Hi Everyone,

My son has many ongoing medical issues and we think Gluten is to blame for some of them. He tested negative for Celiac but has a lot of the symptoms. So we have choosen to try a gluten free diet in hopes it will help. I am now asking for anyone's help and advice. He is 6 yrs old and a very picky eater along with having other food allergies and is very sensory oriented(i.e. no applesauce, textures ect.) So any information or tips anyone has would be greatly appriciated.

Thanks
Jennifer

Hi, my Celiac son is also 6 but was diagnosed at 4 years and my non Celiac son is 5 and also has sensory issues due to developmental delays. So I can relate, here is a list of what we eat:

Breakfast:
Kinnickinick blueberry muffins
Vann's waffles
Kinnickinick pancakes mix made into mini pancakes or regular
french toast using Ener-g foods tapioca light bread
all Enviro kids cereals as well as cocoa and fruity pebbles, Dora Cereal, and Trix
eggs

Lunch:
gluten free pizza
Thumann's bologna and ham rolled up
hotdogs
Ian's chicken nuggets or fish sticks
gluten free maccaroni with butter
peanut butter and jelly on the Ener-g foods bread
tuna fish on the same bread
Taylor Ham sandwich

Dinner:
For dinner I cook as usual with naturally gluten free foods, meat, veggies, potatos.
I make meatballs and meatloaf using Ener-g foods bread crumbs
Tinkyada or Trader Joe's rice pasta

Snacks:
Enjoy Life cookies or snack bars
fruit
fruit roll ups or fruit snacks
K-Too cookies (just like oreos)
chips
Brownies made by Kinninickinick
ice cream (for us it is soy or rice based because he is dairy free too)
frozen cool whip (even my non celiac has been eating this for dessert).

Hope this helps you but I have found most of these foods in my A&P or Whole foods or Trader Joe's. I also go to some local health food stores. But at least you will know what brands to look for.

Nicole

Just so we can give you a little better help . . .what other allergens are you trying to avoid? Also, what did he like to eat before - so we can try to help you with a gluten-free equivalent or recipe?

Thank you so much. I have been buying lots of different foods and spending lots of money, for him to say it's gross. It's nice to know what brands to use. I recently made him popcorn balls and rice krispy treats from the Gluten-free for dummies cookbook and he loved them. Your son is also school age, what do you usually send for school lunch for him? Thanks again.

Jenifer

He is also allergic to all nuts besides peanuts. He cannot have orange juice or anything high in citric acid. We are allowing him to have dairy for now and we may remove it later if we dont see great results from the non-gluten. He is a pasta and bread fanatic. HE loves bean and cheese burritos and pasta with butter and parmasean. I recently found a pasta thats gluten free that he loves. My biggest concern is that he is starting school on July 25(he does year round) and I have no idea what to pack him for lunch. I've made him homemade bread and bought 1 and he didn't like either. He is very picky about texture and routine. If it tastes different than what he is used to he usually wont eat it. He is the type of kid who just won't eat, he doesn't care though he will go all day without eating at school(last year he ate breakfast there too). I have him back on ensure because he is small for his age as it is, so hopefully that will help. Thanks again for all your help.

Jennifer

Hey there,

Try getting a thermos and making the gluten free pasta with butter and Parmesan for him to take to school. It will stay warm, and it's cheap too! I do this every day for my son, also an insanely picky eater who does not care about food. (You can tell from my photo here, that *I* am a good eater, so I'm not sure where this came from).

We mostly do:

Thermos of Pasta and 2 of the following:
sliced apple
box of raisins
yogurt thing (smoothie, but he refuses the gluten-free ones now)
cheetos (I get the lower fat ones from Trader Joes)
strawberries
apple sauce

Once you have the thermos you could do gluten-free chicken nuggets and tater tots and things like that. You could probably do a mini bean burrito on a corn tortilla!

Good luck with your picky eater. I'm right there with you.

Thanks for the advice. I never even thought about using a thermos. There are a lot more possibilites that open up with that. Thanks again.

I also have a sensory kid who often lived on crunchy foods like crackers & chesse for a couple of years. I swear since he has gone gluten free he has opened the doors to exploring new food and new textures. Before he went gluten free he would hardly ever eat pasta or chicken, now just a couples months he lives off those...and recently he has accepted rice into his diet, along with raw baby carrots and now diced peaches.

Bread was a hard one for about a month we just did not offer bread, even the gluten-free kind. The kinda have to forget the taste of the wheat bread beofre they will accept a new one. Toasting or grilling it is much more tasty than eatting it just as a sandwich.

I wonder how he would react to crunchy bread sticks made with Chebe bread? I made some for our Celiac group and I noticed the kids seems to like them. I used the red package, parmesan cheese and added 1/4 tsp of cayanne to give it just a hint of zip. I've made pizza sticks by adding oregano and sun dried tomatoes. Just make the Chebe bread (red package) according to directions but roll it out to about 1/4 inch thick, cut into 1/4 inch by 4 inch sticks and lay out on parchment paper. Bake until toasty and store for the next 12 hours in a cotton tea towel.

Also since peanut butter is a nutrionally dense food maybe peanut butter cookies?
The following recipe vanished at my office and I've been asked several times when I'm making more (although yes, I do work with a bunch of chow hounds :-)

THE BEST PEANUT BUTTER COOKIES

INGREDIENTS
1 cup peanut butter (creamy or chunky, not reduced fat)
1 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon baking soda

THE PROCESS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease a baking sheet.
Cream peanut butter and sugar for 2 to 3 minutes.
In a small bowl, lightly beat egg, then mix into peanut butter mixture. Add
baking soda; mix well. Roll spoonfuls of dough into balls about 1 1/2
inch in diameter.
With the tines of a fork, press down balls and make a crisscross pattern.
Bake for about 10 minutes. Makes about 24 cookies.

NOTE: My Mom makes these cookies for diabetic friends by using Splenda instead of sugar.

Some other things that you might want to try are gluten-free pancakes with peanut butter and jam, rice and beans in a thermos, carrots/apples and peanut butter, salt potatoes, and tortilla lunchables (cut corn tortillas in quarters and slice up meat and cheese and put them in tupperware).

Great idea on the lunchables. I take Nut-Thins and Boarshead turkey and cheese sometimes for lunch.

Hi, he is only starting 1st grade this September and our district has half day kindergarten. So this will be my first time packing a lunch too. I plan to try to send the things he already eats for lunch and just try to keep them warm some how. I have been planning on using a thermos for the things that can fit inside one. I am still unsure on how to keep the pizza warm. Any ideas anyone?