I’m happy to report that our celiac summer is progressing well.
Our little family has been gluten-free for two months since our 15-year-old was diagnosed with celiac disease in late May.
At first, we were mostly eating naturally gluten-free foods and not trying many packaged gluten-free foods. It’s not always easy for Z to try new foods, but if we let her go at her own pace, she usually gets there eventually.
Gradually, in the last few weeks, Z has gotten brave and tried many new-to-us foods in pursuit of gluten-free snacks and meals to replace those she loved but can no longer eat.
Are you ready to hear which five gluten-free foods have become absolute must-haves for our family – including the sensory selective eaters among us? Let’s go!
1. Barilla gluten-free spaghetti. We’ve tried many other brands and shapes of gluten-free pasta, but the thicker/denser the shape, the more “odd” it tends to feel and taste to highly-sensitive palates. Barilla GF spaghetti, however, tastes and feels almost exactly like ordinary Barilla spaghetti and it gets a 10/10 rating from our family. This is now a pantry staple for us. I stock up anytime it goes on sale. Z especially loves it with a jar of Rao’s Alfredo sauce, which is naturally gluten-free although many other jar Alfredo sauces are not.
2. Krusteaz gluten-free blueberry muffin mix. We made these recently while hosting family and everyone raved about them. Here’s something funny – Z says she never liked blueberry muffins before, but since these smelled amazing and she heard everyone complimenting them, she decided to try one. She now absolutely LOVES them! These are a huge hit and taste as good as or even better than any home-baked blueberry muffin box mix I’ve ever made before. They’re great warm right out of the oven or room temperature the next day.
3. CauliPower Real Cluckin’ Chicken breaded chicken tenders. These gluten-free, breaded, boneless and skinless chicken breast tenders come frozen in a bag and were a huge hit with our whole family. We baked them in the air fryer and they came out crispy on the outside, tender on the inside and perfect for dipping into a favorite gluten-free sauce or condiment. We will keep these on hand in our freezer from now on! I was hoping and praying Z would like them, but after I took my first bite, I wasn’t sure – the seasoning tasted a little unique and unlike other chicken tenders or chicken nuggets she’s had in the past. Fortunately, she generously dragged each one through ranch or ketchup so she didn’t notice the seasoning and rated these a 10/10. Another win for our family!
4. King Arthur Baking Company gluten-free pancake mix. We’ve tried both this powdered GF pancake mix and the Krusteaz gluten-free boxed pancake mix, and we slightly prefer the King Arthur brand though Z would happily eat both. She is so happy to be able to have her favorite breakfast, bacon & pancakes, once again! Breakfast for dinner is also a popular evening option at our house, so we’re all happy to have found a great GF replacement for our old favorite pancake mix. Thankfully, our favorite brand of maple syrup is also naturally gluten-free.
5. Snack Factory gluten-free pretzel crisps. We’re all fans of pretzels dipped into hummus, so we were happy to find a few delicious and crunchy GF pretzel options. First, these flat pretzel crisps are perfect vehicles for salsa or hummus and nice alternatives to tortilla chips, which are also gluten-free. Then, we discovered Quinn’s gluten-free pretzel nuggets with peanut butter filling, which are also amazing. Pretzels are a great pantry staple that I had missed so I’m glad we’ve found these GF alternatives!
There you have it. While we’re also eating lots of protein, rice and fresh fruit, which never had any gluten, it’s great to have these additional GF snack and meal options when we feel like we want some satisfying carbs.
We still have not found a nice, light, fluffy gluten-free baguette, sourdough bread or dinner roll, so if you know of any, please let me know. I’d love to surprise Z with one of those sometime soon! She used to be the reigning queen of Panera Bread, after all, and I know she still misses it.
Let us know if there are other gluten-free foods we should try!
