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Community Corner

Catering to a Gluten Free Child

Moms Columnist Kellyanne Koemp discusses the ways to address gluten intolerance or sensitivity.

Imagine never being able to have another hot dog on a roll at a family barbeque, or birthday cake at your best friend’s birthday party. Horrifying, I know, but for millions of children, and adults, this is a fact of life.

Known as Celiac Disease, gluten intolerance or sensitivity to wheat has been getting a lot of press lately. I am sensitive to wheat, I need to avoid it - too much can cause me to become depressed, and if I have too much I can break out in hives. More and more children are being diagnosed as well. Some kids have intestinal issues and even the slightest bit of wheat, for example the amount of crumbs on your knife after spreading peanut butter on one child’s wheat bread, can then cross contaminating the gluten intolerant child’s sandwich if the same knife is used.

Even going to a fast food restaurant that doesn’t have a “dedicated fryer” can lead to a problem from cross contamination. Sure those fries don’t have wheat on them, but they were just fried in a vat of oil used to fry 100 chicken nuggets. The gluten free parent needs to learn to ask everywhere. Even if something doesn’t seem like it would ever have wheat, they need to check. Deli tuna salad can have a good deal of wheat in it. Why? Not sure, I would prefer it didn’t that’s for sure.

Some of the symptoms in children are:

  • Weight loss or weight gain
  • Slow infant and child growth
  • Nutritional deficiencies due to malabsorbtion
  • Eczema
  • Intestinal problems (bloating, pain, gas, constipation, diarrhea)
  • Aching joints
  • Depression
  • Head aches
  • Exhaustion
  • Irritability and behavioral changes

Once you suspect a problem with your child and you take him or her to the pediatrician, there are blood tests that can diagnose Celiac Disease. However, just sensitivity may be the problem, and for that you might need to just try eliminating wheat products.

Elimination of wheat is more than just giving up wheat bread. It’s elimination of rye, barley, couscous, and some oatmeal. Unless you buy oats that specifically says gluten free, Bob’s Red Mill brand is reliable, it’s best not to take a chance. There is even a support group available for parents of children who are Celiacs, called R.O.C.K (Raising Our Celiac Kids).

Like any other illness, you need to make your child aware, no matter how young they are what they can and cannot eat. So saying “I can’t eat wheat” becomes second nature. When you get the news, head out to the local health food stores or even a grocery store, for example, Southbury Shop Rite has a wonderful Gluten free selection and even a freezer section dedicated to Gluten Free items. Have your child pick out some items and make them together and enjoy as a family. New Morning Country Store is also a great resource for Gluten Free cooking. Don’t forget Betty Crocker makes very good gluten free cake mix. You cannot tell the difference. I made my daughters first birthday cake out of it. It was a roaring success.

Going out to dinner doesn’t have to be a scary thought. Plenty of chains have gluten free options. The Outback has gluten free options. Lone Star Steak house, Fresh City, Ruby Tuesday’s and Uno Chicago Grill all have Gluten Free menus. Wendy’s the fast food chain has a great online resource for their gluten free customers http://www.wendys.com/food/pdf/us/gluten_free_list.pdf . Still it makes sense to ask about the dedicated fryer.

When you realize junior can’t tolerate wheat, you might be panicked over school lunches, especially now that I’ve told you deli tuna may be off the table, sorry about that. Early on, in order to make gluten free bread tolerable, you had to toast it, trust me, once toasted it was fine, not toasted let’s not even go there.

Udi’s bread to the rescue! Udi’s came along and there is no need to toast! You can grab a piece right out of the bag. I’ll never forget the first sandwich I made on this bread, a turkey with mayo and cranberry sauce. It was fantastic, just as I remembered. The key for kids is to keep their school lunch as normal to the naked eye as possible. Van’s makes a terrific morning waffle that’s gluten free. Your child will not be able to tell the difference. Udi also makes a bagel too! Another tool to making life perfectly normal.

I found a recipe for Gluten Free Mac N’ Cheese that I want to share, for those days when your kids need comfort food. It is on a site called http://glutenfreemom.typepad.com/gluten_free_mom/2008/02/gluten-free-mac.html she has some other fantastic recipes too. Check out her website http://www.glutenfreemom.com/, on this site she has a great section on raising gluten free kids.

Gluten free Mac n’ Cheese:

  • 2 cups GF macaroni (elbow works best)
  • · 3 T butter
  • · 2 T GF flour
  • · ½ t salt
  • · Dash of pepper
  • · 2 cups milk
  • · ¼ cup finely chopped onion (optional)
  • · 8 ounces sharp cheddar cheese cubed (makes 2 cups cubed)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and butter a 1-½ quart casserole.

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Cook GF macaroni in salted water according to package directions.

In a saucepan, melt 3 T butter. On medium heat, blend in 2 T GF flour, salt and pepper.

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Stirring constantly, slowly add 2 cups milk

Cook and stir until thick and bubbly.

Add the onions (optional) and cubed cheddar cheese. Stir until melted.

Mix with the cooked macaroni and turn into the casserole dish.

Bake at 350 degrees F for 35 to 40 minutes.

According to the Washington Post, the FDA doesn’t have a definition for gluten free three years after the Congressional deadline was set. So you need to be careful and read the label for ingredients, which may be hazardous to your child. For example “malt” is a wheat derivative. Changing your whole way of eating is never easy and it’s definitely not easy on a child, but hopefully you can make this life transition as seamless as possible.

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