I am 9 weeks pregnant (yeah!) and I am craving cereal. I am sick of eating Cocoa Pebbles, so I bought Corn Pops and the package said "Wheat Starch." I am too afraid to eat them now. Are there any other cereals we can have? Is there any "safe" Oatmeal?
Thank you so much!
-MJM

I love this cereal called Mesa Sunrise by Nature's Path, it's my favorite...

Unfortunately yes Corn Pops have wheat starch in them... All of the brands and off brands that I know of for Corn Pops have all added wheat starch even if they used to be safe.

Do you like Grits? My daughter loves grits for breakfast...

I don't know of any safe oatmeals... there is a debate about whether oats are safe at all even if they aren't cross contaminated.

There are several companies that make gluten-free porridge that is a lot like oatmeal, I believe the one I really liked was Barkat, I bought if from The Gluten Free Pantry's website.

The cold cereals I usually have are Erewon's Crispy Rice, Perky's Nutty Rice, Health Vally Corn or Rice Crunch 'Ems, Nature's Path Mesa Sunrise or Corn Flakes. For hot cereal, it's some combination of Cream of Rice, cream of buckwheat, millet grits, quinoa flakes, or brown rice flakes, usually with either cinnamon and honey, or fruit jam mixed in.

Thank You! I am going to go look for this stuff tonight!!!!

Also, go here and read this current thread on peoples favorite cereals: http://www.glutenfreeforum.com/index.php?showtopic=12632

I was in weis markets the other day and picked up the corn nuggets (corn pops) store brand for my parents and after reading the box they appear to be gluten free. I didn't try it because i'm tired of taking risks with things, but that may be a good place to contact to ask....I'm not sure where Weis markets are all located it could just be a PA thing....

I know it sounds silly, but....my all time favorite cereal (and the only one that I will eat and am POSITIVE that it is gluten-free, is Envirokids: Gorilla Crunch. YUMMMM!! I get it in my regular grocery store. You may be able to find it near you (or request it) - it is a must try (at least once )

I found Buckwheat (which is not wheat!) Maple Flakes, pretty good.

I thought I read on another string that Safeway's version of corn pops are gluten free. Does anyone know if this is true?

When I was pg. I found som gluten-free corn flakes and ate those quite a bit. I had grits too but I was so sick that even the thought of grits now makes me feel sick. I have heard that the irish oatmeal is safe to eat. But I guess it is more up to you on that one.

Congrats and have a happy and healthy 9 months! (or less now )

i really like cream of rice cereal. its kind of an oatmeal alternative - its hot anyway!

Bob's Red Mill makes this hot cereal called "Mighty Tasty gluten-free Hot Cereal". It has brown rice, corn, buckwheat and soughum. It's not great on it's own, but add some cinnamon and suger, or rice, bananas and chopped pecans, and it is awesome. It's whole grain and high in fiber too (to help the big C if you have it).

Also, if you're looking for something sweet, Puffins makes a gluten free Honey Rice Cereal (it's the only one by Puffins that is gluten free that I've found - the rest have wheat in them). It has the consistency of Captain Crunch, but tastes a little different. My brother-in-law (who won't touch any of my food) even likes it.

My other favorite cereal is Health Valley's Rice Crunch 'ems. They are kind of like Chex. I add sliced fruit to it. The Erewhorn (I think somebody already mentioned those) Rice Twice are great too. They are like Rice Crispies.

All of these I got at Whole Foods (don't know if you have one nearby). Other health food stores might have them, too. The hot cereal I got at the regular grocery store (Fred Meyer).

Anyway, good luck!

Does anyone have any remedy's for a chinese food craving? I can't find any chinese food that I can eat, and I don't have the slightest idea how to make it. I am especially craving general tso's chicken and cashew chicken.

Thanks,
Sarah

The best, best, best, best, BEST is Environ kids kohala crisp!!! YUMMMM!!!
I wake up every morning and am thrilled because I know I get to eat breakfast.
I eat it every day with blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, or bananas. I even take it with me when I go on trips. I eat other cereals that are gluten-free, but I like this the best. Kinda tast like cocoa krispies, although I think they are better because they are not as sweet. They are also organic, and whole grain! All the better!
They also make incredible rice krispie treats (but double the butter or they get too hard).

Wendy

I made sweet n sour chicken the other night-I have been craving Chinese since I've been pregnant, but haven't been able to have any. I found the recipe somewhere on this site. You use equal parts rice flour and cornstarch (I used one cup each), add one egg, then room temp. water until it is the consistency of pancake batter. Dip your cut up chicken in the batter (use a fork, it is way too messy for hands), and drop into a deep fryer. I used peanut oil and it worked great! La Choy makes gluten-free sweet n sour sauce, but I'm sure you could find other sauces to use. That's the only chinese food I've made so far, but you should do a search for general tso's chicken-I think I saw a recipe somewhere.

Oh.....and scratch the Safeway Corn Pops idea. I could have sworn they were gluten free, and unless I just missed the "wheat starch" at the end of the ingredients, they have added it and taken yet another cereal away from me! Ticks me off, since they are cheap (they were on sale for $1.00 a box the other day) and all of the specialty cereals are sooo expensive for how much you get!

Lisa

Weird, I have a box of Corn Pops in my hands right now and it definately does not have wheat starch or anything in it, but I am concerned about the oat flour, if I can trust that it's not contaminated? And also, why don't people just eat Kellogg's Rice Krispies? Is there something I don't know about? I've just been diagnosed so help me out.

The oat flour in cereal is contaminated with wheat and it is not safe to eat. I am looking at the ingredients for Corn Pops on the Kelloggs website right now, and it says wheat:



What brand are your corn pops?

Kellogg's Rice Krispies have malt in them which is made from barley. They are a no-no too.

I don't know of any Kellpggs cereal that is safe for us, but general mills has a few options.

I am all over the Enviro kids peanut butter panda puffs. Yummy yummy! I also like Trix.

My dietitian gave me a sample of cereal called "Perky O's". Not too shabby! There are plain, apple/cinnamon, and frosted flavors.

She also said don't try oats while pregnant (I'm 15 wks). Bob's Red Mill claims to have gluten-free oats, so I asked about those and she recommended waiting until after giving birth.

Millet and quinoa with apple/cinnamon or raisins is a good breakfast.

Congrats by the way!

Our health food store has several versions, most are great! Also try the gluten-free section at Lame Advertisement. I am sure you will find a gluten-free cereal that sounds good to you, there are MANY. Also, do a search on gluten-free grocery guide. There are two different ones I know of. I think I bought mine at a place called triumph dining. It really helps alot and has alot of name brand and store name products listed. Good luck!

Oh my......I am still holding on to my cereal cravings, and my last baby is 18 months old, lol. I LOVE cereal when I'm pregnant, I could have lived off the stuff. Nothing better than a huge bowl of crispy cereal and cold milk at midnight.

I went for all the kid cereals (still do really, we eat healthy 90% of the time, so this is my splurge!). I like the Envirokids cereals, and all of the General Mills kiddie cereals that are safe. My dd is very sensitive, and she hasn't has any problems with the GM cereals. Let's see....there's Dora Stars, Little Einsteins, Micki Mouse, and a new Tigger and Pooh cereal. Then there's also Trix. Those should do quite nicely if you need a cereal fix! Enjoy those cravings, I SO loved my food when I was preggo!

rice krispies has malt which is made from barley....stay away from anything that contains malt.

My fav too!

Nature's Path gluten free wheat free Corn Flakes are very good. They are a little more crunchy than regular corn flakes but they taste like regular cereal. They are sold at Wild Oats, Sweetbay, Publix, and online.

They are made by Arrowhead Mills and marked gluten-free in big letters on the front of the box. This is our new favorite cereal. They are sweetened but I don't feel as bad about eating them because they have that whole grain factor(without the overwhelming whole grain taste IMHO)

It's funny you would ask for oatmeal because I just noticed an ad on this site for "gluten free oats" from Red Mills. Maybe that would work but I would let someone else be the tester first because you are pregnant. My symptoms are so bad that when we get pregnant again I will definitely not take any chances.

Bradlo,

If you've just been diagnosed, you may not be used to the devious ways of the food industry in trying to sneak wheat into every item they can.

It's not just wheat starch and wheat flour you must avoid, but also can be in TVP (veggie alternative to meat), sometimes is in modified food starch (sometimes made from corn, sometimes from wheat), can be in vitamin E (if made from wheat), and malt. Malt is made from barley, contains gluten, and is used as a flavoring in...your Rice Krispies. Bummer, I know. I think we should all call Kellogg's and complain.

Barbara's Brown Rice Crisps are a great replacement, though. I think they taste better than Rice Krispies, I just wish they weren't so expensive. You'll find that most mainstream food companies have wheat in their cereals, exept the Fruity Pebbles and Cocoa Pebbles, and ironically any "fruity" flavored high-sugar cheapy cereal.

So what you can eat are polar opposites: The great for you organic, purposely made gluten free cereals, and the cheapy high sugar ones that are gluten-free because they don't need the malt flavoring. But beware, these may be made on the same equipment as the wheat-containing cereals, and therefore get cross-contamination. I avoid them for that reason.

Did anyone tell you that maltodextrin in this country is usually made with corn, but sometimes can be made with wheat? It's my understanding that the July 08 food labeling law will make it necessary to label it as containing wheat if it's made in this country, but not abroad.

Also, I really recommend you do some reading up on Celiac disease, either from the local library or bookstore. It'll help answer some questions you may not even have thought of yet. (Although these boards are a great!) I would consider getting a gluten-free cookbook to help you feel like there is food you can still eat. I've bought 5 in the last 3 months!

You may want to look into joining a local support group. They do nice things like teach you how to order when you go out to eat (That's a biggie!), tell about good recipes, good doctors, good and bad gluten-free food, and all sorts of stuff. It'll amaze you how much stuff there is to know. I think you may adjust faster with a support group to help, but that's just me.

You may look into getting the "Gluten Free Grocery Shopping Guide" (little red book sold for about $25 through this website) that will help you get verified gluten-free food. There's lots more gluten-free food out there, but these are the ones someone else has already verified by contacting the company. Believe me, after getting an accidental glutened reaction you may want to play it safe for a while.

I have only been gluten-free for three months, so I'm still getting used to it, too.

Good luck to you,
Heather

PS- My Celiac friend told me the other day, "Cheer up, it's a very healthy diet, you just increased your life expectancy by 7 years."