Gluten-free Thanksgiving in Sugar Land or Houston (buy, minimum wage)

[Topaz]

I have family coming to visit for Thanksgiving and one of my family members needs completely gluten-free food as she becomes very sick if she eats any of it.

We know how to make gluten-free food, but before I buy all the ingredients, I'm trying to figure out if there are any local restaurants that serve a fairly traditional Thanksgiving dinner that is also gluten-free.

Any recommendations?

Thanks!

[westhou]

You could always just make a stop at Whole Foods and see if they have any ready made gluten free meals available.

Honestly, does this family member need an entirely separate meal? Why can't he or she eat what everyone else is having and just skip out on the food containing gluten. I thought gluten was only in wheat products. I could just be ignorant about it all as I've never known anyone who becomes very sick from gluten but I do have a sister who won't eat anything with it because it's the new thing everyone is making a fuss about. When she gets like that we just let her make her own meals that are free from every possible toxic item that she grew up on.

[Topaz]

Originally Posted by westhou

You could always just make a stop at Whole Foods and see if they have any ready made gluten free meals available.

Honestly, does this family member need an entirely separate meal? Why can't he or she eat what everyone else is having and just skip out on the food containing gluten. I thought gluten was only in wheat products.

Here is the amazingly huge list of foods/ingredients that have gluten in them: Unsafe Gluten-Free Food List (Unsafe Ingredients) - Celiac.com

I know that Whole Foods has a lot of gluten-free foods. It just sounds a bit more fun to go to a restaurant than to spend an entire day cooking and cleaning up.

[crone]

Thanks for the link, Topaz.

My daughter, who has scleroderma, went gluten free and it has made a huge improvement in the way she feels.

This list helps me.

[westhou]

Originally Posted by Topaz

Here is the amazingly huge list of foods/ingredients that have gluten in them: Unsafe Gluten-Free Food List (Unsafe Ingredients) - Celiac.com

I know that Whole Foods has a lot of gluten-free foods. It just sounds a bit more fun to go to a restaurant than to spend an entire day cooking and cleaning up.

I think it's going to be near impossible to find a restaurant like that in Sugar Land but you may be able to find something in the Inner loop.

Good luck.

[EasilyAmused]

Tres Market (just east of the Beltway on Memorial) will make an entire Gluten free T-day dinner for you or just some side dishes. You have to pre-order though. Like now.

[Sunderpig2]

One bad aspect about restaurants is that they don't list the ingredients that they put in their food. Even if they say it's gluten-free, there have been reported instances of mistakes being made. Unfortunately, there are many people working in the food industry who are minimum wage and/or not necessarily educated and skilled in areas such as nutrition. Why risk something healthwise for a family member, when you can control it much better on your own?

Just leave out wheat, oats, rye, and barley from whatever you're serving. That will guarantee no gluten. You don't have to go to any special place to get food. Just look at the ingredients...

[jimboburnsy]

If you guys typically cook your Thanksgiving meals, it probably isn't going to be that big of a deal to prepare a gluten-free turkey (you've probably had gluten free turkey most years in the past) and a couple of gluten-free side items along with your usual accoutrement. You'll find tons of recipes online for things like gluten-free cornbread dressing, sweet potato pie, gravy, green-bean casserole, etc. etc. One thing about the ingredients to remember is that "other spices" and several catch-all ingredients often include gluten (as will just about any "cream of" soup in a can). You can't necessarily rely on the strict ommission of wheat, oats, rye and barley.

It's not just something new that everyone is freaking out over, celiac disease and gluten-intolerance have been around for as long as there have been people - it's just it's gone viral in the last few years. I think that there are a lot of people eating gluten-free for no good reason, but there are other people who really can't have any measure of gluten in their food or they're going to suffer, have stunted growth, develop arthritis and die of GI cancers before 70.

[Sunderpig2]

That's true. Most traditional Thanksgiving foods - other than dressing - do not contain gluten.

Most foods are (meats, fruits, nuts, vegetables, and dairy products) are gluten-free. It's only when you start talking about grains - and adding them to other foods - do you start to cross over into "gluten land" :-)

[Brom]

i see a lot on b 4 u eat website then click gluten free restaurant

http://www.b4-u-eat.com/houston/rest...luten-free.asp