4 Year Old Son And I Just Diagnosed - Overwhelmed

[ejcanas]

My four year old son and I were just diagnosed with Celiac's 5 days ago and I am feeling overwhelmed. I went thru the pantry and cleaned out all obviously gluten-laden products and even a few I am not so sure of. Then I went to the local health food market and bought various products from the gluten-free section. I just feel so scattered about this whole thing. I love to cook new recipes, but now I am looking at my cookbooks, questioning every ingredient. I am supposed to meet a best gal pal for a long awaited dinner tonight, but I am afraid I won't be able to find something to eat. What about my son - how does this effect his school and what happens when he goes to his friend's houses. Any advice would be great. I also have specific questions below on a wide range of subjects (I warned you I was scattered):

Does chicken broth have gluten (it's Fall and soup making season....)

Which type of gluten-free flour do y'all like best for baking (see Fall above)

Any cool and easy kids lunch or snack ideas (son has never been a good eater. Hoping this has something to do with why and maybe what he eats won't bother him so much)

What do you tell your child's friends parents

Good cook book suggestions or website to order products from

Eating out advice.

Thanks!

Ellen and Gabriel

Austin, TX

[buffettbride]

My four year old son and I were just diagnosed with Celiac's 5 days ago and I am feeling overwhelmed. I went thru the pantry and cleaned out all obviously gluten-laden products and even a few I am not so sure of. Then I went to the local health food market and bought various products from the gluten-free section. I just feel so scattered about this whole thing. I love to cook new recipes, but now I am looking at my cookbooks, questioning every ingredient. I am supposed to meet a best gal pal for a long awaited dinner tonight, but I am afraid I won't be able to find something to eat. What about my son - how does this effect his school and what happens when he goes to his friend's houses. Any advice would be great. I also have specific questions below on a wide range of subjects (I warned you I was scattered):

Does chicken broth have gluten (it's Fall and soup making season....)

Which type of gluten-free flour do y'all like best for baking (see Fall above)

Any cool and easy kids lunch or snack ideas (son has never been a good eater. Hoping this has something to do with why and maybe what he eats won't bother him so much)

What do you tell your child's friends parents

Good cook book suggestions or website to order products from

Eating out advice.

Thanks!

Ellen and Gabriel

Austin, TX

1. Many chicken broths have gluten. I use the organic Wolfgang Puck broths that are labeled gluten free and are available at my regular grocery store.

2. We use Bob's Red Mill all purpose flour and Pamela's pancake mix for just about everything we need flour for.

3. School lunches are always an adventure. Lately I have been sending homemade crispy chicken strips with BBQ sauce and some fresh veggies, fruit, and a few cookies. Do a search for "school lunches" on this site and you'll find a lot of threads about that subject. I suspect your son will eat more once he knows the food won't make him sick.

4. I usually ask where and what the kids will be doing and send food along with my child to eat. It's a bit unconventional, but I haven't had any trouble. If you know where they are going and know what gluten-free food might be available, I'll tell them what is safe to order. I only do that if it is not too complicated and the risk of cross contamination is unlikely.

5. The glutenfreemall.com (affiliated with this site) appears to be good. Kinnickinnick, Tinkyada, Glutino are all good sites to order from. I don't really have a gluten-free cookbook, I usually modify my existing recipes to be gluten-free.

6. Eating out--avoid it for a while until you feel less overwhelmed. Some places where folks here have eaten successfully include Chilis, Maggianos, Outback, Bonefish Grill, Noodles, Chipotle, and many others. Eating out is an art and a challenge for gluten-free eaters.

Welcome and good luck!

[missy'smom]

Welcome!

There are alot of great recipies on this forum. Recipezaar.com also has a gluten-free section. Click on free of..and gluten.

Find a support group/Celiac Spue Association chapter in your area. Mine gives out alot of helpful accurate info, has gluten-free goodies to sample-both products and homemade and has a list of local restauraunts, links to their gluten-free menues and member recommendations for eating out on their website. They also hold gluten-free baking classes and do many other things. Many other support groups in the larger cities have websites too. I'm thinking I saw one for Dallas/Austin area. Maybe this will help you with the dinner out tonight.

Keep in mind that some of your baking spices may be contaminated if you double dipped with your measuring spoons in the past.

chicken broth can contain gluten so it's wise to check. I use Pacific and Imagine Orgainics in the cartons. I believe there are some mainstream canned ones that are gluten-free as well.

a simple gluten-free cereal-chex type or rice can be put into the food processor or blender to make "bread crumbs" for meatloaf, balls or as a breading and is cheaper than buying the prepared gluten-free bread crumbs

Glutino make small pretzelz that taste like the real thing, homemade jello with Knox gelatin and fruit juice and fresh or canned fruit, frozen juice pops using a mold from the dollar store

Kraft will show gluten on the labels of their products-even barley

Good Luck and take it one day at a time.

[ptkds]

Since you live in Austin, I would suggest you go to the HEB Central Market Store. I have never been there myself, but I have been told several times that they have a good selection.

I have a PICKY dd who just turned 7. She was diagnosed last year. Every day for school, she takes a PB&J sandwich (I make my own bread), pudding cup, and a drink. Sometimes I throw in some raisins, apple slices, or a banana.

We LOVE the book called "Incredible Edible Gluten Free Food For Kids". I make the Classic White Bread recipe w/ a few minor adjustments (PM me if you want to know what they are!) You can find the book on amazon .com. We have a few other cookbooks, but I have found a majority of recipes on the internet. Go to www.recipezaar.com and type in gluten-free. you will get lots of recipes. I also joined this site called www.glutenfreebakingandmore.com. I hated to spend money on recipes, but these recipies are AMAZING! You can't tell the difference between some regular foods and their gluten-free version.

As for eating out, you can look online for the restaurants website and see if they have a gluten-free menue. Outback has some great options, and they have the menu at the restaurant. Chilis has a great menu on their website that is updated every month. Just tell your waiter/waitress that you are allergic (even though Celiac isn't an allergy, that is what people understand) to wheat and ask them to make sure your food doesn't come in contact with other stuff, like croutons on a salad, or bread.

Welcome to the site! You have a wonderful resource here!

ptkds

[Rosewynde]

You've come to the right place! The internet and this site in particular has all sorts of great information and help. This is usually where I figure out what's safe and what's not. Also, remember all of us here have been through this, so your not alone!

The best way to find out if something is safe is to do an internet search or call the number on the container and talk to someone at the company. Most of the major ones will let you know if something has gluten in it and most of them have gotten wise enough to put it on their labels if it does have it. There's a great list on this site of unsafe food ingredients that's a good start. It gives all the funky names that producers use for wheat flours. Other things to watch out for are soy sauce (almost always made with wheat), some of the cheaper vinegars that are sometimes made with wheat or barley, malt (made with barley), food starches (sometimes made of wheat), caramel coloring (sometimes made with wheat).

For flour, I use some of the Bob's Red Mill but they can be expensive. I also buy corn flour, rice flours, and bean flours from Chinese or Indian grocery stores. So far I've not had any issues over getting sick from them and they are ALOT cheaper. The local health food store is a great source for cereals, pasta, and snack items that are gluten free. Mostly what you should do is learn to make things at home though or you'll end up going over your food budget fast buying specially pre-prepared items.

For broth I've been using Swanson's Natural Goodness chicken broth and for the Beef broth the Swanson Lower Sodium or Organic I had at home were safe (I called the company and read off barcodes so they could verify it ; D).

For your boy I'd suggest making a wrap with corn tortilla's, lunch meat, and mayo. You can also make your own bread and try that for Peanut Butter and Jelly. I use Rice Cakes a lot as crackers too. If you make soup that's gluten free then you can use a thermos to send it to school with him (my girls love hot soup for school lunches ; D) Fresh vegetables and fruit cut up are great finger foods too, tomatoes, mushrooms, carrots, celery, cucumbers, apples, oranges, melons, etc. Some canned chicken's and tuna's are safe too. I usually eat it on rice cakes or rolled in a tortilla ; D

Just remember any condiments or other things you've used before that could have had bread crumbs or bits of flour that got into them previously can be bad for both of you. I initially had problems with mayo, peanut butter, and sugar that had traces of bread crumbs or flour mixed in with it due to cross contamination.

As for visiting friends and/or eating out, most people you talk to will be very understanding. Send him with stuff to eat or make sure you set down the rules for what he can have and let them know what happens to him. Most parents will protect him the same as you would. When he gets older he'll be able to regulate it himself more. As for restaurants, talk to the owner or manager ahead of time if you can. Make sure they understand that cross contamination can be a big problem and give them time to call around and check out ingredients. The other choice is to bring stuff to snack on and make sure the owner/manager understands that it's because you have food allergies. Once you learn what's safe to eat then frequent the places that your sure off and know what to order. It doesn't hurt to leave a bigger tip in thanks for their handling it so well.

[mama2two]

My four year old son and I were just diagnosed with Celiac's 5 days ago and I am feeling overwhelmed. I went thru the pantry and cleaned out all obviously gluten-laden products and even a few I am not so sure of. Then I went to the local health food market and bought various products from the gluten-free section. I just feel so scattered about this whole thing. I love to cook new recipes, but now I am looking at my cookbooks, questioning every ingredient. I am supposed to meet a best gal pal for a long awaited dinner tonight, but I am afraid I won't be able to find something to eat. What about my son - how does this effect his school and what happens when he goes to his friend's houses. Any advice would be great. I also have specific questions below on a wide range of subjects (I warned you I was scattered):

Does chicken broth have gluten (it's Fall and soup making season....)

Which type of gluten-free flour do y'all like best for baking (see Fall above)

Any cool and easy kids lunch or snack ideas (son has never been a good eater. Hoping this has something to do with why and maybe what he eats won't bother him so much)

What do you tell your child's friends parents

Good cook book suggestions or website to order products from

Eating out advice.

Thanks!

Ellen and Gabriel

Austin, TX

i understand how you feel, my daughter has been gluten-free for 6 months, but we just got her results from enterolab this week and the cold hard facts saying that she has to be gluten-free for life just about made me cry, not to mention all the other possible medical conditions that go along with it. it is very overwhelming for parent and child, but hang in there you will get through it. sice you enjoy cooking this is good you can create your own gluten-free recipes. i like to cook to but cooking gluten-free can be challenging sometimes. for christmas i want new gluten-free cookbooks. right now we use the pamela's bread mix, but i would like to experiment with other recipes. my daughter is currently mourning mcdonald's chicken nuggets. she is a very picky eater as well. my secret for a quik lunch is toast a frozen gluten-free waffle(van's makes good ones) and spread a nut butter on it for a sandwhich, the in a drink and some fruit or fresh veggies maybe a cookie for dessert and it's a meal. good luck to you both, you will make it!

[DownWithGluten]

You've gotten good responses here, but I just also want to add - good luck with it all. It is a challenge, but thankfully, from what I understand - things are a lot better about it nowadays than from even not so long ago. I am noticing more and more signs of "gluten-free" awareness, even since when I started the diet in January. Maybe one day all stores will be half gluten-free, half "normal" - ha! But yeah. It is overwhelming and often disheartening, so I do wish you luck. You'll get the hang of it. And one thing - at least you two will be going at it "together!" That might make your son feel better, and you as well...