Anyone Gluten-free?

[alyzu]

My son has mild autism and I would like to start him on a gluten-free diet. Anyone doing GF for yourself or someone else, I'd love to hear about your experiences. Thanks!:o

[engineer]

Early this year I discovered that I am sensitive to gluten. I don't truely have the full blown allergy but it does play havoc with my digestive system. Since then I have been working on going gluten free - which is tough at first. There are some great resources on the web and I have found that as I interact with folks I am finding others who are gluten free and they are very helpful in sharing ideas and suggestions and recipes. It can be done it just takes some creativity.

[alyzu]

Thanks! LOVE that quote!!!!!!!!!

[TVernon]

I have been gluten free for many years. My son also. For us that means no wheat, rye, oats, or barley. I use mostly almond meal and flaxmeal for baking and pie crusts, etc. We also use Pamela's wheat-free pancake and baking mix. It is the best tasting one there is. I have been using it for over ten years and you can make just about anything with it. There is also a wheat free bread mix by Pamela's. My kids liked the Rice Almond bread from the health food store for years. Trader Joe's has good wheat free waffles. I don't eat those things because I am also low carb but my son eats them in moderation.

[engineer]

I have been gluten free for many years. My son also. For us that means no wheat, rye, oats, or barley. I use mostly almond meal and flaxmeal for baking and pie crusts, etc. We also use Pamela's wheat-free pancake and baking mix. It is the best tasting one there is. I have been using it for over ten years and you can make just about anything with it. There is also a wheat free bread mix by Pamela's. My kids liked the Rice Almond bread from the health food store for years. Trader Joe's has good wheat free waffles. I don't eat those things because I am also low carb but my son eats them in moderation.

I second the Pamela's pancake and baking mix. It really is very tasty. So are you willing to share some of those recipes for us newbies? I am looking for a pie crust but in general I love to bake and find it very hard now that I can't use the 'normal' stuff.

[TVernon]

Here is a basic cheesecake recipe that shows how I make an almond flour pie crust. It is delicious. I use only The Ultimate Sweetner which is a form of xylitol that is extracted from 100% birch bark. All other xylitols are synthetic and bother my digestion. Lo Han Sweet is made by Jarrow Formulas and is an herbal extract of Momordica grosvenorii with a tiny amount of xylitol and inulin-FOS. It is an excellent substitute for Splenda sweetners if you prefer to avoid them. When substituting for sugar, I have found that combining sweetners in a three way split gives the best flavor and minimizes any specific problems that any one sweetner might have.


Blueberry Cheesecake

Pie Crust:

1 ½ cups almond flour, whole

1 tbsp. lemon zest

1 ½ tbsp. xylitol (The Ultimate Sweetner)

1 ½ tbsp. Splenda, granulated, or 1/4 tsp. Lo Han Sweet

4 tbsp. Melted butter

1 egg white

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Mix almond flour with lemon zest, xylitol, and Splenda. Melt butter then add to nut mixture and stir until evenly distributed. Beat egg white and add to nut mixture and mix until dough all sticks together. Butter a 9 inch pie plate. Place the dough ball on a sheet of parchment paper. Place a piece of plastic wrap over it and roll out the dough evenly until it is a circle slightly larger than the pie plate. Peel off the plastic wrap and pick up the whole crust with the paper and turn it over onto the pie pan. Fit the crust into the pie plate evenly to cover the bottom and sides of the plate. Make a narrow and high edging around the top of the pie plate as a wider one will tend to burn when the cheesecake is baking. Bake for 10-12 minutes being careful not to overcook. Cool the crust. If time is short, put the pie plate in the freezer for about 10 minutes after it has cooled down from hot to warm.

Filling:

2 8-oz. Packages cream cheese, warmed to room temp.

½ cup sour cream

1/4 cup xylitol (The Ultimate Sweetner)

1 tbsp. Fiberfit, or 1/4 cup Splenda, granulated, or 2 tsp. Lo Han Sweet

scant 1/8 tsp. Stevia, white extract

2 tsp. lemon extract

1 tbsp. lemon juice

2 eggs + 1 egg yolk

3/4 cup blueberries, fresh or frozen

Reduce oven to 300°F.

Cut the package of cream cheese into approx. 24 small pieces. It should be warm and soft. Separate the pieces into a large mixing bowl. Add sweetners and mix with an electric mixer until smooth and there are no lumps. Add in sour cream, lemon juice and lemon extract and mix until smooth. Add the eggs one at a time and mix on the lowest possible speed only until it is combined. Do not overmix as it makes the cheesecake prone to cracking. Add blueberries. If using frozen, defrost them on a paper towel. Make sure they are dry before adding to filling. Do not stir them if you don’t want them to stain the filling.

Pour into cooled crust and bake for approximately 50-60 minutes or until center is mostly set. The center should still be slightly soft when you take it out of the oven. The top should not be brown at all. Allow to cool for 30 minutes. Put in refrigerator for at least 5 hours, longer is better.

This is a delicious breakfast cheesecake or good for a snack.

8 servings: Cal. 452, Fat 39, Carb. 9, Fiber 2.7, Prot. 12, Net Carbs 6.3

12 servings: Cal. 302, Fat 26, Carb. 6, Fiber 1.8, Prot. 8, Net Carbs 4.2

[TVernon]

This recipe shows a good way to use a number of gluten free, low carb flours. Using cream cheese with butter as the fats improves the texture of any almond flour based recipe significantly. Without it, it tends to be too dry and chewy. With it, it has a wonderful, tender cakey texture.

Maple Nut and Pear Scones

3/4 cup blanched almond flour

1/4 cup Pamela's wheat-free baking mix

1/4 cup rice bran

1/3 cup chopped walnuts

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. Celtic sea salt (use less with regular salt)

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

3 oz. cream cheese, room temperature

3 T. butter, melted

2 eggs

2 tsp. maple extract

2 tblsp. xylitol (The Ultimate Sweetner)

1 tsp. Lo Han Sweet, or 2 tblsp. granular Splenda

1/4 cup water

½ cup diced Bosc pear (3/4 peeled small Bosc pear)

1 tsp. xylitol


Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and flour with flax meal a six-well muffin top pan.

Mix almond flour, Pamela's bake mix, rice bran, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and half of the chopped walnuts in a large mixing bowl. Cube the warm cream cheese into another bowl. Beat with an electric mixer until cubes are gone. Add warm melted butter. Beat until smooth. Add eggs one at a time and beat on lowest speed just until egg is combined. Mix in SF maple syrup. Pour egg and cream cheese mixture into dry ingredients and mix well. Add chopped pear and mix. Divide batter into greased and floured six-well muffin top pan. Sprinkle the tops evenly with the 1 tsp. of xylitol and the remaining half of the walnuts. Bake at 350 degrees F. for 25-30 minutes until firm and springy. The best flavor comes with slicing the scone into two thin, round pieces and toasting them. It brings out the flavors significantly.

6 servings: Cal 328, Fat 27, Carbs 16, Fiber 6, Protein 8, Net Carbs 10

[TVernon]

If you are feeding your kids this sort of thing, it is best to have a great Birthday Cake recipe on hand although it is good anytime. Sugar free cakes, cheesecakes and scones can be eaten fairly freely as breakfast food or snacks. My son-in-law took this cake out and fed it to people he knew just to see the looks on their faces when he told them there was no flour or sugar in it.

Carrot Cake

1 ½ cup blanched almond flour
1/4 cup Pamela's wheat-free baking mix

1/4 cup flaxmeal

2 T. FiberFit, or 4 tsp. Lo Han Sweet, or ½ cup granular Splenda

½ cup xylitol (The Ultimate Sweetner)

1/4 tsp. white stevia powder

2 tsp. baking powder

2 tsp. baking soda

½ tsp. Celtic sea salt

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 tsp. mace

3/4 cup walnuts, chopped

2 tsp. orange extract

4 oz. cream cheese, room temperature

4 T. butter, melted

3 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla extract

2 ½ cups grated carrots

Frosting:

6 oz. cream cheese, room temperature

2 T. xylitol (The Ultimate Sweetner)

1 tsp. Lo Han Sweet

dash of stevia extract (tip of a sharp knife dipped in the powder)

2 tsp. Vanilla extract


Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a nine inch springform pan.
Mix almond flour, Pamela's bake mix, flaxmeal, stevia, baking powder, salt and spices in a large mixing bowl. Cube the warm cream cheese into another bowl. Beat with electric mixer until cubes are gone. Add xylitol, Lo Han Sweet, vanilla and melted butter. Beat until smooth. Add eggs one at a time and beat on lowest speed just until egg is combined. Pour egg and cream cheese mixture into dry ingredients and mix well. Add carrot and mix. Pour batter into greased 9 inch springform pan and bake at 350 degrees F. for 40 minutes. Cake will be firm and springy.

Remove cake from oven and cool for an hour. Loosen cake from pan with a butter knife and remove side piece of the springform pan. Refrigerate until completely cooled. Cube the 6 oz. warm cream cheese into a mixing bowl. Add sweeteners and vanilla and beat with electric mixer until smooth. Spread over cake with a spatula in swirled pattern.
12 servings: Cal 326, Fat 26, Carbs 10.3, Fiber 4.1, Protein 7.8, Net Carbs 6.2

[engineer]

Thanks - as I said I love to bake and now I have recipes to start with. Yum! I especially miss scones and I love carrot cake. I am so excited to give these a try.