I know, I feel for him too - I have diet limitations too and I really, REALLY miss some of the things I'm not allowed to have anymore! (Coffee...oh how I miss coffee.)

DH is actually in pretty good spirits about it, though. He was worried that something really BAD was wrong with him but finally went to the doc after months of misery and stress (typical man) and found out it's not cancer or anything really horrible and he can fix it with diet. He already feels a lot better on this new diet after just a couple weeks, so he's actually pretty okay with giving up a lot of favorites in exchange for feeling better. He still misses stuff of course, but it doesn't seem to really bother him. :) I honestly think he has a worse time cutting back on sugar than gluten as far as cravings go, but he's still allowed SOME sugar so that's OK too. His palate will adjust, just like it did a few years ago when I cut us both back on our sodium intake! Now so many things I used to like are just tooo salty. Funny how that works!

Thanks for the tips on Xanthan gum...I've seen it listed in ingredients but had no idea it would help with the crumbling issue with gluten-free stuff! I will have to read up on that. You guys are awesome!

The thing I gave up when I first started was koolaid. Who would have thought it had wheat in it? We actually enjoy the gluten free life. It isn't really much of an issue. We have to cut out corn and soy as well due to intolerance issues. Those are much harder than the gluten. It seems there is corn starch and soy lecethin? in everything! I have had to go back to cooking completely from scratch. There are very few things I can buy all ready made.

I am wanting to try making my own barbeque sauce. I miss Cookie's BBQ sauce the most. I used to do BBQ ribs alot and loved them. but can't do that now.

You can still have yeast bread but you have to make it from scratch. I have seen baking mixes in the Gluten Free section. I just haven't tried them yet. I get Udi's hamburger buns and they taste pretty good. I don't like the crust so I cut that off but the bread in them is pretty good. I love it toasted the best.

I've been researching recipes and cooking GF for almost 2 yrs. I still don't have a great handle on baking with gluten free flours. I use an all purpose flour cause I just can't wrap my mind around mixing gf flours for the right consistency LOL

We started the second week of Sept 2012. We eat out alot but we only go to restaurants we know we have options to choose from. DH always gets steak and french fries. I get the smothered chicken comes with cheese and stir fried onions green peppers and mushrooms. Love it! I tend to get potatoes when we go out. I also like to get a steak at times or sometimes I get a bacon cheesburger with lettuce tomatoe and onion. Hold the bun. You can use the lettuce as a bun if the lettuce is big enough. It is different but it does work. I wrap it in a napkin to give it more stability but it tastes really good that way too.

One restaurant we go to have catfish and they will fry it without the flour if you ask. I have also gotten their huge deep fried taco without the taco. The meat and cheese and lettuce / tomato'/onion taste great eating it with a fork. I also love pork chops and will get that now and then.

Yes sometimes we cheat but not very often. I love Riverbend's lasagna and even tho I know I could make it gluten free at home I will get it at Riverbend. I've done that twice in the last year and a half.

It is possible to eat out but you do have to ask alot of questions and don't hesitate to ask. Most will be most happy to check for you.

BTW McDonald's uses a flavoring in their oil that has wheat in it. I found this on their gluten free menu online.

I'm trying to come up with vegetable dishes we could use. so if you have any ideas here that would be great!

Rhonda Your husband is going to have the healthiest diet on the planet and live to be 110 ! I am a gluten free vegan. My craving for sweets is gone. And that happened quickly. There are so many gluten free vegan/vegetarian recipes, you can try something different every day, My favorite sites are fatfreevegan, savvyvegetarian, glutenfreevegangirl, veganrunnereats. Today a lot of restaurants have gluten free options. Then you have to find veggie options, I have found restaurants where I can order the meat dish without the meat and ask for extra veggies. By now you know about Bob'sMill gf flours. I like tinkyada brown rice pasta because it doesn't turn into mush. Feel free to message me for more info since this is a fav topic of mine. I only do sweets for family get togethers. I like quick and easy meals.
Oh yes I could eat dairy after I was gluten free about a year, but now I am dairy free by choice. I use unsweetened almond milk. See godairyfree.com. This gf stuff becomes second nature after a bit and I don't feel depried at all.
Rita

for sweets, how about dried fruits? I don't know if anything is added to them that he can't have, but there are raisins, prunes, cherries, cranberries, bananas, apples, apricots, dates, figs - - -

They are quite high in calories, but ounce for ounce, probably not much worse than a candy bar.

You gotta see these
http://allglutenfreedesserts.com/top...ke-pound-cake/

My nutritionist likes me to stay away from sugar and gluten. My favorite snacks are almonds and cheese sticks. If I really need a bit of sweetness, a tablespoon of peanut butter does the trick.

It's hard at first but I've found that the more you learn to just not eat things that are bad for you rather than try to find lame substitutes, the better off you are. Sugar is a hard one to break and the first few weeks are the worst. After that, it's a piece of cake. I no longer have sugar cravings and can eat something sweet once without having to have more.

Just sort of struck me funny - seeing as that's what one is trying to avoid. :)

So happy to see this "thread". My daughter recently put herself on a gluten free diet and is feeling better. However, she craves bread. Even dreams that she is eating it. Thanks for the info.

LOL. I didn't even think of that!

I had a lot of trouble giving up bread and pasta at first. But after a few months I really didn't notice it that much. I rarely eat either bread or pasta now and it doesn't bother me in the least.