Still In Shock

[AlexsMomAubrys2]

Hello Everyone,

This all started with my daughter (now 3) who has had horrible bowel issues since she was born. Many doctors later on pediatrician decided to check her for celiacs. Some of her blood work came back positive and others did not, so we were searching for other things at the request of the specialist. We have since concluded (as a family) that we will try Gluten free and see if it helps her because we are not getting any more answers. And they refused to do a biopsy because of her blood work.

Well, sort of, for the hell of it and because I was diagnosed as a child with JRA (Juvinile Rhuematiod Arthritis) and the syptoms are similair to have a celiac panel done on me. Well today the tests came back almost exactly like my daughters.

I have decided that we both will try the gluten free diet and hope it helps us both. I am looking forward to meeting others going through this as well and I will need all the advice and help I can get to make the transition easier on both of us.

What are the first steps to making a gluten free home?

[Takala]

Approaching it from a positive standpoint so as to have the proper attitude will make it easier. There's another thread up now where someone is complaining that they won't be able to just stop and have the kid eat any type of fast food anymore when they travel by car. Well, yes, but not having a sick kid because you are able to pack lunches should be a cause for gladness. Children can pick up resentment from the parents.

First off you should be prepared by cleaning your kitchen where you believe flour dust could be lurking. You can also gather up any food items with gluten and put them in a box to be given away later to a food pantry if no one is going to eat them. You will need a new colander and a new toaster. If you are going to home bake gluten free bread with a bread machine, you will need to retire your old one and eventually get a new one. If you cook with cast iron pans, they can have the old finish burnt off in the oven's clean cycle, and then reseasoned. Other scratched teflon no stick cookware may need to be replaced. You may need new metal baking pans if there is old residue baked onto the old ones. You will need new wooden cutting boards. If you have nasty old sticky tupperware, it may be going to Goodwill. ( Cool Whip desert topping is gluten free. New, Leftover Cool Whip Tubs are a real bonus item )

I did not do this all at once. More like I was thinking of making something, pulled the old pan out of the pantry to see what size it was, and bought a fresh clean one at the store the same size.

You will need to also think about your grocery shopping and eating habits. Sometimes people just go and substitute gluten free things for regular and get their digestive systems upset anyway because they can't handle the substitution carbohydrates because of other digestive glitches with one ingredient or more. Soy and dairy are the two biggies. With dairy, it can be lactose, the milk sugar, or casein, the milk protein. I can eat organic cheese and one brand of plain yogurt now, but was off of it for awhile, because these items are low lactose. For awhile I thought it was bothering me, but it turns out I was drinking some juice every morning that must have been cross contaminated although the label seemed safe. Corn bothers some people, tapioca, or potatoes others. Some people cannot do quinoa. It is best to go simple at first and then add in one exotic at a time. If you react, go back to your basics.

Most store bought gluten free commercial bread is icky. If bread is really important to you, find a good gluten free quick bread recipe that you can use as a staple and memorize the recipe so you can throw it together quickly, or if you are lucky, you will find a gluten free bakery within driving range or that does mail order. You may find a store with a freezer case that sells decent local gluten free bread, not the tapioca rice styrofoam product. Gluten free flours usually require a gumming agent such as xantham gum to replace the missing gluten protein which helps hold the baked goods together. By using certain recipes you may be able to skip that. South American based tapioca cheese bread ("Chebe") doesn't require it. I make a quick bread in small batches that has almond meal, egg, and amaranth flour in it, all of which are a bit stickier than rice flour, and because I use a small cast iron pan it sets up enough that it does not crumble.

If you are using the standard rice/tapioca/potato or rice/cornstarch/tapioca homemade or commercial gluten-free bread mix, you need to also know that this stuff has a mind of its own and bakes differently, so don't get discouraged at first. Always stick a clean knife into the baked good and see if it comes out clean, if not, keep baking in 5 minute increments. Also, smaller pan sizes may work better for baking breads.

When in doubt, just pick up a bag of the Pamela's all purpose mix and start experimenting.

For other bread substitutes that are easy, corn tortillas and rice cakes (don't use Quaker because of cross contamination) are very handy to have around.

Rice and potatoes and beans all are good starch substitutes. Tinkyada rice pasta is wonderful and you should not miss pasta if you use this product.

For cereal, there are commercial gluten free cereals that are available. Rice chex recently went gluten free, but the most important thing you can do is .....

READ THE LABELS.

A lot of people confuse wheat free with gluten free. Gluten free means that in general, the manufacturer took extra steps to prevent cross contamination. Regular Rice crispies, for example, may look gluten-free but they have barley malt in them, which is a big no no because Barley is part of the wheat and rye family that you must also avoid. Soy Dream soy milk is an example of this. They use barley malt in the processing, and although they are labeling it gluten free, some people are reacting to it.

There are other brands of food that the manufacturer is dedicated to either making sure the food is gluten free or that they WILL call it out on the label if it is present, whether or not they technically have to, by current regulations.

The biggest bug a boo seems to be hidden gluten in the form of "natural flavorings." Never assume a natural flavoring is gluten free. You can easily google search the status of many grocery items by googling { gluten free name of item } and searching for ingredient lists. Lists change all the time. That is why we get rather compulsive about label reading. Seeing the produce aisle is a relief, usually a cabbage does not have to be scrutinized as closely.

One thing that a lot of people miss is canned condensed soup for casseroles. Figuring out what you can throw together quickly to substitute that has ingredients all family members can eat is one of those challenges, and some people have even come up with completely dairy free versions using things like gluten free flour cooked with olive oil for the roux, and then the sauce part is made of a dairy free milk, with some salt, herbs, and dried onion flakes for seasoning. Other people can take a cup of cream and throw some potato flakes and salt and pepper into it and it's good to go. I've made mac and cheese with rice pasta and yogurt. I put canned pumpkin in stew and chile, it goes great with beans and chile spice and is a good thickener.

I hope this has given you some suggestions.

[Eric-C]

At least you have a good idea what it is!

My knee's and joints hurt so bad I couldn't walk, then a week later I was fine...never made much sense but its all related to gluten for me.

Your doing the right thing for your daughter...having Celiac's from a young age is not a good thing if she continues to have gluten since the malabsortion will effect her developement.

We don't have kids but people we know with Celiac's and kids say bread is the biggest problem...they want PB&J and all the rest and honestly gluten-free bread is horrible for the most part.

The best way to look at is positively. By result of this 'disease' you will now not eat something that is mostly bad for you anyways. It takes white bread out of the equation, most cookies are now non-edible...so all those bad things you used to be able to have you cannot.

We eat such a wide variety of foods now we don't have much of a desire to go out to eat.

Indian food is a great place to start. Most of their fried dishes are made with Besan Flour which is gluten free. We make a Bloomin' Onion with Besan that tastes identical to the stuff at Outback. Chutney's for dip are great. Mexican food made with corn tortilla's versus flour. When we go out its for Sushi and they sell Tamari in most stores now which is wheat free. Be aware is has to say Wheat Free, San-J is gluten-free but the other major brands of Tamari are not.

You just change your diet. Sam's club sells a great coating for chicken, fish, and other things you deep fry that starts with a Z, its a massive container for $6.00 and its gluten-free.

Frying food is not the healthiest thing but when making a transition it helps to have things that have a high appeal to them in the house. French Fries are now out of the question outside the house because other foods are cooked in the oil. We bought a double bin deep fryer and last Friday I had fish and chips for the first time in a year.

Too many people get hung up on a restricted diet, no your just eating differently.

A great simple and tasty recipe. Take a thick pork chop or two, still frozen and slice it paper thin. Green peppers, pea pods, and a few red/yellow peppers for color. Some pineapple...heat up a wok with peanut oil and when smoking hot stir fry it together. Make the pork as thin as possible, you can do it with chicken also but the idea is its so thin it cooks in about 1-2 minutes. Get the Sweet Thai Chilli sauce and throw in a tablespoon or two and cook for another minute. Serve over jasmine rice and add another bit of sauce on top.

We came up with that 3 weeks ago and have had it 4 times so far...you just have to change things around a little.

Get some corn starch or arrow root to use in place for flour for thickening. Corn starch is pretty much 1:1 but arrow root you use much less.

My wife gets the Rachael Ray magazines and a lot of their stuff is gluten-free or close enough you can modify it. She made a great baked potatoe soup which is made without flour and is thick.

Look into curry pastes made with onions. You can make a very mild curry like Korma which has a sweet peanut taste to it, it has the consistency of gravy but they use onions to get the texture. It tastes so much like a gravy that I swore it was made with flour, but the chef at the restaurant showed me how to make it to prove there was no flour.

Also check out celiacspecialties.com they have a great pizza dough we eat. Their buttermilk pancakes are great too.

Good luck

[psawyer]

Here is a useful post from another topic. Of great use is the list of companies that have a clear gluten disclosure policy, Such as Kraft. These companies will not hide gluten grains in ingredients such as "natural flavor."

Unsafe ingredients: https://www.celiac.com/articles/182/1/Unsaf...ents/Page1.html

Safe ingredients: https://www.celiac.com/articles/181/1/Safe-...ents/Page1.html

A list of companies that has a clear gluten policy. If you don't see "wheat, rye, barley, barley malt, oats" on the labels, its not there, or hidden in "flavors, starches, etc." Open Original Shared Link This makes shopping MUCH easier.

FDA foods are required to list wheat - it cannot be hidden.

Rule #1: Never eat anything without reading the label first.

Rule #2: Consistently check labels, even of your favorite products, as product formulations can change.

Rule #3: If you are unsure of an ingredient, or the company's policy on labeling, call the phone number on the back of the product or email the company.

Hope this helps.