anyone gluten dairy free.

[seattlemamma]

I have known for awhile that I am gluten and dairy intolerant. I was able to stay away from these foods for a year and a half successfully...Then I moved from Seattle to a part of Ky that doesn't offer a wide range of choices when it comes to this type of diet. Any ideas on a simple diet that doesn't require a lot of different flours. I am not a big meat eater but my options are limited. I know that if I can get back on track I can have a happier healthier pregnancy and postpartum. Any ideas?

[npl]

I'm dairy free, and have been for years. I don't tolerate large amounts of soy, either, so I use rice milk, but it's hard to find a totally gluten-free rice milk because most use a barley derivative and contain tiny amounts of gluten (will be listed at bottom of ingredients list). I haven't lived in the US for a few years, so I'm not sure which brands are totally gluten-free.
For gluten-free foods - I've never been totally gluten-free, although I was eliminating some gluten grains (wheat mostly). I know that there are gluten-free products available by mail order from websites like Miss Roben's Pantry (think that's the right name). Hope others can help you with that.
But, tbh, I mostly just avoided the "substitutes" except when I had cravings for cookies or cake, because I was avoiding many other ingredients for my nursling.
I ate lots of quinoa, brown rice, potatoes, sweet potatoes, etc. instead of pasta and bread/crackers. Potato chips substituted for the crunch factor when I wanted crackers, though I did find safe rice crackers, and rice cakes were good too. During pregnancy, I found that even brown rice isn't friendly for my slower digestive system, but quinoa is really good!
Also, I ate lots of salads, other veg (winter squash are good - particularly spaghetti squash if you crave something with sauce). and plenty of meat and poultry which really helped me to stay full and gave good nutrition. If you don't like meat much, maybe you'll find a recipe more appealing if you combine it with other foods. I like ground turkey browned with onions and garlic, then cooked with rice and veggies all in one pot!

Hope some of these ideas turn out to be useful for you!

[sweet_tart_vt]

My family made the switch to gluten and dairy free a few months ago after our 4th child was diagnosed with classic autism. My husband wanted to see if he would respond positvely to a change in diet since so many on the autism spectrum seem to have a problem with wheat and dairy. We have not insisted the rest of the family (we have 6 children and mil also shares our home) adopt the changes, so we havent immersed ourselves in the lifestyle but have learned a lot so far.

Milk: we have tried soy, almond and rice. ds loves the choc soy, but too much gave him the poops so we switched to almond and rice, which have worked fine, and can be stored on a shelf until you open them, so if you happen on a good sale you can stock up and not worry about spoiling. Both the almond and rice milk come in chocolate, vanilla and plain flavors. They are a bit pricier than soy, but only ds drinks it, so not too bad.

Bread: we were using potato bread for awhile, but it still contains some wheat flour. If you arent super sensitive potato bread might work well for you. Our family was surprised how much we all liked it and buy it often now. We tried rice bread and brown rice bread but my son did not care for it at all (cant blame him: very hard, very "heavy" in the tummy and quite salty) and it was very expensive, $5 a loaf.

Flour: I LOVE Bob's Red Mill flours. Most grocery stores (and I usually get mine at Price Chopper or Shaw's) that have an organic/natural foods section should carry it. They have lots of brands but the best ones I have found are their All Purpose Gluten Free Baking Mix, Soy flour, Almond Flour and Rice flour. The soy, almond and rice flour are really good for cakes/cookies/yummy treays and the All Purpose has replaced regular white flour in our household! It makes excellent breading for meats/veggies, and makes awesome bread. (I bought a bread maker and make ds's bread strictly from this flour.) I use it to make everything!The only down side is that they come in very small packages and are a bit pricey, but they also have a website and you can order up to 50lb packages. This is what we plan on doing, much more economical for a big family. The manager of both stores I shop at told me that they could order me a larger bag than what they usually stock as well.

There are lots of cereals on the market these days that are acceptable. My son can have any cereal that's made of corn, rice or oats. There are some expensive brands (puffins is one, but they are reallly yummy!), and then there ones as simple and cheap as plain old rice chex, kix, or corn chex. If you are really sensitive, check the labels as some cereals do process wheat in their factories and their can be wheat residue that gets into the gluten free batches. Im lucky in that our son seems to not be bothered.

Any veggies and fruit are good. Potatoes/sweet potato fries are great for kids. You can buy egg or rice pasta , and even quick breads and boxed brownie/cake cookie mixes if you arent inclined to cook from scratch. We also discovered my son likes falafel, almost every variety of rice, (and there are tons!) polenta, tofu and vegetarian cheese and "meatless substitutes". There are even dairy free "ice cream" sandwiches called "tofutti" that he adores!

It took some time and long visits in the grocery stores as well as a lot of at-home online research but it is a very do-able dietary change, and I am far from Julia Child! HTH and Good Luck!