Safe Snacks For The Kiddies

[kirst4588]

Justin [my 2 yr old w/ celiac disease] always sees other kids with their snack bars and granola bars and candy bars - although he seems to be learning and has started asking before trying things, he still gets disappointed often - so far, what we've tried from the health store, never tickled his fancy, and the rice cakes and crackers are getting old - today I picked apart the "no carb zone" at the local grocery store, I figured I'd try my luck

[cdobbs]

i know what you mean. thank you for that tip. i would have neve thought no carb foods. we are going thru the same thing with snacks and stuff. my 5 and 2yr olds have celiac disease. best of luck

christi

[kirst4588]

hey chrisi,

our kids are practically the same age - have you and your husband been tested?

-Kirst

[Racheleona]

Hello kirst4588, are the bars casein free? Thanks

Rachel

[kirst4588]

Rachael,

It says "caseinate" - is that the same thing?

-Kirst

[tarnalberry]

Doh! Caseinate means "not CF". I've just recently gone Gluten-free Casein-free, and am being fairly hard core on the CF portion of it (even though I don't know that I need to be), and finding that whatever going gluten-free didn't eliminate, in the way of processed foods, going CF pretty much gets the rest of them! :-/

[kirst4588]

i'm so sorry - the better we eat, the harder it is - good luck

[rgeelan]

I will have to look for some of those when we go out again... We got the Envirokids rice bars and William likes those, but can' live off them. LOL!

[kirst4588]

I looked for Envirokidz bars at Giant today, but couldn't find them - they did have the Envirokidz cereals though, I grabbed a few - school starts Tuesday, I'll send him with little baggies of cereal as a snack!

krs10

[gf4life]

I've just recently gone Gluten-free Casein-free, and am being fairly hard core on the CF portion of it (even though I don't know that I need to be), and finding that whatever going gluten-free didn't eliminate, in the way of processed foods, going CF pretty much gets the rest of them! :-/

Tiffany,

Tell me about it!

The kids and I were out shopping the other day and they started noticing that there are a LOT of foods out there that are gluten-free, but not Gluten-free Casein-free! If we can ever have dairy again it will open up such a wealth of gluten-free food options to us that we will NEVER feel deprived again. We plan to get retested this coming spring to see if we still need to be CF...

God bless,

Mariann

[tarnalberry]

You can make lots of bar things at home, and freeze them (I think a full-size freezer will be our first purchase (after washer/dryer) after buying a home!), same with muffins (don't forget the sugar like I did yesterday!) and lots of other things. When I have the space to do it, it's nice and convenient - and doesn't have to take too long if you stick with simple things (like muffins).

[ryebaby0]

Try Gluten-free Casein-free and no eggs, either! Luckily we found a few things DS really likes -- allerenergy (or however you spell it) bars and quinoa qrunchies, and he's always liked fruit so that's easy too (but not enough calories!) His GI still doesn't want him with any dairy and it seems like that would really open up the world to us! Ohwell.....

joanna

[FreyaUSA]

On the bar topic...I called Balance (which turns out to have been bought by Kraft within the last year or two which has a company wide policy to always disclose ingredients on the label that are made from foods containing allergens) and they have gluten-free bars too! At my local Trader Joes, they sell for $.99 per. For comparisons sake (I have a 15 year old boy who is a recent gluten-free convertee...as well as a 10 and a 6 year old all with celiac disease) how much are the Atkins Breakfast Bars?

(The label of the Balance Bars does say that they are manufactured on equipment that also processes <fill in the allergen ingredient here.> But Kraft has a very strict cleaning process that, so far, I've had no troubles with anything of theirs I've used being cross contaminated. I used to research food manufacturing and the cleaning processes Kraft uses on their equipment are pretty extensive and very strict. Just FYI though.)

[Nat'sMOM]

Thank you so much for the tips on cereal bars. We were shopping this weekend and I noticed the quacker rice cakes/snacks. I didn't get any because I wasn't sure. Does anyone know if they are gluten-free....My 15 month old was DX w/ celiac disease about 3 weeks ago. I am still learning how to shop. The first week we spent $50 at the health food store which was a waist because she wouldn't eat half of what we bought. She loves bannanas and hotdogs and wavy lays, but like someone else said she can't live off those alone. An easy snack variety would be wonderful. Especially since I work full time and she is in daycare. We are always on the go.

Off the subject. What are some birthday ideas. My son is 5 today and is having a party on Saturday. He has not been tested of DX so we haven't changed his diet just yet, expect for family meals which we have made completely gluten-free.... anyways I don't want Natalie to feel left out, but am not sure how to include her either. We had a b-day party about a week ago and we stopped and got her a piece of gluten-free cheese cake so she would have something while everyone else was having cake. That didn't work....she hated and cried....it broke my heart.....we ended up playing outside while everyone ate....and of course I refused to have any because she couldn't....sorry I started ramblling this is all still so fresh for me. I seem to get overwhelmed easily. Thanks in advance.

Kristi

[celiac3270]

The Quaker Rice Cakes (or they might call them Quaker Corn Cakes......I think that's it).....regular-sized are gluten-free...all flavors (cheddar cheese, pb, buttered popcorn, etc.)...just don't get the mini cakes and I don't know about these Quaker snacks you mention.

[kirst4588]

For my son's parties (their bdays are the same week) in July we did the gluten-free Gluten Pantry Chocolate cake - it was excellent - everyone, kids and adults alike, were complimenting how good the cake was and no one knew it was gluten-free - when I said it was, they were all shocked.

As far as the rest of the food, we planned the party at such a time that it would be after lunch and before dinner, so a meal didn't have to be planned and we could just do gluten-free snacks, none of which seemed odd either, such as: chili w/ cornchips; jello; icepops; sodas; doritos; salsa; popcorn and fruity snacks (forgot the name, the chewy ones)

Party ON!

[celiac3270]

Yeah, I've tried that cake.......it's quite good and I had the lactose-free recipe since I thought I should avoid the dairy at the time.........(it was the beginning of the gluten-free diet for me and they say dairy can be harsh on you at the start).......I bet it tastes 10 times better with milk and stuff.

[Nat'sMOM]

that's what I was talking about....I just couldn't think of what they were called....why not the mini cakes; just out of curiosity???

[kirst4588]

here's the link to the cake

Open Original Shared Link

its lactose free and gluten free - yum

and oh, another idea for food for parties is to do a taco salad - people wont know their eating gluten-free - just ensure that you use gluten-free ingredients, of course, such as: gluten-free corn chips, like frito lay brand - and gluten-free seasoning for the meat, like Giant brand taco mix etc

[Nat'sMOM]

Thanks for all the great tips. We are actually doing a cookout. Hot dogs (gluten-free) my mom is going to make potato salad w/ gluten-free ingredients / chips/ baked beans (which I am not sure if they are gluten-free or not, but I don't think she would eat them anyway) she is having a texture issue lately....(corn, beans, etc) I think I will make her a small gluten-free cake cause we have already ordered the cake for the party....

[gf4life]

I don't know why, but a lot of the mini rice cakes aren't included on my families diet. It might not be a gluten problem, it might be a dairy problem, so you might want to check with the Quaker company. The only ones my kids eat are the apple cinnamon variety, but they eat them a lot and I even send these as a class snack to my daughter's kindergarten class.

As for birthday parties, any gluten-free cake mix would work, or even gluten-free brownies! Frosted of course! Pillsbury ready-made icing is almost all gluten-free. I think only the coconut caramel one for german chocolate cakes has wheat in it. All the flavors will have a disclaimer on the label (at the end of the ingredients) that says "contains: wheat, milk, soy ingredients" etc... if it has any allergens in it. The Easy Flow Decorating Icing in the spray cans are gluten-free also. They come in all different colors for decorating. My kids like to decorate their own cupcakes. This makes them feel like they are getting a special treat!

We use the chocolate fudge and the white frosting by Pillsbury for our cakes. I tend to just make the cake at home for our own parties, enough for everyone, so nobody has to have a different cake or feels left out. The gluten-free cake mix I use tastes so good nobody knows it is gluten-free. I always tell them though, so they don't think that we can "cheat" and eat regular cake on birthdays! When we go to other peoples parties I take a few frozen cupcakes out of the freezer and frost them. They thaw by the time the kids eat them. I just keep some already made for those last minute party invitations. They freeze well.

BTW, the cake mix I use is by Really Great Foods, their Chocolate cake is the BEST! I buy mine at Gluten Solutions online store. Open Original Shared Link

God bless,

Mariann

[celiac3270]

I thought there might be a gluten problem with the minis, but maybe not.......like Mariann said, you should call to ask if you'd like to have those as well.

Duncan Hines has icing that happens to be gluten-free........their "cream cheese" kind doesn't taste like cream cheese as the name suggests, but is the most amazing icing that I have had and a few people I know loved it when they tried it, too.........just a suggestion, though as with all other products, call.....don't just take my word on their gluten-free status, as this was from awhile ago.

BTW, Mariann, I will try that cake.

[lesliewatts]

Kristi,

We also have a 4 yo who is not a Celiac, but at his party in June we made gluten-free cupcakes so our daughter didn't feel left out. The Chocalate Kinnickkinnick brand is really good, all the kids and their parents ate them too!

What I do is always make extra cupcakes, keep some in the freezer (unfrosted) and the day of the friend's party, call the mom ask what color the cake is going to be and try to make her cupcake look similiar. It seems to work nicely.

Leslie

[tarnalberry]

I think the key is finding recipes/products that you are quite happy to serve as though they weren't gluten-free. I offer anyone/everyone the stuff I make, including my muffins (like the ones I made this weekend) and treat them as though they're just as good as anything else. I give them the warning that they may taste different than expected, but are still good. (My blueberry muffins turned out very tasty (even says my husband, who's incredibly picky and non gluten-free), but are almost scone like, so it might surprise you if you're expecting a light and fluffy muffin texture.) Same thing with the pumpkin pie I made a while ago. But since I'm the gluten-free one, I just won't cook anything that's not gluten-free.

[gf4life]

Tiffany is right. I still get asked to bake goodies for church bake sales. I always tell them that everything I bake will be wheat/gluten free. I am not surprised that my gluten-free stuff sells just as good as the non-gluten-free goodies! I've done cupcakes and banana muffins, and brownies are always a hit.

Don't be afraid to serve gluten-free cake to everyone, most people can't tell the difference. Of course you should experiment with gluten-free baking before the party, since we have all had our share of flops. And you would hate to have the cake not turn out right. My first yellow cake was horrible. Now I stick with the brand that works best for me.

God bless,

Mariann