***Three Top Tips for Gluten-Free Cooking

Are you thinking about going gluten-free or have you already made the leap? If your child has autism, you might see tremendous gains once gluten is removed from his diet. Gluten can be an insidious little critter that can wreak havoc on your child’s inflamed, overworked and underperforming gut. If you decide to go for it (and I highly recommend going gluten, casei AND soy-free by the way), then there are a few things you should keep in mind that should make the transition a little easier: 1. Do it 100%. You can't go "sort-of" gluten-free. It just doesn't work. If your child is super-sensitive, then even a small infraction can have devastating results. Some experts say a gluten slip-up can have negative consequences for up to six months. Yes, that's right - SIX months! That alone, is enough for me to be downright diligent when it comes to my son's diet. 2. Make a weekly meal plan. This is very important, because let's face it - we are ALL very busy people! If you sit down every Sunday and make a meal plan for the week, then you know what you're doing each day, what you need to plan for, what you need to shop for, what to take out of the freezer the night before, as well as being able to give your child the head's up so there are no big surprises come dinner-time. 3. Read labels carefully. This one took me a bit to get used to. Just because something says "wheat-free" does NOT mean it's gluten-free too. Make sure the product says "gluten-free" somewhere on the package. Also, just because it's gluten-free does NOT mean it's casein-free. For two full months (way back when I was first following the GFCF diet) I was using a gluten-free pancake mix for my son, assuming it was also casein-free. Imagine my surprise when I read the label one day and saw that this particular product had buttermilk in it. Oops! Needless to say, we made the switch to a different brand the very next day. The bottom line is if you decide to put your child on a gluten-free diet, it can have a wonderfully positive impact on his/her health. It will take extra planning, extra creativity and potentially extra shopping on your part, but the positives should far outweigh any negatives that might come along with it. For more information and to check out my new, child-friendly, gluten-free cookbook, go to MotherCub.com.