Moving DS away from dairy, eggs, and wheat

[nstewart]

Hi everyone,

Just looking for a bit of advice on substitutions, foods to try and resources.  By way of background, we had a food sensitivity screening done by our naturopath as DS has a chronic inflammed lymphnoid.  The foods that came back as "sensitivities" where essentially cows dairy, egg whites, peanuts,citrus fruit and to a lesser extent wheat. 

I am not worried about getting diary and eggs out of his diet in the sense that at least I make the majority of our food at home from scratch so I already have good control over what goes into DS's body.  I am more wondering about what to use "instead" and any recipes would be appreciated.  For example, muffins, pancakes, etc. that call for eggs.  What to use instead?  And I've used coconut milk in place of cows milk in some recipes (such as oatmeal muffins), but for a cows milk sub that doesn't have strong flavors to cook or bake with, what do you suggest?  (For example, macaronni and cheese??  Or home made brocolli cheddar soup?  that kind of thing.)

For dairy, what is he more likely to accept and from a nutritional perspective, what is better?  Goats milk, almond milk, rice milk?  He doesn't drink a ton of cows milk now, he still prefers mamma milk, but he does love yogurt, cheese, and (LOVES) ice cream.  Do you all suggest soy substitutes or what?  I don't really want to fill him with soy...

I bake our bread.  What grain is a good sub for wheat for someone who is not an "experienced" baker?  Also, just for baking in general such as muffins and quick breads or biscuits, etc.  What do you suggest?

Any good cook books or other information such as blogs, websites, etc. that might be of help?

I know that tons of families are wheat, egg and dairy free so I'm not really worried, it's just new to me and I so appreciate the wisdom of all the mammas here.

Thanks for your help and guidance.

[pek64]

Rice has an unusual property. It tries to match the environment, so it gives off moisture in a hot dry oven, but holds moisture in a sauce. So rice milk, rice flour (can be grainy, and need to be ground in the blender or food processor), and brown rice syrup do better in sauces, ice creams, and the like. If using rice flour in baking, be sure to also use something that holds moisture, like sugar or honey, or fruit sugars, or coconut milk.

Oat flour has some gluten, so if the wheat problem is gluten related, oat may not work. Otherwise, I found oat flour to be delicious in baked treats.

Eggs either bind or provide leavening, so substitutions depend on what the function was.

Nutrition is a separate issue. Cow's milk is usually advocated for calcium. Many may recommend calcium supplements. I do not. I, personally, have health issues that I feel were caused by the large doses of calcium my doctor recommended. I like greens, sesame seeds, broccoli, cabbage, etc, for calcium, boron and omega-3, all needed for bones.

For other nutrients you are concerned about, there is a Nutrition Data site that gives you the option to enter a nutrient and it will list sources ina highest to lowest order.

Good luck.

[APToddlerMama]

SoDelicious has good icecream and yogurt (coconut milk base). Bobs Red Mill has a lot of decent wheat free baking mixes and flours too.

[pek64]

I forgot to mention going easy on soy products. Soy allergies can occur suddenly, and can happen if soy is used too much.

[sunnygir1]

Brown rice flour is an excellent substitute in cakes, muffins, and quick breads.  Really, you can substitute it exactly for wheat flour -- it makes the best cakes!

I usually bake with water, like in pancakes, but sometimes I use almond, flax, or goat milk.

Eggs in baking can be replaced with 1T ground flax seed beaten with 3T of water, other good substitutes are applesauce, pumpkin, yam, or banana.

These muffins are awesome:  http://glutenfreecooking.about.com/od/glutenfreebreads/r/glutenfreemorningglorymuffinrecipe.htm  I just use brown rice flour, not a mix.  You can use ground flax seed (see above) or skip the eggs altogether.  I also like them better without the pineapple; I sometimes put in a banana, grated lemon peel, grated zucchini, really whatever fruits and veggies I have around.  Oh, and I don't peel the apple.

These are the pancakes I've been making lately:  http://www.thedailydietribe.com/2011/11/how-to-make-gluten-free-vegan-pancakes.html  I use brown rice flour, potato starch (or tapioca or corn), coconut oil, and water for the liquid.  It helps to thin them out a bit so they don't get too thick and doughy in the middle.

Bread is a little trickier, but I have found a couple recipes I like.  Here's a link:  http://www.glutenfreecookingschool.com/archives/finally-really-good-sandwich-bread/  For the flour mix I use 3 parts brown rice flour, 3 parts starches (no more than 1 part potato starch), 2 parts sorghum flour, and 1 part masa.

I also like this for flatbread and pizza crust (pre-bake partially for pizza):  http://glutenfree.wordpress.com/2008/05/14/gluten-free-sandwich-wrap-take-3-a-new-whole-grain-version/

I don't do macaroni and cheese or broccoli cheese soup because I just don't see the point without cheese.

We do some goat dairy -- I get milk from a friend and make yogurt, and we do some goat cheese.  We use almond or flax milk on cereal, but don't drink milk.  I don't think these milks are super healthy -- although you can easily make your own coconut or almond milk, which would be better (less processed, fresher, and with fewer ingredients).  We drink water, water kefir, kombucha, tea, and occasionally juice.  I don't like any of the non-dairy cheeses, and I don't really see the point, nutritionally speaking...they are highly processed and don't fall into the "real food" category for me.

[nstewart]

Thanks for all of the responses!

I don't think the wheat thing is a gluten issue, as other grains with gluten (such as oats and rye) were fine.  I will try the brown rice flour for baking and see how that goes, and see if I can find oat flour! 

I agree, I don't really want to do the soy thing in substitute for any of the foods I'll be taking out of his diet.   Sunnygirl, I agree, what is the point of soy cheese??  I was wondering about a butter sub too.  I don't want to do margarine.  I was raised on real butter and I find it tastes so much better and I think that the less processed a food, the better, generally.  Maybe I can find goat or sheep butter somewhere...

I love the idea of making my own yogurt for DS from goats milk.  I bought whole, organic, non-homoginized goats milk for him yesterday and he seemed to enjoy it with supper.  He does love yogurt and with berries or other fruit it is such an easy breakfast or snack.  I'll try to make goats yogurt.

I like to do as much from scratch as I can, so I guess I'll just ease into this (start with muffins and pancakes and work my way up to bread!) and buy what I am not making.  I know there is a really good bakery that does lots of wheat free and gluten free breads, for example.

Thanks again, I'll be trying the recipes and coming back to re-read the tips so I don't forget them!

[sunnygir1]

I do give my kids Earth Balance butter substitute.  It isn't homogonized like most margarine, and tastes pretty good.  They like it.  I mostly bake with oils, like coconut oil or walnut oil.

Be careful buying gluten free breads because many of them contain eggs or dairy.  Also, there is an awesome 100% rye bread that I love (Alvarado Street, I think?) if you can do rye.

[APToddlerMama]

Just a heads up that the protein in goats milk is extremely similar to cow's milk protein so a really high number of people react to both.

[nstewart]

Thanks sunnygirl1.  I will check into some butter subs and watch for eggs and dairy in breads.  Ideally, I hope to continue (eventually) making our own.  Homemade bread is so yummy!

Thanks APToddlerMama.  What we did was a IgG Food Reaction test, so it did specifically screen for goats milk.  While DS has not had goats milk before, he has had Chevre, and so should have shown a reaction to goats milk if it would be an issue.  I will be mindful to watch for reactions, and we will likely re-test in 6 mos to a year and this will show if there are any new reactions.

While he did react to whole wheat, buckwheat, amaranth flour, barley, oats, rye, spelt, and rice were all ok.  Now, some he has not had so this may be why no reaction, but we eat steel cut oats often.  Also, I re-checked the test and it was neither wheat gluten or Gliadin (the protein) that he reacted to, so I'm not sure what it might have been.  Corn is another one where there is a reaction, but since we don't buy much processed/pre-packaged food staying away from corn should be ok (and it was low on the reaction scale anyway)  We'll see what other grains are still ok after 6 or 12 mos.

I really do appreciate everyone's thoughtfulness in replying.  Thanks!

[pek64]

You didn't mention corn in the original post, did you?

Corn starch is used in baking powder, salt, ground spices and sugar as an anti-clumping agent. And it does noy have to be listed.

Read ingredient lists closely on all you buy.

If you cannot find oat flour, make your own from rolled oats. Just use a blender or food processor to chop it up.

[nstewart]

No, I didn't mention corn in my original post.  I didn't have the entire list of results in front of me (it was a 96 food screening test) and the naturopath had really focused his attention on the wheat, eggs and dairy.  Thanks for the heads up on the corn starch.  I did see corn/gluten/etc. free baking powder at the whole foods store just yesterday.  I will pick some up.

This is more complicated than I thought! lol.

[pek64]

I was just wondering how I missed it. Glad I'm not going blind. It seems to me I'm missing something to tell you. If I think of it I'll be sure to post again. In the meantime, there are lots of websites and blogs about food allergies. You should check them out to fill in what may be missing.

On the dairy front -- fruit, like apples, can be waxed with dairy-soy wax. I read that on another thread. That makes buying fruit and vegetables difficult because of transference to other items.

[pek64]

There's a thread in the Allergies forum -- questions about corn allergies. You should probably check that, too.

I realized what I was forgetting. Corn feed. We get organic grass fed beef to avoid the corn feed. I don't know if you are dealing with enough sensitivity to make that necessary.

Also, I'm curious about the baking powder. If it is corn free, what *is* in it to prevent clumping?

[nstewart]

I didn't even think of the Allergies forums!

Actually, I have another post in this forum asking for help with the cut sheet because I am currently ordering a quarter of grass fed beef.  Corn feed is less of an issue in Canada anyway.  Usually beef here will be grain fed if it is finished in a feed lot as opposed to corn fed like in the US.  I'm fortunate to live in a part of the country where I have access to a number of options for grass fed beef.

I'll try to find out about the baking powder too...

Again, thankfully, this is not an allergy (ie: immediete, severe reaction) but a sensitivity (ie: delayed reaction of up to several days affecting the immune cells) that at this time is not severe but could get worse over time if DS continues to be exposed to the foods regularly.  http://wellwire.com/health/nutrition-health/food-sensitivity-versus-food-allergy.  Still, needs to be dealt with so all this information is so helpful!  I don't want the sensitivities to get worse or to start increasing to other types of foods.