Questions For The Gluten Free Pros

[hillyb6]

i have 6 kids we suspect 2 might have celiacs or some sort of gluten intorlance

should i have all 6 tested?

looking in my cabinets im an sad to say almost everything in there has got to have gluten literally

my cabinets are filled with processed foods and snack all proably posion to my daughter the ped

didnt recommend takeing hre off gluten until her gi appointment in end of jan

but were up yet again at 10 pm with a tummy ach and joint pain proably from dinner i am guessing

we had chicken and rice but it was a skillet dinner the frozen kind i havetn dug the wrapper out of the trash

and looked at the awful crap that must be in it

so do you all just throw all the food away or just filter it out she is suppose to be back in school praobly friday and i know her school isnt gluten free i dont know if they even offer that for lunch

so i am guessing i am gonna have to make her lunch what do i make i am sort of

totaly lost as to how to start

i am a gluten dummy, my mom has called me all day since i told her about what they testing dd for

and drove me nuts on what has gluten in it and what doesnt she has bene sick gi wise her entire life

and i ahve since i had my gallbladder out in 99 so i dont think a gluten free diet would hurt us

even if its not celiacs but i didnt know if there was a like a 12 step program for gluten addicts like us

[Ann1231]

I gave some of the unopened gluten containing food to a food bank, and then some of it I gave to my son's teenaged friends, some I sent to work with hubby. It didn't take long to get rid of it.

For lunches we pack chicken salad or tuna salad in a tupperware dish and pack a fork with it. Alongside that we usually have some raw carrots, celery with nutbutter to dip it in, bananas, oranges, etc. I've also made big salads and put some leftover chicken breast and cheese in it. Thermos of chili, (watch out for chili beans, they often have wheat in them), We also pack Hickory Farms turkey sausage (no wheat!) sliced thin with some sliced cheese and raw veggies. Basically anything with meat, veggies, fruits, nuts and seeds will work, whatever you and your children like.

Hope this helps

Ann

[hillyb6]

i have no idea how to make chicken salad i guess i need to bone up on some things eh

can she have egg salad she does like that

can she have ranch dressing she loves ranch with her carrots

does anyone know if there are gluten free foods at walmart until i can get to one of the other stores we have a huge ice storm comming and i got sick kids , does anyone know if they sell already made gluten free bread in normal stores, does it taste at all like reg white bread?

i found a file on one of the celiac kids sites that list alot of name brand stuff that it says is ok

like chips

SNACKS

Lays STAXX (All flavors)

Ruffles Regular potato chips

Dorito Rollitos

Mission Tortilla chips

Orville Redenbacher

[linds]

I think i can answer a few of these questions for you.

Egg salad= yes if all the ingredients are safe we make ours with just eggs, miracle whip, and mustard all of which are ok.

Ranch drssing= i believe kraft ranch dressing is gluten free. again read the ingredients but they will clearly lable it as wheat, oats, rye, or barley if its in it.

Wal-Mart= we don't have one where I am at but i have heard that the super wal-mart has gluten free things in their grocery store.

White bread= i never found a good store bought one. the best bet is to make your own there are some good mixes out there but none seem to taste like gluten bread.

i believe that the things on the list are gluten free but you can never be too sure unless you read the ingredients. hard at first but you get used to it pretty fast.

i haven't been out to eat but i know that there are some restraunts that have gluten free menus but there is always a rist of cross contamination. someone else should be able to help on that one.

I actually just reintroduced gluten into my diet because i wasn't seeing any changes after months, i had no adverse effects from this but i have read that some people do.

the children who do not have to be gluten free can eat gluten in their lunches at school if you want them too. i would have them wash their hands and brush their teeth when they got home so that there were no cross contamination problems.

I hope this helped some. Also remember that meats, fruits, veggies, nuts, and seeds are all naturally gluten free. along with some others.

[darlindeb25]

Hillyb--it's hard sometimes to avoid cross contamination in a household that big, everyone will have to help. Everyone needs to understand there can be no double dipping in the butter, peanut butter, things like that unless you label things just for her and they have to learn not too touch it.

My sister is celiac and has lived in a non gluten free home for over 5 years and does very well. I did fine when my kids were still home too. It's not impossible to do, yet it's not easy to retrain everyone either.

You must look for the hidden gluten in everything, including soaps, shampoos, lotions, medicines--it's everywhere. It sounds like you need to be gluten free too and truthfully, it doesn't hurt for others to be gluten free. My dad is celiac too and my mom eats gluten free with him, yet she still eats enough gluten that it doesn't effect her. Your other kids could eat gluten free at home and have the school lunches, etc and be ok. Many of the gluten free items that my sister cooks are very pleasing to her family--sometimes she has to beg them to leave her something to eat too.

Google gluten free and read everything you can. You will be amazed at what gluten is in and you want to find out all the info you can. Feel free to email me anytime with questions.

Deb

[hillyb6]

thanks for the help

i sure hope we can find some white bread that we like cause we both looooove white bread

can a flare up cause low grade fevers ?

[taweavmo3]

It is really overwhelming in the beginning.....but in a few months time, you will be a pro too. This site is amazing, and speeds up the learning curve a great deal! I had several breakdowns in the beginning, but with the help of everyone here, the diet just became a way of life that we didn't even have to think about anymore.

Here's a few tips I have. The books by Dana Korn are very helpful for beginners. Also, see if there is a local ROCK chapter (Raising Our Celiac Kids) near you. If not, you can also search for a local Gluten Intolerance Group (GIG). You may be able to talk to some people who live near you, and you might even get a grocery shopping buddy who can show you the ropes in the store.

If you want a medical diagnoses, you have to keep your child on gluten until the biopsy. If the results are negative, you can still do the diet with or without a doctors support.

As far as making your other kids gluten free......I have found that keeping a gluten free house is easiest, but that doesn't work for everyone. My dh and older child could eat whatever they wanted outside the home, but I wanted the house to be a safe zone. Alot of this was to decrease my stress level, especially in the beginning. I didn't want to have to watch everyone like a hawk to make sure they didn't cross contaminate anything, then worry about crumbs, etc.

As far as food goes.....the only bread my kids will eat is Kinnikinnick. I don't like the taste all that much, but it looks like regular white bread, which is important to kids. Kinnikinnick is a brand that you can trust to have tasty food, my kids love all their stuff. And Walmart has been wonderful for us....they have alot of mainstream (and cheap!) gluten free food, and will label it as such. If it isn't marked gluten free, we don't eat it, even if we don't see any offending ingredients.

Hope that helps to get you started! Come here often, and ask questions. You will learn it all in time!

[bassgirls]

I dont know about white bread. we tried ener-g tapioca bread and my dd hated it. She now eats brown rice bread by food for life which I buy at publix. If your kiddo likes waffles you can try Vans gluten-free waffles which I can pick up wat walmart supercenter or publix nearly the same price as eggos...

[lonewolf]

thanks for the help

i sure hope we can find some white bread that we like cause we both looooove white bread

can a flare up cause low grade fevers ?

Ener-G Foods Light Tapioca bread is about as close to white bread as you can get. It's best toasted, but actually okay just zapped in the microwave for 10 seconds. For easy homemade white bread the Gluten Free Pantry has a boxed mix of Country French Bread that makes delicious bread and rolls (if you bake it in muffin tins). Even my gluten eating kids and hubby love it and I have served it to company.

[TCA]

Everyone's tastes are different. We actually can't stand the EnerG bread. I make Pamela's from the mix that I buy on amazon .com. There is a link in my sig line to a list started for newbies a while back. Hope that helps. Kinnikinik also has good breads you can buy frozen at Wild Oats.