Gluten Free Casein Free Almond Milk Vanilla Pudding

Since going gluten/casein free there have been a lot of snacks that Alec misses.  Most of them I've been able to recreate or buy, but there are two that I haven't been able to figured out.  Those would be cheese crackers, like goldfish or cheese-its, and vanilla pudding (we're not fans of the soy pudding and the almond milk pudding we find is only chocolate...which he won't eat).  The crackers pose a bigger problem because how am I suppose to make a delicious cheesy cracker with out using cheese?!  I have yet to find a cheese substitute that is delicious!  I love cheese and could eat it all day long, but the cheese substitutes are OK at best.  Nothing I would indulge in.  With that being said, I will try to make a gluten/casein free vanilla pudding first!  Besides making it GFCF I also want to reduce the amount of sugar I use in this recipe by substituting pure stevia extract.  We're treating him for yeast, and yeast loves sugar, so I've been trying to reduce his sugar intake.  Crossing my fingers that my very picky eater approves of this non-dairy version!  He loves his coconut milk yogurt, but not the coconut or almond milk ice cream...who understands!

Vanilla Almond Milk Pudding

1/2 tsp stevia extract
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup corn starch
2 1/2 cup sweetened vanilla almond milk
4 large egg yolks
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1.  In a small dish combine cornstarch with 4 tablespoons of almond milk.  Mix until dissolved.  

2.  In a small saucepan combine cornstarch mixture, stevia, salt, remaining almond milk and eggs.  Whisk until combined

3.  Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens and bubbles just begin to form on the surface.

4.  Whisking constantly, turn down heat to low and cook for about 1 minute more

5.  Pour the mixture through a fine sieve.  Mix in the vanilla extract. 

6.  Place plastic wrap directly on the surface and chill for 2 hours before serving.

****Success!!! He gobbled it up and asked for seconds! It's really good :)

Cashew and Coconut Ice Cream

Alec's DAN! doctor wants us to increase medium chain fatty acids in his diet, but it's been so hard because he's such a picky eater.  There's only so many muffins cooked with coconut oil that I can give him and I don't think that's getting enough of it in him.  This is important for improving his brains function and can also help to open his appetite when it comes to trying new food.   In my latest attempt to get him to eat coconut oil I made a cashew and coconut oil ice cream.  He loves vanilla ice cream and only vanilla ice cream, but since he's casein free he can no longer have it.  I have bought coconut milk ice cream, rice milk ice cream, and almond milk ice cream, but he hasn't liked any of them.  I don't know what makes me think he'll like my cashew/coconut oil concoction, but a mom can always dream, right? 

This recipe is adapted from here

Vanilla and Strawberry Cashew and Coconut Oil Ice cream

1/2 cup cashews soaked overnight (discard liquid)
1/2 cup of unrefined virgin coconut oil
2 tbs raw honey
1/4 tsp gluten free vanilla extract
5 frozen strawberries
about 1/4 cup almond milk ( I only added this so my blender would blend the other ingredients and have a smooth consistency.  If you have an awesome blender you might not need this)

Add all ingredients in your blender and blend until smooth.  If you have a really awesome blender, like a Vitamix (I really want one!), then you're done.  If you have a not so awesome blender, like me, then I'd continue to the next step.

-Strain the cream through a fine mesh strainer so that you're left with a smooth cream :)

I like to put my ice creams in little paper cups in the freezer.  They each have about 2 tbs, which should be a good serving of healthy fats for my kids!

In the beginning...there was gluten

Well, we are finally 100% GFCF (gluten free/ casein free)...it took us a looooonnng time.  I THOUGHT we were totally gluten free, but I didn't realize that all of our "little blips" were not so little.  It takes the body months to completely eliminate gluten, so each little blip would set us back a few months.  So I have never fully seen Alec without gluten running in his system.  Regardless, putting the blips aside, I have seen great progress regardless of our slip ups.  Pre-gluten free he was super hyper, very impulsive, it was difficult to talk to him because he was so "out of it and distracted".  His eye contact was poor and his language was significantly delayed.  Even though he had all of these behaviors he was still a  very sweet and affectionate boy, just not in control of his body.  Now, he wiggles instead of rolling around during circle time.  His eye contact is fleeting instead of none at all and his language has progressed so much.  Initially the switch to GFCF was difficult, but it was just a matter of finding the right products.  Once we did that it became very easy.  I found a substitute for all of his favorite foods.  I would say that my life savers on the GFCF diet have been Udi's white bread (fabulous), Bisquick's GF baking mix (use it to make pancakes, biscuits, chicken nuggets, sugar cookies and pizza crust), and ANYTHING from the brand kinnikinnick (their stuff is so awesome I sometimes doubt it's really GFCF).  Now that we've been on it so long it's become second nature.  The part that I struggled with the most was when we were out and about.   Trips to the mall, movies, birthday parties, etc.  Now what I do is that I always pack a meal and snacks just in case we're out longer than expected.  I pack a peanut butter sandwich when we go to birthday parties as well as a GFCF cupcake.   It helps that he's such a picky eater because he wouldn't have wanted the pizza served at most birthday parties anyways :)

GFCF Strawberry Muffins

Yummmmm!!  Organic strawberries were on sale yesterday... buy one get one free :) !  Bought my two pints, got home and realized WHY they were on sale.  We needed to eat them very quickly.  So, I decided to try out a new muffin recipe with them.  At first I thought they would be dense since my muffin pan felt like it weighed 100 lbs, but surprisingly they were fluffy, moist, and super delicious!!

Strawberry Breakfast Muffins

3 level cups All-Purpose Gluten-Free Baking Flour
(make sure your blend has baking powder, salt, and xanthan gum.  If not you will need to add 4tsp baking powder, 1tsp xanthan gum, 1tsp salt)
3/4 cup Organic Brown Sugar
1 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
3/4 cup Coconut Oil Unrefined 
2 large eggs 
1 1/2 cups strawberry slices
3 tbs Organic Ground  Flaxseed

  -Preheat oven to 350
-Grease or line muffin pan
-Puree strawberries
-Blend flour mix and brown sugar
-Add all other ingredients and mix by hand just until blended
-Fill muffin pan to the very top
-Bake 35-40 minutes (oven times may vary)  

This is my homemade "magic bullet".  It's just a mason jar with the blade attachment from my blender.  Just don't overfill or put hot liquids.  Attach to your blender base and blend away!  It's small and easy to clean!