Gluten-Free Holidays
By Jennifer Newton Reents
The holidays: time for cookies, cakes and pies — but not
for your child. At least, not the traditional kind of sweets.
If you’re the parent of a celiac child, who must keep your
child on a gluten-free diet, you have to be extra careful during
the holidays to ensure Aunt Sally doesn’t slip little Mikey
a chocolate chip cookie.
Here are some tips to help you keep your child on the gluten-free
path this holiday season.
• Decide
what holiday foods you’ll serve and learn
to make them with safe substitutes, says Carol Fenster, Ph.D.,
chef and author of Gluten-Free 101 and the new Cooking
Free. (Search for them on Amazon.com and Powells.com) “For
example, if cut-out Christmas cookies are a tradition at your
house, either find a cookie mix at the health food store or find
a recipe in a gluten-free cookbook,” she says. “Do
some experimenting before the holidays so you have all the details
worked out.
You
can make all the cute shapes you did before — jingle
bells, Christmas trees, candy canes — and decorate them
as usual, choosing gluten-free decorations and frostings. Let
the kids help with the decorating.”
•
Find out what kinds of foods are typically served at your child’s
school parties or events. “If it is muffins, then bake
a batch or two and freeze them so they’re on hand when
you need them,” Fenster says. “The same goes for
cookies or cupcakes. You can even bake 9-inch layer cakes that
can be quickly frosted. Or, prepare little pizza crusts that
your child can take to a pizza party. Kids just want to fit in
with their peers, so the more you can make these foods look and
taste like everyone else’s, the better.”
• Create a snack kit for traveling by car, train or plane, Fenster
suggests. Include dried fruit, nuts, popcorn, energy bars, crackers,
etc. If possible, stock it with fresh fruit and cut-up veggies
for added nutrition. Other foods that travel well are dry cereals,
rice-based pasta, cookies, rice and soy milk, said Adam Kuhn,
father of a 7-year-old celiac boy in Bethesda, Maryland. Kuhn
also suggests parents keep a list of what they take each time
they travel so they know what to bring the next time.
•
At restaurants, call ahead to see if there are gluten-free options. “Learn
to recognize words and phrases that might (or might not) indicate
safety,” Fenster says. “Always have a stash of foods
with you such as crackers to supplement the meal.”
•
When visiting family or friends, bring along a dish or two of
your own for your child, Fenster suggests. “I try to have
as many gluten-free substitutes as possible so Ben won't feel
left out,” said Marla Hardee Milling of Asheville, North
Carolina, whose 7-year-old son has been on a gluten-free diet
for three years. “For instance, I make mashed potatoes
with soy milk and Earth Balance (casein-free) butter. I try to
have some sort of substitute for every item on our dinner plates.
There
are some good gluten-free breads, bread mixes and rolls to
substitute for the traditional wheat variety. If a family
member is making a broccoli casserole, then I'll bring along
some steamed broccoli for Ben. Desserts are the hardest because
he will want what everyone else is eating. I give him soy ice
cream, gluten-free brownies and gluten-free cake. He's very
happy with these items.”
Remember to be cautious of sauces at dinner parties and at
restaurants. “Even
soy sauce has wheat in it,” Milling says. “Be particularly
careful to tell those around you not to offer your child food
without checking first with you. Relatives are the worst for
handing my child something he can't eat.”
One thing's for sure: Planning is required. “We travel
with more food than most folks,” explains Kuhn. “But
both sets of grandparents have learned about the diet and usually
have provisions on hand.
One
thing that makes holidays work is preparing gluten-free foods
that everyone enjoys. I make a mean
cornbread that's very popular, and I have plenty of bread
ends that can be turned into stuffing and/or breadcrumbs. We
also
insist on a more natural-styled turkey during Thanksgiving — i.e.,
not a Butterball, which are often injected with gluten.”
•
Fenster says that the holidays are the perfect time to teach
young children about which foods are safe for them so they can
make wise choices when you’re not there. “Also, teach
them how to question these foods, or when in doubt, to either
avoid the food altogether or check with Mom or Dad,” she
says.
When
at home, try to encourage non-gluten-free family members to
eat the same foods as the gluten-free kids, Fenster suggests,
because this will save you cooking time. However, if some of
these foods are quite expensive or hard to find (such as fresh-baked
bread), store these foods in the freezer (clearly marked) and
teach everyone about the safe handling of these foods to avoid
cross-contamination.
She recommends using separate toasters
or
buy the little white plastic bags that toast the bread while
it is inside the bag, avoiding any cross contamination with
bread crumbs in the toaster.
Gluten-Free Resources
Gluten-Free
Friends: An Activity Book for Kids by
Nancy Falini. Search for it on Amazon.com and Powells.com
Celiac
Disease Foundation
Center
for Celiac Research
© Jennifer
Newton Reents
Jennifer Newton Reents is a freelance journalist and publicist.
She earned a bachelor's degree in journalism in 1994 from San
Diego State University and worked for several newspapers as reporter,
covering various beats, from the courtroom and crime to education
and business, before moving to a freelance career in 2000. She
is the former associate editor of Pregnancy and ePregnancy magazines
and continues to contribute to various national magazines today.
Her bylines have appeared in LowCarb Energy, Cooking
Smart, And
Baby, Southern Cooking and Lifestyles as well as numerous regional,
local and web publications. She lives with her family in Texas.
