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.
11.05.2006
11.04.2006
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.
10.31.2006
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!
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!
10.30.2006
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.
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.
10.28.2006
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.
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.
10.27.2006
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.
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.
10.25.2006
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.
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.
10.24.2006
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.
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.
10.23.2006
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.
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.
10.22.2006
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.
10.07.2006
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.
---
--------------------
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.
---
10.06.2006
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
jim
8.10.2006
8.06.2006
8.05.2006
8.04.2006
8.03.2006
8.02.2006
8.01.2006
7.22.2006
French Fries
Here's another basic recipe. But, just to get it on record...
5-6 potatoes
Canola oil
Sea salt
heat oil in a deep frying dish. Either cut potatoes to desired size or shape, or buy a inexpensive french fry cutter. When you hear the oil start to "pop," carefully put in a layer of potatoes. Heat to golden coloring, turning every so often. Drain. Sprinkle salt over top.
5-6 potatoes
Canola oil
Sea salt
heat oil in a deep frying dish. Either cut potatoes to desired size or shape, or buy a inexpensive french fry cutter. When you hear the oil start to "pop," carefully put in a layer of potatoes. Heat to golden coloring, turning every so often. Drain. Sprinkle salt over top.
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