Gluten Free in the City

Being GFCF can feel super isolating...spending entire days dreaming about the elasticity of regular pizza dough, the taste and smell of fresh melted cheese, and dreaming of how I once ate sushi with soya sauce....I know you feel me on that one. I am so grateful that I was blissfully unaware of my intolerance as a child..I got to experience real unaltered deliciousness...though I seem to remember spending a lot of my childhood doubled-over repeating to myself "this too shall pass". Whether you are new to GFCF life, or a seasoned veteran, read on and maybe share some thoughts at the end to provide solidarity and knowledge to a growing community...


If you think it's hard being GFCF, try being the parent of a child that is GFCF... I am speaking anecdotally of course, but having a little one on a GF or GFCF diet can feel SUPER DUPER isolating in a world of donuts and ding dongs. 


Birthday parties are the worst...no cake, no cookies, no cupcakes...and no ice cream. Ok, there are alternatives...but common...try selling rice dream to a 4 year old. It is one thing to be old enough, like I am, to understand that if I eat gluten I will get sick and therefore I should avoid it...even then I admit, sometimes I indulge and feel the wrath later...but it is a total different story when you are kid. Just TRY reasoning with a 4 year old who REALLY REALLY wants that ice cream, cake, pizza, cookie, bread, cheese, milk, and so on and so on.


Then there are bagged lunches...Oh what joy...how in the world do you make a sandwich out of bread that has to be toasted to be edible?...I am all for a piping-hot toasted sandwich, but a -3 hours later- toasted sandwich...NO THANKS! Thinking up creative packed lunches takes effort, and a lot of ambition...they have to be healthy, delicious, and GFCF...AND they have to be good enough that the kid actually eats it (send 2 hard-boiled eggs and a bag of carrots and see what happens)...A full lunch bag at the end of the day is the WORST.


Working at MM, it is becoming increasingly obvious to me that allergies are a top issue in today's schools, summer camps, and day cares. We are scent-sensitive, because many of our kiddos are prone to sensory overload; we provide an allergen-sensitive environment, in which each child's allergies are thoroughly considered before materials are placed into each student's homeroom. At MM...we get it. We know about dextrose, semolina, and milk derivatives; we know about sulfites, mono sodium glutamate and caramel colour! TONS of us at MM happen to be on GF and, or GFCF diets, and we provide a Gluten and Casein Sensitive environment all year round, including in the summer for camp. 


If you are concerned about allergies and summer camp, give us a call! We are allergy-sensitive, down to our play dough :)

Baking Baking!

Icing, Filling: GFCF Fluff and Jam

The batter is Betty Crocker White Cake; I made 2 batches, 1 with dairy-free chocolate chips, and 1 without. I did not put icing in the chocolate chip ones...overkill I thought :)

Love the baking tray; it was a Christmas gift I was itching to use!

I stuck the icing right into the cupcake; it was an airy batter so I did not need to scoop anything out.

The glossy look is from the fluff; not my cleanest work but GFCF and YUMMY!

Gluten Free is good for me! By: me

I am feeling extra itchy this morning, so I decided to post this rhyme I wrote to help explain allergies to one of my students. If you are feeling creative and want to add another line or two, feel free to post in the comments! 

Gluten-Free is Good for Me

Some foods make me sick, make me sleepy, make me silly, and make me itch.

I don’t know why, but I sure know how; I can’t have gluten or milk from a cow.

If I do by mistake, or because I didn’t know, my face gets hot and hives start to show.

I itch and itch but I just can’t catch the source of that itchy, itchy scratch.

My tummy might hurt, or I’ll get a foggy head; the light will hurt my eyes and I might just go to bed.  It makes me mad because I like to eat bread, so the gluten-free version is what I’ll have instead!

I can’t eat some chips, most pasta it’s true; but I did adapt and so will you.  I love to eat rice, pizza, chicken and stew; I love to eat rice-pasta, quinoa and beans too!

At first it was different, but now it’s sort of cool; I even bring a gluten-free lunch with me to school.


By: Alley Dezenhouse


P.S. Please note: this post is about allergies, and not meant to support the theory that the removal of gluten and/or casein from a child's diet will alleviate symptoms associated with Autism. That being said, if an Autistic child has never been tested for allergies, you may want to consider the various ways that an allergy could manifest (hives, digestion issues, loose BMs, rashes, grumpiness and tiredness, foggy head, stomach ache, bloat, nausea, headache, joint issues, and on and on and on). 


It's your job as a parent to be extra aware of these symptoms when your child is non verbal; even if your child is verbal, he or she may not be able to properly articulate the source of the problem (or even worse might just think that's how everyone feels all the time, it's all relative, right?). 


It takes time for neurotypical kids and kids with Autism, to develop a sense of what a headache feels like, what a stomach ache feels like, what a rash looks/feels like, how to articulate feelings of nauseousness verses a bruise. One of my staff recalls being 3 years old, and telling her parents "my knee hurts" and proceeding to throw up all over the back of the car.


In short, be a detective because it's your job to make sure your kid is functioning as his or her best possible self.