Gluten Free

muleman

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A couple of threads on the forum have posts that extol the benefits of going gluten free. For some of us being gluten free is critical to life. Statistics say that 1 in 133 Americans have celiac disease. Another statistics says that 5-10% of people are gluten sensitive.

For those of us who have to be gluten free and get hunt-ending ill when we are exposed to gluten, I wanted to start a thread.

Here are a few issues that I struggle with:
1. How have you stayed gluten free with an outfitter?
2. Did the guides / cook / other staff take cross contamination seriously?
3. What do you do for food while hunting?

Here is what I generally do for food.
Breakfast: Energy bars, meal replacement shakes mixed with supplement drinks.
Lunch: Usually I snack throught the day on jerky, peperoni, cheese, energy bars, gels, electrolyte drinks.
Dinner: Alpine Aire and Richmoor both have some meals available.
 
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robby denning

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muleman, good post, I'll get something going that might help.

Although I recommend whole grains for most healthy people, I'm fully aware of the life threatening conditions of celiac disease, gluten allergies, leaky gut, etc. I'm no expert on the subject but have had to reasearch it on occassion for clients with those conditions. Here is some of the information I've found from reliable sources; It might be helpful and helpful for those who don't undertand the subject.

Gluten is the protein in wheat and related grains including spelt, kamut, faro, durum, bulgur and semolina. Barley, rye and triticale also contain gluten. While oats are naturally gluten-free, most oats are also contaminated with gluten during growing or processing (due to being processed in the same equipment as gluten grains).
Celiac disease is an autoimmune disorder where the microvilli of the small intestine are damaged or destroyed resulting in severe malabsorption of nutrients. Nearly three million Americans have celiac disease, and more still have gluten allergies. In either case, a gluten-free diet becomes necessary. If you suspect you might have celiac disease it’s very important that it be diagnosed before you start a gluten-free diet. The blood tests for celiac disease are only accurate if gluten is being consumed.
When you have celiac disease you need to avoid all traces of gluten. Fortunately there are many gluten-free whole grains including: Amaranth, buckwheat (soba noodles), corn, millet, quinoa, rice, sorghum, teff and wild rice. Gluten-free oats are also available from several suppliers including: Bob’s Red Mill, GF Harvest, and Avena Foods). If you have celiac disease or gluten sensitivity, check with your physician on what oats are acceptable for you.
Two resources you may find helpful are: www.celiaccentral.org, and the best-selling book Gluten-Free Diet: A Comprehensive Resource Guide, by leading gluten-free diet expert Shelley Case, RD.


I did want to say that one common thing several reputable Registered Dieticians/Certified Nutritionists have said is that many people who say they have gluten problems are self diagnosing and don't have the issues. They stress that people need to be officially diagnosed by a qualified medical professional. They find that people who go gluten free, without good support and information, tend to end up eating a bunch of refined foods thinking they are doing themselves a favor because there isn't gluten in them. I see the same mistake in vegetarians who don't eat meat but eat a ton of processed carbs.

Best of luck, hope some hunters will chime in on this with recipe/food choices for those needing them.
 
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muleman

muleman

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At the time of this post there has been 136 views. Statistically this means at a minimum some gluten sensitive people have viewed this thread.

If you have a gluten problem, lets help each other out with tips and food ideas. Most gluten free labeled food is processed crap that may actually contain gluten, as the FDA has not acted and created a standard for food labeled gluten free. Whole foods are the only foods that can truly be considered gluten free.

I have been gluten free for 13 months (one fall hunting season) and after a couple days on a backpack hunt I have exhausted my creativity and have to repeat meals.

What are some ideas for whole food based backpack friendly meals?
Anyone have gluten free Freezer Bag meal recipes?
 

robby denning

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C'mon people, can anyone help him out?

There's got to be some ideas floating around out there?
 

ScottR_EHJ

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I wish I knew more. My diet us very similar to what Robby has gone over in the diet thread.
 

robby denning

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that's the thing muleman, we may not have enough members yet to hone in on those dealing with the same issues. I did see a few posts in the diet thread and a thread or two on going grain free, so you might PM those posters.

I think Quarbles and Eagle would have some info on this, although I don't think they have gluten issues, they know alot about eliminating grains which should give you some other food choice ideas.

They are on the alphabetized member list, so easy to find.
 
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muleman

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Thanks, Robby,

I have PM'd a few members over the weekend that mentioned gluten issues. Hopefully they will contribute. I'll reach out to those grain free individuals also.
 

Lost Arra

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muleman: I think it would be a dangerous bet to assume an outfitter/cook could handle the contamination issue that Celiac's face. I don't think the general population understands what "gluten free" means to a celiac patient. "no wheat? no problem". I wish it was that simple. I sure didn't realize the problem until my daughter (26 yrs old) was diagnosed. She is an avid distance runner and faces a lot of the same challenges of a backcountry hunter in keeping energy levels high while avoiding heavily processed foods or eating foods prepared by someone else.

Your money may be better spent on a drop camp with you providing all the food.
I would also get a dehydrator so you can make your own meals to take that you KNOW are GF.

Patrick Smith, founder of Kifaru, has a terrific casserole that can be dehydrated and it can easily be made GF.
I love the stuff. I will find the recipe and post it for you.
 

Travis Bertrand

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muleman: I think it would be a dangerous bet to assume an outfitter/cook could handle the contamination issue that Celiac's face. I don't think the general population understands what "gluten free" means to a celiac patient. "no wheat? no problem". I wish it was that simple. I sure didn't realize the problem until my daughter (26 yrs old) was diagnosed. She is an avid distance runner and faces a lot of the same challenges of a backcountry hunter in keeping energy levels high while avoiding heavily processed foods or eating foods prepared by someone else.

Your money may be better spent on a drop camp with you providing all the food.
I would also get a dehydrator so you can make your own meals to take that you KNOW are GF.

Patrick Smith, founder of Kifaru, has a terrific casserole that can be dehydrated and it can easily be made GF.
I love the stuff. I will find the recipe and post it for you.

Absolutely spot on! I'm sorry to hear about your daughter, my good friend the same age has celiacs and it is a pain for everyone involved, she is super healthy as well and it is fun to eat with her, knowing what grocery stores have gluten free sections, the meals we have cooked are fun too! Knowing what restaraunts have a gluten free menu. Every time She comes to town we go to pf changs if we don't cook at the house.

Gluten is in everything!
 

Lost Arra

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Unfortunately even GF menu's don't guarantee no contamination. My daughter always laughs about bakeries that have GF cookies or bread made with GF flour while wheat flour is flying around the entire kitchen.

Here is Patrick's Backcountry Casserole, copied from Kifaru website. I hope this doesn't break any forum rules.

Ingredients:

2 lb. venison or beef cut into 1/2" chunks
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 cup chopped celery
1 cup chopped green peppers
1 cup chopped green onions
1 cup broccoli florets
1 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 cup chopped spinach
1 can sliced carrots, drained
1 can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
1 can Rotel
8 oz. dry cous-cous (For gluten free, use brown rice or take some rice noodles)
10 shakes of Datil or other hot sauce sauce

Patrick uses a wok...I used a huge skillet.

Brown the meat in olive oil and set aside and keep warm.

Start stir-frying the vegetables in the order they appear above. It will look like alot when you first get in in the wok, but it cooks down. Keep adding ingredients (you may have to add a touch more olive oil in the process) until you have a batch of the casserole that has the consistency of thick oatmeal. Add the browned venison back into the wok. You can tweak the amounts of each ingredient as you wish. Some like it spicy.

This one-pot meal is great! You can dehydrate it and it'll store for a LONG time. You can eat it fresh and hot out of the wok, or take it in your backpack, dry in a ziploc. Reconstitute it in the field or eat it dry.
 
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Making your own meals to take is definitely the simplest way to go.

The big thing is to think about what you use the grain for, which is basically an easy way to get the carbs your body needs. So, replace the pasta or bread with rice or other safe grain-based carb and you are on your way. You can also get your carbs from veggies like corn or sugar beets or lima beans or other beans (not green beans, the ones you would put in chili).
 

robby denning

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LostArra and Drhorsepower, thanks for the input- no problem copying the recipe as you quoted the source- thanks!

It's funny, I post about whole grains and get immediate responses and PMs for weeks from the anti-grainers of the evils and how their way is better, then a guy asks for some help eating gluten free and those posters are nowhere to be found. Quick to argue, slow to help I'd say.

Muleman, I was really hoping you'd get some more help on this and we could all get an inside look at the issue.
 

RockChucker30

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Muleman,

I've been looking into how to eat more primal / paleo while backpacking. It ain't easy! I have found a few links that may help though.

Pemmican has been made for thousands of years. It's lean dried meat (jerky) and then shredded/powdered and mixed with rendered fat. Honey and dried fruit can be added as well. It is not ultra light, but is very calorie dense and if made correctly will last a very long time in storage.

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi...ums/thread_display.html?forum_thread_id=61275

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ywBwUiq5v4o

http://www.grasslandbeef.com/Categories.bok?category=Grassland+Beef:Beef+Pemmican

Some more links you may find helpful.


http://onepanwonders.com/

http://www.backcountryfood.org/shop/

http://www.packitgourmet.com/

http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/sho...-(Gluten-Free-amp-Dairy-Free)&highlight=paleo

http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/showthread.php?70899-Thru-hike-paleo-diet&highlight=paleo

A couple of those links are to sites where you might be able to have custom freeze dried meals made. You might also want to check out www.marksdailyapple.com. This is the primal diet site, and they've got a bunch of recipes you may be able to adapt to freezer bag cooking. My wife just got the primal diet cookbook, and she's really enjoying cooking out of it so far.

That should be enough reading to keep you busy for a while. I hope it helps!
 
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muleman

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Thanks all for the recent posts. Glad to see that this thread is starting to get some traction.

I'll be going scouting for elk in a couple of days; I mean camping with the family if my wife reads this. We will be base camped at 9000' in our gooseneck trailer, but will be doing day hikes from camp into the High Uinta Wilderness Area. I wanted to test some Gluten Free FBC meals for lunches. Looks like I've got some more reading to get done ASAP.
 

Lost Arra

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muleman: I spent a week backpacking in the High Uintas last summer with another (non-celiac) daughter including a jog (ha!) up Kings Peak. Didn't see an elk but we were surrounded by moose almost daily, deer and even mountain goats. What a beautiful place.

I have been getting serious about adapting dehydrated meals that are GF because the celiac daughter really wants to be included in our backpacking trips.

A couple of other things that have helped us.
1. A book called Backpack Gourmet by Linda Yaffe. Sounds kind of uppity but it's a good read about making your own meals and preparing them in the field. There are also a lot of recipes that can easily be made GF.

2. CORN TORTILLAS - these can be used in lots of dehydrated meals as pasta substitutes. In fact I like them better. We also have been taking them as our "bread" since they ride better in a stuffed backpack. On last year's elk hunt we made some of the Cameron Hanes sandwiches (did he invent these or just take credit?) using corn torts: peanut butter, bacon, honey or maple syrup. They packed well, were tasty and packed a lot of calories for the minimal weight. Not a great every day meal substitute but did the trick while chasing elk.

To repeat myself, I think getting a dehydrator would be really helpful. You can make better, healthier camping meals than you can buy.
When my daughter was first diagnosed her friends were all sending her "gluten free" items they saw at the grocery and it was a very thoughtful gesture but most of the stuff is highly processed, nutritionally weak, generally bad tasting and expensive.
 

hartigjosh

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I have to be gluten free and have been on multiple outfitted hunts so have some experience on this one... My typical routine is to buy gluten free bread and tortillas and take them with me.
Breakfast - almost every camp I have been to has eggs in some form in the morning so I make a few breakfast burritos to eat first thing and then later that morning on the mountain.
Lunch - Every outfitter I have been with has lunch meats and cheese. I always make a couple of sandwiches each day to eat.
Dinner - this is a wild card. I inform the outfitter of my condition prior and often times they give me an idea of what they are cooking that week. I pick and choose to adhere to my diet and then supplement with Mountain House and other dried meals that I bring to camp with me that are gluten free.

It seems like gf is an inconvenience, it is. BUT if you boil it down a loaf or two of gf bread, a pack of tortillas and a couple mountain houses and your covered. Accenting this whole setup with some gf bars and fruit snacks helps if you have the room in your pack.

My typical flight setup is gun/bow case, badlands 2200 pack, and a patagonia duffel. I either buy food before and pack in my badlands which I carry on or located a market near the airport or in path of travel to pick these items up. Every major grocer has gluten free options. As for the mt house and bars I order them from amazon.
 

307

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Celiac here

I've never done the outfitter thing, would not be comfortable with someone who doesn't understand celiac or gluten preparing my food. It limits my options for sure, thus is life...

There are lots of GF backpacking meals, bars, drinks, etc. I find it to be quite easy to find foot for a backpack hunt.
 
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