JennyC

I did not biopsy my son because we had already started the gluten free diet prior to going to the pediatric GI. He had a tTG IgA level of three times the upper limit of the normal reference range and he had all of the classical celiac symptoms. He had foul fatty D at least 3 times a day, was bloated, had no appetite and was not growing. Upon starting the gluten free diet all of that disappeared. One month later when we finally made it to the pediatric GI there was no way I was going to put him back on gluten. Blood tests are really accurate now. Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't the "gold standard" put into place in the 1950's? Obviously serological tests were not nearly as accurate then and doctors felt that they needed to rely on other methods for diagnosis. The biopsy is no longer required for an accurate diagnosis, and more and more doctors are realizing this. Thankfully, I have found my son a wonderful pediatric GI in one of the most respected hospitals in our region who has never questioned his diagnosis. It seems like gastroenterologists that want to biopsy fall into two categories. They demand flattened villi for diagnosis or they will diagnose celiac disease regardless of what the biopsy shows. I am not on board for a gluten challenge for either scenario!

Jenny, saw your av in the hot chocolate thread . . . what a cute new pooch!!! What did you name him/her?

Thank you! We love him so much! The breeder named him Ty, and we did not change it. He already knew his name, and we could not decide on a better one.

If this used to say gluten free on the box then it may be more than just the CC issue. Call the company and see if they have added barley malt to the flavoring before assuming that it is just a CYA issue. They don't have to put the barley malt in the ingredient list and can just hide it in 'natural flavors'.

Nestle and their other company Wonka candy will disclose any gluten in their products. All you have to do to determine if it's gluten free is read the label.

I don't know anything about the dietician, but have your Portlanders found the Gluten Free Bakery in the house that looks like a Gingerbread house? I think it's over on the SE side of the city. They have awesome stuff!! I have 2 kids who live in PDX and we ALWAYS stop there when I visit. I can find out the name and a better location if you like!

Keanna's Candyland--it's a great treat to take my son there! They are all gluten free, except some of the candy that you can buy may not be gluten free. Everything they make is gluten free. They have many menu options available. Not everything that they make tastes the best, but my son is so excited to go there that he does not seem to notice!

Thank you!

I tried these biscuits today. They are great!

I put a little shortening on my hands so they wouldn't stick when I put then in the muffin pans. I also didn't let them rise but they rose a lot in the oven. They were very light and the texture inside reminded me of the Chebe rolls. The top looked like a drop biscuit and the taste was similar to a tea biscuit but a much lighter texture.

Another favourite recipe for me. Thanks JennyC.

I'm glad I could help you find a new favorite recipe. I have found many on this site.

I just posted about their chocolate a week or so ago. I contacted them and I was told that all of their chocolate is gluten free. They also stated that their chocolate is free from cross contamination!!! It also tastes out of this world! I recently bought 3 pounds of their chocolate and made about 200 truffles. I am now a loyal customer!

I wish they would offer gluten free pizza here. I guess I should not be so greedy, we have plenty of gluten free pizza options around.

Those are interesting recipes. I've been looking for ways to experiment with polenta. What flours did you use for the bread. I have many of them, except they're getting a little old and I'm not sure that I would want to use them. Thank you for posting!

Thanks Jenny, how much longer have you extended the cooking time (ex. minutes)?

I usually extend it at least until the upper limit of the baking time. If I am baking bread I often bake it until I'm afraid it's going to burn. It took me a long time to get bread that would not sink. It still happens to me sometimes when I try different recipes, like the gluten free french bread recipe on recipezarr.com! I also bake my bread in a bread machine and that has seemed to help.

Maybe try adding more protein to your flour mixture. When I make bread I often add a couple of tablespoons of whey protein, which someone on here mentioned on the flax bread thread. I have also started using fava bean flour to make up about 25% of the flour called for in many recipes. It is really high in protein for a gluten free flour and most of the time you cannot taste it. The only time I had a bad experience using fava flour was when I made sugar cookies. If that does not work, then try altering the cooking time. When I used to bake gluten cakes, I would try to pull them out of the oven as soon as possible, but I find that with gluten free cakes and bread it often works out better to keep them in the oven longer. I hope this helps. I know it can be frustrating!

I REALLY REALLY want it to stop snowing and start melting! Normally I would welcome snow. I live in Portland Oregon. Normally we might see a couple wimpy snow showers a year at best. Now we have over a foot! I'm going crazy stuck in my house. I have been making cookies and candy, and my family has postponed Christmas. DH's family is having Christmas, and four extra children are coming and I have not been able to get out and buy them gifts. DH was also been unable to work very much since we works outside, and he was no vacation hours left and no paid holidays.

Duncan Hines often changes their recipe. I can tell you that Pillsbury and Betty Crocker will disclose any gluten in their ingredients, so you just have to read the label to determine if it's gluten free.

Thank you! I look forward to trying it!

We too love Sweet Baby Rays. I used to love Jack Daniel's sauce before my son was diagnosed. Recently I noticed it was on the Heinz gluten free list, so I bought two bottles. It tasted so similar to Sweet Baby Ray's! No wonder we had no problem switching over to Sweet Baby Ray's! You can also buy Sweet Baby Ray's at Costco!

I posted the other day about the new potential for Ghirardelli chocolate bars to get cross contaminated with barely. I have been in contact with Barry Callebaut chocolate, and they have assured me that there is no risk for cross contamination of their chocolate in the US or Canada. I'm really excited to find a safe chocolate for baking! I just thought that I'd share.

Good for you! You know, we would not complain if you posted the recipe!

Someone mentioned Hickory Farms...last year when I called them they had to look up the gluten status of each individual product, and they did not know about some of the cheeses. I gave up and decided not to risk it with my son. On the other hand, Hillshire Farms will clearly disclose gluten in their ingredient list.

Haven't tried this one--will do!!

It's really great. It's a drop biscuit, so it won't look like a southern style biscuit. Try the savory variation I wrote about, I swear it's so close to the Red Lobster Cheddar Bay biscuits. I don't let them rise, I just mix them and bake them. I hope they work out for you!

I use the featherlight mix a lot, but lately I've been adding in fava bean flour, up to 25% of the flour the recipe calls for. It is pretty much tasteless and adds protein and structure.

The featherlight mix:

1 cup rice flour

1 cup corn starch

1 cup tapioca flour/starch

1 TBSP potato flour

* 1 tsp xanthan gum per 1 cup of flour

This is a GREAT recipe for "biscuits." It's actually a roll recipe, but the texture is like the Red Lobster biscuits! I like to make them savory by increasing the salt, adding garlic powder and cheese. I also usually add sugar instead of honey and I decrease the amount to 2 TBSP.

Ingredients

4 tbspn of shortening

3/4 tspn of vinegar

3/4 tspn of salt

2 tspn of xanthan gum

1 tbspn of baking powder

1/2 tspn of baking soda

1 c of cornstarch

1/2 c of potato starch

1 c of sour cream

1 packet of yeast (about 1 T

2 eggs )

3 tbspn of honey

Directions

MIx up all the ingredients real well to where there are no lumps.

Your going to want to wet your hands to handle dough.

Take about 1/4 cup of dough and shape into a ball.

Start placing it into a muffin tin or on a greased pan.

Preheat your oven to 350

bake the rolls for avbout 18-20 minutes.

Here's a link to the recipe:

Open Original Shared Link

Thanks. So far he's doing good. I always make sure that I read labels, but I guess I've started skimming some products. I've definitely learned my lesson.

I just thought that I would warn everyone that these fudgesicles contain malt. I think that this might be a new change, because I seem to remember buying them for my son before. They are made by Unilever, so I picked them up and read them quickly in the store and I did not catch that they had malt in the ingredients. I was exhausted, and I really didn't expect them to contain gluten so I guess I read too quickly. I gave my son one of these fudgesicles yesterday, the day after his tonsillectomy, before I realized that they contain malt powder, which is the second to the last ingredient. I feel horrible! A glutening is the last thing he needs right now! We're coming upon 24 hours so hopefully he does not have severe symptoms.

In general, I have found that pharmacists do not have any special information regarding gluten status. They normally read the package insert for the ingredients. It almost always contains natural flavors, so I get the number of the drug manufacturer and call them myself. I have not yet found a medication to contain gluten, but that's not to say that they are not out there. I always try to call over the counter drug manufacturers before the cold season starts. I generally stick with Tylenol or sometimes Motrin products, since I know that they do not add any gluten ingredients. If you call these companies they will give you a small list of gluten free products because they only select a few products to be tested for gluten, but they do not add gluten to any of their products.

I hope this helps.

Fruity and cocoa pebbles are gluten free.

The ingredients for fruity pebbles:

Ingredients: RICE, SUGAR, POLYDEXTROSE (SOURCE OF FIBER), HYDROGENATED VEGETABLE OIL (COCONUT AND PALM KERNEL OILS), SALT, CONTAINS LESS THAN 0.5% OF NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL FLAVOR, RED 40, YELLOW 6, TURMERIC OLEORESIN (COLOR), YELLOW 5, BLUE 1, BLUE 2, BHA (TO HELP PROTECT FLAVOR). VITAMINS AND MINERALS: NIACINAMIDE, REDUCED IRON, ZINC OXIDE (SOURCE OF ZINC), VITAMIN B6, VITAMIN A PALMITATE, RIBOFLAVIN (VITAMIN B12, VITAMIN D.

The ingredients for cocoa pebbles:

Ingredients: RICE, SUGAR, POLYDEXTROSE (SOURCE OF FIBER), HYDROGENATED VEGETABLE OIL (COCONUT AND PALM KERNEL OILS), COCOA (PROCESSED WITH ALKALI), SALT, CARAMEL COLOR, ARTIFICIAL AND NATURAL FLAVOR, BHA (TO HELP PROTECT FLAVOR). VITAMINS AND MINERALS: NIACINAMIDE, REDUCED IRON, ZINC OXIDE (SOURCE OF ZINC), VITAMIN B6, VITAMIN A PALMITATE, RIBOFLAVIN (VITAMIN B2), THIAMIN MONONITRATE (VITAMIN B1), FOLIC ACID, VITAMIN B12, VITAMIN D.

For snacks we use:

Kinnikinnick graham crackers and animal cookies

Glutino pretzels and chocolate snack bars

Ener-G crackers with cream cheese

Glutino round crackers with cheese

Walmart brand Cheetos

string cheese

Nut Thins

Wow! Thanks Tiffany! I really appreciate the time you took to write that. Yes we will definitely crate train. We are also going to take obedience classes, but I'm pretty sure that we cannot really afford it until after Christmas. You have given me more than enough information to get me started!