ExtraDAN: GFCF food

[Guest guest]

Several presenters said doing the GFCF diet was a first step for

everyone. At least try eliminating casein for 3 weeks, and gluten for

3 months, and look for improvement. The Gfcfdiet.com Group had a

booth and I got a change to look at the Starter Pack which includes a

lot of information on the diet, 3 week menu, shopping lists and other

stuff. It certainly would have helped me when I attempted it. My

opinion is that it is well worth the money. You can see a list of the

contents at their site www.gfcfdiet.com. The regular list moderators

Judy deHart and Cara were not able to make it and so some of

the California GFCF group were at the booth. Even though they were

there at the last minute, they were very helpful and gave good

guidance to those considering the diet, new to the diet, and on the

diet asking about questionable foods (okay, I admit I was

eavesdropping). I didn't hear any pushyness or things suggesting the

parents " just weren't doing it right. " That line always bugs me. They

also had a new Cookbook and a Parents/Professional Resource booklet,

among other things. Karyn Seroussi was with the ANDI booth right next

to them. The ANDI booth had examples of their newsletter and

explained about the organization. http://www.autismndi.com/ They were

not hiding the fact it is very difficult but said there were many

resources for assistance. There is also a program where you can find

people in your local area to help you on the GFCF diet.

Ms. Roben's booth was giving out gummi samples and goodie bags. The

gummi's were intensely fruity...really fruity. They do have artifical

colors so that is out for us, but the taste was good. There were

sample's of Darifree vanilla and chocolate drink. Definitely better

than most soy and rice drinks (except Almond Breeze Chocolate, we

like that). The bag has a sample of the gummi's, gorilla munch

cereal, a 100% fruit strip chewy (which had no artificials and was

very good and fruity), pretzels and a couple other things I just

can't remember. www.missroben.com

For the next two booths, let me preface this by saying in general I

do not like GF baked goods. Out of about 80 GFCF foods I have tried,

I can list all of the ones I like on one hand, so I am not the best

judge on this, and please get other opinions. This may be helpful if

you have a very picky child. Ener-G Foods makes GFCF baked goods and

other things. They had samples of two new breads, a raisin bread and

a 6-grain bread, and vanilla cookies (when I passed by). I didn't

like any of it because it had a slimy, gritty aftertaste that is

characteristic of many GF breads. BUT, if you are looking for a GF

raisin bread (with golden raisins) or a new flavor of bread, please

do look into these. They are two new varieties. In health food stores

and www.ener-g.com.

Jay Bigam at Kinnikinnick had a great job. He just handed out samples

of about 20 different things all day but wasn't taking orders. People

were always there. I REALLY DID LIKE the ginger snap cookies, and

another cookie there, as well as the three flavors of donuts.

Although I really don't like GF bread, their bread was the best I

have ever tasted. The hot dog buns were a good texture and

consistency for hot dogs (no aftertaste), and could be used for a

bunch of other things. That would be my choice for sandwich

bread...like a longer sub sandwich. That could go well in a kid's

lunch box. Kinnikinnick is all GF but only SOME is CF, so do check

your items carefully. I am thinking Jay only had GFCF there because

he knows of the GFCF diet. The stictly GFCF line is called Alta.

There are some yeast free, egg free and sugar free things too.

www.kinnikinnick.com. If for some reason I HAD to be exclusively GF,

I would just order from them and call it a day. Now, to count the GF

things I like, I will need at least two hands.

I did not get to the Glutino booth (sorry). I probably missed

something else - check the DAN list of exhibitors. www.glutino.com

Special Foods. www.specialfoods.com Talked to them a little...the

foods are very unique and expensive.

Before I left home, my husband and I were betting if the conference

would serve GFCF food or not. We bet not. We were right. Breakfast

was provided each day. Piles of wheat bagels with assorted cream

cheeses. Coffee with cream, whole milk, and skim milk. If any of the

other meals were GFCF I had a touch time telling. I joked with the

GFCF food vendors that at least the conference organizers could have

let them put out a table of GFCF bagels with a sign " provided by... "

I said this was a conference that was promoting the GFCF diet as a

first and important step. Both Ener-G Foods and Kinnikinnick said

their companies would have donated food for FREE! Any amount... for

FREE. Since some of the parents are on the diet with their kids or

for themselves, they were asking where they could get something to

eat. I was happy with the selection but did find it ironic. This may

be something to mention to the DAN folks if you are interested in

having some GFCF selections next time.

The conference does take a ton of work and it did go quite smoothly

and was FULL of information. They did a good job. IMO.