There are some great older threads about this. you might want to do some searches. I've only done a little gluten free, quite a bit more dairy free, though not both at once.

For baking, there are a couple of good mixes that can be substituted 1:1 for basic cakes, cookies and quickbreads. They rely heavily on starches and/or rice flour, which can make the feel sweeter, and the texture can be a bit different. There is ”white” buckwheat flour (buckwheat isn't wheat and is gluten free), but I don't know much about it, however, cakes and quichbreads have a nice texture made from regular buckwheat flour. The color isn't lovely, but they taste good.

For flour in other cooking, tapioca starch is a great thickener, potato starch works in a lot of preparations where you're supposed to use a spoon or two of flour, etc.

Vegetable shortening, like Crisco, which is now free of transfats, has a substition formula (add water) to replace butter in baking. For dairy-free “butter” (margarine), I like Earth Balance soy free. The baking sticks can be subbed for butter 1:1 – any baking sticks which are 100 Calries per tablespoon will work. The texture of the finished product will be different, however. Not bad, but different. Earth Balance works fine for the vegetables, etc, where you need a pat of butter.

I've made pie crust with vegetable shortening—hint, put some spice or zest or extract in to give it some flavor. I haven't tried with baking sticks. Again, the texture will be different, but it should work. There are some good GF pie crust recipes, but the ones I've tried use eggwhite to hold them together, and it's more of a batter, or slurry, and best handled between layers of plastic wrap. Taste good, though.

For bread, try to find store bought you like. There are some bread like imitations out there. I've never had homemade GF that was good. Many GF I know stick to quickbreads (zucchini type or muffins), or corn tortillas, or Siete brand.

Dairy free is easier. Just look at Kosher recipes. They're either dairy or not one dab of dairy.

Good luck with it all. Feeling better is such a goid thing!

For dairy free margarine, the tub Smart Balance Original is great. My favorite is Earth Balance Buttery Sticks, Vegan. Both taste as good as butter and cook the same. Use the same amount of them as cow butter.

For milk, I cook with Silk Soy milk or coconut milk. I will find my recipes for whipped cream, pumpkin pie, and fudge. We like them as well or better than the originals.

I have a grandson that if he gets any dairy, is an epipen and emergency room trip.

Bobs Red Mill has a nice selection of gluten-free baking products (plus other wonderful products) if you can find a store that carries them. Plus their website has some recipies that might help get you started as you explore your new dietary needs. Good luck.

https://www.cleaneatingkitchen.com/gluten-free-dairy-free-recipes/

Decent recipes at this site. None of them have ever failed for me.

My husband is gluten and dairy intolerant. We just make regular recipes that don't have gluten in them - roast meat and fish, roast veggies. We live in NYC so have take out a lot. Dominican and Columbian food uses lots of corn instead of gluten. Thai food is great. The best gluten free pasta is Italian imported corn pasta.

Kendrah, I have a daughter who is celiac and lactose intolerant and we do mostly like you, just make foods without gluten in them. I do try to make things as a treat and fortunately she likes things like the pumpkin filling for pies baked in small custard cups in lieu of pie crust, since all the gluten free crusts I've made were average at best. I've tried a couple of gluten free bread recipes but her favorite "breads" are southern cornbread which takes no flour and arepas.

She also loves Colleen's lemon butter/curd and eats it like pudding. Oh, and baked oatmeal is good, some of those recipes are more like dessert than like breakfast! I make a super easy peanut butter cookie too that is just 1 egg, 1 cup peanut butter, 1 cup sugar, 1 tsp baking soda and 1 tsp vanilla. All you really NEED are the first three, but the soda makes the cookies a little less dense and the vanilla just adds flavor. Portion out by tablespoons, flatten just slightly, bake at 350F for 10-12 minutes. Done and no gluten or dairy involved.

Fun2Bhere, thanks for that link, there are some interesting recipes there for me to try!

Annie

I have Celiac Disease and have been eating gluten-free for almost 18 years now (diagnosed in January 2007). It was tough in the beginning since no one knew about CD or non-Celiac Gluten Sensitivity (probably what your wife has regarding gluten if she doesn't have CD).

The best advice I can give you is to try to eat things naturally gluten-free and dairy-free:

• Fish/Poultry/Other meats
• All fruits and vegetables (including potatoes)
• Nuts and legumes
• Quinoa, Rice, and similar

Note that preparation and/or processing may change them -- many marinades, spices, sauces, etc., are not gluten-free, so be careful. McCormick was the first spice company to guarantee that all their single-ingredient, non-foil wrapped spices are gluten-free and I've been loyal to them for that reason (plus, they're a local company for those of us in the DMV (DC/MD/VA) area). I strongly recommend making your own sauces, marinades, etc., from scratch.

FYI...Unless specified otherwise, soy sauce is not gluten free.

However, there are times when you want something that uses flour or similar -- like Christmas Cookies. Over the years I tried making my own flour blends (long before King Arthur got on the gluten-free bandwagon). They never really turned out that well -- usually there was a "gluten-free aftertaste" and things were too dense and/or gritty. That may be what you're running into.

A few years ago I discovered Arrowheads Mill Organic Gluten-Free All Purpose flour - it's the best I've used (even better than King Arthur). There's no "gluten-free aftertaste" or grittiness and it works as well as regular "gluten" flour. I use it for Christmas Cookies (sugar and other types) and no one can tell that they're gluten-free. IF I tell them, they're amazed.

For things like coatings on chicken and others, I use superfine almond flour -- it's not the same as flour, but it tastes much better -- even my husband agrees (and he's picky!) My suggestion is to try you or your wife's favorite recipes using the Arrowhead Mills flour - the organic is better than the non-organic.

For pancakes & waffles, I use New Hope Mills Gluten-Free Buttermilk Pancake mix -- unfortunately, it's not dairy-free (but the waffles & pancakes do taste great)

Finally, have you tried any of the Whole 30 recipes? They're all gluten-free and dairy-free. I particularly like the Chicken Cacciatore and the Cashew Crusted Chicken & Wilted Kale.

https://www.amazon.com/Arrowhead-Mills-Organic-Gluten-Free-All-Purpose/dp/B01GXPRJPY?ie=UTF8

For those who can eat dairy: https://marshasmaplehouse.com/shop/new-hope-mills-gluten-free-buttermilk-pancake-waffle-mix/ (much cheaper here than on Amazon if you buy at least 2 bags, at least when shipped to MD)

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[For brownies, I used to use a modified version of Pamela's Gluten Free Chocolate Brownie Mix. It used to be gluten-free and dairy-free. HOWEVER, since Pamela's was bought out, I don't trust it to be GF anymore b/c they changed their manufacturing and now say the following:

"The Baking Mixes all continue to be made in a Gluten Free facility. All other Pamela’s Products were made in a gluten free facility at one point but are now made in a facility where wheat and other allergens are present."

My recommendation is to not purchase Pamela's products (I've stopped).]

One thing, despite their claims, Cheerios are NOT gluten-free. They mechanically sort the barley out of the oats, which means it's likely barley and barley dust is in the cereal. There have been many accounts about kids getting sick after eating Cheerios. In fact, Canada does not allow General Mills to claim they're gluten-free. (Only in America...)

Be careful of other products as well. E.g., Bob's Red Mill used to have gluten-free oats that were harvested, transported, and processed on dedicated machinery/facilities. However, they no longer do so (and they no longer make the claim). They just say "certified gluten-free".

I recommend checking out "Gluten Dude" -- he has a great app as well as a lot information on gluten-free and the gluten-free industry. (https://glutendude.com/)

Gluten free foods have come a long way. However, gluten free yeast breads still taste like disappointment. I try and avoid them. For baking, I like Bob's Red Mill or King Arthur Flour (KAF). They are generally easy to find. Others I've tried have been gritty. I also like to make cookies that don't have flour in them at all, meringue based, or cookies that don't have a lot of wheat flour in them (ie:oatmeal based cookies . I know, oatmeal is divisive in the land of the gluten free. Your wife will need to see if oatmeal is for her). I've had good luck making Monster Cookies and just subbing out the wheat four with GF KAF.

Ironically, I threw my own advice out the window recently and made sugar cookies and just subbed out the flour with GF KAF flour. It worked well! So don't be afraid to try your own experiments.

I've been gluten free for about 8 years after developing an intolerance to wheat.

Both of my big sisters are gf, so everything I cook is gf. I totally agree with @booberry85. If you wand bread, make Irish soda bread. I’ve found a dozen or so different recipes and they all work fine with gf flour.

Also, don’t underestimate the power of recipes that are gf just because that’s how they are made. I discovered the Torta Caprese this way. It is wonderful, and made with almond flour, as are macarons. The original chocolate cloud cake recipe by the late, great Richard Sax is marvelous. No flour at all.

Here are the staples I rely on most.

Regarding pastas -- I've found the latest Schar pastas far superior to store-brands, Jovial, Barilla, and a host of others I've tried. The Wegman's quinoa spaghetti is pretty good too. Note that when I make most pastas (except spaghetti), I make it the "Italian way" per Schar's directions.

In general, corn pastas are better -- both in taste and texture -- than rice pastas, which sometimes disintegrate while eating them.

Schar breads are pretty good too, especially the 10-grain. You will likely never find a gluten-free bread that's light and soft, but that doesn't mean you won't like them. The 10-grain is gluten-free, dairy-free, low FODMAP, and vegan.

Pretzels -- Glutino pretzel sticks hands down! They're even better than gluten filled pretzels. The twists aren't as crunchy as the sticks. They're gluten-free, soy-free, and appear to be dairy-free. Hanover and other brands of GF pretzels are all a bit "soft" and taste slightly stale to me.

Rice Krispies (the Kellogg's brand) are not gluten free either, they have malt flavoring. We successfully use the Aldi brand without issues for now.

Both Macarons and Macaroons are gluten free, and our neighbor makes a nice pie crust with coconut and fills it with chocolate ganache. The ganache isn't dairy free, but the crust is.

Annie