Seriously- what the hell do gluten free people eat?

jenna8984

I'm frantically trying to figure out my "rehearsal" dinner for this Friday. There's no rehearsal but since my parents are flying in, we want to have a dinner with them, my brother's family, and future in laws. My brother's wife doesn't mind having it at her house or we can go to a restaurant.

My parents grew up here (New England) and they LOVE seafood. They live in an area where they cannot get fresh seafood, so they've told me they would prefer to get lobsters and steamers and make them rather than go to a restaurant. And they are cheap so they would never allow me to pay $30 for them to get a lobster tail at a restaurant when they can have a whole one for $8 at home.

FMIL has celiac and also doesn't like lobster so I'm losing my mind with what to serve her? I asked her and she said "as long as I have vegetables I'll be fine" but I am not going to have her sitting there eating a bowl of plain vegetables for dinner. I thought lasagna- nope, noodles. I thought rotisserie chicken- nope because the seasoning they put on it usually has gluten. I thought a burger- nope, bun. Pizza- nope, crust. What can I make besides like a plain chicken breast? FI thinks a restaurant would be easier for her to chose her own but like I said the other 9 of us want lobster at home so I don't really want to change that just for her.

luckya23

My SO's parents are mostly GF (not celiac) as are two of his aunts, and we usually have chicken and potatoes and a veggie.  The one aunt often just has a plain veggie burger.

lurkergirl

Could you do any other seafood, like scallops or fish?  What about a home-made roasted chicken, so you can control the seasonings?

penguin44

Are you serving sides with the lobster? Potatoes, corn, green beans. Some sort of vegetable.

Our family always serves something besides seafood when that is the main course so people that don't like it can have something else. That could be chicken or surf and turf.

KnightsNurse

I'm 100% with you. It sounds SO HARD. People who do it out of freewill with no allergy or disease process really baffle me. I love bread way too freaking much to do that. I have a severe egg allergy and I'll take that any day over gluten. As far as what to make, if you want to stick with lasagna, they make gluten free noodles that are actually pretty good

cupcait927

You should be able to find lots of inspiration here  FILs follow the Paleo diet so there's not a whole lot of gluten in that house. They eat a lot of meat and veggies, which I find boring. The trick is to mix it up and think outside the box. Meat and veggies can be incredibly yummy, just depends on the combination and the spices/sauces/etc used.

lurkergirl

penguin44 said:

Are you serving sides with the lobster? Potatoes, corn, green beans. Some sort of vegetable.

Our family always serves something besides seafood when that is the main course so people that don't like it can have something else. That could be chicken or surf and turf.

Oh, I really like the surf and turf idea.  Does FMIL like steak?

theartistformerlyknownas

She could have a burger on a lettuce wrap instead of a bun, or just buy gluten free rolls. You could make lasagna out of strips of zucchini or eggplant, or just buy gluten free noodles. Spaghetti squash with pesto sauce. Homemade roast chicken (You can do a whole one in the crock pot and just brown the skin in the oven.) Another kind of seafood. Or just have her meal provided by a restaurant and have someone pick it up. 

climbingsingle

Steak 

Salmon or another type of fish

Or they can do a plain chicken breast. That shouldn't be hard.

Salad 

JCbride2015

Nothing wrong with plan chicken breast and veggies-- I eat that all the time for dinner!

JaxInBlue

DH has a gluten allergy.  It's honestly not as hard as it sounds to navigate.  We substitute corn or rice pasta for regular pasta in dishes.  We eat a lot more quinoa and brown rice than we did before he was diagnosed.  His GF bread is less than thrilling but it works for him.  And there are a lot of seasonings that are GF or that you can make yourself at home to keep GF.

I like the idea of doing surf and turf - steak, lobster, potatoes, green beans are all "safe" as long as your seasoning is okay.  Add a big salad if you want to give her more options.

I think you'll be good - it's easier than you think!

beethery

jenna8984 said:

I'm frantically trying to figure out my "rehearsal" dinner for this Friday. There's no rehearsal but since my parents are flying in, we want to have a dinner with them, my brother's family, and future in laws. My brother's wife doesn't mind having it at her house or we can go to a restaurant.

My parents grew up here (New England) and they LOVE seafood. They live in an area where they cannot get fresh seafood, so they've told me they would prefer to get lobsters and steamers and make them rather than go to a restaurant. And they are cheap so they would never allow me to pay $30 for them to get a lobster tail at a restaurant when they can have a whole one for $8 at home.

FMIL has celiac and also doesn't like lobster so I'm losing my mind with what to serve her? I asked her and she said "as long as I have vegetables I'll be fine" but I am not going to have her sitting there eating a bowl of plain vegetables for dinner. I thought lasagna- nope, noodles. I thought rotisserie chicken- nope because the seasoning they put on it usually has gluten. I thought a burger- nope, bun. Pizza- nope, crust. What can I make besides like a plain chicken breast? FI thinks a restaurant would be easier for her to chose her own but like I said the other 9 of us want lobster at home so I don't really want to change that just for her.

Whenever my GF friend comes over, I make steaks, chicken with a homemade marinade, and one time I made GF pizza dough. If we don't do pizza, I'll make some kind of mashed or baked potatoes or rice, and a couple of different kinds of vegetables, and a GF dessert. I got a box of bob's red mill GF brownies and while they looked kinda weird, they were actually REALLY good. Also, betty crocker has come a long way with the GF stuff and has turned it out.

Focus less on what you can't make, and more on what you can. You'll find it a LOT easier to figure out that way.

afox007

Lolo beat me to it! I was going to suggest making a lasagna still but replacing the noodles with eggplant slices. FSS is a super picky water and has yet to realize there is not a single noodle in my lasagna.

jenna8984

Thanks everyone!! FMIL & brother's wife don't eat any type of fish so I can't get another kind, and I've never seen either of them eat steak. So I guess roast chicken with potatoes is a good call since I don't know how to make eggplant lasagna. Well I could figure it out, but let's be honest lasagna takes way too much prep time just for two people to eat it. We will likely have corn on the cob and salad as well, so I can tell her to bring her own dressing if she has any?

JennyColada

Chocolate

Ice cream

You're welcome.

JCbride2015

jenna8984 said:

Thanks everyone!! FMIL & brother's wife don't eat any type of fish so I can't get another kind, and I've never seen either of them eat steak. So I guess roast chicken with potatoes is a good call since I don't know how to make eggplant lasagna. Well I could figure it out, but let's be honest lasagna takes way too much prep time just for two people to eat it. We will likely have corn on the cob and salad as well, so I can tell her to bring her own dressing if she has any?

I don't think you need to tell her to bring her own dressing.  Plain olive oil and vinegar should be fine.

Fran1985

Its really not hard at all to eat gluten free. Whole foods has great fresh gluten free spinach pasta. That with pesto is way, way better than any regular pasta I have had. You can find gluten free rolls at almost any supermarket now. I would do chicken with veggies, or steak. Whole foods is great at gluten free stuff if you have one nearby.

southernbelle0915

This will probably make me sound like a terrible person, but I was legitimately pissed when my church switched to ALL gluten free bread for communion. They used to have one line for the GF folks.

doeydo

There are GF buns out there (also, check out the burger itself because wheat crumbs are used a lot in them).  There is also GF crust, rice or corn noodles, chicken with different spices, steak, etc.  Don't use the pre-ground pepper, regular salt (stick to sea salt), or paprika.  Avoid anything that just says "cellulose" because you never know what that comes from.

CMGragain

My sister has celiac's.  No big deal.  Just avoid wheat flour.  Nothing breaded.  No pasta, unless it is specially made for GF.
I always wondered why my sister could eat a quart of ice cream, potato chips, onion dip, chocolate, and stay thin.  She feels so much better, now that she is GF.

jynxiie

I was eating paleo... Different but there are similar foods for sure.

We were only eating fruits, veggies and meat. Really filling but very expensive.
No grains, potatoes, dairy, processed anything...

lc07

I don't eat gluten and there's a million things to eat.

Rice

Potatoes

Corn Tortillas

All Veggies

All Fruit

Any non-processed Meat/Fish (most seasonings you purchase to season meat with yourself do not contain gluten - Just read the labels)

Any non-overly-processed dairy

And then they make just about everything non GF in a GF version (lasagna sheets - lasagna is super easy, by the way, noodles, bread, buns, flour, pizza crust etc.)

Tonight I had salmon tacos. I know you said she doesn't eat fish. Something else I make that is delicious and super easy/quick is ground turkey stuffed portabella mushrooms. I wash the portabellas and remove the stem, scrape the "gills" out with a spoon. pat dry. Cook ground turkey in a pan with onions, garlic, seasonings, add a tiny bit of marinara sauce. Scoop turkey mixture into the portabella mushroom cap, throw in the oven at 375 until the mushroom is cooked - I just wing it. Oh and with a little bit of cheese sprinkled on top. SUPER quick, easy, and delicious.

Risotto is also gluten free and you can throw any protein in there and some veg and it's delicious.

Basically, you need to cook and stay away from a lot of the processed crap but you can virtually make anything GF.

theartistformerlyknownas

Yeah I'd just throw a chicken in the oven and use the same sides for everyone else. Make a salad dressing with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Croutons on the side. Easy peasy.

larrygaga

Grill a piece of chicken or steak or something for her. 

wandajune6

Grill her a steak and serve it with whatever sides everyone else is having. Salad dressings are pretty easy too. Half of my company is GF (2 out of 4!) and we still go out to eat all the time. When FI and I hosted a dinner party we grilled steaks and served them with a compound butter, rice pilaf, grilled asparagus and a salad. Dessert was grilled peaches with vanilla ice cream. Don't stress so much!

levioosa

There are a ton of options for gluten free food.  And if you make a pesto sauce or sauce sans the flour, you can also just make her a side of gluten free noodles (they sell rice noodles at Trader Joe's, and honestly GF options are rampant right now in just about any grocery store).  Good luck!  

lyndausvi

I'm not GF, but it's not really that hard. Just grill up a steak or chicken. Then add sides of veggies with GF seasoning. Make enough for the non-GF people. I do not eat shellfish, so I would want the grilled meats also. ETA - you do not even have to single them out. Make it a cook out. Menu items include lobster, steamers, grilled meats, veggies (salad) and a GF starch. Simple and easy.

bahamabride2015

I'm GF and always offer to bring something I can eat so people don't have to worry about  this crap.