<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>> CELIAC BABIES HELP SUMMARY **************************** try giving them something like corn tortillas to munch on. the only rice crackers my 3 yr old and myself have ever found that we liked now have wheat added so we can no longer buy them. we do not make any breads etc since i can not stand the taste. we did just get an order of the chebe bread to try. anything not made with rice is best for us! **************************** try to get a good blender or food processor and make some fresh fruit purees or smoothies for treats. then they get all natural no sweetners and all the vitamins. we just got a juicer a month ago and we make fresh juice. it sure helps with all the raw vegies you need to intake. my best advice is to change the habits immediately since they are young. it will be much easier! ************************** it will be hard for a couple weeks, but after that they will be easy! yogurt, raisins, cheese.try giving them something like corn tortillas to munch on. . try to get a good blender or food processor and make some fresh fruit purees or smoothies for treats. then they get all natural no sweetners and all the vitamins. we just got a juicer a month ago and we make fresh juice. it sure helps with all the raw vegies you need to intake. they reccomend that half of your vegie intake be from raw and not all from cooked.. we try to just make snacks be something with fruit or vegies. if they start it young, they will be fine with it. it does work. you can make your own fruit rolls when they get older. you can also make your own peanut butter for on fruits when they are older in the blender. but my best advice is to change the habits immediately since they are young. ************************ I try to buy rice cakes as cheaply as possible for snacks, buy gluten free cereal by the case at our grocery store for a slight discount, and try to eat alot of other things that aren't baked goods. I have found that a mixer like a kitchen aid mixer does fine, no need for a bread machine.I also found that making my own pre-mixed dry ingredients saved alot of time *********************** One word of observation - you will be amazed how quickly your children (the 1 year olds) will forget about crackers and cookies when they haven't had them for a week or two. Carbs are addictive. Also, the crackers from Dietary Specialties aren't that expensive, and they taste pretty good. Sweet GF Flour Mix: An excellent flour mix to use in all your cookie, donut, cake, quick bread recipes. It was posted to the list about a year ago, and I use if for all my "sweet-type" baking. The only change I made is not to add Xanthum gum to the mix, but add it to each individual recipe. For anything that's sweet, use this flour as a measure-for-measure substitute for all purpose flour. Just remember to add some xanthum gum (for those who can tolerate it) to the recipe to help it hold together. Mix together and then store in Freezer: *********************** At Passover time (April), the Kosher bakeries always carry a selection of cookies made from potato flour. You can also buy the wonderful Manischevitz macaroons in a can. After Passover, they often go on sale, but will last a year in the sealed can. These choices are not a inexpensive as baking yourself, but they are a lot less costly than the GF cookies from the health food stores or the GF bakeries ************************* Bette Hagman has the best cook book for gluten free. Good Luck ********************** I buy my gf flour from The Authentic Foods as that's all they do is have a strictly gf environment as I don't trust getting products anywhere else because of cross-contamination You have to have them gf inside and outside of their bodies, shampoos ,soaps and etc ********************* The food is all so expensive. If you have a Trader Joes near you, they have a gluten free cracker called Savory ThinsThey are pretty cheap. I would recommend you get a good gluten free cookbook. Bette Hagman has a pretty good one out that is mostly about baking bread. It is her newest one. I like it because it explains about the different flours and gives you recipes for flour mixes. . I have found that I do better baking in the oven and not the bread machine. However, you must have a heavy duty mixer (like a kitchenaid). There are also pretty good mailorder breads from a company called Kinnikinnick web site is Kinnikinnick.com. ******************* Special Diets for Special Kids, a book by Lisa Lewis, Ph.D.., who has a son intolerant to gluten and casein and is autistic (like my son). It is half her story and half cookbook, and well worth the money ($25). But you might be able to find it in a library somewhere, and just copy down the recipes. It might be in either the cookbook section or the section on autism. Because of my own experience, I would be real cautious about introducing dairy to your babies, since you already know of one food intolerance they have. And any tests you can have run on them before you go GF (and on the rest of the family - CD can be latent) would be beneficial for getting a clear diagnosis (though you already know what they have, the medical profession often feels unless THEY have pronounced someone with a diagnosis, then the patient/parent doesn't really have the disease). Once you are GF antibody levels decrease to below detectable levels This is an expensive diet. My only thought for you in order to cut down on cost, is to test the entire family and only feed the expensive gf foods to those that need it. ************************ I find that the homeade stuff is ok but not as consistently as the special order stuff ************************ Try Kinnikinnick..............their bread sampler is 24.95 (OVERTURE) and there is no shipping charge on it........ ********************** One thing I would recommend doing while the twins are still consuming gluten, I would go ahead and have them tested for celiac disease. Not necessarily the biopsy, but at least the blood test and maybe the stool sample test Dr. Fine recommends. That way you will have something to back up your convictions. If the tests come back negative you can still try the GF diet for them and see if it helps. One of the best bargains I have found are rice crackers at Sam's Wholesale Club. They come four in a package for about $5, so that is only $1.25 each for the same quantity that is over $3 at the health food store. Whenever I am in a big city, I check out the HFS and see what bargains I can stock up on, especially cereal ************************* Bette Hagman's cookbook has a great Cheese-It cracker. You need to roll them thin as possible. The best bread I've made makes in 1 hr. and 15 min. start to finish.. I've been making rice krispy squares with choc. or fruity crispys by Malt-O-MealIf you don't grind your own flour, buy it at an asian market to save moneyhttp://www.thevision.net/maxwell/html/ celiac.html ************************** Bette Hagman's book gives several different flour mixes. Sylvan Border Farms comes with tips on how much xanthan gum to add depending on what your baking. ************************* To substitute flour is the best way to buy a large quantity "parboiled" rice, provide for yourself good quality grain mill and make rice flour of your own. That flour you can use to make a pancakes, waffles, also substitute for breadcrumbs, pudding ect., life is beautiful without gluten an you will raise healthy family without dental and doctor expenses ************************ Again, Thanks! ~Mary 'Beth' Buchanan-Broom aka: Skylark Mom of Jen 13, Alex 10, Todd 9, Sarah 8, Ben 4, & Jeremy & Zachary 1,=20 and three little angels in heaven. =3D) =3D) =3D) AOL IM Skylark7k [log in to unmask] http://www.cblink.com/userpages/~circleb Owner of eGroups HeartofSeton and SimplyCeliac.=20 Moderator of eGroups CajunConnection and WordWorkers Owner of Castlenet IRC channels #CajunConnection and #CeliacSprue