CONTRIBUTED BY JESS WHEELER
Hi, my name is Jess and when I was four I was diagnosed with Celiac’s disease. This means that I have to follow a strict gluten free diet. While this disease is somewhat rare I am by no means the only person in this boat. Now at 31 I feel like I may be able to provide some help to others in the same situation navigate the grocery store, avoiding wheat, rye, barley, etc while still coming home with food that is tasty, delicious and something all members of the family will eat. The best store in Okinawa for gluten free food is the Camp Foster Commissary. From what I’ve seen the other commissaries offer the same selection. Although there are gluten free foods out in town at grocery stores it can be difficult to read the ingredients and none of them are specifically marked gluten free that I know of.
So, the other day I popped my one year old and three year old into the awesome “car” cart and went up at down the aisles jotting down all the gluten free items I could find. I have to say I enjoyed my treasure hunt and even found 2 items I had never seen before. Today I started off right with a new pancake mix! The list here is by no means an exhaustive list of foods someone on a gluten free diet can eat but is limited to foods that are labeled as being gluten free or that fit into the quick meal, quick snack category that can sometimes be hard to fill in on a gluten free diet.
Produce:
- Obviously any fresh fruits or vegetables are great, gluten-free snacks.
- Sunrype Fruit Bars (on a stand in the produce section close to the peanut butter section).
- Italian Herb Polenta GF (serve with Italian vegetables and mozzarella cheese, mmm) on a stand near the sushi bar.
Deli:
- Kitchen Table Bakers Cheese Crisps
- La Tortilla Factory Corn Tortillas (be careful not to accidently grab the wheat or corn and wheat tortillas!)
- New York Style Risotto Chips (If you are like me one bag feeds one person)
Aisle 2:
- Bob’s Red Mill: Available in the baking mix section there is an array of gluten-free grains and mixes such as bread mix, pizza crust, baking flour, pancake mix, chocolate cookie mix, brownie mix, and quinoa.
- Amy’s Organic Low Fat Black Bean and Vegetable Soup and Amy’s Lentil Soup.
- Annie’s Rice Pasta and Cheddar (in the boxed pasta section
- Asian Helper Beef Fried Rice (with Hamburger Helper boxed meals)
Aisle 3:
- Organic Gluten Free Bionaturae Spaghetti made with rice, potato and soy
- Blue Diamond Almond and Nut Thins (top shelf in cracker section)
- Sesmark Savory Rice Thins ( I love these with cream cheese spread on top)
- Fruit Roll Ups
- Rice Noodles/Pancit Bijon (great to use in Asian noodle recipes such as Singapore Noodles)
- Mochiko Sweet Rice Flour (top shelf, good for making mochi, not for baked goods)
- La Choy Soy Sauce, teriyaki, and Sweet and Sour Sauce
- Dragonfly Special Sweet Rice (great for rice desserts such as rice with coconut milk and mangoes)
- Super Golden Bihon Cornstarch Sticks
- Don’t forget to try different varieties of rice like Jasmine for Thai cooking, Arborio for risottos, brown rice, and short grain rice for sticky rice, and long grain white rice for Indian cuisine.
Aisle 4:
- Cereals: Corn Chex, Rice Chex, Honey Nut Chex, Envirokids Koala Crisp, Nature’s Path Honeyed Cornflakes (my favorite!), Grits, Bisquick Gluten Free Pancake Mix
- Popcorn
Aisle 5:
- Soy Joy located at the front of the aisle on a stand these make good quick snacks, the ingredients here are in Japanese but I ate them in the U.S. and they are a tasty snack.
- Plain corn and potato chips, watch the flavored ones, some are okay and some aren’t —and Pringles are NOT gluten free.
Aisle 6:
- Nature Made Vitamins are labeled gluten free.
Aisle 8:
- Nature’s Path Buckwheat Wildberry Waffles, top of the freezer with the other waffles.
- Amy’s Tofu Scramble, by frozen breakfast bowls
- Amy’s Cheese Pizza Rice Crust, on the top in the frozen pizza section.
- Quaker Rice Cakes
Aisle 9:
- Amy’s Cheese Enchilada, Black Bean and Vegetable Enchilada, Cheese Enchilada Meal
- Deli Mex Corn Tortillas Taquitos– the chicken and the beef.
- Contessa: Paella (contains shrimp) and Sesame Chicken meals
- Amy’s Brown Rice and Vegetables
Please add other favorite gluten-free items in the comments!