Best gluten free bed recipe? Anyone?

[Left coast liberal]

I have tried a bunch. Some taste ok but the texture is pretty off putting.

This is for my 5 year old son who is allergic to wheat/gluten.

Wish I could find a good one. Never have been a baker but I am trying more now since we found out about his diet.

Would like any input.

http://coaxingwordsfromshea.blogspot.com/2008/10/how-is-new-diet-going.html

[Warpy]

1. Well, I have a cotton futon and buckwheat hull pillows

so I'm pretty sure my bed is gluten free.

[supernova]

3. LOL!

Thanks for the laugh.


I know the OP was a mistype, but serendipitous ones like this are truly what's fun about English.

[Left coast liberal]

8. I know and they probably taste better than most of the recipes...

...I have tried.

So, is it impossible? Or just really hard?

:hi:

[flamin lib]

2. Jokes about sleeping furniture aside, celiac sprue is no laughing matter.

My MIL was a victim and I tried to provide a gluten free environment for her. It's virtually impossible. The best you can hope for is that you can minimize contamination of the diet. Yeah, think of it as contamination, it makes it easier to control the wheat beast. It's every where; food coloring, chicken bouillon cubes, artificial flavorings and it's a filler for many prepared spices.

The good news is you're not alone. Ceiliac is one of the most common conditions in white euro ethnic people. Keith Olberman has Ceiliac sprue. I think it's payback for cycle cell, but that's just me . . .

Start here: http://www.celiac.com/ Then get involved in support groups. Many have local chapters and meet-ups. Google is your friend.

Buy a bread machine. We spent a bundle on one that was programmable and had bells and whistles but in the end didn't make any better bread than the cheap stuff. Note: GoodWill stores are full of bread makers for $5. Many have original packaging! Buy two or three and make different breads all at one time. You'll have to refrigerate them because fresh breads without all the preservatives only last a few days.

Breads won't have that soft gooey texture no matter what you try. They tend to be dry and hard. Texture isn't all bad tho, you can play off it by using things like slivered almonds and raisins. If it's gonna be dry it might as well carry some crunch too, right?

The hardest part for you and your child is coming to grips with the fact that other kids can eat stuff that he can't. Hell, my MIL at a mature 70 and a MA from Mount Holyoke couldn't get her head around it (and that lead to a LOT of clean-up). Parties at your house can have cupcakes with ice cream or whip cream topping (check the ice cream label for wheat products) to make the texture more "normal".

Anyway, good luck and if you need support PM me. Been there, done that.

[Left coast liberal]

10. Great advise. Thank you!

[supernova]

4. Different texture you will have to get used to

if you still want to eat baked goods, I'm sorry to say. The alternatives to gluten, which gives breads and other baked goods their structure, are xanthan or guar gum. Right, it's the same stuff you see in commercial ice creams at the grocery store. You can find it in the baking section of any store that caters to people with food allergies.

I'm not a full celiac, but I have wheat sensitivity. That means I can eat it maybe 1-2x/week without problems. Anymore than that and my GI tract complains, so does my skin and depressed mood.

:P

I've gotten used to having a life without wheat, at least here at home. So I'm always looking for substitutes.

Even if you find alternatives, read the packages carefully. Lots of times, the alternative is processed with the same machinery the factory uses for wheat, so for your purposes it's contaminated. They are supposed to say if the product is processed with or completely seperately from wheat products.

alternatives:

nut flours (especially almond and hazelnut). This is an additive, for maybe 1/4 of your total "flour." More than that, and you've got quite a heavy product, both pound and caloriewise. :P

buckwheat (makes great pancakes),

garbanzo flour (good, but more for savory things. The raw bean back flavor can taste odd. Adding dry herbs and spices to it helps a lot.
potato flour

You can buy ready to cook GF baking mixes, including bread, but they are expensive, IMO.

I haven't found a great recipe, yet.. but this one looks promising. I might try it:

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/232719/allergy_bread_recipe_glutenfree_caseinfree.html?cat=2

[Warpy]

5. I live in the southwest, where tortillas rule

and corn tortillas were made for people with celiac, I swear. While the innards have to be seasoned differently to blend with the corn flavor, the tortilla roll up can be vastly superior to the sandwich, easier to eat without having the contents end up in your lap when you're working through lunch. Sandwich innards can also be tamed by lettuce leaf rollups.

Instead of pasta, think about polenta. I've made great polenta lasagnas for people with wheat allergy. Fried polenta in the morning with real maple syrup is better than pancakes, IMO, and you can get prefab polenta in the grocery now.

It's easy to get obsessed by a common food you can't eat, I've been like that about oranges. I've been put into the hospital after trying to eat citrus, so I have to make do with a few drops of lemon or lime juice here and there. I can well imagine the smell of toast in the morning would drive a celiac person nuts with frustration, I've been there.

However, I find the alternatives are usually better than the substitutes.

[supernova]

6. Corn is a good alternative, if you aren't allergic to it

I happily eat cornbread made with straight cornmeal, no added flour. That's the way my family has always made it.

That's why they tell you to experiment with the gums, since xanthan gum is derived from corn.

Polenta can be good, ditto grits.

I would think not being able to digest corn would be an even bigger problem since it's in even more stuff than wheat. :crazy:

[Love Bug]

12. I know someone who is allergic to corn

and she can't tolerate HFCS, which is in practically EVERYTHING.

[buzzycrumbhunger]

7. Would a raw foods cookbook help?

I make sprouted breads and crackers in my dehydrator that are awesome (you basically sprout any grain 2-3 days, grind into a snotty mush, season to taste, spread, and dry). Besides bread, DeBoles' artichoke pasta is great and comes in many shapes. Shirataki noodles (those tofu-looking bagged noodles in the organic food corner of the supermarket--which aren't tofu at all) are another gluten-free food that also happens to be insanely low in calories (like 9 calories to a bag). You do want to rinse them thoroughly before cooking, which they do almost instantaneously. They also keep in the fridge almost indefinitely.

If you google gluten-free recipes, there are thousands of hits, including some specifically for kids. This one looks like it has some yummy bread recipes.

[Left coast liberal]

9. Sorry for the typo but appreciate your humor.

[hippywife]

11. This website has had some very good recipes

that are gluten-free. I'm not celiac and I haven't made any of them yet, but I've had it bookmarked for a long time because I think they look and sound delicious. I'm sure she has bread recipes in here somewhere.

Hope you find what you need. :hug: