Beginning GF exploration

kara · Post by **kara** » Fri Apr 02, 2010 9:46 pm

Had my first follow-up today after being diagnosed a couple weeks ago. Going off sertraline completely stopped the D and lowering caffeine/dairy has helped a bit. Since I'm still having upper bloating and discomfort, I talked to her about going GF since a lot of the 2nd step protocols deal with D mostly and I notice symptoms after eating carb items.

I've already started eating more fresh foods, rice and GF/dairy-free snacks. Now I'm going to start getting more of the GF mixes/pantry staples. Just curious what you folks recommend for things like pancake mix, dessert mix, etc. Also, does anyone make bread using any of the available mixes? I've never made bread by hand and I don't own a bread machine, but I would get one if people were seeing good results.

mbeezie · Post by **mbeezie** » Sat Apr 03, 2010 5:59 am

Kara,

It's hard to answer your question without knowing your reactive foods. I avoid gluten, dairy, soy and tapioca. I avoid bread but there are many decent mixes and recipes available. I buy a locally made GF/DF bread for my son (Gluten Free Houston for those of you in the Houston area - my family loves it and I have to admit it smells divine when I bake it). I can tolerate the Betty Crocker GF cake mixes and can make muffins out of them. For my son I like to use Namaste pancake/waffle mix.

If you haven't done enterolab testing, I would recommend it so you could pinpoint your problem foods. www.enterolab.com

Good luck,

Mary Beth

Jan · Post by **Jan** » Sat Apr 03, 2010 6:18 am

Kara,

If you want to try making things from scratch, look in Dee's Kitchen on this website. She is a professional chef who has quite a number of intolerances who has converted recipes. What recipes I have used have been wonderful.

Jan

wonderwoman · Post by **wonderwoman** » Sat Apr 03, 2010 7:02 am

I saw an ad for Betty Crocker GF cake mixes but I have not been able to find them in the Phoenix area even though they have been out for almost a year. I wonder how much they are. I know they are a lot more than .99 cents. That's what I paid recently for their regular brownie mix I purchased to keep in the pantry in case I need an easy desert for guests. I found you can purchase 6 boxes on line to be mailed to you. Don't remember the price but not cheap.

rbks321 · Post by **rbks321** » Sat Apr 03, 2010 9:18 am

My boys made the Betty Crocker GF Brownies for me for my birthday, and we all ate them and they tasted fine. Not sure of the cost, but I know everything else that is GF cost more!

-Rebecca

mbeezie · Post by **mbeezie** » Sat Apr 03, 2010 9:41 am

The Betty Crocker mixes are somewhere around $4.00 (a few cents more or less, depending on the store). That is less expensive than some other specialty GF brands.

Mary Beth

Delta · Post by **Delta** » Sat Apr 03, 2010 11:58 am

A favorite pancake mix of mine is Pamela's - I make per directions and add either banana or fresh berries. It is the best one I have tried and I've tried dozens. For bread I like Bobs Red Mill GF sandwhich bread, it works great in a bread maker regular short cycle. Bob's also has an outstanding pizza dough mix for pizza, foccacia or bread stix. A new mix I am trying is Astoria Mills, so far outstanding.

teagirl · Post by **teagirl** » Sat Apr 03, 2010 7:37 pm

I agree - Pamela's pancake/waffle mix is amazing. It is so delicious that we use it exclusively now and everyone eats the waffles. I have to fight the 'normal' people for my gf food!

It can be bought at most health/specialist stores and Amazon does good bulk pricing.

JoAnn · Post by **JoAnn** » Sun Apr 04, 2010 10:47 pm

Kara, I have MI so I haven't used a lot of the gf mixes because a lot of them include dairy or soy. I checked Betty Crocker mixes and they had something I'm intolerant of, I don't remember if it was soy or dairy. Most of the gf breads are disappointing and pricey. I do use a bread machine and am very happy with the results. I use the recipes in the book Gluten-Free Baking Classics for the Bread Machine by Annalise G. Roberts. I mixed up a big batch of the basic bread flour mix and store it in a small bucket in my extra fridge. It's so easy to make a loaf of bread and it tastes like real bread. I slice it and freeze it so it's available whenever I need it. Dee has great recipes also. I don't know if she has any for the bread machine. JoAnn

teagirl · Post by **teagirl** » Mon Apr 05, 2010 9:36 am

Like everyone else, I am desperate for decent bread, and I've gone through dozens of recipes, hand and bread machine, searching for something that isn't a bowling bowl or a sawdust log. I'm still looking for 'the one' but I have found some pretty good ones.

The web has been very useful for this search. There's a recipe I use quite a lot as it makes a decent loaf, and it offers flexibility in which flours you can use. The cook, a lady called Kim, designed the recipe so you can choose a cup of one of 5 flours, then another cup of another of the 5, and so on.
I've played around with the recipe and made some tasty breads. Teff flour in particular turns out to be absolutely delicious as well as good for you, and I make bread with that flour a lot. It can be bought at the Bulk Barn.

One of the things I love about her recipes is that she gives step by step pictures. I found this invaluable as I had no idea what things ought to look like.

Kim has the original recipe
http://www.glutenfreegreenmommy.com/200 ... grain.html
and a simplified version
http://www.glutenfreegreenmommy.com/201 ... ified.html

Anyone who likes a nutty almost chocolate silky smooth bread (like pumpernickel with a chocolate edge!) will like this web recipe
http://www.tobiateff.co.uk/recipe.html

Now I've made myself hungry - time to bake bread ....

Gabes-Apg · Post by **Gabes-Apg** » Mon Apr 05, 2010 4:10 pm

In Australia i have product that is packaged as rolls, i cook it in mini muffin pan and make small savoury muffins.

the mix is GF, YF, DF, Egg Free ..... takes me 5 mins to mix, 15 mins to cook
these savoury muffins have become one of my staples, i always have stocks of cooked ones in the freezer, the mix is quite reasonably priced. With the add ins, it costs me about $1.00 per snack, which is cheaper than a packet of chips.