Okay, here are some things I have found over the years that work for a gluten free diet.
For flour, I use buckwheat. Not the dark buckwheat because it tastes too 'earthy', but light buckwheat. It doesn't have gluten, but it does have the ability to stick together like gluten, so baking is so much easier. If you are close to an Amish bulk food store, you can find it fairly inexpensive. And you can substitute it for all-purpose flour in most recipies. I make gingerbread, flatbread, and pancakes out of it mostly. Oh, and I also make pizza dough out of it. YUM!
You can also use brown rice flour, quinoa flour (doesn't stick together at all, but makes good homemade tortilla chips. also very expensive)
There are gluten free crackers out there (they don't taste wondrous), and gluten free baking mixes, but you can make your own for much less $$. I'll try to find my recipe and post it. Also - cornbread! Make it with cornmeal and buckwheat. Very yummy. I also buy Riceworks Brown Rice crisps at Walmart. I use those as tortillas, chips, or crackers when I have chili or soup - in fact I'm eating them right now in my veggie soup.
You can also have beans and use them as your carbs. My favorites are black beans, lentils, pinto beans, and adzuki beans. Adzuki beans are the perfect bean. They are high in fiber and protein and fat free, and can be used to replace protein in your meals. They are a little earthy tasting, but are excellent in soups and in homemade veggie burgers.
If rice gets boring, try quinoa. It's a great ulternative and is actually much better for you than rice. You could also do buckwheat groats, but seriously
If you like hot cereal for breakfast, you could have buckwheat cereal or brown rice cereal. Walmart sells both. Walmart also sells quinoa - it should be next to the rice. Just make sure you rinse it first if it hasn't already been pre-rinsed.
Also, potatoes are gluten free.
For non-processed sugars, I would suggest honey, agave nectar, or brown rice syrup. Brown rice syrup is lower on the glycemic index and tastes wonderful! I use it to make my gingerbread, make rice cripy treats, and chocolate syrup. You can also use it to make cookies or cakes, but decrease the liquid just a bit so the cookies aren't runny. I use agave nectar as pancake syrup, but I can't use too much because it seems too sweet to me. If you want a sweeterner, I would go with stevia. It is natural and doesn't cause headaches like some artificial sweeters do.
If I think of anything else I will post it. Hoped this helped.
