Hi everyone

I'm new here and i'm new to Celiac Disease. I have lupus SLE, Fibro and now this. I just can't handle it all it's so hard. I am a student with 600$ rent every month and I just can't afford to eat all that gluten-free stuff out there. It's so expensive how do you all cope?

I'm just here looking for some support I don't know anything about living with this disease and I can use all the help and encouragement I can get.

Thanks everyone

Stefanie-Anne

Hi Canada! I, too, am new to all of this. I'm not a real food fan (never have been), so I find generally that I don't miss too much. What I miss is feeling healthy. I feel sick if I don't eat, and sicker if I do. I am SO looking forward to feeling "normal"!

If you stick mainly to fresh foods, you'll do fine. I read about lots of people with multiple food sensitivities here, and I really feel for them. If you bake at all, you can make your own breads (much tastier than any I've tried from the store, and much cheaper), freeze what you don't need right away. There are some good cookbooks out there, and lots of recipes to be found on-line. I am still reading everything I can get my hands on, and learning lots.

I guess the best thing is to just hang in there, try to stay positive, and keep in touch with all of these great people who have been there, are still there, and are so willing to help.

Good luck with your search for health!....flourgirl

Hello, and welcome.

There are several people from Canada who participate regularly here. What part of the country are you from? I work in Toronto, and live just outside the city.

You don't need to buy specialty gluten free foods to eat well. There are plenty of naturally gluten free foods. The key, in my opinion, to using naturally gluten free foods is to rethnink the concept of what a"standard meal" is. One of my favorite meals is spegetti sauce with meat over mashed potatoes. It is ok to eat breakfast for dinner and lunch for breakfast.

Hey, I"m a newbie (17 days now), and I live and work in Toronto too! Where do you do most of your shopping? I find I have to shop at 3 or 4 stores just to find everything, and at a decent price. I also stock up on things whenever I'm out in Pickering, because the Loblaws and Bulk Barn in Pickering have tons of stuff - its gluten-free heaven!

Also, do you have any restaurant suggestions for Toronto? I've only been out to eat once since being diagnosed, and I was too afraid to eat anything but plain salad.

Hey Stefanie-Anne and helpme,

I used to live in Toronto . . . rent is expensive in the Toronto area!

Stefi Anne -- That is a *lot* of health issues to deal with! If you haven't already made an appointment with your school's equivalent of "disability services," I'd highly recommend doing so. That way if anything flares up, you don't need to worry about getting extensions or relying on the understanding of profs/teachers. I kind of wish I had done so. It has taken me longer to complete my program, and I haven't disclosed the full extent of my health problems to those supervising my progress. I'm not sure whether doing so would be in my best interest

As for shopping, I'd recommend: The Big Carrot on the Danforth http://www.thebigcarrot.ca/; Whole Foods (north of Avenue and Bloor); the Specialty Food Shop at the Hospital for Sick Kids (University Ave.--where all the major research hospitals are. There is a dietician there 9-5 on weekdays who will answer any nutrition questions and is knowledgeable about gluten free foods.) All these places have a variety of gluten free products. You might also check out Noah's. (there is one on Bloor east of Spadina. I believe there is also one on Yonge (downtown).

I can't eat most of the gluten free stuff, so I suppose that cuts down on the cost of living for me. I do eat a lot of brown rice. One idea: if you eat rice porridge in the morning, it is almost as easy to make one's own as to buy the premade (and more expensive) stuff. I grind brown rice in a coffee grinder. Throw it in a pot, and then add water, honey, spices, sometimes raisins. Also, I substitute ground rice for some of the rice flour in my flatbread recipes (which are of my own invention) . . . the ground rice improves the texture and is also less expensive than the flour.

I don't eat out due to multiple food allergies and celiac . . .so I can't help you there. Good luck with everything.

Check out Il Fornello for your dining pleasure. We visit the one at Bayview Village on a regular basis, but all locations offer gluten-free options.

My home is in Unionville, and my place of business is near Yonge and Lawrence, so my shopping is mostly at places near one of them, or on the way between them.

For shopping, selection varies by location, but most Loblaws stores have gluten-free stuff in their specialty section. The best selection in my usual orbit is the one at Bayview and Hwy 7 in Richmond Hill. Chapman's, at Bayview and York Mills, is good, but can be a bit pricey.

Also, there are a number of companies/brands with a clear gluten-disclosure policy. I've posted my list a number of times, but here it is:
Arrowhead Mills, Aunt Nelly's, Balance, Baskin Robbins, Ben & Jerry, Bertoli, Betty Crocker, Blue Bunny, Breyers, Campbells, Cascadian Farms, Celestial Seasonings, ConAgra, Country Crock, Edy's, General Mills, Good Humor, Green Giant, Haagen Daz, Hellman's, Hershey, Hormel, Hungry Jack, Jiffy, Knorr, Kozy Shack, Kraft, Lawry's, Libby's, Lipton, Martha White, Maxwell House, McCormick, Nabisco, Nestle, Old El Paso, Ortega, Pillsbury, Popsicle, Post, Progresso, Ragu, Russell Stover, Seneca Foods, Skippy, Smucker, Stokely's, Sunny Delight, T Marzetti, Tyson, Unilever, Wishbone, Yoplait, Zatarain's.

With these companies, you can read the label looking for the words wheat, rye, oats or barley. If you don't see it clearly disclosed, you know it isn't hidden in some other ingredient.

In Canada, VH makes a great selection of sauces (including soy sauce) that are gluten-free. It's a ConAga company, so just read the label--there are a few that aren't okay. Kraft salad dressings are mostly gluten-free. Again there are a few exceptions.

Welcom eh! Also, save your gluten free food receipts because you may claim them at tax time--the difference between "normal foof" and gluten free is claimable. Take care, L.A.