Not all Worcestershire sauces are gluten free, but Lea & Perrins is! Well, at least in the US it is. I've heard that in Canada it has malt vinegar in it. So, as long as you're in the US, feel at ease and reach for that beautifully paper-wrapped goodness! :D
... does wonders!
I have read in a few places about not knowing what to keep stocked in a food-intolerant-free kitchen (I say kitchen instead of pantry as there are several non-pantry items that I almost always have on hand to be able to whip up a quick meal in minutes). So, I thought I'd post what I personally always keep in-stock - with backups. I'll also link to any blog posts that I have on the items so you'll have my review and probably a link to the product website. I'm sure this list is bound to change with time as I discover new things, so I'll update it. I'll be sure to keep an updated date so you'll know how recent it is! So, here we go ...
Baking Items/Flours:
White Rice Flour
Brown Rice Flour
Sweet Rice Flour
Tapioca Starch
Corn Starch
Xanthum or Gar Gum
Buckwheat Flour
Millet Flour
Sorghum Flour
Flaxseed Meal
Almond Meal
Coconut Flour
GF Oat Flour
GF Rolled Oats
Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips
Slivered/Sliced Almonds
Chopped Pecans
Peanuts
Shredded Coconut
Cocoa Powder
Spectrum Shortening
Baking Powder
Baking Soda
Pantry Items:
Canned Corn
Canned Carrots
Canned Green Beans
Canned Black Beans
Canned Pinto Beans
Canned Garbanzo Beans (also known as Chickpeas)
Diced Tomatoes
Tomato Sauce
Tomato Paste
Tomato Puree
Canned Tuna
Pureed Pumpkin
Canned Minced Clams
Clam Juice
Bushs Vegetarian Baked Beans
Hormel Corned Beef Hash (for a super quick, safe meal in a pinch)
Dinty Moore Beef Stew (ditto)
Orville Redenbachers Natural Popcorn - Simply Salted, 50% Reduced Fat
Masaman and Panang Curry Paste
Kitchen Basics Chicken and Beef Stock
GF Pasta
Jasmine Rice
Smuckers Natural Peanut Butter - Crunchy
Garden of Eden Black Bean Tortilla Chips
Wavy Lays Potato Chips
Sunsweet Cherry Essence Prunes
Stretch Island Fruit Leathers
Amy's Black Bean Vegetable Soup
Cocoa Pebbles, Fruit Pebbles, Rice Chex and/or Trix Cereal
Imagine Brand Soups (mainly creamy tomato and/or creamy mushroom)
Dairy-Like Items:
Hemp-Nut Milk
Almond Milk
Coconut Milk
Coconut Cream
Rice Milk
Yogurt - made with Coconut Milk
Frozen:
Alexia French Fries
Ice Cream - made with Coconut Milk
PJ's Chicken Tamale Meal (for a super quick, safe meal in a pinch)
Ian's Natural Frozen Foods - Popcorn Turkey Corn Dogs, Chicken Nuggets and/or Fish Sticks (Ditto)
Spices:
Adobo Powder
Cinnamon
Cumin
Chili Powder
Dry Mustard
Sesame Seeds
Italian Seasoning
Poultry Seasoning
Cloves
Nutmeg
Ginger
Rosemary
Thyme
Basil
Parsley
Garlic
Onion
Extracts (Vanilla, Coconut, Almond, Peppermint, etc)
Kosher Salt
Finely Ground Sea Salt
Pepper Mill
Condiments/Sauces:
Lemonaise
Heintz Ketchup
Frenches Mustard
Dill Relish
Sweet Relish
Oyster Sauce
Texas Pete Hot Sauce
Texas Pete Cocktail Sauce
Corn Oil
Olive Oil
Grapeseed Oil
Coconut Oil
Liquid Smoke
Goya Marinade
Lemon Juice
Lime Juice
Worcestershire sauce
Sesame Oil, Toasted is preferred
Fresh Produce(of course, some of these vary by season and by what I'm making that week, but these are HEAVILY rotated in my kitchen:
Zucchini
Roma Tomatoes
Lettuce - Romaine or Green Leaf
English Cucumber
Cilantro
Strawberries
Blueberries
Raspberries
Avocados
Bananas
Asparagus
Kale
Spinach
Carrots
Pineapple
Apples
Oranges
Mangoes
Mushrooms
Meats (Ditto Above):
Ground Meat - Beef or Turkey (I don't care for ground chicken)
Bacon - Beef or Turkey
Sausage - Beef, Turkey or Chicken
Eggs
Egg Whites
Lunch meat (usually smoked turkey, occasionally roast beef)
Hormel Turkey Pepperoni
Finally! A popcorn that I can actually eat! :D I love popcorn. On a plane, on a train, in a box, with a fox ... hahaha ...
Anyway, like I said, I've always loved popcorn. In fact, it was my go-to snack back on Weight Watchers . But, when I went GDSYWP-free, couldn't find one that was both dairy and soy free. Urg.
Until now! Orville Redenbacher came out with a "Naturals" line of popcorn and their Simply Salted flavor is both dairy and soy free! The ingredients are: Popping Corn, Palm Oil, Salt, Mixed Tocopherols (for Freshness). I'm not exactly sure what a Tocopherol is, but hey, no dairy, no soy, no gluten, (or yeast, walnuts or pork, for that matter! ;) ) so I guess I can't complain too much! And, it's delicious to boot! It's just sweet enough that you don't really miss the butter, but not so greasy to leave that film in your mouth! This is definitely going to become a new constant in my kitchen! :D
EDIT: In my excitement, I forgot to mention that while this is soy protein free, it is not completely soy free. It contains a form of vitamin E called Mixed Tocopherols which is usually derived from soy. As I am only soy protein free, I am able to consume this derivative of soy (as well as soy oil and soy lecithin), but if you are avoiding all soy or are highly allergic, please stay away from this product.
I discovered these chips back when I was on Weight Watchers. They had a decent amount of fiber in them, so they were lower points than some of the other tortilla chip options. They are still a constant in my kitchen though. I love them! They are flavorful, stay nice and crunchy and are sturdy enough for my dips. They're great with soup, with sandwiches, with salsa (of course), alone, or with my yummy guacamole (I will share the recipe to that with you tomorrow!).
Even before going GDSYWP free, Kitchen Basics was my favorite stock brand. Now, knowing what I do about ingredients and the useless stuff companies add to their processed foods, I love this stuff even more! It is not only a constant in my kitchen, but a MUST. It is not unusual for me to buy 2-3 of these at a time. My favorite is the chicken stock (mostly for its versatility), but the others are tasty, too. If I can't find this brand, I go without, that's just how awesome it is!
On their website, as of today, Kitchen Basics says that their "formula contains NO *milk, *eggs, *peanuts,*glutens (wheat, oats, rye, barley), soy, tree nuts, fish, shellfish or corn. We test for cross contamination of peanuts, milk, eggs & glutens at 5 parts per million in all production runs."
Woo hoo ... just plain 'ole delicious stock here, naturally GDSYWP free! This will continue to be a MUST in my kitchen!
For as long as I can remember, I have *always* been a potato chip fan. I like 'em, I love 'em, I want some more of 'em, I try so hard, I can't rise above them ...
Okay, sorry ... anyway. I grew up snacking on Ruffles with French Onion chip dip (Yes, you can see that my parents were only into the healthiest of foods for their growing daughter... thanks Pop!). When I went GDSYWP-free, I was just so thankful that potatoes were still okay for me to have. I will eat a potato just about anyway you make it ... baked potatoes, julienne fries, wedge fries, shoe-string fries, mashed potatoes, mashed potatoes with gravy, grilled potatoes, home fries, hash browns, and, of course, potato chips!
My current favorite potato chip, and another constant in my kitchen, is Regular Wavy Lays from Frito-Lay.
They are much less greasy than my childhood staple Ruffles, but still have that delicious potato-y, just-salty-enough flavor and wonderful crunch. And, I love the ingredients list: potatoes, sunflower and/or corn oil and salt. That's it! 3 plain, normal things make these beauties. Don't you just love it when life is simple?
And, as brought to my attention by J.J. over at Giving up the Gluten, Frito-Lay is a friend to us food-intolerant people! They have an entire list of ingredient concerns and their products. They seem to be wonderfully educated about gluten, soy, dairy, casein, egg, onion, nuts and other intolerances! I was pleasantly surprised at their knowledge and desire to help educate their consumers!
Okay, my mouth is seriously watering now ... must go find my bag of Wavy Lays ... like ... now ...
I think it's time we had a non-dessert post, right?
Today, I am going to share with you one of my all-time favorite GDSYWP-free soups: Organic Black Bean Vegetable Soup by Amy's Kitchen.
This soup is high in fiber (10 grams for the whole can) and low in fat (3 grams for the whole can). And, it is one of the tastiest soups I have ever had (and I'm a big soup person!).
This soup is a constant in my kitchen - it makes a great quick lunch when paired with a sandwich wrap, the frozen Chicken Tamale Meal that I talked about before, or even just by itself!
As an added bonus, I usually can find it in the health-food or organic section of the "regular" grocery store, making it easily accessible when traveling.
As Rachel Ray would say, "Yum-O"!
I have never been a big dried fruit person, but since going GDSYWP-free, I have really been lacking in the fiber department. I knew that prunes had a decent amount of fiber, so I decided to try some. When I saw Cherry Essence Prunes by Sunsweet, I figured that I'd give them a try. Boy, am I glad that I did. Like I said, I've never had prunes before this, but had always heard that they were dry and tasted bad. Not with these! They are SO moist and really do taste like cherries! I enjoy munching on these as a part of my breakfast, as a mid-afternoon snack, even as my after-dinner dessert! I even have a very special use for them that I will share later in the week! I keep them in the house all the time. They actually refrigerate pretty well and last a while in there. As a bonus, I was able to find these at my local "regular" grocery store - that always makes life a bit easier.
So, there is no need to be afraid - give these prunes a try!
Another staple that Hubby and I always have in the house is Frozen French Fries by Alexia Foods. Like Fruit Leathers, this is also a previous-life-low-Weight-Watchers-points-favorite. Over the years, we have tried every kind we can get our hands on (except the Sweet Potato variety as I don't like sweet potatos). While they make 8 different varieties that are all organic, but only 4 are GDSYWP-free. The other 4 have dairy and/or yeast in them.
The Yukon Gold Julienne is probably our favorite, but the other safe options are the Olive Oil & Sea Salt Oven Fries, Olive Oil, Rosemary & Garlic Oven Fries and the Sweet Potato Julienne Fries. Again, I can't vouch for the Sweet Potato Julienne Fries, but the other 3 safe types are DELISH (and, actually, from my pre-food-lifestyle-change, I know the Olive Oil, Parmesan & Roasted Garlic Oven Reds are too!).
With a GDSYWP-free diet, the idea of "fast food" or "convenient food" really goes out the window. There are very few places at which I can get a safe meal. So, I generally try to always have leftovers to take for lunch, to take with me when I'm going over to someones house, or just to have on hand for any other surprise situation.
There are several products that are "constants" in my kitchen. I try to always keep in the house just in case I don't have any leftovers in the fridge to eat. Today I am going to share 2 with you.
One is PJ's Chicken Tamale Meal frozen entrée.
All I can say is Yum, Yum, YUM!
I just LOVE this meal, which is saying a lot considering that I am not a huge fan of tamales. I mean, they're okay, but the ones I've had usually have a TON of cornmeal, just a bit of meat and the meat is usually really dry or spicy. But not this one! It's just so good! The meat is not too spicy, is nice and moist and the tamale has a nice meat to cornmeal ratio.
The only bad thing I have to say is that there are A LOT of beans with this meal. I usually don't finish them all. I wish that they had some Spanish rice with the beans or 2 tamales and less beans, but hey, beggars can't be choosers, right? The flavor is great, the size is decent, and it's GDSYWP free! :D
Another item I like to have on hand (and what I usually eat with the wonderful Chicken Tamale Meal) is a wonderfully dairy free Creamy Tomato Soup by Imagine.
This soup is AMAZING. It is GDSYWP free but it is so creamy! I just LOVE it!
RUN, don't walk, to your nearest health food store to find these 2 products! It is SO worth it!
