Gf Breads, Why Do They Bother Me?

[VAGuy]

gluten-free breads seem to bother me if I eat them at breakfast or lunch, not so much at dinner. I've been trying two commercially prepared ones from Trader Joe's, and a bread mix (Bob's Red Mill gluten-free Bread Mix) from Whole Foods. They aren't very high fiber content, but all three contain guar gum which I've heard can be a problem. Anyone have any advice/comments? Cornbread seems to bother too.

Have a copy of The Gluten-Free Gourmet, Cooks Fast And Healthy, by Bette Hagman; soon as I get some tapioca flour (have others) I'm going to take a whack at baking again (1st try at bread came out like a brick, 2nd time looked good but I missed the part about "don't cut until cool" and it sank when I cut it warm, my first batch of cookies ever were fair). Relates to milk.

Another gray area is dairy/milk - I'm switching from lactose free to soy to see if it helps, avoiding cheese. If the test comes back showing that I am sensitive to the ? casein, what can I use in place of milk in baking? Also doing egg protein test. Does the soy stuff work? Need milk for tapioca and other things too.

This is really discouraging; I can put up with the rest of it if I can just find something breadlike to eat. I miss sandwiches of any kind. I miss pizza (any non-dairy cheese that does not use the casein stuff?). No toast in AM. No cake in 2 1/2 mo. (found a gluten-free by Dowd and Rodgers, www.dowdandrogers.com, with no guar gum in it will try this weekend).

#1 Will sell my soul for a decent pizza

#2 Marie Antoinette didn't know what she was dealing with when she said "let

them eat cake if they don't have bread" did she?

[mom of 5 celiac]

VAGUy,

I buy a pizza crust at the Peachtree Natural Foods here in Georgia. IT comes in a big box with 2 crusts in the box.

I then take it to Little Ceasars and they cook it in their pizza oven for me. I ask them to please wash the pan first

for contamination reasons. They are very good with this and the pizza is WONDERFUL. My husband loves it. THey put what

topping I ask for. They only charge me for the topping. Good luck. Also, I emailed you because I got a message that you sent me one

on the board but I can't locate it. What forum is it in. THanks Karen

[tammy]

Hi VAGuy,

First, I know how hard this diagnosis is. I have been on a gluten-free diet since December of 2002.

Next, get yourself tested by a doctor or lab that specializes in Celiac. Get tested for food allergies, dairy, eggs, soy, etc.

I found a delicious pizza crust mix by gluten-free Pantry. It tastes a lot like mashed potatoes but it works for me. I do put cheese on it. Maybe once your immune system is strong, you can tolerate an occasional gluten-free pizza crust with cheese.

Have you tried a 5 day self-test for a possible allergy to guar gum?

I think that perhaps your body is having more trouble with the carbohydrates in the gluten-free bread than the guar gum.

Good Luck!!

[erica]

Annie's also makes a really good gluten-free pizza with a rice crust- i think it is also dairy free. I've tried a lot of frozen ones and it is definitely the best so far. Also, if you have a Whole Foods near you, they sell frozen gluten-free pizza dough.

[gf4life]

VA Guy,

First off, I have had problems with the gluten-free breads, too. I am not sure if it is the guar gum or the yeast. I am going to try a yeast free recipe soon, and I have switched to using xanthan gum. I'll let you know how that goes.

As for the pizza, if you end up being casein intolerant, then I can't help you with the cheese. I have not found any that don't contain soy. If you are alright with soy, then you might look in the health food store at the soy cheese. Although I've heard they don't melt like regular cheese, but if you grate it pretty fine you should be able to spread it around, and with the other toppings you may not care how well it melts!

I have found a few suitable substitutes for milk in the baking department. I use Mocha Mix (original) and I water it down 3/1. 3 parts water, 1 part mocha mix. This makes it about the same as lowfat milk, and I have not noticed much difference in flavor in the cooked items. Soy milk works about the same, but can alter the flavor of the food. Rice milk and almond milk are a lot like soy milk. You just need to try it out. Of course you don't want to spend a bunch of money on something you don't like, so if it something you like to drink, then it should be fine for cooking.

I hope you get your results back soon.

Erica,

Do you know the name of the frozen gluten-free pizza dough? I need to ask my local Whole Foods to order it, since they don't seem to carry any frozen dough. If I had the name I might have better success. Thank you.

God bless,

Mariann