Lactose & Wheat free ideas

[Butterflies&Hurricanes]

I have a friend coming to stay with me for 7 weeks and she is lactose and wheat intolerate! Oh boy!
Can anyone give me some ideas on things to cook that would be ok for her to eat?? I need LOTS of ideas. 7 weeks is a long time to cook for someone... especially when you are limited!

Thanks guys!!

[Amberlea]

You dont need to change your recipes that include dairy just because she is lactose intolerant.
The supermarkets provide a range of lactose free dairy products.
You can get milk, margerine and yoghurt that is suitable.
The milk comes in either fresh (pauls Zymil) or UHT (Liddells) and a couple of other brands.
Margerine is Tablelands brand, and there are a couple of yoghurt brands.

The milk and yoghurt taste exactly like normal full cream cows milk - essentially they are made the same, they just add lactade to it which converts the lactose so that people with the intolerance can digest it.

So any recipes that require you to add dairy products - just use the above alternatives.

Wheat - Im not so sure on, but I know that you can get substitutes for almost anything wheat based.
Some of the girls in here are sure to know.

[Butterflies&Hurricanes]

Thanks Amberlea! Thats very helpful!!
Now does anyone have any wheatfree ideas, suggestions, recipes??

Thanks!

[justmum]

With regards to the wheat free, it isn't too hard. It just means cutting out a bit of carbs. You can still have potato, corn and rice. You might like to try making polenta - it's cheap, quick, easy, tasty and GF. Just watch out if you are making it with stock and cheese.

BBQs are a good option.

If you want pasta, San Remo do an excellent GF pasta that is tasty and virtually indistinguishable from the wheat based pastas.

Woolworths/Safeway also do very good GF packet mixes, including pizza bases, cake mixes and muffin mixes. Basco is another good brand - particularly their pancake mix which is yummy and tastes almost the same as wheat based pancake mix. Woolies/safeway also do an excellent poppy seed biscuit with a chocolate base that is so tasty and again you wouldn't guess it was GF. The Woolies/Safeyway brand are also reasonably priced.

Rice crackers are a good snack option. Fantastic and occasions brands are tasty and GF. When choosing a cracker, go for any marked gluten free on the front.

If you are cooking things from scratch, beware of things like stock, cornflour, soy sauce - these all have gluten in them unless you get gluten free versions. Just check the ingredients listing in the back of the products and avoid products that include wheat, malt, barley and oats - and go for products marked gluten free.

I think the Taylor's brand of marinades and sauces are generally GF but again check the labelling.

If you stick to simple foods like veg, meat, rice, corn and potato you should be fine. Breakfast is the hard one - you might find a GF cereal or your guest might just prefer fresh fruit and LF yoghurt for brekky. The GF bread is pretty ordinary so I wouldn't bother with it unless your guest has a specific brand he or she can tolerate the taste of.

HTH. :chef:

[Funkychicken]

With regards to the wheat free, it isn't too hard. It just means cutting out a bit of carbs. You can still have potato, corn and rice. You might like to try making polenta - it's cheap, quick, easy, tasty and GF. Just watch out if you are making it with stock and cheese.

BBQs are a good option.

If you want pasta, San Remo do an excellent GF pasta that is tasty and virtually indistinguishable from the wheat based pastas.

Woolworths/Safeway also do very good GF packet mixes, including pizza bases, cake mixes and muffin mixes. Basco is another good brand - particularly their pancake mix which is yummy and tastes almost the same as wheat based pancake mix. Woolies/safeway also do an excellent poppy seed biscuit with a chocolate base that is so tasty and again you wouldn't guess it was GF. The Woolies/Safeyway brand are also reasonably priced.

Rice crackers are a good snack option. Fantastic and occasions brands are tasty and GF. When choosing a cracker, go for any marked gluten free on the front.

If you are cooking things from scratch, beware of things like stock, cornflour, soy sauce - these all have gluten in them unless you get gluten free versions. Just check the ingredients listing in the back of the products and avoid products that include wheat, malt, barley and oats - and go for products marked gluten free.

I think the Taylor's brand of marinades and sauces are generally GF but again check the labelling.

If you stick to simple foods like veg, meat, rice, corn and potato you should be fine. Breakfast is the hard one - you might find a GF cereal or your guest might just prefer fresh fruit and LF yoghurt for brekky. The GF bread is pretty ordinary so I wouldn't bother with it unless your guest has a specific brand he or she can tolerate the taste of.

HTH. :chef:
:iagree::iagree: with all of the above!

The Basco buckwheat pancake mix is great.
You can buy gluten free bread but I am sure your friend will know which ones she likes. Some are truly awful.
The health food section of the supermarket have brown rice/seaweed crackers that are actually tasty too.

If your friend has been intolerant of these things for some time, she will know what meals are suitable and what to buy in the shops, so maybe go shopping together and she can suggest meals or help out in the kitchen too.

:chef:

[WorkingClassMum]

Wheatfree can be a little tricky at first - just read everything

There is a lot of items in the healthfood section of Safeways/Coles.

Just remeber, all natural state items - meat, fruit & vegies are fine.

Corn Based Polenta is good for rolling hamburgers in, and goes great in Chicken Soup

Corn Based corn flour for graveys, sauces and thickening - in the normal cooking aisle

There are a lot of breads available - watch out for "Bakers Flour"

Remember "intolerent" has a little more leaway that "allergic". You won't kill her, but you'll make her uncomfortable

Your guest can probably best advise you what she does and doesn't eat - so only get enough of what you think for the first couple of days, then go shopping fairly early in the visit

Check if she wants you to get a cheap second toaster - my kids have their own toaster and a bread board

Get her her own butter as crumbs in the butter cause cross contaimination - I use Nuttlex for my kids

Watch out for Jams that have wheat based glucose. Safeway select seems to be good ATM

items/foods/ingredients to watch out for

maltodextrin
wheat based glucose
Bakers Flour
malt
malt/white vinegar (balsamic is ok)
icing mixture
100's & 1000's

check out Coeliac websites

good luck

remember - iintolerences are an enforced lifestyle - they are not an illness.

[Butterflies&Hurricanes]

Thanks so much for the advice guys!
My friend is coming from the UK so unfortunately doesnt know the products here... but I am sure we'll make do.
I'm going shopping today so will try stock up on gluten free stock cubes and the like. I think its going to be a long shopping trip with all that label reading :laughing:
Wish me luck!!

[WorkingClassMum]

I use Massell Stock - cubes/liquid/powder. It can be a bit salty though