From cakes to cupcakes -- gfcf, of course

I like recipes that you can use in different ways. Cakes and cupcakes are an easy example. Sometimes my kids get tired of cake. I can see it on their faces. So, I'll use my "chocolate" cake recipe (carob) to make cupcakes. And they love it.

Here's my cupcakes:
- 1 "chocolate" (0r carob) cake recipe - click here for recipe

- muffin pan
- muffin liners

Simply pour the cake batter into the muffin liners, if you wish, or just into a greased muffin pan. I actually decrease the water in this recipe by 1/2 cup.

Chocolate milk -- without the chocolate

Huh - you might ask? Chocolate without chocolate. Well, this really isn't a recipe. It's just one of those things. You know, a creation, to get around a food intolerance. My kids can't have chocolate, for now. So, I turned to carob to make my chocolate cakes and cookies. And recently, I've been adding a little carob to our milk -- rice milk or DariFree. I've had great success with this.

All I did is pour a glass of your favorite milk alternative. Then, in another cup, add a Tbsp of carob powder and drops of water until it forms a smooth paste that you can spoon out. I spoon just a little into each of their cups, along with a tsp of sugar, and stir. I do the paste thing to prevent the carob powder from clumping in the milk.

Autism was everywhere -- we just didn't notice (HA!)

So, if the autism rate is a creation of better diagnosis, where are all the undiagnosed autistics from past decades? They must be everywhere, right? Look around your office or hometown -- how many do you see or know over age 20?

Take me, for example. I have two children with autism. A man in the next pod over has an autistic son. The supervisor two pods in the other direction has an autistic nephew. A supervisor nearby has a child with an autism spectrum disorder. My wife's best friend from her youth has an autistic son. So does one of my friends -- two children in his family. My last boss has an autistic son. Two families in my neighborhood are struggling with autism spectrum disorders. Two families in my small church are struggling with the same. There are about six children in my daughter's kindergarten class with spectrum disorders with more coming next year.

Now, how many kids did I know in high school who fit the autism profile -- maybe one, undiagnosed of course. Or, he might have just been very shy.

This is an item from the Huffington Post...

The Boys on the Bus
Posted November 5, 2007
By Kim Stagliano

My kids get door-to-door pickup service to their public schools. It's one of the "perks" of having autism. Remember the old jokes about riding the "short bus"? Not so funny anymore. On one of the two buses that stop at my house, I see three boys in the windows. Boy #1 is a good looking kid. He also has the telltale facial traits of Down syndrome. He sits tall, alert, and looks out the window at the world. When I wave to him he returns the gesture. His smile could light up a Broadway stage. He greets my daughter as she mounts the stairs. I call him "The Mayor."

Boys #2 and 3 are typical looking kids, blond, also handsome. They sit hunched over with their faces contorted, eyes squeezed shut and their fingers in their ears, blocking out the world as if in pain. If they happen to glance at me, they cringe and turn away instantly. (I haven't always had that affect on boys, in case you're wondering.) Boys #2 and 3 have autism.

You simply can't mistake their autism for anything else. It doesn't look like intellectual disabilities, DS, cerebral palsy, or any other category of disability. And yet the drums are beating in the national media (again) to tell you that there is no autism epidemic, simply better diagnosis. Or to promote this offensive explanation for the skyrocketing numbers of kids with autism: parents clamor for the diagnosis in order to get school services. Sure, blame the greedy parents! "I'll take reading, writing, 'rithmatic, a one-on-one aide, OT and Speech and a couple of those naked lady tees please."

In my household, autism is an epidemic. We're the New England Patriots of autism. 3 and "Oh!" (Our three daughters have autism.)

Along with telling us there is no epidemic of autism, a major push is on for two pediatric autism screenings by age two. That confuses the heck out of me. Doctors are already so good at diagnosis that we've gone from CDC stats of 1 in 10,000 to 1 in 150 in twenty five years. Is there a prize if we get to 1 in 50 kids?

I'm not sure the pediatricians are ready to take on the "two by two" challenge. They have not been trained in the neurobiological symptoms of autism. After all, autism is classified as a psychiatric/behavioral disorder, even in 2007. I asked hundreds of parents how helpful their pediatrician had been as they sought answer for their kids. Their answers were disheartening. The majority said that their pediatrician was an impediment to getting a diagnosis.

For instance, when a parent expressed concern that her child had regressed in speech and started chewing his clothing voraciously, "There's nothing wrong with him. He's just not a dummy, like most kids. He's worried about the world." To the Mother whose child couldn't sit up at 12 months, "She's a late bloomer." Another gem, "Do you see the way his eyes follow this block? That proves he doesn't have autism." To a mother whose child wasn't clapping by 12 months, "If he does have autism there's nothing you can do about it."

Here's my personal favorite. "I've never heard of a family with more than one child with autism." That's what my pediatrician told me in 1998 when I expressed concerns about my second child's lack of speech. He was in his mid-forties and affiliated with Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, one of the most respected hospitals in the nation.

I believe my old pediatrician. I'm sure he had never run across a family like mine. Because I don't think we existed. The epidemic is real. It's here. The faces of those boys on the bus tell me so.

Mashed potatoes minus the milk and butter

How can mashed potatoes still be good without milk and butter? Well, I'm not sure you could possibly duplicate the original, but this version does a good job. This is a mini-recipe. If you're feeding more than a few, you should double it.

-- 5-6 medium potatoes
-- 1/2 tbsp organic shortening (or CF margarine if you can eat it)
-- 2 cubes chicken broth (these are ice cubes -- each cube is about 2 tbsp.)
-- 1 tsp sea salt
-- Darifree or other dairy sub

Boil the potatoes. Drain, and toss back into the pot. Add the 2 cubes of chicken broth (I make my own broth and freeze it in ice cube trays. Each cube is about 2 tbsp of broth.) And, add the 1/2 tbsp of shortening - I use the Spectrum organic shortening. Use what you like. Add the salt. Start mashing to get the lumps out. Then, I 'whip' with an electric beater. I add 1 tbsp of Darifree at a time to reach my desired whipped potato appearance and texture. Plus, the Darifree adds a creamy flavor.

Of course, after all that, my kids force me to make ketchup faces on their mashed potatoes. :)

Easy pizza sauce gfcf

I found this on the web somewhere and used it. It's very simple. And it works. It's the first of two pizza sauces I'll post this week. Both are good. And, both can be used in other dishes, which I'll get into later.

- 6 oz. can tomato paste (I use Hunt's)
- 8 oz. tomato sauce (any gfcf like Muir Glen)
- 1 clove garlic crushed
- 1/2 tsp sugar
- dash pepper
- dash oregano
- 1 tbsp olive oil or other oil
- optional: dash cayenne pepper

Mix in a sauce pan and heat on low until blended.

Translating GFCF Recipes

I'm amazed daily at how many people find my little blog each day from around the world - from Australia to Hong Kong to India to Israel to Germany, Spain and France, and nearly every state in the U.S. So, to make blogging easier for you, I've added an easy translation link to my site, located in the "GFCF Blog Guide" section near the top right corner. The scrolling message prompts international visitors to a free translation site hosted in the language they choose. Or, the link may immediately translate the page without having to plug in the blog address.

This makes it nearly as easy to read my blog in Chinese or Arabic as it is for a Pittsburgher to read it in English. I'll be expanding the service in the future.

Thanks for reading.

GFCF tortillas - great for sandwiches!

I put off trying gluten - casein free tortilla recipes. I'd never made tortillas in the past and was sort of afraid? Well, afraid may be too strong of a word. Anyway, I didn't. Until now. Let's call this the "Version I" tortilla, simply because it works for some things, but would not work for anything gooey or with sauce. It will fold, but not retain the bend. So, saucey stuff will run out. And, it doesn't keep too well. But, if you're looking for an alternative to regular breads and rolls for lunches and snacks, this would work. This version uses corn flour, but I know you could try any other flour -- brown rice and sorghum come to mind. Millet? Amaranth? Quinoa? This is very easy and quick. I had six tortillas in about 15 minutes, counting the mistakes. I had some for lunch and the following day after keeping them in the fridge. The hardest part of this recipe is the technique. Like many gfcf breads, it's sticky. The key is lots of flour. So, here it is.

- 1 1/2 cup corn flour, not corn meal
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1/4 tsp xanthan gum
- pinch of salt
- 1 tbsp oil
- 2/3 cup luke warm water

Mix all the ingredients until you're able to scoop some up and roll a ball in your hand. It will be "loose." I taped wax paper onto my counter and coated it with corn flour. I floured my hands. I floured two spatulas. Yes, I used two. You'll see why. I put 1/2 tsp oil on a pan and heated it on high. When hot, I grabbed a golf ball size of dough, rolled it in my hand and then flattened it with my hands as much as possible. Then, I put it on the floured surfaced, flipped it so both sides were floured. Using the palm of my hand, I flattened more, keeping a circular shape, but not too much pressure. Now, using your hands to flip it will be difficult. It fell apart on me. So, I used the floured spatula to get underneath the dough and flip it. I flattened it more with my hand (I had to keep flouring my hands through all this), then I used the spatula again to get under it and plop it onto the pan. I cooked this about 1 minute on each side. A little more if you want.

Like I said, this is great as a sandwich alternative. I threw some lunch meat and mustard with lettuce in one for lunch. It's a nice change-up for my yeast-free daughter who eats buns at lunch from the Noah's Bread recipe.

I'm going to work with this a little more to get a tortilla that holds when it's bent.