GFCF

Today is Day #4 of the GFCF diet for Cole. The switch to new foods has gone surprisingly well!

Last week, Mommy and Cole made a special trip to Hy-Vee to browse their gluten-free selection. We came home with the GF "Oreos," frozen donuts, cereal, rice milk, some snack bars, and several different types of flours and baking mixes. Cole though it was pretty cool to have his own stash of food in the pantry! And, he liked most everything we bought, with the exception of the honey-nut "cheerios" type cereal.

Over the weekend, Mommy spent many hours in the kitchen experimenting! The homemade sweet potato/pumpkin donuts were a big hit (requiring a second batch to be made and stashed in the freezer), along with the homemade chicken nuggets (hand battered in crushed potato chips and rice flour). The brownie bites were not such a big hit with Cole, however, Chase (aka the human garbage disposal) didn't seem to mind them a bit!

So far, we have learned a few things about the diet:

1. Rice milk is GROSS!!!! I don't recommend it for drinking, cooking, or baking. I tried to use it in mashed potatoes (along with a little olive oil in place of butter). It turned out "okay" but I could still taste the rice milk. Blech.

We did find a very good milk alternitive, however! It is called Vance's DariFree and comes in chocolate and regular. It has a potato base, which didn't sound appetizing to me. But, once made, it is surprisingly good! Cole downed an entire pitcher of chocolate in a 2 days! The plain milk isn't bad either and will be perfect for cooking and for cereal. I ordered a case of each!

2. Gluten-Free All-Purpose Flour is also GROSS!!! I thought it might taste better than plain rice flour because it is a mixture of several different flours. Boy was I wrong! It has a terrible after taste! And, though the boys didn't seem to notice when I used it in the donuts, I could taste and smell it all day long! Ewwww! Intead, rice flour or brown rice flour has a much better taste (or maybe lack of taste?) and seems to blend into the food better. But, from what I have read, it may not work as well in baked goods as regular wheat flour. I'll risk it.

3. Pre-made GFCF items are expensive! $7 for a box of 6 donuts. $5 for a knock-off package of Oreos. $6 for a box of cereal (that he won't even eat). You get the idea. So, we're going to be buying in bulk (yea, Amazon.com!) for many of the must-have items. And, everything else will be made from scratch. Thank goodness for my Kitchen Aid mixer, which has already received quite the workout lately!

We are definately learning as we go! But, all in all, the transition seems to be going smoothly! (Although, it means a ton of work in the kitchen for Mom!) We should get the results of the allergy tests later this week or next. I am anxiously awaiting the phone call so I can see the list of allergens for myself. Also at that time, we'll begin introducing the vitamin and mineral supplements slowly.

For a great reference book, I would recommend Children With Starving Brains by Jacqueline McCandless.