S Club Mama

On long runs, I've been accustomed to eating a protein bar or energy bar (whatever you call them), so I was excited to try PureFit Nutrition Bars. They are an all-natural, gluten-free, wheat-free, dairy-free, vegan, kosher, high in protein, and diabetic-friendly. Sounds gross, right? Well, you would be wrong. I am always cautious when I come across food of any sort that is GF, DF, and other -free. They don't normally taste great. However, PureFit nutrition bars are good. They taste about the same as other protein bars that I've eaten on my long runs. I tried the Berry Almond Crunch on a 10 miler. I like fruit-flavored bars when I run, but they are hard to come by. That was a great run (accompanied by great weather!). The next bar I tried was chocolate brownie on an 11 mile treadmill run. The entire run was a bust - so hard. I tried to eat other things (pretzels and gels) in a manner to which I wasn't accustomed. I ate the bar way too fast and at the wrong time, ...

After our first appointment with an allergist, Dr. B, we were not happy with the entire experience. His tests showed that Moose was allergic to everything under the sun: molds, grasses, foods, animals. He's never had a rash or any sort of reaction (although this doctor said he had neurological reactions); and the only allergy tie-in I've ever seen to autism is to gluten and casein (proteins found in wheat and dairy). I had read/heard about many testimonials from parents of other ASD kids who have seen improvements (usually on a large scale) when their child was placed on a GFCF (gluten-free, casein-free) diet. I believe that most of these kids had GI (gastrointestinal) problems and/or allergies to gluten/casein - Moose does not have any GI problems. skin tests at Dr. B's 10/11 Now, I'm level-headed enough to realize that scientists and medical professionals do not always recommend this diet because there is not enough proof about it. I also know that sometimes do...

While researching online, I've scoured numerous gluten-free blogs and come across one company's name: Udi's. Udi's Gluten Free Foods offers a variety of foods for those living a GF lifestyle. We got to try out their cinnamon rolls , granola (vanilla), whole grain bread , and snickerdoodle cookies. Can I just say what a pleasant surprise taste-wise all of these products were? Of all the gluten-free products we have tested, these have been my favorite. The whole grain bread loaf was still on the small size and for 12 oz, it's $5 which is still expensive but I'll pay for the better quality. What I mean is: this tastes like "real" bread! I liked it, Moose liked it, Squirt liked it, I don't think we saved enough for Big A to try... A blog friend of mine has recommended this bread on her blog, so I was really hoping it would be good. And she was right - by far the best bread we've tried. The granola was something I kept to myself. I shar...

Bob's Red Mill has been around for over 30 years providing gluten free flours, cereals, baking mixes, and grain. I had seen several of their items in our grocery store before getting the items we received to review. I had never tried any of them because we tend to be store brand people and Bob's Red Mill comes with a higher price - that's not to say that the products aren't worth it! We got to try their small pearl tapioca , all-purpose flour , and bread mix. We also have purchased their xanthum gum (which is used as a sort of gluten substitute in baking breads; it holds the mixture together). I think what has astounded me most about Bob's Red Mill is the quantity of products they have: dried tart cherries, coconut, blue cornmeal, fava bean flour, organic kamut cereal. So many things! I also like their gluten-free starter package (includes AP flour, pancake mix, brownie mix, bread mix, hot cereal, xanthum gum, and gluten free 101 book). It is a $50 price tag on t...

My bone to pick with going gluten-free and casein-free is that a lot of the cookbooks that I've seen have really fancy recipes. We are not fancy people - we're meat and potatoes kind of folk. I want someone to makeover my recipes I have and just tweak them to take out the wheat and dairy. Well, Kinnikinnick has helped me begin that process myself. They sent us food that complies with our lifestyle; things my kids will eat! Montana's Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies were good. So good that my husband and I probably ate more of them than the kids. They still weren't very moist (these weren't the Chewy cookies) but they were so close to another brand of cookies (wish I could remember the name). Even Big A liked them, so that's really telling you something! The Pancake & Waffle mix has made my family several meals. We do breakfast for dinner at least once a week. You can hardly taste the difference between the pancakes made with this mix and gluten-ful...

Attune Foods has been around (in one way, shape, or form) since 1908!! That's further back that many of us can trace our genealogy! Uncle Sam cereal was introduced in that year, followed by other companies that were bought out by other companies over their history . Finally, Attune Foods acquired Uncle Sam, Erewhon, New Morning, and Skinner's in 2009 . This new collaboration of companies now brings you "Simple, pure ingredients that help you feel your best every day." Attune Foods has two types of gluten-free products : Erewhon cereals and attune probiotic bars. We ate the brown rice with mixed berries , strawberry-crisp , and rice twice cereals. I really appreciate that these cereals tasted good. I ate each one and enjoyed them. The strawberry crisp is reminiscent of Special K with strawberries and the other two cereals remind me of rice krispies (one with mixed berries in it). The rice twice even makes the nice popping sounds! Moose did not care for the mixed...

Ener-g's mission statement : Our mission at Ener-G Foods, as one of the country's foremost producers of foods for diet-restrictive individuals, is to provide a wide range of ready-made foods and mixes that are wholesome, nutritious, risk-free and great tasting. We are constantly responding to the demand for special diets with research, innovative products, and convenience foods. The company started out in 1962 to help pre-dialysis patients with low protein diets. Since then, they have expanded to wheat-free, gluten-free, dairy-free, casein-free, tree nut-free, peanut-free products, low protein, yeast-free, egg-free, and soy-free. They are also certified Kosher! That's a lot of restrictions that their company works around to help families affected by various allergies and sensitivities. Our family was blessed to try a variety of their products these past few weeks. We focused on the gluten-free products but would also go for the casein-free (dairy-free) produc...

With Moose's autism, we have encountered a lot of differing opinions about his diet, his supplements, his allergies. All well-intentioned people, I'm sure, but changing anything in our son's life will always be a decision that Big A & I come upon as a couple, rather than being influenced by fads. That said, we (more I) have heard so many testimonials of moms of other autistic children about the improved behaviors once gluten (a protein found in wheat) and casein (a protein found in milk) are removed from the child's diet. Usually gluten is only taken out of a person's diet if they have celiac disease, but this has also become a trendy fad in Hollywood (I believe Gwenyth Paltrow is on this diet). I'm wary of trends and fads, but also interested by the personal testimonials of real life moms. Obviously we were more than interested as we took our son to the allergist. Although those findings are questionable (at least to us), we have decided to go ahead & t...