What we can eat: part II

This list seems to get smaller and smaller every month, but at the same time, the kids and I feel better when we stay on it, so there is definitely a silver lining. My daughter was starting to have trouble with her stomach again, so we've geared down on the diet, with new knowledge to add to the mix in our constant search for safe food for her.


What We Can Eat List
(A gluten free list that should be safe for most Celiacs. Products' ingredients and processing can always change, however, so this list can become out of date at any time.)

Some whole, fresh, organic veggies - no wax coatings, no preservative sprays, have to be able to peel them or wash them thoroughly with GF soap, or both. For myself, have to be careful that the mulch or fertilzer that the veggies can rest on aren't CC with gluten grains or derived from gluten. Not sure how much this affect my midget. Corn is still iffy, although more for CC reasons than the corn itself, we think.

Some whole, fresh, organic fruits - Once again, no wax coatings, no preservative sprays, have to be able to peel them or wash thoroughly with GF soap, or both. Still not sure if my daughter has to be careful with fruit, or if we've been getting some with sprays that we weren't aware of. Apples, pears, peaches, and citrus are the worst 'coating offenders' we've had issues with.

Organic unprocessed meats (red meat if grass fed, possibly poultry, wild caught fish, wild caught shellfish) - If there is not organic meat, grass-fed alone will work. No hormones/no antibiotics meat works in a pinch. Poultry has to be skinless, and it's in the 'iffy' category currently due to CC issues with the skin. Fish can't be cut up at the butcher's, and the other meat we are buying in larger amounts, still sealed from the slaughterhouse.

GF organic beans - Must be triple washed in GF soap. Not sure which beans may work. We're still checking it out. Nuts have been a bit of a failure and the kids both don't like them, so we're holding off for a bit. Seeds, we're foraging for (chalk up another Yuppie on the Prairie for us, eh?)

Pre-made foods:
Bariani Olive oil
Earth Balance organic peanutbutter, smooth or crunchy - checking on this one.
RealSalt sea salt - This one makes me ill, but we believe the kids are doing okay on it.
Field Day Mediterranean sea salt - on order, but we hear good things
Madhava agave nectar - still in the maybe category
Crown Prince Brisling Sardines in Spring Water - still in the maybe category
Horokan brand wakame sea weed - still in the maybe category

Due to reactions, we've eliminated the following until we find safe brands to use, or figure out how to grow it ourself:
Grains (except in-bulk Ancient Harvest Quinoa, triple washed, but it's getting iffy)
Starch powders
Dairy
seeds
herbs (growing our own, now, and those are fine)
spices
nuts (except the periodic unshelled nut that looks safe)
soy (too high a CC risk)
eggs - iffy, not sure why there may be a problem, but still iffy when we try 'em.


Today we're heading out to the local farmer's markets to ask questions of the folks there in the hopes that some of their farms might be able to help us out. So far, it's been difficult to find produce that is completely safe and neither I nor my kids have a reaction to, but we're working towards it, slowly but surely.

Gluten Free on the Cheap - Menu for a Food Stamp Budget

I came across a useful thing the other day, on the 'Talk About Curing Autism' website. As some of you know, many folks with autism do better when they go off gluten, or casein, or soy, or all three. Like most of us, however, people attempting this diet don't always have the cash to spend willy-nilly on specialty foods.

So some lovely folks at this site decided to try and offer some help. They developed a month's menu for a family of four that is gluten free, casein free, and soy free, and that can be bought on a food stamp budget. They managed to purchase their month's worth of food for $319.

I feel rather guilty and vaguely decadent, knowing how much more than that I spend a month, for just three people, too.

In any case, their menu includes the menu itself, a grocery list, and a link to all the foods you might need a recipe for (they're assuming you know what a carrot stick is, however). The article discussing how they went about this and what it can do for those with autism is here:
GFCFSF Diet on Food Stamps

The menu
Grocery list

The recipe links are on the menu page.

A WARNING:
While this is a great resource (the grocery list even mentions brand names), if you are a Celiac, you need to double check all the brands to be certain they are gluten free. A few of the foods were a contamination risk for celiacs, or were only acceptable if purchased from certain companies.

One example is their recommendation of Quaker oats for breakfast, which is not recommended for celiacs because Quaker doesn't have GF oats.

Overall, however, I think this is a very helpful collection of information. It's inspiring to try and come up with my own. Although considering my cooking skills resemble that of taste-bud challenged slug, I have a feeling it may take me a while to find enough food to make up an entire week, let alone a month.

See what I can do, though.

[EDIT] Sadly, it looks like this site has taken down this particular article and the links, or at least put them where I can no longer find them. Which is a huge shame, as it was a great resource! If I ever hear of it going up again, I'll post it at my new site, buffalo-to-go.com

Gluten Free on the Cheap - Tips for stretching that Food Budget

With the recession affecting us all, you can find a lot of ideas for saving money floating around the web right now, whether you're on a gluten free diet or not.

1. Buy in Bulk, on-line, or both
2. Buy on Sale
3. Buy less meat and more legumes
4. Buy less dairy
5. Eat less processed foods and more fruits and veggies

But sometimes, it's still not enough. So here's a few ideas that might help you stretch your dollars even more. Some of these require a little extra work initially, but they'll definitely help the budget.

1. Use every scrap. Many of our traditional recipes discard potentially edible parts from our produce. A little research on what is safe to eat may find you another seasoning or side dish from these discarded pieces. With Kale, for example, rather than discarding the stalks, chop and peel them to add to a stir fry, or boil them to use as a side dish. Wash and chop green carrot tops and use like you would green leaf parsley (unless you're one of the few who has contact allergies to these). Save chicken bones and use to make a batch of chicken broth. Salt and roast any of the seeds from your winter squash.

2. Use mini-leftovers inside of bento boxes. Those leftovers that are too small to provide even a one person meal can still be used in a creative and appealing lunch. A couple tablespoons of pasta sauce, for example, are perfect for a meatball or two. A few pieces of stir-fried broccoli, a couple slices of apple, a quarter of a hotdog - most of this is the perfect size to put inside an adult's or child's bento box. For some lovely ideas on how to utilize leftovers like this, check out the blog Lunch in a Box. It hasn't been updated in a while, but it's still worth a look.

3. Start an herb garden. Herb plants cost very little, the seeds even less, but the herbs themselves are fairly expensive if you buy them in the produce section. A small pot with a few often-used herbs can save you quite a bit of money, and can be grown either inside or outside, depending on your space requirements. You can snip off the leaves and dry them for later use, if you don't use them before the plants goes to seed. And you'll know absolutely that these seasonings are 100% gluten free.

4. In the same vein, start a garden, period. Pots on a porch or patio, raised beds in a yard, or even a few hanging pots inside the house can get you some extra produce - strawberries and tomatoes are great for a hanging garden. Get a small fruit tree that does well in your area so you have less upkeep to keep it healthy. Buy infant plants at a nursery, or start your garden from seed. It's most helpful if you get plants that produce a lot, like zucchini, or that you like to eat but usually can't afford to buy. You don't even have to purchase mulch for it, if you're anything like me. I had enough grassy weeds in the yard to pull them up, chop them up, and use them as mulch for my own garden. Free and gluten-free mulch. Wonderful.

5. Learn what's native and edible in your area. In our modern world, most places have edible plants that are often looked at as weeds. These are usually gluten free, and if they are weeds, they will usually grow with little to no effort on your part. Where I live, I learned of edible flowers, fruits, leaves, seeds and legumes that were growing naturally in my small yard. I even have wild amaranth! It took a bit of time to confirm which plants were which with the local botanical gardens, and I had to make sure I hadn't used any poisonous sprays near these plants, but it's been well worth it. I don't have to water, I don't weed, I don't fertilize. I simply pick and process these foods when it's the proper season. It doesn't get any cheaper than that. Also, don't forget that you can ask some of the local large acreage property owners if they would mind if you harvested wild forage from their property.

Hope some of these ideas can help you out in your quest for a less expensive gluten free menu!

Gluten Free on the Cheap - beet greens

Yes, I have no skill in food presentation.

I think this is something all of us who are going gluten free can appreciate: recipes for gluten free foods that don't use expensive ingredients. In this economy, it's more important than ever to save money, but we still need to stay gluten free so we can stay healthy so we can continue to earn a living, yes?

So, now I'll be periodically putting in tips and recipes for cheaper gluten free living. These are not the best recipes, and I'm sure better cooks than I can come up with better recipes (please, share 'em with me if you do!). But at least it may give some beginning celiacs a starting place. :-)

Beet greens

If you buy organic beets - which aren't that expensive, thankfully - no need to cut off and discard the greens. You can eat these with very little preparation time or effort.

What you need:
fresh beet greens, roughly chopped.
1 Tb, or less, olive oil, sunflower oil, or peanut oil
minced garlic

What you do:
1. Heat the oil in a pan on med. heat. Add the garlic and fry it until fragrant.
2. Add the beet greens and sauté until soft.
3. Serve as a side dish.

Note:
--We've noticed a difference in flavor between greens from the red beets vs. greens from the yellow/orange ones. I preferred the greens from red beets, personally.
--My kids preferred the flavor that we got using the sunflower oil.
-- For something to use the beets for, we've thinly sliced them, rubbed olive oil and salt on them, and baked them in the oven to make a type of chip.

Nice article on what it's like to be Celiac

Just thought this was particularly nice - if a little graphic, LOL.

ruhlman.com

But it's Gluten Free!

I hate the term Gluten Free.

Why? Because it's incorrect. In fact, Gluten Free is simply legalese. It doesn't mean 'no gluten.' It means less than a certain amount of gluten. And that 'certain amount' is whatever our country wants it to be...once the USA makes up its mind. The term should really be 'really low gluten' products rather than 'gluten free.'

I've mentioned this before, but it's been frustrating me a bit more lately, what with trying to discover the gluten levels of all our foods, now that we need to know. Because if my daughter reacts to above 10 ppm of gluten, then many 'gluten free' foods are no good for us. But most people who aren't celiacs - and many who are - believe that gluten free MEANS 'free from all gluten.'

So I cannot tell you how many times I've called up a company and had a version of the following conversation:

Me: I was hoping you could tell me what level of gluten you test for in your gluten free products.

Employee (in a slow, what-kind-of-idiot-are-you, voice): Our gluten free products are gluten free.

Me: Yes, I'm aware of that, but I needed to know what parts per million of gluten they contain because we have a child who is more sensitive than the average celiac.

Employee: They don't have any gluten. They're gluten free. They're made with no gluten ingredients.

Me: I'm glad to hear that. I'm sure they meet the legal gluten free standard of less than 20 ppm. But do you test your products for their gluten content?

Employee: They don't have any gluten. They're gluten free.

It typically doesn't get any better, because the only way to get past this is to actually give them a lesson in 'gluten free' really means and that's just not all that productive. Or polite, LOL.

What really bothers me about the term 'Gluten Free' however is when there are doctors who don't really know what it means, either. I've read so many accounts of people who were only buying gluten free products and were still sick. But when they spoke to their doctors, many of them were accused of cheating on their diets. Or they were assumed to have refractory celiac disease that simply doesn't heal. And it turned out that these people were simply consuming more gluten than their bodies could handle.

While knowing that their patient is on a 'really low gluten' diet might prompt some doctors to think about whether you might be getting too much gluten, a gluten free diet doesn't seem to have the same effect for many of them. Because a 'gluten free' diet doesn't have gluten. Right?

Wrong.

You would be stunned by the number of places gluten can worm its way into our food sources. For most of us, this isn't a problem. While celiacs have differing levels of sensitivity to gluten, many celiacs don't seem to react to super-low levels of gluten. Most of us do just fine with gluten free products. However, anecdotally, a small minority of celiacs have reported reactions to 5 ppm of gluten or less. Reactions have included the DH rash, which is a reaction that would be hard to contribute to something other than gluten.

As a result, if you are a celiac and you believe you have had a gluten reaction to something, don't dismiss it simply because the product has very little gluten. Do a little research, try it again under controlled conditions if you feel up to it, get a gluten home test kit and check how much it has for yourself. But if anyone tells you that you couldn't have reacted because the product is 'gluten free?'

They're wrong.

Here's some of the wacky, crazy places that gluten can be found in a gluten free diet (wbro stands for wheat, barley, rye and oats):

1. In your grains. Grains are often grown in the same or adjacent fields as wbro, shipped in the same trucks that shipped wbro, milled on the same mills, processed on the same lines or in the same rooms. That gives a lot of opportunity for cross contamination. So if a 'gluten free' grain or flour that you eat hasn't been tested for gluten, you have no idea how much gluten is in it.
2. In your beans, nuts, and seeds. Again, these are often grown in the same or adjacent fields as wbro, especially beans like soy beans, that are often grown as a rotation crop with wheat in the exact same field. They have the same issues with processing, as well, so they can be easily contaminated. So if you get sick and, say, nuts are all you ate? Don't discount it as a gluten cc source.
3. In your fruits and veggies. A number of pesticides, fertilizers, and coatings have gluten as a binder. It's little enough that if you had, say, one apple with a coating (that helps keep it from rotting as quickly), you might be okay, but if you had 2 or 3, it might be enough to make you sick. Mulch can also be made of straw from wheat, oats, etc... and will come into contact with veggies and fruits that grow lower to the ground. Since wbro aren't chemicals, they can still be used in organic products as well as traditionally farmed produce.
4. In your dairy products. They have shown minute amounts of gluten comes through breastmilk in humans, so nursing moms are advised to stay away from gluten when they nurse babies with celiac disease. Cow's milk...it's still breastmilk, just not human's. So if cows are fed oats, rye, barley, etc... in their feed, guess what can come through in the milk? And following that, anything made from the milk such as cheese or cream.
5. In your gluten free products. Because again, these aren't free from gluten, they are just 'really low gluten.'

To say again - this isn't an issue for most celiacs. Most of us are okay. But sometimes, we get more sensitive to gluten the longer we stay away from it. Previously safe products don't make us feel so good after a while. Or maybe we never seemed to heal all the way, we still get muscle aches, we still get stomach pains.

And if that's you? You might want to start checking things out in your gluten free world and see if your 'really low gluten' is not quite low enough for what your body needs. :-)

How Gluten Free are Gluten Free Companies?

Now that we're suspecting our daughter is reacting to gluten between 10-20 ppm, I've been doing a lot of research. We need to find products that are less than this, obviously. It feels a bit like when I first got diagnosed and was scrambling for information just so we could EAT. And I'd be happy to share, so you all don't have to do this too!

Common Companies That Make GF Products
This information is not guaranteed, of course, and it only applies to the GF products (some companies have separate facilities for their GF products and thus, separate practices). I am only relaying the information that I was told by one, sometimes the combination of two, employees. It could have errors, as a result. The company could also change practices at any time. But...this is the best I've got at the moment. :-)

Arrowhead Mills
10 ppm or less. Consistent testing.

Bob's Red Mill
20 ppm or less (although most test at 10 ppm or less). Every batch tested.

Ener-G
5 ppm or less. Consistent testing (not every batch).

EnjoyLife Foods
10 ppm or less. Every batch tested. GFCO certified.

Glutino and Gluten Free Pantry (same parent company)
20 ppm or less. Every batch tested.

Kinnickinnick
5 ppm or less. Every ingredient allowed into the GF facility is tested BEFORE it's allowed in. No tests on the products post-production due to this.

Lundberg Family Farm
20 ppm or less (for rice products). Rice Chips are tested, every batch. Rice flour is tested periodically.

Pamela's Products
5 ppm or less. Every batch tested.

Rudi's
10 ppm or less. Every batch tested. GFCO certified.

Udi's Gluten free Foods
10 ppm or less. Every batch tested. GFCO certified.

I am still awaiting information from Hodgson Mill, at the moment, and when I do, it will be added to the list.


Now, a bit of information on testing
- 5 ppm of gluten is currently the lowest amount of gluten that we have accurate tests for.

- Testing every batch will be of more concern for more sensitive celiacs, and those with worse reactions, as it should mean you're not going to get a cross-contaminated batch from that company.

- GF facilities will make cross contamination less likely, which is of concern with companies that don't test every batch. In the above list, Arrowhead Mills and Rudi's (and Hodgson Mill, when it's put up) did not have a GF facility. Pamela's Products has a GF facility for their flour mixes, but not for their other GF products, such as cookies.