More About Wheat-free Foods

Being wheat-free is a lifestyle challenge. There are things such as wheat flour, then there is wheat bran, wheat gluten, wheat germ, and more. There are some manufacturers who provide a coding system, easy for even consumers shopping after a 12 hour work shift to decipher, then there are the labels with six or more lines of ingredient on the back, plus the fine print such as Warning: this product made on machinery that also processes gluten, dairy, corn, wheat, nuts, meat. If a product is gluten-free, it should also be wheat free.

Flour-less bread, here's the scoop: it just might contain whole wheat berries, or sprouted wheat. Wheat germ is another ingredient to be wary of on bread products, and will not be on the top line of the ingredients list of the bread product, more than likely, if there is wheat germ in your baked item, this will be listed on the second, third, or fourth line of ingredients; somewhere around sesame seed, poppy seed, fennel seed or spices.

Here is another quick tip from Betty Hagman, author of many books about wheat-free diets and more, avoid sirimi, something that composes the majority of much of our imitation sea food, as it is manufactured using wheat. Look on the label to see if the imitation sea food contains sirimi, if so, avoid it. If there is no label, find out who manufactures the product prior to purchasing it or using it, if you are allergic to wheat, your best bet is to avoid anything that is known to possibly contain wheat from an unknown source.

It is the summer, try finding someplace where there are no pesticides: contact an organization like EarthWorks, or the Christian Gardening Association, or your local gardening club to find out where the fresh organic produce is. Make your sandwiches with grape leaves, lettuce leaves, arugula leaves, spinach leaves, tender artichoke wraps for bite-sized sandwiches, the innermost leaves on a corn ear to make a tamale - go easy on yourself, enjoy your summer, these choices obviously contain no wheat in them.

Just because a product is flour-free does not mean that it is wheat free. Being wheat free does not mean being boring, it just means changing your diet a bit. Yes, there is a lot of rice to eat, not just long-grained white rice, or short-grained rice, or sweet dessert rice. There is also wild rice, jasmine rice, basmati bice, and other varieties of rice as well. Other varieties of grain products product include corn and corn meal, which make excellent corn bread, chess pie, johnny cakes, corn pancakes, stuffing, and more.

Exotic Grains such as quinoa, millet, amaranth, flax, and soy flour can also be used as a part of your diet.

Rice, rice and more rice - rice cakes, rice pudding, rice cookies, rice puffs, cream of rice, rice milk; these are obvious choices, all of these contain no wheat, and many of these are flavorful, the bite-sized rice cakes look like crackers. Then, there are those glossy rice crackers, imported from places like Japan, available at many supermarkets, that cost about $4.00 per pound, that are always in stock at Trader Joe's or Wild Oats Marketplace.

Tapioca is another grain that is useful for people who are trying to avoid meat, and may already be in your refrigerator. Baked goods such as tapioca bread, tapioca pie crust, tapioca crunch balls, tapioca cookies, tapioca fruit fillings, tapioca thickening agents are easily produced. I have not figured out how to produce a tapioca souffle, yet.

Oatmeal is another excellent choice for a gluten-free grain. oatmeal, granola, oatmeal bars, oatmeal bread

Granola Turkey Stuffing

This is a special, savory granola
1 cup granola
1 cups oats
1 tablespoon chopped fresh sage, or dried sage
1/4 cup butter
1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano, or dried oregano
1 tablespoon crumbled sun-dried tomatoes, or 1/4 cup chopped tomatoes

Mix ingredients together, and use to stuff turkey. If you have more fresh sage and fresh oregano, place at the opening of the turkey.

popcorn, popcorn balls, popcorn "monkey bread"