New To Discussion Board

[maya]

My husband and I first heard of celiac disease on Monday and yesterday we got our confirmation (from a blood test) that our daughter has celiac disease. Actually, I am grateful to actually have an explanation for why our daughter is so tiny and not growing. I am quite overwhelmed with how to cook for my family now. Does anyone know of a good cookbook or website with recipes? Also, is there a way of telling if food has gluten by reading the ingredients and package labels? I would appreciate any information you can pass along.

Maya

[plantime]

You need to read labels every time, without fail. If you see wheat, barley, or rye, do not give it to her. Anything that says "wheat allergens" is a no-no. Of course, you could always just give her meat, veggies, and fruit, with no processed foods or grains. I like Celiac.com for my information, and the Gluten Free Mall for foods. Just do not forget to ALWAYS read the label, as ingredients change. And come back with questions, updates, or just to talk!

[Guest jhmom]

HI Maya, welcome to the board

I know it may seem very overwhelming right now but I promise it will get better

Here are some links that I hope are helpful to you and your daughter.

Open Original Shared Link

Open Original Shared Link

Safe and forbidden Food & ingredient list

[zippyten]

Hi Maya, and welcome.

I am pretty new to this also but am getting the hang of cooking for my family without gluten. Actually, I think the breakfast-lunch meal is harder to figure out, but dinners have been pretty good (actually, my husband says we've never eaten better!) and both my daughters, who are big pasta eaters, aren't missing it too much. You can get a couple of decent regular cookbooks that have good recipes that don't feature a lot of additives, breadcrumbs, flour, or pasta . Here are 4 meals I made last week, and no one even noticed they were "gluten-free," including the other family we had over.

Pot roast with gravy (I just used cornstarch instead of flour to thicken and some red wine), mashed potatoes, and salad.

Chicken cutlets with cornflake crumb coating (use organic cornflakes from a health food store, not a commercial brand like Kellogg's, which uses gluten ingredients, and always check the label -- I just put them in a large baggie and ground them up with a rolling pin, then dipped the cutlets in egg and then crumbs), sweet potatoes, spinach salad with tomatoes and mushrooms.

Grilled pork chops with vinegar glaze, twice-baked potatoes, green beans with lemon juice.

Roast chicken with garlic and rosemary, rice cooked in gluten-free chicken broth, stir-fried zucchini and tomatoes.

If your daughter is young, some of this food may not appeal to her, but by experimenting you'll find lots of things she'll like, and you can cook things more plainly as well.

Also, there are two really good gluten-free breads that you can order through www.kinnikinnick.com -- I was very surprised and pleased to find that they are a decent substitute (I just don't eat them that often because they're expensive). They have an excellent pancake and waffle mix as well.

Two other good sites for products are www.gluten free.com and www.glutenfreemall.com.

You can get some gluten-free cookbooks by Bette Hagman and I think even Amazon and Barnes & Noble carry them now. Keep reading the messages posted on this site, they've been very helpful to me. The beginning is hard, but you'll figure it out and your daughter will recover, which is the most important thing.

Good luck.

Ellen

[DLayman]

A book you might find helpful is Kids with celiac disease by Dana Korn you should be able to find it at Borders

There are several gluten free foods out there.. cereals and such most health food stores carry them, and alot of regular supermarket stores as well. Our local Acme just started carrying Amy's gluten free pizza!!

So consult with the manager of you local grocery store on that.

Here is a link to a list of gluten free foods found in regular markets.. but as always consult with that safe/forbidden ingrediant list..

Open Original Shared Link

A note Kellogs Corn Pops are no longer gluten free they started adding wheat in them in January.(they might be on that list)

Hope this helps!

Denise

[maya]

Thank you so much for all the replies. It's nice to know that I am not alone in this! I think I am starting to get used to all this, but I am so nervous all the time about what to feed Kayla, what will we do when she goes to daycare, etc.

A couple questions I still have are:

1. Do you buy the $5 bread or do you bake bread yourselves?

2. How diligent do I have to be about contamination with wheat?

[Heather]

For those of you in Michigan I just found that Meijers carries BOB Mill gluten-free Bread mix. And it was a lot cheaper then at the health food store. I do know my sons doctor was insistent that I feed my son from brand new jars of everything from butter to jelly and anything in between to avoid any wheat contamination. I am also new to this whole diet but after a few tears in the middle of the grocery store I think I can do this. By the was does anyone know about red 40 and weather those with celiac can have it the reason I am asking is Trix cereal has no wheat and no gluten in it.

Thanks

Heather

[Guest aramgard]

The big problem with most cereals from the large companies, is not necessarily gluten, but cross contamination from their manufacturing proceedures. Many times they do not clean the belts and other equipment between batches, so you have major contamination. Personally I really like Corn Crunch-Ems and Rice Crunch-Ems with a little sliced fruit and I've never had a problem with them. Shirley