Gluten Free resources

[3blackcats]

Any favourite resources for gluten free? Brand new to this and looking at where to start. Any iPad apps your recommend??

[wendibird22]

I can offer you some recommendations.

Celiac boards: a great place to get advice on cooking, restaurants, symptoms, etc. I lurked more than posted but it was a good place for me to learn from others in the early days of GF. http://www.celiac.com/gluten-free/ This is also a good place to ask whether a product in Canada is GF since ingredients can differ between US and Canada.

Apps: Find Me GF helps you locate places to eat out and about. IPB Mobile for viewing the celiac forums on your ipad/iphone. ipiit lets you scan a food product bar code and it will tell you if it's GF or not. Also includes other common food allergens.

Blogs for recipes and tips:
http://onceamonthmom.com/menus/gluten-free-dairy-free/
http://celiaccentral.wordpress.com
http://www.adventuresofaglutenfreemom.com
http://glutenfreeeasily.com
http://www.elanaspantry.com
http://www.glutenfreediva.com
http://www.delightglutenfree.com/recipes
http://glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com


My biggest advice for starting GF is to stick to the basic, naturally GF foods at first. Shop the meat, dairy, fruit and veggie sections. I think most of what people eat day in and day out is already GF (we didn't have to alter our dinners very much for example because we are a meat, starch, veggie family). Don't go crazy looking for GF replace foods of processed stuff. Most of it is junk and not all of it tastes good. Udi's is a good brand of bread. And, learn from me, if you are going GF because of health issues/symptoms, PLEASE replace your toaster and be vigilant about cross contamination. It took me much longer to start feeling better until I did this. I thought I could get away without doing it but oh no, I couldn't. I have my own PB, own mayo, own butter, etc. Anything that gets put/spread on bread that could get contaminated with crumbs from DH/the kids, we keep separate.

Good luck. It may seem overwhelming at first but it does get easier I promise.

[3blackcats]

Thank you! This really helps.