Going gluten-free

It't not an easy feat, nor a simple one, but it changed my life. 
For anyone even considering going gluten free, just try it! There are so many resources, cookbooks, recipes, brands, and stores that make going GF easy peasy once you get the hang of it! 

My favorite brands: 

My favorite Stores:
1. Trader Joe's- great options, frozen pizza, snacks, cookies, etc.
2. Super-target: (i mean common target has everything right!?!) betty crocker mixes, annie's brand, glutino and Udi's
3. Kowalskis has a great supply of GF flours and a variety of the UDI's brand products (usually in the freezer section) 

My favorite brands for traditionally non- GF foods;

Mac and Cheese: Annies brand has great options for this
Pizza: Udi's brand has great crusts to make it homemade or they have frozen pizza options as well
Cake: Betty Crocker brand choclate and vanilla cake mixes are delicious! 
Cookies: Betty crocker chocolate cookie mix, king arthur flour mixes for sugar cookies and chocolate chip! Udi's has great frozen cookies as well. 
Brownies: Betty crocker is my fave! trader joe's is also awesome!
Crackers: Glutino brand is my Go-to, they have table crackers and regular round crackers
Bread: Udi's is great, they have wheat and white bread and other options as well! 
Cereal: Chex has lots of options and rice krispies also has GF as well. 
Waffles and pancakes: I LOVE GF bisquick, it is my go-to always, also vans has GF frozen toaster waffles. 
Flours: Bob's red mill has a great assortment to buy from and in my recipes i will specify which ones to buy! 
Here are some links to my fave brands:

http://udisglutenfree.com
http://www.glutino.com
http://www.bettycrocker.com/products/gluten-free-baking-mixes
http://www.kingarthurflour.com/glutenfree/
http://www.chex.com/Recipes/GlutenFree.aspx
http://www.annies.com/products/

Eating out: 
eating out is hard at first, I'm not going to lie, but once you get a sense of what you can and cant eat, you will be able to go anywhere and work with what they have. 

This is my rant: the FB message I send to friends who have recently gone GF and need advice. Its rough but real. 

best bread for sandwiches: UDIS Best english muffins: food for life ( iget them at whole foods) Best pizza: order from pizza luce, italian pie shoppe, or make your own with udis crust and all the fixings, best cereals: all kinds of chef instead of wheat chex, gluten free rice kris pies, and envirokids brand cereals

best pancake and waffle mix: bisquick gluten free mix, cake mix/brownie/ cookie mix= betty crocker mixes= so delicious and easy!!!

for crackers, bagel thins, cookies etc: glutino brand is the best

for eating out: chipotle burrito bowls, jimmy johns lettuce wraps: their cheese is NOT GF, either is their roast beef, GF pizza: italian pie shoppe and pizza luce , noodles has GF options, not all dishes are GF though so ask, those are my main go-to's for fast food

For restaurants heres a list of places around here that have great options and that get my vote frequently: The liffey downtown, Louis restaurant (if you want nice or a good bar to go to), Salut, Buffalo wild wings, The nook, pizza luce, italian pie shoppe, french meadow bakery, happy gnome on selby has tons of options

for frozen waffles for breakfast: vans brand is gluten free and sooo good! Annie's brand has gluten free mac and cheese, and AMy's brand has frozen dinners with a super good mac and cheese.

i think theres like pasta ones etc too with amys, in frozen section

For what to watch out for: Basically my rule of thumb is you are not halfway gluten free, it doesn't work if you cheat, these foods have gluten so beware: soy sauce ( meaning most asian food and some sauces like teriyaki etc. some places like osaka do it with GF soy sauce so just ask! mikes hard lemonade is not GF, beer is not GF either. watch labels for sauces like BBQ etc. Malts, malt flavoring is made with gluten, stick to shakes, watch out for ice creams with chunks of cookie etc in it .regular oats are not GF, only certified GF oats, usually nachos are ok at restaurants, just ask if they are corn chips or flour chips. most of the time they are corn. most gravys have flour in them. check labels like a nazi for the following: granola bars, dressings, soup, flavored chips such as BBQ, most are fine but check. you cannot have twix bars, kit cat, whoppers, twizzlers, crunch bars,

Enjoy life brand has tons of cookies and bars and stuff
glutino has pretzels
most chips are GF, just check label= meaning you can still enjoy some cheeetos