4 Foods You Don't Have to Give Up to Live Gluten Free

Just because you have Celiac Disease, or are eating gluten free doesn't mean you have to give up all your favorite foods. You may have to relinquish a few, but with a little help, and some trial and error, you'll find that there are wonderful gluten free substitutes for many of your favorite foods out there, you just gotta find 'em.

In one of my earlier posts (Time saving Gluten Free Products You'll love) I threw out a couple of products that make my life of gluten free cooking and baking much easier, namely Pamela's Baking Mix and Kinnikinnick Products. Here are some other things that you may have enjoyed in your previous gluten filled life, that you thought you had to give up:

Waffles - Using your own recipe, or a prepackaged mix like Pamela's Baking Mix you can create a satisfactory batter for making waffles. Not as good as the golden brown Sunday Brunch Belgian waffles that you get at restaurants, but pretty darn good. Also there are a handful of gluten free frozen waffles out there. The two brands I've tried are Van's and Nature's Path and both are pretty good, and very convenient for those morning when you don't have much time to prepare breakfast.

Oatmeal - The literature goes back and forth on whether regular oats are truly gluten free. Cross contamination is the biggest issue, and you can read about the most recent studies at the Celiac.com Website here. Most Celiac's aren't willing to chance it though and buy guaranteed gluten free oats, I get mine from Gluten Free Oats online. Bob's Red Mill and a few other producers also make guaranteed gluten free oats, but I liked the taste of the Gluten Free Oats the best.

Restaurant Food - Several large restaurant chains have recently recognized the potential market in offering gluten free menu options - PF Chang's, Outback Steakhouse, Chili's, and On The Border all now have dedicated gluten free menus. These might not be the best restaurants for those of us oriented towards local, organic fare, but for Celiac sufferers longing to feel normal it's an acceptable trade off.

Oreo Cookies - OK this is trivial, and yes the original Oreo's are chock full of gluten (and lots of other bad, really bad for you ingredients), but try the Kinnitoos cookies from Kinnikinnick, they're a pretty good substitute. And they don't have the terrible lard in the middle like Oreo's do, but keep in mind they're still not a health food by any means.

You can read more gluten free related articles from Eat. Drink. Better. - like The Art of Gluten Free Cooking: Customized Catering Options from Blackbird Bakery or Neatloaf: A Tasty, Vegetarian, Vegan, Gluten Free Fake Meatloaf.