My son was diagnosed over 5 years ago before he was two years old. He is now seven and in second grade. I tailor a lot of our family's favorite recipes to make them gluten-free, if they weren't already. For example, I make a mean lasagna using gluten-free lasagna noodles. Anytime something calls for breading or flour, I use one of many good gluten-free "substitute" flours that you can substitute cup-for-cup in recipes. My favorite is Tom Sawyer gluten-free flour, available online (just Google it). Others I've heard are good and are gaining wider distribution in stores are Jules' Gluten Free Flour and King Arthur flour. I just haven't had an opportunity to try those yet. Many grocery stores these days are carrying more and more g-f products, but if you have a Whole Foods near where you live (or other similar market), you're in luck...you'll be able to find much of what you need there. And then there's always the opportunity to buy online.
I also wanted to let you know about a website I launched 2 1/2 years ago which will likely be very helpful to you and your family...it's called GlutenFreeTravelSite ( http://www.glutenfreetravelsite.com ), and it's a website that allows users to search and submit reviews of restaurants, grocery stores, cruise ships, and hotels/resorts around the world that accommodate gluten-free diets. Reviews are organized geographically to allow users to quickly and easily access the information most relevant to them, whether they’re looking for a place that offers gluten-free food in their neighborhood, or when traveling ( http://www.glutenfreetravelsite.com/search.php ). After selecting a geographic region, users can even narrow their search of our huge database of gluten-free dining and travel reviews to the town/city or zip code level. The results appear on a Google map, and you can click on any establishment to link to the user-submitted review. ( http://glutenfreetravelsite.com/maps/map-locator.php )
We are proud to be the only REVIEW-FOCUSED website (not simply a directory-style listing) where you can get personal, detailed feedback on some of the world’s most accommodating places for gluten-free meals. Between the database of reviews and the dozens of national and regional restaurant chains with gluten free menus listed on our separate Gluten Free Restaurant Menus page ( http://www.glutenfreetravelsite.com/restaurants ), visitors to our site can find thousands of safe and delicious dining options. As a fun incentive for people to submit reviews ( http://www.glutenfreetravelsite.com/submit.php ), we hold a MONTHLY CONTEST. We select a particularly helpful review from the prior month’s submissions, and we showcase it on our Featured Review page ( http://www.glutenfreetravelsite.com/featured.php ). The winning reviewer receives a free set of four Triumph Dining restaurant cards (one each for American, Italian, Mexican, and Chinese cuisines) to help communicate their gluten-free needs to restaurant staff.
We have several other helpful areas of the site, including a Blog ( http://www.glutenfreetravelblog.typepad.com ), and a Travel Resources page rich with useful information ( http://www.glutenfreetravelsite.com/resources.php ).
I hope this resource helps you and your family. Please feel free to email me directly with any questions: ____@____.com
Best,
K.
