Help with dairy and gluten-free diet please?

[hobnob57]

I've been off dairy since Christmas, and am now adding gluten to the list to see if DD2's (2mths) abdominal pains and mucusy nappies improve (on GP's advice). I've done this before for DD1, but would like some new ideas for things to eat. Especially for those need-to-pig-out urges one gets when BF.

So, if you're in a similar situation or are coeliac, what have you had to eat today?

Well my baby is a different person on this diet. She actually has settled periods where she looks contentedly around her and talks and smiles. It's lovely. Daytime sleep will come, I hope. So it looks like the diet is here to stay

I'd worked out about the heinz tomato soup early on. Bang went my favourite pasta bake. dierdre I'd be interested to hear how you worked out the sugar thing? What were your LO's symptoms? Despite being more settled, DD2's nappies still resemble caramel slime.

can'tsleep that book looks amazing. I'd love the falafel recipe if you don't mind typing it. The more recipes under my belt the better. I struggle at the best of times to dream up a varied menu, so please keep telling me what you've had today! Must find some GF sausages though. Sausage casserole is too good to miss out on. I'll really miss my tesco finest pork and brambley apple ones though.

I'm wondering whether I should be cooking separately for me from a nutritional point of view for DD1 (3) or whether she'll be getting enough dairy/grains through breakfast & lunch? Pasta is easy as I just pop on an extra pan, but missing dishes like tomato pasta bake seems unfair for her and DH, but heaps of work for me!

We all eat GF here. I refuse to cook 2 lots of meals amd tbh the GF corn pasta is really good and we've not noticed much difference.

Today we've had "Oz puffs" (like sugar puffs) for lunch (school) he will be having cron wraps and a chicken/tom mix and salad. Pudding he normally has fruit/yoghurt

Tea we are having chilli with peas and rice (with added "invisible" lentils) Pudding he will have a frozen smoothie

Hale and Hearty do GF cake mixes, faffel (sp ??) mixes, breakfast cereals and they are now available at Waitrose/Ocado - not had these yet, some coming tomorrow night on my delivery.

The black farmer sausage are GF & DF (just checked) and I've got these from Ocado, Co-op and me thinks Sainsburys. Some Tescos do Jimmies sausage not seen them locally but they where fab !

You could do stuffed peppers one night ?

Is it just my BF appetite or is it GFDF diet: whenever I eat I get MORE hungry!

Sweet potato falafel (I didn't have to type out - just C&P ). Gram flour is made from chick peas, just in case you didn't know, so is gluten free.

Makes around 18 falafel - enough for four

2 medium sweet potatoes (orange inside), around 700g in total

1½ tsp ground cumin

2 small cloves of garlic, chopped

1½ tsp ground coriander

2 big handfuls of fresh coriander, chopped (about 30g)

Juice of half a lemon

120g gram flour

A splash of olive oil

A sprinkling of sesame seeds

Salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 220C/425F and roast the sweet potatoes whole until just tender (45 minutes to 1 hour). Turn off oven, leave the potatoes to cool, then peel.

Put the sweet potatoes, cumin, garlic, ground and fresh coriander, lemon juice and gram flour into a large bowl. Season well, and mash until smooth with no large chunks. Stick in the fridge to firm up for an hour, or the freezer for 20-30 minutes. When you take it out, your mix should be sticky rather than really wet. You can add a tablespoon or so more of gram flour if necessary (the water content of sweet potatoes varies enormously).

Reheat the oven to 200C/400F. Using a couple of soup spoons (put a well-heaped spoonful of mix in one spoon and use the concave side of the other to shape the sides) or a falafel scoop if you have one, make the mixture into falafelly looking things and put them on an oiled tray. Sprinkle sesame seeds on top and bake in the oven for around 15 minutes, until the bases are golden brown.

Problem with gluten free food is that so much of it has a high Glycaemic index that you do feel hungry again rapidly. So it's useful to include things like lentils that are lower GI. Can't remember but think baked beans may be too?

Purely in the interests of research I have invested in Genius brown bread today. Have to say it isn't nearly as good as the bread from a Panasonic breadmaker but maybe it will keep better. It is better than the other shop bought GF bread I've tried.

Checked some more soups - Heniz winter vegetable broth is suitable and there was a Baxter's bean soup and a beef consome.

Wouldn't worry about grains for your DD1 but you need to be careful about calcium for both of you.

The Black Farmer does some pork and apple sausages, as well as chipolatas, so check them out.

I'd cook the same for everyone - DH and DD1 can add cheese to their pasta bake etc if they like

black farmer not stocked up here . Will ask at butcher.

Most good butchers will make gf sausages for you if you ask - you might have to say that you will buy a couple of kgs to freeze if they don't normally have any demand.

Or you could order from Sally's Sizzlers who make really nice sausages, and they are delivered to you - all gf and df

Friendlypizzaeater: Where do you get wheat free corn tortillas? we used to have them but can't find them at the moment.

Great thread - lots of new ideas for me - thanks!!

Sugar: I couldn't eat dairy / sugar while pregnant as made me feel ill so stayed off for the first three months. DS was a "high maintenance" baby, non sleeper, carried alot etc. I returned to a normal diet and weaned DS but skin and bowels got quite bad. In desperation, I went to see a Kinesiologist who diagnosed Wheat, Dairy and Sugar issues. There is a DIY test you can try described in my other posts. This is not a substitute for comprehensive allergy / intolerence testing but can short circuit the "exclude, wait, reintroduce" cycle. (Other posters have described this as dangerous etc)

He is now happy, sleeping, bowels and skin improving. Bowels responded initially but took a long time to get to "normal" so might be that your DD just needs more time.

Bombay mix great for the munchies!

Deidre : here www.coolchile.co.uk/

They freeze really well too.

Thank you Friendlypizzaeater. I was hoping you were going to say - Waitrose / Sainsbury's but now I feel a 'proper' Mexican evening coming on!!

I don't envy you Deirdre. Not at all. Sugar is my last remaining friend. That and Tesco finest salted crisps. Mmmmm.

I was really hoping this diet would sort out DD's belly problems but she still has thunderstorms of wind in her tummy and dark bits in her nappies. I hope this hospital referral hurries up. Still, it's lovely to see her having settled periods during the day and longer naps. That said, some of that could be due to her jabs which were on Monday.

Found some FreeFrom sausages last night in Tescos, so looking forward to a casserole. I also bought a couple of recipe books - including that yummy cake one - using some amazon vouchers I had. It's still great to hear what normal folk are doing though.

Todays :

Cereal bar (tesco freefrom)

Chicken pie (at school) minus the crust, mash, veg and fruit

Tea : HM Beef and onion meatballs in a homemade tom sauce (tin toms, garlic, peppers, tom puree, celery, grated carrot) on GF spaghetti.

To make sure I keep his calcium levels up he almost always has ice cream or a smoothie for pudding

Hope this is helping

Dawm

We have been largely dairy and wheat free in our house for 2.5 years now so here are some of our meals:

Frittata - Eggs and anything (ham, veg, beans, potatoes

Noodles and meso soup with smoked salmon and peppers

Lentil Stew, shepherds pie, chicken, peppers and pasta (GF).

We have a hospital referral in two weeks so hoping for good results or at least clarification of what we should be doing!!!

hobnob57 I have a recipe book with some GF cakes and can post recipes if you want? I substitute stork hard margarine for butter when cooking for those who are also DF.

Coeliacs who are DF sometimes find they can reintroduce dairy. Gluten damages the lining of the intestine and especially the bits that produces lactase (enzyme needed for milk). So once you have been off gluten a minimum of 2 weeks you may want to consider reintroducing dairy for a trial.

Alternatively you may want to consider Peptizyde enzymes for your diet. These help to digest both gluten and dairy. They are not suffiently effective for coeliacs but might be adequate for someone who is breastfeeding. They are expensive but so is being GF/DF.

waitrose hav ea new hale and hearty range. we had their gf df pancakes 4 grain mix with berry compote for bfast yesterday. excellent.

try the sweet potato falafel on this page

i make a really big batch, freeze half. good for snacks where a piece of toast is what you would have had. then also in tortillas dressed up with salsa and salad and wha have you

tatt thanks for the offer - I'll see what my amazon order brings. Feel free to post up your favourites though. Every little helps . Interesting about the enzymes. Will consider trying them when/if DD2 ever settles down. She was up all night with sore wind, only settling when attached to me , and more big black bits in her mucusy nappy yesterday. I'm wondering about nuts too?

Those falafels look ace. Unfortunately my oven is busticated ATM. Must get around to phoning someone about that today....

Baked spuds or Klaw's chorizo risotto recipe tonight? I'm not a fan of microwave spuds actually. Decision made

Morrisons do a really tasty spelt and rye bread.. it's very soft- my daughter loves it!

Spelt and rye both contain gluten, rye less so and while spelt is easier to digest that "modern" wheat, it is still a form of wheat.

Today :

Breakfast Hale & Hearty Bee Puffs (first time - success !!!) had a bowl full with milk then ate a couple of handfuls dry.

Dinner - school roast dinner (with GF yorkshires, stuffing etc)

Tea - home made braised steak and onions with mashed pot, brocolli and sprouts

and all the usual fruit/veg/sweets snacks etc

We have the hale and hearty pancake mix, am going to make and american brunch at the weekend for the family.

I'm loving the red velvet book !!!!

Such a shame my oven still isn't fixed . I can't wait to get stuck in. 'Cooking without made easy' looks pretty useful too, but with no pics.

Found some Baxters chicken broth today. A bit salty for my tastes but plugs a gap. That said, I can empty a large bag of those Tescos finest salted crisps at an alarming rate, so I can't really talk about salt

Thanks for being such a help. I now feel I have the basics of some meal plans. I'm still pretty useless at lunch (it's either omelette, genius bread and banana, soup or leftovers) but will get there I hope. Fingers crossed my hunch about DD's food sensitivities being more extensive isn't right. I'm avoiding nuts for now to see of things improve.

Try Antoinette Saville books available on amazon. new one just out. I make my own bread and use the same recipe for Pizza bases and then the children put their own ingredients on and so make one without cheese for myself. loads of cakes in teh books and other recipes. nak'd bars the nicest snax and Lyme Regis foods and Bendicks range of Bitter chocs, don't like Mrs Crimble too dry. Bananas great in cakes with bicarbonate of soda as raising agent, stops the drying out of cake which is what gluten free flour does. Vegetable stews with loads of beans and pulses very filling, hearty and good for you. Baked potatoes and there is a mayonaisse substitute which is OK if mixed with somthing i.e tuna. i prefer Pure Soya to Sunflower and use Olive oil in mash with seasoning. Baked sweet potatoes are delish. Go to the butchers for beefburgers usually pure beef and sausages often dairy free. Home made pesto without parmesan and rocket pesto and parsley pesto all homemade.

Have a look on the Sainsbury's website they have just relaunched their free from range.If they are not near you it may still be useful as they do have some recepies on the site for various diets.