Cookbooks

[Worriedtodeath]

What would you all reccomend for someone just starting out in gluten-free life? SOmeone with 3 young kids who need snacks, breads,etc in addition to meals? What are the must haves?

Thanks

Stacie

[larry mac]

The Best Gluten-Free Family Cookbook, by Donna Washburn & Heather Butt. It contains a very useful information table of thickener substitutions. It describes the properties of the starches Arrowroot, Cornstarch, Potato starch, and Tapioka starch. And the flours Amaranth flour, Bean flour, Rice flour (brown or white), Sorghum flour, and Sweet rice flour. It lists how much to use, how to use them in cooking, the cooked appearance, and extensive tips for each one. Using thickeners is a basic cooking skill that is one of our (Celiacs) main obstacles to overcome, since we can't use the most common thickener of all, regular flour.

Another good one is Living Gluten-Free For Dummies, by Donna Korn. It's packed with useful information cover to cover, presented in a unique way.

Gluten-Free books usually cost less than $15 at webstores such as amazon and usually two will get you free shipping also.

best regards, lm

[RiceGuy]

I started out by looking over the recipes on this site, and what I could find via Google of course. I never purchased any books, so I can't recommend any.

[larry mac]

Please consider. My gluten-free books are not just recipe books. Actually, I don't use too many of the recipes. Rather, they are gluten-free textbooks, little encyclopedias of gluten-free information. Each one attempts to prepare the newly diagnosed for the gluten-free life.

Of course one can get gluten-free info out the wazoo on the internet for free. But not everyone is adept at finding and using this source. The internet can be a confusing and disjointed medium, sometimes hard to consolidate info from so many different searches. Also, there are many distractions and pitfalls along the way. One is always surrounded by advertising. And, there are others giving opinions formed from their own physical (and mental ) problems, most likely different than your own.

Yes, this forum is the place to find out if other DH sufferers have had skin rashes from using Dial soap. But, for those needing to know the difference between potato flour and potato starch, can you use guar gum instead of zanthan gum, what's teff? For Heaven's sake, get a few good gluten-free books. You won't regret it.

best regards, lm

[Sweetfudge]

My very favorite and most used gluten-free cookbook is called Life Tastes Good Again. You can get it here: Open Original Shared Link

Also, check out their recipes on the website, all are great! I haven't made a bad one yet. I know these girls personally, and they can cook!!!

[elmuyloco5]

I'm new at this myself, with 3 kids as well. I personally really like the Dummies guide. Donna Korn, the writer, also runs a Celiac website for kids called, R.O.C.K., where you might also find helpful tips for kiddos.

My husband and I decided that we needed to do this with as much organization as possible, as now having to make bread and other items would take away more of my time. We also felt the most important thing was to keep this part of our life as close to normal as possible. So we sat our kids down and asked them for 28 meals (4 weeks of food) that they like the most. We would change those recipes over to gluten-free. We then recorded down our recipes into a computer cookbook program, and figured out which parts of the recipes would have to be adjusted. Those are the items that we started looking for gluten-free solutions. We also talked about several breakfast choices and lunch options (but for us, those were easier to work around).

We had started compiling a list of all gluten-free items, but quickly realized that it was just too much to work with. Instead, we focused on the things that we would need to make those 28 meals, and other products we needed to live (for example our shampoos, soaps, etc. as my daughter and I have skin problems that we feel might be caused by the gluten sensitivity).

So far, our kids say they like the gluten-free meals better. We've had a few bad experiences, like the DeBoles corn pasta (yuck), but have managed to find a better alternative (Tinkyada rice pasta).

I know I'm not very versed at the whole gluten-free thing, but please feel free to msg me if you need any help. I'm sure you'll have some great ideas to share as well pretty soon!!

[mamaw]

there are many excellent cookbooks now..... I only buy the newest ones out. One suggestion is if you are a very new newbie is to buy some mixes or per-made goodies until you get the other stuff main meals & such clear in your head first. I think that way it is not so over-whelming. There are so many gluten-free snack foods available now .......

For Cookbooks here are a few of our family favs:

Baking Classics by Annalise Roberts. this book has wonderful recipes for things like wedding cake, ice cream sandwiches & so much more. Her new book I think will be out in the fall of 08.

Gourmet Desserts by MIke Eberhart...... every recipe is pictured so you know & can see what the end result should look like... this book uses many healthy gluten-free alternatives.

Shari Sanderson's Cooking for Kids.

Roben Ryberg's books also are very popular. Sorry the name has just eluded my brain at present. Her new book comes out in March08.

there are so many more.

good luck

mamaw

[mamasaidso]

Hi,

I am two weeks into learning how to cook gluten-free. Made my first cookbook purchases last night at Barnes & Noble. Bought Gluten-Free Quick & Easy by Carol Fenster. She gives an eight week plan that includes leftovers and lots of good advice. Good easy family recipes and she makes planning pretty simple. Also bought Gluten-Free Baking by Rebecca Reilly and really like this book. She lived in Florence Italy and was trained in Paris. She and her two children are gluten intolerant. I had no idea how I was going to make Italian cookies and she has some great recipes. She has a recipe for graham crackers in there, too. They are easy to follow and she explains everything. I'm pretty excited about this book. Will probably get Beyond Rice Cakes for my daughter. It's geared toward young college age and heard it was pretty good, too. After reading through both books and knowing they had their share of failures at this, I felt like a deep breath and good attitude is going to help. I had to take a break from the bread making this week and will rely on Pamela's bread mix until I have time to tackle a new recipe.

Good luck to you with this.

[HudsonValleyGal]

I love the Gluten-Free Gourmet Makes Dessert, by Bette Hagman. I've had such good look with the cookie recipes in it.

[Jo Ann]

We have been cooking gluten free for 14 years, and I've decided not to buy any more cookbooks. Invest in a book that gives you good insight into what Celiac is and what ingredients you can and cannot use. Understanding what flours/starches and other ingredients are safe and/or necessary (like xantham gum, which I'd never heard of before) is the most important thing. Your local library will probably have a number of books on Celiac and gluten-free cooking. I found that only a few recipes in each book were good or liked well enough to fix again. Also, as more people are affected by celiac disease, the recipes and available products are getting better all the time. Specific questions can be answered by many on this forum or other sites/blogs dealing with celiac disease. After all these years, I just learned on this site how good Bette Hagman's French Bread is even though the recipe is in one of my books. Another good bread is the Flax Bread listed elsewhere on this site. I find the gluten-free products cost so much more, both ingredients and prepared, I'd rather spend the money on this instead of cookbooks which could be outdated in a short time. It seems overwhelming at first, but before long it will be second nature to read all the labels and check and double check, but it gets easier. Regardless of what recipes you try, we all experience failures, but that's just the way it goes. Don't hesitate to ask when you have questions. Many on this forum have been doing this a long time and will be glad to help. Good luck!

[gfcookie]

What would you all reccomend for someone just starting out in gluten-free life? SOmeone with 3 young kids who need snacks, breads,etc in addition to meals? What are the must haves?

Thanks

Stacie

get a gluten-free for kids cookbook. i can't remember the name of the one i have, i think it might be like literally gluten-free for kids. and, feed them naturally gluten-free snacks, popcorn, veggies, fruit, fruit snacks, raisins, gluten-free rice cakes

[Jo Ann]

Worriedtodeath

If I can be of help with recipes for pancakes, cookies, cakes, breads, etc. I would be happy to share recipes with you. I'm assuming the Celiac is one or more of the children. Our grandson (15) was diagnosed at 9 mos. so we have quite a few recipes that he likes. Also, if you have any children in school (and are in the U.S.) the school must provide suitable gluten-free lunches for your child. If you want to give me your e-mail, it can be just between us. I can just imagine how you feel with 3 little ones and this challenge facing you. You really have so much more info available to you now than we had a few years ago. In fact, I just learned that one of our major supermarkets (Meijer in Indiana, Michigan & Ohio) is going to have gluten-free pizza in their stores beginning in April. Many of our supermarkets (Meijer, Kroger, Walmart) now have gluten-free products and many are indicating gluten-free on their store brands. Of course, we still have to depend on the health food stores for many items. It will get easier, I promise.

Jo Ann

[Guest j_mommy]

I went to the recipe section of this website and made my own cookbook. I have 2 binders full of recipes off this site. Just go to walmart and buy dividers.(PS: thanks to all who posted recipes)

I also have gluten-free for dummies which has good snack recipes.

I also have the taste of home and better homes and garden cookbooks. You just convert teh recipes.

[cruelshoes]

My absolutel favorite gluten-free cookbook is one that I never see anyone mention. It's called Open Original Shared Link by Elizabeth Barbone. Her sandwich bread recipe is worth the price of the cookbook alone. She also has lots of favorites like pizza crust and molasses cookies. My second favorite is Gluten Free Baking Classics by Annalise G. Roberts. With all due respect to Bette Hagman, I have a few of her cookbooks, and never make anything out of them. They are more for reference, IMO. Her "bakes bread" book is good, though. I know lots of people love the book by Roben Ryberg, but I had nothing but failures out of that book. I think I don't have good cookbook karma with that one.

Most of my recipes now I modify from the better homes and gardens cokbook I got as a wedding present.