Starting out?

I'm hoping there's someone out there as unfortunate as me who can help out on this one...

 I was diagnosed last year with an intolerance to both gluten and dairy (ingesting either gives me horrible bloating and stomach cramps) so my diet changed drastically. This is all well and good at home, where I can pop down to the local Sainsbury's and pick up a gluten-free loaf, or yoink a soy sogurt from my fridge...

 HOWEVER... I haven't been camping since, and am now starting to wonder what the heck I'm going to eat on our next excursion! Any tips are welcome, as I'm hoping to survive on something other than peanuts and dried fruit!

I have similar problems. I have to be dairy, pulses, tomato, onion and garlic free. There are others but that the main ones, and they effectively eliminate all the commercial dried backpacking meals I have found.

Can you eat oats? I know they aren't strictly gluten free as they can get contaminated in the processing. That would open up the possibility of things like flapjacks for energy. 

Hot food wise... I have taken little tins of mackerel fillets and scoffed with pasta, but you could find some quick cook rice? and other variations on that theme. 

Otherwise I'm sure someone will be along soon enough to sing the praises of dehydrators so you can make and dry your own suitable food - I'm tempted to go down this road at some point when I'm able to get out more. 

You poor thing! I don't think I could survive without pulses (always deperately in need of protein) to bulk out my meals. That must be pretty tricky!

You're right about the oats - technically they're gluten free, and sometimes I can stomach them. Solution = gluten-free oats! They cost more, but I guess it's worth it. I could make up a big batch of flapjacks before I go, as they keep for quite a while and don't require refridgeration. Plus... yum!

Don't know why I didn't think of tinned fish before either. Thats a fantastic idea, thank you!

Strangely, I'd never heard of dehydrators before - would be a great investment if (as you say) I was able to get out more. I can only dream!

The tuna flakes sound interesting. I have tried their steaks but it was very difficult to eat, like trying to chew a piece of wood!

Tinned fish is great for day walks - eaten with oatcakes is good! but trying to work out food for a few days does mean it quickly adds up significantly. I haven't cracked that one yet.The tin itself weighs very little but it's usually packed in brine, or oil - which is great if pouring onto your pasta. I've tried adding soya mince to pasta with a stock cube, but it was pretty horrible and didn't even try taking it walking.

Flapjack tips - substitute honey for some of the sugar. You've probably found things like stork marg which tastes nice and doesn't have whey in it. Add some cut up bits of crystalised ginger. And once cool wrap individually in cling film so even if they get bashed around/etc they are still edible!

Have you discovered soya milk powder? Sadly it contains maltodextrin which is bad news for me. But looks good for stuff like hot chocolate/tea/coffee/etc.

Oh yes, talking chocolate. Tesco, and I imagine most of the others, do a dairy free chocolate - in the specialist section.  And if you are lucky you can find plain choccy in the ordinary confectionary isles that dont contain milk of any sort.

Rachel, Beth: we've got a page on our website (http://www.outdoorsgrub.co.uk/shop/allergies.php) which links to an Acrobat document giving full allergy details for the foods we sell, where we have this info from the manufacturer.

For gluten- and dairy-free, there's a couple of Be-Well meals and a couple of Mountain House ones.

We're looking at a new range of vegetarian freeze-dried meals at the moment and it looks like there are some of these which are gluten- and dairy-free.

As far as I'm aware, all oat-based products are now noted as not suitable for Coeliacs, because it's not possible to guarantee no contamination during growing and processing. My sister-in-law is a Coeliac so I know how bad the effect of just a small amount of gluten can be!

Feel free to call if I can be of further help.

Beth wrote

Flapjack tips - substitute honey for some of the sugar.

I tried this a few weeks ago as I didn't want to use syrup. Excellent replacement, and I will be using it always from now on.

That's not really help, more confirmation that it is nice lol sorry.

I've looked before Chris. There is nothing I can eat; milk, tomato, onion, beans or maltodextrin are the culprits. Such is life.

Beth: I like a challenge but I'm afraid I've drawn a blank too. Onion, garlic and tomato are the killers, it's amazing how much has these in. The nearest I can get which might help is these bulk freeze-dried ingredients:

How much money are we looking at in terms of the bulk packs? (tbh I think I'd probably go dehydrator if I could do justice to bulk packs of dried stuff)

Beth: I'm trying to firm pricing as we speak. Drop me an email using the form at http://www.outdoorsgrub.co.uk/about.php if you'd like to follow this up.

John: thanks, replied!

That sounds like a brilliant idea with the flapjack - I suppose honey will help hold it together better too, as well as tasting great!

Dairy-free/plain chocolate and I are already fast friends - it's amazing how much you can go through when your friends are all eating pizza, cake and ice cream!! I'll definitely be backing a couple (of dozen) bars for the trip.

I think I've seen those bags of tuna meals in the shops. Next time I'm in, I'll have a look! Even plain tuna/mackerel/pilchard sounds good to me, especially on ricecakes or oatcakes.

 Chris: the pre-packed meals are a little pricey for my shorter trips (I'm on a pretty tight budget at the mo) but look like a perfect option for longer ones. I'll make sure to stock up on a couple, so I know I've got a decent meal to sit down to!!

You can pretty simply dehydrate any meal that does not give you problems.  Just takes a small amount of time and effort to learn but once you have worked out what to do it is pretty easy.

We have been deyhdrating stuff for years and it mean we can take home cooked type meals with us on trips.  Shoot me a message if you want more intormation.

Frank

and i thought i had problems just with no onions.

but my bug bear is why everyone else with you makes it a big deal, its not at home i can cook many things and dont miss the taste, but your cooking and you make me feel really guilty.

but prepared food is normally a no go