New With Empty Pantry

[Mickide]

So I am three days out from diagnosis and now have an empty pantry. I am staying upbeat and know this is going to help me feel better. So far I have a loaf of bread, crackers, and salad dressing. I am a bit overwhelmed. I want brownies and have nothing to make them with!!.. Is ok, soon enough So I am open to any hints of where to start. Also do you cook separate for yourself than the rest of the family?? I have a 3 year old and 11 month old (who is suspected to have it also). I am wondering if the house should just go gluten-free.. Thanks all and glad I stumbled on this board, it has made my day

[Guest j_mommy]

Your best bet is for the house to go gluten-free....it is easier but teh choice is yours. It reduces your chance of being CC'd(cross contaminated)

Staples for me are: Fresh fruit, veggies, chicken and beef, milk, crystal light

Flours I have on hand: brown rice, white rice, flax sead, soy, sorghum,almond, potato starch, corn starch, tapoica. I keep all these on hand b/c I love to bake...I make my own bread and do banana bread muffins all the time.

I also have Bob's Red mill: Pancake mix and all purpose flour

Noodles: I like Mrs. Leepers Corn spegetti and other varieties....this co also has Hamburger helper type meal kits!! I love the tuna one. I actually like these noodles more than the GLuten ones...my son does too...he's 3.(PS he eats gluten-free at home and Gluten at daycare,, so he's gluten-free light)

Be sure to get a toaster just for gluten-free stuff. Check pots and pans and cooking utensils for scratches...those need to be replaced. Get a new colander if your's is plastic.

Don't know where you live...but the only bread I can eat is from Silly Yak Bakery....www.sillyyakbakery.com

THe store bought stuff I couldn't choke down!!! YUCK

I have a great hambuger bun recipe I got from this board...let me know if you's like it.....I also use it for sub sandwiches!!!

Welcome and Good Luck!

[melrobsings]

Do the entire house gluten-free. My best friend had a dairy allergy and I'm gluten-free and we are a dairy free/gluten-free house. i have a GREAT recipe for chocolate cupcake/brownie thingys. They sound like a pain but they really aren't and are GREAT!

1 1/3 cup chocolate chips (i think semisweet is the way to go)

3/4 cup unsalted butter cut into pieces

6 large eggs, seperated

1/2 cup sugar divided

2 tps vanilla extract

and whipped cream if wanted

heat over to 350. line your muffin tin and pam the liners to all heck!

stir chocolate and butter in heavy sauce pan over low heat until smooth. remove from heat and cool to luke warm.

In a large bowl with electric mixer on high mix egg jolks and 1/4 cup sugar until very thick and pale for about 3 min. Fold in chocolate mixture and vanilla. Using clean, dry beaters beat egg whites and remaining 1/4 cup sugar until stiff but not dry, about 2 min. Fold egg white mix into chocolate mix until combined. bake for 28-30 min.

serve with whipped cream...but they are fine without it too!

Also you can fill up the muffin holders cause they rise and then fall and are sort of hollow. I LOVE THEM! Enjoy!

[Guest j_mommy]

Oh....

Yeast, Eggs, oil, xanthan or guar gum, cornmeal.

Books I'd recommend:

Living Gluten Free for Dummies by Dana Korn

Celiac Disease: A Hidden Epidemic by Dr. Peter Green

[GFhopeful]

I'm a couple weeks further along than you (around 8 weeks in) but still new and learning. I have to say that getting the whole house on board with gluten-free foods made me feel alot more safe in my own home and no one is suffering due to it. I have a 3 year old and a 15 month old so they are young enough to not demand certain foods. They seem to love the foods that I'm feeding them now just as much as gluten foods. And my 15 month old is 30 lbs so he is eating well! And my husband is fine with it - he is surprised sometimes at how good some of the food we made is. I never really cooked before so just the fact of home-cooked meals for the family is great to him - we would eat out alot of just eat spaghetti or order pizza in the past so it's a big lifestyle change for us but it's been a good change so far.

If you were symptomatic before your diagnosis, I might try to eat as much fresh foods as I could, that's what finally got me feeling better. And I made other gluten-free things for the family. I have made browinies from mix (Namaste, Arrowhead Mills mixes were both really good) and a batch has lasted for treats for the whole family. Really, if you think about it, you can eat anything still but you just have to make it yourself. So, the family can still have pizza, but gluten-free, spaghetti, but sub with gluten-free noodles, etc. And I don't have to worry about getting sick when I kiss my daughter good night (that happened to me the 1st week of my diagnosis - I kissed her after she ate something with gluten and I tasted it and was sick 4 hours later, very frustrating). Now I know that can't happen - at least in our house.

[Karen B.]

So I am three days out from diagnosis and now have an empty pantry. I am staying upbeat and know this is going to help me feel better. So far I have a loaf of bread, crackers, and salad dressing. I am a bit overwhelmed. I want brownies and have nothing to make them with!!.. Is ok, soon enough So I am open to any hints of where to start. Also do you cook separate for yourself than the rest of the family?? I have a 3 year old and 11 month old (who is suspected to have it also). I am wondering if the house should just go gluten-free.. Thanks all and glad I stumbled on this board, it has made my day

Good News -- Chocolatey-brownie-fudgey type things seem to be the easiest thing to do gluten-free. I've made great chocolate cake with Namaste mix and I'm told their brownie mix is terriffic too. I can buy Bob's Read Mill gluten-free brownie mix at my local store and they are good. I made Pamela's gluten-free brownie mix for the office gang recently and everyone liked them. There are some really great "from scratch" bakers here on this board but I'm not one of them. However, if you want to know a good, easy mix I can probably help you out. :-)

Our home is gluten-free - my hubby's decision after he proved to me that when he ate Raisin Bran and kissed me (a light peck) without brushing his teeth, I got sick from his gluten residue. He said he didn't trust himself to remember and he didn't want to make me sick.

With 2 young kids, I would think it would make your life easier if the entire house was a "safe zone" so you didn't have to worry about the Celiac kid getting the Play-Doh. (but I don't have kids)

[mamaw]

Hi & welcome,

Please don't let this over-whelm you. It seems you are taking it slowly & absorbing as you move along which is a good thing...

My suggestions is to stick at first with only the things you totally know are safe & build from that point. With small kids to care for it may take you longer since your time is probably taken up with routine childcare....

Find a good Natural Food store where you can shop that carrie salot of gluten-free stuff.... My first visit was like $350.00 to get started....but I live hours from any good shopping so I stocked up.

If you check out the recipe section on this site there are so many excellent recipes to try out.....

I love the cookbooks by Annalise Roberts, by Shari Sanderson ( a kid's cooking 101) , & for a more cookbook with heartier type flous Mike Eberhart's.

For bread, we love Anna's mixes which can be made in a pan or in a machine. I love my Zo machine.... If you live by a WHole Foods the white sandwich bread makes a good grilled sandwich & our kids love it too.

I like the Clan Thompson website also & they list tons of mainstream gluten-free off the shelf products. It is also a free site with info.

We do alot of mailorder of speciality products.... donuts,from Celiac Specialities, crusty rolls & baguettes from Everybody Eats, bagels& eng.muffins from Joan's gluten-free great bakes. These places all have their own website.

I would say you house should go gluten-free & it is much easier. Our little guy was 2 1/2 when he went through the endo & colonoscopy. He does very well with gluten-free ....

Kraft products are clearly labeled so it is easy to use their products, I use contadina products alot ( tomato paste & sauce). Progresso has several soups htat are gluten-free such as: chicken vegetable, chick rice, creamy mushroon & french onion.. Amy's amkes a wonderful tomato bisque. Amy's also has a good frozen mac & cheese.

Trader Joe's is another place to find gluten-free, waffles, pancakes,

Delimex makes beef taquitos, dinty moore beef stew is also gluten-free.

hope this helps you some. Feel free to im me anytime.

mamaw

[Electra375]

Please take your kids to a Pedi GI knowledgable in Celiacs if possible. The more dx kids the more celiac disease gets IT on the radar of regular pedis and docs. I was unfortunate enough to have my 2nd child go undx for his first 3 1/2 years of his life, he lived in stomach pain. I knew something was wrong, I went to a lot of doctors, I have his records, I was labeled a difficult parent and crazy on one chart!!! I knew he was in pain and NO ONE listened to me. Finally, a doctor with a Celiac patient happened to see us by chance and we got the necessary tests run. He now is gluten-free, but the neurological problems persist, he is possibly SID or some austim spectrum disorder - we're working on a dx w a psychologist. He's 5 and still emotionally 3.

The sooner kids are gluten-free, the less time there is for damage as well as developing taste buds to desire wheat. My 3 1/2 yr old after he got hungry again, really had no trouble taking gluten-free foods, even some I find totally horrible - he likes.

I run a household of 6, 3 must by gluten-free, 3 don't have to be. I have 2 kitchens (I'm lucky, well maybe until you have to clean 2). My upstairs kitchen is gluten-free only baking, the counters on 1/2 are gluten-free, the area between stove and sink is "double" and there is one tiny section with the old bread box and a jar of PB that is Gluten and labeled! I didn't want to have to go downstairs to make PB&J for my 2 non-Celiac kids or my dh.

All dinners are gluten-free, it just makes my life easier. All holiday baking like cookies, cakes, meals are all gluten-free. I will make glutenous cakes downstairs for the kids to take to school, it's too expensive not to. I do currently have gluten-free and Gluten Cereals in the house for breakfast, separate shelves and labeled. And at lunch I will occassionally make 2 batches of Mac and Cheese. Lunch is probably the most difficult meal for me personally. I did not replace my stainless steel pots and pans. I did buy new baking sheets and pans though. Since I love Cast Iron all my Cast Iron is gluten-free. It's really a personal decision on the cookware, can gluten get stuck into a place I can't see on this item was my decision maker.

best wishes

[blueeyedmanda]

Stock up on Tinkayda pasta, which is very good. If you can get your hands on Gluten Free Pantry's Truffle Brownie mix, it is to die for. My coworkers didn't know the difference.

Annie's Rice Mac and Cheese is pretty decent.