gluten free - where do I even start? Tips, recipes, encouragement needed!!

[marensmama]

Hayden's reflux continues to be an issue for her and frustratingly all her testing has come back normal.  There were extremely minimal celiac changes in her gut, so minimal that those changes could be present with a viral illness within the last three months.  The GI said that a GF diet may not help but it certainly couldn't hurt.  However, he had no other suggestions and it's the only thing we haven't tried.  In my heart of hearts, I don't believe it will make any difference but I'm willing to do anything to make her better.  

So how do I do this?  We are making the change as a family...  What do you feed your kids?  What do you eat?  Do you have a recipe for GF bread?  I just don't know where to start!  TIA

[MasynSpencerElliotte]

Nicole, I have never ever found a GF bread substitute that comes close to the real thing, so we gave up on trying to find any (Spencer doesn't ask for it anymore anyways!) But, we also can't do eggs so made a big difference.

Lets see...she eats alot of rice, rice pasta, GF cheerios and oatmeal for breakfasts.  She's a fairly limited eater!  I have had alot of success with subbing gf flours in recipes (pancakes, cupcakes, sugar cookies, homemade chicken "nuggets")  Oh, and Rice Krispies make gf brown rice krispies.  Even Masyn eats alot of GF foods because it is easier than policing them to keep Spencer from eating what she shouldn't.

Another site that would be a good resource is http://www.kidswithfoodallergies.org/   They have lots of info on what things certain allergens are "hiding" under.  Though in Canada labelling is pretty good as gluten is in our list of allergens that have to be labelled. 

I'm off for a night away with DH    but I will think on this more, I really hope it helps Hayden!

[Jenybean2]

Hi -

I have a 4 year old with food allergies - dairy, wheat, egg, pineapple and now my 3 month old is on special formula for allergies too...so I completely understand the panic of -0h no what do I feed them!

I totally agree with the previous post that kidswithfoodallergies.org is a GREAT resource.. we pay to be members and it's really been great. 

A company named Vanns makes GF (and other allergy free too) waffles, french toast, etc for breakfast.. and Chex cereal makes GF rice and corn cereals that are good.

My son LOVES hummus for lunch.. no bread needed.. he uses GF crackers or veggies.  Dinners aren't that hard ... but you have to make a lot yourself.  We do get him chicken nuggets.... from two places.. Ian's is one company... they make other products too.. and also Coleman natural.. (coleman ones are better).  He LOVES them.  You can make your own chicken nuggets using gluten free bread crumbs... but I've tried even gluten free pretzels some times.  Synders and Glutino make great GF pretzels... Glutino also makes cereal bars that my son likes. 
Herr's potato chips and Tostitos are also GF.  As I think of more things or ideas I will pass it on..Good luck!

[my3girlsjde]

Nicole I was so happy when I saw you starting this

Thrifty's has a gluten free section and carries gf bread. I haven't tried it but it seems just a little denser than the real stuff.

We eat a lot of homemade soup and rice. I load up her soup with rice and she loves it. Usually when we grocery shop I get a pack of three whole chickens from Costco and keep the bones every time I cook one and turn it into soup. It doesn't take long once you get into the swing of it. Rice pasta and I plan on trying a pasta salad with it. I think Emma will be taking a lot of pasta salads to school for lunch.

I made gf oat flour and use it to make muffins. I use an extra egg and a container of Motts applesauce and they're pretty good. A little cruelly but she really likes them. I even eat them before working out now. Gf Rice Crispies into rice crispy squares are a constant staple here.Just double check your marshmellows

It CAN be done. within a week or two you'll get the hang of it and it's not nearly as intimidating. I got a type of gf potato puffs but they were pretty bland so there are some things out there that take some getting used to. Wal-Mart has a gf section and they have cupcakes and cookies and the gingerbread ones are pretty yummy. They do have butter in them but if Hayden can eat dairy then you've got a lot of options in that store. Emma loves her rice crackers and they're super cheap at wal-mart. $2.00 a pack unless they go on sale.

Will be back if I think of more. Check that website out. It's pretty good.

More hugs, I know it's no small thing to make this step.

[my3girlsjde]

Oh yeah - All of the hotdog companies now make natural type hot dogs and the Schneiders ones are pretty good. Taste like bacon actually. And things that taste like bacon aren't usually a bad thing

[MasynSpencerElliotte]

Lol on the bacon. Yum!  We use a lot of the Vann's and Glutino products (and Ian's chicken niggets) for the times when we need something quick-ie DH is doing the cooking!

Any processed meat you have to watch - burgers, sandwich meat etc. DH works at a company that processes meat products and some of the burgers they make are nearly 50% wheat crumbs as filler!!

[marensmama]

OK I'm learning a little bit.  There's not a lot of processed foods that we eat.  I'm cheap and buying processed stuff is expensive (and normally not as tasty).  Hayden eats a lot of yogurt, eggs, fruit, cheese etc. anyways, in fact we all do.  Her crackers can easily be changed to rice crackers (are they all GF?) and I bake granola bars or muffins each week so can switch to GF ingredients easily enough.  The toughest thing will be lunches (she loves her sandwiches with deli meat!! Double yikes! DH will have a hard time with that too!!) and we do eat a fair amount of pasta.  Vicki, if you have a favourite brand of pasta, could you share?  Also if you have kid friendly pasta salad recipes, that would be a good lunch idea.

I'm gonna try making some hummus today and use that as a dip for rice crackers and raw veg.  If she really likes it, then I can send it to daycare for lunch.  Will pick up some chex and GF rice krispies.  I need a good bread recipe though, my PB toast in the morning can't be substituted for anything else or my blood sugar is off all day.  Also we do homemade pizza night every Saturday, need to rethink that...  We don't buy a lot of meat for the pizza, it's usually veg with diced chicken or something but the crust is an issue.  I think I need a trip to the grocery store sans children so I've got time to read labels.  I usually do read labels for my own WW needs, and because I try to buy nothing with HFCS, but now I've got something else to pay attention to. 

I have been good at meal planning dinners, so I guess this just means planning all of our meals ahead of time.  Now I have to educate daycare and family and teachers... And if I thought I was 'that mom' before, it just got taken to a whole different level. 

If this doesn't work, then I try GF and dairy free, I guess.  And if that doesn't work, then what?

[Buntybear]

Hi, just dropping off some hugs and support. You sound like you have your head screwed on when it comes to food anyway so I don't this will be too hard for you. Was going to suggest quinoa and find the thread with the quinoa salad recipe only to find it was yours anyway! lol

Rice is a good alternative too - you can make that into salad with all sorts too.

As for pasta/rice salads I just chuck in anything I have in the fridge - ham, chicken, veges. A vinagarette/citrus dressing. Mayo/sour cream/yoghurt dressing.                                   

[Chicane]

haven't got time to read through all the thread but this blog is an awesome resource for gluten free recipes, I read it all the time

http://www.mydarlinglemonthyme.com/

[MasynSpencerElliotte]

I don't think you can assume all rice crackers are gf...we look up our brand tomorrow. We use tinkayada (sp?) Pasta and even I can eat it if it is in sauce. Sounds like the shift should be easy once you figure the bread thing out. I make a gf pizza dough, it is just a mix of gf flours, water and oil.

[rach321]

Can't advise on brands etc cos I'm in the UK. But I did find that making pretty much everything was easier - if you substitute regular flour for GF flour ( which over here is usually a mix of rice, corn, tapioca and potato starch) the mix will usually be a little drier than normal so you will need to add more liquid.  We did GF for 9 months with DS2, to be honest it was easier for all of us to do it, the only thing I didn't do was bread - I never found a GF bread that was tasty but if you make your own you might have more success.  Agree with the other posters in that the thought of it is actually worse than doing it.  If you like a lot of pasta then GF pasta is really OK, I was lucky my DS2 loved rice and even now will prefer rice over pasta (GF or regular!).  Its just eating out that is a huge problem.

[Buntybear]

Forgot to say you can make pizza bases from polenta apparently!

http://blog.fatfreevegan.com/2008/01/personal-polenta-pizza.html

She mentions potato pizza crust too!

[my3girlsjde]

I remember a cauliflower crust somewhere but I've not tried it. Coconut flour I think Deb might use but not certain.

Our rice crackers are gf because I buy the plain ones as the favoured ones are full of dairy.

I tossed the package for the rice noodles but they carry them both Wal-Mart and at Thrifty's. At Wal-mart they're in the gf section with the cookies and at Thrifty's, they're in with the pasta. There seems to be no rhyme or reason where grocers put this stuff so I'm still struggling to find it tbh. But it's there if you look. They even have gf muffins and cakes at Thrifty's . They look pretty yummy but they're loaded with dairy so I've had no reason to buy them.

Sandwiches CAN be done. You can buy gf bread if you need to as it's pre-sliced and I'm thinking mind over matter with a small child. You can go to the deli and have them shave the meat right there. I've in the past been the crazy mom who asks them to clean the blade first as a lot of stuff they cut contains dairy.

[Sam-n-Max's Mommy]

Just seeing this now.  (((Hugs))), Nicole -- DS just went gluten, dairy, and egg free.  We use a lot what the pps have suggested, mostly because I took their advice when I posted since I was freaking out about this ;-).  I haven't tried making my own bread yet and I will totally agree that nothing comes close to the regular kind.  When I go downstairs, I'll check the brand we use now for DS - he actually seems to really like his sandwiches on it.  It is also dairy and egg free because it has to be for him.  The Ian's chicken nuggets are great and I've been making my own recently with Glutino's gf breadcrumbs.  There are also some recipes where you can use crushed corn chex to make them.  For breakfast we do pancakes or french toast (which is challenging when you can't use egg!), but he is happy.  I have been using a mix called Cherrybrook Kitchen and it is actually very good.  I made cornmeal pancakes this morning...I think I need to work on the recipe a bit more because they didn't come out exactly the way I wanted (a little mushy on the inside although DS didn't seem to mind). 
We buy nut chips and they are really good.  I'll check on that brand as well. 
I *think* that most products that are gluten-free will say it on the packaging - although if it doesn't say it on there doesn't mean that it isn't.  I replaced some of my baking items with ones that had gluten free labels - ie vanilla extract and baking powder.  I read that they usually are, but some websites say you can only be certain if they say gluten free on it, so I wanted to be safe.  I will also look through my bookmarks - I think I save a webpage that lists ingredients that are contain gluten.
When I have more time, I'll also post some of my recipes.  I'll be back on later or tomorrow. xx

[Katet]

My experience with GF bread is really it is dense & best as toast, certainly not all that yummy as a sandwich, but then I've not really been a sandwich girl anyway so no great loss for me.

Nicole, if the GF doesn't do anything in 6 weeks, I'd then go looking at dairy & then fructose, as if she eats lots of dairy & friut they too could be the problem... I know fructose is the problem for my friend with her reflux.