Let's ask a mom!

I have many friends who have chosen the Gluten Free lifestyle for many health issues and health concerns for their children. I asked around and I got some pretty great testimonials on Gluten Free Living. Here is one from my friend Shellie:

"My son was diagnosed with high functioning autism at age 4 and I began researching treatments immediately. When I first heard about the gluten free casein free diet I was skeptical but at that point I was willing to try just about anything short of drugs to help my son.  Almost immediately we begin to see amazing results. His fits of anger/aggression became few and far between. He began making  progress academically and over the years has continued to make great strides. He is now in the second grade, exceeding all expectations and no longer requires special services. He is a smart, happy and healthy young man and I can say without a doubt that his diet has been the biggest contributor to his success."- Shellie Terry

Thanks Shellie! When I asked her what she couldn't live without in her household she said "Two things that I always keep on hand are gluten free breadcrumbs and gluten free flour. This allows me to cook most of my recipes by simply substituting with gf products. Gluten free meatballs are a big hit in my house!  Braydens favorite are gluten free chicken nuggets."

So for those who are new and don't know where to start on Gluten Free living for their children, it is really quite easy! I was walking through Mothers Market yesterday and saw Gluten Free Ice Cream Cones! So really you don't go without, you just need to change out those things for Gluten Free Ingredients. And the funny thing is... the Gluten Free things even taste better!

Make your own Energy Bars/ Granola

If you’re one of the many who skip out on breakfast and grab a breakfast bar, there is a cheaper – and healthier – alternative to the breakfast bar or refined sugary treat that passes for an energy bar these days.

Reasons To Make Your Own:
By making your own bars, you can cut out a lot of sugar, preservatives and artificial flavouring. While there is sugar present in the dried fruits in this recipe, it’s nowhere near as unhealthy as the amounts of refined sugar and glucose present in commercial brands.

A cost-saving measure might involve finding a health food store nearby that sells bulk ingredients; you could be saving more money if the nuts and oats are not pre-packaged.

Directions:

1 cup gluten free rolled oats

1 cup puffed corn or a gluten free cereal with different grains ( I used one from Mothers called Natures' Path Organic Crunchy Vanilla Sunrise- Gluten Free: it was on sale for $1 off)

½ cup raw sunflower seeds

1 cup sliced almonds

½ cup sprouted buckwheat

2 tablespoons flax seeds

¼ cup honey or I like to use brown rice syrup too

¼ cup fruit sugar (found in health food stores) optional

1 ounce canola margarine

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

½ teaspoon kosher salt

¼ cup dried raisins or ¼ cup dried cranberries, chopped or any dried fruit of choice

¼ cup nutritional yeast (optional)

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Spread the first six ingredients on a thinly greased cookie sheet, and toast in oven, stirring every 3 to 4 minutes, until just barely browned for a total of 10 to 15 minutes.
• While the ingredients are toasting, place the honey, fruit sugar, margarine, vanilla, nutritional yeast and salt in a large saucepan over medium heat, so that there will be enough room to put the dry ingredients once they are toasted. Stir, until butter is melted and sugar is completely dissolved.
• Reduce heat to low, and add the toasted dry ingredients, plus the fruit, tossing until everything is well coated.
• Reduce oven heat to 300 degrees. Transfer mixture into a greased 9x9 inch square baking dish, pushing everything down until well packed. Bake 25 to 30 minutes.
• Remove, cool it completely, then cut into squares with a sharp knife.
• Package them individually with some seran wrap or place into plastic containers, great for kids lunches or a mid day snack for energy and protein.

Enjoy!

I made 2 batches, this one was the one with peanuts and no cacao powder

Chocolate Lovers Cake-Totally Raw and Guilt Free!

Ingredients:
2 Organic Bananas (trader joes has the cheapest at 29 cents each)
1 cup of Raw Organic Flax Seeds, grounded (may want to add
2-3 Tbs Coconut Nectar (or Agave Nectar- found at Health food Stores like Mothers Market or Whole Foods)
4-6 Tbs Raw Organic Carob Powder, adjusting to taste

Chocolate Frosting:
4 tablespoons of Carob Powder
3 tbs Coonut Nectar

Garnish:
Stawberries, Blackberries, or Blueberries
optional Chopped Nuts like Almonds or Brazil Nuts
Organic Cinnamon

Directions:
Peel the bananas and place in a large mixing bowl, mashing by hand with a fork
Add flax seed and carob powder
Pour in coconut nectar and hand mix with a fork until well blended
adjust the amount of carob powder to taste:add more ground flax for a firm cake and less for a moist cake

Place cake mix into a small serving dish or small ramakins

In a medium bowl, hand mix coconut nectar with carob powder until it is well mixed and acts like a sauce or frosting, then drizzle or cover the top of the chocolate cake.

Garnish with fresh berries and cinnamon, and chopped nut.
Serve and enjoy! 

How to Sprout Buckwheat Groats

The Sprouting Process

Hi friends...

So, I had bought some Buckwheat from Mother's Market about 3 months ago and found it in my Cupboard... I have never before worked with this grain so I decided to give it a shot and make something with it! You can find this grain in the bulk section of you local health foo store. Buckwheat is actually not wheat at all! It is a part of the Rubard family. It is a excellent source of protein, however it should be sprouted before use.

How to Spout Buckwheat:
Depending on what you want to make and how much you can use between 1 cup to 5 cups of Buckwheat to sprout. I like to use a little more, I can put the rest in the freezer and use it at another time.

things you'll need:

• Organic, raw, hulled buckwheat
• Flat glass or plastic tray
• 2 (100 percent) cotton cloths

yay! I did it! It was so easy!

Instructions

things you'll need:

• Organic, raw, hulled buckwheat
• Flat glass or plastic tray
• 2 (100 percent) cotton cloths

1. • Choose hulled, organic, raw buckwheat for sprouting. Toasted buckwheat is generally a golden brown color, unhulled is black and hulled, raw buckwheat will be white or light green.
   • Place the buckwheat into a wide-mouthed glass jar and cover with water, soaking for just 20 minutes. While most sprouting processes require long soaking times, up to 14 hours, buckwheat is a quick sprouter and should not be soaked longer than 20 minutes or it may result in mold growth. Remember that 2/3 cup of raw buckwheat will yield about 1 to 1 1/4 cups of sprouts, so only prepare as many as you can eat in about 2 weeks.
   • Rinse the buckwheat thoroughly and then set aside to drain. Line the bottom of a flat, plastic or glass container, such as a serving platter, with a damp piece of 100 percent cotton cloth and spread the buckwheat evenly on the cloth. Cover the buckwheat with a second piece of damp cotton and then leave in a cool, semi-lit location.
   • Check the sprouts every 8 to 12 hours, removing the seeds and rewetting the cloths if needed to maintain dampness. After about 1 or 1 and 1/2 days, your buckwheat sprouts should be ready.
   • Remove the seeds from the cloth and place in a bowl or container, storing your sprouts in the refrigerator to stop them from growing more. Make sure that you eat your sprouts within about 2 weeks to ensure freshness and flavor.

Children's Symptoms:

Looking at symptoms: the doctor really relys on you as the parent for information about your children. These symptoms may be a good indicator you child may have celiac disease:

Abdominal discomfort : cramping and distention

Abnormal bowel habits : loose watery stools, frequent large stools, and very smelly stools. Consitipation may be the main problem as well.

Behavior problems: irritability, restlessness, and the inability to rem$ain focused. Once they start foloowing a gluten free diet, you will notice their mood will change rapidly.
* there is some evidence that certain neurological and behavior problems such as ADHD and autism are more likely to occur in children who have celiac disease. Nonetheless, the great majority of kids with ADHD and autism do not have celiac disease and, conversley, the great majority of kids with celiac disease do not have ADHD, autism, or neurological or behavior difficulties.

Dermatitis Herpetiformis: a very itchy skin rash with little blisters over the elbows, shoulders, and buttocks.

Insufficienet growth and development: failure to grow and develop normally (called failure to thrive), lack of normal weight gain, and especially the development of weight loss. The child may be shorter than others of the same age and may also be shorter than their siblings were at a comparable age.
Some children may have malabsorbtion of calcium and vit D and can develop rickets in which bones have impaired growth and strength.

Nonspecific symptoms: pale skin, lack of energy, malaise, fatigue.


How can you find out if YOUR child should be tested for celiac disease?

WebMD Health News recently published a questionnaire that you can use to find out if your child has celiac disease and needs to be put on a gluten-free diet. According to the article, at least half of children with celiac disease NEVER get diagnosed, leaving them suffering from the painful physical and mental symptoms of the disease.

Instead of indiscriminately administering a blood test to kids, now we can narrow down the children who need to be tested by asking them five questions:
1. Has your child ever suffered from abdominal pain more than twice during the last three months?
2. Has your child ever had diarrhea lasting more than two weeks?
3. Does your child have a tendency to firm and hard stools?
4. Does your child gain enough weight?
5. Does your child gain enough height?
Check out the link below!
http://tinyurl.com/yl5fgbc

Tina Turbin
http://glutenfreehelp.info/


Source: "Celiac Disease for Dummies", by Sheila Crowe, MD and Ian Blumer, MD

Simple foods with protein to make your kids with food allergies

Turkey Rollups:
Slices of gluten free turkey (health food stores)
String cheese (if dairy free, look for almond cheese, soy cheese, rice cheese)
Rice flour tortillas toasted (trader joes)or corn tortillas
*optional: if you kid likes asparagus I like to roll the turkey and cheese in asparagus instead of tortilla to limit the carb (this is a good one for the adults)

Apples and PB:
Sliced apples
Peanut butter (if allergic use almond butter or sunflower seed butter)

Cinnamon toast:
Cinnamon
Udi's bread (my favorite) toasted
Earth Balance butter (non dairy) or PB (or almond butter)
Raw honey (if of age),Agave Necter, or Brown Rice Syrup *these are great substitutes for sugar
Banana slices

Pretzels with PB
Glutino pretzels (mothers/ sprouts/ henry's/ whole foods)
Peanut butter (or almond butter)

Chex gluten free Cereal (now found at target)

Homemade Trail mix:
Cranberries or raisins or other berry of choice dried (no added sugar)
Blanched almonds (this helps the digestability of the almond if the skin have been removed) or Peanuts
Gluten free cereal or granola
Sunflower seeds raw
Chocolate chips (GF) or if you want to add a chocolate protein powder or stevia/ raw cacao you can add to oatmeal or yogurt (this makes it chocolatey and flavorful: they cannot resist!)
* you can always keep this on hand when out and about especially on long distances)


Smoothies
Use blender of food processor for :
Any frozen fruit of choice
( I like pineapple and strawberries)
*optional: Vegan protein powder at health food stores preferably made of chia seed and pea protein (chocolate flavor is best)
[I like Total Vegan from Numedica (online)]
1 banana
1 bunch of organic Kale or spinach (the chocolate or the fruit in it hides the vegetable greens)
Coconut water 1/2 cup
Almond or rice milk splash

PB banana shake:
chocolate chips or chocolate protein powder (GF)
1 banana
PB or any nut butter
almond milk or any milk of choice
(This smoothie is full of protein!)
*I like to add chia seeds, ground flax seed and hemp seed into my smoothies in the morning, it fills me up till lunch and I know I am getting that extra amount of Protein and Omegas.

Easy Paninis
UDi's white bread / whole grain or Fiber bread (henry's or sprouts)
Grill on a foreman grill or panini maker the 2 slices with:
Trader joe's mustard w garlic aoli (or reg mustard if dairy is a problem)
Turkey breast (gluten free) or chicken breast
Avocado
Sliced cheese (use other cheese if dairy is a problem)
Salt and pepper to taste

Tuna salad or chicken salad:
1 can wild tuna or organic chicken
1/2 ripe avocado
Chopped cucumber
Mustard
Hemp seed (1 tablespoon)
Coconut or apple cider vinegar
Olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
* optional gluten free bread toasted on the side for them to make a sandwich with.
** this is one of my all time favorite lunches!

Gluten free Ginger Snaps from trader joe's

Glutino pretzels

Fruit with udi's gluten free granola (may use yogurt)

Lauren's Banana Ice cream (my friend's recipe)
Frozen banana slices (put peeled sliced banana in a bag and store in the freezer for those last minute recipes) in a food processor
Add splashes almond (or any) milk gradually to help process.
You can add in whatever...
cinnamon,
cacao powder
choc chips (make sure G-F)
nut(peanut/almond/ sunflower) butter
berries

I like to Bake Alot!
So I like to try new prepackaged flours and bake cookies (you can create cookie dough and store in freezer, pull them out anytime and have quick cookies)
Trader joe's has a gluten free brownie mix, that I like to use and I add sunflower seeds, hemp seed, flax, and chia seeds to.
You can get creative and use dried fruit and nuts or choc chips.
I like to add the protein to feel less guilty about eating these tasty little morsels.
Adding bananas and cinnamon are a great way to make your brownies and cookies fluffy and less grainy from gluten free flours.
If you have egg allergies use applesauce in replacement to eggs or egg substitute.

There are so many healthy ways to turn to to get your child to eat protein packed foods without the gluten from the carb addicts.

Gluten free foods I love!

Some of my favorite Gluten Free products:

Nature's Path Cereals- Mothers Market/ Whole Foods

Glutino Pretzels and cookies- Mothers Market/WF

Organic Marys gone crackers -Just the crumbs: Gourmet Bread Crumb Alternative

Lucy's Gluten Free Sugar Cookies

Home Free- treats you can trust: Gluten Free mini Crunchy vanilla cookies

Kaia Foods- Kale chips

Savory Thins Rice Crackers- Trader Joes ( go great with cheese or hummus)

Rice tortillas- Trader Joes (these make great quesadillas)

Pamelas Baking- for cookies, brownies, and cakes: Mothers Market

Bobs Red  Mill Gluten Free Oats- Mothers/ WF

Lundberg- Roasted Brown Rice Couscous (garlic and olive oil): Mothers

Wheat and Gluten Substitutes

I always believed that eating whole wheat was healthy for me, but not for some. It may be very harmful for those with Celiac Disease,Chron's, Fatigue, IBS, autism, ADHD, and ADD. But wheat alone is not the only thing to be avoided, you must eliminate all things that contain Barley, Malt, Rye, Kamut, and Spelt. The other things I later found out I needed to avoid were things like Beer, Ale, Canned meats, wheat germ, soy sauce (you can get Tamari which is wheat free), brewer's yeast, cold cuts, hot dogs, gravy, sauces, salad dressings, anything typically cream based like soups, teriyaki sauce, textured vegetable ptotein (watch out for vegetarian soy based meats which contain wheat protein) food starch, semolina, graham cracker, bran, and couscous.

When I first discovered I was Celiac, it was hard to Dine out. Restaurants at that time had no idea what Gluten even was, let alone if their dishes contained it. Now it is more popular and in demand than ever, and most places understand the allergy; heck most now have Gluten Free menus! If you know you are going to a dinner party, volunteer to bring a dish that you can eat that avoids the explaination of why you are not eating their food, or ask to bring a main dish and surprise them with a delicious meal that is free of Gluten!

Here is a list of substitute for Flour:
If you are baking there are usually pre-packaged flours. My favorites are the cravings place and Pamela's, and Betty's mix of all purpose flours found at health food markets.

1. Brown rice flour: brown rice contains more nutrients than a white rice flour. It may be used in muffins and cookies, and can be combined with flours like millet, sorghum, garbanzo bean, and almond meal.

2. White rice flour: has a grainy consistency and is best used with other flours like buckwheat, corn flour, and potato flour. It stores well and can be used in. Cakes, breads, and cookies.

3 Buckwheat flour: a member of the rhubarb family, it is not actually wheat like the name. It isn't even a grain. Rich in Vitamin B, Calcium, and iron. Used to make waffles, bread, pancakes, and noodles.

4. Bean Flour: garbanzo bean and lentil flour is great for cookies and can be added with rice flour as they offset the grainy texture of the rice flour. They are great thickeners as well.

5. Quinoa flour: is high in protein and contains 20 amino acids including 10 essentaial amino acids, vit A,C,D,B1,B2,E,folic acid, niacin, calcium, iron, and phosphorus. May be used in cookies, pies, cakes, and pasta.

6. Almond Meal Flour: made from blanched almonds that are finely ground. A great source of protein rich in fiber,viamin E, and magnesium. Adding a rich and buttery flavor for cookies, cakes, muffins, pie crusts and great for breading. Store in refrigerator.

7. Tapioca Flour: also called Tapioca starch, combine this with brown or white rice flour and potato flour makes a great flour. (Not for pizza dough)

8. Amaranth: mix 25% w brown rice flour, quinoa flour, or oat flour to make 100%. High in protein and fiber, amino acids, Vit C,B, lysine, calcium, iron, potassium, niacin, and zinc.

9. Oat flour: great for cookies, too heavy for cakes, use caution if you react to oats. Combine with white or brown rice flour or sorghum works well together.

10. Potato flour: made from cooked potatoes, combines well with rice flours.

11. Sorghum flour: this flour is the closest to wheat flour. High in soluable fiber, add arrowroot or cornstartch to recipes -about 1/2 to 1 teaspoon per cup and add xanthum gum-1/2 teaspoon per cup, to bind. Great for cookies, cakes, and pie crusts.

12.Soy flour: this flour has a nutty flavor, rich in fat and protein. Mix with flours like rice flour, tastes great in products containing nuts and fruits, buy in small quantities and refrigerate.

To substitute wheat or white flour use the guide below for recipes:
1 cup wheat flour =

1 cup cornstartch
7/8 cup buckwheat or amaranth
1/2 cup arrowroot or tapioca plus 1/2 cup of bean or rice flour
7/8 cup brown rice or rice flour
3/4 cup oat flour
1/2 cup sorghum plus 1/2 cup brown rice flour
Experimenting is fun! Give it a try!

Sources: Gluten free sugar free cooking, by Susan O'Brien