Overwhelmed

[lost]

I have not been diagnosed with celiac or gluten intolerance, but I tried a gluten free diet for a month or so with my daughter that has ASpergers. While I did notice a marked difference in her condition as well as the rest of the family's,I was instructed to add gluten back in to see if it was a real difference.It was. The problem is that going gluten free is so difficult to do for me,since I have SO many other food allergies (including corn and soy). Has anyone ever tried to find food without wheat,corn, soy or barley? My goodness. I am so downhearted and frustrated by it. i want to do what is best for my family as we have all benefited from being gluten free, but I am so exhausted from my own diet limitations that adding another iron to the fire is putting me over the top. Is there anyone out there that is in a similar situation that can offer some advice? My hypoglycemia has been so bad since I have been eating wheat again and the heart palpitations are unbearable. I want to cross over,but am trying to build a business while juggling "guarding" the pantry and the kids intake at school. I am so taxed.Please, someone have something.Please.

[mushroom]

I have not been diagnosed with celiac or gluten intolerance, but I tried a gluten free diet for a month or so with my daughter that has ASpergers. While I did notice a marked difference in her condition as well as the rest of the family's,I was instructed to add gluten back in to see if it was a real difference.It was. The problem is that going gluten free is so difficult to do for me,since I have SO many other food allergies (including corn and soy). Has anyone ever tried to find food without wheat,corn, soy or barley? My goodness. I am so downhearted and frustrated by it. i want to do what is best for my family as we have all benefited from being gluten free, but I am so exhausted from my own diet limitations that adding another iron to the fire is putting me over the top. Is there anyone out there that is in a similar situation that can offer some advice? My hypoglycemia has been so bad since I have been eating wheat again and the heart palpitations are unbearable. I want to cross over,but am trying to build a business while juggling "guarding" the pantry and the kids intake at school. I am so taxed.Please, someone have something.Please.

Now relax and take a deep breath! YOU CAN DO THIS!!

Is it easy? No, it's pretty darned hard, especially for a busy mom trying to build a business. You don't say how old your children are so I presume they are not old enough to get on board and take the responsibility themselves. Do you have a partner to support you in this? Sometimes partners can be helpful, sometimes not if they are not totally on board with the program.

My creds? I too cannot do gluten, soy and corn, nor can I do citric acid or nightshades (tomatoes, potatoes, pepper and egpplant, but especially potatoes!!) Do I starve? Good gracious, no. The key is not to make a list of the things you can't have, but a list of the things you can have. This starts with the outer edges of the supermarket and the things that are naturally gluten and everything else free. Meat, fish, fruits, vegetables, rice, nuts and seeds. This is the way you should be eating primarily anyway. Most of the processed food is just empty calories, as well as containing so much non-food like artificial colourings and flavourings, preservatives and things whose names you cannot even pronounce, all those things that make label reading so difficult. You can venture into the interior of the supermarket for frozen vegetables, canned beans, rice pasta, and the occasional processed gluten/soy free treat, but not having to read the labels for your major food items takes a lot of the stress and time out of shopping. Yes, you do have to do more actual cooking because most of the convenience items have been eliminated for you, but once you get the hang of it it doesn't really take a lot of time.

Since more and more people are being added to the soy intolerant list, more and more companies are eliminating it from their processed foods. Namaste makes mixes which do not contain soy, and there are others that people who live fulltime in the US will have to help you with (I only live there during the summers so am not as familiar, but getting there ) Everyone has been raving about Udi's bread and I believe some of theirs is soy-free. There are pastas that are both corn- and soy-free.

So what to cook? Here are some ideas for quickiea. (You don't mention a dairy intolerance). I do "taco-less" tacos! Layer the plate with refried beans, the meat mixture, cheese, tomato, lettuce, avocado, sour cream and eat with a fork! (I can sometimes do a little fresh tomato but never cooked). You don't need the tortilla or the corn chips. Rice pasta using pasta in all the usual ways you normally would with gluten-free sauces. Stir fries, subbing seasame oil, chili oil, for the soy sauce (Or google on here, there is a soy-free soy sauce substitute) and then adding some different flavoured sauces. A couple of my favorites are an apricot sauce and a plum sauce (you don't need a lot). Baked potato with gluten-free chili and a green salad. Omelettes with "the works"--cheese and avocado is my favorite. If your kids don't particularly like them you can make a gluten-free cheese sauce to jazz it up and make it more palatable for them.

At the weekend cook up a batch of chicken to be used in other recipes during the week. Make a big pot of beef stew so you will have a night of leftovers ready to go. In fact, depending on how many of you there are, make double quantities of all casserole-type dishes (like lasagna) so that you get "free" meals during the week. A crockpot, if you don't already have one, would be a good investment. Just fix the ingredients (the night before if necessary and pot it in the fridge) then next morning plug it in and dinner is done when you get home. There are lots of crockpot recipes which are naturally gluten-free or can easily be made so, and a quick google will bring up lots of ideas.

It will take a while to get used to cooking this way but once you have mastered it you will find out how easy it really is. You do need to be more organized than before. Make menu plans and shopping lists and life will be much easier. I am sure others will pop on here with other ideas for you, since my menu is more restricted than yours will be. And there are people who live with more restrictions than either of us So it can be done. The key is in the planning so that you feel in control, and not out of control like at the moment.

Just keep thinking what a difference it makes for your family and don't listen to the stupid doctors who tell you if you don't have celiac it doesn't matter what you eat. They DO NOT KNOW!

Good luck, and {{{{hugs}}}}

[lost]

Thank you for all of the hints.To be honest,it is a relief to know there are more of us out there.More of a relief than I realized. I do have a crockpot and I will say that you are right.It seems that organization is the word of the day and my downfall here. I have been so stressed about having yet another thing to add to the do not touch list I neglected the obvious. I have bought rice pasta and make an awesome baked mac and cheese with it. I did manage to make totally gluten-free thanksgiving,pie and all,this past year. Big meals are not as hard for me as the day to day have been. My kids are ranging from 7-11 (3 of them) and they like to "hunt" for gluten free foods at the store. It is the easy stuff that we are used to eating on a last minute thing and where we begin to feel trapped. I need to prepare ahead I guess. New world for me. Thanks,and I would love more tips.

[GFinDC]

I am not a super star cook or anything but I can throw hamburger or chicken in my big electric skillet with some onions, mushrooms, celery and peas. Then after its cooked add some rice and water and spices and you have a meal. I have one of the large electric skillets with a glass lid so I can make enough for a week if I want. You can add coconut milk, cinnamon, ginger and such for a variation. I used to make a different rice dish each weekend and freeze it in several large plastic bags. After a few weeks of this you can have 3 or 4 versions that just need a couple minutes warming up to eat them.