Should the Whole Family Go Gluten Free?

Last day to enter the modest swimsuit giveaway at Lessons From Ivy.

Is it fair when one family member has an allergy or a food intolerance to expect everyone else in the family to follow the same diet? You may have a different philosophy when eating at a restaurant or going to a party, but consider the following:

If you have to make separate meals for everyone, will it cost your family more money?  Is your family willing to sacrifice other things, say cable TV or internet, just so they can have the treats that they are used to because they want their own meals?  The fairest thing for the family as a whole is financially stability which in my book trumps individual fairness any day.

Is it fair not to teach all your children self-control not just the allergic one?  Yes, a chocolate cake made with real flour tastes good, but teaching your kids how to say no to their desires now isn't unhealthy.  In fact it will pay huge dividends as they get older.  If they can't say no to a brownie now how are they going to learn how to say no when it really matters?

Is it fair not to teach your children how to show love and compassion on the family member with a food intolerance?  My cravings for gluten have gone away, however when I had to be dairy free because of nursing I would have traded my soul for a glass of milk or a piece of cheese.  Before our bodies develop an apathy to the foods we can no longer eat, it is hard to sit and watch someone eat a real plate of spaghetti, or real pizza, or real cookies when we might not be able to eat them ourselves.  It is kind and compassionate not to parade these foods in front of someone's nose when they are still tempted by them (which will be for awhile) Take this as an opportunity to allow your family to be kind and compassionate on someone they should care for and love.

Is it fair not to provide your family with the best nutrition?  A gluten free diet can be very healthy if done right, in fact everyone may notice a difference in their waist lines after beginning one.  Giving your family healthy options as often as possible is the right thing to do and you shouldn't feel like you're depriving your children because you're giving your family a healthy diet.

So is it fair?  I think so, most importantly it lets whoever has the food restrictions know that they have a family in the "fight" with them, and it also sends the message that "hey, this isn't so bad" which can be immensely helpful especially to a child with special dietary needs.

Naturally Gluten Free Foods

Be sure to join my giveaway at Lessons from Ivy for a Modest Swimsuit

If your child's doctor, or yours has said those fatal word's "I think she's allergic to gluten" your first reaction may have been relief that there was finally a diagnosis to their mystery ailments, but then the first grocery trip comes and you became overwhelmed at how many foods your family used to eat contain this mysterious little binding agent.

I completely understand getting overwhelmed, in my house one or more persons can not eat the following: Gluten, Bananas, Avacados, Kiwi, Dairy, any Mold Carrying Food (aged cheeses like Parmesan or cottage chesse are out), Peanut Butter, and Almonds.  Trying to make a dinner that everyone likes, and everyone can eat can be a daunting challange indeed.  However, I am a huge proponent of only making one meal for everyone in the home, it really is cheaper if you're making everything from scratch, convience foods are a different story.

So what foods are gluten free?

• If it doesn't come in a box or bag, it's probably gluten free. Most unprocessed foods just don't have gluten in them 
• Unprocessed meats are gluten free, don't get anything with a marinade without first reading the label. (Check your spice rack to make sure none of your spice blends contain suspicious fillers)
• Unprocessed fish, be sure to read labels carefully however if you're buying fish from a box, can, or bag.
• Unprocessed fruits and veggies are gluten free.
• Eggs
• Milk, and most forms of dairy.  Cottage cheese, hard cheeses, sour cream, plain and flavored yogurts, and best of all most ice creams : ) (check labels!)
• Potato Flakes (check the label)
• Rice, be wary of rice mixes but plain rice is fine.
• Cornmeal, just make sure it isn't mixed with flour
• Specialty Convience foods that are labeled gluten free. There is even a banquet dinner or two that's gluten free.  My recommendation however is to skip the convience foods as much as possible because they tend to make this diet more expensive.  I'll buy pasta and bread but that's about it.

You can do this! Gluten free grocery trips aren't that hard once you learn what you can eat.  Yes, you or your child may have to give up some of the premade processed foods you once loved, but almost anything can be duplicated with the right recipe.  Patience and experimentation (not to mention a lot of prayer) will pay off and before you know it you won't even miss gluten, seriously there will come a point when cravings stop and you embrace the new normal, because really it's not that bad.

Feel free to send any questions about living gluten free or recipes to joyfulkasey at gmail dot com.  I'm not a licensed nutritionist just experienced in this diet.

How to Save $1000 Dollars this Year

So how do you save $1000 in a year? Simply by doing 10 things that will save you 2 dollars a week each. Easy right?  Here's my list, I'd love to hear any of your suggestions as well.

1) Make my own Gluten free bread, my recipe costs less than a $1 a loaf (really good by gf standards).  GF bread at our supermarket costs $4 so this will save me $3 a week or $156 a year saved!

2)Use my cloth diapers, I may wait to start this one until after my family get's moved, I haven't been using them much lately because having 2 under 2 and trying to move has been needless to say, tricky.  But, let's say I even use cloth diapers half the time so I'd save $4 a week, or $208 a year! (Alright just typing that number makes me want to use them now, I think I will.....)

3) Dry my laundry outside, this one will have to wait until we move.  I've not run the numbers myself but supposedly this will save, $100 dollars a year easily.

4) Have leftover night once a week instead of making a new meal, or stretch protein by using more rice or beans (just try to eliminate food waste in general).  I'll figure conservatively this one will save my family $5 a week, or $260 a year.

5) Plan better for snacks on the road, no more dollar menu stops!  I confess this takes at least $3 a week from our income, if not more.  Figuring conservatively this will save $156 a year.

6) Use my Swagbucks gift certificates to buy GF flour from amazon. For this I would need to buy 8 packs of flour for $30 so I don't have to pay shipping.  This works out to be a two month supply in that time I typically earn $10 worth of gift certificates from Swagbucks, making each bag $2.50 a piece or $1.50 cheaper than buying it from my grocery store.  This will be a savings of $78 a year.

7) Stop buying a new Goodwill toy for my kids every week : ) They certainly have enough already and extended family tend to spoil them as much as I do.  This will save at least $52 a year.

If I implement these seven simple things my family will have save $1002 in just one year!!


I think I'll be copying the list and hanging it on my refrigerator to keep me motivated.  Any other ideas for this penny pinching Mamma?

By the way if you haven't tried Swagbucks yet, I've seriously made over $25 in gift cards this year without much effort.

Fabulous Mexican Dip

This is not necessarily the healthiest side dish, but it is oh so good.  Check all labels!

1 Box Cream Cheese (I use the kind with the lowest fat so I feel slightly less guilty)
1 Can Gluten Free Chili (I use with turkey meat or vegetarian so I feel slightly less guilty)
Enough Cheddar Cheese to top Everything

Salsa
Fresh Veggies of Choice

Layer the first 3 ingredients on a plate in that order, and microwave, until heated through and cheese is melted.  Top with green bell pepper, onions, salsa, avocado, or whatever else you like.  Serve as a spread for warm corn tortillas or with corn chips.

This is great for parties!  People won't even know they're eating something gluten free.

Gluten Free Stuffing

Being gluten free is made a little easier by having recipes like this one, and for that I am thankful.

As Everyone is planning their menus for thanksgiving I submit to you my cornbread stuffing recipe I found a few years ago.  If made with a gluten free corn bread recipe, it's also naturally gluten free.  Your celiac family will love you for it.  Stuffing was the one Thanksgiving thing I really missed when switching to a gluten free diet.  I make a huge batch so I can freeze a left-over casserole.  Seriously, this is way better than Stoffers and not that hard to make.

You Will Need
- 1/2 stick of butter
- 2 Cups of onion chopped
- 1 Cup of celery
- 2 Cups of Chicken Broth
- 1 16 oz can of corn (drained)
- 2 4 oz can of chilies (optional but very good)
- 3 tbs of fresh parsley (dried is OK, fresh is better)
- 1/2 tsp paprika
- 1/4 tsp of oregano
- 1/8 tsp pepper
- 6 cups of crumbled corn bread
- 1/2 cup chopped pecans

Saute the onion and celery with the butter, then combine all the remaining ingredients in a large enough casserole (I generally use 2) and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Feel free to add any other goodies like browned sausage.  I wouldn't recommend cooking this in the bird because by the time the stuffing would be done the turkey would be very dry and over-cooked.

I generally cook this the night before then reheat in the oven while the turkey is resting. 
This Recipe Serves 8 I generally double for my group of 15, we still have mounds left over.

Bread Maker Bread

Nothing smells or tastes better than freshly baked bread, but let's face it Gluten Free bread mixes are quite expensive.  They range anywhere between 5 and 8 dollars just for one loaf.  The following recipe is gluten free and works out to be less than $1 a loaf, that's right less than a $1.  I realize you can make bread for less than $.25 a loaf if you use traditional flour, but less than a $1 is doing really well for gluten free. Not only that but this recipe is designed for the bread maker, making it even easier!  It's the recipe I've been using since I've gotten married and it turns out quite well every time.

Dry Ingredients
2 Cups Brown or White Rice Flour*
1 Cup Soy Flour
1/3 Cup Corn starch
1 packet of unflavored Gelatin (or 1 tbs xanthan gum or guar gum)
1 1/2 tsp salt
3 tbs of Sugar, Honey or Molasses (If using Honey or Molasses combine with wet ingredients)


Wet Ingredients
4 egg Whites
1/4 Cup Vegetable Oil
1 tsp Cider Vinegar
1 1/4 Cups Warm Water

1 tbs Yeast

Combine the dry and wet ingredients separately, mix well in respective bowls.  Add wet to dry, barely combining.  Add yeast to bread maker, cook on Quick Cycle,  enjoy bread in 3 hours.

The cheapest flour combination is the one I have listed above because I grind my own rice flour in a coffee mill.  I run the rice 2 times through.  It's a little too course to use on it's own in a recipe but it works beautifully when combined with soy flour and cornstarch at the ratios listed in the recipe.  I've also found a 2:1:1/3 combination works very well as a cup for cup replacement in most recipes.  (Make sure to add unflavored gelatin) Investing in a $20 coffee grinder just for my rice has saved us a lot of money in the long run.

If you are allergic to soy flour, it can be replaced with one cup of buckwheat flour, or 1/2 a cup potato starch and 1/2 a cup of tapioca starch.  Both of these alternatives would make the recipe slightly more expensive.

Slow Cooker Yogurt

My oldest has an allergy to mold.  She is so sensitive to mold that she can not eat anything remotely close to it's expiration date, and store-bought dairy products with the exception of Milk are out of the question.  Unfortunately my daughter is also a picky eater, and getting protein down her is like trying to give a cat a pill.  She used to love yogurt, cottage cheese, and hard cheeses but the store bought versions of these all contain mold spores because quite frankly they're too old once they're made, shipped, and stocked.  I've been praying about my daughters diet because her doctor was worried she was too thin.

 To make a long story short I was able to find a fabulous EASY yogurt recipe, at Alicia's Homemaking.  I've tried making homemade yogurt once before and it FAILED miserably but I've been making this recipe several times a week for over a month now and it has not failed once.   The following recipe is a somewhat simplified version of Alicia's.  This year on my Father's side of the family we're doing a White Elephant gift exchange, I'm planning on making some yogurt, dressing up the jar, and including smoothie recipes with it. (I'll be sure to share my smoothie recipes as I compile them.)

No Fail Crock Pot Yogurt

-1/2 a Gallon of Milk (I've used skim, 2% and whole all worked for me)
-1/2 a cup of Starter Yogurt (Can be store bought, just buy a small cup of plain or vanilla yogurt, I used yoplait)
-1/2 a cup of Sweetener (Optional, I've used splenda and honey in the past, both work well)
- 1 tbs of vanilla extract (Optional)

-Heat the milk in a crock pot on LOW for 2 1/2 hours
-Unplug your crock pot and let the warm milk rest for 2 1/2 to 3 hours
- After the milk has rested whisk in your starter yogurt, sweetener (if using), and vanilla (if using) If  you like sweetened yogurt now is the time to sweeten it, if you wait until the process is complete it will not blend as well
- Insulate the crock pot in a bath towel or several dish towels and allow it to incubate for 8+ hours, over night is fine.
-At this point you have a very thin yogurt, I strain mine using cheese cloth or a coffee filter.

This will stay good for up to 2 weeks in the refrigerator, however if I'm giving it to my daughter I use it within a week, we've never even made it that long in my house.  Whenever I start to run low on yogurt I start a new batch and use the last 1/2 cup as my starter.

By the way, since I hand wash and reuse my cheese cloth, this recipe only costs $1 to make and turns out fabulous yogurt EVERY time!

Enjoy!
Kasey