Gluten-Free Whole Food Diet Improves Child's Appetite

After several frustrating years of doctor visits, vitamins, bribery, and reward systems, we were struggling to get our child to eat. He never seemed to be hungry, never ate very well, and didn't even seem to have any food that he favored over any other. The main problem was that he failed to gain weight properly. In fact, most of his life he has been considerably underweight for his age. All blood tests came back normal and he was growing, but there had to be a reason why he didn't enjoy eating. At first, we chalked it up to him being an extremely active child who couldn't sit still for more than a few minutes. Also, he couldn't eat many high-calorie foods due to a milk allergy. The problem was that during times of extreme physical activity, he showed no improved appetite and lost weight.

After more doctor visits, botched blood tests and recommendations of a surgical procedure, we decided to try a new approach. We decided to put the botched celiac test behind us and we began a gluten-free diet that incorporated lots of fresh, whole foods.

For the first time in his entire life (seven years), our son has a real appetite! After six months on this eating regimen, he is gaining weight normally, sometimes asks for seconds, and even makes himself snacks when he gets hungry in the afternoon. He races to the table now, actually announces when he is hungry, and has definite favorite foods!

Gluten-Free Pasta

Enjoying wheat-free pasta has never been easier. Tinkyada makes rice pasta that actually cooks and tastes very much like wheat pasta with the added benefit of also being corn, gluten, egg, meat, nut, peanut and soy free! Tinkyada makes many traditional pasta shapes, too, so go ahead and make your pasta salad with Tinkyada ziti!

Quick, Tasty Tips for Dairy-Free Eating

If you must avoid all dairy products, you can still enjoy extremely tasty dishes that are simple to make. In fact, you may not even miss the dairy at all once you try some of these ideas.

First of all, try not to use dairy substitutes. Fake cheese doesn't taste or cook anything like real cheese, so don't bother. Instead, focus on cooking dishes that can shine without cheese. Also, butter can easily be substituted in a number of dishes. Here are some of our favorite dairy-free ideas:

Roasted Fresh Vegetables -We enjoy roasting our fresh vegetables, including halved brussels sprouts, cauliflour, broccoli and sweet potato wedges, We let them roast in the oven until lightly browned. Before roasting, we coat the vegetables with a bit of extra virgin olive oil to hold in moisture and then add sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste, just before serving. Variations: We add a good bit of cayenne pepper to our roasted vegetables and a friend of ours always adds freshly ground nutmeg to her roasted brussels sprouts.

Pumpkin Pie - We use canned pumpkin pie mix for our pie but substitute soy milk for the canned milk and use a dairy-free crust.

Instant Grits with Extra Virgin Olive Oil and Sea Salt - You really won't miss the butter if you use good quality extra-virgin olive oil and coursely ground sea salt. We microwave individual servings using ramekins. The ramekins keep the grits warm and really keep the olive oil from seeping away from the grits.

Fried Yuca - Pan-fry frozen yuca strips or chunks in a good bit of canola oil until well browned. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and garlic powder just before serving to make a superior 'french fry'.

Roasted Sweet Potatoes - Roast in microwave for about 5 -6 minutes per potato, poking holes in sweet potato with a fork or knife before cooking. When soft, slice down the center and cover with maple syrup and a sprinkle of cinnamon for a quick, delicious autumn side dish.

How to Manage Dairy Cross-Contaimination in the Kitchen

Believe it or not, dairy cross-contamination in our kitchen was enough to make my son seriously ill. Being that he is allergic to dairy products and we are not, we have always cooked his meals separately. However, he began experiencing serious health issues. Once we suspected that minute amounts of dairy were causing his symptoms, we started analyzing everything he ate in a detailed food diary, keeping track of everything from meal prep to dish-washing procedures. We kept modifying our process until his symptoms disappeared. It is a rigorous process, but it works for us!

• Cook dairy-free meals in separate pots/pans that have never been used to cook dairy. We purchased all new pots/pans, bakeware and spatulas.
• We cook his meal first and wash our hands frequently to minimize contamination during meal prep.
  
• We use disposable (paper) plates and cups to further minimize the chances of cross-contamination
• We have a double sink in our kitchen, so his dishes go in one side and our dishes in the other. Also, we wash his dishes with a paper towel (even dedicated sponges were problematic for us).
• We clean countertops and eating surfaces immediately after use using kitchen cleaner and paper towels.
  
• Of course, we also avoid all processed foods due to the likelihood that most of that stuff is processed on shared equipment.
• We purchase specially marked 'dairy-free' treats or snack foods from our local natural foods store. Arrowhead Mills makes a great brownie mix and Enjoy Life makes delicious chocolate chips.
• We purchase only minimally processed meats as our pediatrician noted that meat is sometimes treated with lactic acid as a preservative, a component in dairy products.

Sunbutter - A Tasty Peanut Butter Alternative

We discovered Sunbutter when our son was diagnosed with a peanut allergy when he was just one and a half years old. At first, though, we tried soy butter, which tasted OK, but the texture was a bit gritty. Make sure the label states that the sunbutter is processed in a peanut-free facility.

Sunbutter is the closest taste-wise to peanut butter and is a perfect substitute on a sandwich, in cookie recipes and even as a dip for carrots and apples.

Here a few ways we use sunbutter:

Sunbutter smoothie
1 banana
2 scoops soy ice cream
2 tbsp. Sunbutter
1/4 cup Honey

Blend in a blender and serve immediately

Pasta Sauce
1 tbsp. sunbutter
2 tbsp. olive oil
2 tbsp. butter beans (canned, drained and rinsed)
Pinch sea salt

mash beans, add sunbutter, olive oil and salt. stir until smooth. We add a bit of water from freshly boiled pasta to the sauce for a thinner texture, but this isn't necessary.

Add the sauce to the pasta, stir to coat evenly and serve warm.

Warm Sunbutter sundae topping
sunbutter
corn syrup (you could use sugar and water, but corn syrup works better and faster)
vanilla extract

Add equal proportions of sunbutter and corn syrup to a sauce pan and heat on low heat, stirring to combine sunbutter and corn syrup evenly. When the combination is creamy, add a tad of vanilla extract and serve over soy ice cream.

Here are some tasty recipes we found online:
Frozen Sunbutter Fudge
Purple Cabbage and Sunbutter Soup

Dairy-Free Banana Split

If you can eat soy ice cream, tofutti brand soy ice cream, vanilla-flavored, makes a good base for a banana split. We do not use any whipped topping as we haven't found a bona fide dairy-free product yet, but with all of the other toppings we have come up with, we don't miss the whipped topping one bit.

We start by splitting one banana lengthwise and then adding two scoops of tofutti vanilla soy ice cream on top.
Here is a list of our toppings:

• Eat for Life brand allergen free chocolate chips
• Mini marshmallows
• Raisins
• Real blueberry syrup
• Organic sunflower seeds
• sweetened, shredded coconut
• Maraschino cherry

Welcome to Allergic Free Eating!

We promise to offer tips, recipes, experiences, successes, etc. for allergy-free eating.