Getting Started With a Gluten- and Casein-Free Diet

LISA S. LEWIS PhD.

One of the hardest things about implementing a gluten- and casein-free diet is deciding what foods to make. Here are some tips to help you get started along with some practical advice on how you can take ordinary recipes and substitute gluten- and casein-free ingredients for those you   would ordinarily use.

So, you have decided to put your child on a gluten- and casein-free diet. Congratulations! Now that the decision has been made, however, what do you do next? Getting started is often the hardest part, so here is a little bit of information to make it easier to begin. Many people find the prospect of removing gluten particularly daunting, probably because their children are addicted to wheat-based snacks such as muffins, pretzels, and crackers. Fortunately, there are good substitutes for many of these foods.

What about bread? When there is no time to bake. GF/CF breads are available at health food stores. The Food For life Almond-Rice, Pecan- Rice and Rice breads are quite good. Kinnikinick Foods also make excellent bread; this Canadian company does not currently sell in the U.S. but you can order on-line or by phone. If the appearance of the bread is more important to your child than the taste, try Ener-g breads. They are vacuum packed and can be found at most natural food stores, and are also yeast-free. Once you feel up to trying your hand at baking from scratch, it is important to understand the function that gluten serves in baked goods.

Gluten is an elastic protein. When you are making bread, the process of kneading the dough "develops'' the gluten, creating stretchy strands.The gases given off by the metabolism of the yeast get trapped in the spaces created by this "web" of dough, and push the dough up and out (in other words. the dough rises.) In non-yeast breads and cookies, the dough is not kneaded; in fact, over mixing of muffins or quick bread batter will begin to develop the gluten. Developing the gluten in quick breads or muffins results in holes tunnels. But even in these foods, the stretchiness of the gluten provides the necessary structure to prevent a cookie from disintegrating into crumbs the instant you pick it up.
Since the GF flours and flour combinations do not contain protein, something else must serve the same function if the end result is to be edible. This is possible with the addition of xanthan gum, methylcellulose or guar gum. Most health food stores now carry at least one of them (typically xanthan gum). If you cannot find any of these at your local health food store, most of the mail order companies carry one or more of them. They are expensive, but because they are used sparingly, a little goes a long way.

When converting a recipe to GF flour, add 1 or 1 ½ teaspoons of xanthan gum for each cup –of flour. Many GF bakers also add 1-3 tsp. of egg replacer powder, powdered pectin or unflavored gelatin to their breads to further improve texture. To achieve both good taste and texture in your quick breads, cookies, cakes, yeast breads and muffins, you will need to use a variety of flour. For the most part, you will want to combine more than one type of flour when you bake without gluten.

Quinoa is a gluten free flour that adds good body and flavor to baked goods; if used alone it tastes rather odd, so use it for no more than half of the flour given in a recipe. Soy flour is also good when used as part of a recipe’s flour content, adding a slightly nutty taste and a bit of moistness, protein and fat.

Brown and white rice flours form the basis of most gluten free baking. Brown rice flour contains more nutrients because it is less refined. Authentic foods makes a very finely ground brown rice flour, which means baked goods are not gritty. When this flour is combined with their Garfava flour, the result is an excellent all-purpose mixture.
For making cakes, however, white rice flour is essential. Many stores carry bags of white rice flour made by Goya; this is very soft, fine flour that will work well in GF baking. Asian markets are also good sources for soft white rice flour. Sweet rice flour makes an excellent thickener for gravies or “cream” sauces. Sometimes called “glutinous” flour, it does not contain any gluten.

In general, you cannot go wrong with the Bette Hagman’s Gluten-free Flour mix. [This mix consists of: 2 parts white rice flour, 2/3 part potato starch flour, 1/3 part tapioca starch.] With a teaspoon of xanthan gum per cup of flour mix, it can be used as a direct substitute for white flour in nearly any recipe. You should keep some of this mixture on hand, as it works for nearly any recipe calling for white flour. It is easy to mix up yourself, or you can buy it in one and five pound bags (packaged by Ener-g.) I currently use the Authentic brown rice-garfava mix almost as much as the Hagman mix.
Jowar flour is another good gluten- free alternative. This flour is made from sorgurm; many   people say that with xanthan gum added. it is   interchangeable with whole wheat flour. It is darker and heartier than| rice flours-I recommend using jowar for only part of the four in a given recipe; when used alone be end product tends to I quite heavy.

Potato Starch Flour is available in health food stores and in the Kosher section of most supermarkets. Do not confuse Potato starch flour with Potato flour. Thee latter has a heavy flavor and the two cannot be used interchangeably in recipes. Tapioca starch is also widely available, and has a texture similar to com starch. In fact, if your child is sensitive to corn, tapioca starch makes a good substitute. Arrowroot is a starch with similar properties, and l have yet to hear of a child who cannot tolerate it. This starch makes an excellent addition to waffle and pancake recipes-giving the finished product an excellent texture, soft inside yet crispy on the outside.

Indian cooks use chickpea flour (called besan) to make a batter for dipping and frying vegetables (called Pakoras.) Lentil flour is the main ingredient for small Indian flours called Pappadams; these crunchy and delicious breads can be found at Indo-Pak. Poi flour (taro) is extremely digestible and is excellent if there are multiple allergies or gastrointestinal problems. It is a good source of vitamin B-1 and calcium. It can be made into hot cereal or used as a thickener for soups or puddings.

If you are converting a favorite recipe that is usually made with wheat flour, you will also want to add structure by increasing the number of eggs in the recipe. If you want to avoid too much fat use only the egg whites for the additional egg(s), or use and egg replacer powder.

Often an increase in leavening is required when a recipe is modified for GF flours. An extra ½ tsp. of baking powder or baking soda may be sufficient, but to be sure you will need to experiment a bit. Another way to improve the results of baked goods using these flours is to make smaller loaves or cakes. You can divide a quick bread batter between two min-loaf pans, or you could make rolls instead of a loaf. Larger baked products certainly can be made, but the smaller ones are often more like the “real” thing in texture.

Because different flours absorb different amounts of liquid, you may have to use more or less liquid in a recipe, depending on your choice of flour. The consistency of your batter or dough is what counts; try to achieve the consistency described in a recipe by adding more or less liquid. In general, use only part of the liquid called for, adding the full amount if needed. If the mixture is still too dry or too heavy, add more than the recipe calls for, a few tablespoons at a time.

Eggs serve many functions in cooking, but unfortunately, many children simply cannot tolerate them. While there are many egg substitutes available, you must first determine the function egg serves for a particular recipe before you can decide which substitute will work best. For most recipes, Ener-g egg substitute will work well. If egg is serving as a leavening agent, a tsp. of baking powder for each egg in a recipe should work. In cakes, a tsp. of vinegar can be used for each egg- this also serves as a leavening agent. If egg is being used as a binder in muffins or quick breads, you can boil a TBL of flax seed powder in a cup of water for 15 minutes, and add this as needed to your batter. Another way to replace eggs is to soften a tsp. of gelatin in 3 TBL boiling water. Stir the gelatin until it is completely dissolved and freeze until it has thickened a bit. Beat until frothy; this equals one egg. Crumbled tofu works when cooked egg is required, if soy is tolerated.

If you want to prepare freshly baked bread, but you just cannot bring yourself to start from scratch, try some of the excellent mixes available by the mail. There are mixes for bread, bagels, waffles, pancakes, cookies and muffins. Even if you like to bake from scratch, it’s a good idea to keep some mixes on hand. Miss Roben’s sells many mixes, including ANDI Wunderbread (my personal favorite!) the Gluten-free Pantry also sells lots of good mixes. Authentic foods sells mixes made from their special Garfava flour-they are high in protein and flavor.

There are many good gluten and dairy free cookbooks available. Try checking some out at your local library to see which ones will be most useful to you.

LISA S. LEWIS, PhD. Is the parent of an autistic child and lives in Bennington. New Jersey. She received her PhD. from New York University in Biological Anthropology. She is the author of a highly acclaimed, practical book on preparing foods for autistic children. The book is called "Special Diets for Special kids" and not only explains the need for such diets and how to implement them, but also includes over   150 great tasting recopies. In addition to her book, her paper, "An Experimental Intervention for Autism," and its availability on the Internet has been the starting point for many parents on their journey to help their autistic children and is probably one of the most widely read and influential articles ever written on autism.