So since we're going with alternative products in order to deal with this change in diet (read: my carb loving kids need alternatives to the foods they used to eat), I thought I would compile a list of the things we like, and the things we don't.
Mrs. Leeper's tricolor corn rotini - BAD. I don't know why it didn't turn out right, because I followed the instructions to a "T." But yeah, even after only 6 minutes of boiling it was mushy, and very grainy.
Mrs. Leeper's corn macaroni - GOOD. Odd, since I hated the tricolor, but this worked out really really well. It's perfect in vegan mac and cheese.
Udi's blueberry muffins - AMAZINGLY GOOD. We had these this morning, and I swear to you, I cannot tell the difference between these and the "regular" blueberry muffins. These are sold at my local market in the freezer section (there's a small "gluten free section" there). I keep them in the fridge and heat up two for 1 minute in the microwave. Absolutely perfect.
Kinnikinnick white bread - We're gonna try this at lunch, and I'll let you know how it goes. But it looks really good! This is also kept in the fridge for now.
Daiya cheese - VERY GOOD. I was very skeptical at the non-cheese cheese. Soy cheese still has casein in it, so we had to find another alternative (and what the heck is the point of eating soy cheese if you're a vegan if it still has MILK protein in it??? Ugh!). I'd heard about this somewhere here on Xanga before (probably up to a year ago), and I heard about it again from a
GFCF group on yahoo. That group has given me such good ideas. Anyhow, it's very good. We've had it on pizza, tortillas, and of course my GFCF mac and cheese (made with Mrs. Leeper's corn macaroni), which is featured on
ireallylikefood here.
Van's Gluten Free Blueberry Waffles - GOOD. These are good. I wouldn't say that they're amazing, and if I have to pick a breakfast food that I'm spending $4 on, I'd pick the Udi blueberry muffins over these any day. But sometimes my kids like waffles, and these are really good. They taste kind of grainy to me, but they're a decent substitute.
Bob's Red Mill GFCF brownie mix - VERY GOOD. These were amazing. The bag calls for a little less liquid than I used, but I think it would have stuck to the pan, and been a little too "heavy" if I had followed the recipe exactly. But yeah, these were gone in less than 2 days. I would definitely buy this mix again.
Bob's Red Mill cinnamon raisin bread mix - MEH. This wasn't really good or bad. The flavors were good, but it's very heavy for a bread, which I guess is typical for GF bread. But yeah, it's not something I would pick out to eat again.
Pamela's Bread Mix - GOOD. This was quite good. Again, it encountered the problem of heaviness, but not in the same way as the Bob's Red Mill mix. It was very flavorful and my kids did eat quite a few sandwiches with this bread.
Bob's Red Mill pizza crust - GOOD. We've had this twice already. The first time was kind of a fail, because I didn't really know what I was doing, but now it's a lot easier. The tricky part about this crust is that it's very sticky, so pressing it is hard, but I am armed with some tips from Emeril now, so all is well.
Amy's Kitchen Vegetable Korma - VERY GOOD. The kids don't eat this, but I do. It's very good - spicy and slightly sweet at the same time.
Kinnikinnick vanilla donuts - VERY GOOD. These were perfect. We had these as a pre-dinner snack last night. Probably not the best to eat, but tasted good to me.
Tinkyada rice spaghetti - VERY GOOD. I've used these noodles for stir fry dishes twice, and they are perfect for that. I don't know how they would do as a more Italian dish, but for stir fry, they're the perfect consistency.
Tamari soy sauce, gluten free - GOOD. It's a bit different from the regular soy sauce. It's almost like it's more sweet than salty, but it does work perfectly well with stir fry dishes.
Blue Diamond Almond Breeze - GOOD. This is our milk substitute. The kids drink it mostly in chocolate, but it comes in chocolate, vanilla, and original flavor. I don't feel like it tastes super almondy. I'd drink it in my coffee if it would steam right.
I'm sure I'll have more in the coming weeks, especially when my Kinnikinnick order comes in. But so far, this has been my experience.
As part of a gluten free/casein free diet we're also eating more fruits and vegetables, as well as eating more proteins (like chicken and pork, along with tofu and eggs).
So going GF/CF isn't impossible at all.
Have you tried any gluten-free or casein-free products? What products or recipe sources do you recommend?
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Comments (20)
I will never waste my money on gluten-free or any other type of alt. food product unless I develop some type of gluten intolerance or other food intolerance. College student salary doesn't leave much room for the pricey food...plus I have tried gluten-free waffles before and they were disgusting. I like my eggos :P Kudos to you for being able to do it and afford it!
I follow a gfcf diet, but don't use these products at all. I simply found alternatives to eating so many grains. Carb-cravings can be handled with fruits and vegetables. The change was more mental than physical.
My son LOVES the waffles. We just need a bigger freezer, lol!
@feelslikejuly@xanga - Some people don't have a choice. My son is allergic to wheat, dairy and eggs. Other people do it for reasons that it helps a condition they have.
I really need to try the Mrs. Leeper's and the Daiya cheese. We love Tinkiyada noodles and Almond Breeze milk. I started my son on the sweetened vanilla milk and now have him using the unsweetened original. He loves the chocolate milk. Bob's Red Mill pancake mix is really good too.
I like the cookbook: "Raw for Dessert" by Jennifer Cornbleet. It
contains easy, non-cooked desserts, all flour-free, dairy-free,
egg-free.
@feelslikejuly@xanga - I don't feel that it's a waste of money for my children to not have a reaction to the food they eat. I wonder what kind of gluten free waffles you have tried. I admit some of them are not great, but the Vans apple cinnamon are good, as well as the same brand in blueberry.
@Alatariel40@xanga - And that's great... for an adult. Children and their sometimes picky tastes are a challenge when going on a gluten free diet. But I agree - there are a lot of cheaper ways to go about a gfcf diet. I wish my kids would eat all of what I try with them. However, chicken with sweet potato fries seemed to be a hit, so who knows? I just keep trying. :)
@domestic_diva@xanga - I hear you there. I bought three packages of the waffles today.
@ohritz@xanga - I'm attempting to get my kids to drink the plain milk, but so far have been unsuccessful. But the way I figure it is that it's not exactly like dairy. So where they may have "needed" a certain amount of milk per day when they were drinking cow's milk, they don't actually NEED almond milk (since they're getting calcium and iron supplements in their daily vitamin). I bought my Mrs. Leeper's pasta at Amazon.com and I've also found it in my local Albertson's and I believe it's also available at Safeway.
One more thing I forgot to mention was that there are now gluten free Chex cereals. My kids love the honey nut and the cinnamon. I wish we could have the chocolate Chex, but sadly it's milk chocolate and not just plain cocoa. Too bad!
@redhairedgrrl@xanga - Thanks for the recommendation. I'll look into it! :)
@Morningstarrising@xanga - I found Van's pancakes at my store recently, too, but I've found that the recipe on the EnerG Egg Replacer works pretty good for my kid. I just use a AP GF flour and then we don't have the milk issue anymore, so I use regular milk. Ah, these kids an their allergies. They keep us on our toes, don't they!
@redhairedgrrl@xanga - I'm looking into it, too! We have wheat and egg issues.
@Morningstarrising@xanga, @ohritz@xanga - My dad happened to buy the gluten-free waffles b/c they were on sale for cheaper than regular waffles. Btw, if you both actually read my comment, I said I would buy the products if and only if I had some type of food intolerance; only then the food would not be a waste. geez.
@domestic_diva@xanga - I do have to look into baking more things by myself. I've just not had a huge amount of luck with my past attempts (cinnamon raisin bread and regular plain gf bread). But the brownies turned out ok, so maybe I should bite the bullet. :)
@Morningstarrising@xanga - I can read. I just personally think you could have been more tactful. Saying that it's essentially a waste of money is kind of insulting to those of us who don't have a huge choice in the matter. But perhaps that's just me reading too much into it (because I am personally connected to the subject at hand), so forgive me if I'm incorrect in that assumption.
@Morningstarrising@xanga - It does take some tweeking when you bake GF, especially if you can't use eggs. Have you seen http://glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com/? Her recipes are really good and she has a lot of food allergies. Stuff with yeast just does not work like you're used to, because you need gluten to make bread, well, bready, lol. She has a good bread recipe, though, and I've used it for sunbutter and jelly and my son LOVES it. The different flours are expensive at first, especially buying Xantan gum, but it's cheaper in the long run AND the prepackaged breads have a horribly long shelf life, if they aren't frozen. This stuff freezes well, too. Quick breads (like banana or zucchini) have been my best successes. I'm starting to do mostly recipes on my blog, so check it out every once in a while and you might find something you can use.
@domestic_diva@xanga - I did come across her blog when I was first looking into it all . Thanks for reminding me to check it out again! :) And I do need to try banana bread again. We did really really like this one bread from Kinnikinnick foods - Candida yeast free rice bread. It was REALLY good.
I used to like the EnjoyLife and the 365 brand from Whole Foods. I live in another country now, and these products can't be bought. I eat a lot of meat, rice, fruits and veggies, but sometimes I just want a fake, gluten free cookie!
It pisses me off when my friends want to eat at a Western restaurant (I mean, what's the point of living in an Asian country if you don't love the food?) and I don't want to tell them that I don't eat wheat, but I also don't want to be sick the next day. I never know what do to since most of the Western restaurants are bread everything (it's like they never thought of a putting a salad on the menu).
@mycontinuity@xanga - Check out http://www.cookiesforme.com/. My son loves their cookies!
@ohritz@xanga - I don't think I could afford to have those shipped to my country, but thanks :D
i like the first one
I've tried GF/CF animal crackers before. I was in my early teens at the time though, so I don't remember what my reaction was to them.