Those with children who need to eat gluten free

What are your childs favorite snacks, breads, pastas, etc.? Tia!

Re: Those with children who need to eat gluten free

I don't have kids GF, but our close friends are. The 9 year old daughter and father have celiac so we are very careful when we have them over to entertain and when we go out.

I will say some of my favs (bc I buy a lot of GF snacks to have when they are over) is the Asian rice crackers with cheese. They love that.
I love GF pretzels better than regular pretzels. Crunchier!
Immaculate Choc cookies I make for them
Hummus and potato chips or Veggie chips
veggies and hummus or tzatziki.

I'll ask my friend what pastas and bread she uses. I'm pretty sure ronzoni, but I'll check

Those with children who need to eat gluten free

Annie's gluten free bunnies, Annie's GF Macaroni & Cheese, Trader Joe's brown rice pasta, Trader joe's GF bread. My daughter likes the canyon roadhouse bagels, we get those at whole foods, they are not bad.

Re: Those with children who need to eat gluten free

My son eats GF. You can find a ton of stuff that is GF in supermarkets. We get him freschetta gluten free pizza, also our local pizza place does GF pies. He eats Perdue GF chicken nuggets, PB & J on Udi's GF bread, Veggie Straws, Pirates Booty, Honey Chex, Snyder's GF pretzels. Dinners usually is some sort of meat like chicken, hamburger or hot dog w/o the bun. My son is not a big breakfast person but likes strawberry or blueberry Kefir (its a yogurt drink).

Those with children who need to eat gluten free

My son has celiac. He likes veggie sticks, pirates booty, GF graham crackers, any of the Annie's snacks, Trader Joe's Apple Sticks (like a veggie stick). He likes fruit. Breakfast is usually Chex. Or I make him GF chocolate chip pancakes if it's the weekend. Or he likes Natures Path GF Pumpkin Waffles. Lunch is usually chips (we buy the Food Should Taste Good multigrain chips) and hummus. Dinner is usually grilled chicken, chicken cutlets, meatballs, GF pasta, Annie's GF mac n cheese (I buy the quinoa pasta one because it has more fiber). We do tacos with hard shells. Brown rice. My son isn't too picky about brands. I like the Whole Foods brand GF pasta. Stop and Shop actually has the best selection of GF items. For pizza, I buy the cauliflower pizza crusts from whole foods and add my own sauce and cheese. Costco sells a good GF pizza too. Chiptole is a our favorite place to get take out from because everything is GF, except the flour tortillas. The kids meals are good deal for 5 bucks!

Those with children who need to eat gluten free

Thank you all so much! My youngest, who will be 3 in June, is in the process of being diagnosed with celiac. Based on her blood work and symptoms, they are almost positive she has it. She goes for the endoscopy tomorrow morning. Luckily, we already eat a pretty healthy diet, with lots of fresh fruits & vegetables. lean protein, whole grain, and organic dairy. We do keep some processed food in the house, it is impossible not to. So DD loves goldfish, fig newtons, pretzels, annie's bunny grahams, etc. She also loves mac & cheese & bread. So DH & I are overwhelmed revamping our entire lifestyle. We would like to keep a completely gluten free home, so there is no risk of cross contamination.
Does anyone keep a completely gluten free home? Is it hard for the children who do not have to keep gluten free? I imagine it would be difficult to tell my older kids they can no longer have pizza, regular pasta & bread, goldfish, etc. But I also don't know if a not yet 3 year old has the capacity to understand why she can no longer eat her favorite foods, but her siblings are eating them right in front of her. I know her whole life will be not being able to eat things others are enjoying- but at 2? Not sure if she is old enough to absorb that lesson. Any advice would be so appreciated!

Re: Those with children who need to eat gluten free

If she likes fig newtons, Nature’s Bakery makes GF fig bars.
Bread is trial and error- try a few different brands to figure out what she likes. The pasta is easier.
Trader Joe’s GF bagels are yummy.
We are not a GF household, so that’s all I can add... good luck on your journey!
(I’ll bet there are some great FB groups that can give advice! )

Re: Those with children who need to eat gluten free

Those with children who need to eat gluten free

My daughter has been gf for 3 years now b/c of celiac and endoscopy to prove it. I’m glad you are doing it. As soon as we went gf she was a different kid. It was amazing. Not cranky and irritaBle anymore. Well for the most part she is a kid ??.

She misses gold fish the most. Can’t find a good replacement. She didn’t like the ones that came out.
Cereal lucky charms and Chex.
We do NOT eat Cheerios b/c they don’t test them well enough. So do your research.
Bella Nd Evans makes a good chicken nugget as doe archer farms. She likes Annie’s gf granola bars and the bunny Graham’s. Pirate booty, pop corners, Snyder’s pretzel sticks are great. I get a big box of snack size bags on amazon. There’s a ton of stuff that’s naturally Gatorade is not gf but Powerade is. That natural isle in my stop and shop is good. Bread undid is decent. Join the ROCK on LI fb group. (Raising our celiac kids)
Eating out is challenging and vacations.
The other hard part is if you have people in your life that just don’t understand. My father is always can she have bread and bagels and this and that. ??. I can’t deal lol.

Those with children who need to eat gluten free

Dh is the strictly gluten free one in our house but my kids like to snack on chex, nut thin crackers, snyders pretzels, kind bars, popcorn, tostitos or calidad tortilla chips, lays potato chips. Barilla pasta is our favorite and dh likes udi's for bread, rolls, pizza crust. We all love aldis cornbread and cheddar biscuit mixes. Against the grain frozen baguette for garlic bread. Mission tortillas although dh only likes them cooked.

We do not have a totally gf house but it's easier bc the kids can eat whatever. Cooking gf and gluten at the same time is tough though. It's mentally draining to make sure nothing touches, no shared utensils or pans, etc. Some things are easy to make gf for everyone like meat and pasta but other things like bread and pizza are tough just bc it's so expensive and the pizzas are usually small too.

Those with children who need to eat gluten free

Thank you again, I really appreciate all the advice! She is registered to start preschool in September. I am a teacher myself, so it is full day preschool, 8:15-2:40, 5 days a week. They do not provide food, so I would be providing morning snack and lunch anyway. I am assuming though she will need her own supply of cupcakes or other treats for her to have at birthday parties and holiday parties. Her preschool is part of a larger Catholic elementary school, so there is a school nurse. Will she get a 504?
I am so overwhelmed! Not to mention how nervous I am for her to go under tomorrow- even though I know it is only a 10 minute procedure.

Those with children who need to eat gluten free

My niece is GF and my SIL tends to avoid that food group entirely. Many gluten-free products unfortunately have pretty crappy ingredients so make sure you read labels and don’t pick up anything just because it says GF.

Re: Those with children who need to eat gluten free

Re: Those with children who need to eat gluten free

Just wanted to see how you made out.

My husband has Celiac. My younger daughter always complained of belly aches so we went to gastro. Her blood test levels showed Celiac but genetic testing said not possible. Only way to have conclusive result was endoscopy which I didn't really want to do.
She has been pretty good lately with no stomach complaints so we have left for now.

Re: Those with children who need to eat gluten free

My son was diagnosed with celiac 3 year ago at age 5. This was really a shock for us as he had NO symptoms at all. His routine bloodwork for Kindergarten showed severe anemia... took weeks to find it was celiac.
Feel free to PM if you have any questions or just need to vent.. The first months of diagnosis are SO overwhelming!
Our fave GF products are
Canyon House bread
Perdue GF nuggets
Snyder GF pretzels
Pacific GF Creamy Tomato Soup
Glutino crackers
Trader Joes GF Pb and J bars
Trader Joes GF mini cupcakes
Trader Joes GF bread and bagels
We do not keep a completely GF household. I have a 3.5 year old who needs to continue to eat wheat so we can see if she develops celiac. My husband and I are negative so far

Those with children who need to eat gluten free

TJ has these gluten free chocolate chip cookies (exactly like Tate’s) and GF mini pretzels that are so crunchy and delicious. A white bag. Also I Guy cheese it’s but they’re made of cauliflower flour. Also simple mills makes one too but from almond flour. Dang sticky rice chips are amazinggg.

Those with children who need to eat gluten free

Where do you get desserts?

Those with children who need to eat gluten free

Thank you everyone for all of the kind words and suggestions! While the official biopsy results will not be available until Monday, it is an almost certainty that she has it. They say that small intestine was almost completely flat. So, I have spent the last 2 days really doing my research, joining support groups on Facebook, and making an appointment with a pediatric nutritionist. We have decided to not make our house gluten free. We feel that she will need to learn pretty quickly that there will be things others can eat that she cannot, and that is something the earlier she learns, the better. Will I need separate pots/pans for her food? For example, if I make regular pasta in a pot, can I make her gluten free pasta in the same pot? After it is run through the dishwasher, of course. I also read that she shouldn't eat pre cut fruit? I buy pre cut melon, pineapple, mango, in the produce section to save time. But does that put DD at risk for cross contamination? We are feeling very overwhelmed, but we are also so thankful she has something that is easily treatable, and she will still be able to live a normal, healthy, and happy life.

Those with children who need to eat gluten free

I think pots and pans are ok, bc otherwise you’d need an entire set of gluten free dishes.
I do know people have separate toasters. Separate jars of PB/jelly.
I’ve never heard of the precut fruit though

Those with children who need to eat gluten free

Never heard of the cut friut thing either. I guess if they do that in the deli or bakery there would be cross contamination. Never thought about it but I don't really buy that.

My stainless steel pans and glass bakeware I use for both. I have separate sheet pans, colanders, wood utensils, small nonstick frying pans. My stoneware, bbq, air fryer are only used for gf. The toaster oven is shared but I bought a stainless pan for dh to use although he used to just put down foil. It's a big adjustment at first but eventually it becomes very routine.

Those with children who need to eat gluten free

We bought a second toaster in a different color to make it more obvious. Pots and pans I use the same because I use stainless steal. Except for my cast iron.

Those with children who need to eat gluten free

my gi said separate cutting boards and strainers b/c those are hard to really get clean. her cutting boards are red and have her name label on them. seperte butter dish as well red and her name label as well

yes i would not buy already cut stuff. first its cheaper to buy whole lol second you don't know what they are cut on or near.

pots and pans we all use. we are not all GF. its easy enough to become self aware and separate and do her stuff first

we have a separate toaster for her and do not use the pizza stone for her

Re: Those with children who need to eat gluten free

Those with children who need to eat gluten free

itys been amazing for my daughter different kid once on gf diet. and very easy once you figure it out and becomes routine.

theres an app called the gluten free app. its great.

ore ida French fries are GF. you have to watch and be careful. Twizzlers surprised me not gF. Lindt brand is not, has malt