gluten-free, dairy-free, peanut-free, tomatoe-potatoe free

[Diane Pinkers]

I have just been put on an anti-inflammatory diet with the above restrictions, to see if I have food allergies at the root of my weight gain. In 2 weeks, I have a 3 day backpacking trip, and EVERY MEAL that I had planned, is now off limits. Help!

I do freezer bag cooking, and I have Sarah's cookbook, as well as Laurel's. I've identified a few possible meals, but lunches seem to be the biggest problem. I had salami and cheese on those thin 100 calorie breads, peanut butter on tortillas, and a black bean dip on tortillas planned. Lunches are no-cook, so any suggestions you have for simple lunches with the above restrictions would be welcome.

No cheese! No peanuts! I feel almost like I've had a death in the family. How will I go on? I hate soy! Any alternative breads and cheese analogues recommendations would be helpful.

For breakfast, instead of oatmeal, I can substitute quinoa flaked cereal. I've always put milk powder and/or butter powder, brown sugar, wheat germ, dried fruits and nuts on it. I'm down to fruits and nuts; brown sugar isn't recommended, but I've got to have something. Any other suggestions for flavor for breakfast? Oh, yeah, I put cinnamon on it too.

The other part is, I live in the stix, and I'll have practically no time to hit the big city for shopping, where I know I can find some of what I need. So, on-line shopping sites would be good too.

[John Whynot]

I follow the Paleo Diet, which is similar to your diet. I don't eat quinoa, beans, or rice either.

I've gotten some good backcountry meal ideas from Heather Loves Paleo.

Can you use honey as a sweetener? How about Stevia?

There are non-peanut nut butters, you could use bananna chips (the non-sugared kind) to put the nut butter on. Don't forget about beef jerky, or pouch tuna and salmon.

[Sarah Kirkconnell]

You can get shelf stable pouches of non-dairy milks, as well you can get rice and soy dry milk powders that are vegan.

Think vegan and you will do well. There is still tons you can eat. We eat for the most part vegan at home and eat a pretty wide diet.

And on nut butters – you can get hazelnut, almond, cashew – even sunflower butter. So don't limit yourself!

On the brown sugar, you like molasses? Maple syrup? Both are excellent on breakfast items.

Do yourself a big favor and start reading vegan cookbooks – seriously! They will inspire you (I might add that a lot of what I cook at home is easily doable on trail)

Also…I drink almond milk at home, not soy. Taste is WAY better. And on butter? Get Earth Balance buttery sticks if you can source them. Vegan baby!

[Diane Pinkers]

Will this stuff be ok on the trail, without refrigeration? Mind you, the Dosewallips on Memorial Day may not be much above refrigerator temp, the way this spring is going! I've had bad luck with margarine type stuff without refrigeration.

Oh, my goodness, vegan–please just kill me now. My niece is trying vegan, and that was the nastiest birthday dinner ever. Meat is not off the list, fortunately. But I take your meaning, those products will be dairy free.

[Rick Dreher]

Ugh. All beer diet?

For lunches, maybe tinned or vacuum packed fish and rice crackers for protein and carbs? I don't understand the whole gluten thing, so don't know whether it's just wheat gluten that's verboten or if rice gluten is too. Is oatmeal out because of gluten, also? Nuts have been suggested and I'll second them as a great protein and fat source. Can't you still take salami and jerky and that sort of thing? No gluten or dairy there. Maybe rice-based dinners instead of spuds. Don't overlook rice noodles. Soba are buckwheat, which may qualify, or not (heck if I know).

Good luck, that's a pretty complicated task.

Rick

[Diane Pinkers]

Nope, no beer, it has gluten. Which is not a big deal for me; it would *kill* my boyfriend.

Yes, salami, jerky, meat, all those things are available. It's just that I have milk powder or cheese or some sort of dairy in everything. So that's the sticky part for me. And, no tortillas, of course.

Corn tortillas—I don't eat those much, simply because they never seem to fold without tearing. Is there a brand I should look for? I've seen rice based tortillas, so I'm going to try to get some of those, anybody with any recommendations for brands? My naturopath suggested using nori as a wrap, but I'm not too sure about that.

[Sarah Kirkconnell]

Diane,
It does well but is softer to start off with due to having no hydrogenated fats.

Vegan eating is like any kind of eating – if done right you will think it is heaven. If done wrong you will be gagging. I don't normally use any of the nasty meat subs (most are pretty gross ingredient wise and have hidden gluten as well). We eat really well now ;-)

I am avoiding exposing Walker to peanuts for a couple more months so he eats things like almond milk chocolate pudding (you can make this on trail!), sunflower butter chocolate shakes….even Walker's birthday cake was vegan (so was mine and my brother's this year!) and no one knows unless I tells them :-D Weeeee! (Yes I have way too much fun – go see my personal blog for the crazy stuff – gazingin.com )

[Sarah Kirkconnell]

Buckwheat should be OK even for a GF diet. It isn't wheat. It is though an adapted taste to say the least! Very rustic and hearty…..

[Diane Pinkers]

Sarah, can you recommend a dairy-free cheese that isn't soy?

[j lan]

Brown rice tortillas taste the best! Also instant hummus, sunflower seed butter and there are some rice cheeses out there. Tahini is your friend too.

Good luck!

[Diane Pinkers]

Thanks, James, I'd forgotten about tahini. That might add some flavor to various dishes.

This couldn't have come at a worse time for me, this is probably the most stressful 2 weeks I've had ahead of me for a long time. The major damage is that I have *no* time to go to the big city and shop. I'm starting to calm down a little bit about it, but I've never pictured myself being an alternative diet sort of person. Food is a religion in my family, but then that's why all of my family are quite overweight. If it turns out that part of the problem has been food allergies all along, well, won't that just be ironic.

I keep telling myself, this could have been worse–you could have been trying this 20 years ago, before there was a big selection available if you could only get your hands on it!

[Bob Bankhead]

Simplest solution = put off the trip until after the 2 week trial is over.

Know before you go.

No need to stress over this.

[Diane Pinkers]

Oh, no, this backpacking trip will be my first one of the season, and I've been looking forward to it to get me through these 2 weeks. The answer is out there, I'm working on it.

Many folks on here eat alternative diets, I just knew that someone has worked on the problem before, and would have suggestions. Why re-invent the wheel?

[Sarah Kirkconnell]

I'll be upfront about it…I don't eat a lot of faux cheese – Kirk hates the stuff :-D

But! There are some good ones out there – the hemp based ones can be good. There is one natural food store I go to that does samples of the fake stuff at times so I do that for trying. I also like nut based ones.

But…for using the faux cheeses I usually just slice and eat – or add to a sammie, etc. They don't have that meltability without casein added.

[Anonymous]

"Buckwheat should be OK even for a GF diet. It isn't wheat. It is though an adapted taste to say the least! Very rustic and hearty….."

+1

It is one of the most nutritious "grains" available. Excellent protein content.

As Sarah said, it is not exactly an acquired taste. Try it at home first. For me, it was love at first taste, but then it was love at first for Durian, too. ;)

[Brian UL]

If you are trying for an anti-inflammatory diet not just gluten free, right?
That means no excess omega -6 oils. In other words no sugar,grains,legumes or nut oils. Grains are garbage nutrition wise compared to the most pedestrian vegetable and meat scrap anyways.
You should look at what foods are anti-inflammatory- namely saturated and monounsaturated fats. I like coconut oil melted in dark chocolate(70-85% pure cocoa) Eating one of those makes you feel like a million bucks when your worn out and tired. I love carrots for some crunch. You need to embrace your vegetables, butter, and jerkys. It takes some creativity but when your taste buds come back after abstaining from mono-crop food products you will never go back.
heres some reading that many inspire you :
http://wholehealthsource.blogspot.com/2011/04/us-omega-6-and-omega-3-fat-consumption.html

http://coolinginflammation.blogspot.com/search/label/anti-inflammatory%20diet

[BlackHatGuy]

"It's just that I have milk powder or cheese or some sort of dairy in everything."

What about powdered goat milk? Is that still considered dairy? If not, I can send you some to try, I get it at my local organic grocery store.

Also, what about molasses as a sweetener? Or agave syrup?

And nori is fine as a wrap – for short periods!

And Liz Lovely cookies! Some are gluten free!

And Manitoba Harvest makes a good hemp seed nut butter for spreading.

[Jason Elsworth]

I follow a wheat and sugar free diet. I really like almond butter and it packs in the calories. Jerky is great way to get protein during the day. You should be able to find some decent GF crackers. For diners I have been using buckwheat (bring to the boil and then put in a pot cozy for 15 mins) or noodles made from beans. To this I add olive oil and salami. I think buckwheat is a seed rather than a grain. I liked the taste from the start, but I do find that if you eat anything a few times you can at least learn to tolerate it and hunger is a great seasoning.

[Diane Pinkers]

"In other words no sugar,grains,legumes or nut oils. "

Not that strict, apparently, Brian, at least not for now. Definitely legumes and nut butters are on the menu, and grains that are gluten-free are ok. I'm not sure how specifically anti-sugar I'm supposed to be (other than too much sugar isn't good for you anyhow). Coconut oil melted in dark chocolate, mmmm, where do I find that?

I'm pretty sure goat's milk is considered dairy, at least for now, Doug. But I'll hang onto that recommendation, because who knows how this is going to turn out? I've got six weeks and counting, then we'll evaluate.

[BlackHatGuy]

"or noodles made from beans."

I've got some gluten-free, organic mung bean fettucine that's pretty good. Same company also makes an interesting black bean spaghetti. You can find them here.

[Brian UL]

"Coconut oil melted in dark chocolate, mmmm, where do I find that?"
Youll have to make it. try this:
1 can full fat coconut milk
2 tablespoons coconut oil
I 500 gram bar of dark chocolate.
– heat oil and milk to a low boil -remove from heat.
– stir in chocolate until melted.
– let cool in fridge for a few hours.
– when cooled form into bars or balls and wrap in wax paper, store in zip locks. or store in screw top containers.
heat sensitive. Ad nuts if you like.

[BlackHatGuy]

How big a bar of chocolate?

[Brian UL]

500 gram -giant trader Joes one. Sorry.

[Sarah Kirkconnell]

If you haven't seen this brand, check them out!
http://www.premierorganics.org/
They even make packets now….swoon! Anyhow you can find their products at Whole Foods and PCC here in Washington. YUUUUUUMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!

[Kattt]

Diane, I encourage you to look into the "thermal nature" of foods, which is one of the ways the Chinese classify food. According to those principles, some of what has been recommended here has a "warming nature", which you may not want, if you are looking for meals that are anti inflammatory. I know a couple of fellow backpackers with Gout, which is an inflammation, and the same principles would be helpful to them. The thermal nature of food can also be changed by how it is cooked…..
Good thing you weren't looking for anti "inflammatory" on Chaff…..

[Author]

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