Going gluten-free...any tips?

[Twinmom]

We are trying to make the jump to gluten free eating for a variety of reasons. (DH is allergic to wheat, DD is sensitive to it, the Things need to SLOW DOWN! ;)) We're going to phase it in slowly so I don't get overwhelmed. Any tips from the Hive? Products you like? Things to watch for? Places to buy cheap?

 

Thanks in advance for any ideas you have.

[elegantlion]

Only one, learn from my mistake. You can NOT substitute soy flour 1:1 for wheat flour, it makes the most horrid pancakes you can imagine. :lol::lol:

[Jenny in Atl]

There is a ton of great info on the web GFlinks. Lots of great GF cookbooks, groups, and great new products coming to the market daily, like GF Rice Chex (cheap compared to other GF cereals). As of August 1, 2008 it's the law that products must have a label saying whether they contain gluten. There is a difference between wheat free and gluten free. Gluten is also found in barley, rye, and oats. As well as many additives, like barley malt.

 

You will actually find you eat much healthier, but food cost can go up if you spend too much time trying to make or buy GF versions of food made with gluten flours.

 

Hope this helps! Feel free to PM me anytime. We have been a GF family for over five years. Both dds have Celiac. :tongue_smilie:

[Twinmom]

Cool...I was headed off elsewhere to post on this...don't even need to! :D

 

Jenny...I'm going to check out that website pronto. At the risk of showing my ignorance, I didn't know there was a difference between wheat-free and gf! Thought they were one and the same. Boy, do I have a lot to learn!

 

EL, I promise I won't try that! My kids would hate me forever, as pancakes are their favorite food.

[Jenny in Atl]

Cool...I was headed off elsewhere to post on this...don't even need to! :D

 

Jenny...I'm going to check out that website pronto. At the risk of showing my ignorance, I didn't know there was a difference between wheat-free and gf! Thought they were one and the same. Boy, do I have a lot to learn!

 

EL, I promise I won't try that! My kids would hate me forever, as pancakes are their favorite food.

 

Ya, it's important for those with Celiac. They are intolerant to all gluten. I've have very sweet friends bring us oatmeal cookies, thinking they were OK. It was so hard to tell them thanks, but we can't eat those.

[BMW]

When we had to do this for a son's allergies, I was thankful that another mom told me that frozen french fries are sprayed with gluten to keep them from sticking and to only buy them from the health food store (I am so sorry, I forget the name of the french fries that we began to buy, but they were not ore-ida!). We had several health food stores where we lived and also Trader-Joes, who does a great job of listing foods and products they sell for those needing to be gluten free, etc. I hope that you have some great choices, too.

I also took a LOT of time reading labels... my son had to be gluten free/casein free (dairy), but it made such a big difference for him at the time.

You didn't mention this at all, but I would like to share that in our case, reducing stress was a huge factor that related directly to son's diet and needs.

Best wishes!!

 

Bee

[elegantlion]

Pringles potato chips have wheat in them. :glare: Talk about giving up a favorite food.

[Storm Bay]

Gluten is also found in barley, rye, and oats. As well as many additives, like barley malt.

 

 

Gluten is also found in triticale, spelt & Kamut. Other examples of additives that gluten can be in are natural flavourings and starches, including modified starches. fwiw, eliminating only wheat is far, far easier than eliminating all gluten, and being sensitive to wheat doesn't necessarily mean the sensitivity is to gluten. If it turns out you have to go completely gluten free, Bob's Red Mill has some good cookbooks, and they produce all their gluten free flours in a different place than their gluten containing flours to help prevent cross contamination. I buy my grains & flours in bulk from a coop because only dh eats gluten on a regular basis in our house. I cannot tolerate wheat & don't digest gluten, but do not have celiac. If I take a digestive enzyme to break down the gluten I end up getting depressed from wheat. Weird, eh?

[Marie in Oh]

We do not like Bob's Red Mill flour-- it has garbanzo bean flour in it and it is yuck.

 

We do like all Pamela's products, mixes from the Gluten Free Pantry, and Kinnikinik Products (especially their pizza crusts), Tinkyada Pasta, and Enviro Kids Cereals and Granola Bars.

 

Gluten is in wheat, rye, barley and most oats. You actually can buy Gluten Free Oats from a mail order company, but I have forgotten the name.

[Storm Bay]

We do not like Bob's Red Mill flour-- it has garbanzo bean flour in it and it is yuck.

 

We do like all Pamela's products, mixes from the Gluten Free Pantry, and Kinnikinik Products (especially their pizza crusts), Tinkyada Pasta, and Enviro Kids Cereals and Granola Bars.

 

Gluten is in wheat, rye, barley and most oats. You actually can buy Gluten Free Oats from a mail order company, but I have forgotten the name.

 

FYI Not all Bob's Red Mill flour has garbanzo flour in it--just the mixes:). We don't actually use much of their flour anymore because we can't find it in bulk at our coop, but I CANNOT tolerate garbanzo beans, so if they had been in the rice/teff/etc flours we ordered plain I would have known something was amuck.

[Twinmom]

FYI Not all Bob's Red Mill flour has garbanzo flour in it--just the mixes:). We don't actually use much of their flour anymore because we can't find it in bulk at our coop, but I CANNOT tolerate garbanzo beans, so if they had been in the rice/teff/etc flours we ordered plain I would have known something was amuck.

 

Wow...lots of good ideas! Thanks! I'm going to do some research on them all...taking a while to absorb it. Keep 'em coming!

[Twinmom]

You didn't mention this at all, but I would like to share that in our case, reducing stress was a huge factor that related directly to son's diet and needs.

 

Bee

 

Do you mean that the diet reduced the stress or reducing stress helped the symptoms?

[Marie in Oh]

FYI Not all Bob's Red Mill flour has garbanzo flour in it--just the mixes:). We don't actually use much of their flour anymore because we can't find it in bulk at our coop, but I CANNOT tolerate garbanzo beans, so if they had been in the rice/teff/etc flours we ordered plain I would have known something was amuck.

 

The mixes have a combo of different flours. They do have soy and rice flour on their own. But boy, that Garbanzo Flour is nasty.

[Mx5]

We are trying to make the jump to gluten free eating for a variety of reasons. (DH is allergic to wheat, DD is sensitive to it, the Things need to SLOW DOWN! ;)) We're going to phase it in slowly so I don't get overwhelmed. Any tips from the Hive? Products you like? Things to watch for? Places to buy cheap?

 

Thanks in advance for any ideas you have.

 

365 Days of Crockpotting has mostly gluten free recipes. Enjoy!

[Sara in AZ]

I eat/bake waaaaaay less bread/bread products than ever before. It's interesting how much more nutritious food/vegetables I'll eat at a meal when yummy rolls or breadsticks aren't available. Pancakes/waffles are a weakness for me, but there are plenty of good mixes to help with that. If you have a Trader Joes anywhere near you, they sell really good and relatively cheap rice pastas as well as brown rice tortillas which are my new best friend. I use them to make wrap sandwiches, burritos, fajitas, etc. as I cannot stand rice bread or any other commercial wheat free breads. I love those tortillas.

[yarrow]

and the hardest part at first, for this former baker, was that it wasn't going to taste the same. No matter how much I tried to make bread that would be just like wheat, it wasn't working out. Once I could accept that it would taste different, it went easier. I eat tinkyada pasta, gluten free oats (http://www.glutenfreeoats.com) and have found lots of wonderful recipes on the gluten free goddess website (http://glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com/).

 

If you have any specific questions, feel free to ask.

 

Karen

[HomesteadMommy]

When we went gluten free the hardest part was tracking down all the "hidden" gluten in products and finding good bread! No were around here can we get bread that is edible. I did find a good recipe for GF French bread, it also makes a yummy pizza crust. If you look through the kitchen section on my blog there are some GF recipes in there. Homestead Acres

I found my fav. flours to be sorghum and buckwheat.

[Pajama Mama]

Ds11 was gluten, casein(dairy) and soy free for a year. It was so hard to find things without all of them in it. I used to have alot of links for gluten free products. I'll have to look and see if I still have them. Some things are easier than others to replace with gluten free items. Pasta was alright but we never found a bread that ds liked. So he pretty much didn't eat sandwiches at all. I know Trader Joes and Whole Food Markets have lots of gluten free items. I think alot of supermarket chains carry gluten free items as well. Go to your local supermarket's website or customer service counter and ask for a list of gluten free items.

[Pajama Mama]

I also remember that quite a few kosher items are gluten free. It's been a couple years since I had to worry about this so don't quote me. But I recall wandering through the kosher section of our grocery store and I found several items that were gluten-free. Ball Park hot dogs are(or were) gluten free. I had to take these to Boy Scout camp outs for ds.

 

If chocolate is important to you(as it should be),I have a website that we ordered chocolate from when ds was on his special diet. If you buy choc bunnies for Easter, then this is a great site for you. I ordered all Easter candy from this site for ds. They have other candies besides chocolate, too.

 

http://www.choclat.com/

[Kanga]

EL, I promise I won't try that! My kids would hate me forever, as pancakes are their favorite food.

 

My dc love pancakes. I did a lot of experimenting with flavors while figuring out the right proportions of rice and potato flour for pancakes. I used regular pancake recipes as my foundation. But while I was figuring out the flour substitutes I made pumpkin, chocolate chip, blueberry, etc. My thinking being that they would be more tolerant of different flours and textures while focusing on a new flavor.

 

Read up on Xanthum gum. I add it when making cookies, muffins, and cakes to make them lighter and fluffier. I don't even tell guests anymore that they are eating gf because most can not even tell. I only fess up when asked for a recipe.

 

Trader Joes has afordable gf pasta. Walmart is adding more gf products at reasonable prices.

 

We went gf cold turkey. I explained to the kids that I was gluten intolerant and that I wanted their support since I did not want to have to prepare two different menus. I think having a medical reason to embrace it really helped during the experimental phase.

[Kanga]

When we went gluten free the hardest part was tracking down all the "hidden" gluten in products and finding good bread! No were around here can we get bread that is edible. I did find a good recipe for GF French bread, it also makes a yummy pizza crust. If you look through the kitchen section on my blog there are some GF recipes in there. Homestead Acres

I found my fav. flours to be sorghum and buckwheat.

 

My family likes Trader Joe's gf rice bread.

[BMW]

In our case, the stress was directly related to the symptoms. We switched over to the GFCF diet and it did help. But when I was able to get this little boy free from the stress in our lives (abusive dh, divorce, overcoming and moving on) his symptoms went away. He used to hive up terribly with any dairy - now he doesn't react in any way to it! He was one very happy boy when he ate his first piece of pizza at 8 yrs old! We still have to watch certain types of foods (no artificial colors, no chocolate, watermelon or bananas...) and I notice that if life gets stressful, he picks up on it and it affects his digestion and what he can tolerate. I know that is just our story - others have to live GFCF for life and they may not have allergies that they outgrow or that change at all... but I know it was not a coincidence that this boy physically healed when the stress was removed...

[Twinmom]

Wow, you gals are FANTASTIC! I love all the tips, sites and good ideas. I'm tickled pink!

 

Seems like we'll have a rough adjustment with my boys, who are complete bread nuts. I mean, if there is not a roll or another bread product on the table at every meal, they go ballistic. Any thoughts on this? In particular, I'd appreciate hearing what you all feed your kids for breakfast. My twins refuse any eggs, one refuses all fruits besides apple sauce, they don't like cereal, etc. Really, they are ridiculous and are going to have to starve if they don't get over themselves, but I could use a thought or two to help. I can't cook every morning...just not enough hours in the day. There's got to be some "eat and run" things besides the breakfast bars they currently scarf.

[Storm Bay]

Wow, you gals are FANTASTIC! I love all the tips, sites and good ideas. I'm tickled pink!

 

Seems like we'll have a rough adjustment with my boys, who are complete bread nuts. I mean, if there is not a roll or another bread product on the table at every meal, they go ballistic. Any thoughts on this? In particular, I'd appreciate hearing what you all feed your kids for breakfast. My twins refuse any eggs, one refuses all fruits besides apple sauce, they don't like cereal, etc. Really, they are ridiculous and are going to have to starve if they don't get over themselves, but I could use a thought or two to help. I can't cook every morning...just not enough hours in the day. There's got to be some "eat and run" things besides the breakfast bars they currently scarf.

 

I make an amaranth "brownie," buckwheat pancakes with NO wheat in them, a wheatless cornbread, etc. All of these are done with only ONE type of flour. When I bake with rice or millet flour, I have more options to combine with. Far less expensive to make things from scratch, especially since I have to bake with no soy, casein, eggs, etc. For cornbread, just double the eggs & replace the wheat with the same amount of cornmeal or cornflour. You may have to adjust the liquid a wee bit. I don't use eggs or dairy or milk replacement and still manage to make a cornbread that people who eat "regular" food love. Same with the pancakes, brownies, etc. I've done a lot of experimenting & refining, but I am what one bread book called a mad scientist type baker. I did start with regular or gf recipes, but had to do a lot of work to fit in with a rotary diet.

[Jenny in Atl]

Wow, you gals are FANTASTIC! I love all the tips, sites and good ideas. I'm tickled pink!

 

Seems like we'll have a rough adjustment with my boys, who are complete bread nuts. I mean, if there is not a roll or another bread product on the table at every meal, they go ballistic. Any thoughts on this? In particular, I'd appreciate hearing what you all feed your kids for breakfast. My twins refuse any eggs, one refuses all fruits besides apple sauce, they don't like cereal, etc. Really, they are ridiculous and are going to have to starve if they don't get over themselves, but I could use a thought or two to help. I can't cook every morning...just not enough hours in the day. There's got to be some "eat and run" things besides the breakfast bars they currently scarf.

 

Smoothies? There are GF bars (but they are $$). We love the Kind Bars with yogurt. Costco has Lara bars pretty cheap, but they are all fruit and nuts. You could bake ahead and freeze, then zap on the way out the door? GF waffles? Trader Joe's has some at a great price. Mac loves the banana ones. There are other brands, but they are $$$. :willy_nilly:

[susie in tx]

Today is my first day of being gluten free again. We were gf for several years and for a variety of reasons, stopped. Then, I got pg and figured I should go gf again, but I didn't want to. Can you see my stomping my feet? So, I decided to start with the 3rd trimester and then continue once the baby is born.

 

I like tinkyada pasta noodles, and hate almost all commercially made bread. At one point, I reacted to all trace amounts of gluten, so could barely eat out. That went away later on. If you have any gluten in the house, be ware, I find it pretty tricky to have gluten in the house with a non-gluten person. I'm doing it this time just cause it's cheaper to buy gluten than gf.

 

I'm very fond of sorghum flour and buy it buy the bucketload. http://www.twinvalleymills.com/

 

Gf oats are yummy, but many people still react to them.

 

The protein in soy, dairy and gluten are very similar, so some people have to eliminate them in the beginning.

 

Bragg's aminos are a good sub for soy sauce.

 

MSG, natural flavors are words to look for when seeking hidden gluten.

 

I'm sure there are other things, but I can't think of them right now.

 

Oh - even though McD's says their fries are gf, my opinion is that they are not.

[Mama Lynx]

We are trying to make the jump to gluten free eating for a variety of reasons. (DH is allergic to wheat, DD is sensitive to it, the Things need to SLOW DOWN! ;)) We're going to phase it in slowly so I don't get overwhelmed. Any tips from the Hive? Products you like? Things to watch for? Places to buy cheap?

 

Thanks in advance for any ideas you have.

 

It really is easier, less expensive, and healthier if you don't try to duplicate the wheat foods you're used to with gluten-free options. You might start that way, as it's comforting to have the same types of foods. But in the long run, I found it was better to just not have a lunch that depended on bread, for example. I cooked Asian foods that used rice and cellophane noodles.

 

Actually I'm heading back to gluten-free land (gah). And I am making pizza tonight ;-)

 

Gluten-free is really not bad. There's a learning curve, and a getting used to it, but after that, it's fine. Rice is your friend.

 

ETA - so far my favorite cookbook is Carole Fenster's "Cooking Free." It addresses more than just wheat-free cooking.

[Jenny in Atl]

Today is my first day of being gluten free again. We were gf for several years and for a variety of reasons, stopped. Then, I got pg and figured I should go gf again, but I didn't want to. Can you see my stomping my feet? So, I decided to start with the 3rd trimester and then continue once the baby is born.

 

I like tinkyada pasta noodles, and hate almost all commercially made bread. At one point, I reacted to all trace amounts of gluten, so could barely eat out. That went away later on. If you have any gluten in the house, be ware, I find it pretty tricky to have gluten in the house with a non-gluten person. I'm doing it this time just cause it's cheaper to buy gluten than gf.

 

I'm very fond of sorghum flour and buy it buy the bucketload. http://www.twinvalleymills.com/

 

Gf oats are yummy, but many people still react to them.

 

The protein in soy, dairy and gluten are very similar, so some people have to eliminate them in the beginning.

 

Bragg's aminos are a good sub for soy sauce.

 

MSG, natural flavors are words to look for when seeking hidden gluten.

 

I'm sure there are other things, but I can't think of them right now.

 

Oh - even though McD's says their fries are gf, my opinion is that they are not.

 

You are very right, they are not GF.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11326937/

 

Even places that have GF fries still might have cross contamination from using the oil to fry other gluten items like hash browns or pies. If you eat out, make sure friers are dedicated. We don't do GF oats. I just can't take that chance with my two. Fi's Diabetes and Thyroid were triggered by her Celiac. I'm trying the best I can to make sure she stays a tri-dx and Mac only a Celiac and nothing else. More and more research is coming out about the connection between digestive disorders and autoimmune diseases. So you really are what you eat.

[Mama Lynx]

Pancakes!!! Google for "rice blender pancakes." They are rice-based, gluten-free, and are DELICIOUS. I use coconut oil in mine, which adds a really nice taste.

[Jennefer@SSA]

Gluten Free Mommy was my very favorite blog during the 7 months we were gf/cf. Her gf bread recipe is to die for as well. I made about 20 different loaves of bread and hers was by far the yummiest. GF Bread Also if you look at the bottom of the recipe notice who she dedicated the recipe to...ME! :D I begged her to help me come up with a yummy bread recipe that was high fiber and yummy and she delivered!

 

I also have an entire file of GF recipes if you would like me to email it to you!

 

Good luck!

[Mama Lynx]

As long as we're here, here's the pizza dough recipe I used tonight:

 

http://www.celiac.com/articles/862/1/Gluten-Free-Pizza-Crust--Focaccia-Bread-by-Karen-Robertson/Page1.html

 

It was quite decent. I used buckwheat flour. I could not add either the milk powder, nor the almond flour, so I threw in some cornmeal instead. It didn't rise, so maybe I'll just go without the yeast next time. (I'm not really supposed to eat yeast, anyway.) I liked the texture, though, and it tasted good.

 

I'm not eating dairy right now either, so I loaded it up with tomato sauce, pepperoni, artichoke hearts, kalamata olives, and tomato pieces. It was marvelous. I honestly didn't miss the cheese, and that's saying something.

[Kimberleigh]

My twins have celiac disease, diagnosed four years ago. You might find, as we did, that once the gluten is out of your kids' systems, they're more open to trying new foods. My son essentially lived on mac & cheese before he was diagnosed and wouldn't eat meat or veggies at all; now he eats a full range of foods, even loves spinach, and is willing to try anything. So while their current breakfast options are limited, that could change.

 

In the meantime, you might want to keep Kinniickinnick English muffins in your freezer for breakfasts. You can thaw them in the microwave, toast them, and add butter/jelly/peanut butter. I use them at home to make GF egg mcmuffins.

 

For baking, try Tom Sawyer Flour or Better Batter Flour. Both are available online (the Better Batter Flour is even sold on Amazon.com). They can be used cup-for-cup in your regular recipes and already contain the xanthan gum (which replaces the gluten to hold baked goods together), and they're pretty tasty. I make GF chocolate chip cookies using the regular Toll House Cookie recipe on the chip bag, simply substituting the Better Batter Flour for the regular stuff. The kids' friends can't tell they're GF.

 

As for breads, my kids aren't huge on sandwiches, so I usually don't bother with it. When we get a craving, however, the 'Cause You're Special mixes are pretty decent. I also make challah from scratch -- it doesn't have the same "shred" quality as the real thing, but the taste is pretty close (and it makes an excellent French Toast or bread pudding).

 

The best advice I can give you about going gluten free isn't about products, however, it's about attitude. If you go into this mourning everything you're giving up, you and the kids are going to be miserable. Instead, look for the positives -- how much better you (or your DH and kids) feel, all the favorite foods you can still eat because they're already GF, cooking a great GF dinner, and so on. When we first went GF, instead of immediately trying to make the perfect cake, I instead made treats like fudge, which are already GF. Don't look to replace everything you currently eat because there are some foods that simply don't taste as good in GF form (but also keep in mind that while they'll taste "off" to you at first, after some time on the diet, your tastes will change a bit). Instead, replace only the absolute must-haves (such as finding a pasta you like) and look for new foods to enjoy. We started doing international theme dinners, trying foods from different countries (modifying non-GF recipes as needed), and the fun of that helped us over the hurdle of going gluten-free. If you can approach the diet from a positive attitude, it'll be much easier for all of you. And remember that the kids will take their cues from you in that area.

 

I hope this helps!

[DIY-DY]

(after the first major meltdown I had in the grocery, "I can't feed my kids ANYthing!") was to make a menu of sorts, listing everything we'd eaten in the last week (or gundeck the log - write what you can remember). Then I went through and marked the things that had what we needed to cut out (in our case, just wheat). I was surprised at how little, really, needed to go. That made the idea of avoidance and substitution seem do-able. (In your case, might not want to do that w/ breakfast first, since it sounds like a sticking point right now, and it could backfire and overwhelm you.)

 

For breakfasts:

* There's a Cream of Rice hot cereal that's really quite good, if your kids will do hot cereals.

* Our kids really liked the Bob's Mighty Tasty GF hot cereal, but I've also heard others say they'd rather eat raw bamboo, so YMMV with that one. ;)

* Fresh fruit, yogurt, and GF sausage patties - filling, nutririous, and GF!

* Breakfast meats, potatoes & cheese...

* Smoothies

* Peanut butter and fruit

* The GF breads probably won't cut it for sandwiches (but you'll get to the point where it's not a biggie to make it yourself, if you find you all *really* miss sandwiches that much), however, they do actually make nice french toast, eggs in a basket, and the Ener-G white rice bread toasts nicely for eating w/ peanut butter & honey, or butter and jam, etc. I think it's b/c they're so firm to begin with.

* For a Very Special treat, try these "muffins". I still make these, even though we're no longer WF.

 

WF/GF foods do/can cost more. But what you don't spend on fillers, junk, and snack foods will be a tremendous savings.

 

Take it slowly, one thing at a time, and in no time at all, you'll be wondering what the fuss was all about. ;) Honest! And seeing your family healthy and feeling good - priceless.

 

Dy

[Lovedtodeath]

We do not like Bob's Red Mill flour-- it has garbanzo bean flour in it and it is yuck.

 

They have lots of flours that are gluten free, not just the one.

 

Gluten-free pantry has some great stuff. Nu-world amaranth has awesome cereal. Many whole grain gluten-free products spoil easily, so keep that in mind.

 

Anything made with rice flour (pasta, bread) is best eaten right away. Cold pasta salad and frozen french toast are two things that did not work for us.

 

Dumke is a good author of cookbooks for people with intolerances.

[Storm Bay]

It really is easier, less expensive, and healthier if you don't try to duplicate the wheat foods you're used to with gluten-free options. You might start that way, as it's comforting to have the same types of foods. But in the long run, I found it was better to just not have a lunch that depended on bread, for example. I cooked Asian foods that used rice and cellophane noodles.

 

 

ETA - so far my favorite cookbook is Carole Fenster's "Cooking Free." It addresses more than just wheat-free cooking.

 

Yes, duplicating wheat bread isn't worth it and can be very expensive. But the corn bread solution I have is well worth it and not expensive, in part because if we pack a lunch my kids want food that "looks normal" by their definition of normal.

 

I have one of Carole Fenster's books, and it's fine, but I far prefer Jeanne Marie Martin's The All Natural Allergy Cookbook. Both books I have eliminate more than gluten, so that may be the difference, but I also found that Fenster's recipes tended to have more ingredients or other issues hard to work with when I'm in a hurry. I do avoid her spelt & kamut recipes. I have a great book by Marjorie Hurt but due to the many things we've had to eliminate, I use her book mainly for the first part (before the recipes.)

 

As for the gluten free oats someone recommended--while they might be okay for many with celiac, they're not always okay for people with other gluten issues (not all are celiac). They're also expensive compared with buying flours, etc. Even the 25 pound bag is over $3 per lb. If you're just avoiding wheat and love, love, love oats, then they may be a good option because they haven't been contaminated with gluten from other grains.

[Rosie_0801]

I haven't read all the responses, but just wanted to mention that a wheat sensitivity isn't the same as a gluten sensitivity. A lot of wheat allergies are problems with the normal bread wheat, so oats, barley, kamut, spelt and even durum wheat are perfectly fine. Even if you find your family are like this, it's still good to substitute some wheat for something else. My favourite tip is to use brown rice flour for making white sauce. Very tasty, though not quite as white as it would be with bleached wheat flour.

:)

Rosie

[susie in tx]

My favourite tip is to use brown rice flour for making white sauce. Very tasty, though not quite as white as it would be with bleached wheat flour.

 

 

Are you able to get superfine brown rice flour? I've found most of the brown rice flour to be too grainy. I use arrowroot instead.

[Lovedtodeath]

I haven't read all the responses, but just wanted to mention that a wheat sensitivity isn't the same as a gluten sensitivity. A lot of wheat allergies are problems with the normal bread wheat, so oats, barley, kamut, spelt and even durum wheat are perfectly fine. Even if you find your family are like this, it's still good to substitute some wheat for something else. My favourite tip is to use brown rice flour for making white sauce. Very tasty, though not quite as white as it would be with bleached wheat flour.

:)

Rosie

 

My DD was allergic to wheat and oats, but she could have barley and rye.... and it helped a lot to have those options. Going gluten-free is a lot harder.

[5knights3maidens]

These are the best : Diary Free / Gluten Free Chocolate "Tropical Source Chocolate Bars and Chocolate Chips. Yumm!!! By Sunspire. I find these at Giant and Whole Foods.

They have an orange colored package.

[Storm Bay]

These are the best : Diary Free / Gluten Free Chocolate "Tropical Source Chocolate Bars and Chocolate Chips. Yumm!!! By Sunspire. I find these at Giant and Whole Foods.

They have an orange colored package.

 

We like the Enjoy Life chocolate chips, mostly because there's at least one thing in the Sunspire ones we can't have (can't remember what it is), but that isn't an issue for everyone.

[Ahwahnee]

I haven't tried the recipes, but this site looks very interesting.

 

http://frugalabundance.com/

 

Keeping the cost down while being GFCF looks hard, she was known as the Hillbilly Housewife and now has by necessity moved to GFCF.

 

I hope this helps.

[5knights3maidens]

We like the Enjoy Life chocolate chips, mostly because there's at least one thing in the Sunspire ones we can't have (can't remember what it is), but that isn't an issue for everyone.

 

The ones that I'm talking about are the only Chocolate Chips dd can have from Sunspire. The rest have milk, pb, OR are grain sweetened and the g.s. really makes her wild. ??

[Storm Bay]

The ones that I'm talking about are the only Chocolate Chips dd can have from Sunspire. The rest have milk, pb, OR are grain sweetened and the g.s. really makes her wild. ??

 

Sunspire has something I can't have and I think the kids can't, either. Here's what Enjoy Life contains:

 

Evaporated cane juice, chocolate liquor, Non-Dairy Cocoa Butter. It says gluten free, so there's none hidden in it.

 

We have to avoid a number of common fruit juice sweeteners (especially pineapple, one of dd's worst offenders) so perhaps that's why? I don't remember anymore why we can't have Sunspire, only that we can't.

[Gailmegan]

I don't have much to add (so many good resources/suggestions already), but I have to disagree that you can't find a good replacement for wheat bread. The Gluten-Free Gourmet Bakes Bread has wonderful recipes that my boys beg for. They go through a 1.5 lb loaf in 2 days if I don't ration it. LOL

[Twinmom]

Somehow I missed several of the last pages of posts until the thread just popped back up. Thanks for all the great breakfast ideas and other tips! I'm making a favorites file with all the site suggestions. You all have gotten me off to a great start!