Gluten Free/Dairy Free Goodness

Several people in the last few days have said something about going gluten and dairy free. Instead of sending all this to different people I am posting the goodness here.

Here is my unsolicited advice for the day...

if you are bringing home cuties from a malnourished region of the world, you may want to consider at least starting with this eating lifestyle. I can't promise you it will help the transition, but I can promise you you'll have fewer poop issues. And aren't we all happier when our tummies feel good?

I'll organize this by meals with options for those who like to cook and those who like to buy mixes to make life easier. Although if you are headed down this road, learn to love cooking!

Breakfast: Eggs served all ways, use oil instead of butter to cook. Smoothies. Throw bananas, fruit and a milk replacement in the blender. Mmmm. Pancakes, mix examples below or open the Betty Crocker cookbook, turn to a pancake recipe and substitute a gluten free baking mix or rice flour for the wheat flour and substitute one of the non dairy milk choices below. If a recipe calls for a bit of butter, I substitute olive oil. Cereals, there are lots of gluten/dairy free choices. Gluten free rice krispies at your local grocer. Same with breakfast bars if you prefer. Search 'gluten dairy free cereals' on www.amazon.com. Whole Foods is another good option (although I am secretly holding a grudge because I got tired of them following me around the store demanding I place my case order in advance instead of clearing their shelves because they didn't believe I was shopping for my family. They kept insisting I was purchasing for a restaurant. So when I caved to order in advance, I would show up to pick up my order when they told me to and they would only have two of the 20 something things I case ordered. They would then proceed to call me every day or two to pick up one more thing. And I'm sorry. I don't have time to drive 40 minutes round trip to pick up things every other day. I am a one stop shop kinda gal. Everything I got at Whole Foods I can get from Costco or amazon.com. Okay, maybe I am holding a grudge and a bit bitter!)

As for milk replacements? You are going to just have to have some taste tests. We couldn't use soy, so I can't advise on yummy soy milks. We tend to rotate through milks. We started with goat milk (so spendy), then rice and now we are using almond milk (cause we are cheap and it's in stock at Costco currently) If you are serving this to kids, don't underestimate presentation especially at the beginning. A fancy cup with a fancy straw, a sippy cup where they can't see what's inside, a tea cup, a champagne flute. Uh huh, been there, done that, I feel your pain! Make a milkshake with Rice Dream Ice Cream adding each of the varieties and see which milkshake everyone likes the best. Then tell them they can drink that kind of special milk anytime! Be sneaky, er, I mean.... creative. Yeah, that's it, creative! Note about goat milk: some say they are scared to use it because they think it's too close to cows milk. For us, it worked great. Tweak all this to fit you! We started with so many allergies we had only 22 foods to select all our meals and snacks from. So it's all perspective, but now only eliminating wheat, gluten, dairy, casein and preferring organic, no nitrates/preservatives/dyes/colors is a dream!

Lunch: If you are a sandwich or chef boy ardee or freezer lunch mama, this is going to be hard. We often serve more dinner options for lunch when we are home. Think leftovers. Grill some chicken breasts, throw some rice or quinoa in the rice cooker (get a rice cooker), add some vegis and fruit. If you pack lunch, skewers are fun. Unless you have boys and then it's a weapon. Do it anyway, they don't need both eyes, right?!?! Thread lunch meat, goat cheese, vegis on there and wrap it up. Don't forget the ice packs! Udi's has some mighty fine gluten free bread if you are a sandwich lover. Seriously, it's good. It's just tiny and expensive. Lot's of homemade and other brand options, it's just what we prefer. We find it at our local grocer, but you can get it at that other place too. But don't pick up more than two or they'll chase you out. Note to self: Let It Go! Things to add to packed lunches. Thermos with left overs. Fruit, fresh or packaged (applesauce, fruit cups, fruit strips/leathers). Fruit and nut bars (with all the allergies all the kiddos can eat peanuts, strange, eh?) Chips and guacamole or salsa. Almonds. Rice cakes are a great bread substitution as well. As are rice or corn tortillas. Pinterest has all sorts of cook it in a muffin tin pins. The kids LOVED the corn dog one. I make corn bread they can have a add either a little smokie or cut a hot dog in thirds and push it in the corn bread in the muffin tin. Bake. Add ketchup/mustard/etc. You can bake ahead and freeze these and then pull them out for lunches or a fun treat. I blogged in Dec about it if you want to look.

Sorry the above pic is so small, but these are typical things I pack in lunches.

What if your kiddos is at school and they are having a pizza party? Make pizza!

There are many mixes, we love Bob's Red Mill brand because we can buy it by the case directly or through amazon. Add tomato sauce, goat cheese and whatever toppings you love. Easy. An easy twist on this is pizza pops as my kids call them. We add everything to the bowl you would use to top a pizza and then spoon the mix on a cookie sheet or put a mound in a muffin tin for muffin shaped pizza pops. You can make a bunch and then freeze them for future use. Smart.

Dinner: This is the easy part. Eat like your Granny use to eat. A meat: pay careful attention to seasonings and sauces. Go simple until you learn what is safe. A starch: rice pasta, corn pasta, potatoes (bake em, boil em, mash em), rice (brown, white, long grain, mixed), quinoa (I like it, I don't crave it, but if I add guacamole or salsa I am a big fan). A vegi: don't add butter and read spice labels as crazy things get added. Once you have spent a couple weeks eating simple dinners you will probably be ready for a change. So change it up! I'll add some recipes. But don't expect measurements or anything fancy. I am not fancy. And I cook like my Granny.

Treats: Invest in some popsicle molds. And use them. Once frozen, pop them out, bag them in freezer baggies and make some more. Be crazy and let them eat popsicles as snacks. They'll think they are special and kinda sneaky getting away with such a luxury. Smashed fruit. No added sugars or icky stuff. Now, who is being sneaky?!?! One of our favorites is taking marshmallows and dairy free chocolate chips creating a banana boat. We make them camping instead of smores (although you can buy or make gluten free graham crackers). Cut an oval shape out of the banana making a trough (sounds bad sorry). Fill with the goodies, add the banana lid, wrap in foil, bake til melted. Enjoy! If you are simply eating gluten/dairy free you can really tweak most any recipe. It's scary at first. It is. But don't let that fear stop you from trying. Take 30 minutes a few times in the first week and make something. It could be simple like something with a pre bought mix or it could be a tweaking of your favorite recipe. If you have things you love and need help tweaking, email me and I'll help you. jenapenner at gmail dot com

What about school parties? Yeah, these are the absolute death of me. I am blessed to have children who are very use to this. They were 2, 4, 5 and 7 when we started this way of eating for our 4 year old. When we whole heartedly switched everyone our oldest was going into 4th grade. Yeah, that was fun. So please know, I understand what you are going through! Here are some tips. Communication is the key. Your child's teacher must be a good communicator. You must be a good communicator. Your child's teacher does not need to add stress to their day because of your child. It is your responsibility to teach your child to know what they can and can't eat. We've had epi pens, we've had one of our kids who liked to have seizures and try to die on us because of all this. I understand. Please do not be 'that mom' who drives every other mom crazy trying to cook, bake, provide gluten/dairy/allergy free treats for your child. You provide it all, teach your child to know what they can and can't have and I promise you as they are at school you will be at peace. Are you sensing my mommy tone here?!?! Take a plastic shoe box and fill it with treats your child loves and can safely eat should someone drop off a special snack you don't know about. But honestly, you should know about the majority of special snacks in your child's classroom. Volunteer to be the room mom, purposefully cause then you know the when and the whats. Ask for a birthday calendar so you know when people are bringing cupcakes. Email with your child's teacher regularly, to check in with them. It may not be their responsibility, but don't let them forget. Come alongside them to make it easy for them. If they use food in their curriculum, make sure they are communicating that with you in advance so you aren't thrown in a tizzy.

And one last mommy tone piece of unsolicited advice in case you are starting this eating plan with a child. It's hard. It's sad. It pulls at your mama heart. It's not fair. I often hear mamas say, 'but I can't make them'. Yes you can. You are the parent. They won't starve. I guarantee your child already loves lots of gluten/dairy free foods. Stock up! Purposefully add those items they may be hesitant of eating. And make them try it. And if they don't like it? Make them try it again. It takes an average of 8 times for kids to like new foods. Don't battle over food. Love them enough to not give up. They'll get there. And so will you. And you'll all feel better. And that's the point, right?!?! If they are younger, let's say 5 ish and under, I wouldn't even talk about it a lot. I would just get rid of any food that has wheat/gluten/dairy in it, and make them their snacks and meals as normal. If they ask for mac n cheese and you don't have an Annie's gluten free box in the pantry, just say, 'sorry hon, we don't have any right now'. Keep it simple. There is a time to go into in depth explanations with your young child. This is not one of those times. And if that doesn't work, do what I did and blame it on 'that mean doctor who told me I have to feed you like this'.