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

[marensmama]

Well last night she STTN but was up still a bit early...5:50. today we were at Marens school for a spring tea and there was lots of fruit but of course lots of non-GF treats and Hayden cried and cried until I gave her half a cookie. I feel bad for doing it, but she was sooooo done and if we had any hope to stay and enjoy the time with Maren serving us, it had to be done. Next time I'll be more prepared with GF treats for her. It's just so tough when ALL the other kids are eating cookies and you're not allowed. She kept crying, "But mommy it doesn't make my tummy sick!! It doesn't!!". Ugh. I caved and I shouldn't have.

Btw I did find a recipe for GF playdoh!!

[Katet]

Nicole can I suggest that when you find a GF treat that she really likes, keep it for special occasion so that you can give it to her when there are no other options.

With both my friends who are coeliac, they rarely go anywhere without some form of GF food & I've started to be much the same. Just makes it so much easier not be tempted by the chocolate cake if I have a small container of apricot delights or coconut macaroons.

[Sam-n-Max's Mommy]

Nicole -- the brand Annie's makes some good gluten-free cookies.  My DS really likes the Snickerdoodle flavor.  He never really cared for cookies before, but loves these.  I've had them and they are really good.

[marensmama]

So we are through week 2 of being GF... mostly, that is.  I've been truly GF for 3 days now, while DH and Maren still are finishing off the wheat bread and regular oatmeal that was left in the house.  Hayden has been GF for over 2 weeks now.  Our house has been pretty chaotic this week, with Maren having a bad accident at school which knocked out two of her teeth and mashed her lips up pretty bad.  She's only been allowed soft foods and the oatmeal was what she wanted most.  She has no obvious signs of gluten sensitivity so I've not worried about that much.  However, I do worry about cross-contamination a bit, and will be happy once all the gluten laden foods are out of our house.  We're getting there.  What's more, even if this doesn't sort out Hayden's troubles, I'm way happier with the foods I've been making, and think we'll stick with GF.  There is really nothing processed in our house anymore, and really, it all tastes better anyways.  Once I outfitted us with some pantry basics likes GF oats, GF flours, and GF pastas, the grocery bill has been the same as before, if not slightly less anyways.

Today I made a quinoa chocolate cake for mother's day tomorrow, and if the batter is any indication, it's better than any chocolate cake mix from a box by far.  One of the teachers at Hayden's preschool is on a GF diet as well, so she's often sharing her treats with Hayden at lunch.  It makes Hayden feel like it's a special thing to be GF, since E doesn't share with any of the other kids, so she's not minding it as much. 

There are a million good recipes on pinterest, lots of resources online and in certain cookbooks, and some great products in the stores.  This really is a much easier transition than I anticipated.  I do spend more time cooking during the week, since I have to make my own cream of soups and worcestershire sauce etc. for recipes, but I'm actually enjoying it anyways. 

[my3girlsjde]

What a great update Nicole

I know now that the thought of gf is a lot worse than actually doing it. That's so great that the teacher is willing to share and make her feel special.

Don't forget about gf Rice Crispy squares. They're a 'junk food' treat

[marensmama]

I have to say (forgive me!), I am so proud of myself!!  I have taken the leap to be GF and I'm making lovely meals for my family.  Having to make things like dressings, cream soups, worcestershire sauce, taco seasoning, etc. from scratch is extra work for sure, but so worthwhile when I know exactly what is going in to everything we eat.  I feel like I am really nourishing my children, not just feeding them, iykwim.  Today I made a really nice baked banana blueberry oatmeal for breakfast, then a healthy mac-n-cheese with raw veggies for lunch, and steak with quinoa greek salad and caesar salad, and a quinoa chocolate cake for dessert, with snacks being our usual cut up fruit.  Everything was from scratch, I really could have only done better if I'd grown the fruits and veggies myself.  I even made homemade lemonade as a treat (not hard, but still not a mix of any sort... I even squeezed the lemons by hand!! Note to self, invest in one of those little white juicer thingys!) 

The reason this is all so remarkable is because until 14 months ago, my DH did all the cooking in our house.  Sure, I baked and made lunches, but the real meals were all made by DH.  When his job situation changed, I suddenly had to take on the role of cook, and it wasn't an easy transition!  Thanks to BW I learned all about meal planning, and with the infinite resource that is the internet, I have grown to the point where I'd prefer to be in my kitchen all day.  And going GF is just another direction for me to grow in.  I'm having more confidence with substitutions and modifications to recipes, in fact I just made muffins for the girls lunches that I modified in 4 different ways.  mmm, and they are AMAZING! 

Yay!  I might just be a grown-up after all! 

[MasynSpencerElliotte]

Yay!  I might just be a grown-up after all!

   That is really great Nicole...I hope someday I get to love being in the kitchen too! I haven't attempted an entirely GF meal for the whole family on purpose, but many nights it ends up that way.  I wish my DH was into cooking, because I only do it because no one else will.  How is Hayden doing?

[Buntybear]

Wow what a fantastic attitude! I love being in the kitchen too and have experimented for Olly but he is so picky that it is not enjoyable when it is rejected! On the plus side just this week he has eaten 3 new things that he wouldn't have before so that is good! I am going to post 2 of them on the recipe swap board if you are interested.

How are you getting on the the GF subs? Any advice gratefully recieved on the flour front 

[nwmm]

Sign me up to listen in and learn some more please.

I have been cutting back.

[marensmama]

So I've been wondering if all my hard work is actually doing anything...Aside from mostly better sleeps (but still EWing at 5:30) her reflux still seems the same, and her mood is touchy.  Yesterday we had a beach day as the weather here has been so lovely.  I packed a picnic for the girls but DH wanted some fried chicken :X (reliving some childhood picnic thing, I think, since we never eat that stuff!) so he stopped and got a bucket of it for us to eat at the beach.  The coating on the chicken was not GF, and I knew that if we peeled it off and gave Hayden the chicken underneath that there was gluten contamination.  But we did it anyways.  It's so hard saying no all the time, even though we all eat GF at home now.  Everywhere there is food that is not GF, we can't eat out really any more (not that we do that much anyways, but we can't even go out for a spontaneous coffee without there being temptations.)  I guess the key is to always have GF baking at home, and always have a snack bag with me in case we need it.  During the week is way easier than the weekends.

Anyways, after the beach day the girls were super tired and went to bed easily at their usual time.  Hayden was awake from 9:30 to 10:30, though, crying and unable to be resettled, complaining of a headache.  It wasn't until I gave her a tylenol that she was able to fall back to sleep.  DH figures this is from being out in the sun all day (she was wearing a hat, it wasn't hot by any stretch, and the headache didn't show up until more than 5 hours of being home) but I'm wondering if it was the gluten contaminated chicken?

[my3girlsjde]

This is entirely possible. How long has it been now?

Sleep is always our indicator of how their bellies are dealing with food. Have you thought about or attempted dairy yet?

[marensmama]

This is our fourth week.  I plan to wait until at least the 6 wk mark before I try going dairy free, just to see if being GF is making any real difference.  Hayden's favourite foods are yogurt and cheese, and it's soooo restrictive to be DF, I honestly don't know how I'll do it.

While doing endless reading online about celiac and gluten sensitivity, I came across dermatitis herpetiformis which is a rash associated with gluten sensitivity.  I have a post about this on the health board, but it would seem that Hayden has this (or something like it) on her buttocks.  Making me think we're on the right track here and just need to persevere. 

[Peek-a-boo]

Interesting updates!  I love how you're embracing this.

For going DF, there is coconut milk yogurt that is very good.  It's available commercially, but a blog I follow posted a recipe for making it at home as well.   I can get you the link you are interested. 

[my3girlsjde]

I think you're on the right track Nicole . I saw your other thread and I'm thinking glutenbis a strong possibility.

We were shopping the other day and my regular gf hot dogs weren't there and I picked up a pack of Maple Leaf  ones. I can't tell the difference at all

Trying different gf cookies and there are some good ones but none I can remember the name of. I really haven't found a bad one yet. I'm trying to keep a stash of them for times we're out

[deb]

Josie has had a persistent rash for some time that I think may be gluten-related; the DH sounds and looks a LOT like what she has in patches on her body. Looks like that once-a-week PBJ for the girls may be a thing of the past now unless I can find GF bread that doesn't suck. Nat has no rash, but I can see behavioral changes when she's had bread products.

Going dairy-free is another steep learning curve, but we drink so much water and diluted cranberry juice and the odd coconut water that they don't miss milk. We do indulge in unpasteurized (raw) milk when we can get it, which is pretty rarely (when we visit grandparents in PA, where raw milk is legal), but we just drink the stuff rather than use it in anything. And because we don't really bake, there's not really a worry about ingredients being contaminated w/gluten; we're pretty much eating veg and meat and eggs and that's it, except for the yogurt I make - and we may try a dairy-free trial over the summer (yogurt is SOOOO easy to pack in school lunches so I'll stick it out for 2 more weeks LOL).