How Do I Get Started?

[ruthla]

I decided to try my DD on gluten-free to see if it helps some of her issues with fatigue and irritability. I've been gluten-free for nearly 2 months, but I've basically been on a Paleo diet, so I'm not REALLY familiar with all the gluten-free foods available. I don't want to restrict her diet unneccesarily- just going gluten-free for a week is a big enough change, and I want to make it as easy on her as possible. She's also less likely to cheat if there are plenty of gluten-free goodies in the house for her.

I'm planning to stock up on the gluten-free things she already eats- tuna, yogurt, eggs, cheese, etc. I'm also planning to stock up on rice cakes to replace the crackers she likes to snack on, and maybe get some potato chips too (we don't normally have those in the house.) We always have gluten-free pasta in the house (though she's not a big pasta fan).

What else should I get? Are those gluten-free baking mixes worth it, or am I better off making stuff with rice flour and potato starch? I don't want to spend tons of money on mixes, but I also don't want to clutter up the pantry with a zillion flours that we may never use again. Am I better off with gluten-free mixes for things like pizza dough and pancakes just for this trial week, and then play around with recipes only if gluten-free helps her and we stay on this long-term?

[Darn210]

If your just doing a trial, I would initially stick with the mixes. We really like Pamela's baking and pancake mix. We have used it for pancakes and muffins. I make a big batch on the weekend, freeze the leftovers (separated with wax paper) and then my kids just microwave them for pancakes during the week. Same with the muffins. It also has a recipe for choc chip cookies . . . I haven't tried yet but I bet they would be good, too.

[bbuster]

If your just doing a trial, I would initially stick with the mixes. We really like Pamela's baking and pancake mix. We have used it for pancakes and muffins. I make a big batch on the weekend, freeze the leftovers (separated with wax paper) and then my kids just microwave them for pancakes during the week. Same with the muffins. It also has a recipe for choc chip cookies . . . I haven't tried yet but I bet they would be good, too.

I agree with the above. Pamela's mix makes excellent pancakes, waffles, and chocolate chip cookies (I make them a lot!), and very easy to use the recipes right on the package.

My son was diagnosed at 10, so I now have three years experience and bake a lot. Some things are really tricky to make until you get a lot of practice, especially bread and pizza crust. Now I make these things from scratch with a lot of ingredients, but for a beginner I would recommend using mixes.

Some other easy foods to start with are tacos and corn tortilla chips and salsa. There are also several kids of taquitos you can buy frozen and just reheat which are gluten-free (make sure they are corn and not flour tortillas - the packages are well-marked).

If you need to continue this for awhile, I would recommend Bette Hagman's book, I think it is called the Gluten Free Gourmet Bakes Bread, and I rely heavily on her featherlight flour mix.

Good luck!

[ruthla]

OK, I'm back from the store, though I may go shopping again next week.

I just couldn't bring myself to spend $3+ on a mix that makes one cake or brownie- so I got 2 pacakges of rice flour- I already have sugar, xanthan gum, and potato starch in the house. I did get lots of rice cakes and potato chips and assorted gluten-free snack foods along with some "real food" like meat and cheese. We're planning to make meringues at least once.

[Guest Rosany]

Dear Ruth,

I think you are starting out great. I agree with the other ladies suggestions and just wanted to send out big hugs to you and hope that everything works out well for your daughter. Have a great day.

Rosa

[Ursa Major]

I hope the potato chips are plain ones. I've read from a potato chip manufacturer that they use gluten to stick the spices onto the other chips (and because it is not an official ingredient, they don't have to declare the gluten as an ingredient).

You would do well to buy some light buckwheat flour as well. I bake cookies with buckwheat flour, and also thicken sauces with it. I know that a lot of people here love rice flour, but I don't.

Did you involve your daughter in writing your shopping list? If she gets what SHE wants, not just what you have decided on, it is more likely that she won't cheat.

My youngest daughter agreed once to try gluten-free (or so I thought) about a year ago. But then my second youngest daughter (who is six years older than her) told me that she had said to her that she only agreed to stop me from nagging her, but had no intentions of following the gluten-free diet outside the house.

So, I had spent a lot of money on snack food for her (that I can't eat myself because of other intolerances), and ended up giving it away to another daughter, who thought she was intolerant to wheat and was sort-of gluten-free at the time (completely gluten-free now, along with her kids). It was a big disappointment and a waste of money at the time. Because there is no point of her being gluten-free at home and spending all that money, when she eats gluten foods elsewhere.

As I said before, only after I proved to her that she was actually gluten intolerant did she give up gluten for real.

[bbuster]

OK, I'm back from the store, though I may go shopping again next week.

I just couldn't bring myself to spend $3+ on a mix that makes one cake or brownie- so I got 2 pacakges of rice flour- I already have sugar, xanthan gum, and potato starch in the house. I did get lots of rice cakes and potato chips and assorted gluten-free snack foods along with some "real food" like meat and cheese. We're planning to make meringues at least once.

You can do a lot with corn starch, potato starch, and xanthan gum

Here's a simple bread recipe, not the best but not bad and very easy.

The nice things is that it does not have to rise, so you can make start to finish is less than 1 hour

Bread -

1 1/4 cup milk @ room temp

1/4 cup oil

2 tbsp honey

1 1/4 cup potato starch

1 1/4 cup corn starch

1 tsp salt

1 tbsp baking powder

2 tsp Xanthan gum

1 packet yeast

mix well

bake at 350 F in a 9 X 4 loaf pan

25 - 28 minutes

use toothpick to test - will just begin to brown

and this one is simple too - Carrie-Faith's recipe

even faster and tastier than the bread loaf recipe

Soft and Chewy Breadsticks

(makes about 12 - you can also cut recipe in 1/2)

1/4 cup Crisco shortning

3 tablespoons honey

2 eggs

1 cup unflavored yogurt

3/4 teaspoon vinegar

1/2 cup potato starch

11/2 cups cornstarch

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons baking powder

2 teaspoons xanthan gum

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon yeast

Topping: butter, salt, garlic salt, herbs, sesame seeds, etc.

Mix all together

Spray inside of a clean quart baggie (or sandwich size for 1/2 recipe)

Put dough in baggie and cut a small corner off.

Pipe dough into 5-6 inch strips on greased baking sheet.

Sprinkle with toppings.

bake at 350 F, about 15 minutes until golden brown

(hint - you can make these a little bigger for a sandwich bun)

and a simple cake recipe

Petite Chocolate Cake

1/2 cup cornstarch

1/3 cup potato starch

1/2 cup cocoa

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

7/8 tsp Xanthan gum

2/3 cup sugar

1 egg

3 tbsp oil

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp baking soda

3/4 cup milk

mix well

bake in greased 8-inch round

350 F for approximately 25-30 minutes

toothpick should come out clean

This recipe can be doubled for 2 layer cake

and for a really sweet tooth, this cupcake recipe uses NO flour

and is really good!

Chocolate Cupcakes (no flour)

12 oz Nestle chocolate chips

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter

6 large eggs, separated

1/2 cup sugar, divided

2 tsp vanilla extract

Melt chocolate and butter in saucepan

Remove from heat

Separate eggs

Beat egg whites and 1/4 cup sugar

In large bowl, beat egg yolks and 1/4 cup sugar

Add melted chocolate and mix well

Add egg whites and mix

Bake approximately 25 minutes at 350 F

Let cool and frost

Makes about 24 cupcakes (recipe can be halved)

Note: These usually fall in the middle

I just cover with frosting

[vanillazeis]

I decided to try my DD on gluten-free to see if it helps some of her issues with fatigue and irritability. I've been gluten-free for nearly 2 months, but I've basically been on a Paleo diet, so I'm not REALLY familiar with all the gluten-free foods available. I don't want to restrict her diet unneccesarily- just going gluten-free for a week is a big enough change, and I want to make it as easy on her as possible. She's also less likely to cheat if there are plenty of gluten-free goodies in the house for her.

I'm planning to stock up on the gluten-free things she already eats- tuna, yogurt, eggs, cheese, etc. I'm also planning to stock up on rice cakes to replace the crackers she likes to snack on, and maybe get some potato chips too (we don't normally have those in the house.) We always have gluten-free pasta in the house (though she's not a big pasta fan).

What else should I get? Are those gluten-free baking mixes worth it, or am I better off making stuff with rice flour and potato starch? I don't want to spend tons of money on mixes, but I also don't want to clutter up the pantry with a zillion flours that we may never use again. Am I better off with gluten-free mixes for things like pizza dough and pancakes just for this trial week, and then play around with recipes only if gluten-free helps her and we stay on this long-term?

It's Delimex chicken taquitos that are gluten free... for some reason not all of them are safe, they told me over the phone that the chicken ones were safe but not with cheese. Honestly i would try to stay away from gluten-free baked goods during your trial. Most things just dont taste great compared to gluten, ive heard so many people say not to try gluten-free bread for a year after you stop eating gluten. By that time it will taste good. Try to stick to naturally gluten free things... pot roast carrots and potatoes, tacos, grilled chicken and veggies... we eat alot of just meat and veggies (and deviled eggs yumm!), i also make lasagna with tinkyada lasagna noodles and it tastes just as good as normal! As far as snack foods go, popcorn, fritos, chips and queso, applesauce, fresh fruit, veggies with ranch. Bell and Evan's gluten free chicken nuggets are really good. Ore-ida french fries are safe.

These cheesecake supcakes are good, they just dont have any kind of crust, just filling, they are awesome!

Cheesecake Cupcakes

Ingredients

1 1/2 c. sugar

4 eggs

24 oz. light cream cheese, softened

1 tsp. vanilla

1 1/2 c. raspberries or choc chips or blueberries or other yummy

Topping

8 oz. light cream cheese

1/4 c. sugar

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (176 degrees Celsius).

In a large bowl, use a hand mixer to blend the sugar, cream cheese, and vanilla.

Add eggs to cream cheese mixture one at a time and blend after adding each egg.

Line 24-cupcake pan with cupcake liners - foil works best. Fill cupcake liners 3/4 of the way full

with cream cheese batter.

Divide raspberries or chips or whatever evenly between the 24 cupcakes and sprinkle on top of each cupcake

Bake for 25 minutes at 350 degrees (176 degrees Celsius).

Remove from oven and let stand for 5 minutes. A well will form in the middle of

each cupcake.

Turn the oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit (232 degrees Celsius).

In a small bowl, blend together topping ingredients. Using a teaspoon, drop topping

into the center of each cupcake.

Bake for 5 minutes at 450 degrees Fahrenheit (232 degrees Celsius).

Remove from oven and cool. Refrigerate for 1 hour. Keep refrigerated.

This works plain as well.. no need for fruit or chocolate, they're simply extra luxuries. : )

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I hope you can get her to cooperate away from home! Like the previous post said about her daughter, i always worry about what Bayleigh will eat away from home when she gets older, and even when i think about getting my husband to try a gluten-free trial, i always think he would say yes to get me to shut up and then go to mcdonalds for lunch. (which reminds me mcdonalds french fries are not safe) Hope you get an answer soon!

If you make lots of yummy food she'll cooperate! Good luck!!! Let us know how it goes!

[luvthelake21]

My daughter was 10 when we found out she had Celiac. SHe could pick anything out in the produce department also she can have nacho lunchables, fruit roll ups, gushers, pickles, cheetos, rotel and corn chips, precooked bacon, certain lunch meats, shrimp, crab legs(her favorite)LOL. There are so many things you can you just have to read labels. Good luck

[Sweetfudge]

for a beginner I would recommend using mixes.

Some other easy foods to start with are tacos and corn tortilla chips and salsa. There are also several kids of taquitos you can buy frozen and just reheat which are gluten-free (make sure they are corn and not flour tortillas - the packages are well-marked).

If you need to continue this for awhile, I would recommend Bette Hagman's book, I think it is called the Gluten Free Gourmet Bakes Bread, and I rely heavily on her featherlight flour mix.

Good luck!

I also live off of Bette's Featherlight mix. I have a gallon rubbermaid full at all times, and use it in ALL recipes, not just the ones that call for gluten-free flour. I make gravy, sauces, etc with it, and it's the best! But yes, for the trial run, you probably will want to stick to mixes. Oh, and we also eat a lot of mexican food! I get fresh corn tortillas from our local Hispanic grocery store.

Try to stick to naturally gluten free things... pot roast carrots and potatoes, tacos, grilled chicken and veggies... we eat alot of just meat and veggies (and deviled eggs yumm!), i also make lasagna with tinkyada lasagna noodles and it tastes just as good as normal! As far as snack foods go, popcorn, fritos, chips and queso, applesauce, fresh fruit, veggies with ranch. Bell and Evan's gluten free chicken nuggets are really good. Ore-ida french fries are safe.

This is great advice! I try and make what I can without having to do a lot since husband still eats gluten, and I'd rather make a filling meal for both of us to enjoy than to have to make myself a meal, and then one for him and risk CC. He still eats his gluten on weekends and for breakfasts, but I try and clean up after him (ADHD + Male = lots of potential CC opportunities ).

I say just to do whatever you can do to help her feel anything but deprived, because that is when we're most succeptable to cheating. Good luck!!!

[ruthla]

Did you involve your daughter in writing your shopping list? If she gets what SHE wants, not just what you have decided on, it is more likely that she won't cheat.

I took her to the store with me and let her pick out what she wanted. Pirate's booty is OK, right?

A lot of the specific product suggestions won't work because we keep kosher plus she has other food sensitivities- namely to synthetic colors and flavors. Most of the frozen ready-made meals aren't kosher, and fruit roll ups are out because of the coloring. I haven't bought anything BUT plain potato chips in years!

I'm not planning on making any kind of bread substitute at this point- it's doubtful she'll like the texture when she's used to eating whole wheat bread, and anyway the toaster is full of gluten and rife for cross contamination. But I doubt there will be similar problems with cakes, cookies or muffins- foods that normally dont' rely on gluten for texture. Wait, actually I will make gluten-free challah for Friday nights and Saturday lunches if she needs to go gluten-free longterm. We'll see how good it comes out- maybe she'll eat it during the week and maybe she won't. For this week I'm planning on making naturally gluten-free foods instead of gluten-free substitutes for wheat flour items.