Celiac Family

[hmporter5]

I have hashimoto's and was confirmed celiac in January this year. Due to that I chose to  have my children tested as well. 

 

I just found out that 4 of my 5 children have celiac.

 

So now there are 5 of us with celiac. My 13 year old daughter and my husband are not. I think it is going to be easier to make it a gluten free kitchen and buy their food premade as that is cheaper. 

 

I would love tips and help on just about everything! LOL

 

Where do I go to take them to eat out that has kid friendly food? We don't eat out a lot, but once every few months we like to travel or go out. 

 

What about lunches that don't include gluten free bread? Any suggestions. 

 

Other issues:

17 dd - aspergers, celiac

15 dd - lupus, celliac

13 dd - nothing!

10 ds - adhd, celiac

6 ds - celliac

 

Thanks for any suggestions. I have been checking out the forums and have cereals figured out!

 

[mamaw]

Hello & welcome...

I guess  you can out   number  the gluten eaters in your  house  so  celiac  wins!!!!  You  don't  say  what  state  you are from   but  it  you would  mention  that it  would  help  in guiding  you to  friendly  restaurants & such....

There  is  a  learning  curve  when beginning  the  gluten-free  lifestyle.. I  don't  call  celiac a diet  because it is a  lifestyle  change.....

Have  you  read  about  getting  a new  toaster, changing  out  utensils, pots& pans  that  are  scratched  & have been used  for  wheat cooking? I  don't  want  to hash  it out  if  you are already  aware  of things like  that....

 

Plus  the  kids  who  are  school age  need to  eat  gluten-free  at  school too... Celiac  is  covered  under  a  section of  the  disability  act  which  means  the  school  has to provide  a  gluten-free  meal  for  a  celiac  student... We  never  trusted  cafeteria  workers  so  we  always  purchased  the gluten-free  food  ourselves  &  taught  them how to  prepare  it.. The  las  states  the  school  should  pay  but  we  never  cared  about  that  we just  want  the kids  to  eat  & be safe......

Clean out  your  kitchen  of  wheat  products   if  you are  going  gluten-free  100%......honestly once  you get  into  this  no one  will know the  difference.. gluten-free  foods  have  come  a long  way  &  many is  excellent...

For  your  elementary  kid , make  a  safe  box  of  gluten-free  goodies  for  his  /her  room. Make  cupcakes , cookies  & things  that  be  frozen  when  some one  has a  birthday party ... When  the  room has  parties   we  always  matched  what the other  wheat  kids  were  having so our  celiac  kid  never  felt  different  &  other kids  didn't  tease  or  bully them....

Some  good  snacks  are   gluten-free  pretzels,  gluten-free  trail  mix, popcorn,  snickers, corn  chips,  tootsie  rolls, M&M'S.... many more  choices

Find out  each  kids  favorite  food  items  & learn how  to make  them  or  purchase  so  they  will not  feel  like  they are  missing out  & decide  when  MOM  isn't  looking  cheat.....

Progesso  makes  many  varieties  of gluten-free  soup    become  a  label  reader........ with the new laws  in place  & more to come  many items  are  clearly  mark  as  gluten-free.......

All  meats,beef, chicken  , fish  are gluten-free  naturally just  don't  buy  any  with marinades, rubs,  coatings already  on  them....Same  with  fruits & veggies, in their  natural state they are gluten-free....

If  you know  of  foods  that  are  favorites  , list  them here  & we  can tell you how to prepare  them or  purchase....

Good BYE Gluten  , Udi's,  rudi"s  , canyon bakehouse,  whole  foods  are all  breads  that  are  good   just  to name  a few....

 

Dairy Queen, Red Robin, Chipotle 's, Five Guys,   Uno's Chicago Grill, Mitchell's  Fish House, PF Chang's , Wendy's,  Burger King, Chick-F-La , to name  a few   restaurants  but  there  are  hundreds  more....

hth  to get  you started.

[Cara in Boston]

In our house 2 have celiac and 2 do not.  I only cook gluten free (so my kitchen and all baking utensils are safe) but my older son and husband still eat gluten when they are out of the house.  The only "gluten" food we keep in the house is bread . . . in a separate bin and they have to make their sandwiches on a specific tray to catch all the crumbs.  Wait, they also have their own cereal too.  In specific plastic containers and they use red colored bowls when they eat it.  That way I know when I'm cleaning up or doing dishes that their bowl has gluten in it (so I use a different sponge)

 

We have 2 jars of peanut butter, 2 jars of jelly, etc. to keep ours crumb free.  I use colored sticky labels from Staples to mark which ones are gluten free.

 

Since I only cook gluten free, when we have pasta, we all have gluten free (we like Barilla).  

 

Other than that, our meals are usually naturally gluten free (grilled meat, roasted vegetables, rice, etc.)

 

We don't go out to eat much.  We have a few places local that are 100% gluten free.  We have tried a few chain-type places that claimed to have a gluten free menu but they didn't take enough precautions to prevent cross-contamination so it didn't really work out.  We have had great luck at California Pizza Kitchen.

 

Keep in mind that your non-celiac child should be tested every two years - even if you don't see any symptoms.

 

You might be surprised to find some of the Asperger's "habits" and even the ADHD are lessened after being gluten free.  That was our experience with my Asperger's child.