[Justine]

I'm going crazy. I'm 15 years old and i just found out that i'm allergic to: cheese, cottage chees, pineapple, oats, sesame, zucchini, milk, whey, yogurt, bananas, blueberries, eggs, wheat, rye and spelt. So there arn't alot of opptions on food for me right now. i was wondering if anyone had any ideas for recipies or breakfast ideas or anything. Any help is appriciated. Thank you.

[jccgf]

First off, you are not alone! Many people are on gluten free/casein free diets and must also avoid additional problem foods.

Gluten free means no wheat, rye, barley, (or spelt). Most on a gluten free diet stay away from oats because they may be contaminated as they are often grown in adjacent fields. Casein free means no cow's milk: cheese, cottage cheese, milk, whey, yogurt, butter, etc. There are lots of resources available for those on a gluten free/casein free diet... books, cookbooks, products, support groups, etc.

The hardest of your remaining problem foods will be eggs because they are in most baked goods. Still, there are ways around baking with eggs, and although I don't know first hand, others will.

After that:
pineapple
sesame
zucchini
bananas
blueberries

These are easy enough to work around, although chances are they may be some of your favorite foods. You will find new favorites!

Enjoy Live is a company whose products do not include any of the top eight allergens, so they are wheat gluten free, dairy free, egg free. It is a start if you feel the need for some 'substitute' products. I think their cereal bars are pretty good.
http://www.enjoylifefoods.com/

Do you like nuts?
http://www.boomibar.com/OrderBoomiBar.asp

http://kindsnacks.com/catalog/index.php
http://kindsnacks.com/gluten-free/gl...ee_snacks.html

http://govinda.websitecandy.com/cate...sp?category=99

watch out for sesame seed and oatmeal varieties of course...


Frito Lay has a gluten free/casein free product list, as do some other manufactureres:
http://www.fritolay.com/fl/flstore/c...dID_352992.htm



You can also check the Favorite Links page in The Gluten File below my name ( http://jccglutenfree.googlepages.com/internetdirectory ) for other information on gluten free/casein free living, websites, some great gf/cf blogs, and other resources.

There is a whole 'nother world out there... and you should be able to find lots of help on food ideas. Unfortunately, your allergens leave a lot out (pizza, cake, ice cream, etc)... but there is a lot of food that is still ok, healthier for you, and you will adjust. These first months will be rough, but you will get past that, and before long it will be same old, same old. I do think it is a bit more challenging for someone your age, but you will even find support groups just for teens.

There are also an increasing number of specialty products hitting the market... gf pastas like Tinkyada, decadent rice creams like Good Karma (Mudd Pie, chocolate peanut butter fudge... these are the absolute best!), and a whole lot more.

So... you will have a bit of an adjustment ahead... but you will do it!

Cara

[hathor]

If you get vegan products, you will know there is no milk or egg in there. But you still will have to read all labels, though, so you will be sure to avoid the other stuff.

At www.fatfreevegan.com, there is an entire section of gluten-free recipes.

There are plenty of GF cookbooks & web sites with recipes. But it is possible to adjust many regular recipes to what you can have. Substitute GF pasta, bread or grain for a gluten-containing one. Use an alternative milk product (soy, almond, rice, hemp). For eggs, here's a link for subs in baking:
http://www.wikihow.com/Replace-Eggs-in-Your-Cooking I have used EnerG egg replacer and ground flax seed with success myself.

You may be able to tolerate products made from milk not from cows (like goats, sheep, or buffalo).

What do you usually eat for breakfast? You can probably continue with the same sort of things, unless it is eggs. Then the only alternative I can think of is a tofu scramble, which really isn't that close. But there are GF cereals, breads, waffles, etc.

There are plenty of gluten-free subs out there. For bread, I use the gluten-free breads & tortillas by Food for Life (they don't contain dairy or eggs either -- at least none of the ones I've seen; the company makes products with gluten too, so be careful). I've also ordered bread mixes by Breads from Anna. For pasta, I like Glutino or Tinkyada, but I will also use quinoa, corn or 100% buckwheat pastas on occasion. Bionaturae GF pasta I think is very nice (unfortunately, I had to stop getting it when I found I had to cut out soy).

It does help if you focus on all the foods you CAN eat, rather than the ones you cannot. I can't have gluten, casein, egg, or soy, and I'm a vegetarian to boot. I don't have any problems finding a wide variety of things to eat. It is tough in the beginning as you are changing your habits, but it gets easier all the time.

You CAN have meat, poultry, fish & seafood. (You might be able to have noncow dairy). You can have nongluten grains & starches -- such as rice, wild rice, buckwheat, quinoa, millet, potatoes, sweet potatoes, corn, peas, beans, and lentils. You can have all veggies other than zucchini, and all fruits but three. You can have nuts and all seeds but sesame.

I know it seems overwhelming now. But I've known people who have even more restrictions than you do and yet manage to make it work. Like someone who has my restrictions and can't handle legumes or nightshade veggies -- yet he eats and has regained his health.

If there is a particular food or recipe you want a sub for or a recipe tweaking, just ask.

I am curious how you found out your allergies. Some people will show in testing as reacting to particular foods with which in real life they don't notice a problem. (This relates to blood testing, not skin prick testing -- I don't know of false positives with the latter).

You may want to keep a food diary and see what you actually react to.

[sharky]

I agree focus on the CAN not the cannot....

Bean flours are great for baked goods....

alternative grain flours are common now ///
ammarath
rice ( all kinds all taste different )
corn ( all kinds)


for breakfast eggs with meat .... or a ceareal of one of the above ... You didnt list barley is that also a NO??

I had to deal with your issues at your age ... IT GETS easier