Gluten-free sandwiches

Note: Although the recipe below is still very valid, full disclaimer that I've ultimately turned to store-bought bread for my girls. My oldest prefers the Kinnikinnick Tapioca Rice bread and my youngest likes the Ener-G Yeast Free Brown Rice Bread. I buy bulk to cut down the cost. **Even more updated - try some store brand GF breads now on the market, such as Aldi's Live G Free gluten free bread.

 Ahh, the most difficult food item to re-create in my children's diet -- and arguably on the Autism Diet

in general -- lunchmeat sandwiches. This is difficult for a number of reasons. What lunchmeat is OK? Even if it's OK, what about harmful preservatives? And, finding a gluten-free, casein-free bread that your picky child will eat is nearly impossible. In my house, it's been a struggle for years.

I've finally found a solution to all of this that works. It's a compromise, for me. I'm using gluten-free lunchmeats but give on the preservatives. I buy meat that's prepackaged to prevent the cross-contact issues. If you're not satisfied with that, buy some of the preservative-free deli meats out there, like Applegate Farms.

Like all of my recipes, this is simple and easy to make. It's versatile, too, and the bread also can become a mini-pizza shell, which also is very popular at my house.

The bread is a variation of the Noah's Bread recipe. Here's my variation.

Preheat oven to 400.

Mix 1/2 cup of sorghum or brown rice flour, 2/3 cup tapioca flour, 2 tsp xanthan gum, 2 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp salt, 1/2 tbsp oregano (or other spice), 1 tbsp sugar.

Then, add, 1/3 cup of oil, 1/3 cup of a dairy sub (like Darifree), and 1/2 cup of water.

Beat until well combined.

Now, use a ladle or 1/4 cup measure to dump into circular bun-sized pieces. Keep them apart as much as possible. You can make regular bun shapes or like mini-hoagie or hot dog bun shapes. They aren't perfect and I'm sure you could buy forms to make them better. Anyway, then, I take a wet spatula and press down lightly on each and with one or two swoops, flatten each one out some.

Then, bake for 20 minutes.

These will be flatter than regular buns, but that's OK. They taste pretty good.

My kids like a slice or two of GF ham with some mustard and ketchup. This is a big hit at breakfast or lunch.

For the mini-pizzas, I add garlic powder to the dough, and then after baking, top with sauce and toppings, and bake a little longer.

Yes! Advertising ...

Yes, that banner you see above this post is a real advertisement. It's a first for my blog. I don't intend to diminish the content here by offering advertising. However, I've had some interest in putting ads here since so many of you visit each day and so many more of you are finding this blog too. So, what I've decided to do is to control the ads that appear. I don't want to give ad space to a company that can rotate anything in the ad space that they want. If I'm going to have ads, I want them to be for businesses and products that we will use. You know, like gluten-free products or dairy-free items or allergy-specific foods, etc. You get the idea. That way, there's some benefit in this for everyone. Some people come to this site looking for help with the autism diet. They don't know what to do or where to turn. The ads also will serve as starting points for people who don't know where to find products on the web. However, the help offered on this blog will remain free. That's the point. So, here's my plug, check out my advertisers. They really do offer good stuff. If they're on this site, chances are that I use them, or have used them, to buy goods for my family. Thanks.

Corn bread - revised and GFCF

I love when I have leftover stuff in the kitchen. That's when I try to try out variations of some existing recipes. This past weekend, my corn bread recipe was the victim. 

This was a very simple corn bread that my daughter loves. But, she also gets bored with it after a few days. So, I changed this by swapping the syrup called for in the original recipe with applesauce. You can use any kind, even homemade. It gives the corn bread a great hint of apple but not too much. Very tasty, and still easy. I added two tablespoons of applesauce in place of the 1 tbsp of syrup. Try it out. Experiment with other flavors.

Autism Web site seeks justice

Thanks to those who have faxed or e-mailed petitions regarding the Anyah Glossinger situation. The family is gathering a lot of support. If you have not signed a petition, please do so -- see the post below for simple instructions.

Also, the family has created a Web site, Justice for Anyah. You can read more about this crucial case there and leave your thoughts.

This case is vitally important to all of us. We trust our children for hours virtually daily to therapists, teachers and other instructors. We need to be able to trust that they'd care for our kids the way we care for our children. If they don't, they need to be held accountable. That's the only way the rest of the world will know that we'll stand up for ourselves when something goes wrong.

So, the tragedy may have occurred in California, but it impacts your lives too -- it doesn't matter if you're in Florida, Maine, Texas or Canada. And for my international visitors, it's the same for you, too.

We need to stand up as a community and help in cases like this. One day, it might be our child, or our family, who needs support.

Here's the latest news article on this case:

By Natalie Brand
KPSP Local 2 News

Family and friends of Anyah Glossinger are taking her story to the streets, collecting signatures of support. Last week, we reported the District Attorney's Office declined to file criminal charges against the two United Cerebral Palsy employees involved in the drowning of Anyah, who was five-years-old and autistic.

A spokesman for the District Attorney's office says while it appears caregivers may have made mistakes in judgement, they don't rise to the level of recklessness required to support criminal negligence.

But, Anyah's mother, Emily Wereschagin wants a meeting with DA Rod Pacheco saying of the decision, "My first reaction was that it showed a lack of knowledge and a lack of education of the special requirements needed for autistic children."

Family and friends of Anyah say they're fighting for justice. Laura Ballegeer helped start the petition, which has already gathered hundreds of names. Ballegeer says, "I have a child with special needs. It could have been me."

Friends say they will continue to collect signatures through the weekend. They plan to be at the COD street fair on Saturday.

Autism petition - 5 year old girl drowned

I need your help today. Don't worry, it doesn't require that much effort and I'm not asking for money. I work with a relative of a 5-year-old autistic girl who drowned in January in California. She drowned while in the care of others during a hydrotherapy session. The DA won't file charges.

Her name is Anyah Raven Glossinger.

So, the family is seeking help. They want to talk with the DA and turn in petitions signed by people like us, who believe our autistic children deserve better care while under the watch of others.

I'm asking you to take 5 minutes today to print out the petition below, sign it and either fax it to 760-778-6541, Attn: Emily or scan it and email it back to me at jlr500@yahoo.com. The sooner the better. I'll get your petition into the family's hands.

I'll thank you now. And I'll also include a link here to a news article about this case if you're interested.

Here's the petition. Printing tip -- the best way is to copy the petition below, paste it to a Word file, and print.

Justice for Anyah

On January 23, 2008 Anyah Glossinger a five year old Autistic and legally blind child was placed in a therapy pool while attending an after school program for disabled children. She was placed in the pool without a life jacket and left unattended for a period of time that resulted in her being found at the bottom of that pool. She died the following day. She had been in the care of The United Cerebral Palsy’s Little Bridges program, specifically 2 coaches that were in charge of her.

At the time of the drowning the ratio of adults to children was 1 to 1, (3 adult coaches, and 3 children). At the time of the drowning Anyah was the only person in the pool and the only child who had not been given a life vest. She had the developmental level and cognitive ability of someone approximately 18 – 24 months of age. She could not speak or ask for help nor could she swim. These facts were well understood by the attending staff caring for her. One coach left her in the water and the second coach in question turned her back on the pool leaving Anyah completely unattended, she was found at the bottom of the pool some time latter and died as a result of their actions. Her parents and many people in the community believe this was reckless negligence. In April Anyah’s death prompted an internal investigation by the state of California that uncovered severe violations, citing unqualified staff, and lack of background checks among dozens of other serious health, safety, and administrational issues. The state’s Department of Social Services and Licensing closed the facility’s program stating that they “failed to meet the basic needs of Anyah, which resulted in her death.”

On May 29th 2008 the Police Department concluded their investigation and presented it to the Riverside County District Attorneys’ office, suggesting criminal charges of negligent manslaughter and child endangerment. The District Attorney’s office declined to file charges. Anyah’s parents made a formal request to meet with Mr. Rod Pacheco; Riverside County’s head District Attorney. Mr. Pacheco has the ability to over turn this preliminary decision recently made by his staff.

The signatures herein will help give supporting documentation highlighting the need to have criminal charges filed, as well as a show of community support.

Please show your support in this petition with your signature below, it is important not only for quality of standards in this valley, but to the rights of Autistic Children and the disabled community.

Thank you for your show of support.

Print Name

Signature

Phone number

Comment

GFCF Milkshake

Well, if we can make dairy-free ice cream, then we also can make dairy-free milkshakes. I have a very simple recipe to make shakes, but I'm sure there are more involved methods that might get better results. My kids love this.

Oh, and this is not just dairy-free, it's also soy-free. We use DariFree for the milk base -- a potato-based milk alternative.

First, start by making one recipe for my GFCF ice cream.

Freeze the ice cream and after four hours, it should be just right to make shakes. Or, after freezing, let it sit out for at least 30 mins, maybe more, to soften enough to make shakes.

I make chocolate, so you could use Hershey's cocoa powder or you can make fake-chocolate by using carob powder -- that's what I do and I add about 1 tbsp. carob powder.

So, take 1/2 cup of the soft ice cream, put it into a cup, and then add 1/2 cup of cold DariFree liquid, then stir to gently combine. It won't be too thick, but it won't be runny. Serve with a straw.

Of course, you could stick to vanilla flavor simply by using the DariFree flavor. Or, try others, like banana or berry by adding mashed fruit to the ice cream recipe.

Coasting along

Hey -- I haven't posted much lately and I recently asked myself, "why?" The answer is that I've really been coasting along, making the foods that really have worked and don't take much time. It's a good thing. So I really haven't tried much new lately. I have made pizza a few times with my "polenta cheese" and GF pepperoni. The kids love it. Still working on how to best make the crust. I like a thin, firm crust rather than soft or thick. I'm still tinkering, but I'm at the point where I think making a bunch of mini personal pizza crusts rather than a sheet crust is the way to go. Any time I've made the mini pizzas, the crust has been perfect. It gets soft or soggy when I make the sheet. I'll keep trying and update you later. I'm very happy with the sauce I use and the toppings.