This past week went well. I posted some of my meals and recipes from earlier in the week. I think we had 4 nights of gluten-free dinners. I am struggling to find some good ideas for breakfast and lunch. I am most worried about finding hearty, tasty, quick breakfasts for Dan (hubby who does not like oatmeal) as well as lunches for Ryan and Abi during the school year.
Resources: Here's what I've found so far that have been really helpful (aside from a few of my great friends to point me in the right direction):
1. Gluten Free Goddess: http://glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com/
I love this site, but there's not a lot of recipes. Her intro and story are great. She had a lot of good information that helped me understand what to look for and what to avoid.
2. Celiac Family: http://celiacfamily.com/
Another great blog, this time from a mom in a more similar situation to what I am dealing with. She does have a blurb about school lunches, so we'll see how it goes. It looks like she has A LOT more recipes.
3. Book: Gluten Free on a Shoestring by Nicole Hunn
I haven't followed her recipes to a t yet, but its only been a week. Tomorrow I plan on making one of the sandwich breads to see how that goes.
Food: So, we've had some successes this week in trying some of the gluten-free foods. We tried some of the Udi's bread and thought it was fine. I really liked their chocolate chocolate chip muffins... I found no difference in them at all. We've also had Wegman's brand gluten-free waffles. Again-Ryan ate this with no problems at all.
Problem to find a solution for: I am not finding a lot of gluten free AND egg free items or recipes (with bread items in particular). I have an egg substitute that i've used in baking (applesauce), but I wonder if it will work with gluten-free recipes... I guess only time will tell. I'll keep you posted.
Sunday, August 4, 2013
Tuesday, July 30, 2013
The first 2 nights
I have had 2 great dinners this week-both have been gluten free.
Monday: we had polenta (made from scratch with cornmeal) with sausage crumbles, sauteed onions, red peppers, zucchini and Dan's new marinara sauce (made from scratch). Here's his recipe (thanks, Dan for emailing this to me... I am pasting it straight into the blog).
I
added the marinara to the sausage and veg mixture and served it over
polenta. We topped it with grated parmesan cheese. Enjoy!
PS... I'll post a picture of this next time I make it.
Tonight, I made sheppards pie. The inspiration came from the book Gluten Free on a Shoestring, but I made lots of changes. Here's what I did:
1. Preheat oven to 375. Get out a square baker.
2. Saute a medium onion with 1 tsp olive oil. Add 1 lb of ground chicken and brown. Once brown, add 2 tsp worstershire sauce, 1 Tbsp cream cheese and 1 Tbsp ricotta cheese along with 1/3 cup tomato paste. Add a dash of salt and a light sprinkle of garlic powder. Add a 16 oz bag of thawed (frozen) veg mix. Warm the mixture throughout. Add to the square baker.
2. Shred 4-5 oz cheddar cheese. Boil 1.75 cups of water with 3 T butter and 1 tsp salt. Once boiling, take pot of the burner and add 2 cups potato flakes and then 3/4 cup skim milk. Mix. Once the potatoes are the texture/thickness that you desire, allow to cool for about 5 min and then mix the shredded cheese. Save a tiny bit to make a thin layer on top of the pie. Once finished, poor over the meat and veg mixture. Sprinkle with the remaining cheese.
4. Put in the oven on 375 until brown. (It took about 20 minutes)
Monday: we had polenta (made from scratch with cornmeal) with sausage crumbles, sauteed onions, red peppers, zucchini and Dan's new marinara sauce (made from scratch). Here's his recipe (thanks, Dan for emailing this to me... I am pasting it straight into the blog).
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 8 hours
Total Time: 8 hours, 15 minutes
Ingredients:
- 2 onions, chopped
- 5 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 Tbsp. olive oil
- 4 (14 oz.) cans diced tomatoes with Italian seasoning, undrained
- 6 oz. can tomato paste
- Small pinch crushed red pepper flakes
- Dash of cayenne pepper
- 1/2 cup water
- 2 tsp. dried Italian seasoning
- Salt and pepper to taste
Preparation:
Place
onions, garlic, and olive oil, Italian seasoning, crushed red pepper
flakes and cayenne in a medium sauté pan and cook till until the onion
is softened.
Combine
all ingredients in a 4-5 quart crockpot, cover, and cook on low setting
for 6-7 hours. Salt and pepper to taste. Serve sauce over spaghetti.
10-12 servings.
PS... I'll post a picture of this next time I make it.
Tonight, I made sheppards pie. The inspiration came from the book Gluten Free on a Shoestring, but I made lots of changes. Here's what I did:
1. Preheat oven to 375. Get out a square baker.
2. Saute a medium onion with 1 tsp olive oil. Add 1 lb of ground chicken and brown. Once brown, add 2 tsp worstershire sauce, 1 Tbsp cream cheese and 1 Tbsp ricotta cheese along with 1/3 cup tomato paste. Add a dash of salt and a light sprinkle of garlic powder. Add a 16 oz bag of thawed (frozen) veg mix. Warm the mixture throughout. Add to the square baker.
2. Shred 4-5 oz cheddar cheese. Boil 1.75 cups of water with 3 T butter and 1 tsp salt. Once boiling, take pot of the burner and add 2 cups potato flakes and then 3/4 cup skim milk. Mix. Once the potatoes are the texture/thickness that you desire, allow to cool for about 5 min and then mix the shredded cheese. Save a tiny bit to make a thin layer on top of the pie. Once finished, poor over the meat and veg mixture. Sprinkle with the remaining cheese.
4. Put in the oven on 375 until brown. (It took about 20 minutes)
My goals for this blog
Anyone who knows me knows that I have NEVER been a journal writer... at least not consistently. I have real hope that I will be able to keep up with this blog since this is all about the life I lead-as a mom of 2 wonderful kids with allergy problems. So, here are my goals:
1. I'd like to publish at least 1 entry per week. (I'd really like to do more, but again, I have never good at journal writing.)
2. I'd like my friends and family to contribute ideas as questions come up. Give me feedback to my posts-especially the recipes. What would you do to make the recipe even better?
3. I'd like to share some new resources-websites, other blogs, books etc that help me with this goal.
4. I'd like to post recipes that my family likes that are nut free, egg-free, and gluten free. I may post recipes at times that don't adhere to all of these guidelines... but I'll still want the feedback. Once I get used to the gluten free diet, I'd also like to incorporate WW and/or other health information.
In general, I'd like to open and continue the discussion about living in a healthy allergen free household.
1. I'd like to publish at least 1 entry per week. (I'd really like to do more, but again, I have never good at journal writing.)
2. I'd like my friends and family to contribute ideas as questions come up. Give me feedback to my posts-especially the recipes. What would you do to make the recipe even better?
3. I'd like to share some new resources-websites, other blogs, books etc that help me with this goal.
4. I'd like to post recipes that my family likes that are nut free, egg-free, and gluten free. I may post recipes at times that don't adhere to all of these guidelines... but I'll still want the feedback. Once I get used to the gluten free diet, I'd also like to incorporate WW and/or other health information.
In general, I'd like to open and continue the discussion about living in a healthy allergen free household.
In the beginning...
Ryan has had eczema since he was 3 months old. I quickly learned that this is something my dear hubby dealt with until he was a teenager. Over the years we've learned that he is allergic to nearly everything. The tests show that he's allergic to milk, eggs, fish, peanuts, tree nuts, dust, cats, dogs, tree and grass pollen. But over time we've tested and found that peanuts and tree nuts are his only food issues. His environmental issues progressed and he's now on a regular asthma medicine. His eczema is up and down, though I admit we have a difficult time controlling due in part to our inconsistencies. His allergist has recommended we try immunotherapy with him, but we are reluctant to do this as it is a 3-5 year commitment that begins with shots at least once or twice a week. We haven't ruled this out, its just on hold.
Fast forward a few years, we had a baby girl, Abigail (we often call her Abi). I took a year off of work for many reasons including that I wanted to be able to breastfeed Abi for a full year. Our allergist said that while nursing won't necessarily deter allergies, research does say that nursing for 8 months or longer can help deter eczema. I nursed her for 10.5 months. I only stopped when I did as I had my tonsils removed and was put on lots of meds and could not nurse. I knew I was going to return to work soon after and coincidentally she wouldn't focus on feeding from me, and I also felt it was become awkward. At about 18 months, Abi met our allergist and we were told that she also is allergic to nuts and eggs. Her egg allergy test is strong enough that the doctor told us not to give her egg products at all. We fully eliminated eggs from her diet (including from baked goods), but saw no change in her eczema. After a month we were told that we could bring eggs back into her diet in such items as baked goods, but that the test was strong enough that he (the doctor) was hesitant to challenge her to see how she did with a regular egg. We decided to keep her completely egg free.
It should also be noted that with lots of research pointing milk/dairy as problematic for those that suffer from eczema, we did take Ryan off of all milk products for a few months. Again, we saw no changes at all. Over the years, Ryan has been on steroids about once or twice a year due to his in eczema and/or asthma. He's also had 2 bouts of MRSA. The most recent spin on MRSA (in 2012) landed him in the hospital for 4 days.
This year, after more flares and problems in writing at school, on a whim, his pediatrician recommended we try putting Ryan on a gluten-free diet. (Yay!!! I have another ingredient to look for on labels!) He said there is no research to support this and that it is completely unscientific, but that he's had one patient who's tried it and had success. A patient that sounds like he's had a very similar past to Ryan's. So, I came home and have found many sources that point to gluten as a problem for eczematics. Thus, we are going to try it.
Fast forward a few years, we had a baby girl, Abigail (we often call her Abi). I took a year off of work for many reasons including that I wanted to be able to breastfeed Abi for a full year. Our allergist said that while nursing won't necessarily deter allergies, research does say that nursing for 8 months or longer can help deter eczema. I nursed her for 10.5 months. I only stopped when I did as I had my tonsils removed and was put on lots of meds and could not nurse. I knew I was going to return to work soon after and coincidentally she wouldn't focus on feeding from me, and I also felt it was become awkward. At about 18 months, Abi met our allergist and we were told that she also is allergic to nuts and eggs. Her egg allergy test is strong enough that the doctor told us not to give her egg products at all. We fully eliminated eggs from her diet (including from baked goods), but saw no change in her eczema. After a month we were told that we could bring eggs back into her diet in such items as baked goods, but that the test was strong enough that he (the doctor) was hesitant to challenge her to see how she did with a regular egg. We decided to keep her completely egg free.
It should also be noted that with lots of research pointing milk/dairy as problematic for those that suffer from eczema, we did take Ryan off of all milk products for a few months. Again, we saw no changes at all. Over the years, Ryan has been on steroids about once or twice a year due to his in eczema and/or asthma. He's also had 2 bouts of MRSA. The most recent spin on MRSA (in 2012) landed him in the hospital for 4 days.
This year, after more flares and problems in writing at school, on a whim, his pediatrician recommended we try putting Ryan on a gluten-free diet. (Yay!!! I have another ingredient to look for on labels!) He said there is no research to support this and that it is completely unscientific, but that he's had one patient who's tried it and had success. A patient that sounds like he's had a very similar past to Ryan's. So, I came home and have found many sources that point to gluten as a problem for eczematics. Thus, we are going to try it.
More of my Background
I am a teacher that will be going back to work in the next few weeks and I need to be organized in order to manage all of this. Both my husband (Dan, who also has a lot of environmental allergies) and I travel an hour each way to work, so it is important to do research now and keep track of our successes and failures.
In addition to finding great tasting, kid-friendly foods without the allergens, we also need to keep to a reasonable budget. I also follow weight watchers, so I also try to keep low-calorie/low fat/high fiber etc. Its a lot to juggle, but its my life.
Please respond to my posts. I am always looking for new ideas on how to control Abi and Ryan's eczema, live within a tight budget, and eat healthy.
In addition to finding great tasting, kid-friendly foods without the allergens, we also need to keep to a reasonable budget. I also follow weight watchers, so I also try to keep low-calorie/low fat/high fiber etc. Its a lot to juggle, but its my life.
Please respond to my posts. I am always looking for new ideas on how to control Abi and Ryan's eczema, live within a tight budget, and eat healthy.
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