Wheat. What is it?
Wheat is one of the most widely used grains in the world. It is used in many food staples from bread, pasta, and crackers. To soup thickeners and condiment additives.
It’s Insanely Cheap
One bushel of wheat for example is $10-$25 (Depends on what kind and where you buy.) Currently, that same bushel is $7.
One bushel of wheat equals forty-two pounds of flour. Forty-two! That means Farmers get $0.06 for every pound of flour. They need $0.05 to break even. . .
The average price the customer pays after production, shipping, advertising, and distribution is $2.50 - $5.00 for five pounds in the USA.
we can bake 5-7 loaves of bread.
360 homemade crackers.
4 small and 2 big boxes of cereal.
All for less than $5.00
It’s Everywhere
You can find it in nearly everything.
Things to avoid include,
Bread
Crackers
Cereal
Pasta
Alcohol - Beer, Whiskey
Canned Soups and Gravy
Baked Goods - Think Cookies and Cakes
Condiments - Premade/Store bought Barbecue, Marinades, Oyster Sauce, Etc. . .
To my horror - Soy Sauce
Be sure to check your LABELS!
It’s Not The End Of The World
It makes sense why we have it in nearly everything we eat. It’s cheap, tasty, and versatile.
I hold zero resentment toward the rest of the world for eating literal poison (For me and others like me.).
Finding out I have an allergy to this widely used plant, is harder at first glance than you’d think. But there is hope and a ton of options!
What To Eat Instead
My favorite part of this journey is, discovering all the different things I can eat!
Pasta
Yes, my wonderful readers, we can still have pasta.
Just not the ones made with wheat. Look for labels that say or contain,
Gluten-Free (90% of Gluten-containing products are made with wheat. If it’s Gluten-Free it’s Wheat-Free.)
Rice Flour/Rice/Brown Rice
Tapioca
Chickpea
Corn/Corn Flour
Pea Flour
Nut Flours - This does not apply to me or others with a Nut Allergy. I added this as an option for others, who are not allergic to Nuts.
Note: Please be careful if you have a Nut allergy. Most alternative gluten-free and wheat-free flours and mixes are made with Nut flours like Almond. Check Your Labels!
My favorite Brands are usually made from a rice and corn flour blend. It’s the closest texture profile I’ve found so far.
Chickpea tends to have a grainy gritty texture and I find that unpleasant. But if you like that it may be the product for you.
Baked Goods
I haven’t explored this much. But I have found a premade cookie that is made free of gluten and nuts! I can’t cover much on this because of my Nut allergy. But now there is hope for I found it in a cookie!
The same applies here for pasta, look for the wheat alternative ingredients!
Alcohol
For my drinkers, yes you can still have Alcohol. Just not the wheat-based ones. Find,
Wine - usually made from grapes or fruits.
Brandy
Gin
Vodka
Rum
mezcal
These alternatives have been around just as long as wheat. Swap for one of the above.
Canned Soups, Gravy, and Condiments
Look for gluten-free labels when buying premade or canned goods. This is harder to find brand alternatives for. It’s easier to make your own for most gravy and condiment swaps.
Gravy and soup base thickeners are made with flour. So are condiment thickeners.
Corn starch/Corn Flour Slurry - If you need a thickener, swap for this. It’s cheap to buy and easy to make.
Opt for Tamari sauce or Soy sauce made with actual soybean. Many American soy sauces are made with wheat as a cost-saving alternative. Despite the name on the front.
I love Asian flavors and since most of those are made with wheat-based soy I’ve found this one particularly difficult premade. But if I make my own it’s really easy! And cheaper as it turns out.
The soybean tamari sauce also tastes way better than the fake wheat-based stuff. Win-win!
Bread, Crackers, Cereal
Bread is impossible, you’d have to bake your own with wheat-free flour to even think about having any. So I’ve opted out completely.
Instead, I’ve swapped my bread for,
Rice - My favorite is white with melted butter on top!
Yellow/Golden Potatoes - Bake them, Microwave them, boil them, Mash them, season with herbs, salt, pepper, and cover them in butter ya’ll. I love the verity.
Burger night? - If you're like me you have family who still eat normally. An easy swap is to request just the burger and a slice of cheese on top. For a side quickly microwave a small potato or eat fries if there are some already. Burgers are still tasty bread or no bread.
Quinoa - Not my favorite but many people love this stuff!
For cereal and crackers, you simply need to use and or look for wheat-free flour as base ingredients. As well as Gluten-Free labels.
I don’t eat cereals or crackers, As such I don’t have many recommendations.
Meat
All meat is wheat-free! No changes here readers! We can still enjoy,
Beef
Chicken
Pork
Seafood
Lamb
Really any animal meat you can think of.
Be wary of Fake Meat, there are many long lists for every single brand. It would not surprise me if a brand used wheat as a binder.
I say this because the longer the ingredient list the harder it is to tell what an ingredient is.
If you are unsure do not buy.
A good rule of thumb for any product is if I have to look up more than five ingredients it’s probably not good for me to eat anyway.
Fruit and Vegetables
Still safe ya’ll! Besides grains fruit and vegetables are still good for us to eat,
Fruit Berries - Strawberry, Blueberry, Raspberry, Blackberry, Goji Berry, Etc. . .
Tree Fruit - Orange, Apple, Peache, Pear, Plum, Avocado, Olive, Pineapple, Grapes, Etc. . .
Vegetable Roots - Potatoes, Carrots, Rutabega, Turnips, Garlic, Ginger, Etc. . .
Vegetable Leafy - Think all salad blends, Kale, Mustard Greens, Collards Etc. . .
Vegetable Brassica - Brussel Sprouts, Cauliflower, Broccoli Etc. . .
Nuts
Again I only include this for my None-Nut Allergy Readers,
You can still enjoy your nuts,
Peanuts
Almonds
Cashews
Walnuts
Pecan
Etc. . .
You Can Still Eat Good Food
As I end this I hope you now have the knowledge to keep eating without fear.
We have access to so many new foods.
I’d never have tried rice noodles if I didn’t have this allergy.
I’ve found Rice Spaghetti Pasta tastes the same as the wheat kind.
I don’t like Chickpea Pasta, but I still like hummus.
Butter makes everything better.
Rice cookers are a time saver.
Editing isn’t bad or embarrassing, many people will gladly help if you have an allergy.
Keep it up.
I know you got this!
Lucky me, I don't have a sensitivity to gluten. I read your post anyway because I know so many people who do. I found it so uplifting and encouraging. Life is not over without wheat. [I kind of thought it was.] This will also help me next week when I have a friend who is gluten intolerant arriving for a visit.