stolly

A friend gave me this recipe, she thinks it came from Southern Living 3-5 years ago. We serve it with a side of buttered pasta.

1.5 pound eggplant, sliced 1/4 inch thin

1 cup parmesan cheese

2 cups mozzarella cheese (reserve 1/2 cup for end)

1.5-2 cups tomato sauce (recipe called for 1.5, I prefer 2 cups)

Preheat oven to 375. Place 4 stacks (2 slices each) of eggplant in the bottom of a 9x9 baking dish. Then layer 1/2 cup of the parmesan cheese, 3/4 cup mozzarella cheese, and 3/4-1 cup sauce. Add 2 slices of eggplant to each stack. If you have leftover eggplant, cut some into small pieces and stuff in the spaces between the stacks. Then repeat layers of parmesan, mozzarella (reserving 1/2 cup moz), and sauce. Cover with foil and bake 60-70 minutes until bubbly and eggplant is soft. Uncover, sprinkle with 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese, then bake uncovered for 5 minutes. Serve with pasta.

Welcome Karen,

What kinds of meals have you and your family been eating prior to your diagnosis? That might help guide us with the suggestions.

-Here is a great website for crockpot recipes Open Original Shared Link but if you prefer not to use a crockpot, the recipes can easily be converted to stove top or in the oven. The author's daughter has celiac, so most recipes are gluten free.

Other ideas...

-Baked/broiled/pan-seared chicken/fish/pork served with veggies and maybe rice/potatoes.

-gluten-free pasta (we like Tinkyada and Trader Joe's the best) with sauce, can add shredded chicken, ground beef, shrimp. Veggies or salad on the side.

-Pot roast with potatoes and carrots; we use the recipe on the back of the Lipton soup mix and add peas and mushrooms; can be done in crockpot or in the oven.

-Baked/fried chicken breaded in crushed (I prefer in the food processor) tortilla chips or Rice Chex.

Holly

I make a very easy parmesan/alfredo sauce for my daughter. Melt butter in a pan, add parmesan cheese, heavy cream (we're calorie boosting for her, you could sub milk), garlic powder (or fresh minced) and a dash of pepper. I don't measure (which is unlike me) because it's so easy, I just do it to taste. You can pair this with pasta, pour it over chicken, or you could make a fettucine alfredo with chicken and broccoli. I toss the pasta in the pan so it's well coated with the sauce.

I love Open Original Shared Link for crockpot recipes. The author's daughter has celiac so all (except maybe a handful) are gluten free. There are 366 recipes from 2008, and she continues to post some recipes in 2009. We love the maple dijon chicken.

I will try to think of some other ideas. Do you like eggplant?

GLutino pretzel twists. Pamela's Pancake and Baking Mix...the package and website have lots of good recipes. Different gluten free flours (or an all purpose flour blend). Maybe also a cake or brownie mix (Namaste, Pamela's) to have on hand before she feels up to trying different recipes. I really like Annalise Roberts' Gluten Free Baking Classics (2nd edition) and Robin Ryberg's Gluten Free Kitchen.

Fruity Pebbles and Ccoa Pebbles are gluten free...they are made by Post, a Kraft company, so any gluten would be listed as wheat, barley/malt, rye, or oats. Corn Chex have barley malt extract, so they are not gluten free.

Are Kinnikinnick flaky like gluten graham crackers or are they thick/dense like Josef? DD used to love Josef grahams but has stopped eating them recently so I'm looking for something new. I'm thinking I'd like to try Smorables and asked our HFS if they can order them. Thanks!

I though KIX was not gluten free. Last time I read the ingredients they weren't gluten free. Has that recently changed? Or is it just this new flavor that is gluten free?

Honey Kix is a new cereal by General Mills and it does not have gluten ingredients. It tastes great! I think some on the board has said regular Kix is also changing, but I have only seen regular Kix with oats, so we're sticking with Honey Kix for now.

I recommend a Thermos for hot meals. We use one for DD for school and when we're on the go. Fill it with anything...pasta with meat sauce, chili, soup, chicken stir fry, mac and cheese, light hot dog and baken beans, chicken breast and vegetables. We make big batches of everything and freeze extra portions in tupperware (8 oz for DD). We have busy mornings getting out of the house...this is what we do...while brushing my teeth I go to the kitchen and microwave water so it's really hot, then put it in the Thermos which helps to keep the food hot for about 4-5 hours. Then just before we leave I microwave the food, empty out the water and put the food in the hot Thermos. On your really long days, you could do this for lunch and something else non-perishable for dinner.

Vlynx- we made Namaste's chocolate cake mix for DD's birthday party and everyone really liked it. Each mix makes (2) 9" layers, whereas some mixes only make one layer. I find it cheapest on A M A Z O N dot COM, esp if you need a lot for a big party.

For big parties we've done baked ziti (with gluten-free pasta), meatballs in a crockpot, spiral ham (Costco's is gluten free but the glaze had gluten the last time I checked--it tastes great without the glaze but I made my own glaze--very easy), pineapple stuffing with gluten-free bread. I wasn't sure if I could pull off a gluten-free party, but we did it...everyone loved everything and DD could eat anything at the party which was nice (plus no worries about CC). Let me know if you have any questions.

My husband and I are really interested in starting a ROCK support group in our area (DD3 has celiac). Everything was so overwhelming when she was first diagnosed, but things are much easier now, and we'd like to help other families while getting the chance to meet people too. I emailed Danna Korn and she sent me the info needed to start a group. I was just wondering from the experts here on this board...do you have a ROCK group in your area? Do you enjoy it? Do you just have parties/potlucks? Do you ever have guest speakers like Danna suggests? Any other events? How often do you meet? In addition to the potlucks/parties, I'd love to come up with lists of tips/suggestions for the participating families...good places to shop, etc. I'm also nervous about how to find/recruit people to join. Just looking for some firsthand experiences before signing the dotted line and starting the group. Thanks!!

ps- I hope it's ok to post in this kids section, I thought I might here from more parents here rather than the support group section.

We love Namaste, plus each package makes (2) 9" layers, so it's equivalent to a regular cake mix. Some other gluten-free cake mixes are almost as expensive but only make one layer. I bought a sampler of flavors from Namaste, but now buy the chocolate cake mix from A m a z o n dot COM (6 bags per order).

My kids love

-The new Honey Kix (3g fiber per serving)

-Rice Chex (plain or make a chex mix recipe from their website substituting gluten-free ingredients)

-Glutino pretzels

-Corn chips; sometimes we make "cheesy chips" aka nachos

-Frito's (a new discovery yesterday)

-Animal crackers: Envirokidz or Mi-Del

-Josef graham crackers (they have cinnamon/graham plus chocolate or vanilla); we buy at Wegman's

-String cheese, sliced cheese

-Rolled deli ham

-Yogurt

-Fruit- cups or fresh grapes, strawberries, bananas, pineapple

-Mini pumpkin chocolate chip muffins, banana chocolate chip muffins

Trader Joe's also sells Gummy-Vites. For other parent's reading this thread whose children (like my daughter) won't take chewable vitamins, Schiff's makes a liquid multi-vitamin for kids. We buy it at V.I.T.A.C.O.S.T.com

We're going to a party, I'm taking a pizza dip and Death by Chocolate (gluten-free cake pieces layered with pudding, cool whip, and heath bar).

I just realized that I forgot to put the cost in my post abouve about Safeway (genuardi's)...it was $1.50 per box...the cheapest I have seen anywhere, and I almost didn't believe it so double and triple checked the sign and also when paying for it. I don't know if it will go that low again, but I check every time I go in!

We love Pamela's. Only DD has celiac, but DH and I would prefer Pamela's over any other gluten pancake mix. It contains almond meal which gives it a rich, nutty flavor. I also use it to make banana chocolate chip muffins, pumpkin muffins, also as a thickener for cream based soups, and breading for chicken. Once we knew we liked it, I started buying it in bulk on A M A Z O N, which is much cheaper than the small bags at the grocery store.

That's great! I wonder if there are any plans to expand to other Outback location...has anyone heard? It would be great to get pasta dishes and mac n cheese for DD.

We went to Uno's in North Wales, PA, tonight to try the pizza. DD3 is the celiac in our home, but she wanted a kids' cheeseburger, which she really enjoyed. They knew not to send it out with a bun, the server talked about preventing cc with us. I am not gluten-free, but I ordered the pizza because I was so curious and I thought DD might want to try it. The pizza was ok...the half with pepperoni was better. The crust was dry and crumbly and I would have enjoyed more sauce and cheese, but I think it's great that Uno's sees the importance of offering a gluten free menu. The only gluten-free dessert is vanilla ice cream with chocolate sauce, so I did write on the comment card that it would be great to see more gluten-free dessert options. DH got something what wasn't gluten-free. Overall, we enjoyed our dinner.

The General Mills website now lists Strawberry Chex with molasses (not barley malt), so the ingredients don't contain gluten. However just an fyi for those of you who have nut allergies, the ingredients include peanut flour. I was really surprised...and bummed because I think my son is allergic to peanuts despite negative allergy testing. Just out of curiosity, do the Strawberry Chex taste peanut-y at all? Thanks

Trader Joe's opened fairly recently near us and I love it. We eat their brown rice pasta (penne and fusilli) often. The mac n cheese is a dry box like Annie's, in fact the cheese packet inside said Annie's on it in small letters. I wonder if the noodles are also Annie's just labeled Trader Joe's. I made it as directed but added butter and a little Velveeta (we calorie boost for DD) and it was good...I think it needed a little more sauce. We will buy it again.

Trader Joe's website has a statement that their suppliers follow Good Manufacturing Practices to segregate ingredients on shared equpiment. We like TJ's plain/gluten-free and banana/gluten-free waffles...DD eats them without problems. I think Van's are dry and crumbly.

I don't like Ian, but DD does, so I occasionally keep them in the house for a quick meal for her. Most of the time, I try to make chicken nuggets at home and freeze a big batch. I cut boneless breasts into small pieces, dip in egg, then a mixture of crushed Rice Chex, potato chips (or cornmeal), garlic powder, salt, pepper, and paprika. I bake them for DH and I, fry them in canola oil for my DD since we're calorie boosting for her. She's picky but she loves them! The baked ones are great, too.

i found it on sale at genuardi's (safeway) earlier this week, but the sale is over. so keep you eye out there, too!

My kids like Envirokids Crispy Bars--berry or chocolate. They also have peanut butter which we don't like as much. I order them off Amazon for a good price, but our Costco just started carrying a multipack with the chocolate and peanut butter bars.

The Trader Joe's is opening on November 14! I am making my shopping list--thank you for all of your suggestions above. Any other favorites???