My daughter is GF, so our house is GF with minor exceptions (my husband can't say goodbye to his pita).  She only feels sorry for herself when there's something she wants and can't have a version of, which is rare!  I've managed to switch over nearly everything, including making a quick and easy pizza crust (GF flour, water, oil, salt) that's not the same thing but works to hold the sauce and cheese!  Even my husband approves!

To balance life out, my daughter basks in the glory when she brings a yummy dessert to a friend's house for Shabbat and everybody oohs and aahs.  (Last week's report:  "Ema, even the baby loved the chocolate!")

I'm a very, very basic cook.  If it can't be done in 10 min or less, then it's strictly Shabbat food.  If it can't be done with the ingredients I bought at the supermarket, then it can't be done in my house.  It's amazing (these days) how easy it is to be GF and still follow those basic principles of my life.

As for fancier food, you can eat nearly any Asian dish, Indian dish, or Mexican dish without compromising -- they are rice and corn based, so as long as you watch what thickener's being used, it's easy to eat authentically.  Meat and potatoes?  No problem!  Fish?  Sure.  PB&J?  Just put it on a GF cracker or one of the much-improved compressed rice cakes.

I've had much more success just swapping out the gluten products for non-gluten products in my tried-n-true simple recipes than searching for new things, with the exception of cake.  For cake, I've switched to flourless recipes (chocolate, cocoa powder, eggs, butter, what else do you need?) or doctoring up instant KLP cake mixes when I have them.  I made a YUMMY lemon meringue pie last week for my husband's b-day -- instead of graham cracker crust, I used a GF cracker that's neither sweet nor savoury, and just added extra sugar.  It worked great!

B'tayavon!
Dena




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Dena Page, M.Ed., CBA
Certified Behaviour Analyst
054 812 5973

Certified Irlen Screener
Certified Auditory Integration Therapy (DAA) Practitioner