For Newbies To The gluten-free Diet

[wsieving]

BTDT families feel free to post too! I thought I would start a thread for us to post what we have tried so far and what we liked/disliked about it. We have been gluten-free for a week now and here is what we have tried so far:

Bunless cheeseburgers and Ore Ida fries: okay... I know, this is an easy one. But it was our first "gluten-free" meal, and we needed to throw something together quick b/c I had not done much research/planning yet. Easy as it was, it really was yummy with some extra seasoning (Tony Chachere's is our fav) and the kids did not mind not having the bun.

Spaghetti! I never could get a response from the jar sauce companies about how safe their sauces were, so I made my own homemade sauce (which I always used to make anyway until child #3 came along). We used gluten-free corn pasta. The lady at the store urged me to try rice first, but I really wanted to try the corn b/c I like a firmer pasta. It was delicious, but I did notice if you did not eat it right away (I had to feed my DD first, so I got to experience why the package says "serve immediately") it kind of got a funny texture. If eaten right away like you are supposed to it was delicious and I didn't even notice it was different. If you would like my Spaghetti sauce recipe, here it is:

2 cans Hunts Tomato Sauce

1 can Hunts Tomato Paste

1 tsp. Oregano

3/4 tsp. Marjoram

3/4 tsp. Basil

1 Bay Leaf

1 tsp. Salt

1 tsp. Sugar

1 lb Ground Beef (browned)

1 clove garlic

1 small onion (we don't always put this in, and onion powder is just as good)

Mix all ingredients and simmer for 1 hour (a lot of times, I only simmer for half an hour b/c my kiddos are yelling at me for dinner, and it is just as good)

Bob's Red Mill Pancake Mix.......YYYYYUUUUUMMMMMMM. We were pleasantly surprised with this one. It doesn't taste like buttermilk pancakes, more like a whole wheat pancake. Totally scrumptious though!!!

Other meals we have done aren't made with anything special. Our favorite to have is Loaded Baked Potatoes!!!! We have also had chicken and veggies, and tacos!

This week we are going to try the Bob's Red Mill Pizza crust mix, I'll let you know if we like it. Also are going to be trying a choc chip cookie recipe. We bought some gluten free animal crackers for DD and some gluten-free bread crumbs also for making chicken strips.

[elevenkids2many]

BTDT families feel free to post too! I thought I would start a thread for us to post what we have tried so far and what we liked/disliked about it. We have been gluten-free for a week now and here is what we have tried so far:

Bunless cheeseburgers and Ore Ida fries: okay... I know, this is an easy one. But it was our first "gluten-free" meal, and we needed to throw something together quick b/c I had not done much research/planning yet. Easy as it was, it really was yummy with some extra seasoning (Tony Chachere's is our fav) and the kids did not mind not having the bun.

Spaghetti! I never could get a response from the jar sauce companies about how safe their sauces were, so I made my own homemade sauce (which I always used to make anyway until child #3 came along). We used gluten-free corn pasta. The lady at the store urged me to try rice first, but I really wanted to try the corn b/c I like a firmer pasta. It was delicious, but I did notice if you did not eat it right away (I had to feed my DD first, so I got to experience why the package says "serve immediately") it kind of got a funny texture. If eaten right away like you are supposed to it was delicious and I didn't even notice it was different. If you would like my Spaghetti sauce recipe, here it is:

2 cans Hunts Tomato Sauce

1 can Hunts Tomato Paste

1 tsp. Oregano

3/4 tsp. Marjoram

3/4 tsp. Basil

1 Bay Leaf

1 tsp. Salt

1 tsp. Sugar

1 lb Ground Beef (browned)

1 clove garlic

1 small onion (we don't always put this in, and onion powder is just as good)

Mix all ingredients and simmer for 1 hour (a lot of times, I only simmer for half an hour b/c my kiddos are yelling at me for dinner, and it is just as good)

Bob's Red Mill Pancake Mix.......YYYYYUUUUUMMMMMMM. We were pleasantly surprised with this one. It doesn't taste like buttermilk pancakes, more like a whole wheat pancake. Totally scrumptious though!!!

Other meals we have done aren't made with anything special. Our favorite to have is Loaded Baked Potatoes!!!! We have also had chicken and veggies, and tacos!

This week we are going to try the Bob's Red Mill Pizza crust mix, I'll let you know if we like it. Also are going to be trying a choc chip cookie recipe. We bought some gluten free animal crackers for DD and some gluten-free bread crumbs also for making chicken strips.

[elevenkids2many]

I love the rice noodles. If you get the brand Tinkyada and do not over cook it, it makes great, tuna noodle casserole, spaghetti ( though I like using spaghetti squash better) and macaroni cheese from scratch. I love it that our local Smith's store carries even boxed macaroni and cheese gluten free. I occaisionally get cookies too but they always have sugar in them and I can't really eat sugar and stay a nice sane mommy. LOL

I get my gluten free noodles and stuff through Azure standard food co-op orders. Much cheaper that way too.

I used to make gluten free pizza but since I am alergic to dairy and tomatoes I stopped cooking that. Just no way to make pizza gluten, egg, tomatoe and cheese free. That is the one thing I really miss.

Not crazy about any gluten free commercial breads though.

But I don't miss bread or sandwiches. We let the kids have pizza frozen kind when we go out to dinner and leave them home. LOL

I have the goal of having our whole family gluten free, so far I am the only one. But I want to see if it will help my ADHD son and my daughter who has learning problems. I just have to bite the bullet and start planning better, me I just make a rice protien, frozen fruit smoothis when I am in a bind for time and need something good quick.

Been eating or 99% gluten free for about 4 years.

[wsieving]

But I want to see if it will help my ADHD son and my daughter who has learning problems.

I'm wanting to jump on that bandwagon too. I did make my entire house gluten free because it is just easier that way with 3 children. Our first day trying gluten free without making the entire house that way, one of my sons gave my DD a cookie. So we did an entire kitchen renovation. I too have a son with ADHD and really want him to be gluten-free at school too. He does show some GI issues related to Celiac, but even if he didn't I would want to try the diet for him. However his pediatrician refuses to write me a recommendation to take to the school so that they have to cooperate with me until he sees him. He is a really awesome ped, but his downfall is always having to get in that extra appt. I don't really mind, as long as he cooperates with us. I know we should try casein free as well, but I really would like to try him on just gluten-free at first and see if it helps. His ADHD is very mild, no real behavioral issues that aren't typical of his age, but extreme lack of focus, he forgets everything, poor kid just can't concentrate. So I am hoping the diet will do him a world of good!

[HeyItsA]

Haven't really found any prepackaged breads that I like yet, but Gillian's cinnamon rolls and french bread rolls are pretty good.

I also prefer the rice pasta.

I bought "Gluten Free and Easy" cookbook by Robyn Russell and made a couple of recipies from it that were delicious. The Pork w/OJ and Soy Sauce and Chicken Souvlaki w/tzatziki (sp) Both were soooo good.