. Those are my family's favorites. Udi's makes a decent roll (hot dog buns, hamburger buns, dinner rolls) but we rarely buy them. The kids like Udi's double chocolate and double vanilla muffins, too. Both Rudi's and Udi's are usually in the freezer section.

 

For a butter substitute, we use Earth Balance.

 

Milk substitute: we use coconut milk.

 

Enjoy Life products are generally good, though we don't like all of them. Kinnikinick products as well. (We are addicted to their K-Toos, oreo substitute!)

 

If you have a Wegman's nearby, some of their products are not bad, too.

 

Gluten is very tricky, so definitely check out some lists - it can be in all kinds of things you'd never expect. Condiments especially!

Rudis and Udi's are both out. I can't remember what Rudis has but I know Udi's has both egg and xantham gum.

 

The only Earth Balance we can use is the coconut one. All the others have soy or I think corn.

 

Enjoy Life are good but all the baked goods have xantham gum. We use the Chocolate chips.

[dbmamaz]

Corn is one of the very hardest.  I agree that plain, home-made food is the best way.  lots of roasts and potatoes, sautes with rice.  Often you cant just 'change' your normal meals to be safe, you  have to completely change  your eating habits.  Its very frustrating - you will actually go through mourning for your lost foods.  Plus many of us experience withdrawal symptoms esp over gluten and dairy.  But the difference in health can be astonishing, and as you start trying to add foods back in, everything tastes better than it did before!  

[Seasider]

Hummus!

 

Beanitos chips

 

Rice wraps

 

Annie's for ketchup and mustard

 

Aside from these, it's much easier to eat sort of paleo than to try to find substitutes for what you're normally used to eating.

 

Might have to try that miracle white bread, though!

 

ETA Oh, I can't forget the 72% dark chocolate bars from Trader Joe's. It's just the lift I need when I start feeling whiny about all the stuff I can't eat.

[dbmamaz]

ETA Oh, I can't forget the 72% dark chocolate bars from Trader Joe's. It's just the lift I need when I start feeling whiny about all the stuff I can't eat.

Really?  I tried chocolate from TJs once.  i dont remember what it was, but there was no dairy listed on the label.  I ate 2 little squares and almost immediately had a headache.  I tried again later that day, and the exact same thing happened.  I ended up giving it to my daughter.  I assume it was dairy, and I've been uninspired to try again since then.

[Seasider]

Really?  I tried chocolate from TJs once.  i dont remember what it was, but there was no dairy listed on the label.  I ate 2 little squares and almost immediately had a headache.  I tried again later that day, and the exact same thing happened.  I ended up giving it to my daughter.  I assume it was dairy, and I've been uninspired to try again since then.

 

Really? I am so sorry to hear that. I was told we could have it in the elimination phase (dairy elimination included). TJ's does carry lots of chocolate bars, these were small, orange wrappers, sold in a 3 pack.

[lifesadream83]

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