Gluten-Free Staples

Our middle child, Justin (3 1/2) has an intolerance to gluten (basically anything with flour in it, plus a few other ingredients). He was not formally diagnosed; rather we figured it out by trial and error. He had been getting red/hot cheeks and legs and also having really running diapers. Once we stopped feeding him gluten, it all went away. It's been wonderful!

I typically just cook regular recipes, but alter them a bit so they are gluten free. It's actually forced me to feed my family more healthy options -- less bread, no pasta, no boxed food, hardly anything canned. In essence, we have to eat a lot of fresh stuff, which is wonderful.

But there are a few products I buy specifically because they are made gluten free. There are a lot of great products on the market:

Justin loves these. They have a little less bite than a regular pretzel, but a wonderful alternative. I ordered several bags of these through Vistacost.



This corn bread mix is affordable and available at Wal-mart. I am not a big fan of corn bread in general, because it's usually too dry and crumbly for my taste. This makes a batch of moist, tasty corn bread. I think I'll just make half the bag next time I need some, because my family doesn't eat a lot of it in one sitting.

What would I do without rice cakes??!! Justin has one every morning for breakfast. "Mom!!! I want peeeeney butter and rice cake!" I always get the plain kind. I've tried putting other toppings on it, but peanut butter sticks well and is a good flavor combo.


I use corn tortillas 1-2x per week for dinner at our house. Heated, fried, put in a casserole... they are very versatile, a great size for little kids, and super cheap!

I love this cereal. We buy rice or corn flavor. It's a great breakfast with fruit and milk, or a great snack. I usually bring a little bag of it for Justin to munch on at church. It also makes a great kid dessert -- Muddy Buddies!