Gluten-Free Information @ The Pratt Family Allergy Free Cookbook & Resources

The Pratt Family Allergy Free Cookbook and Resources

Foods to Avoid
Make sure you go to: Celiac Disease/Gluten Intolerance to read more about it and foods to avoid. This is one statement at this site: "Other key words to watch for are: farina, flour, caramel coloring, enriched flour, cereal, malt flavoring or extracts, MSG, modified food starch, emulsifiers, stabilizers, distilled vinegar, semolina, durum, and triticale." Find accceptable and unacceptable grains and flours at Gluten-Free Diet: Grains and Flours @ Celiac Sprue Association USA. Here are some other web sites to learn more about foods to avoid: GFCF Diet, Foods to Avoid, and Foods and Additives to Avoid.

Call or visit web sites to make sure certain manufacturer products are safe to use. Such as MSG, distilled vinegar (if wheat is the source), etc.

Grains
Grains that have gluten in them are: wheat, rye, barley, spelt, kamut, durum, triticale, semolina, einkorn, etc. You can read more at: Celiac.com (Which grains are safe, which are not?). Amaranth, buckwheat, millet, and teff are gluten-free but some doctors and U.S. celiac societies say to avoid these grains. (There are no scientific studies done on these grains. Our family uses most of these grains. My skin does not break out and I don't have gastro problems when I eat these grains. Also, my family also does not react so that is our scientific proof that these grains are gluten-free. Always watch out for cross-contamination in a gluten-free diet.)

Oats in their pure form do not contain gluten, but almost all U.S. sources become cross-contaminated in the fields or in the factory. (This is because the farmers rotate oats and wheat by season.) Oats are generally considered to NOT be safe in a gluten-free diet. If you want to purchase safe oats, go to: Gluten Free Oats or Cream Hill Estates - Guaranteed Pure Oat Products. (They are really expensive.) McCann's Irish oats are gluten-free but they can not guarantee thier oats to be gluten-free. (Go to: McCann's FAQ, to read more.) A local gastro doctor said McCann's Oats are gluten-free. (We have not tried oats since going gluten free.)

Quinoa is a very nutritious gluten-free grain . It is called the "mother grain" by ancient Incas. It has all eight amino acids. You can use this grain as a flour or as a substitution for rice. To cook this grain as a main, side, or breakfast dish, take one part quinoa to two parts water and place the rinsed quinoa in a rice cooker (or on the stove). You can also buy Anicient Harvest Quinoa Flakes to use as a breakfast cereal, for cookies, and other baked products. (To read more about quinoa, go to: All About Quinoa.)

Flours
To save money, you can mill (grind) various grains, beans, lentils into flour. (Make sure you use a separate mill for gluten-free grains.)

Gluten-Free Dining
Gluten Free Dining Guest Experiences - Disney World

Cooking Basics & Tips

Baking Tips
For bread, muffins, cake baking, grease your pans quite well; especially, the metal pans (not the non-stick kind) and glass pans.

For one stick (1/2 cup) of unsalted margarine, (e.g. Fleischmann's), add 3/8 of a teaspoon of salt (a heaping 1/4 teaspoon) to the recipe. (I always use 1/4 teaspoon on salt for recipes that call for 1 3/4 to 2 cups of flour.)
(We do not use these product anymore since it has so many things added to it.)

Brown Sugar
To make brown sugar, use 1 cup white sugar + 2 tablespoons of molasses.
Note: I have used the mild molasses but I think the darker molasses would make it sweeter.

Safe Foods and Additives

Binders

Some natural binders are: pineapple juice, lemon juice, starches, flax seed meal are binders. If you are not allergic to eggs, eggs can be used as a binder.   Other binders are: baking powder (if you are not allergic to corn) and guar gum. I have tried xanthan gum but I'm allergic to it (see xanthan gum warning). Other binders that I have not tried are: bananas, apples, and applesauce. We don't use those due to allergies/intolerances. I have heard of agar agar and slippery elm powder work too.

Go to: Helpful Hints, to find binding amounts of various products and food. You can use applesauce or other fruits or vegetables to bind. (Be careful since apples bind your system. My husband and I don't eat them.) We have found it takes more guar gum for cookies (about 2 teaspoons for 1 3/4 cups of flour and starches-you might need more if you don't use starches). You don't need a gum in muffins, cakes, pancakes, crepes and waffles as long as you are using some types of starch and flour. I know it is works for: potato starch, sweet potato starch, tapioca starch, and sweet rice flour. When I made yeast breads, I needed to add the gum to it or it wouldn't stay together.

Tips:
1. Only use pectin in recipes that call for citric acid (lemon juice, grapefruit juice, etc.) in them; otherwise, they will be very bitter.
2. If your diet eliminates eggs, use 1/2 teaspoon unflavored gelatin (maybe even flavored) and 3 tablespoons more rice milk, soy milk, water, honey, etc. for each egg.

Egg Allergy - Egg Substitutes @ about.com

Flax Seed Meal
This is a great binder in baked goods. (I use this since I can't eat eggs anymore.) I use is 2 tablespoons ground flax meal plus 6 tablespoons water for my muffin recipes. I boil it in the microwave for 35-40 seconds and then let it set for a little while. Flax hold cookies together really well. I wasn't sure if I would like the taste but I do for muffins, cookies, and cakes. Also, it is excellent for your health.

For more information of allergies and food reactions (xanthum gum, garbanzo (chickpea) bean flour; corn; milk; soy; etc., go to: Food Allergies.

Here are some tips I have found so far from the web.
1. You don't need to use xanthun gum (guar gum or gelatin) when making pancakes. This is probably the same with crepes.
2. Sift your flours so it is lighter. (I haven't tried this yet.)
3. Underbake your cookies.
4. Use an extra egg to your recipes (as a binder).

Flour Substitutions per cup of Wheat Flour

Note: (1.) We buy our starches at Oriental stores where they produce a lot of them. There is less of a chance of cross contamination. (We have not had any reactions to them yet.)
(2.) Always be careful of cross contamination. We don't buy in the bulk bins in health food stores. (See: Gluten-Free & Dairy-Free Products and Foods to Avoid.)

Here are some flours you can use
My husband usually uses 1/4 cup Amaranth in his recipes.
If you use Buckwheat, use small amounts since this has a strong flavor. (We don't use this anymore.) Add molasses and/or brown sugar to your recipes.
Millet Flour taste good. This gives a grainy texture, so use not more than 1/5 of this flour in your recipes. I use about 1/4 cup per cup with other flour mixtures.
Rice Flour (brown or white) We use brown rice flour. They say to use 7/8 cup per cup of white or brown wheat flour.
        Use with other mixtures (e.g. tapioca starch/flour, potato starch). We use brown rice flour.
Potato Flour
Potato Starch
Sorgham Flour
Sweet Potato Starch
        I read at: How the Farmer Can Save His Sweet Potatoes, Geo. W. Carver, that it "has very powerful adhesive qualities" which is very true.
Sweet Rice Flour (glutinous/sticky/botan/mochi and other names are found at: Cook's Thesaurus: Thickeners.) It helps hold baked goods together and I recommend it if you can tolerate rice. (Don't use much of it since it will make your baked producs gummy.) We purchase the Koda Farms - Mochiko Sweet Rice Flour (Blue Star Brand) at a large oriental store.
Tapioca Starch/Flour
        Tapioca makes food chewy so adapt to the texture you would like to have. It is a great binder. (This is very cheap in Oriental Food Stores.)

Flour Substitutes, Tips and Information
Note: These sites all say something different about the amount of flours so you will need to use trial and error to find out for sure what is the correct about for one cup of wheat flour.

Flour Substitutes @ Food Resource by Bob's Red Mill Note: The barley, oats, and whole wheat flour are NOT gluten-free. (See Grains to find gluten-free oats.)

All Recipes: Adventures in Alternative Flours There is information about each flour, starch, cornmeal, gluten substitutes, and flour mixture recipes. Note: Kamut and Spelt are NOT gluten-free.
Being a gluten free vegan: more than just survival
Cook's Thesaurus Use only the gluten-free products.
Flour Facts -- Ellen's Kitchen -- Pantry
Flour substitutions and gluten-free flour mix -- Ellen's Kitchen
GF Flour Mixes
Gluten-free cooking and baking tips
Gluten free diet tips Note: Make sure to use ONLY the flours that are gluten-free (gf).
Gluten-free grains and alternatives @ Better Health
Gluten-Free Living: Wheat Flour Substitutions @ about.com Description of various flours.
Grace's Guide to Non-Wheat Flours
How the Farmer Can Save His Sweet Potatoes, Geo. W. Carver Including recipes (which include: sweet potato: flour, starch, sugar and other recipes).
Pantry Thickeners @ Baking 911.com Use only gluten-free thickeners.
Sylvan Border Farms Gluten Free Grains Some baking tips. You don't have to follow all the tips about the xanthun gum.

Soy
Soy can be a health problem. It can cause thyroid problems (even if you don't have a thyroid problem it might bring it on). Be careful of how much you consume. If you are pregnant and/or nursing, limit the amount of soy so your child won't develop a soy allergy. I would suggest using rice milk or some other milk substitute that is not soy. If you decide to formula feed your babies, I would suggest not to give soy formula. (I breast fed my children.) I have heard and read that celiacs can have problems digesting soy (along with fats too) while his/her villa (in the small intestines) are healing.

Page Since May 1, 2002