Celiacs

[FaeTora]

So I was going to go to this year's BM but my mothers health had to come first. I am planning for 2011 but found out 7 months ago that I have Celiac Disease (an autoimmune disorder) and can't have wheat, barley, rye or oats. I have come accustomed to what i can and can't eat at home but haven't been doing extensive camping since my diagnosis. I was just wondering if anyone on here has suggestions for gluten food while at BM.

I appreciate any help.

Yours Truly,

Fae

[teardropper]

There was a thread on this a while ago. How to find it.

[phil]

The real answer is that you must care for yourself. Many people come to Burning Man as they are, and they have a wonderful time.

You know your dietary needs, and it's up to you to take care of them, just as it is my responsibility to make sure my needs are met.

Check here for links to prepared gluten-free meals:
http://www.cieux.com/bm/quickMeals.html

Search the Web page for gluten.

[FaeTora]

First, I appreciate the link. I hadn't thought of pre-packaged meals as most things in a box are off limits to me.

Secondly, I know its my responsibility, hence the post. But gluten-free meals tend to be fairly labor intensive and require cooking. As I've been reading about others difficulties and experiences on the Playa, I realized for me this would take more prep time to figure out food and drinks (can't have anything that my friends will bring to share). I also know that experience triumphs over inexperience and thought maybe someone would have ideas I had not thought of (like the Quick Meals).

Thank you for your time and I will look into the Quick Meals!

Yours Truly,

Fae

[AntiM]

Using the search function with gluten brought up several threads. Here is one:

http://eplaya.burningman.org/viewtopic. ... ght=gluten

If you can have corn and rice, it seems as though you have some good options. I eat a ton of rice because I can't have potatoes. Hey, potatoes! I do know I have to decline many foods because I have sensitivities. It sucks, but you do what you can.

[Dork]

Anything that works well as a leftover will work well at BM. Whenever you cook something make an extra portion and toss it in the freezer. After a few days transfer that to the fridge. A couple of days later, reheat it on the stove (assuming it doesn't show any signs of having gone bad) and see how it tastes. If it passes the test, it's a good playa meal! Just bring one cooler with dry ice and another for normal ice. Prepare and freeze sufficient meals for the week and transfer them from the dry ice to the normal ice a day in advance.

Bring a little extra canned/dried food as a backup. It's only a week, so don't freak out too much!

[Bling]

Here's a repost that I had put in another thread. We don't eat wheat for other reasons than Celiac, but this might help you:

This is definitely not in time to help the original poster! But we have some interesting diet challenges, too--we pretty much eat low on the glycemic index, mostly avoid starchy carbs (wheat, corn, rice, potatoes...) and sugar, plus my daughter is a vegetarian (she eats dairy, eggs, and fish). Here's what we're thinking:

PROTEINS
-- Peanut butter & almond butter (in plastic jars)
-- Nuts
-- Beef (for us) and salmon (for her) jerky
-- Canned roast beef hash (yeah, some potatoes in there)
-- Canned chili
-- Lentil dal
-- Water-packed tuna in pouches
-- Hard salami
-- Canned tuna in olive oil
-- Deviled ham & chicken
-- Cheese
-- Eggs (mixed ahead, frozen in vacuum bags)
-- BACON!!!! (WE're not vegetarians )
-- White beans
-- Soy milk

PRODUCE
-- Apples (good with nut butter) & oranges
-- Sliced mango (vacuum sealed)
-- Coleslaw mix
-- Gazpacho (frozen & vacuum sealed)
-- Baby carrots & dip
-- Onions (pre-chopped and vacuum sealed)
-- Oil-cured olives
-- No sugar added fruit cups
-- Avocados

MISC
-- Blue cheese dressing (turns slaw into a yummy treat)
-- Nutella (~ healthier sweet stuff--which, like salty stuff, helps you drink enough. For the daughter.)
-- Canned hummus
-- Rice crackers (moderation...)
-- Coffee
-- Crystal Lite mix
-- Spices
-- Condiment packets: Mayo, ketchup, horseradish sauce...
-- Almond flour breakfast cookies (oatmeal, nuts, chocolate chips, Splenda, etc.)

We're planning eggs & bacon or breakfast cookies (no wheat in these) for breakfast (just eggs for the daughter), and then mostly grab-and-go or very simple one pot or one bowl foods--like mix chopped onion + tuna + mayo packets for tuna salad, or oil packed tuna + white beans + spices...

Should work.

We'll bring 2 coolers, one filled with frozen gallon jugs and dry ice and opened once/day (see dry ice thread), and the other with frozen gallon jugs and frozen vacuum sealed foods.

[phil]

But gluten-free meals tend to be fairly labor intensive and require cooking. As I've been reading about others difficulties and experiences on the Playa, I realized for me this would take more prep time to figure out food and drinks... .

Louise and I cook almost every meal. We bring all our food with us, and set up our stove and cook breakfast, lunch, and dinner. We have different dietary restrictions than you, but it still requires preparation before heading to the playa and cooking while we're there. Neither of us sees this as a chore, and we start our menu planning during the summer.

You have plenty of time to figure out food and drinks. I'm not sure why it would be different for your time on the playa, unless you expect somehow not to cook. Since it's almost April 2010, I think you have time to experiment with camping-type recipes before your 2011 trip. Louise and I do some cooking the week before we leave and freeze the cooked food. It's thawed by the time we get to in in our ice chest, so we heat it up with the rest of our food and chow down.

For us, Burning Man is the same menu planning as the rest of our lives.

I recommend trying those quick meals before you get to the playa, by the way. Some brands give me heartburn, and some don't. I have no idea what the difference is, but I'm not interested in having digestive upsets on the playa, so I'm glad I tried out various ones here in the blacktop world.

If you want a gluten-free meal during Burning Man, drop me an email in August 2011. We'll know where we're camping by then, and we'll have you over for lunch.

Let me also say that having a dietary restriction suddenly imposed on you can be a surprise and cause for concern, but you'll find that it becomes automatic as time goes by. I suspect that celiac disease is better known that you think, especially among Burners (not because more of them have it but because they're more knowledgeable in general). As others have suggested, search for celiac and gluten here to see what turns up. We're a trove.

[Ugly Dougly]

Look at the Paleo Diet. It's not more work, you just can't eat bread.

[Bling]

Agree! It's a VERY healthy approach. We basically eat Paleo + dairy (because we just can't stop eating dairy--probably addicted) Tons of great info here: http://paleodiet.com/.[/url]

[C.f.M.]

"But gluten-free meals tend to be fairly labor intensive and require cooking. "

What? That's ridiculous. I don't know where in the world you got that idea!

I'm gluten-free, as are plenty of burners.

I don't eat any different on playa than I do IRL - well, not exactly true.

What you eat out there depends on what you want to eat, how much you want to "do," etc. You're not different from everybody else planning meals.

It's not just about not eating bread. Soy sauce, salad dressing - gluten is used as a thickener, often, so most commercial cream soups (for one example) have wheat in them.

Your friends are kinda jerks, if they're not taking you into any consideration, at all.

I had total strangers in my camp, who made an effort to not exclude me in community meals - they made a lovely curry and rice. My night, we had pasta and fresh veggies/tomato sauce. I just brought some GF pasta.

If you want to be more specific, I can recommend what to look for. There really isn't much you couldn't do.

I don't cook, when I burn, either.

Oatmeal would be an easy breakfast (just add hot water). The muffins and biscuits I took spoiled .

...yeah. Get more specific, and I'll see how I can help.

[C.f.M.]

Also, it's not just "wheat, barley and oats."

Sometimes it's just straight up "gluten" as an ingredient, which is why you have to read the labels on everything.

It's insanely easy to be GF these days, not like it used to be. Even regular grocery stores carry gf pasta, crackers, waffles, etc.

[theCryptofishist]

Some people do well with those seal-a-meal things. It's still cooking beforehand, but I think they may not need to freeze it.

[Bling]

You DO need to refrigerate or freeze vacuum-sealed foods--they're not safe otherwise. But it's soooo much easier, and you can just drop the bags in boiling water to cook! You can even reuse the water.

[theCryptofishist]

Thanks for the correction.

[FaeTora]

Thanks for all the help. I'll probably check out a few quick meals and make some vac sealed ones as well. It seems like a lifetime away but hopefully the year will go by fast.

Hope you all have fun at BM2010,

Fae