Sure Foods Living – gluten-free and allergen-free living

“Enjoy it, Mom. Don’t eat it so fast.”

Those were the wise words of my 4 year old as I wolfed down my ice cream sandwich — a special treat we made for my birthday last weekend. To hear her echo those words of mine put a huge smile on my face, because even though our diets are limited by my celiac disease and her food allergies, I have tried to instill in her an appreciation for food, to taste it and enjoy it. But I mainly smiled because it was just so darn cute!

Anyway, enough of the chatter you say! Get to the sandwich! Okay, okay…

But first, for those of you who don’t know Babycakes Bakery in NYC, it is a very hip, mostly-gluten-free,  vegan (so no dairy or eggs) bakery with delectable treats that even non-gluten-free and non-vegan people love. Erin McKenna, the founder of Babycakes, recently came out with a cookbook and appeared on Martha Stewart and shared her recipe for Chocolate Chip Cookie Sandwiches with Vanilla Frosting.

I had been wanting to try this recipe, and finally decided to make it on my birthday… but the thought of baking when it was 95 degrees outside wasn’t too appealing — unless it ended up being an ice cream sandwich! So we skipped the frosting and opened the freezer instead.

The cookies are delicious. Really. And so easy. This will be my go-to recipe for gluten-free dairy-free egg-free chocolate chip (or any other add-in) cookies from now on. The recipe can be found on Martha’s website here: Babycakes Chocolate Chip Cookies. I have some tips of my own for making these cookies:

• You have to melt the coconut oil and then let it cool, as the recipe states. The coconut oil takes a looong time to cool, so definitely do this step first, ahead of time. Especially if you are making the cookies with kids who are waiting patiently (ha ha) to eat some dough. I ended up putting it in the refrigerator for a while.
• The cookies flatten out a lot — at least mine did. Make sure you space them out enough.
• The recipe makes a lot of cookies. It says it makes 24, but I made about that many and had dough left over. It is now in my freezer, ready to be made into more cookies, added to ice cream, or eaten frozen by the spoonful right out of the bag (who me?)
• I used Enjoy Life chocolate chips, which are mini. I love these chocolate chips, but I think next time I would use a regular size chip, or more of the minis.
• I cooked mine for longer than the recipe stated — obviously each oven is different, but these are soft cookies that stay soft, so you might want to cook longer if you want them to be more crispy.

Like I said, I didn’t make the frosting (recipe here: Vanilla Frosting), but put ice cream in them instead. I am kind of obsessed with coconut milk ice cream these days, and highly recommend putting either Coconut Bliss Vanilla Island or Purely Decadent made with Coconut Milk Vanilla Bean. My husband prefers good old Haagen Dazs Vanilla — that works too!

And remember: Enjoy it. Don’t eat it so fast!

People often come to my website to read the article about dairy-free soy-free margarine. The bottom line was that palm shortening works well for baking and making frosting, but there wasn’t any dairy-free and soy-free spreadable butter or margarine — until now! I have very exciting news for the food allergy community…

Earth Balance, known for their dairy-free vegan butter substitutes, has created a soy-free version of their buttery spread. Yes, people, there is a dairy-free soy-free “butter” that can be spread on toast and used for baking!

Recognizing that soy is one of the top 8 allergens, Earth Balance took the soybean oil out for their Soy-Free Spread, using a natural oil blend of palm fruit oil, safflower, canola and olive oils. Rickard Werner, vice president and general manager of Earth Balance® states in a press release:

“We feel that there is a great demand for alternatives to traditional spreads that contain food allergens such as soy – one of the top eight most common food allergens according to the FDA*. At Earth Balance®, we pride ourselves on providing innovative and great tasting products for people who are vegan, suffer from food allergies or those simply seeking healthy alternatives. We feel confident that our new Soy Free Spread will be a hit with all.”

I’m pretty sure it will be a hit in my house. Thank you Earth Balance!

Here is what I am looking forward to:

• Making a piece of gluten-free toast for my daughter with cinnamon, sugar and… “butter“!
• Baking gluten-free, dairy-free, soy-free, nut-free, egg-free cookies for my daughter with… “butter“!

Here is the full ingredient list of the Soy-Free Buttery Spread:

Expeller-pressed natural oil blend (palm fruit, canola, safflower and olive), water, contains less than 2% salt, sunflower lecithin, pea protein, natural flavor (derived from corn: no msg, no alcohol, no gluten), lactic acid (non-dairy source), naturally extracted annatto for color.

Whole Foods has picked up this product nationally! Can’t find it in a store near you? Request it!

UPDATE 3/30/09: Reader Chris has let me know in the comments that Earth Balance told him that the product will be coming out in May.

I am happy to report that Glutino gluten-free pretzels no longer contain soy flour, which was a main ingredient before. There is still soy lecithin, but many soy-sensitive people do not need to avoid soy lecithin as it contains low levels of or no soy protein (check with your doctor).

Glutino pretzels come in many shapes: Sticks, Twists, Unsalted Twists and Sesame Rings. All are delicious!

The ingredients of the Pretzel Sticks and Twists are: corn starch, potato starch, palm oil, sugar, sea salt, cellulose gum, soy lecithin, sodium bicarbonate, yeast extract, sodium acid pyrophosphate, citric acid, sodium hydroxide. The Unsalted is without the salt and the Sesame is with sesame added.

Another gluten-free pretzel that is very good is Ener-G’s Wylde Pretzels, which also comes in salted, sesame and poppyseed flavors.

When I think of the holidays, I think of See’s Candies. Every year at our big family gathering, we open the boxes of assorted chocolates and pass them around during the gift-opening frenzy. When I was little I was guilty of taking a bite of one, and if I didn’t like it, putting it back in the box — but everyone has done this, right?

When I started to be gluten-free I was wary of eating any of the candies, but now there is good news from See’s for people with celiac disease or gluten intolerance! On 12/20/08, I received the following information via email regarding gluten and the top 8 allergens:

CONTINUE READING »

Last year my sister Leslie wrote a post about Ricera, a rice-based yogurt that was the only dairy-free and soy-free yogurt available at that time. After a reader disagreed with her opinion that it was “good,” she wrote in the comment section “I must admit that my excitement at finding a soy-free yogurt probably tilted my review toward the positive.” My own allergic daughter really did like the yogurt, but my problem has been that it is hard to find. I definitely have to make a special trip to an out-of-the way market to find it.

My sister called the other day to tell me that she found a NEW dairy-free soy-free yogurt — made from cultured coconut milk! It is so creamy and delicious, anyone would want to eat it. Not only that, but it comes in 6 flavors: Blueberry, Passionate Mango, Plain, Raspberry, Strawberry Banana, and Vanilla.

Made by Turtle Mountain under the So Delicious brand, this yogurt is:

• Dairy Free Lactose Free

• Soy Free
• Rich in Medium Chain Fatty Acids
• Excellent source of Vitamin B12 (vegetarian friendly)
• Formulated for maximum calcium absorption
• Contains Pre- and Probiotics for enhanced intestinal health
• Cholesterol Free
• No Trans Fats
• Certified Vegan

Sound good? It is! My 4-year-old daughter is crazy about it. And I mean crazy — she gets wide-eyed, gasps and raises her arms in a V for victory when I offer it to her for a snack. And, it is available in Whole Foods. This really is a victory for moms of allergic kids!

Related articles:
Dairy-free soy-free margarine?
Rice cheese (dairy-free and soy-free!)
Product Review: Coconut Bliss dairy-free ice cream

I’ve got another candy company to add to your safe list!

Gimbal’s Fine Candies, located in San Francisco, produces candies that are free of the top 8 allergens and gluten. In fact, they are made in a facility that is free of peanuts, nuts, dairy, eggs, gluten and soy.

They make jelly beans in 41 flavors, none of them peanut butter (unlike Jelly Belly that told me peanut-allergic people should avoid all of their products because they produce one peanut butter flavored bean.)

Gimbal’s also makes Licorice Scottie Dogs, free of the wheat that is found in almost all licorice. Scottie Dogs come in Black or Red. There are other specialty candies too.

Gimbal’s jelly beans can be found in all Walmarts across the nation, in Sam’s Clubs (under their own Members Mark brand), in KMart and Shop Rite. Scottie Dogs can be found in Trader Joe’s. Or, you can order all Gimbal’s candies online at CandyDirect.com.

Related articles:
Halloween candy for kids with food allergies
Gluten-Free and Allergen-Free Candy Quick List

***Please see the updated Gluten-Free Allergen-Free Candy Quick List for 2009!

This is a quick list of Halloween candy (October 2008) that is gluten-free and free of the top 8 allergens. Please read the candy companies’ allergen statements and double check ingredients before consuming any of the following products. For more candies and their allergens, see the bigger Halloween Candy List.

WONKA

• Bottlecaps
• Everlasting Gobstopper
• Chewy Gobstopper
• Runts (not Chewy)
• Fun Dip and Fun Dip Sour
• Pixy Stix
• Sweetarts (regular)
• Tart N Tinys
• Nerds

CE DE CANDY

• Smarties, Smarties Lollies

TOOTSIE

• Dots

MARS

• Starburst
• Skittles and Skittle Sour

SPANGLER CANDY

• Dum Dum Pops (regular)

HERSHEY

• Jolly Rancher Hard Candy and Hard Candy Sticks

WRIGLEY

• Lifesavers Gummies

FARLEY’s AND SATHER’S

• Super Bubble and Super Bubble Blast
• Rain-Blo pops
• Atomic Fireball
• Jawbreakers
• Gummi Bears
• Sour Brite Crawlers
• Smarties
• Sweetarts
• Jujufruits
• Brach’s Candy Corn (not caramel) and Gummi Candy Corn (“packaged on equipment that also packages products containing milk, egg, wheat, peanuts, tree nuts and/or soy protein.”)
• Brach’s Mellowcreme Pumpkins (“Made in a facility that processes peanuts, tree nuts, sunflower seeds, milk, soy, eggs and wheat”)

JUST BORN

• Mike & Ike
• Hot Tamales
• Peeps Pumpkins and Ghosts

FERRARA PAN
(“this product was manufactured in a facility where peanuts, almonds, milk, soy and egg are used in the production of other products.”)

• Chewy Atomic Fireballs
• Lemonhead
• Red Hots
• Chewy Lemonhead and Friends
• Applehead
• Grapehead
• Cherryhead
• Jawbreakers

ENJOY LIFE (www.enjoylifefoods.com)

• Boom CHOCO Boom Dark Chocolate Bar, Crispy Rice Bar, Milk Bar

YUMMY EARTH (www.yummyearth.com)

• Lollipops and Candy Drops

I was skeptical… vegan rice cheese? Surely it won’t melt, and will probably taste weird too. But the prospect of my dairy-free soy-free daughter getting to have “cheese” — on tortillas, in a sandwich, on pizza! — was too exciting to pass up, so I bought a pack of sliced cheddar flavor.

I thought I would try a quesadilla first. “Quesadilla?” she asked, her nose in a quizzical wrinkle. “Yes, do you want a quesadilla?” I responded. “You mean… with cheese??” she asked incredulously. “Yes, with a special kind of cheese that you can have.” “A special kind of cheese that I can have?” she parroted. Boy, I thought, this better be good after all this!

I put a little oil in a pan, threw in a corn tortilla and let it heat up and soften a bit, then turned it over and laid down a slice of cheddar flavor rice cheese. I doubled the tortilla over and waited… please melt, please melt. I peeked inside the tortilla — it melted! I gave it to her and watched her reaction. “Mmmmmm! I love this quesadilla! I love this cheese!” she emoted as she ate it all… and asked for another. It not only passed the test, but exceeded my expectations. And the best part is that she can have CHEESE.

So where does one find this cheese? It is made by Galaxy Nutritional Foods and can be found in various locations, including Whole Foods (you can look up your area here). Be careful though — there are 2 different rice cheeses and one has casein milk protein in it. I don’t understand why they would put casein in a rice cheese — isn’t anyone buying rice cheese doing so because they don’t eat dairy? Anyway, make sure you buy the one that says “Vegan” and “Casein and Lactose Free” on it.

Update 7/20/08: My friend said her daughter didn’t like it. Quesadillas are definitely the best use of the cheese and my daughter still likes them.

You have eliminated gluten from your diet and you feel a lot better. You are very careful about what you eat, but you still have symptoms that you blame on gluten somehow sneaking into your food via cross-contamination or because you were not being careful enough. You may be frustrated or confused as to why you are still have reactions when you can’t figure out where the gluten could be.

Perhaps you are getting traces of gluten, but the reality may be that you are reacting to another food. That’s right — you may be sensitive to more than just gluten! It’s not a pretty thought to have to cut another food (or foods) out of your life, but it may make you feel a lot better.

My discovery

After I was gluten-free and felt dramatically better, my body and especially my digestive system, felt clean… I don’t know how else to describe it, but it just felt like there was no turmoil going on inside, like a glass of water without any bubbles. If I did get a trace of gluten, I knew it, and I would track down the source. But then there were times when I had cooked at home and knew that there was no way I could have gotten glutenized (I am sure they will be adding this word to Webster soon!), but still didn’t feel perfect.

After keeping a mental food diary — really paying attention to when I didn’t feel well and what I had eaten prior — I realized that I was blaming gluten for those days when my tummy was feeling, well, bubbly. But it wasn’t gluten at all. It was… drumroll, please… soy! Yes, folks, I do not eat soy anymore. I do eat a little wheat-free soy sauce sometimes and soy lecithin, but other than that, no soy. My daughter is soy-intolerant also, so there you have it — genes at work. Lucky girl… at least she got some of my good genes too: charm, good looks, etc. — ha ha!

I’m not the only one with multiple food sensitivities. In fact, on the celiac.com forum, there is a whole category called Other Food Intolerance and Leaky Gut Issues with people talking about how they have realized that they are intolerant to more than just gluten. This is no coincidence…

Leaky Gut Syndrome

A reason that people can develop more food sensitivities could be leaky gut syndrome, also known as increased intestinal permeability. A very simple explanation of what happens with leaky gut syndrome is this:

1. Large spaces develop between the cells of the intestinal wall (due to many possible causes — see below).
2. Bacteria, toxins, and incompletely digested proteins and fats leak in. Normally these larger molecules would be kept within the intestines, but because of these holes in the intestinal lining, they leak through the intestinal wall into the bloodstream, where they normally shouldn’t go.
3. The immune system releases antibodies to fight what it sees as foreign invaders in the blood.
4. These antibodies also attack the body’s own cells, causing damage, allergic reactions, pain and inflammation throughout the body.

What causes leaky gut?

Some of the possible causes of leaky gut syndrome are:

• Damage caused by taking non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), like ibuprofen
• Gastrointestinal disease, like celiac disease
• Eating allergenic foods
• Consuming alcohol
• Consuming caffeine
• Taking antibiotics
• Eating too much sugar
• Ingesting toxic chemicals
• Intestinal infection
• Parasites
• Stress

Food sensitivity can cause leaky gut, which can then cause other food sensitivities — it is a vicious cycle.

So, where do you go from here?

If you are gluten-free and you don’t know why you are still having reactions to the food you are eating, I would recommend that you keep a food diary — write down the time that you eat, what you eat, what symptoms you feel at what time of day. If you wake up in the morning and feel fine, and then have breakfast and feel rotten the rest of the day, examine everything you are eating in the morning, from coffee to juice to the milk you pour on your cereal. Once you think you know the problem food, cut it out and see how you feel. You can add it back in later and see if you react (please consult your doctor if you think you are at risk for a serious reaction to a food). In my case, after I cut soy out my diet, my lingering symptoms went away, and I have not wanted to try it again!

And what about that leaky gut? There are a lot of websites out there with advice about how to improve the permeability of your intestines. I am going to start doing some of these things for myself and my family in hopes of preventing more food sensitivities. Here are a few of the sites I found useful:

Liverdoctor.com
The Environmental Illness Resource
Dr. Weil
Leaky Gut Syndrome

Do you have more than one food sensitivity? Let me know in the comments… I’m curious!

Now that my daughter is in preschool, we are on the birthday party circuit. Telling her she can’t have a piece of cake or cupcake because of her food allergies would be upsetting (for both me and her), which is why I make sure that I always have cupcakes on hand. Here’s how you can do the same and be a superstar mom or dad!

Do this now:

1. Make a batch of chocolate cupcakes, and freeze what you don’t need to use that time, or even double the recipe to make sure you have extras. The easiest thing to do is make a mix, like Pamela’s chocolate cake mix or CherryBrook Kitchen (both good for egg-free). I also like Gluten-Free Pantry and Namaste. Any cake mix can become cupcakes, just cook for less time!
2. Make a batch of vanilla cupcakes too. Vanilla cake is harder to make egg-free, but Pamela has a vanilla cake mix that I have made with egg replacer and they turned out okay (see picture at right) even though the directions say it will not work! Or, if you’d like, make a cupcake from scratch using a gluten-free recipe. And, by the way, muffins magically turn into cupcakes when topped with frosting and sprinkles, so that’s another option!
3. Make chocolate frosting and vanilla frosting and keep them in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Tip: Start by making vanilla frosting, take out half and then add the cocoa to make chocolate — that way, you really are only making one batch of frosting. You can use frosting mixes, like Pamela’s (I substitute softened palm shortening for the butter to make it dairy and soy-free), or you can use good old C&H powdered sugar and follow their easy recipes, some of which are below.

Do this later:

1. Before the day of the party, talk to the host of the birthday party to find out what food they are serving (in case you also need to bring your own snacks or lunch) and what kind of cake or cupcakes they are having. It is usually always some combination of white or chocolate cake and white or chocolate frosting. Try to match what they are having.
2. The night before or the morning of the party, take some cupcakes out to thaw. I bring 2 for my daughter just in case, but she usually only has one. Also, I like to have one on hand in case someone else needs an allergen-free cupcake (hasn’t happened yet, but when it does, I will make someone’s day!) If it is really last-minute, you can thaw the cupcake in the microwave.
3. Take out your frosting to thaw also. Or, you can microwave it just as you would to soften butter (don’t melt it).
4. Frost and decorate the cupcakes. If you want to get fancy, you can use decorating tools. It is actually really easy and you get to feel like a pastry chef for a minute! For sprinkles, I like India Tree brand or Let’s Do Organic Sprinkelz, which are gluten-free (most sprinkles contain wheat). As long as you’ve got yummy frosting and sprinkles, the cupcake part doesn’t even really matter that much!

Now SMILE and pat yourself on the back because your child has not been deprived of that age-old birthday treat – the CUPCAKE!

A few allergy-free frosting recipes adapted from C&H website:

Basic Decorating Icing (good for piping)
Ingredients:

• 4 cups powdered sugar (a one-pound box of C&H)
• 1/2 cup butter or shortening (palm if you want to make it soy-free)
• 1/4 cup water or milk (rice milk works well)
• 1 tsp. vanilla or other flavoring
• food color (optional)
• add 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder if you want to make chocolate

Instructions: Beat all ingredients until smooth. Keep icing covered to prevent drying. Store in refrigerator. Thicken with powdered sugar or thin with a few drops of water or milk, if needed. Makes 2 1/2 cups.

Vanilla Glaze — a traditional glaze for coffee cakes and sweet rolls, but good on cupcakes too!
Ingredients:

• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1 1/2 tbsp. milk (you can use non-dairy milk — rice milk works great)
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla

Instructions: Beat all ingredients until smooth. Makes 1/2 cup.

Chocolate Glaze — A smooth, rich glaze for cookies, cakes, cupcakes and more!
Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup chocolate pieces, semisweet
• 1 tbsp. butter or margarine (or shortening)
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1 1/2 tbsp. milk (or rice milk)

Instructions: In small saucepan, melt chocolate with butter (or shortening). Remove from heat and beat in powdered sugar adding milk gradually until mixture is a pourable consistency. Makes enough glaze for a layer cake.