Tuesday, September 30, 2008

I'm stepping into the GFCF wading pool



Isn't that a really cool picture? My husband found that online somewhere and IM'd it to me. Since I went grocery shopping today I thought I'd stick that in my blog.

Our new doctor (an MD, Naturopath, & Homeopath), Dr. P, has recommended that we begin GFCF eating. (GFCF is Gluten Free Casein Free for those who are wondering.) So I've begun researching and finding ways to adapt our usual meals to this way of life. So far so good. I had formerly been quite unsure of how to begin, but now I think I'm at a good place mentally and I can handle it.

Today I did up a grocery list based on my meal plan below. I discovered the GF section of our groc store! Weee!

Spaghetti (rice noodles and will puree cauli and put it in the sauce)
Roast beef w/ carrots, potatoes, and rice maybe w/ gravy (anyone have a recipe for gravy? Post it!)
Chicken nuggets (printed off a GF recipe, got some flours for it)
Hamburgers (no buns)
15 bean soup w/ sausage (kids hate this, though, so I may have them eat sandwiches or something. )

I'll do enough for 2 meals then freeze leftovers. Convenient, no?

*Side note: The sausage is pork. Dr. P told us to get away from pork so I need some Pork- Free sausage suggestions! Recipes welcome.

I also picked up some GF flours and am hoping to make an "all purpose" flour mix. I had planned to make banana bread but changed my mind for now because I don't want to experiment w/ my banana bread just yet.

I found some GF breakfast bars that I hope the kids will like and I'm going to make oatmeal muffins for breakfast. My daughter didn't like the last batch, so I'm going to run my oatmeal through the food processor first and hope she'll like it better w/o the big oat bits.

I also have to find a way to limit sugar intake or change what I use, but my grocery store is limited in what they have for sweeteners. I'm thinking stevia or honey. I have molasses, at the moment. Ideas?

To summarize, I need the following:

GF Gravy recipe
Pork Free sausage (recipe? Brand name? Surprise me!)
Natural sweeteners that are NOT sugar (we also don't use Splenda, Equal, or Sweet N Low)
Any tips for GFCF living are also VERY welcome!

Thanks in advance, readers! :)

4 comments:

hellokittiemama said...

Hi there! good luck going gfcf - it DOES get easier.

We LOVE chicken sausage, I get a good one that is chicken and apple sausage... the stop & shop organic brand. yummy.

My son if gfcf, daughter is dairy free and hubby and I aren't but eat many meals that are gfcf by default. Let me know if you need any help!

SheGotHipsLikeCinderella said...

I am also jumping on the GFCF and Dairy free bandwagons!
GF Gravy recipe:
The secret is cornstarch or rice flour- I use cornstarch because I love it. ALWAYS dissolve cornstarch in cool liquid before adding to hot.
Here is a simple one:
2 cups stock or drippings
Salt and pepper (I use cayenne) to taste
2 – 4 Tablespoon rice flour
and another one:
1/2 cup EACH chopped onion, celery, carrots
Salt and pepper
Olive oil or melted butter
Juice of a lime or lemon
21/2 cups stock/broth drippings
4 tablespoons cornstarch

Hee hee- did I mention on the BF forums that I am a trained chef?!?
Pork Free sausage (recipe? Brand name? Surprise me!):
Okay- I make my own sausage, I am not a fan of store stuff. Almost every big sausage brand I've ever checked has been gluten-free, with the exception of beer brats however, most have pork casings- with the exception of "Al Fresco all natural chicken sausages."

Natural sweeteners that are NOT sugar:
I can not preach about how awesome stevia is. Sweeter than sugar, here is more info: http://www.stevia.net/
There is also Sugar Not!- http://www.netrition.com/dixie_sugar_not.html I've never personally tried it.
There is also a lot more here: http://www.livrite.com/sweeten.htm

Just That Girl said...

You guys! You're awesome! THANK YOU!!! Keep it coming!

HKMama, We also need to be Dairy Free (not just CF), but I refuse to use anything but REAL butter, so since I don't use real butter a whole lot anyway, I'm not giving it up. lol!

Nicole926 said...

Hi! We are not GFCF at home, but I have friends who are, and was gluten free baker for a while. As far as sugar substitutes go have you tryed I think it's call Agava nectar? I personally don't like stevia, it's really sweet and has a weird flavor imo, honey is great to, just make sure it's raw. Also, I would check out your local health food store for some of this stuff or to get ideas. For example you can buy already blended gf all purpose flour. Also, if you still want to use butter, use ghee. It's an Indian product, that is basically clarified butter, and has the milk solids removed. I found it at our local grocery store in the ethnic food isle. My friend who's son is gfcf uses this for him.