Bread Options for Teenagers-HELP

[novonna]

Help! My 17-yr old son was diagnosed about 5 months ago and what a challenge this has been for our family. He is a very picky eater and now we are dealing with a special diet. I am very worried because he is underweight for his height (5'10", 100lbs). He is your typical teenager and loves bread and junk food. I am at my whits end trying to located baked bread or bread mixes that he likes. He seems to think he will never eat again especially sandwiches or burgers. School lunches consists of gluten free chips, fruit cups, and milk. I am constantly stressed out because I know he is not eating enough and our selections seem so limited. He misses the texture and taste of good ole white bread. Suggestions?

Sincerely,
Newbie to the Gluten Free World

[Kristi]

Toms Light Bread mix by Gluten Free Pantry is what we use in my house which is available at www.glutenfreepantry.com (they also have the BEST brownie and macaroon mix)

along with Gillians Breads you can find them at www.gilliansfoods.com as well as look there for locations near you. Their rolls are excellent, I love the cinnamon raisin ones for breakfast!

Also if you want to make wrap sandwiches with GF deli meat of course (watch out for the HPV) Don Pancho's wraps are good!

I am an EXTREMELY picky eater and I love all 3! Good luck!

*edit*

If he loves junk food, invest in a deep fryer for home I make the BEST donut holes! No one notices the difference and they make a great snack. Also try Van's GF/DF waffles which you can find in the frozen section in your health food store or the health food section at your supermarket (shaw's carries them as well as hannafords and shaws is owned by albertsons so they should carry them as well)

[aklap]

Hi Novonna,

We've all been where your son is at right now. I was a HUGE bread eater. But once you go thru "withdrawal", you really don't miss it.

BTW - if he's craving pizza...Chebe has a great pizze crust mix. They have bread too - it makes golf ball or bread stick shapes. http://www.chebe.com/product.htm

I know it's not bread - but Corn Tortillas are a good replacement for sandwiches. You just make rollups instead. Burgers I usually eat w/o buns/bread unless my DW has made me some bread or buns

Mixes are a good place to start - it has all the dry ingreds there. I have not tried those that Kristi mentioned. Gluten Free Pantry's Favorite Sandwich Bread mix is good - it's a white bread (not pure white like Wonder Bread tho )
Manna from Anna is good too - although it's more like a wheat bread in color and texture.

One thing you'll want to do is get a good heavy duty mixer. The GF bread mixes will burn out your standard mixer. The dough is much stickier & heavier than glutened dough. My wife was going to surprise me with a loaf of the bread below and burned out our mixer we had for 10+ years. We replaced it with a KitchenAid.

If you are a baker, you might try this recipe (Thanks Cara!!). It is really good!! You could also use this for pizza crust too.

Mix dry ingredients in large bowl:
2 cups gf blend (6/2/1 rice/potato starch/tapioca)
1 cup potato starch
1/2 cup tapioca flour
2 Tbls. sugar
1 Tbls. xanthan gum
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup dry milk
1 pkg dry yeast
1 tsp unflavored gelatin

Melt 2 Tbls butter or margarine into 1 1/2 cups water...to 130 degrees.

Add water mixture to dry ingredients and mix.

Add 1 tsp rice vinegar.

Add 3 eggs plus 1 egg white, one at a time, and beat between each.
(room temp eggs..warming in hot water works)

Beat three minutes or longer. Dough should not be too stiff...its hard to describe texture. Put into two regular loaf pans (5X9), one extra long pan, or it makes 12 hamburger buns.

Raise in warmed oven that was preheated to 200 (and turned off) for one hour. Leave pans in oven, and turn oven on to 375 and bake:
30 minutes for buns (I have a hamburger bun pan)
40 minutes for bread
* you can rest foil over the top for the last fifteen minutes if too browned
_________________
Al

“We cannot all do great things, but we can do small things with great love.” Mother Teresa

[Jeannine]

zzz

[GFSarahSmiles]

I was once a huge bread eater myself.

In addition to what breads the others have said, you might try the brand "Food for Life." They have many "specialty" breads, so of course you're more likely to find the non-GF ones before the GF one, but I believe that's the best store-bought bread I've had (it's frozen, of course). As far as making it at home, the Gluten Free Pantry's Favorite Sandwich Bread Mix is my favorite.

I don't want to discourage you in your search for the perfect bread, but I, the former bread-lover, also prefer the wrap idea over sandwiches. I just haven't found a bread that's REALLY that great as a sandwich bread. I think the kind I eat are Don Pablo's too, but at any rate, you can get them at Wal-Mart in a huge supply, and I eat them very regularly with deli meat or something rolled up. They are pretty satisfying. I don't really remember sandwiches, so I can't give you a comparison, but the roll-up things are very good in place of them.

I completely agree with the suggestion of Van's waffles. The original and the apple cinnamon are my favorites. I don't remember whether or not they have other non-GF waffles or not, but you obviously know to check that! The Lowe's Foods near my house carries them. Very, very good stuff.

A good GF pizza is Amy's. They make tons of other stuff, so don't get too excited when you see that brand in the freezer case. I've only found the GF one at specialty/health food stores, though many "normal" stores carry the brand & their non-GF stuff.

If you want a really good junk food treat, I would suggest the cake/cupcake recipe on the back of Hershey's cocoa. It's really easy and really good - just substitute for GF ingredients (i.e. the GF flour blend Al said above). My mother says she can't tell the difference with that recipe as far as GF or non-GF; she says they taste just the same. And my father can only tell a difference if he knows it's GF (which is typical - he says it all the time just to "be that way" about my food). It is SOOO good! After a couple of days it begins to get just the slightest bit more crumbly, so if it's not going to be eaten within a couple of days, I would stick it in the fridge.

That's about all I can think of to suggest to you and your son. Hopefully you can find something he really likes and help to put some meat on his bones.
_________________
Sarah
Birthday: December 6, 1982
Gluten-Free Birthday: March 2, 2004
Remission & Dx Confirmed: March 30, 2004

[jentle]

I really feel for your son, I am new to this too and I must say it SUCKS big time, especially pizza
I tried Danielles chocolate cake frim gfp
it reminds me of ring dings or ho hos
I make peanut butter cookies...
1 cup peanut butter
1 cup sugar
1 egg
teaspoon fulls flattened criss cross with a fork bake at 350 for about 8-10 minutes
but with me once I eliminated most of the gluten I stopped losing weight,
Jenn

[wendycs]

Get GF bread for him and TOAST it!!
I'm kinda a picky eater too and in my opinion GF bread on its own is just gross and tastes like thick foam! Toasting it makes it taste so much better!

[GFSarahSmiles]

AGREED!!!

You MUST toast it!

Toasting makes it taste more like real bread ... although, it's been so long since I've had real bread that I must confess I really don't remember what it tasted like.
_________________
Sarah
Birthday: December 6, 1982
Gluten-Free Birthday: March 2, 2004
Remission & Dx Confirmed: March 30, 2004

[aklap]

[Jentle]

Recomendation for Chebe breads

I tried this this week, very skeptical....but oh I'm in heaven havin pizza again, also made it into chips, and my kids who arent diagnosed ate them all up on me.....
Jenn

[tobi]

Hi Everyone, No, I think there is nothing GF that will taste or feel like "real" bread. BUT, we really like 'Cause You're Special Hearty Biscuit mix. SO easy to make and VERY similar to Bisquick biscuits. Jan

[lablady]

Try the kinnikinnick.com website. They also have products in health food stores. My daughter was diagnosed at 17 , so I know what you're going through. Things will taste better for him eventually. Kinnikinnick has great, ready made frozen pizza crusts in 7 inch (4 to a pack) and 10 inch (3 to a pack) sizes. Pizza can be spontaneous again. Just top with your favorites and cook for 13 minutes at 375 degrees. We made it for her lunch almost every day. It even tastes good cold. The chocolate covered doughnuts are also a favorite. Their white bread is also the best we have found, but, it's best toasted or grilled for grilled cheese. Tinkyada makes a variety of pasta that is even good in pasta salads. Mrs. Leepers makes a great chicken alfredo mix which can be ready in 15 minutes. We made this for school too. Glutino makes the best bagels(found in health food stores). They also have a good breakfast bar in apple, blueberry and chocolate. Enjoy life makes a caramel apple breakfast bar that we like too. Believe me, it does get easier.....good luck...I hope he will like some of these sugestions

[lablady]

Try the kinnikinnick.com website. They also have products in health food stores. My daughter was diagnosed at 17 , so I know what you're going through. Things will taste better for him eventually. Kinnikinnick has great, ready made frozen pizza crusts in 7 inch (4 to a pack) and 10 inch (3 to a pack) sizes. Pizza can be spontaneous again. Just top with your favorites and cook for 13 minutes at 375 degrees. We made it for her lunch almost every day. It even tastes good cold. The chocolate covered doughnuts are also a favorite. Their white bread is also the best we have found, but, it's best toasted or grilled for grilled cheese. Tinkyada makes a variety of pasta that is even good in pasta salads. Mrs. Leepers makes a great chicken alfredo mix which can be ready in 15 minutes. We made this for school too. Glutino makes the best bagels(found in health food stores). They also have a good breakfast bar in apple, blueberry and chocolate. Enjoy life makes a caramel apple breakfast bar that we like too. Believe me, it does get easier.....good luck...I hope he will like some of these sugestions

[ALONEINIDAHO/]

kristy how can I get you donut hole recipe? thanks carey

[cebel]