Tips for Gluten-Free Families

As more and more kids are being diagnosed with celiac disease or gluten sensitivity, families are looking for high-quality resources to help make the transition to a gluten-free lifestyle. This month I’ve pulled together a list of the best information on the World Wide Web to help families learn the ins and outs of managing a gluten-free home and beyond. 

CNDHF & NASPGHAN Gluten-Free Diet Guide for Families: Available free of charge online, this guide from the Children’s Nutrition and Digestive Health Foundation and the North American Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition guides families through the initial diagnosis of celiac disease and how to transition their lifestyle into being gluten-free. The guide includes useful and easy to read tables of ingredient information, safe and unsafe foods, and food prep tips, as well as a guide for daily meal planning. 

Download this free resource at: http://www.naspghan.org/user-assets/Documents/pdf/diseaseInfo/GlutenFreeDietGuide-E.pdf

GlutenFreely.com Setting Up a Gluten-Free Kitchen: Preventing cross contamination, cleaning out pantries and cooking with new ingredients can be a challenge for any family, especially when gluten can hide in unthought-of nooks and crannies. To help families better understand how to set up a gluten-free kitchen, check out this great resource from GlutenFreely.com that features tips on everything from cooking, frying, baking and boiling to safe ways to store food in the pantry! Be sure to watch the video as well! 

Check out the GlutenFreely.com Setting Up a Gluten-Free Kitchen resource now at http://www.glutenfreely.com/liveglutenfreely/%20gluten-free-kitchen 

Delight Gluten-Free Magazine Going to School Gluten-Free Guide: For students with celiac disease, getting a safe, healthy source is extremely important, but the process also can be extremely challenging. Fortunately, as celiac disease becomes more prevalent, schools are taking notice and beginning to more readily offer accommodations, gluten-free food choices, and—in some states—even entirely gluten-free school lunch menus. Getting your child’s school to take these steps can be tricky. While the details and considerations can vary by state, school, and even grade, the key steps to successful, safe, and healthy gluten-free eating for students remain the same regardless of age.

Download Delight Gluten-Free Magazine’s comprehensive back to school guide for gluten-free students of all ages here: http://delightglutenfree.com/guide-for-a-safe-and-healthy-gluten-free-school-year

Children’s Hospital Boston’s “Amy Goes Gluten-Free" Comic Book: The Division of Gastroenterology and Nutrition at Children’s Hospital Boston recently released a comic book geared towards kids called “Amy Goes Gluten-Free: A Young Person’s Guide to Celiac Disease.”  The book is designed to help kids navigate their way through a gluten-free diet and living with an autoimmune condition.  The book contains fun and colorful pictures, nutrition tips and great stories for helping kids cope with celiac disease. 

Purchase the comic book for $4 through Amazon at: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00383DA3A

Traveling the Gluten-Free Way: Family vacations are extremely important. They are a time for the whole family to relax, experience new cultures and most importantly, HAVE FUN! But when someone in the family has to maintain a gluten-free diet, vacations can often become a stressful time as you’ve got to plan way ahead to find suitable family-and-gluten-free-friendly dining options. Thankfully, GlutenFreeTravelSite.com has pulled together an incredible bundle of user-generated reviews and suggestions for traveling the world on a gluten-free diet.  The site features restaurant menus, hotels, resorts, theme parks, and so much more! Search by state, country, county or zip code to find the best gluten-free dining options wherever your vacation may bring you. 

Check out Gluten-Free Travel Site now at: http://glutenfreetravelsite.com/

Comments

[mozila fire]

My sister suggested this site and she was totally right, keep up
the good work

[njsga]

I had some issues with wanthicg them prepare the pizza they would take pepperoni out with gloves and work on a regular pizza then if order a gluten free pizza they didn't change their gloves. Also when working with regular pizzas in the oven and then cutting a gluten free pizza, they would touch the gf pizza not previously changing their gloves.I watched them to the exact thing I mentiooned above at Florida Mall CPK I kindly asked them to make me another, and I watched to make sure they did things they should do to make sure the pizza was gluten free. It is a shame they are not going to serve the pizzas anymore, however, it they can't make them gluten free and follow guidelines then they should remove them as it hurts many people when they have cross contamination.

[Dennis]

I went to Israel this summer, I don't speak any herbew and had alot of great meals. Tel Aviv was probably the best city for gluten-free, found gluten free falafel and pita which was awesome, I think it was called Falafel Hippo, near dizengoff street. Also, there is a strictly gluten-free store at the port. I lived in Eilat for about a month, and there is a health foods store with plenty of marked gluten-free products. Breakfast was great, fresh salmon and cream cheese omelets, as well as plenty of fresh vegetables with every meal.

[Airton]

Those herbs look fantastic! Mine are still lonoikg a little thin. Thanks for all the delicious meal ideas this week. The Inside Out Lettuce Wraps are a great idea.Hope we are able to get together this weekend. It would be great to meet you in person.

[Miz]

Hi Shannon,I just returned from the National Celiac Conference in Winnipeg over the wenkeed. Watch my blog as I will be posting various blogs about what I learned. There was so much information there is no way one could write about it in one entry.Has your daughter been tested? Does she eat very much gluten? I ask this as since you are already on a GFD and do all the cooking her test may not be accurate if you don't gluten load her before her test. If you have questions about that feel free to contact me.Angela

[Rex]

I started feeilng better after two weeks. I was super careful and didn't cheat at all, which probably had something to do with it. After those first two weeks, I noticed I didn't have daily stomach pains, headaches, joint aches and fatigue. And it's only gotten better over the past 9 months that I've been GF. I was sleeping 8-10 hours and still feeilng tired. Now I have so much energy, it's sometimes hard for me to get to sleep!

[Jen Brown]

Thanks for this list of resources for gluten free families! I'll also suggest a few blogs/sites with a more personal voice:

When my daughter was first diagnosed, I relied heavily on http://www.glutenfreemom.com/ for tips and support getting started. Reading about her experiences was a real comfort.

Also, Gluten Free Gobsmacked, http://glutenfree.wordpress.com/ has great family-friendly gluten free recipes.

Finally, if you travel or live internationally with your gluten free family, you might check out my blog (going on 2 years!): http://www.glutenfreekidstravel.com/ We're an American expat family that's lived in several different countries while also maintaining a gf home.

Cheers!