Week 3: Celiac Disease Awareness Month- Meredith's Favorites

May is Celiac Disease Awareness Month and I have committed to blogging about the disease each week this month, in honor of my daughter, Meredith. You can read my first post here and my second post here.

This week I am going to share Meredith's favorite gluten free food products. All fruits and vegetables are gluten free. I always have carrot sticks, celery, apples, grapes, bananas and other fruits and veggies available for Meredith to snack on. When Meredith first started eating gluten free, choices were much more limited than they are now. It's important to realize that just because something is gluten free, doesn't mean it is healthy.

 Meredith loves these wraps. She uses them to make sandwich wraps with meat and cheese, or she will put peanut butter and jelly on them. She has also used them when we have taco night to make a burrito.

I think almost all kids love fruit snacks. Meredith is no exception. All Betty Crocker fruit snacks are gluten free. We usually keep a box or two in the cabinet for her school lunches.

Honey Nut Cheerios can now be found gluten free. You do have to check the box. We have accidentally purchased the one's with wheat flour in the past. Meredith also likes the Chex cereals. They have some great flavors out now and her favorite is the Vanilla Chex.

Van's makes great gluten free waffles. These are the plain, but the blueberry and strawberry waffles are great too!

These muffins are very good, if you need something quick. You can also make several batches and freeze them.

Meredith does not like the flatbread at all! I am sharing it because I do like it. They have a original/plain and the everything flavor. I am pretty sure that the flatbread is something that adults would enjoy more than kids. I like to eat the flatbread with a little peanut butter or flavored cream cheese.

We were so excited when Snyder's started making gluten free pretzels. Meredith loves chex mix and I often use the pretzel sticks when I make her gluten free chex mix. She takes these for snacks as well.

We don't eat pasta often, but when we do these are the noodles I use. I have tried many different kinds of gluten free noodles and I have found that these not only cook the best, but they taste the best too. Trader Joe's has a gluten free corn pasta, however corn pasta can get really gummy. The Barilla gluten free pasta is a mixture of corn and rice. It doesn't get gummy and you can't tell a difference at all.

I am going to be honest, there is not a gluten free macaroni and cheese that tastes as good as the real thing. I am sure at some point someone is going to come up with a really good gluten free mac and cheese, but it hasn't happened yet. Meredith does like Annie's, so if we are having a meal with mac and cheese this is what I make. Annie's also has the individual mac and cheese cups that you can prepare in the microwave.

My mom found these cones for Meredith and she loves them. She enjoys being able to have an ice cream treat in a cone with everyone else.

I recently bought this mix, but we have not yet tried it. It looked fun and I knew Meredith would enjoy it. I usually prefer the gluten free Bisquick mix. The Bisquick mix makes great pancakes, but I have also used it to substitute for flour in some recipes.


I have shopped for gluten free foods at Harris Teeter, Publix, Trader Joe's and Walmart. They all have some pretty good gluten free options. Aldi also has some good gluten free options and you can also find good prices on produce there. If you enjoy shopping at Food Lion, they don't have much to choose from, however I recently contacted the corporate office and was informed that they are working on expanding their gluten free options for customers.

Eating gluten free is not cheap. If you like to coupon like I do, you will find that there are very few coupons available for gluten free food items. If you find a product that you really enjoy, it is often a good idea to email the company and let them know. Sometimes they will send you coupons for their products. While I am not able to find many coupons for gluten free items, I do continue to coupon. I try to save more money on our paper products, personal care items, etc.

These are just some of the items we have found and tried. Do you have any favorites?  Feel free to share in the comments.  Next week, I will share some of the gluten free friendly restaurants we have found and enjoy.

PLEASE NOTE:  I am in no way an expert, but wish to share as much as possible about this disease in an effort to raise awareness and better understanding for those who suffer with this disease. Please be sure to consult your physician if you believe you may have Celiac disease for a proper diagnosis.
To find more information about Celiac Disease, go to:  www.celiac.org  or  www.beyondceliac.org