Sweet & sour sauce

Here's a good sauce to use with beef or poultry. It's very easy and made with stuff you probably already have on hand. Feel free to tinker with it too.

1/2 cup Heinz ketchup
1/2 cup Heinz vinegar (gf)
1/2 cup sugar or sweetener
1/2 cup water (more or less to adjust how thick or thin you want the sauce)

Mix in a bowl. That's it.

Sick tummy

Well, haven't been posting for a while. Kids have been sick. Actually, we've all been sick with a stomach virus -- a bad one. The experience was so bad with our littliest that it prompted me to post about how we handled a very touchy situation. Maybe somebody out there will benefit from this.

Our littliest is 3 and vomitted everything out of her system. She couldn't eat or hold water for more than a day and we became very concerned about dehydration. So, we tried this, and it worked.

We took a tablespoon of a roll and fed it to her, then a quarter cup of water. Set a timer for 20 minutes. Do it again. Repeat all day if necessary. Later, we switched to diced potatoes boiled in salt.

The little food is enough to keep the water down and eventually, the water will rehydrate the body, the food helps to settle the stomach and your kid starts to feel better. We did this for most of a day to keep water in her system. The second day we didn't adjust much. We started out the same and then upped the portions by 2x starting with lunch. We also added some cubed chicken pieces at lunch -- not a lot -- and some carrot.

It wasn't until the third day that we were able to add more food and unlimited water. But, again, this was a very bad stomach virus.

A flour mix for all baking

This is a very versatile flour mix. You can make many different baked goods using it. All start with the basic dry mixture.

BLOG UPDATE: Note, these are some of my first basic recipes. They are simple and crude. Yet, they are enough to get started and get cooking. If you're looking for something else, browse my blog for some of my newer bread and cookie recipes, like Lindsay's Bread or my All-purpose cookie mix. On this page, however, the Basic dry mix below is very versatile and can be used as a foundation for just about anything.

Basic dry mix
-------------
1/2 cup chickpea flour
1/2 cup tapioca flour
1/2 cup potato starch
2 tbsp sugar
3 tsp egg replacer powder(Ener-G)
2 tsp xanthan gum
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp sea salt

1 - Dinner rolls
Add:1/2 cup canola oil
1/2 cup water

Mix dry ingredients. Add oil and water. Beat with blender. Using WET hands, form circles and place on ungreased cookie sheet or in muffin tins. Bake at 400 for 15 minutes.

2 - Pie crust
(leave out baking powder)
Add:1/2 cup canola oil
1/3-1/2 cup water

Mix dry ingredients. Add oil. Beat with blender. Add 1/3 cup water and mix. If too crumbly, add 1 tbsp at a time until less crumbly and able to be pressed without cracking. Press dough into greased pie plate. Bake 1 minute at 450. Then make pie as instructed.

3 - Meat or veggie wrap
(leave out baking powder)
Add:1/4 cup canola oil
1/2 cup water

Mix dry ingredients. Add oil and water. Beat with blender until workable dough forms. Add a tablespoon or two more flour if necessary. Cut dough into four portions. Roll each out, one at a time, on floured surface. Slice each into two pieces and place meat or veggies on closest edge. Wet the edge with water, then roll up the filling in two complete rotations. Slice off extra dough. Wet edge with water. Place edge side down on greased cookie sheet. Brush tops with oil and salt. Bake at 400 for 10 minutes.

4 - Cinnamon cookies
Same as #3
(add 1 tsp baking powder)

Roll out entire dough and end with the longest section being the width in front of you. Brush with canola oil. Sprinkle with cinnamon and generous amount of sugar. Roll up. Seal edge with water. Brush top with oil and sugar. Cut into 1/2 wide cookies. Place on greased cookie sheet and bake for 5-10 minutes at 400.

5 - Crackers (like saltines)
Same as #3.
(Leave out baking powder)

Roll out entire dough into a near-square shape. Brush top with oil and sprinkle with sea salt. Use a pizza cutter to cut rows both ways. Prick crackers with a fork. Bake at 400 for 10 minutes on greased cookie sheet.
- variation: add onion or garlic powder to the dough.

6 - Pancakes
Do NOT use the entire dry mix recipe above. Use 1 cup of the gf flours (1/3 tapioca, 1/3 potato starch, 1/3 chickpea). Add 2 tbsp sugar, 1 tsp salt, 2 tsp baking powder and mix with 2 tbsp oil and 1/3-1/2 cup water. Pour batter 1-2 tbsp at a time onto hot nonstick pan with 1 tsp oil on it.

7 - Bagels
Same as #1.
Add 1/2 canola oil
1/2 cup water

Add 1 cup extra flour mix (tapioca, potato starch, chickpea) to the recipe. Heat broiler on high, set rack two rungs down. Boil pan full of water on stove top. Grease a cookie sheet with Spectrum shortening. On a floured surface, with floured hands, roll a ping pong sized ball of dough between hands until smooth. With a floured finger, poke hole through middle. With dough still around finger, smooth the dough on the bottom that's disturbed from the poking, then pull off. Repeat for all. Place on sheet. Broil small bagels for 2 mins then flip and broil another 2 mins. Watch closely. They should lightly brown on top but not burn. This will happen quickly. Repeat for all. Place bagels in boiling water for 2 mins then flip and another 2 mins. Meanwhile, turn off broiler and heat oven to 350. Place bagels on paper towel while doing the rest. Put bagels on cookie sheet and bake at 350 for 15 mins for smaller sized and 20-30 mins for larger, depending on size.

Here's an optional recipe that also works: Mix 1 cup gf flour, 2 tbsp sugar, 2 tsp baking powder, 2 tsp xanthan gum and 1/3 cup water. Then, follow same directions as above. The difference between the recipes is this: recipe 2 is a little chewier like a real bagel and recipe 1 looks more like a real bagel. Both are good and my kids will eat both. Try both out and take your pick.

Enjoy.

Dutch potatoes

This is a staple in our home since rice and corn are not allowed. The recipe is quick and easy. It's also healthier than fried potatoes.

Ingredients
5-6 potatoes
sea salt
paprika
water

Peel potatoes and wash. Cube the potatoes or cut into any desired form - strips, wedges, big chunks, small pieces, diced, etc.

Put into large pan. Sprinkle 1 tsp sea salt over potatoes. Pour 1 cup water over potatoes. Cover with lid. Cook on medium high for 20 minutes or until tender. When water's nearly gone, sprinkle 1-2 tsp paprika over potatoes and then stir for 1 minute to mix paprika in and "dry up" some of the potato juice.

Eat.

Oven "fried" chicken

OK -- this is really easy.

Ingredients:
Chicken legs and wings, cut up.
Chickpea flour
Sea salt
Paprika
Hot pepper powder
Garlic powder
Onion powder
Canola oil

Heat oven to 400. Wash chicken. Toss 1 tablespoon oil over chicken in a bowl. Hand toss to coat.Mix dry ingredients in bowl. When oven is hot, toss chicken and coat in the dry mix. Coat generously. Bake in oven for 10 minutes. Turn, drizzle oil sparingly on top of chicken. Bake 5 more minutes.

Very good.

Shoo Fly Pie

If you've never had this Amish pie, you're missing out. And, it lends itself well to a GFCF version of the original recipe. The pie is in three parts: crust, filling and topping.

Crust
-------
1/2 cup chickpea flour
1/2 cup tapioca flour
1/2 cup potato starch
2 tbsp sugar - Wholesome Sweeteners
3 tsp egg replacer - Ener-G
2 tsp xanthan gum
1/2 cup canola oil
1/3-1/2 cup water

Mix dry ingredients. Add oil. Beat in with blender. Add 1/3 cup water and mix. If too crumbly, add 1 tbsp at a time until less crumbly and able to be pressed without cracking.

Topping
---------
3/4 cup GFCF flour (1/4 cup sorghum, 1/4 cup chickpea, 1/4 cup tapioca)
1/2 cup packed brown sugar - Wholesome Sweeteners
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp ground cloves
1/8 tsp ground ginger
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp xanthan gum
2 tbsp Spectrum organic shortening

Mix together until crumbly.

Filling
-------
1/2 cup blackstrap molasses - Golden Barrel (unsulphured)
3/4 cup boiling water
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 egg yolk (I subbed with Ener-G (1.5 tbsp powder/1 tbsp water)

Mix together well.

Directions:
1 - Press crust dough into greased pie plate.
2 - Bake 5 mins at 450.
3 - Pour filling and topping in layers into pie crust. Leave enough topping aside for one layer.
4 - Bake 10 mins. at 450. Pull from oven.
5 - Add leftover topping.
5 - Bake 20 mins more at 350 or until firm.

Enjoy.

The cause of autism?

This likely is interesting to anyone reading this blog. It might explain why you have to eat this way. This article ran worldwide and you can easily find it on the web. I've reposted the version from the Globe and Mail.

Chemicals may be damaging kids' brains
SHERYL UBELACKER
Canadian Press

Environmental exposure from hundreds of industrial chemicals could be damaging the developing brains of children worldwide, but few of the potentially toxic compounds are regulated because too little is known about their effects, researchers say.
In a paper published on-line today in The Lancet, two specialists in environmental medicine (each of whom has spent decades studying the effects of lead and mercury exposure on fetuses and children) compiled a list of 201 industrial chemicals they say have the capacity to cause irreparable damage to the developing human brain.
Lead author Philippe Grandjean, chair of environmental medicine at the University of Southern Denmark, said he and co-author Philip Landrigan of New York's Mount Sinai School of Medicine had similar experiences while studying the neurotoxicity of lead and mercury.
"First, things were seen in adults," he said, then in children exposed in early childhood, or those whose mothers were exposed during pregnancy. "And then we wondered: Is this only happening with mercury and lead?" Dr. Grandjean said in a telephone interview from Copenhagen.
The two researchers undertook an extensive review of published data on chemical toxicity to create a list of those agents most likely to harm the developing brain. Their tally of 201 compounds includes everything from arsenic to benzene and phenol. About half the chemicals are ubiquitous in industrial processes and products and could make their way into the environment through air, water and food.
But because there is a dearth of research on the effects of these chemicals specifically on children, their use has not been regulated in the same way as mercury, lead and PCBs.
The researchers argue that the lack of international regulation is putting children around the globe at potential risk, and they worry whether exposure to such chemicals could be behind such conditions as autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. (The causes of these conditions remain unknown.)
Calling the potential for harm a "silent pandemic," the researchers are urging governments worldwide to begin strictly controlling these chemicals, instead of waiting for years of testing to provide definitive scientific proof that they are either harmful or benign.
"What we are saying is we cannot afford to wait decades because that way we will expose another generation of children to toxic chemicals that will affect their brains permanently," Dr. Grandjean said. "We cannot afford to do that."
But Warren Foster, director of the Centre of Reproductive Care at Ontario's McMaster University, said there is no data to support the idea that chemical exposure is harming children or that conditions such as autism are caused by such pollution. While Dr. Foster has high regard for the two researchers and calls the goal of their review "lofty," he said their suggestion that industrial chemicals are causing neurotoxic effects in fetuses and young children is "a hypothesis that requires testing."
"The kids actually have to be exposed," Dr. Foster said. "Simply because things are in the environment does not necessarily mean that children are exposed, or are exposed to the concentrations necessary to create the neurotoxicity."
"I don't think it helps them to create fear when we don't have evidence of a problem."
Still, Dr. Foster concedes that until there is definitive evidence of their effects, people should be cautious in limiting exposure to industrial chemicals -- for instance, by not heating food in margarine tubs that can produce harmful compounds.
However, he's more concerned that governments could start banning chemicals based on insufficient data, only to replace them with compounds about which nothing is known.
"We still need coolants, we still need plasticizers, we still need flame retardants, we still need solvents," he said.

Hot "chocolate"

Just in time for the holidays -- hot cocoa. Except no cocoa, or dairy. Still, this is very good stuff. You could give it to all your guests and I'll bet they love it. Really!

OK -- this is easy. Ingredients:

1 mug of hot water
1/4 cup of Darifree powder
1 tbsp carob powder (I buy soy free)
1 tbsp sugar (any sweetener will do)
1/2 tbsp powdered sugar (I use corn-free and this is optional)

Mix and stir until dissolved. This really is good.

If you're cutting back on sweetener, cut out the powdered sugar and maybe try honey or agave nectar instead of sugar.

If you can tolerate cocoa, by all means, use some Hershey's cocoa.

You also could try any milk alternative you wish, from soy milk to rice milk. I think the Darifree naturally has a sweet flavor that lends itself well to this recipe.

Happy holidays!

Silly fries

Here's a neat treat. It's easy. The kids will love it. And, it's a starch that isn't potato or rice.

Find a nearby (or online) ethnic grocery that sells Fufu -- usually at an Asian or African grocery. It costs up to $3.50 for a box. Fufu is cassava flour and is a staple in some countries, much like our American mashed potatoes. Check out my earlier post on Fufu to catch up.

Anyway, make some Fufu. Follow the box directions for one recipe, usually 1 cup water, 1/2 cup Fufu and add some sea salt into the water.

When this is done, if it's too mashy, like mashed potatoes, add some more Fufu to make it thicker and more like a dough. During this process, you can add some favorite herb if you like -- such as thyme, 1 tbsp oil, and 1 tsp baking powder. Mix by hand or spoon until a firm but flexible lump of dough.

Heat some oil in a fry pan. When hot, pull off pieces of the Fufu dough and mold either into flat circles or rub between your hands to make long ropes. Fry on both sides until golden brown.

The circles turn out like fried pancakes and the ropes like fries -- just irregular shaped. I call them silly fries.

Enjoy.

Sensative skin?

Nope -- that's not food. It's soap, shampoo and conditioner. And, I don't mind a free ad for the small company -- Gluten-Free Savonnerie -- that makes this stuff. It's gluten-free. No soy, casein, peanuts, tree nuts, fragrance, and colorants. They're made in a dedicated gluten-free facility and tested.

One of the owners has celiac disease.

Anyway, I use the shampoo and conditioner on my girls, whose skin easily breaks out, and no problems. And, it works. Clean hair.

Order their products online (http://gfsoap.com) or via Miss Robens.

Eggless noodles

This is exciting, for me. These are noodles without egg, rice, corn, margarine or butter. And, they taste great! All store noodles either have rice or corn in them -- neither of which my kids can have right now. So, here's how:

Ingredients:
1/4 cup sorghum flour
1/4 cup chickpea flour
1/4 cup tapioca flour/starch
1/4 cup potato starch
1 tsp xanthan gum
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 egg sub (Ener-G egg replacer: 1 tbsp powder, 2 tbsp water)
2 tsp canola oil
10-15 tsp water

Sift dry ingredients into bowl. Important to get clumps out.

Mix egg and let sit 1 minute. Add oil. Then add to the flour mix.

Add water tsp at a time until dough is firm enough to roll without crumbling. It still will appear on the dry side. Let sit for 30 minutes under wax paper.

Lightly flour a board or table, roll dough out (you can do 2 pieces) as thin as possible. Let rest and dry, turning once, until dough feels like soft leather.

Trim uneven edges (I save trimmings to cook into other recipes).

You can cut this any way you want. I use a long flat knife to cut very thin slices about 4-6" long.

You can let these dry even more, freeze, or boil. I boil in salted water with 1-2 tsp canola oil.

After 8-10 minutes (depending on thickness), I drain, lightly salt and add seasoning, like Thyme. Or mix with a red sauce. I'll soon be posting a tomato-less spaghetti sauce that I promise is great.

Now, I won't try to fool you. These will not look like store noodles and that was a problem with my kids at first. It's been many months since they last had a noodle and this time, they polished off the plate. They had forgotten what store noodles looked like. Big hit!

Chocolate cake icing

This is an updated version of this icing recipe. I've found a version that works much better. I'm sure it'll continue to be a work in progress.

1 cup powdered sugar (if corn's an issue, make your own or buy corn-free)
1 tbsp carob powder (cocoa is fine)
1 tbsp organic Spectrum shortening
2 Ener-G egg subs (3 tbsp powder, 4 tbsp water)

Mix the sugar and carob well. Make the egg sub and let sit 2 minutes. Add all ingredients in bowl and blend with a mixer. Spread on cake!

And, just to be thorough, here's the old recipe version below:

This is a simple icing recipe. It's quick, easy and reliable.

And, there's no soy, dairy, gluten, tofu, shortening, margarine, etc. Just basic icing.

In the end, the icing is more of a liquid but after a few hours, turns into more of a harder icing shell -- not quite as hard as a candy shell, but just more solid.

Ingredients:
4 tbsp powdered sugar (I use Miss Robens corn starch-free)
2 tbsp carob powder
2 tbsp tapioca starch
1 tsp canola oil
water

Mix the dry ingredients well. Add the oil and stir well.

Add water 1 tbsp at a time until reaching a smooth, but not runny, consistency. If it's too runny, add tapioca starch. Too thick, add a little water. This is about enough to coat (1) 8x8 cake.

Coffee cake anyone?

This stuff ain't bad.

My kids love my chocolate cake (see recipe links on the right). But I like to mix up the selection every so often with a yellow or white cake. So, I've modified recipes to make this coffee cake. Note, this relies on egg replacer and the gfcf flour mix I use is 1/2 cup sorghum flour and 1/2 cup chickpea flour. You could use any mix you want. Replace sorghum easily with rice flour. Replace the chickpea maybe with 1/4 cup tapioca and 1/4 cup potato starch. Anything will do. But, you'll notice -- no soy, rice, gluten, casein, corn, yeast, butter or margine.

Ingredients:
- 1 egg substitute (I use Ener-G egg replacer: 1 tbsp powder with 2 tbsp water)
- 1/2 cup water (during mixing, I end up adding up to another 1/2 cup to reach right consistency)
- 1 cup gfcf flour (I use 1/2 cup sorghum, 1/2 cup chickpea)
- 1 tsp xanthan gum
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 2 tbsp canola oil
- 2 tsp baking powder (Miss Robens sells some without corn starch)

Topping ingredients:
- 1/4 cup brown sugar (I prefer Wholesome Sweeteners to avoid allergens)
- 1/2 tbsp tapioca starch
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tbsp Spectrum shortening (or just use canola oil)

Directions:
Mix the egg sub in a bowl. Let sit 1 minute. Add all ingredients EXCEPT the last four -- brown sugar, tapioca, cinnamon and shortening. Blend well with mixer.

Mix last four ingredients in small bowl. Stir together until crumbly (this is the topping).

Heat oven to 350. Grease 8x8 baking pan with Spectrum shortening. Pour batter in the pan.

Sprinkle topping over batter until well covered.

Bake about 20-25 minutes. Mine is usually done in 20.

You'll notice this is a "shallow" coffee cake. I prefer it that way. You could also bake this in a round cake pan for a circular cake.

Or, double the batter recipe to make a thicker coffee cake and bake 5-10 minutes longer.

Yum.

Chili burgers

Now here's a really simply burger recipe that my kids like. They seem to like spicy foods. And, it has cumin in it, which is a good spice antioxidant.

Anyway, here's the recipe.

Ingredients:
1 lb. ground beef (I prefer farm bought)
1 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp cumin
1 tbsp chili powder
diced onion to taste or onion powder
1 tbsp Heinz ketchup

Mix together well. Form into patties. Bake on 350 degrees for 20 minutes.

Easy. Enjoy.

Awesome "chocolate cake"

This is chocolate cake for even the most particular diet. To start, it has no chocolate, although you could use cocoa powder just as easily. Needs no rice flour. No butter, milk, yeast or soy. Amazing! This is a staple in our house -- the kids call it "ice cream cake," because it has a shine to the top that resembles ice cream.

This really is a carob cake and if baked properly, comes out full and moist.

Ingredients
------------
1 cup sorghum flour
1/4 cup tapioca flour/starch
1/4 cup potato starch (others will do too, but potato adds moistness)
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup carob powder (make sure it's free of soy and is gluten-free)
1 tsp baking soda
1 heaping tsp xanthan gum
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup canola oil
1 1/2 cups water
Spectrum Organic Shortening

Heat oven to 350.

Mix dry ingredients and stir until well combined.

Add oil and water.

Beat with electric mixer.

Grease an 8x8 baking pan with the organic shortening and do the sides.

Pour batter into pan.

Give kids the beaters.

Bake on 350 for 25 minutes. When done, it will not be completely baked through the middle, but this is a key part of making this because it will continue to self-bake out of the oven. In the end, it will be completely baked through, yet remain moist. (If you do this and it still seems unbaked in the middle, next time, add 5 minutes to the baking cycle.)

I store this in the summer in the fridge with plastic wrap. In the winter, it's OK out.

You can make two at a time by doubling the recipe and freezing one.

You can also make this into a birthday cake. I've split the recipe between two round cake pans. You can easily make icing -- I just make a simple one out of powdered sugar and water with a little oil or the shortening -- not too much.

Spicy chicken

The kids have called this fish, but lately they're realizing it's really chicken. So, we're starting to call this spicy chicken.

I buy farm chicken twice a month, usually a few pounds at a time. When I get home, I wash the chicken breasts, slice them into strips, and boil them. When cool, I freeze them in 1 lb packages.

Pull a package out the night before you want to use it. One package is enough to feed two kids for two nights.

Cut the strips into "nugget" pieces.

In a bowl, mix 1 tsp salt, 1 tbsp chili powder, 1/4 tsp hot pepper powder, 1/4 tsp cumin, 1/4 tsp onion or garlic powder.

Heat a nonstick pan to medium high heat. Add 1 tsp of canola oil to the pan.

Stir the chicken pieces into the seasoning mix and rub it in a little -- doesn't have to be coated like a deep-fried batter, just rubbed in.

Cook pieces in the pan until cooked through, no pink.

Easy.

A good morning

This is a good recipe for an all-purpose snack or a breakfast bar. My kids call these "cereal bars" and they easily could be modified.

Ingredients
------------
Flour mix: 1 cups sorghum flour, 1 cup chickpea flour, 1/2 cup potato starch, 1/2 cup tapioca flour/starch, 1/2 cup carob powder.
1 tsp cinnamon
2 cups water with 1 tsp lemon juice in it.
1 cup brown sugar (Wholesome Sweeteners brand is good)
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp baking soda
3 tsp xanthan gum

Preheat oven to 350. Grease a baking sheet with Spectrum shortening (actually, I cover sheet with foil, and grease the foil because later, when done, it's easier to remove the bars.)

In a bowl, mix flour, cinnamon and xanthan gum.

In another bowl, mix water, lemon juice, brown sugar, salt and soda.

Stir wet mixture into dry.

Should resemble thick pancake batter but not runny. You should be able to spread it on the sheet with a spatula. If too dry, add water. If too runny, add starch.

Spread dough on cookie sheet. Bake 25-30 minutes. Let cool.

When cool, lift foil off the sheet. Peel the baked square off the foil. Then, put it back on the foil and use a pizza cutter to cut into bars. I freeze half.

Buckwheat - less pancakes

"Buckwheat" Pancakes (without the buckwheat)

These are pancakes resembling buckwheat pancakes but without the buckwheat. Although buckwheat is NOT a glutenous grain, it is harsh on the digestive system and a lot of kids cannot handle it. Ours cannot.

Flour mix:
- 1 cup of the following flour mix: equal parts of chickpea (garbanzo bean) flour, 1/3 cup tapioca starch/flour (certified gluten-free), 1/3 cup potato starch flour (certified gluten-free), 1/3 cup sorghum flour.

Ingredients:
- 1 cup of flour mixture (above)
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 3 tsp baking powder (corn-free, aluminum-free)
- 2 tbsp canola oil
- 1 tbsp Steens cane syrup (http://www.steensyrup.com/)
- 1/3-1/2 cup water

Pre-heat non-stick frying pan on medium-high. Drizzle 1 tsp canola oil on pan and shake around. Mix dry ingredients well. (Note: no need to add xanthan gum to this recipe or egg substitute as you would for many gluten-free bread recipes)
Add 2 tbsp canola oil, syrup and 1/3 cup water. Stir with wire whisk. If too sticky and thick, add 1 tbsp water and stir again. Continue this until it reaches pancake batter consistency -- not too thick but not watery.
Pour batter into hot pan by the tablespoon. Use 1 tbsp for dollar-sized pancakes and 2 tbsp for normal pancakes. Cook until golden brown on one side, then flip.
We serve these with pork sausage from Kennedy's. No syrup. However, you could, for a treat, sift powdered sugar on top. We get powdered sugar from Miss Robens online that's free of corn and is gluten-free.

Autism Diet cheat sheet

I developed this cheat sheet some time ago to give people looking for help with the GFCF diet. How to start? Where to get info? Etc. Maybe it'll help you.
--------------------


The Autism Diet cheat sheet
A quick guide to getting helpful info

1) Goto the TACA website. There's two tremendously helpful things here. First goto their bookstore and consider purchasing the Autism Journey Guide -- you can find it at this link: http://www.talkaboutcuringautism.org/store/home.php?cat=255. I get nothing for recommending this guide. I just wish it existed years ago.
Second, head to their GFCF articles section at http://www.tacanow.org/tag/gfcf/ for all sorts of good ideas. Read! This might be a bit overwhelming. But you need to know these things. Some of the problems they discuss are invaluable, like testing for supplement levels.

2) Consider buying Lisa Lewis' cookbooks. There's two. Special Diets for Special Kids I & II. Available on Amazon. Tons of helpful info in addition to great starting recipes and a list of online specialty food suppliers. A lot of us who first ventured into the world of GFCF 10+ years ago started with these.

3) Visit http://www.gfcfdiet.com/. It has some helpful info, but almost too much info for beginners. Note it has a link to a huge list of unacceptable foods and a recipe page. Just know this site exists.

4) Goto the GFCFrecipes Yahoo message group and join. This is a tremendous source of help that you can goto daily for advice. http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/GFCFrecipes/ Note that the organizers of the message group now have posted all of the recipes submitted over the years to one Website at http://www.recipecircus.com/recipes/Writermom77/. You could spend a day at this site checking recipes.

5) From the above info, you should get a decent grip on what needs to be changed and generally how to change it. But, where do you shop?

-- Online: some people order foods online. This is very convenient but more expensive. One good one is Ener-G Foods at http://www.ener-g.com/. There's many more. For flour and grains, Bob's Red Mill is the best.
-- Supermarkets with organic sections. Also very expensive but convenient. I'm finding more and more GFCF products and on the shelves.
-- Food co-ops: This is the best option for me in the Pittsburgh area. You join for a nominal fee. It's a grocery but mostly organic, including flours, noodles, grains, breads, produce, etc. Usually, you can buy in bulk and get a significant discount. Find one near you by searching http://www.coopdirectory.org/. Also, search your yellow pages and online for any organic store, wholesaler, supplier in your area.
-- Meats: It's recommended you buy organic. Some buy natural meat that is free of preservatives and hormones. You can search for farmers who sell poultry, beef, ham/pork in your area at http://www.localharvest.org/. Also, check the yellow pages again under farms. I don't buy certified organic. That's my personal choice. But I buy farm meat to avoid preservatives and hormones - and to support local farmers.
-- At many supermarket deli's, Applegate Farms and Boars Head Meats tend to sell stuff that's OK. Search for them on the web to check on gluten status. Also, consider Wellshire Farms meats. Oh, their Website is: http://www.wellshirefarms.com (make sure you get both "ll's" in the Wellshire or you'll go to another farm's Website).

6) Seek the help, advice and support of others who have gone through this. Having someone that you can call with a question anytime is invaluable. The Yahoo GFCFRecipes site (http:health.groups.yahoo.com/group/GFCFrecipes/) is one great place to goto daily.

7) Note: Many kids with autism also have food allergies and intolerances. Do not be surprised if you find this with your child AFTER switching to the diet. That's when it will expose itself. This includes things like soy, corn, tomato, chocolate, rice and beans. If you think this is happening, remember, most doctors only test for allergies, and will not test for food intolerances. Many people do this privately by hiring a company to test their kids blood for intolerances. You can easily do this by mail, sending them blood from a simple finger prick.

8) Be patient. This diet takes time and effort. Nothing will happen overnight. We've found it has been well worth the effort with our daughters. It especially has enabled them to better respond to their other treatments -- therapies and vitamin supplements.

9) I'll leave you with a couple basic recipes. One is for yeast bread, the other non-yeast bread, and a third for cookies. All are gfcf and allergy friendly. They're a good place to start. Enjoy.


-- Tom's Bread: see original posting at http://gfcfrecipes.blogspot.com/2007/10/toms-bread-gfcf-bread.html
1 1/8 cup Chickpea/garbanzo bean flour
1 cup cornstarch or potato starch
1 cup + 1 Tbs. tapioca flour
3 1/2 tsp. xanthum gum
1 1/2 tsp. salt
3 Tbs. brown sugar or regular sugar
1/4 tsp. creme of tartar
3 eggs, lightly beaten
1 1/8 cup warm water (uncomfortable to touch but not boiling)
3 Tbs. vegetable oil (I use peanut oil or canola oil)
2 1/4 tsp. active dry yeast

See original post for the bread machine method. I'll include the oven method below.
Heat to 375 degrees. Combine dry ingredients including the yeast. Mix thoroughly. Mix together the lightly beaten eggs, warm water, and oil in a separate bowl and whip with wire whisk. Pour wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix on medium speed. When sticky ball forms scrape sides to get all of the flours and ingredients mixed together and continue to mix for about 1 minute more. Scrape into a 9 x 5-inch lightly greased loaf pan. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise until at least double size (approximately 45 to 60 minutes). Remove plastic wrap and place pan in oven. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until the loaf sounds hollow when tapped with a spoon. Turn the loaf out onto your wire rack and allow loaf to cool or you can slice it while hot.

-- Noah's Bread: see original post at http://gfcfrecipes.blogspot.com

Ingredients:
1/2 cup brown rice fl. (I subbed sorghum)
2/3 cup tapioca flour
1/3 cup corn or potato starch
2 tsp xanthan gum
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg (or sub)
1/3 cup oil
1/2 cup CF milk (or water)
1/3 cup sparkling water

Recipe
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Mix all ingredients well, except the sparkling water. Once the batter is well mixed, add the sparkling water to make the batter rise.
Work quickly and form batter into buns, bagels, roll, etc. I use hamburger form pans and rings from the Gluten Free Pantry but you can also use aluminum foil to make form rings. I also put the batter into large ziplock bags, cut a corner, and squeeze out the appropriate shape of whatever I'm trying to make, such as bagels.
The batter should be thick and look somewhat lumpy. Don't use too much batter or form too high. The bread will puff and rise and settle back down once cooled.
Bake for 20-25 min until the crust is golden brown.
The crust will be hard out of the oven but will soften once cooled.
They freeze and thaw really well.

-- JR's tolerant cookie recipe:
see original post at http://gfcfrecipes.blogspot.com/2007/02/chocolate-treats-simple-cookie.html

This is a basic cookie recipe. This version is for chocolate or carob, whichever you prefer. I make carob. However, you can also make a spice cookie from this. These freeze well.

Ingredients:
1 cup sorghum flour
1/2 cup tapioca flour/starch
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup cocoa or carob powder
3 tsp egg replacer powder(Ener-G) or 1 egg sub
2 tsp xanthan gum
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp sea salt
Mix this well. Then add, 1/2 cup canola oil and 1/2 cup water. Add extra water by the tablespoon if too chunky. You want this to be smoother, but not liquidy.
Beat with blender.
Using WET hands, form into rough balls onto an ungreased cookie sheet or in muffin tins. I sprinkle sugar on top. Bake at 400 for 12-15 minutes. They will be very soft coming out of the oven but will firm up as they cool.
To make the spice cookie, omit the carob/cocoa and add 1 tsp. cinnamon, 1/4 tsp. ginger and 1 tbsp of syrup (any kind) into the 1/2 cup of water.

---

Sorry

Yeah, I let the blog go for a while. But, now I'm back. Sometimes life has a way of overwhelming you. So, I will resume posting and update some of my previous cooking, shopping and recipes from previous posts. This is a learning process, and I continue to learn. So, I'll share!

jim