USVI-On-Line

I was diagnosed with Celiac Disease two months ago and this June will be the first time that I'll have to stick to a gluten-free diet on St. John.

I know there are at least a couple others here on the forum with the same diet restriction so I thought I'd start a topic to pull anyone else out of the woodwork that might know about eating gluten-free on STJ.

About a month ago I emailed Cafe Roma, Morgan's Mango, the Lime Inn, and Rhumblines about gluten-free options, but the only one I heard back from was Cafe Roma.

The woman who emailed me was very nice and helpful...this is what she said regarding GF options at Cafe Roma:
Some menu items are served well without pasta. The Sierra, Venitian, some specials. Our appetizer list or little plates pair well and serve your needs. I personally eat very little pasta or gluten. We have a lamb appetizer, seafood appetizer, mussels, all pair well with salads or spinach. With some creative thought our menu works.

I just emailed her back asking about things like salad dressings and marinades that can contain gluten.

Perhaps my biggest concern is having foods that will work well for packing in a cooler and taking to the beach. I pack my lunch for work every day, but I can heat it up in a microwave so there are a lot more options. I think I'll get a little sick of cold GF meals 10 days in a row. I have yet to find a GF bread that is worth eating, so until I do sandwiches are out for the beach.

So please share your thoughts and advice on dealing with a gluten-free diet on STJ

I am not having celiac, but one of my big clients is who we have just completed two projects with are www.celiac.org and www.teamglutenfree.org.

There is so much available here in the US that you might want to consider taking with. I was surprised with all the samples offered at their office.

One of the good things about celiac, if there something good, it is controllable.

Sorry for not being able to help. Think of all the money you will save with the higher cost of wheat products.

promoguy-You obviously haven't priced gluten-free products. Wheat products pale in comparison.

bayer, actually you're right since you can normally only get them in the higher priced Whole Food type stores.

Those websites are great. You will probably want to bring a lot of things with you. If you live near an urban area there is probably a large grocery store or a health food store that would have a lot of gluten free foods for you to choose. You can order a lot on-line too if you choose to do that.

promoguy-Actually my local Kroger store carries a goodly number of gluten-free products, but the prices are still very high. We've tried Whole Foods Market, but the prices are about the same as the local Kroger.

Unfortunately gluten-free stuff is really expensive no matter where you get it. All of the gluten-free grains are very pricey, much more so than wheat.

Even on sale at a regular grocery store gluten-free pasta is still three times the price of wheat pasta.

I recently bought a 6 pack of GF hamburger buns for $7.00 and some GF bread that was $6.00 for half of a loaf

I know that I'm going to have to bring a lot of stuff with me, but I need to figure out what beach-friendly stuff I'll be having for lunch every day. Hopefully the $6 bread will be decent so I can make sandwiches for the beach. I've wasted a lot of money on breads and recipes that are awful.

Have you tried Bob's Red Mill GF Bread Mix?

I don't think I've tried that one yet.

Oh, another thing, what about mixed drinks? Most hard alcohol is distilled so it is gluten-free, but what about flavored alcohols? I know that flavorings can contain gluten. I’m not a big drinker but I do love fruity drinks, especially while I’m on vacation. How do you know what is safe and what isn’t? I’ve been having a hard time finding a list anywhere online.

Obviously stay away from bourbon, scotch, rye, etc as they are made from grain products. As for flavorings in drinks, the best route is to stay away from them if you cannot read the ingredients on a label.

We had guests a few years ago who needed a gluten-free diet. They mailed me a list of things they needed (I forget specifically what) and I was able to find everything on the list at Starfish and Dolphin. It's not as remote as you might think!

peace... bert

have you contacted the Vegetarian restaurant in the marketplace?

http://www.satyamuna.com/index.html

i dunno if you've heard of it because it's relatively unheard of in the US, but quinoa is a gluten free product, they make it into pasta's and you can cook it w/tofu(or meat ) and veggies for a wonderful lunch or dinner. it has a ton of applications and is an awesome source of protien and various other nutritional things...some call it a wonder grain! as far as i know it IS glueten free doesn't help you with bread...but it is an easy meal and goes into tupperware easily, and if you lug it down with you it's superlight weight compared to it's volume. hope this helps!

Just wondering if anyone has tasted anything made with quinoa. I also have a sensitivity to wheat products and saw quinoa pasta on the Amazon site but didn't have any idea if it was really good?