Gluten Free Baking (& Cooking) Thread

[Czech's_chicks]

Czech's Chick,

Are you following a SCD or GAPS diet for your autistic son? I haven't any children who were diagnosed ASD, but five out of six of my children were adopted and have food allergies and auto immune issues...that I believe began in their guts. We transitioned from GF to SCD to GAPS and are now refining our foods further by eliminating high oxalate foods. It is a lot of work, but I have seen so much improvement in my whole family that it is well worth the time and trouble.

I'd love to find another GAPS-ter on BYC.

Deb

When Owen came into my life, he was 11. He would only eat carbs!! Anyone with an ASD child will tell you changing their diet is the start of WWIII. Change, period, is too traumatic. We had to start with microscopic changes that weren't at all visible. The GAPS and SCD were too dramatic, though we did look into them.

At the time I met Owen, he was living with his bio-mom and she did nothing for his autism/asperger's other than keep him a drugged zombie. When my husband (then fiance) got custody of him, we slowly started adding things to his diet. After more than a year, when they moved into my house, I was able to give him things he would have never eaten before. We had a reward system in place for his trying new foods and eating them, not just tasting. We also had a rule that he couldn't ask what it was or what was in it because he would have preconceived notions that it would taste bad and refuse to try somethings.

Now that his younger brother lives with us, it's easier to get him to try more things. Never in a million years would ever believe we got him to eat INDIAN FOOD!!

We have cut out 75% dairy. He still gets cheese, but milk in cereal is soy. We try to stick to fresh fruit and veggies when possible. We still cannot get his bio-mom to even cut back on gluten unless we pay her to do it or buy the food for her - unconditional parental love is something, isn't it???

His mood has changed for the better, but we still have our challenges. Diet, determination, socialization, therapy, and love, love, love have changed him from a withdrawn reclusive almost mute boy into a very affectionate, loving and sometimes jabber-jaw boy. Much to the astonishment ofhis therapist, I've even been successful in getting him to participate in 4H.

Didn't mean to hijack the thread, but I think it's important to share the successes because when we are forced to changes something as intimate as our food, it can be rough on people - may even feel like a punishment. Our choice to go as gluten free as possible has helped us all, I think. I'm less fatigued, Owen is more alive, and we all can experiment with different flavors and textures.

I look forward to trying some of the recipes!

 

[KFaye]

As long as I have been on BYC I have not seen this thread! I am thrilled. The first post of lemon poppy seed muffins look amazing! Will try that soon. Thank you friends for sticking together it will be comforting to read through the whole thread.

 

[Czech's_chicks]

Quote:
I'm going to give these a try. I hope they freeze well because I will have to freeze some. I've got lots of squash to use, too!!! I've noticed on ALLRECIPE.COM, most of the GF recipes there are deserts. I'm really hoping to find more main meal recipes.

Has anyone tried quinoa? It's pretty good but it's more of a side dish item.

Can we all share our best go to GF items that are store bought? THat's where I have to start, mostly because I simply don't have time to do the from scratch stuff. I know about Bob's Red mill - they even sell it at Costco

I really think this thread is going to be a great thing, especially since I am going to be delving more and more into the GF foods for my son.

 

[Oregon Blues]

I suspect that the reason you are finding dessert recipes is because that is where wheat is used the most and people don't want to give up their desserts, so they figure out how to replicate them.

Cooking main meals without gluten is very easy. Substitute potatoes or rice for pasta in any Italian recipe. Cook a pot roast and thicken the gravy with corn starch instead of wheat flour. For Mexican dishes, simply use corn tortillas. Almost all Indian recipes are free from flour. Chinese and Japanese recipes are mostly free from wheat (buy gluten-free soy sauce)

You can make fried chicken with gluten free flour. You can make just about any meat dish or egg dish with only minor tweaking. All veggies and fruits are OK , as is most cheese (read labels) and dairy. There really isn't much you can not eat.

You can make an excellent pizza using frozen shoestring potatoes as the crust. Cook them, push them together and top with your sauce, toppings and cheese and bake. It's delicious.

There are tons of delicious dishes made with beans. Make chili, put it on corn tortilla chips and top with cheese and you've got great nachos.

I use quinoa as a rice substitute. It's a side dish. I think it is too delicate to support a main dish. However, you can make a brilliant rice pudding with it. Except you can eat rice, so there is little reason to use the much more expensive quinoa to make rice pudding.

Walmart has started a gluten-free section and one brand of spaghetti noodles is good. One of the crackers is really good; they are labeled original flavor, or something close to that. Costco sells 2 different gluten free crackers that are quite good. Thai Kitchen makes a lot of things that are labeled gluten-free and their rice nixes are excellent.

The truth is, though, that you must cook if you are going to eat gluten-free. Most of the commercial gluten-free food is ghastly. They apparently think that if your choices are limited you will have to settle for whatever you can get. But you can make excellent food.

Because the gluten-free flour is expensive, I tried making cookies with both wheat flour for those that could eat them, and gluten-free flour for myself. All the gluten-free cookies would get eaten before anyone would touch the wheat ones. If the gluten-free cookies are preferred, that proves you can make really darn good gluten-free goodies and food. But you do have to cook and eating is restaurants is nearly impossible.

 

[Oregon Blues]

I just make a really glorious quiche. For the crust, I used cooked brown rice bound together with an egg. I put it in the oven long enough to set it up so the rice would stay together, then poured in the filling and baked. It was excellent, and it used up some eggs. I am always trying to use up eggs.

Next time, though, I am going you buy frozen shredded style hash brown potatoes and see if I can make those work for a crust.

There really is nothing difficult about cooking gluten-free. Unless you are one of those people who eats donuts for breakfast and toast for lunch and a sandwich for dinner. If that is you, you are going to have to make some pretty drastic changes in your diet. But for most of us, we eat what we normally eat, with some minor adjustments.

It's only the baked goods that take some clever manipulating, but so far, bagels are the only things I can't figure out how to make and have be delicious.

 

[Oregon Blues]

Breakfast cereal is tricky. Most contain wheat and if they don't contain wheat they are processed on equipment that processes wheat. I simply make home made granola, using gluten-free oats. It tastes better than commercial cereal and it is much healthier. I can put delightful ingredients in it that the commercial cereal makers won't use because they are too expensive.

I can use raw wide flake coconut and pumpkin seeds and my granola still costs less than buying the name brands that are advertised on TV. Mine has healthier ingredients, less sugar, less fat, and it tastes better. Those in my family that can eat regular cereal won't eat it. They want my granola.

Breakfast is easy. You can have cooked oat meal (gluten-free oats), all the egg dishes, bacon, ham, sausage (read the label), fried potatoes, fruit juices, yogurt, cheese in your omelet...... You can make a breakfast as fancy or as simple as you want.

If you are just starting out, you can have roasted meats, lots of veggies, rice or potatoes for dinner so you can eat well while you are figuring it out.

It does take some adjusting, but you won't lack for delicious food to eat.

 

[Kassaundra]

Chex (breakfast cereal) has a GF line and can be bought in regular grocery stores.

 

[Czech's_chicks]

http://glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com/

This is a great site. I love the way she writes, too. Some of these recipes just look to die for. I'm really interested in the zuchini gratin - I need to really try that. I need to find a farmer's market today to get some nice organic veggies!!!

 

[Patchesnposies]

To all of the gluten free baking thread followers, I hope this will continue to be a place of support and advice with the sharing of ideas and recipes.

It turns out that, for my family, I have been called to an even higher, stricter food standard. LOL (And I am only laughing out loud because otherwise I'd be crying!) It can be very complicated feeding my family now!

My family has started a healing program (GAPS~Gut & Psychology Syndrome) to address our many and diverse health issues (from Rheumatoid Arthritis, psoriasis, Interstitial Cystitis and a load of food intolerance) that requires a no grains, no starch, only specific carbs and healthy fats and grass fed meats.

It is working wonders for us and we have seen all of the aforementioned health issues begin to heal in a way that conventional medicine was unable to do. The most remarkable is the emotional aspect of the healing. Five out of my six kids are adopted and come from backgrounds of neglect and/or abuse....the results of which are that they have negligible coping skills and aspects of ADD, OCD, PTSD to some degree. The behavioral issues are non-existent now. It is truly a miracle.

The GAPS protocol is a slow and steady approach, not a sprint. There are no short cuts and it is hard work....but it is so worth it. I see a bright and hopeful future for my "special needs" kids now.

The most wonderful (and totally vain) benefit for me (and my DH) has been that I have lost 40 lbs (he has lost 35 lbs) since August. I gained 50 lbs a dozen years ago when I developed RA and was on steroids....I tried everything to lose weigh to no avail.

Good luck to all of you who are GF and God Bless your efforts. I will stay subscribed to this thread and check in with you all time to time.

Deb

 

[Memphisjourney2seramas]

I love the cinnamin. I usually buy out the store when I am in town because it is so good and I eat it at least 5 days a week!

Chex (breakfast cereal) has a GF line and can be bought in regular grocery stores.