Hello! It’s been a while since my last post….apologies I have had so much on with my sister visiting, a deadline for an article and planning a new Feeding Clinic with some colleagues!
This post is actually dedicated to my sister and my niece as my niece has recently started a gluten-free diet for gut-related problems. My eldest daughter’s friend was also recently diagnosed with Coeliac Disease (CD) and I have been helping her mum with some ideas. I don’t have loads of experience in this area, but these are some tips I have picked up since helping my daughter’s friend with CD and my niece to avoid gluten.
My top tips for helping a child follow a gluten free diet:
- Be prepared and always carry your own suitable snacks when out and about or travelling eg. Fresh and dried fruit, nuts and seeds, corn crispbread, gluten free crackers, raisins, etc
- Try to make use of naturally gluten free foods as much as possible Eg. Rice (brown, basmati, long-grain, etc), potatoes, quinoa, corn, tapioca, psyllium and cassava to name a few.
- Take the time to have a wander down your local supermarket’s ‘free from’ aisle – there are plenty of items to choose from and it keeps expanding so check back every few months.
- Have fun in the kitchen – try out different flours and combinations of flours to get the best results in baking eg. Ground almonds is a great baking ingredient for cakes. Also there are loads of different flours to try – potato flour, rice flour, tapioca flour, etc.
- Try out different soups such as leek and potato (my niece’s favourite!), butternut and cumin or sweet potato and ginger, using a gluten-free stock such as Marigold Swiss Vegetable Bouillon powder. Soups are very filling and very nutritious too!
- For lunch boxes try out different versions of gluten-free (GF) products to keep the variety. Such as GF breads, GF pitta breads, GF crackers, GF pasta salads.
Some good websites/blogs for further ideas:
http://www.dietitianuk.co.uk/category/special-diets/gluten-free/
http://www.dsglutenfree.com/en/gluten-free-recipes
http://glutenfreerosie.com/category/recipes/
Paula x
