Going Gluten Free

Well, we got the news back a couple of weeks ago, my son has all kinds of food sensitivities. He is also autistic so we put him on the gluten free casein free diet (aka GFCF diet or the autism diet).

Roughly half the kids on the spectrum have GI problems where they cannot break down the proteins in wheat and milk, gluten and casein and it affects their brain and behavior. Anyway, we had bloodwork done and it confirmed that he was allergic to gluten, eggs, wheat, bananas, cows milk, cheese, yogurt, and swordfish. I'm not too worried about the swordfish as we would never eat that in a million years, yuck! But the rest is a major drag, especially the eggs and bananas.

The doctor referred us to a nutritionist who we met with and she was wonderful and gave us some pointers. She recommended a local market and Trader Joes. I loved Trader Joes but it is kind of far for us. This weekend I went to Whole Foods, and boy was that a mistake. Whole Foods is awful, in fact I would put them in the sucks the big green weenie category. It was laid out like a maze and took forever to get through it, the aisles are too narrow, and they are not coupon friendly. I even was charged twice for an item because a coupon did not scan. The lady behind me left the checkout lane in a huff because I gave the checker a bunch of coupons. Actually, I wouldn't even call it a bunch, only $12.50 worth, which is nothing for me. I spent close to $100 for two bags of groceries!!!

Un-freaking believable!

It wasn't like I bought a whole weeks worth of groceries. I bought stuff at Aldi on Saturday. I just shopped the sales at Whole Foods and tried to match with coupons. I bought a 3 lb pkg of grass fed ground beef, 8 Gluten Free Pantry mixes (on sale), some mangoes, organic peanut butter, GF frozen waffles, 2 frozen entrees, cereal, dream bites, and a few other Gluten free, dairy free or organic pantry staples. Two paper bags of stuff. Needless to say, I am not going back there unless I really need something I can't find elsewhere. I simply did not like the place, the prices or the people there, although there was one young girl working there who was helpful and tried to find some Dairyfree for me. I think she was new or it was a fluke. They did not have it and she recommended I go to the health food store up the street.

In better gluten free news, I baked my first loaf of Gluten free bread. Actually, it was the first time I have ever made bread. It was quite tasty and moist. My son said it was much better than Udi's or stuff from the store. I will need to do it more often. Here is the video from Pamela, who makes the mix I used. I only wish I had watched this first. I think if I used warmer water it would have been fluffier.

You are invited: Watch my Autism Speaks video message

You are invited: Watch my Autism Speaks video message

My son is autistic and so I walk to raise funds for Autism Speaks. This will be our 5th year. Please help.

I recently put my son on the gluten free casein free diet and boy is that busting up my budget. I may post recipes up occasionally as I find stuff. He actually liked the pizza I made yesterday with GF Bisquick and soy cheese. So many autism moms claim a tremendous improvement in their kids with this diet and so I'm trying it. Wish me luck.

Oh, and contribute to my autism walk page too if you can. I'd really appreciate that.