GFCFEFAFCF suggestions for a packaged food loving relative

[pampered_mom]

or rather Gluten-, Casein-, Egg-, Almond-, and Corn-Free.

I have always maintained that, like my husband, my MIL has some sort of food sensitivity thing going on given how sick she usually is (year-round) and how long it takes her to clear illness.  She thought we were crazy, but then her new ENT brought it up and had her tested.  The results are above and she's finding it very difficult (and her family is less than supportive).  On the one hand I feel badly for her, but on the other hand, her desire to complain about it coupled with her unwillingness to accept help makes that somewhat difficult.

She's a packaged food and restaurant loving lady.  I suspect the prospect of combining flours, starches, and other unusual ingredients will go over like a lead brick.  She tried making scalloped potatoes just by combining all of the "substitutions" and hated it.  While I can try to encourage her to think of food in new ways (instead of just trying to go with a one for one replacement), I think I might be more able to win her over if I had relatively simple and easy alternatives.

For instance, for Christmas I thought I would give her some sort of baking mix compete with a wide variety of recipes that you could use it for (breads, muffins, pancakes, waffles, cookies, etc, etc).  Does anyone out there have a favorite/tried and true recipe that would fit something like this?  What about recipes for comfort foods (think carb heavy, southern-like stuff) for a cookbook of sorts?

TIA!

[cristeen]

While that can be daunting, what I really recommend for people struggling with this kind of conversion is making a list of what they CAN eat, instead of concentrating on what they can't eat.  It's a lot easier to look at a list of what IS acceptable and devise a meal.  Make separate lists/columns for main dishes, side dishes, breakfasts, etc., and then you can just pick one from each to make a meal. Right now I would concentrate on things that don't require a whole lot of specialty ingredients or special preparation - stick to simple foods with mostly familiar ingredients.  Once she's past the "hump" of adjustment, that's the time to start getting fancy, when boredom sets in.  The adjustment period really is far easier without the substitutions IME. 

For instance, mashed potatoes (made with coconut milk, stock, margarine or even the cooking water instead of milk), meatloaf (with GF oats instead of breadcrumbs, although I don't use any binder in mine), and a simple brown gravy made with bacon fat, oat flour (or potato starch) and stock.  A side of broccoli or green beans or salad (go for a vinaigrette instead of a creamy dressing) is a simple veggie, and you have what most would consider a comfort food meal. 

For a pasta-ish dish, I usually recommend trying spaghetti squash.  I roast mine - split it longways, scoop out the innards, drizzle with oil, put them face down on a cookie sheet and bake at 350 for about 40 minutes, or until tender.  Flip them, scrape up the flesh with a fork until you get to less tender flesh then stick them back in the oven (face up) for another 10 minutes or so.  I don't like the sogginess of boiling it.  Top it with tomato sauce and meatballs - skip the cheese.  I don't know about freezing it, but the squash will keep in the cupboard for months. 

Another simple meal (one that we're having tonight) is roast whole chicken on a bed of potatoes, onions and apples (add carrots, turnips, sweet potatoes, whatever you've got).  The chicken renders off it's fat onto the veggies, and they come out tender and succulent.  And it's a totally dairy-free, gluten free meal.  With a salad or other simple green veg, it's nicely rounded out. 

Keep in mind that recipes that use potatoes or rice without dairy (or with minimal dairy which is easily subbed) are totally "safe".  But you can't easily sub for things like large amounts of sour cream or any cheese (which for most people would nix baked potatoes). 

If she's willing to be a little more "adventurous" in her food, I'd recommend exploring Asian cuisines that she may enjoy.  Most Asian cuisines use very little dairy, virtually no corn, and the almonds and gluten are easily identified/avoided. 

HTH

[pampered_mom]

I would agree that your tactic sounds like a great idea and it is most certainly what I would do if it were me.  I agree that you have to stop focusing on what you can't have to eat and try to avoid finding the perfect substitute.  Really, I do.

However, we're not talking about me or any other sort of reasonable person.  We're talking about my MIL and I can pretty much guarantee you that I won't get anywhere with her if I say anything even remotely like you have above.  I really am looking for what I asked for in my OP where I said:

For instance, for Christmas I thought I would give her some sort of baking mix compete with a wide variety of recipes that you could use it for (breads, muffins, pancakes, waffles, cookies, etc, etc).  Does anyone out there have a favorite/tried and true recipe that would fit something like this?

I had a recipe similar to this a couple of years ago from back before my third child when we were giving the elimination diet a go with my husband.  We had to give that up when the third child made her appearance and I've since buried or thrown out my recipes.  I really don't want to have to reinvent the wheel and my Google-fu is a bit weak at this point.  I was hoping there might be someone on MDC who uses something like this, but if not that's ok.

Oh, and spaghetti squash (she'll turn up her nose at this one), broccoli (she can't have that either), and lettuce (ditto the last one) are all out.  I probably wasn't clear enough - my MIL is a packaged food/restaurant meal queen.  If it's going to require more than opening several packages, mixing them together, and somehow baking that in the oven or putting it in a pot on the stove is going to be fairly well out.  I'm sure she cooked at one point when my husband and his sister were younger, but that was decades ago.  I haven't seen her cook the entire time I've known her and suggesting she roast a chicken is only going to elicit another round of "woe is me."

Seriously.  It's not like I'm asking for the impossible...ok, maybe I am, but I thought it was worth a try. 

[cristeen]

Oh no, I was suggesting you can make a list of foods that are normally/naturally "safe" and create your cookbook from that, rather than getting into the thick of substitution cooking.

As for finding a mix, I'd check out GF blogs - there are some great ones out there, and they're far more straightforward about their results with XY or Z than a big company is going to be. 

[Ragana]

In my peripheral experience with the GF diet in DH's family, it's pretty difficult to avoid gluten if you're eating solely packaged foods. Add to that casein, corn, etc. and I'm not sure how that is supposed to work. And I do sympathize, because we know someone who isn't willing to make the dietary changes needed for this diet (and there is nothing we can do about it).

FWIW, my MIL swears by the Jules baking mixes, but I think you have to order online. Bob's Red Mill also carries some stuff like this. Maybe look up a few of the companies that do GF-specific stuff like Pamela's and see what they offer that could be combined?

Good luck!