Getting Started! Couple Questions...

[gobiltygook]

Hi!

Glad I found this forum. Lots of useful knowledge I've been able to seek out. Our family is my husband and I and two little girls, 2YO & 5YO. The girls are on gluten free diet and my husband and I are finishing out the "old" food (eating Cheez-Its when girls are in bed). Eventually the whole family will move to gluten-free as I've read it's possible mother/father derived. If after we try the diet for an extended period of time and its not beneficial we'll go back.

We are going gluten free after a suggestion by our Pedi. Tested positive w/iigg but no other results positive.

Have a couple questions I am hoping you or someone can help me with:

1. Do we really need to replace vanilla and spices? Since we're sensitive I imagine the amounts in them are small, correct?
   
2. McDonald's - Emailed them and they no longer maintain a gluten-free listing but I derived the McFlurry with M & M's would be safe. Do you agree?
   
3. If something has wheat in it or shared a wheat facility we're staying away
   
4. Primarily eating fruits, vegs, tacos (corn shells), beef stew, - what other meals do you typically make?
   
5. Is applesauce safe? We live on apples.
   
6. Bought the Pamela's pancake mix. What flour do you suggest I buy to start making my own cookies/treats, etc at home?
   

THANKS in advance!!!

[koolsharkz]

Hello! I might be able to help out with a few of your questions

As far as meals go, I highly recommend quinoa dishes... lots of protein and fiber! It can be used in just about any dish that calls for rice (which is a great option too). Have you tried any gluten-free pasta? Those make a very easy meal, when accompanied by sauce and vegetables!

Baking gluten-free is pretty complicated, but it can also be so fun! The thing is that there are a ton of different flours, and they all have different tastes and textures. It might be a good idea to find a recipe to start with (I like this one: Open Original Shared Link), and get the flours you need for that. That way you can start to slowly get a feel for what you like and don't like. When you're getting flours, it's important to get ones that are certified gluten-free, since all others are likely to contain a small amount of gluten. Bob's Red Mill offers a bunch that are certified gluten-free!

Good luck with the transition

[seezee]

For flour I really like Domata Living Flour. I order online and have found it in Health food stores. You can pretty much sub it one-to-one with wheat flour

For McDonald's my daughter only eats the ice cream sundae.

For meals -- what works best is meat, vegetable, potato, rice, we aren't so crazy about ready made gluten-free products.

My family bought me a really nice stand mixer. I use it all the time.

I found a cookbook recently I really like -- it's actually gluten-free cassein free, but I use milk and butter with the recipes and if you're cutting dairy it's even better. It's called Cooking for Isaiah: Gluten-Free & Dairy-Free Recipes for Easy Delicious Meals -- I like it because it's more than just recipes. She explains how to prepare flours, what to buy for the kitchen etc. My sister loves this book: Gluten-Free Baking Classics [Paperback] by Annalise Roberts.

We order most flour(s) online in bulk and otherwise stick to fruit, veggies, meat, potatoes and rice.

My daughter loves Ian gluten-free chicken nuggets and they have a kids meal tv dinner thing she really likes. Stay away from their chicken tenders though - not so good.

Mostly -- it takes a fair amount of trial and error. You will definitely get some crumbly dry things when you first start but eventually you'll figure out all kinds of things that are delicious.

There are also lots of people who write their recipes in their blog.

Applesauce is fine. You can/should always call the manufacturer to double-check a particular product.

We don't avoid the shared facilities. That's another thing you can contact the vendor about though.

[gobiltygook]

For flour I really like Domata Living Flour. I order online and have found it in Health food stores. You can pretty much sub it one-to-one with wheat flour

For McDonald's my daughter only eats the ice cream sundae.

For meals -- what works best is meat, vegetable, potato, rice, we aren't so crazy about ready made gluten-free products.

My family bought me a really nice stand mixer. I use it all the time.

I found a cookbook recently I really like -- it's actually gluten-free cassein free, but I use milk and butter with the recipes and if you're cutting dairy it's even better. It's called Cooking for Isaiah: Gluten-Free & Dairy-Free Recipes for Easy Delicious Meals -- I like it because it's more than just recipes. She explains how to prepare flours, what to buy for the kitchen etc. My sister loves this book: Gluten-Free Baking Classics [Paperback] by Annalise Roberts.

We order most flour(s) online in bulk and otherwise stick to fruit, veggies, meat, potatoes and rice.

My daughter loves Ian gluten-free chicken nuggets and they have a kids meal tv dinner thing she really likes. Stay away from their chicken tenders though - not so good.

Mostly -- it takes a fair amount of trial and error. You will definitely get some crumbly dry things when you first start but eventually you'll figure out all kinds of things that are delicious.

There are also lots of people who write their recipes in their blog.

Applesauce is fine. You can/should always call the manufacturer to double-check a particular product.

We don't avoid the shared facilities. That's another thing you can contact the vendor about though.

Thanks for these ideas!! While I feel fairly confident I'm on the right track there are so many pieces to the puzzle it's nice to some here and get some needed HELP

GLad shared facilities are OK. Imagine that coud be a slippery slope. Excited to try the Ian tenders/meals and the cookie recipe. Jotted those ingredients down for our next grocery store trip. Want to keep this positive for them-

Looking forward to getting to know you Ladies better

[Kimmik95]

If you have Celiac Disease, then it has to be kicked off by something (surgery, pregnancy, tramatic event, stress, etc). It's quite possible for a parent to be a carrier, but not have celiac disease. If you have a gluten sentivitiy, then I'm not sure how that works.

Pure spices are fine. Vanilla is sometimes gluten-free - check the brand you have. I have one that I'm unsure of (we get it in Mexico), but I use it sparingly. It hasn't seemed to cause an issue yet. I really just need to look it up.

The ice cream (obviously not the cone) and shakes at McDonalds are okay. I've heard recently that they switched up the ingredients in the shakes, but I think they are still considered gluten-free. My son loves the shakes.

People differ on this, but I agree that if it's processed on the same line or in the same facility where items are processed with wheat, that it's smart to stay away. There's so much you can't control, so controlling what you can is worth it, IMO.

My son loves about any kind of meat, so we do alot of steak/pork/chicken/etc with rice or potato and vegetables. I also make a homemade macaroni and cheese that he loves (made with gluten-free pasta). Spaghetti with gluten-free/pasta (lots of sauces are gluten-free). I make meatloaf using gluten-free bread as the breadcrumbs. There are several types of Progresso soups that are gluten-free too. Also, hot dogs, bacon, hamburgers. If you take some time to research and be a little creative, you can make just about anything gluten-free.

Applesauce should be safe. I say should alot of times, because you just really always have to check the ingredients. I've heard of peanut butter with wheat in it -crazy.

The flours have been the tricky thing for me. I'm finding that we use mostly white rice flour. I use that when I'm frying something or need to bread something. I actually like it better than wheat flour for those things because it's finer it sticks better. I also have a general baking mix that I use. I recently found a cake mix recipe that is OUTSTANDING! I use it all the time. Let me know if you want either or both of these recipes and I will dig up and post. There's lots of gluten-free mixes available too. I think that depends alot on your tastes. My son doesn't like most of them, but he did have the Betty Crocker brownies the other day that he really liked.

I use an app for my iphone called 'Is That Gluten Free' for grocery shopping. It's the best one I've found and I's convinent to be able to look up right then and there if something is gluten-free or not. You have the basic ingredients to stay away from, like wheat, barley, rye, and malt, but then there are those questionable ones like modified (corn) starch (once it says modified, it can be anything), vinegar (must be distilled to be gluten-free), alcohol (must be distilled to be gluten-free), natural flavorings (can contain gluten), caramel coloring (can contain gluten) that you just don't know. That's what I find the app most helpful with. If they contain wheat, it has to say, but if it contains, barley, rye, or malt, it doesn't have to say.

Hi!

Glad I found this forum. Lots of useful knowledge I've been able to seek out. Our family is my husband and I and two little girls, 2YO & 5YO. The girls are on gluten free diet and my husband and I are finishing out the "old" food (eating Cheez-Its when girls are in bed). Eventually the whole family will move to gluten-free as I've read it's possible mother/father derived. If after we try the diet for an extended period of time and its not beneficial we'll go back.

We are going gluten free after a suggestion by our Pedi. Tested positive w/iigg but no other results positive.

Have a couple questions I am hoping you or someone can help me with:

1. Do we really need to replace vanilla and spices? Since we're sensitive I imagine the amounts in them are small, correct?
   
2. McDonald's - Emailed them and they no longer maintain a gluten-free listing but I derived the McFlurry with M & M's would be safe. Do you agree?
   
3. If something has wheat in it or shared a wheat facility we're staying away
   
4. Primarily eating fruits, vegs, tacos (corn shells), beef stew, - what other meals do you typically make?
   
5. Is applesauce safe? We live on apples.
   
6. Bought the Pamela's pancake mix. What flour do you suggest I buy to start making my own cookies/treats, etc at home?
   

THANKS in advance!!!