The Gluten Free Pantry

This week we'll talk about what staple items in your pantry/cupboards have Gluten in them and the different names of Gluten you need to look out for when shopping for ingredients. I hope you are enjoying the different topics here and am so grateful that you have stopped by this week. Read on, share and be blessed!

There are many things in your pantry that you may not even realize have Gluten in them, but that's what I am here for, to tell you! How many of you keep soy sauce in your fridge for those nights you order Chinese take out or make your own stir fry? Well, be ware that you're most likely using a soy sauce with gluten in it. Our favorite GF soy sauce is the Low Sodium Tamari brand found at most grocers. If your soy sauce has the big G in it you can bet that your pre-made Teriyaki Sauce and Peanut Sauce have it too. If the sauce has soy sauce as an ingredient it's probably not GF, but the Tamari brand has some yummy pre-made Asian sauces that are GF.

Here's another one for you, how about taco seasoning or gravy mix, even the ever so popular french onion soup mix and bouillon cubes? Basically any of those seasoning packets, soup mixes, and even spice blends that you buy at the grocery store have gluten in them. It's used as a preservative and thickener. For gravy we make our own with corn starch or a GF flour blend. Our favorite GF taco seasoning is from Penzey's, all of the spice blends are GF and much better quality. They have great soup mixes and salad dressings as well.

That reminds me, another one is salad dressings, keep an eye out for Gluten in there as well as dairy and food coloring of course.

Who keeps marshmallows in their house on the reg? We do as special treats because we make rice krispie treats since they are (usually) GF. I say usually because some marshmallows have a light dusting of flour on the outside to preserve them, which makes them not GF (gum makers do the same thing, haven't you ever wondered what that white powder is on the gum?!). So like with everything.. READ the label!!!

So, when reading the label, what do you look for exactly? Well the first big one is WHEAT. Then you want to look for aliases like flour, bulgur, semolina, spelt, frumento, durum (also spelled duram), kamut, graham, einkorn, farina, couscous, seitan, matzoh, matzah, matzo, and cake flour. Often marketed as a “wheat alternative,” none of these is even remotely gluten-free. You need to avoid (or at least question) anything with the word wheat in it. This includes hydrolyzed wheat protein, wheat starch, wheat germ, and so on. Wheat grass, however, like all grasses, is GF. Malt, Barley and Rye are ones to avoid  as well.

A lot of labels are starting to state whether or not they contain wheat, so it's becoming easier. Another thing that gets easier is your shopping. In the beginning you will spend a lot of time reading, but once you get familiar with what products you like and know are GF, you'll be able to just grab them off the shelf and go!

Speaking of "grab and go", many of you have asked what our favorite GF fast food and restaurants are? So stop by next week and I will share where we go to eat when eating out and what we like to order! Until then, get to reading those labels, cleaning out the spice rack and as always, be blessed!!!