Going GF..brands needed .. GF Graham crackers??

[chantald]

Hello
At our recent DAN! Dr visit, he strongly suggested we go on a GF trial (we have already done a CF trial and determined dairy is OK)

I have some ?s

If something says Wheat Free but doesnt' say Gluten free, what is the difference? For example the Oatios say Wheat Free.. another brand said Gluten free??

I need brands of GOOD tasting

Crackers, like saltines
Pasta
Oatmeal
Pancake mixes
bread mixes for the bread machine
Cherios like cereal
Graham cracker like crackers
Snacks to send into school

anything else you can suggest..

DS#1 will need to take his lunch to school and have a snack every day..
The little one (who has elevated imune response to wheat) just needs things to eat.

Once i have brands, I can order them through my food coop.. but didn't want to get cases of things that were nasty

Thanks!

[jocelyndale]

Gluten is found in wheat (gliadin), barley (hordein), and rye (secalin). Oats contain avenin, which causes some gluten-sensitive folks to react. Most commercial oats are also cross contaminated with one or more of the other grains.

Something may say "wheat-free", but still contain barley or rye or contaminated oats.

Additionally, spelt and kamut contain gliadin and as such should be avoided by gluten-sensitive folks.

[marzanmama]

Hi,

I can offer a few suggestions based on your list.

Tinkyada pasta is the best rice pasta around, hands-down. Lots of fun shapes, hard to tell it's not wheat. Available at the health food store.

Trader Joe's sells a brown rice pasta that's my second choice, and it is significantly cheaper.

For pancakes, we use Arrowhead Mills gluten-free pancake mix. My 18 month old ds is also allergic to eggs, so we do w/o that--and they are still pretty tasty! I never make them plain--always with blueberry or pumpkin.

IMO the best gluten-free cereals are made by EnviroKids. Koala crisp, Amazon flakes, Gorilla Munch are all good. I get them for my 3yo at Trader Joe's and he doesn't even have allergies. They don't make anything that emulates a cheerio. For that, you might have to do Perky O's, which are not so hot in my opinion.

Graham Crackers or other crackers: no idea.

Snacks: Since we found out about ds' allergies I've become a big fan of potato chips and rice cakes! We get the "reduced guilt" potato chips from Trader Joe's. And I don't feel the least bit guilty about that being our special family treat. It's so much cheaper to snack on things that have always been gluten-free, rather than HFS items that are specially designed to be gluten-free. KWIM?

HTH.

[lastrid]

I don't buy much packaged stuff, but Mi-Del makes an arrowroot cookie that's really good. The mini chocolate chip ones are good too.

[grisandole]

Pamela's cookies are great, as are Mi-Del and Glutino. Pretty much everything I've had by Glutino is great, actually.

Tinkayada pasta is fantastic, most people can't even tell it's GF.

We buy Mary's Gone Crackers, but they aren't like saltines (they are healthy, though).

For snacks: whole fruit, crackers w/peanut butter, nuts, chips and salsa or bean dip, popcorn, applesauce, boiled eggs, Larabars, fruit leather....there is so much out there! You can do mainstream things like Lay's potato chips, Tostito's, etc.

We don't eat oats due to the X-contamination issue and the potential for a reaction to avenin.

For hot cereal, I like Arrowhead Mills Rice and Shine...you can doctor it up to be sweet or salty (I like it with coconut oil and salt).

[mrsnj91]

Jo-sef Cinnamon Gluten-Free Graham Crackers (Josef's) are very good

Glutino Gluten-Free Crackers and Energy Crackers are about as close to norm as you are likely to get.

Midel and most things from Enjoy Life are really good.

There are a FEW regular gluten free cereals but you have to read read read as they change their ingrediants all the time. Otherwise I would recommend sticking with something from the halthfood store like Enviro kids, etc.

Breads and pancakes we did the Enjoy Life and Arrowhead. Cakes too which were rather yummy! They make brownies and cookie mixes, etc too.

[mrsnj91]

P.S kinnikinnick muffins are really good too. My DD loved the choco. chip and blueberry. They also make some premade breads which were ok. I could almost find a sub for most kid friendly items except for bread. That was a hard thing to find something even close to the wheat bread. I often subsatuted bread for a GF pancake or waffle. And you have to really toast the bread to get any kind of texture that isn't gummy. Oh and Wellshire Kids GF Dino Nuggets were a BIG hit in our house. AllL my kids fought over those!

[chantald]

Thanks!
Snacks have to be able to survive the backpack, be totally nut free and not need to be chilled.. so that eliminates lots of things..sadly..

I am going to order from the food coop this month.. here is what I have so far

Pasta, probably Tinks
A Cherrios substitute
Bobs' Redmill bread mix
Pancake mix, most likely by Arrowhead Mills
Brownie mix, most likely by Cherry something kitchen
Crackers..



I think making my oldest's lunches will be the biggest challenge.. he nearly only eats PB&J....

[Sweetjane]

I believe there are some cross contamination concerns (nuts) with both Bob's Red Mill and Arrowhead Mills. We avoid those two brands because I have never gotten any reassuring information from either company regarding manufacturing procedures. Unfortunately, I have found that many companies which offer "gluten free" products are not always sensitive to other common allergens.

[chantald]

Thanks!! Nuts are not a problem.. so far.. I cant' find a cherrios like cereal that is GF that doesn't taste like cardboard..

Any suggestions for a graham like cracker would be great..

[jocelyndale]

A google search for gluten free graham cracker brings up a couple brands. I have no experience with them, however. And I'm sure there are recipes out there.

[neverdoingitagain]

Nak
Kinnickinick, el peto, ener-G, Midel, Enjoy life, Glutino all have some pretty good products. K-toos by kinninckinick are almost exactly like oreo cookies.
Pamela's cookies are amazing.
El-peto has ice cream cones, and something like graham crackers. Kinninckinck makes gluten-free graham cracker crumbs.

[Ruthla]

Originally Posted by chantald

Thanks!! Nuts are not a problem.. so far.. I cant' find a cherrios like cereal that is GF that doesn't taste like cardboard..

Any suggestions for a graham like cracker would be great..

i'd skip the o-shaped cereal and stick with gorrilla munch instead. Its' just as good for a finger food, take along snacks, etc.