GFCF Chocolate Chip Cookies

I think yummy, homemade gluten free/dairy free treats make going gluten/casein free a lot less of a "diet" and more of a lifestyle change. These are based on a recipe in my FAVORITE gluten free cookbook by Annalise Roberts, Gluten Free Baking Classics.


1 cup Spectrum Naturals Organic Shortening (Whole Foods has this)
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 Tablespoon organic gluten free vanilla extract
2 cups plus 2 Tablespoons Brown Rice Flour Mix (see below)
1.5 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon xanthum gum
1/2 teaspoon salt
12 ounces Enjoy Life gluten, dairy and soy free chocolate chips

1.Heat oven to 375 degrees. I use teflon sheet or you can spray cookie sheet with cooking spray.
2. Beat shortening and sugar with electric mixer. Add eggs and vanilla. Beat until fluffy.
3. Add flour, baking soda, xanthum gum and salt. Mix at medium speed until well blended.
4. Drop tablespoon of dough onto cookie sheet 2 inches apart. Bake in center of oven for 8-10 minutes until light golden brown.

ALSO...I grind up cashews in a coffee grinder to make cashew flour. Then I mix 2 parts cookie dough with 1 part cashew flour to add some protein.

Brown Rice Flour Mix

6 cups brown rice flour (extra finely ground)
2 cups potato starch
1 cup tapioca flour
2 cups sorghum flour (optional)

GFCF Burger and Fries

My daughter asked if we could order out once a week. She is tired of my cooking. Even though we are in NYC and there is a gluten free place which will deliver, it is still difficult to be sure the food will work for my two year old who is also intolerant of dairy, soy and corn. Soy is the biggest problem, because like gluten, soy is in everything. But, I sort of understand that she would like something prepared by someone else once in a while, so I said "yes." And I will be preparing a gluten free/dairy free/soy free/corn free identical meal for me and my two year old son.

Cooking is hard work, but I have also realized that it is my job to keep my kids healthy and if you do it all the time it somehow becomes less of a burden as it is woven into your everyday life. You stop thinking about it and just do it. Sort of like putting on a shirt or your shoes when you are getting dressed. You just stop thinking about how difficult it is if it something you make a part of your routine life. What has helped me is embracing the new home cooked, old fashioned lifestyle we have found being gluten free.

GF Burgers with Butternut Squash Puree
inspired by Jessica Seinfeld's book...but DIDN'T WORK with GF breadcrumbs and turkey. I am leaving it in my blog so you can get an idea of the recipes in her book, with a disclaimer that while I thought it was yummy, my kids actually prefer plain old hamburgers with salt. "Deceptively Delicious", Jessica Seinfeld's new cookbook, is interesting. It is sort of homemade processed food where you are hiding pureed vegetables in food instead of chemicals. If it gets people to cook homemade food for their kids without additives and preservatives--I think it is a huge success. But, the recipes are a little too gluten and casein loaded to translate to GFCF.

1/2 pound ground organic beef
1 cup gluten free breadcrumbs (3 rice cakes and a handful of potato
chips in the cuisinart)
1/4 c. butternut squash puree (cut squash in half, bake face down on
cookie sheet until soft, then puree in food processor or blender)
3 clove garlic, minced
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
Directions:
1. Cut squash in half. Bake flesh side down in 400 degree oven for 1
hour. Puree in food processor.
2. Make breadcrumbs in cuisinart by breaking up rice cakes to smaller
pieces into the food processor. When they are finely ground, add a
handful of potato chips.
3. Mix ground turkey, breadcrumbs, squash puree, garlic and salt and
pepper together. Form into six small burgers.
4. Cook in skillet over medium high heat in a little bit of oil for
4-5 minutes. Turn burger and put the pan in the over to bake for 5 more

French Fries

Unlike baking, cooking can be more of a free for all without all the
fuss of measuring and being so careful.

2 potatoes
oil
salt

1. Peel potatoes
2. Cut 1/2 inch rounds and then cut 1/2 inch fries from rounds.
3. Put potatoes in mixing bowl and add 1 T. of oil to coat
4. Carefully line potatoes on baking tray so that they will brown nicely. Sprinkle salt on top.
3. Cook in 350 degree oven for 40 minutes turning once to get crispy.

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The Dangers of Processed Food

Processed food is everywhere. It is hard to avoid and seems to be a staple among young children. We grew up on goldfish and macaroni and cheese, so I used to think it wasn't that bad. But the more I know about nutrition, the scarier this processed food is becoming. Being gluten and dairy free and soy light eliminates 95% of this processed kid food. But as I read every ingredient on every label on every food that I even consider buying, I have become more aware of how this processed food has changed since we were growing up. Although we don't eat goldfish anymore, the "goldfish" today are probably not the same recipe that they were when we were growing up. They probably contain additional additives and preservatives that didn't even exist when we were growing up.

The article: "Surprise Ingredients in Fast Food" I found at NaturalNews really opened my mind to how bad processed food is for developing children and how most processed food contains "six ingredients commonly used to hide free glutamate (MSG): calcium caseinate, hydrolyzed corn, yeast extract, soy protein isolate, spices, and natural flavors."

"MSG-Hidden Sources" on NaturoDoc also gives a thorough explanation of how MSG is hidden in most processed food. According to the article: "Manufacturers also hide MSG as part of "natural flavorings," because it is a natural product. But being natural is not the same as being harmless.

For snacks, we try to have fruit, nuts, homemade cookies, homemade muffins, rice cakes, Organic Kettle potato chips, corn chips or organic popcorn which have three ingredients (organic potatoes, safflower or sunflower oil and salt) and are clearly labeled NO MSG, NO TRANSFATS, NO ARTIFICIAL ANYTHING.

One GFCF day at a time

All science begins with anecdote...can't remember where that came from.
it wasn't me but it stuck.

There is no double blind study for your child.

Our GFCF Story

My son lost the ability to point, wave, blow kisses and speak at 17.5 months after receiving an antibiotic injection for a 104.7 temperature. He lost eye contact for 24 hours and started having tantrums. Because I had a five year old daughter, I knew his symptoms were not typical of a normal illness. I was determined not to let my son slip away. When my son's severe neurological symptoms started I stayed up all night researching on the internet the symptoms I was observing. Then I put him on the gluten free casein free diet and watched him get better.

It turns out six months of worsening diarrhea and illness had destroyed his gut flora and the antibiotic injection wiped it out completely. Changing his diet and giving him probiotics and enzymes has turned him from a perpetually sick boy with a verbal processing delay and red cheeks and a blistering diaper rash to a perpetually healthy bright talkative boy without any developmental problems (that we know about :).)

This blog is our story of his recovery and how other people in our family also got better through dietary intervention.

At 11 months, my son started projectile vomiting, I thought it was a stomach virus. Days later it was a strange blistery diaper rash that wouldn't heal. At the same time, he developed a cold and cough that never went away. An ear infection, then another cold. Then another blistery diaper rash. The whole time he never napped for more than 1/2 an hour or 45 minutes during the day and he still didn't sleep through the night. And his diapers smelled worse and worse. When he was on milk, he was severely constipated, when he wasn't on milk he had diarrhea.

At 15 months I consulted two allergists and a GI doctor about what I thought was a milk allergy. They told me he wasn't allergic to milk and there was nothing wrong. At 17 months I told my husband to bring my son's dirty diaper into the pediatrician because something was wrong with it. Then he got a high fever which led to the antibiotic injection and subsequent personality change.

I put him on the gluten free, casein free immediately and told my doctor that I needed to see a GI doctor because I suspected his developmental issues were driven by the months of worsening diarrhea. I have consulted many doctors about his illness and recovery. In the process I have acquired a huge amount of information on celiac disease, food intolerances and nutrition.

It turns out my son and my daughter both have two genes (DQ2/DQ8) for celiac disease and all the symptoms of celiac which resolve on a gluten free diet.

I say I turned heaven and earth to get my son better and it worked. The most important thing I would like to share with parents is that the gluten free, casein free AND SOY FREE diet works. It doesn't work for everyone, but it worked for us. It saved my son's life. He went from no words, no mama no dada at 18 months to "Mom, I am a musician...What is a musician?" at 3 years old.

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