Gluten Free Healthy Food

As many of you may know, in order to breastfeed my darling Baby Yum I had to go on a rather extreme allergen-free diet, cutting out the obvious (dairy, soy, nuts, eggs) and even the less obvious, like rice, potatoes, and sweet potatoes.* In the course of trying to figure out how to help my allergic baby, I reached out for advice from communities like la leche league, attending meetings and reading their allergy boards avidly. The latter was especially helpful as I met other Moms who had battled allergies with their own infants and found solutions that worked for them. Thanks to suggestions on this board, I tried digestive enzymes (didn’t work for us), diet modifications, and finally probiotics for her which markedly improved her symptoms and my sanity. While there are many probiotics on the market, we found success with a Klaire infant probiotic free of just about everything from dairy to rice. (Annoyingly, you can only get it through a holistic medical professional, so we went to Whole Child Wellness for this “prescription” as well as some thinking-outside-of-the-box advice.) These resources were all very helpful, but one thing I’ve struggled with is getting the fuel to keep me going that conformed with an everything-free diet. Allergen-free blogs have been helpful, and I’ve enjoyed researching international options like one-flour-ingredient Indian flatbreads (see my sorghum flatbread or millet flatbread recipe), but the same allergy-expert ladies on the La Leche League forums also had some recipes that I have found very useful. Happily, I found one of the best gluten-free, dairy and egg free muffins I’ve ever had thanks to “Shannon75″ on the boards. I had to modify them a little to suit our restrictions, but this recipe is nothing short of a chemical miracle that results in amazing, fluffy, sturdy muffins that taste pretty awesome with a swipe of dairy-free soy-free margarine from Earth Balance and a little local honey. You can even use them as a sandwich base or eat them plain. I’ve made them in regular muffin tins and in mini-muffin tins- they are great either way. These babies don’t need eggs at all- and they beat most egg-free gluten-free muffin recipes hands down. Got any favorite winning gluten-free, egg-free muffin recipes or links? Share them in the comments! Me, baby yum, and my fellow allergen-free readers will thank you!

*Note: I am not a doctor, so this is not medical advice- just the path we chose that worked for us personally.

Quinoa Apple Allergen-free Muffins Bread  Alternative Grains  American

Ingredients Dry: 1 Cup quinoa flour 1/2 + 1/3 cup arrowroot starch (may replace one portion with an alternate starch such as tapioca, corn, or potato) 2 1/2 tsp baking soda 1/2 tsp xanthan gum 1/2 tsp salt 1 1/2 tsp baking powder Wet: 1 1/2 Cup liquid- (I use 3/4 cup apple juice concentrate with 3/4 cup apple juice to mellow out the strong flavor of the quinoa flour, but you can substitute other juice or water) 1/4 c oil 2 tsp egg replacer Directions Grease muffin tin with palm oil shortening or other oil. Preheat oven to 350F. Whisk together dry ingredients, and then make a well in the center for the liquid ingredients. Mix all together with a large spoon. Pour batter into muffin tin and bake for 12 minutes. Cool and enjoy! Notes Thanks to Shannon of the La Leche League forums for providing the template for this recipe, which I modified for our allergies.

Rating:  9 Original Source:  Based on recipe adapted by Shannon and posted on the La Leche Leage forums WITH permission. Please do not replicate anywhere without both of our permission. Recipe ID:  1497 Added:  April 3, 2010 Last Modified:  April 6, 2010

This holiday season we have many things to celebrate. We’ve been lucky enough to have family visiting us almost constantly since the birth of Baby Yum. Most recently, we were able to take Baby Yum (now an experienced traveler) to the DH’s natal home and my adopted home, Boulder, Colorado to celebrate Christmas with his parents. The best news, though, is that my extreme elimination diet - combined with a hearty dose of infant probiotics- has improved the state of Baby Yum’s sensitive tummy to the point where i have been able to add enough foods to my diet to make some tasty holiday treats. Sometime around Thanksgiving I started craving pumpkin pie, but I didn’t know how it would be possible to make it gluten, dairy, and egg free. However, when I added coconut back into my diet, it occurred to me that coconut might very well make a lovely substitute for condensed milk. Searching online, I found out how other people made their own vegan and gluten-free pumpkin pie recipes.

Creative goddess Karina made a Hemp Milk, buckwheat Vegan Pumpkin Pie Recipe
The always scrumptious Susan of Fat Free Vegan made a Crust-free Soy and Egg-replacer based Pumpkin Pie recipe
Michelle and Lori whipped up a Vegan Pumpkin Pie recipe
and the Voracious Vegan gave us something slightly different with her Raw foods pumpkin pie ball recipe (Use Gluten-free oats)

Finally, I made my own unique allergen-free gluten-free pumpkin pie that incorporated some unconventional flours (amaranth and coconut, anyone?) and used arrowroot as the thickener. Not only does it NOT contain soy or any other alternative boxed milk, but it also does not rely on egg replacer (which contains both potato and corn derivatives). This is the perfect pie for anyone sensitive to rice, corn, potato, tapioca, or other commonly used gluten-free flours. It certainly turned out to be the perfect pumpkin pie for me- and even won accolades from my dairy-sensitive Mother, who proclaimed it “very good” and asked for the recipe!

Guten-free dairy-free egg-free vegan coconut pumpkin pie recipe Dessert  Alternative Grains  American

Ingredients Crust: 1/2 cup amaranth 1/2 cup arrowroot 1/4 cup coconut flour 1/3 cup shortening 5 tbsp cold water Filling: 2 c. solid-pack canned pumpkin 1 c. regular coconut milk 3/4 c. brown sugar 1/4 c. arrowroot starch 1 Tbsp. maple syrup 2 tsp. vanilla 1 tsp nutmeg 1/4 tsp. EACH ground ginger, cloves and salt Directions Preheat oven to 375F. Combine crust ingredients in a medium bowl, whisking flours together and then adding your shortening. Combine until dough starts forming pea-sized balls, and sprinkle in water one tablespoon at a time until you can form the dough into a ball. Once you have a ball of dough, carefully roll out on wax paper. If you have two pie tins, you can place one bottom-side up underneath the wax paper and place the second one over the dough. Invert and carefully peel off the wax paper to have a perfect pie crust. Bake for 8-10 minutes in the oven or until lightly browned. Whisk filling ingredients together in a large bowl and fill your crust with the filling. Bake for 50 minutes or until pie has firmed up somewhat. You CAN greedily eat a slice before it chills, but it will be somewhat soft until it is chilled in the refrigerator overnight. For the most impressive pie, cool overnight.

Rating:  9 Original Source:  Inspired by various recipes online, but my own creation. Please do not replicate without permission. Recipe ID:  1474 Added:  December 20, 2009 Last Modified:  December 24, 2009

I’m sure many of you have noticed that I haven’t been posting as much lately- and if I hadn’t set some posts to auto-post last week ahead of time, you would have found the Book of Yum extremely quiet. The reason was… early Sunday morning, about a week before my due date, I went into labor. After some frantic time trying to get last minute things taken care of, we drove to the hospital. I was admitted, but the fun was only just beginning. What we hoped would be a relatively simple birth got more complicated when stubborn little Baby Yum refused to come down. We tried induction measures but after 38 1/2 hours were advised to proceed to a C-section. Doh. The latter was not the most pleasant experience in the world, but hearing my daughter’s bellows made it all worthwhile, and seeing her little face and kissing her little cheek while she squinted at me was a moment I will always treasure.

Things were going beautifully until about the third day when we intended to check out early. A random stats check of baby’s temp revealed baby had a fever and she got whisked off to the NICU before we even knew what was happening. After every test known to man was performed on our helpless darling, she was finally proclaimed a “well baby” and we got to bring her home at last. I’ve never been so glad to be home in my life. Don’t let me even get started on the stress of staving off formula-crazed nurses and keeping them supplied with pumped milk.

Even then things were stressful as I’d completely run myself into the ground and caught a cold. (Perhaps her original cold?) I had few symptoms besides a slight fever but was terrified of getting her sick again. Now several days later the DH seems to have it- but so far our darling Baby yum is still well…all fingers and toes crossed.

We welcomed Baby Yum to the world on July 13th at 8:21 pm, at 7 lbs. 5 oz.

We love our Baby Yum!!!

Here’s a recipe I threw together when I was suffering nutritionally and stressing about feeding the baby. Nutritional yeast is supposed to help provide lots of vitamin B and may even help with lactation. Maybe it was just because I’d had one too many Amy’s meals, but this snack really hit the spot. If this is a bit much for you, you can try nutritional yeast sprinkled on popcorn with margarine or butter and a dash of wheat-free tamari, or try one of my many nutritional yeast tofu recipes, or try a similar recipe with gluten-free pasta, canned tomatoes, margarine and nutritional yeast that I also enjoy. You can also grind up blanched almonds half and half with nutritional yeast in a spice mill (or non-coffee use coffee grinder) and sprinkle it on almost anything. Yum! and Nutritious too!

Momma’s Nutritional Yeast Vegan Cream of Spinach Side Dish  Vegetables  American

Ingredients Large handful, bowlful of fresh spinach pat of vegan margarine nutritional yeast, to taste garlic pepper or salt toasted pine nuts, walnuts, or pecans for extra protein Directions Microwave spinach until soft. Add pat of margarine and evenly distribute. Sprinkle with nutritional yeast, seasonings, and toasted nuts and combine thoroughly. Notes Nutritional yeast is a nutritional powerhouse of B vitamins, perfect for new mommas that don’t have time to really cook yet. Nutritional yeast is also said to help with lactation. Best for vegan palates and for those looking for a jump start in nutrition- not gourmet, but I found it very satisfying.

Rating:  6 Original Source:  Contents of my brain, please do not replicate without permission. Recipe ID:  1436 Added:  July 23, 2009 Last Modified:  July 23, 2009