Gluten free cookbooks?

[MommaTrish]

Anyone have any advice on them?
My middle son (though only a little over 4 1/2) shows many signs of having ADHD, and because of his age we don't want to test him for it yet and most definitely don't want to start any medications. (Really even when he's older we still don't want to go the medication route...) His doctor has suggested we try altering his diet, with the main thing of removing gluten from it. Have no idea how that's supposed to help... but we have to do something so we're willing to try it. The only problem is all the reviews I'm finding on gluten free cookbooks are so mixed. My mom suggested asking people who I know who actually use them, but the only person I know who does gluten free cooking happens to also be vegan and yeah... I like my meat and such. lol
Have any of you ever tried any gluten free cookbooks or recipes?

[gchristyng]

I totally believe that diet has a large effect and you may see a huge difference by working with your son's diet - good luck! I have had really good luck checking out cookbooks at our library so that I can cook from them before I decide whether to buy them or not. I am vegan, but my DH and kids are not. We have our share of dietary intolerances too - and have gone gluten/wheat free and have found that we all do better allergy and energy-level wise without them. I have found the following to be my go to resources in the last year. I highly recommend Elana Amsterdam's gluten free website http://www.elanaspantry.com/ and her cookbook. I also really like The Gluten-Free Gourmet Cooks Comfort Foods: Creating Old Favorites with the New Flours by Bette Hagman she has other Gluten-Free cookbooks too. I can not sing the praises of the Allergen-Free Baker's Handbook by Cybele Pascal - every single thing I've made has been delicious (this cookbook eliminates all the major allergens which is a great way to start checking into what might be causing issues) . I just discovered last week that Cybele also has a website. You may have already done this -- you can also get lots of info by googling: Celiac's disease; (ADD/ADHD) elimination diet; and gluten-free. If you are intereted reading - I found these two books to be very interesting: The Unhealthy Truth: One Mother's Shocking Investigation into the Dangers of America's Food Supply-- and What Every Family Can Do to Protect Itself by Robyn O'Brien and Rachel Kranz and
The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals and Michael Pollan. Hope some of this is of help!

[MandaT]

This blog has lots of Gluetn free recipes:

http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/sear.../gluten%20free

[KristinCB]

here is a good website: http://glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com/

we aren't gluten free at all but who knows.. we might try this one day.

Another suggestion and this is something we have done just recently is cut out anything with food dye in it and are trying hard to limit sugars with our 2 year old. I honestly can't tell you for sure just yet if its helping but things have been going ok since we cut it out. The screaming fits seem to have decreased.

There are lots of good articles out there on food dyes / behaviours.

[scrap2day]

I love reading the gluten free goddess blog also.

Just found this site by General Mills a couple of days ago: http://www.liveglutenfreely.com/ Many of their Chex cereals are now gluten free. Actually, I am just about on my way to the store to pick up some chex and was thinking about trying their chicken nugget recipe. http://www.liveglutenfreely.com/reci...8-dcea93c581e8

I just tried the new Gluten Free Bisquick to make a coffee cake that was on that site. Obviously it was different than the "original" but it really wasn't that bad. Personally, I think instead of making a struessel topping I would have stirred it into the whole cake to try to disguise it but that's just me. Oh, and that one cake recipe took almost the whole box which would get a little pricey for me.

ETA: I recently wrote Libby's asking about GF pumpkin recipes. They of course included their legal statement about not sure if these are really gluten free.

Crustless pumpkin pie
http://www.verybestbaking.com/recipe....aspx?ID=28790

Chocolate Chip Cookie bites
http://www.verybestbaking.com/recipe...aspx?ID=140590

Do you have to eliminate casein (dairy) also? I know that many times goes hand in hand with the ADHD diet.

[meems]

The Whole Kitchen. Gluten free meat eater.

[gchristyng]

I just remembered that Anna Aspnes has gluten-free resources on her blog http://annaaspnes.typepad.com/ - she also has gf recipes and gf product reviews.

[Leila]

Kid Friendly ADHD & Autism Cookbook is a great resource. I used the one I borrowed from the library so much that Andrew bought it for me.

Autism & ADHD Diet (Step by Step) is good too.

Another thing to consider removing is all artificial colors and flavors as well as high fructose corn syrup. Devin has ADHD (hyperactivity type--no issues with attention span unless he doesn't want to pay attention of course) as well as Asperger's Syndrome and a host of other things going on. The biggest help for him has been removing all the fake crap that's in food. It's not easy to do, I'll admit that, but it IS doable. Your grocery bill might go up at first. Ours eventually went down because I just started making his favorites from scratch so that I know what's in them from step one to step done. He's no longer gluten free since that aspect wasn't changing things for him, but he is 95% artificial free at this point and it is glaringly obvious when he gets his hands on something that has colors/flavors and even artificial sweeteners.

[LeeAndra]

It's fairly easy to 'translate' your regular recipes into GF once you know what exactly gluten is and what it's in. No cookbook really necessary unless you want to bake something.

In general, you can't use any prepackaged box mixes, but you can make homemade versions of prepackaged mixes (ha!) with dairy, meat, veggies/fruit, and spices. Progresso Creamy Mushroom soup is GF and can be substituted for all those casseroles that require cream of [insert vegetable here] soups; just take out the extra milk/water in the recipe since Progresso's is not condensed. You can use crushed cornflakes/meal instead of Shake 'n' Bake or anything else that requires breading. In general, Mexican and Asian cuisine is GF as long as you use corn tortillas and GF soy sauce. GF noodles (I recommend Mrs. Leeper's corn varieties of noodles) are easy to come by and inexpensive, but you can also substitute rice for anything that requires noodles. Potatoes are a nice substitute for bread/noodles, too. Kraft singles, Velveeta/Cheez Whiz, and regular lunchmeat is not GF, but meat and cheese from the deli counter as well as shredded or block cheese is okay. Prego and Ragu spaghetti sauces are both GF. There are prepackaged GF pizza crust mixes (I recommend Chebe), and Hormel's regular pepperoni is GF. Regular baked goods are out, but Rice Krispie treats, fruit snacks, ice cream, and many different kinds of candy are okay. We haven't spent any time looking into GF breads since DH is not a bread guy or eats sandwiches, but Kinninnincik (I know I spelled that wrong! *lol*) has come highly recommended to me in the past.

I don't know if you have a Meijer nearby, but they have a great selection of specialty GF products. Walmart has some, too, and their generic brand is often GF and marked accordingly.

What has been harder for us is finding things out in the world to eat that are GF. Fast food is out, and some restaurants like Red Robin are just not fair to bring DH to since all he can really have is a salad. Going to someone's house for a meal is also interesting and requires advance preparation to bring suitable foods and/or if the host is willing, filling them in on what can be eaten or not eaten.

HTH! We've been doing this since November, and it's really not so bad.

[MommaTrish]

Thanks so much ladies!
LeeAndra - thank you sooooooo much for all that info!

[alaskan]

I have one gluten free child (GFC)...

the hardest part was remembering to always read labels...

there is gluten in lots of gum, in some of the mixed spices we have, and in some vanilla extract, and some hot dogs.

So, in the beginning, just reading EVERYTHING takes forever. But once you get down the basics, it is pretty easy. My GFC actually likes eating salad with chicken breast, which makes eating out easy, BUT, especially when we were first starting the diet, he was VERY sensitive. So a few crumbs of bread hidden in his food and he would have horrid stomach cramps (but he is celiacs, not ADHD). We had an ADHD/autistic kid visit once, he was on a no dairy no wheat diet. When he had just one cracker he totally switched off (no longer held eye contact and ran around like crazy). Point being, you will have to be VERY anal about the gluten. Some families I know actually have separate cutting boards etc. to make sure that there is no contamination.

We do eat lots of rice and corn tortillas! Most pies are also perfectly fine, just omit the crust.

I have really found that sticking to foods that normally are gluten free is much tastier than trying to use gluten free substitutes.

One thing, in the beginning, so at least the first month, I would advise you to only use foods that are certified gluten free. We now have the GFC eat the bagged corn cereals (not as expensive), but sometimes they are contaminated with gluten..... so it is a risk.

[LeeAndra]

You're welcome!

P.S. I have had a lot of success with this website for recipes:
Glutenfreeda

[judet]

Wow - lots of info here, I know I'm butting in but just wanted to say thanks! I'm gluten intolerant and although it was a right pain in the rear to start with I'm getting the hang of it. Mexican and Thai foods are my favourites generally although I can't get corn tortillas that are actually GF here (I get a bit annoyed about thing that have gluten in them but don't NEED it!). I'm going to try making some this week.

I'd definitely agree that you don't really need specific gluten free cookbooks unless you want to bake bread. I usually use rice flour or ground rice in cakes (I mostly do fatless cakes using courgettes and other wierd vegetable choices as me and butter don't get on too well either), I use GF pasta and noodles and eat a lot of rice dishes. Oh, and I've recently discovered quinoa.

There are soo many great blogs with gluten free recipes too, I just wish I could get some of the alternative flours which seem to be available in the USA, there's not a huge amount of choice here even mail order from specialists. I love gluten free goddess too and I also really like gluten free girl and the chef (they've got a book out, actually and you can try some of their recipes from their blog to see what their style is.)

Best of luck with it!

[MamaBee]

I second everything that LeeAndra said... and even if the ingredients don't have gluten in it, there could be cross-contamination... but once you get hang of it, having this diet isn't too bad... and some of the GF products are pretty good. LOL, my mom (bakes all the time), actually prefers the GF flour substitute for her bar crusts.

This isn't a cookbook, but it has some great information from the medical side of things glutenelated issues. http://glutendoctors.blogspot.com/

Also be sure to check out Anna's website that Christy mentioned... if you have questions, you can email her... she is super sweet!!

[DawnMarch]

The Atkins diet/low carb world may also have some useful resources. Since the induction phase of the diet is so low carb, they tend to cut out most things that have gluten in them.

[Joana1n]

You've gotten a ton of good advice. I just wanted to chime in and say it's hard at first, but it does get easier as time goes by. And you may be very surprised at the effect foods have on your child. I know when my DD gets hold of allergens or artificial stuff she is a completely different, CRAZY child with absolutely NO impulse control at all whatsoever, and I'm not even kidding or exaggerating. I'm convinced that if I hadn't been feeding her the way I do for so long (we've been casein-free pretty much all her life b/c she reacted to it when I consumed it and then nursed her, and I've always avoided artificial colors/sweeteners/preservatives with her), I'd have had her evaluated for ADD or ADHD or other behavioral issues by now.

If you like email support lists, there's a really good one at Yahoo called foodlab full of really knowledgeable people who have done food elimination diets for a long time and have tons of information.

I've found that I can put a lot of our pasta dishes over rice instead without too much change in flavor. The texture is different, of course, but it helps that we love rice.

I haven't seen this mentioned yet, but unless oats are certified gluten-free, they are VERY likely to be cross-contaminated with gluten due to where they are grown.

Gluten also hides in soy sauce - that's the one that always gets me if I'm not really thinking about it.

Oh, and most beer contains gluten but that's not an issue for your son!

[MommaTrish]

Thanks again ladies! I'm designating my morning to checking out all these wonderful links once the youngest lays down.
The rice instead of pasta tip would be hugely wonderful, almost everyone in my house loves rice... except Ryan. lol He's always refused to eat it. I even try hiding it in his food but as soon as he sees it he refuses to eat anything. Even if the rice is no where near the rest.

Originally Posted by Joana1n

Oh, and most beer contains gluten but that's not an issue for your son!

lol no, he doesn't drink beer all that often, only on days that end in y. j/k

[Lyd]

You've had lots of good advice here and plenty of Websites to look at, but I have one more.
A friend of mine from high school has Celiacs and has a blog where she shares a lot of her gluten-free secrets. You can find it here: http://www.offthewheatenpath.com/
Hope it's useful to you!

[AmyM]

This is great to read. I have a wheat allergy so my diet is very similar to that of GF.

[scrap2day]

Originally Posted by LeeAndra

It's fairly easy to 'translate' your regular recipes into GF once you know what exactly gluten is and what it's in. No cookbook really necessary unless you want to bake something.

In general, you can't use any prepackaged box mixes, but you can make homemade versions of prepackaged mixes (ha!) with dairy, meat, veggies/fruit, and spices. Progresso Creamy Mushroom soup is GF and can be substituted for all those casseroles that require cream of [insert vegetable here] soups; just take out the extra milk/water in the recipe since Progresso's is not condensed. You can use crushed cornflakes/meal instead of Shake 'n' Bake or anything else that requires breading. In general, Mexican and Asian cuisine is GF as long as you use corn tortillas and GF soy sauce. GF noodles (I recommend Mrs. Leeper's corn varieties of noodles) are easy to come by and inexpensive, but you can also substitute rice for anything that requires noodles. Potatoes are a nice substitute for bread/noodles, too. Kraft singles, Velveeta/Cheez Whiz, and regular lunchmeat is not GF, but meat and cheese from the deli counter as well as shredded or block cheese is okay. Prego and Ragu spaghetti sauces are both GF. There are prepackaged GF pizza crust mixes (I recommend Chebe), and Hormel's regular pepperoni is GF. Regular baked goods are out, but Rice Krispie treats, fruit snacks, ice cream, and many different kinds of candy are okay. We haven't spent any time looking into GF breads since DH is not a bread guy or eats sandwiches, but Kinninnincik (I know I spelled that wrong! *lol*) has come highly recommended to me in the past.

I don't know if you have a Meijer nearby, but they have a great selection of specialty GF products. Walmart has some, too, and their generic brand is often GF and marked accordingly.

What has been harder for us is finding things out in the world to eat that are GF. Fast food is out, and some restaurants like Red Robin are just not fair to bring DH to since all he can really have is a salad. Going to someone's house for a meal is also interesting and requires advance preparation to bring suitable foods and/or if the host is willing, filling them in on what can be eaten or not eaten.

HTH! We've been doing this since November, and it's really not so bad.

Please don't be offended by my comment. LeAndra has some great ideas for substituting other foods here.

It may not matter in this situation but if someone needs to be totally gluten free it is my understanding that Kellogg's Rice Krispies and Corn Flakes are not totally gluten free because they have malt flavoring made from barley. But you could use GF Rice Chex and Corn Chex as a substitute. http://www.kelloggsnutrition.com/util/faq.html#3b

[corinnz]

My 11mo is gluten and dairy free. Fortunately I am a SAHM, and don't buy too much in the way of processed food, and we are able to grow our own beef and lamb. A friend recommended 'Red Velvet and Chocolate Heartache' by Harry Eastwood when I said that I needed to try and find a suitable recipe for a birthday cake. We trialled the birthday cake recipe for DD's 3rd birthday yesterday, and it was a hit It is not specifically a gluten free book, but most of the recipes are suitable for those avoiding gluten flours, and I was able to make the icing (frosting) using an olive oil spread rather than butter. Was absolutely fine as it also had some lemon juice in the icing. My SIL was able to pick up the book for me and bring it with her to NZ last week.