Gluten-free, the kid edition

restless_nomad's post reminds me that quesadillas on corn tortillas may be a great go-to snack or lunch at home. Loved by all the kids of my acquaintance!

Any other tips I should know? Don't work too hard trying to replace wheat flour. Instead, look to food traditions from other cultures that simply don't use wheat flour. As I like to say it, if you want to eat gluten free, pretend you're Asian, because except for a few cases (e.g. common soy sauces are brewed with wheat, and some noodles are made with wheat, but not all, such as soba made with pure buckwheat), Asian cuisine is already largely gluten-free. So ... meat, veggies and rice. Done!

I far prefer Dr. Schar breads (even though they are shelf-stable until opened and that's kind of creepy, but it sure does taste better to me than Udi's Freezer Burn In A Bag). I get them at Fresh And Easy, but there's several other grocery chains that carry it as well.

My son has Celiac and I'm gluten intolerant. He normally has gf cereal for breakfast on school days - rice chex and fruit. On weekends we'll often make gf pancakes or waffles - and freeze extra waffles for a good quick breakfast. (there are decent frozen gf waffles but he doesn't like them since we make more whole grain ones using brown rice flour, coconut flour and corn meal) For lunch he takes sandwiches on http://www.celiacspecialties.com/contents/en-us/d5.html which I can find locally. Since they're a Michigan company that may not work for you. We recently did a shared order of gf sub rolls through Gordon Food Service and they're great - I was surprised by just how good but a member of our local list-serve had vouched for them. Udi's or Rudi's both make decent sandwich bread. Lots of kid friendly gf cookies these days. I buy frozen pizza dough (Udi's, Whole Foods or a local gf bakery) and we make our own pizzas. As good as a wheat dough? No but quite acceptable, especially when topped with sauce, cheese and loads of veggies. My son isn't a fan of nuts unfortunately since they're a great source of protein. If your daughter will eat them Kind bars or Larabars are mainly dried fruit and nuts so a better option than some bars or cookies. We like Trader Joes and Tinkyada pasta. Searching on gluten free across Mefi yields a http://www.metafilter.com/contribute/search.mefi?q=gluten+free&site= as well. Let me echo the comment that if she hasn't been tested specifically for Celiac disease get that done before she goes gluten free since one needs to be eating gluten for the test to give useful results. It's initially a blood test, typically followed by an upper GI. You might look for local gluten free groups - we belong to an Ann Arbor area group and it's been very helpful. Nice way to meet other kids eating the same way among other things.

such as soba made with pure buckwheat Be super careful about this. I spent 20 minutes at H-Mart looking at all their soba noodles (Japanese and Korean made) and every single one contained wheat.

I don't think I'm allergic to gluten, but I eat gluten-free meals and snacks most of the time and feel less tired. Before I get listy, I suggest browsing http://glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com/, a great blog of recipes listed by season or dish type. Here are some snacks and meals I make: favorite gluten-free sweet or salty snacks? She loves all sweets naturally but she also solves salty crackers and chips... desserts and treats? - Corn chips + cheese + green onion + cheeses + black beans in broiler - Ener-G crackers + cream cheese + jam or chutney - Apple + almond butter + honey - http://www.christinamarsigliese.com/2012/03/deep-dark-chocolate-pudding.html * Please give me an idea of a typical day's breakfast, gluten-free. My daughter always eats toast or a bagel for breakfast. From what I've been reading, gluten-free bread is not tasty. What should I substitute? She doesn't eat eggs or oatmeal. She will avoid most cereals unless they are sweet. She can have sweet cereals sometimes but what else is there? - I make this http://glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com/2009/03/gluten-free-focaccia-recipe-with-garlic.html once a week and it works great heated up with some olive oil on the stove, for a minute in the broiler, or in a toaster. - http://glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com/2007/12/skillet-cornbread-with-green-chiles.html - message me for more bread recipes -- I've done quite a bit of experimenting - http://www.glutino.com/our-products/other/cereal/honey-nut-cereal/ with honey drizzled on top - any rice cereal with sliced banana * Same with lunch. What do you or your child take for lunch? She normally eats a sandwich, fruit, carrots, etc. She doesn't want to look "different" so suggestions of sushi or rice based meals in a thermos do not fly. Any ideas here? Again, she doesn't eat cheese so dairy free suggestions would be great. - http://allrecipes.com/recipe/easy-curry-couscous/ - http://allrecipes.com/recipe/black-bean-and-couscous-salad/detail.aspx?event8=1&prop24=SR_Title&e11=black%20bean%20couscous&e8=Quick%20Search&event10=1&e7=Recipe - http://glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com/2005/11/greenwiches-and-green-wraps.html: roasted veggie, mexican, greek salad, chicken, BLT... Feel free to memail me if you want more help on meal planning. I cook everyday. :)

Has she had blood testing for celiac disease? Diagnostically, it's recommended to do that before embarking on a GF diet, since the diet promotes healing that affects blood test results. It's not an allergy test, so may not have been considered on the panel she already did. One can occasionally find Gluten Free Fruity Pebbles in the market. Most places only stock the gluteny kind. Cinnamon Rice Chex satisfies my (considerable) sweet tooth just fine, but child palates may differ. Udi's bagels are expensive, but practically indistinguishable from the gluteny mass-market bagels in the bread aisle. (The crust isn't sufficiently chewy to compare to a well-made fresh bagel, though.) Gluten Free Girl recipes work great for me. Watch out for things that seem too obviously gluten-free to bother checking the ingredients. A lot of "corn" blah blah things, including corn chips and corn tortillas, often have a bit of wheat in them too. Always read the ingredient list. The vegan grocery market here has a number of gluten-free pizzas in the frozen food aisle. If I recall, Glutino (yuck in my opinion, but it's so similar to grade school cafeteria fare she may love how it blends into the landscape perfectly) and Amy's Kitchen are featured. The vegan "cheese" is usually soy-based. It has a different mouthfeel, but visually it looks right. Kids aren't going to point and laugh at her plate. Elizabeth Hasselback's "The G-Free Diet" has some flawed information about celiac disease. But it does have a lot to practical advice for helping kids adjust to a GF diet. Cheating away from home, to fit in, is a major issue for young people.

Wife and I have been eating a bunch of gluten-free stuff. There's a quinoa-corn blend pasta from Ancient Harvest that comes in elbows and spaghetti. If you go to the fancy supermarket--more Whole Foods/TJs than classic big box store--you can also find things like rice pasta, brown rice pasta, and that sort of thing to soothe that pasta/grain craving. You can also do a lot with sauces outside the stereotypical Italian stuff. Try the various ethnic food aisles for things like tikka masala sauce, sweet and sour sauce, etc.

I have a friend who is actually celiac and, being something of a masochist, I like to try to bake for her. These coconut http://chefmichaelsmith.com/Recipe/coconut-tarts-with-chocolate-and-coconut-cream/ are her favourite. I like to make them in mini-cupcake tins for a more snackable treat. Fill with anything - lemon curd, pudding, custard, fruit.