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Grocery Shopping Primer

The first time visiting my local Safeway store, after my diagnosis, was daunting. I remember talking to a former anorexic friend. She said, "I have no control over my life, so I am going to declare victory over the grocery store. I will leave without buying anything."

This would not work for me. I actually have to buy food and cook for my husband and I. My first shopping trip, in my usual store, took one hour longer than usual.

Backtrack to two weeks before shopping...

Me: Scott, I have bad news for you. I have to go on an all-gluten-free diet.

Scott: What does that mean?

Me: It's basically a modified Adkins diet: No carbs; mostly meat, fish, and cheese.

Scott: That's GREAT News! Meat and Cheese? Excellent!

Thank God for Scott.

Scott and I now have a plan for grocery shopping and social occasions. I hope you find my tips helpful.

1) Shop the outside aisles. In AZ, this means deli, cheese, produce, and vino. When my doctor told me that I was gluten intolerant, I asked him to please tell me that cheese and wine were gluten-free. If not, I "am going to jump into the Grand Canyon." Luckily, no jumping was necessary. The beauty of our natural wonder is unsullied by me and my mangled body parts.

2) Become familiar with ingredients. Know your recipes. Yes, shopping takes longer because you must be an avid label reader. One of the more stunning realizations is that non-fat dairy products contain carageenan. This is seaweed processed with soy sauce, which contains wheat. Opt for the (sorry!) full-fat or 1% milk products that do not contain this stabelizer.

3) Read EVERY label. Blue Bunny ice cream and Dreyers (Edy's east of the Mississippi) contains Carageenan. Spring for Breyer's: Milk, Cream, Vanilla: what's not to love. Trader Joe's seemingly harmless French Truffles contain wheat stabelizers.

4: Read all canned veggie labels. Even some organic items contain wheat and wheat maltodextrin. Look for safe corn maltodextrin and xanthin gum.

5: Buy fresh produce and cook it to your liking. When you add the ingredients, you know what's in it.

6: Unfortunately, by trial or error, you must decide if oats are tolerable. I can handle them. Again, I emphasize that it's trial and error.

7: Make your friends away of your issues. Yes, you appear to be the high-maintenance friend, but it's vital to your health. Become familiar with Terms to watch out for that may contain gluten http://susanmitchell.org/blog/tag/gluten-free/):

• Corn starch and wheat starch
• Dextrin
• Modified food starch
• Natural flavoring/artificial flavor/color/smoke flavor
• Fillers

8: Know your ingredients. If you make meatballs from scratch, you know that meatballs may contains bread crumbs. Ask your host: "Do you use breadcrumbs in your meatballs?"

9: When in doubt, do without. This is the Celiac's mantra. In the words of Mr. Hand: "Learn it, know it, live it." Chocolate bars, imitation seafood and herbal teas may contain gluten. To really make the gluten-free diet work for you, it’s important to know all the ins and outs…particularly where gluten hides in products that you might not think about.

Some reliable items that do not contain glutens are:

~ Bon Terra Wines

~ Boar's Head meats and cheeses (Boar's Head bleu does not start use a baguette to start the mold)

~ Diamond Nut Thins crackers

~ Fresh meats and cheeses
~ Fresh produce

~ Rice Chex cereal

~ Pickels and olives: favorite snacks

In my next post, I am going to share some recently tried and true GF recipes:

~ Apple cranberry tart using King Arthur GF Flour

~ Brie with Cranberry or sautéed mushroom topping

~ Seared Scallops

~ Thai Noodle Salad

~ Spice rubbed beef tenderloin

~ Good Eats Turkey Brine (Thanks Alton Brown)

~ Brazilian cheese muffins (see the King Arthur recipes web site).