Back to Uni

[Mikeila]

Hi guys..I'm back to Uni in 3 weeks and I'm a little bit worried because I will have to travel to Coventry every day for the next 3 yr! Can you give me please any tips about how can I survive?

[Regalbirdy]

Hi Mikeila,

One hopes that you are talking about surviving on a gluten-free diet, rather than being sent to Coventry every day!

My first thought was handbag food - ie. always have something to eat in your handbag for the times when GF food is too scarce to come by. My guess is that a large proportion of the GFG's here already do this trick. It's so useful and so reassuring to know that where ever you go you're not going to starve! I'm a big fan of 9bars for this purpose because they survive the rigours of being at the bottom of my handbag rather well. Other bars such as the Eat Natural or Nakd bars would also be suitable, as would dried fruit and nuts.

If I know I'm going to be out all day, I do like to prepare a lunch box if I'm going somewhere unfamiliar. I'm not a big fan of commercially produced untoasted gluten-free bread (understatement of the year here - I find most is so dry, I'd rather eat cardboard!), so lunchboxes of mine tend to contain GF crackers instead. I find that GF crackers are great with tubs of egg mayonnaise, hummus and pâté etc. and often aren't such a rip-off as the GF breads. Some are even almost comparable in price to their gluten counterparts. Fresh fruit is the other easy, go to choice for me at lunchtime; and I'm a big fan of the soft fruits - blueberries, cherries, nectarines etc.

Please bear in mind that I am a dairy and soya intolerant, vegetarian coeliac; so things like chicken, beef, cheese, regular yoghurts and soya yoghurts unfortunately can't and don't feature in my diet these days. If you can tolerate them, then it obviously increases your choices and variety.

I rarely bother with cakes and biscuits but when I do, I find the Mrs Crimble GF range one of the best for my needs. Do take care though because not all of the Mrs Crimble ranges are GF, so read the labels.

Last time I checked, Pomm bear crisps were GF friendly; but because these contain soya, I usually now head towards Burts crisps instead - when the craving for a packet of crisps strikes.

Very occasionally I will wander into a McDonald's just to eat their fries. So far (touch wood) I've never being glutened by eating them.

Btw, aside from McDonald's fries, fruit is usually one of the easiest things to come by - if you get caught out with an empty handbag!

Good luck at Uni.

[Henbur in reply to Regalbirdy]

Hi Mikeila, congrats on getting into uni. Do you know from my experience being coeliac could be the best thing to happen to a student - as a mature student who is coeliac I take a lunch of salad or soup with me, along with a few pieces if fruit, some nuts and a filter bottle to fill with water. I find myself eating much healthier and cheaper than my fellow students - many of whom also take a pack up to avoid spending in the uni shop or cafe anyway - it all adds up when you're on a budget! That said it is reasonably easy to eat gf at uni if you don't mind chips, soup or jacket spuds and the shop also has a very small selection of free from goods but it can be costly. Coventry may cater for gf just make sure you take a pack up for the first week or so whilst you suss it all out! Good luck with your studies.

[Mikeila in reply to Henbur]

Hi.Thank you so much for your answer.

[Mikeila in reply to Regalbirdy]

Morning. All very good ideas.Thanks

[Hidden]

Hi Mikeila, well good luck at Uni and the last thing that you want is to worry about being a coeliac. There's some very good ideas from the others here and what I always recommend people do before visiting somewhere is to google gluten free and their destination. So here's just one from Coventry :

coventrytelegraph.net/news/...

I think that taking your own food is a good idea but it is nice to know where you can buy something for obvious reasons.

[Mikeila]

Thanks Jerry