Pizza Crust

Here is another mix that just became a good one for us. I'm not quiet up to the task of cooking from scratch and trying to figure out what substitutions work best so for now I'll stick to trying mixes. I followed the directions on the box for the pizza crust and used egg replacer and a soy free oil. Instead of making one large crust, I made several mini crusts. They don't brown well so I had a hard time making sure they were done but you can't over cook them because you'll end up with a tough crust. The end result, for me, turned out like sourghdough bread on the outer layer and a slight taste resembling a pita pocket (which I have been known to make mini pizzas with so that was perfect). Austin is tomato free right now so I couldn't actually make real pizza but I did try a cannellini bean spread recipe idea that was posted on gfcfmommy.blogspot.com. I added a little bit of spices to the beans and it actually turned out really well. My neighbor even added that she wanted to be invited over for dinner the next time I made them. I froze the extras in vacuum sealed bags but they didn't turn out as good as the first one from the oven.

Pancakes and Cupcakes and Muffins, Oh My!

We recently got back from visiting our family in the great state of Texas. Both Austin and Kaitlin had lots and lots of fun seeing and playing with everyone. I know trips might be stressful to some on the gfcf diet because it means planning and packing lots of food and/or making sure the place you are going has food or places you can get it. But for me, I was not stressed at all. I have a wonderful mother-in-law who just so happens to be great in the kitchen and she was very excited to cook and experiment with some of the foods for Austin. I'm sad that I didn't get pictures of everything but I would still like to share some good food that we enjoyed.

First are some blueberry pancakes. I'm sure for those experienced gfcf dieters, pancakes might be easy but I had no idea where or what mix to start with. We found Organic Arrowhead Mills Pancake and Baking mix. Most importantly this mix calls only for simple ingredients (egg(substitute), canola oil, honey, water). Our main problem with some of the mixes is that they have soy, sunflower, and/or safflower, or they call for so many ingredients that it is hard to substitute all of them without changing the taste of the finished product. These were great with blueberries, pure maple syrup, and Hormel Natural Choice bacon.

Second are the chocolate cupcakes you see above. Kaitlin was celebrating her first birthday and we did not want Austin to be left out when it came to the cake. We picked up Pamela's Chocolate Cake Mix. Once again, no ingredients that Austin couldn't have and very simple preparation. There is also a frosting mix but I think it called for several tablespoons of butter and I didn't know if ghee would substitute well so we just decided to sprinkle with powdered sugar. All I can say is wow! These cupcakes were awesome and everyone who tasted them agreed that the difference was not noticeable. Austin's cousin even wanted a cupcake instead of cake but of course that could have been because he was eating one. If anyone has had bad cake gfcf cake experience, I encourage you to try Pamela's and I am NOT a spokesperson - they really were that good! One side note: Pamela's products are made in a factory that does process things that have dairy, eggs, nuts, and soy so there is a disclaimer on the package for those who avoid any possible traces.

Our final experiment was for muffins. Again, we used the Organic Arrowhead Mills Pancake and Baking mix. The same ingredients that are added to make pancakes are added plus baking powder, vanilla, and xanthan gum. You can add pretty much anything to the muffins but my mother-in-law chose grated apple (for moisture) and then she made a streusel topping out of brown sugar, cinnamon, ghee, and rice flour. These were pretty good and were frozen for extra breakfasts.

Now that I have a couple of go-to recipes, I feel better that I am able to serve Austin a wider range of food! I also find that the more I experiment, the more comfortable I am with the gfcf diet as a whole.

More Cooking and More Updates

I've been trying to find the time to sit down and make some muffins with the gluten free pantry muffin mix but with school and two kids, time is not really on my side. Finally I put my foot down and made them tonight. The recipe came from Beth Hillson's gluten free newsletter and was supposed to be for chocolate cherry muffins but I omitted the cherries b/c I didn't have any on hand. The results were so much better than my last attempt even with all our substitutions so I guess I will need to swear off baking from scratch and stick to prepared mixes for now. I can definitely still taste a difference b/w these and regular muffins but these came out so much more moist and cake like than did the other ones. Bottom line, both me and my husband agreed that these were edible for everyone in our family. See recipe at bottom.

Also the other night, I was surprised to see a recipe on Austin's tortilla chip bag. It called for dipping chicken in crushed chips and seasoning and the best part about it was that you dipped the chicken in water, not eggs or milk, before coating so we tried that. I would have to say it tasted like a faux shake and bake and was not too terrible but in my opinion there are lots of better recipes for GFCF chicken. No picture because I didn't think about it. For kicks the recipes is posted at the bottom. I served it with GFCF mashed potatoes and corn.

As for improvements, the only thing I can say is wow! At first, the husband and I didn't know whether or not we were imagining it but several people including some who did not know about the diet have commented on how well Austin is doing. The two major things that we have noticed is a lot less stimming and way more spontaneous language. This is my little boy who a few weeks ago had lots of words but had to be prompted almost every time to say just one or two of those words. He is now using 2-3 word phrases unprompted most of the time and every now and then we will get a 5-7 word phrase with a little modeling. Some of the things he has said recently are: "bye bye daddy", "Love you daddy", "all done diego bubble bath", and "eat dora(cereal)please mama". There are so many more and there seems to be something new each day so we are thrilled with his progress.

Beth Hillson's Chocolate Cherry Muffins

1 box Gluten Free Pantry Muffin Mix
1/3 cup vegetable oil (I used Canola)
1 1/4 cup buttermilk (I used potato milk with vinegar added)
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1 egg (I used Ener-G egg replacer)
1/2 cup chocolate chips (enjoy life)
1/2 cup dried tart cherries chopped

Mix oil, buttermilk, vanilla, and egg. Add to muffin mix. Stir until well mixed. Gently fold in chocolate chips and cherries. Scoop into lined muffin pans. Bake at 350 for 20 min. Let cool for 10 min in muffin pan. Makes 16 (or 14 in our case) muffins.

Mission Crunchy Chicken Dinner

2 cups Mission Tortilla chips crushed
1/4 tsp garlic salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp oregano
1/8 tsp paprika
2-3 pounds chicken (we used tenders)

Add crushed chips and seasoning in large ziploc bag. Dip chicken in warm water and then place in bag. Shake to coat until well covered. Bake in lightly greased dish at 375 for 60 minutes or until cooked and tender. Serves 4.

Baking is hard!

Grrr... So I've been trying to find some good muffin recipes to start baking so that Austin can have something else to eat for breakfast. I scoured the internet and found a rice flour muffin recipe. I checked and I had all the ingredients so I decided to make blueberry muffins. What a disaster. I think the recipe did not call for enough liquid because I followed everything to a T and it was like dough instead of muffin batter. Then I though well this is GFCF baking so maybe it is supposed to be this way. I went ahead and baked the dough in muffin cups and they were terrible. They stayed the same shape, did not cook well, and of course were awful tasting. To the trash they went and back to the internet I went. I found a good looking banana chocolate chip recipe from GFCFmommy.blogspot.com and once again I had everything to make it. These ones actually turned out well for us but the taste is very different than regular muffins. I almost think they taste like banana chocolate cardboard but I'm not sure if that is how most GFCF bread products taste like since we are new to baking. I made them from scratch and plan to try again with gluten free pantry muffin mix. I'll be back to report!

Gluten Free Playdough

Now that we are GF, I need to provide Austin some playdough that he can take to school with him. Why does he need GF playdough one might ask - well most of time playdough gets under your nails when you use it and kids stick their hands in their mouth. So I set out on a search for the perfect recipe on google. I found a basic recipe on several sites but when I tried it out, it was very sticky and was not at all like real playdough, even after adding a couple more spoonfuls of the rice flour. So I started searching some more and found the basic recipe but tweaked a little to make the perfect playdough. One mom even commmented that it was better to use than real playdough and I have to agree. So here is the recipe courtesy of http://www.vydor.net/playdough.html

Ingredients:

1/2 cup rice flour

1/2 cup corn starch

1/2 cup salt

2 tsp cream of tartar (we used McCormicks)

1 cup hot water

1 tsp cooking oil

food coloring

Mix all ingredients together in a saucepan. Cook on low heat for 5 minutes or until dough starts to form a ball. Remove from heat and let cool for 10 minutes. Scoop into a large bowl and add at least 1/4 cup more rice flour and 1/4 cup corn starch. Kneed until well mixed and no longer sticky. Store in an airtight container. If it gets dry, add a few drops of water. If it is too sticky, add a little more cornstarch and rice flour in equal parts.

And if you are really feeling creative, my friend had a great suggestion. Instead of storing it in a ziploc or tupperware container, you could wash out the old playdough containers, take off the label, and then create your own labels on the computer.

The Long But Hopeful Year Ahead

We finally got all of Austin's test results back in and had a long but informative visit with his doctor. Unfortunately, not only are we having to be GFCF again but we are having to be SF/NF/TF/SF/SF and the list goes on... His IGG test came back with several possible intolerances and for now we are cutting them out of his diet and will try to add them back in one at a time in a few months to see which ones are actually causing a problem. We will stay GFCF for a year before doing any challenge with those foods. Additionally we are starting a few supplaments, mostly vitamins to help with deficiencies but some other things as well. We don't expect for him to be recovered any time soon but we do hope to get some of his gut issues healed therefore making him feel better inside and out.

Cleaning Up & Update

This morning Austin spilled some of his strawberry milk on the kitchen table. I didn't know until I saw him wiping it up. Turns out he spilled it, then went to the bathroom, got some toilet paper, and came back to clean it up. Such a big boy now :)

In other news we go back to our DAN! on February 10th to discuss our initial test results. We already got the gluten/casein peptide test back and it turns out he is having some sort of reaction with the casein so we will most definitely be going CF again but not sure about GF until we talk to the doctor. We just started CLO again today. It's a little difficult because the fishy oil taste seems to be a little strong for Austin. We have lemon lime from Kirkmanns for now but I'm researching what other moms think is the best flavor/brand and the best way to give it. Suggestions?