How To Go Gluten Free!

Gluten in Home Cooked Meals

My sister-in-law is a wonderful woman and I am fortunate to have such a loving and caring woman in my life.  I know whenever we get together for dinner at her house we are throwing her a curveball because of my gluten intolerance and both my husband and I are vegetarians as well. 

The biggest challenge I find in my sister-in-law’s home cooked meals is she loves casseroles (and I do too!).  Many casseroles call for creamed or other canned soups.  In fact, I recently heard that when Campbells first came out with their creamed soups they weren’t designed to be soups at all but sauces.  That has certainly become the case in many casserole recipes.   Casseroles often add breadcrumbs or may have a main ingredient of noodles and some people may not realize that “egg noodles” are actually wheat.

In addition to casseroles, and of course any bread, rolls, or pasta, there are other places where gluten may show up in a home cooked meal that otherwise looks safe:

• Marinades are a trouble spot because of the frequent addition of soy sauce or other wheat or malt flavorings.  This includes some pre-cooked chicken and some lunchmeats.
• Breading is something to be avoided since 99% of the time it is wheat (this includes panko which is the Asian-style breading and “beer battered” which has beer in the batter but is wheat-based).
• Any sauce should be investigated for ingredients, especially if it is thick (such as alfredo).  This includes creamed vegetables.  Vegetables can still be creamed using milk and cornstarch or substitute arrowroot or tapioca but if the person cooking is familiar or comfortable with these applications they have likely used flour.  Sauces that are not thick have the possibility of having soy sauce in them, another common source of gluten.
• Soups, especially creamed or thick soups, will often have wheat in them.  Or they may have noodles or orzo (which looks like rice but is wheat).
• Desserts are especially problematic, including some ice cream.  Many special flavors of ice cream (like cookies and cream) have wheat in them.  Always read the label to be sure.
• Prepared salad dressings are another source of gluten although if you make your own, the likelihood of gluten being in there is very small (unless you include soy sauce).

There are many modifications that can be made when you are cooking for yourself or if you have family or friends who are open and interested in learning new cooking techniques.  Home cooked meals can be gluten-free and tasty, it just takes a little more education and effort.

A Gluten-Free Halloween

I was diagnosed as gluten-free as an adult so I never had the issue of avoiding so many yummy treats when I was a child.  I know many of you out there are not gluten-free but you want to make life easier on those who are gluten-free.  Maybe you already purchased your candy to pass out and you may be curious if it is gluten-free. 

Before I get into the details, I want to make an important distinction between those with Celiac (an autoimmune disease) and those who are “gluten-intolerant”:

• People with Celiac need to be 100% gluten-free.  Their bodies cannot tolerate even the smallest amount of gluten.  Some of them become physically ill after a very small contamination, others may not have the same physical experience but research has shown that gluten remains in our systems for two weeks and for people with Celiac that is generating issues that put them at a higher risk for certain digestive cancers and perhaps other illnesses as well. 
• People who are gluten-intolerant fall along a scale of how much gluten their bodies can handle.  I tend to live my life closer to the level of a person with Celiac because I can tell the difference however I know that I do not have some of the same cross-contamination issues that people with Celiac have.  For instance, I can eat a gluten-free pasta option in a restaurant that serves regular pizzas and not have it affect me; this wouldn’t work for someone with Celiac.

In the world of candy, there are a lot of gluten-free options.  And of course, outside the world of candy, there are tons of possibilities:

• my mom used to pass out balloons (have a safer option for small children)
• little toys
• miniature figures (like tiny ninjas)
• pennies and nickels
• miniature gliders to assemble

There is a group called ROCK (Raising Our Celiac Kids) who put together a very extensive list for 2009 of gluten-free candies.  If you read through the list you may be surprised at some of what is NOT gluten free (Milky Ways) and what is (Milky Way Midnight).  Thanks to www.HarrisWholeHealth.com for helping to get the list out to more people.  You can find the list at:

http://www.harriswholehealth.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/Gluten-Free-Candy-List-October-2009.doc

In addition, there are some creative ways parents can help their gluten-free kids to still have a fun Halloween experience.  Many of the kids Trick-or-Treat and then their parents help them sort through the candy after and separate out what is safe and what is not.  (Of course, parents should do this anyway to make sure there are no hidden dangers.)  After the candy is sorted these are some clever solutions I heard about:

• The parents “buy back” the gluten-containing candy and the child gets cold hard cash
• The parents swap out the gluten-containing candy for non-gluten-containing favorites of the child.
• The container of gluten-containing candy is left on the kitchen table overnight and in the morning it has been replaced by the gluten-fairy with a very nice toy in trade (this is my favorite option because it is fun, a surprise AND it reduces the amount of sugar the kids are consuming.

Together we can help all kids (young and old) to have a safe Halloween.

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