Gluten Free Chicken Noodle Soup

 

100% goodness this chicken noodle soups is gluten & casein free and is delicious! Chicken noodle is a staple in the house - especially in the nasty winter when it is cold and it is cold & flu season. Easy to make and you won't believe it is gluten free.

keep reading for ingredients and directions

Product Review: Motherlove Nipple Cream

I have been nursing Baby E now for almost 20 months and after the initial 6 weeks learning phase we have been having no real troubles.

Those first 6 weeks were very painful though. Cracked nipples, bleeding nipples, engorgement that made it near impossible to latch and of course the whole casein intolerant thing we had to work out.  

Babe E is teething now - getting her molars and she has not really been herself. She has been a little rough with the nursing lately and when she seems to be in a lot of teething pain, she bites... chomps hard. Also, I nurse her to sleep at night and if I don't break the latch before she is right out - she will chomp down, hard.

Enter in  Motherlove Nipple Cream:

Gluten & Casein Free Beef Stew

There is nothing better then on a rainy day or when you are sick then to have a warm, hearty beef stew.  This is one of my favourites that my parents make and I made it for the first time this week.

keep reading for recipe:

Gluten & Casein Free Dessert Pizza

Sometimes it can be hard to make a quick and easy gluten free dessert. Sometimes you really NEED dessert too.  I have some peanut butter cookies that I make often when we need a little treat but I was on the hunt for something else as well.

I wanted something quick, yummy and different. Filling, but not cake. I came up with Gluten Free Dessert Pizza.

Apple Pie Pizza and Cherry Hazelnut Chocolate Pizza

keep reading for recipe and directions

Product Review: Kinnikinnick Cinnamon Sugar Donuts

Kinnikinnick Cinnamon Sugar Donuts: Gluten & Dairy Free

I have been wanting to try Kinnikinnick Cinnamon Sugar Donuts for about ever. I have made my own donuts before and they are really good - but also a lot of work. I wanted to know what a commercially available gluten and casein free donut tasted like. Today was the day:

If you don't know Kinnikinnick Foods - get yourself acquainted. They provide allergy friendly foods that are produced in a dedicated facility free from gluten and nuts. The company mission is:

keep reading for review:

Gluten & Casein Free Pancakes (Mix)

One of my favourite things to do on a weekend (usually a Sunday) is make a large breakfast for the family. Most mornings we eat fruit and cereal so I like to mix it up sometimes and do something larger, more exciting.

Pancakes are one of the family's favourites and I am happy we don't have to miss out on such a great breakfast even though we eat gluten and casein free.  I have tried quite a few different gluten & casein free pancake mixes and also ones from scratch and the family's favourite is Kinnikinnick Pancake & Waffle Mix. 

 

My 8 Favourite Gluten & Casein Free Products + giveaway

Eating gluten and/or casein free has been a blessing to me.  I have been gluten free now for 3.5 years and although it seemed like the worst thing when I was first diagnosed and had to rethink everything I ate, I felt so much better.  Casein free was a different story. Eating casein free came about because I was nursing my daughter - and turns out she had a casein intolerance so I gave it up.  

Today I am going to outline my top favourite gluten and casein free products - stay tuned because there is a giveaway at the end!!

keep reading for the list

Gluten & Casein Free: Salsa Fresca Fajita Salad w/ Rice Works

If you have never tried Riceworks gourmet brown rice crisps you need to go run and get yourself a bad, or three. They really are that good.  They come in 6 different varieties and I have tried 4 of them and all of them blew me away. 

My favourite of them is definitely the Baked Cinnamon. They are NOT dairy (casein) free so I don't eat them too often. All flavors are gluten free and baked with whole grain brown rice. They can be enjoyed on their own, used for dipping or added to a recipe.
 

The Sea Salt Riceworks crisps are perfect for dipping. As a person with celiac disease I cant eat pita bread and this product is the perfect substitute for dipping into Hummus. As you know I have just recently been making and eating hummus (see recipe here) and the sea salt crisps were perfect!

Riceworks sent me some recipes of theirs to try out and I was very intrigued by their Salsa Fresca Fajita Salad.

keep reading for recipe

Guest Post: Autism and the Gluten & Casein Free Diet

 

There has been a lot of talk about autism and the gluten and casein free diet. A lot of mothers and families have put their children on this diet and have seen remarkable changes in their children. The medical community has not really caught up to this idea but I very much believe that diet plays a much larger role in our bodies then just calories, vitamins and nutrients.

Since this week is focusing on Gluten and Casein free lifestyle today Lori (@Autism Diet) has 2 children and one of her sons has autism.  Today she shares her story on autism and the gfcf diet:

keep reading for more:

Gluten Free & Casein Free Bread (From Mix)

With Big P starting school in September I am looking for the tastiest, cheapest and easiest gluten free bread (either from mix, bought or homemade) that will be a staple in his daily lunches. I have been on the hunt and have found the best gluten free bread, hands down anywhere. My brother (who also has Celiac Disease) also says this is the best bread he has ever had.  What is it? Home Baked Bread using Kinnikinnick's Kinni-Kwik Bread & Bun Mix.

Keep Reading for directions:

Gluten Free & Casein Free Bread (Homemade)

Bread is one of the very few things I miss about eating gluten.  Finding a gluten free bread that I really enjoyed and could eat without having to toast it {to improve texture} was hard. Until I came across the best homemade Soft Sandwich Bread recipe from Four Chickens.  

I modified the recipe to make it casein free and used a different flour mixture.  The ingredient change did not change the taste - still amazing.

keep reading for ingredients and directions:

Gluten Free & Casein Free Cupcakes

 

I am a huge fan of cupcakes. Seriously I could eat them every day and I actually went through a phase of baking these gluten and casein free cupcakes about a year ago. I can not get enough.  What I love so much about this recipe is it doesn't take any complicated flour mixture and basically everything you can find at your local grocery store.

One of my favourites is a Vanilla Cupcake with Maple Frosting!

Keep reading for ingredients and directions:

Gluten Free & Casein Free Lemon Meringue Pie

 

Eating gluten free and casein free does not have to be a sentence to eating bad food and no deserts. Many of my past favourite recipes can be converted to this diet with a few modifications and will taste just as good. 

Lemon Meringue Pie is one of the best deserts to eat in the summer. Specifically I love graham cracker pie crusts and luckily Kinnikinnick has a gluten free and casein free version with their Graham Style Crumbs perfect to make the best gluten and casein free Lemon Meringue Pie

Keep reading for ingredients and directions:

Homemade Gluten Free/Dairy Free Hummus

Gluten Free/Casein&Dairy Free Hummus

I have been on the hunt for a good vegetable dip that my family could eat. Since we have both a casein intolerance and a lactose intolerance in the house {as well as gluten} it was harder to find one that would fit all three restrictions.  There are some incredible dips out there with dairy, so having a lactose issue you could get away with eating a yogurt based dip most of the time, not the case with the casein allergy.

I have heard about hummus but had never really tried it before. I decided to make some and see what we thought of it.  It is gluten free and casein free and as a bonus it is also really healthy.  We eat it with cut up vegetables and it is SO GOOD!

Read below for ingredients and recipes:

Product Review: Not Nuts! Trail Mix by Enjoy Life

 
Enjoy Life sent me some samples of their new nut free trail mix called "not nuts! trail mix for everyone" in their 2 different varieties: Beach bash and Mountain Mambo.  I have not seen trail mix before that was marketed to the gluten free sector and especially not the nut free sector so I was very excited to try these out.

Enjoy Life Foods business is:

making smile-good foods that keep people’s insides happy too. That’s why all of [their] foods are specially made to be gluten-free and free of the 8 most common allergens, which account for 90% of all food allergies. [Their] mission is to make delicious products that just about everyone can EAT FREELY.

Gluten Free Tomato Basil Crustless Quiche

Tomato Basil Quiche with Spinach Salad {gluten and casein free}

Quiche was one of my favourite things to eat when I was younger. I didn't get it too often but LOVED eating asparagus or broccoli quiches. My mom made the best ones! 

It had been about forever and then some since I have had one but really wanted the 'taste' of quiche so I decided to make a crustless one. Yes, I could make a gluten free crust, but as a super busy mom of 3 I wanted something quick, healthy and easy.

Keep Reading for Ingredients and Directions:

Follow Friday: Four Chickens

Homemade Gluten Free Soft Sandwich Bread

If you eat gluten free - be it for Celiac, allergy/intolerance, Autism or lifestyle reasons - you NEED to go and check out Four Chickens Blog! 

In her own words Jeanne says Four Chickens is 

About amazing and delicious gluten-free baking, family, books, ideas, community and the 5 (formerly 4) chickens who live in my urban backyard.

I swear to you the recipes she has up there are incredible. This week I tried out her Soft Sandwich Bread recipe.  I am on the hunt for a great, easy to make gluten free bread that I can perfect in time for Big P to start school this fall. Well, I have found it.  

I modified this recipe only a little - I had a slightly different flour combination (I don't use white rice flour) and I used 1 cup of almond milk instead of milk and dissolve the yeast in 1/2 cup of warm water.

I was impressed with the ease of this recipe and the short rise and cook time.  The taste and texture was incredible! It made a nice sized loaf - perfect for sandwiches and all 3 of my kids loved it.

So - head over to Four Chickens - but prepare to get the 'baking itch' and be amazed! 

Have a great weekend everyone! What are your plans for Mother's Day?

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Root Beer Pork Chops

Root beer Pork chops with brown rice and asparagus

This recipe is another favourite for my family. All three of my kids love it and it's a frequent dinner made when my younger brother comes over too.  What I love so much about this recipe is it is naturally gluten free - the benefit of that being that I don't have to search out for a gf option of some obscure ingredient and that makes it more economical.

Keep reading for ingredients and directions

Giving Up Dairy & Casein for My Breastfeeding Daughter

Today I have been breastfeeding my youngest for 1 year 2 months and 1 day. I can not say it has been an easy time but I am SO proud that we have been able to make it here.  It was important for me to make it to 6 months, then I changed the goal to 1 year and now I am just hoping to continue as long as she wants to.  Not every breastfeeding journey is simple. It can take a lot of patience and sacrifice and  I had a quick lesson in that.

Daughter only an hour old after we first nursed

About 10 days after I brought my daughter home from the hospital I noticed she was acting typically 'colic'.  My other two children did not just scream for any unknown reason so I knew something was off with Baby E.  When my son was a newborn he was only breastfed for 6 weeks and then he was on hypo-allergenic formula because he had a lot of digestive troubles.  My first daughter was breastfeed for almost 4 months when I had to stop for medical reasons for myself. So, I did not have a lot of experience with colic and the breastfed baby.

All I did know was that I did not have time for it. I know that sounds awful, but it's true. I had a 3 year old and a 2 year old at home with me who also needed my attention and support and it was noisy enough. I had to get to the bottom of why this 10 day old baby was just crying.

Baby E was constantly crying (like blood curdling cries), jerking her knees up to her stomach, puking after eating (like PUKE not baby spit up) and she started to develop a rash all over her body  Something in the back of my head told me that this is dairy.  I have to cut lactose out of my diet since I am breastfeeding and see if that helps her.  

So I was now eating gluten free (because of my Celiac Disease) and lactose free. I gave it a few days and while the symptoms did get a bit better in Baby E, they were still not completely gone - so I waited another week with out having any lactose. Her symptoms were still not completely gone yet and I knew that since they were getting better - I was on to something.  

After a bit of research I discovered Casein. I had heard of the casein free diet through Autism information and decided to look more into it. Casein is the main protein in cows milk and is found in ingredients like whey & casienate as well as any dairy products (and gasp ... chocolate!).  

I decided to give up all dairy including casein and see how that affected Baby E. Since I was already eating gluten free I was an 'expert' at scouring food labeling to peg out the ingredients that contained casein.  Seriously within the week she was a WHOLE. NEW. BABY!! Her rash was gone, her screaming was gone, there was no knee jerking and no more throwing up.  It was a miracle.  

After talking with our doctor he suggested I stayed off all forms of casein for at least 9 months and then to slowly start to incorporate it back into my diet and to keep her off it for at least a year.  Baby E was exclusively breast feed for her first 9 months before she started to receive anything other then breast milk. I was eating casein free that entire time (I MISSED MY CHOCOLATE!!) and it was so worth it. 

Was the diet hard? Absolutely! What made it so worth it was the happy baby I got to enjoy instead of the super-cranky-can't-keep-anything-down baby I could have had.  After about a year I slowly started to bring casein back in my diet. I started eating lactose free and see how she tolerated that and was introducing yogurt and hard cheese into her diet.  She seemed to be doing just fine so we stayed with that for a while.

1 year 2 months and 1 day later I am pretty much able to eat what I want again (hello chocolate!). Baby E is still not having any dairy other then yogurt and cheese and she seems to tolerate both of us having dairy to a moderate level. If I over do it - it becomes apparent right away - the puking, the rash, the screaming all come back.  

If you are at home with a screaming colicky baby I suggest you talk to your baby's pediatrician about a possible dairy, lactose or casein sensitivity. From what my doctor told me, most babies digestive system can start to tolerate it around 9-12 months so it is not something they will normally live with for a long period of time.

Do you have any experience eating casein free? What about advice for other families dealing with a baby who has colic? 

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Orange Beef with Fried Rice

Orange Beef and Fried Rice

This week I thought I would try something new and cook up some Chinese food for the family.  Nearly impossible to find gluten free Chinese food near where I live so it's something I do miss eating.

Keep reading for recipe: