Need dinner suggestions, please

[Suz]

I'm having "The Sisterhood" ( a few old fart female friends like me /importthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif ) over for dinner next Sunday. One of the gals is allergic to glutein (glutin?). I don't know enough about it to know what I can serve that she can eat and what I need to avoid.

I just need some simple suggestions, nothing too complicated. Thanks for any guidance you can share!

Suz

 

[transformtriumph]

Gluten is in wheat, barley and rye. You definitely don't want to serve those.

 

[cmdh]

not to scare you but gluten can be found in things like spices (anti caking agent) and sauces. Yes you are best to stick to something simple..and homemade. baked chicken with girlfriend seasionings, baked potato and a vegie.

Good luck

 

[Suz]

Thanks!

If gluten is in something like spices, how do I identify it? In the list of ingredients does it say "gluten"?

Sounds like *safe* foods are meat, rice, potato, fruit, vegetables. Am I on the right track?

Suz

 

[hearts and roses]

Two of my sisters and a neice are celiacs, meaning they can't have glutens either. I always try to make some foods/desserts whenever we have a family thing.

One favorite is Chicken Cutlet Parm, South Beach Diet style:

Take partially frozen chicken cutlets, trim fat.

In a large baking dish, spread out your favorite tomato sauce on the bottom of pan (homemade or canned - I personally love the DelMonte Traditional Sauce in the can for this particular recipe). Next, place the cutlets on top of the sauce and sprinle generously with shredded mozzarella cheese. Cover and bake at 350F for about 25 minutes, remove cover and continue baking till the top is melted and slightly browned. I serve this with a HUGE salad, and breads (italian for non=celiacs and gluten free for celiacs).

Another favorite is making gluten free pasta Baked Ziti - the trick is to undercook the rice pasta so it doesn't get all mushy. Also very yummy.

And for dessert, we usually whip up a batch of chocolate meringue cookies or non-flour chocolate cake or non-flour peanut butter cookies. The meringues are a big hit.

I once also made a 'carvel' cake using gluten free cookies. I crumbled them up and semi-defrosted the ice creams. In a casserole dish, first you spread some ice cream, then layer the crumbled cookies and then the last layer of ice cream and then deep freeze to harden. It serves just like the carvel cakes once decorated and everyone loves it.

 

[hearts and roses]

Suz, when you're using any canned or jarred items, be on the lookout for anything with "modified food starch' listed in the ingredients, as well as malts. Whenever I buy items for my sisters/neice, I basically steer clear of overly processed foods or ingredients. Modified food starch is the biggest telltale sign that it probably has something they can't have in it. If you start reading labels, you will be amazed at what has modified food starch in it - stuff like canned corn, salsas, processed anything. I think there is a webpage called www.celiac.org or com...that can lead you to some great information.

 

[RB]

My husband is not gluten free, but he loves rice and I have found that anything you can serve over pasta, such as meat balls (eliminate the bread crumbs or use some type of gluten free crumbs or crumbled up gluten free rice crackers - they're only there as a binding agent anyway), shrimp scampi, boneless chicken chunks marinara etc. works just fine over rice. Skip the bread, make a nice big salad, maybe some veggies (zuchini and onion in a marina sauce would be my choice) and something simple like fresh fruits with a chocolate dipping sauce and/or whipped cream for dessert. Or a crustless cream cheese cake. (In may case all the desserts!!!)

RB

 

[Suz]

Hey everyone- my mouth is watering from some of your suggestions :laugh: . Thank you so much for sharing your ideas!

Suz