Allergaroo product review

So first of all, let me just say that I am SOOOO glad that our Winn Dixie now has a Gluten Free section. That's freakin' FANTASTIC!!! I can now just go down the street to get a good bit of the stuff that we need for our son and not have to go all the way to the health food store for anything other than Rice Chex and DeBoles rice pastas... we actually have a nice selection of crackers, snacks, cereal bars, flour, and other things they don't even HAVE at our local health food stores (b/c as I have mentioned before, our city apparently does not need a Whole Foods... HA)... among those are the Allergaroo products. Our store has 3 varieties and all of them are Gluten, Soy, and Milk free as well as being free of the top 8 allergens!!! AWESOME.. but how do they taste? Well, they were developed by a mom of a child with a wide array of allergies that was searching for products that she could easily buy for her child that DON'T take forever to make and you don't have to have specially shipped. Let me just say, she hit a HOME RUN with these products. My son went nuts over them, and I felt GOOD giving it to him. The ingredients are simple, non GMO veggies and chicken mixed in instead of red meats. We got him the Chili Mac for his first one and while they are expensive for such a small portion ($3.49 a pop at Winn Dixie), they are very good. We won't be buying them on a regular basis b/c lets face it, that's just not in the budget right now.. but these will be a good alternative when we need something quick that's not a drive-thru salad.

Check them out: http://www.allergaroo.com/

they for sure got a thumbs up from us!!!

vegan/ gluten and casein free ranch dressing!

My son has been SO disappointed to not have ranch dressing.. like.. ever.. so I did a little searching and found a recipe!!! YEA!!!!

1 cup vegan mayonnaise (if you eat eggs, you don't have to make this vegan.. but it can still be gluten and casien free with regular mayo like the light mayo that I use for him)
1/4 cup soy milk
1 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp black pepper
2 tsp fresh chopped parsley
1 tbsp cider vinegar
1/2 tsp fresh chopped dill or 1/4 tsp dried

Adventures in Gluten free cooking: Shephard's Pie success!

Yum yum! We LOVE some Shephard's Pie in this house! So, it was time to make some that everyone could enjoy. It turned out SO good there was none left!

5 medium potatoes
Smart Balance Light or other gluten free vegan butter
Rice milk (or whatever gluten and casien free milk you prefer)
1.5lbs LEAN ground beef or turkey
1/2 cup cut up carrots
1 medium onion
1/2 cup partially frozen green peas
2 tbsp vegan shortening
1 can beef broth (gluten free!!!)
gluten free all purpose flour
salt and pepper


Peel and cut up potatoes. Place in large pot and cover with water. Set on medium high heat to boil until soft.

While the potatoes cook, place ground meat in pan to cook and cook until brown. Preheat oven to broil.

Place cut up carrots in pot of salted water and boil until soft. Same with onions.

When meat is done and veggies are cooked, place in casserole dish and mix together. Mix in partially frozen peas.

In new pot melt shortening over medium low heat. Add flour a scoop at a time until it makes a thick paste like roux. Slowly stir in can of broth and stir until boiling. By this time it should be thickened. When finished, pour over meat and veggie mixture. Sprinkle the top with salt and pepper.

Drain potatoes and mash. Stir in milk and butter until desired consistency (I used about 3 tbsp butter and about 1/2 cup of milk, but we like ours creamy). Once potatoes are mashed up and ready, spoon over meat, veggies, and gravy mixture.

Place pan in oven to broil. Cook for about 15 minutes or until hot through and tips of potatoes are browned. Remove from oven, scoop in bowls, and enjoy!

Gluten Free Art Supplies (copied from another blog)

Chalk, Crayons, Markers, and Pencils

Crayola (all products gluten free other than Crayola Dough)

Crayola Crayons (all kinds)
Crayola Anti-dust Chalk Sticks
Crayola Erasable Colored Pencils
Crayola Fabric Markers
Crayola Markers (all kinds)
Crayola Pencils (all kinds)
Crayola Pip-Squeaks
Crayola Pip-Squeaks Skinnies Markers
Crayola Washable Markers (all kinds)

Prang (all pencils, crayons)

RoseArt
RoseArt Crayons (all kinds)
RoseArt Chalk
RoseArt Markers (all kinds)
Sanford / Mr. Sketch Scented Markers
Sanford / Mr. Sketch Watercolor Markers

Dough and Modeling Clay:
Colorations Wheat & Gluten-Free Dough (Discount School Supply)
Crayola Model Magic (clay – not the dough!)
Prang
Silly PuttyNote: Play Doh, Crayola, RoseArt Fun Dough, Ross and Amoco Super Dough are NOT gluten free! RoseArt modeling clay is NOT gluten free.

Glue and Paste
Crayola Glitter Glue
Elmer all products other than Finger Paint are gluten free.
Ross all products other than Finger Paint are gluten free.
Ross Glitter GlueRoss White Glue
Ross Glue SticksRoss School Glue
Blick's Mix Instant Papier Maché
Note: Avoid traditional paste as it has wheat/gluten.

Grains and Pasta for Art & Sensory
Beans – kidney, navy, white, etc.
Lentils
Peas, black-eyed peas
Sunflower Seeds
Rice, white or brown
Note: Avoid oats, barley, rye, wheat berries, or using bird seed.
Corn
Pasta (elbows, etc.), DeBola, OrgraNRice Pasta (white and brown), Tinkyada, OrgraNN
ote: Pretty much all pasta that is not specifically rice, corn, or other non-gluten grain will contain wheat flour and not be safe.

Paint:
Crayola all paints including finger paint are gluten free.
Dick Blick Tempera
Lakeshore Liquid Tempera and Washable Finger PaintsPalmer Paint Products (all paints)
Palmer Nature' Hues
Palmer Liquid Tempera (contains corn starch)
Palmer Washable Liquid Tempura
Palmer Face PaintPalmer Glitter Paint
Prang (all paints)
Prism
Brand Acrylic Glow in the DarkPrism Regular Acrylics
Prism Model PaintsPrism Pearls
Prismatone Tempera
Ross (all other than finger paints)
Sargent Art Paints
Note: Elmer's and Ross finger paints is NOT gluten free.

Sands:
Delta Sand (Discount School Supply)
Moon Sand

Soaps & Personal Care Items:
Band-Aid Bandages (all kinds, including character, clear, flexible, etc)
Cascade Dishwasher Soap
Gluten-Free Savonnerie (all)
Purell hand sanitizerSoftsoap (all kinds)

Stickers:
RoseArt
Sandylion brand is gluten free
Smile Makers brand (Staples and Smile Makers online)

Tape:
3M Brand (tapes/office products do not contain gluten, nor casein)
Post-It Notes
Scotch Magic Tape

In general, any art or office supplies that have adhesive should be considered to contain gluten unless one finds out otherwise from the company, so no licking envelopes, no stickers adhered skin unless they are on the list above, etc. Always err on the side of caution.
For those concerned about soy exposure, Prang and Dixon/Ticonderoga both have soy crayons that are labeled as such. Christel King has passed along that all the Color Wonder products, all the Crayola colored pencils, the washable markers, all Palmer products, the oil paints, contain soy.

http://mainely-musings.blogspot.com/2008/05/gluten-free-school-supplies.html

Adventures in Gluten Free Cooking... Gluten free/Casein free Spaghetti and Meatballs!

My kids LOVE spaghetti and meatballs. I usually avoid making meatballs and just do meat sauce, but they were insistant that we needed meatBALLS this time and nothing else would work. So, I made some meatballs... and much to my surprise, they were good! I did do them kinda the "easy" way but they were so yummy and even my husband liked them. Here is what I did:

-1lb lean groud beef or turkey
-1/2 cup gluten free bread crumbs of some kind (this time I used some broken rice bread pieces that I had saved, toasted them, and ground them in the food processor.. turned out perfect!!! I've also used brown rice cereal done the same way... keep in mind that Rice Krispies are NOT gluten free!!!)
-2 tbsp gluten free ketchup (like Anne's Organic)
-2 tsp garlic powder
-1 large egg
-1/2 medium onion, chopped (food processor would be great)
- 1 tbsp italian seasoning mix
- salt to taste
- 1 tsp basalmic vinegar
- red pepper flakes to taste for a little extra kick (optional!)
- some olive oil for the hands

First I preheated the oven to 350. Then I lined the cookie sheet with wax paper.

mix all ingredients together in a big bowl :-) Don't over mix though... just so everything is mixed together.

Roll into balls a little smaller than a golf ball. Place on cookie sheet to bake. They will take about 20 minutes to cook.. longer for larger balls.


While those are cooking, I put some rice spaghetti noodles on to cook.

For sauce, I got a large can of tomato sauce, a medium sized can of Italian stewed tomatoes, and a small can of tomato paste. I mixed all of those together, chopped up the other half of the onion I had used earlier, and put it in the sauce to boil. Seasoned with garlic, italian seasoning, pepper, salt, and bay leaves and left it on to cook until everything else was ready.

My kids all gobbled it down.. even the little one and she's picky! :-) And I loved it too.

Adventures in Gluten Free cooking: first attempt at cupcakes

Okay, I never claimed to be good at baking. In fact, I have long known that I suck.. but this time it was not even the baking part that got me. Actually, the cake part turned out pretty darn good if I do say so myself. They even tasted pretty good. I got the Glutino Decedant Chocolate Cake mix... and I did it right! Go me! But then I attempted frosting. Oh, the frosting. I bought Cherrybrook Farms and it looked easy enough. Just a simple mix. Even my non baking self can figure out a MIX, right? HA! First of all, no where in my area sells vegan sticks of butter. NO WHERE. I can get TUBS anywhere.. but NO sticks. Well, I figured there was really no difference, so what the heck. HAHAHAHAHA. I ended up with LIQUID icing. Um, I don't think that is going to work. So, we set out after our supper of gluten free spaghetti with ground turkey meat sauce to go to the local health food store looking for some premade icing. Can't screw it up if someone else made it! Welllllll, the didn't carry it. The Whole Foods Market in my MOM's town has it, but that's an hour away and the party is tomorrow. So, I find this stuff called Fast and Fresh. It's Dairy free and Gluten free icing! YEA! just pop it in the microwave and that's it!!! I can do that!! Go me!

So I get home and follow the directions. I pull it out of the microwave and... uhoh.. it's like a liquid. This can't be good. So I follow the directions and pour (yes, I said pour) it on the cupcakes. Um, it went right down the sides and formed a thin layer on the top of the cupcakes. I now have the ugliest cupcakes ever with liquid icing on top that dried later. Cute. Next time, I'll get the premade kind from Cherrybrook Farm. I don't bake.

Adventures in Gluten Free Cooking... fried chicken

Yeh, I'm a southern girl at the core. I hesitate to admit it and I think my husband is going to pass out if he reads that, but I was raised by southern parents with southern values and southern food. When we first decided to go gluten and casein free for our son, while my husband's first concern was what to do about pizza, mine was fried chicken.. LOL. Ironic considering that we are healthy eaters and don't even cook much fried food, but every once in a while some friend chicken just needs to be made, ya know? So, I searched a little on the web for recipes and didn't like any of them... so I said "forget it, I've known how to cook my own for a long time.. I can figure this out." I started thinking about how I could do it. I had a bag of Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free All Purpose Flour. Perfect. I had Rice Milk. That will work b/c I didn't really want to do eggs even though we tolerate them just fine. And I have a cabinet full of spices (McCormick!). Heck yeh, we can do this!!! So here is what I did:

5 boneless chicken breasts (I'm sure you can use bone in or thighs or whatever, but we prefer breast)
2 cup All Purpose Flour
2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp pepper
2 tsp cajun seasoning
1 tsp salt
1 cup rice milk
Olive oil (EVOO or Light)

I took the thawed chicken and soaked it in the rice milk. I should have soaked it longer, so I'd recommend soaking it in the rice milk for at least an hour in the fridge.

1 hr later or whenever you come back, Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Mix spices into flour in a medium sized bowl.

Get a large fry pan and fill to about 1/2- 1 in of olive oil and place over medium high heat.

When you take the chicken out, dredge it in the flour mixture and place into pan to fry, turning somewhat frequently as the color changes. Once the flour mixture starts to brown, take chicken out and place in baking dish. Bake chicken at 450 for about 18 minutes or until done all through (depending on how long you left it in the fry pan).

Serve quickly with yummy sides :-). We did sweet potato fries and green beans. YUMMO!!! All the kids gobbled up their dinner and even my husband was impressed with my fine culinary skills. Yeh, I rock. It didn't look pretty so I didn't take pics, but next time I'll know more what I'm doing and maybe I can make it look as good as it tasted.. lol.

Trio bars rock

Okay, so since Nutrigrain bars have been out, we've been needing a replacement for a quick snack we can carry with us that he would enjoy like that. Well, I heard something about the Trio bars avaliable at Costco, so we looked for them and bought a box. I figured if my son didn't like them, my husband would eat them. He'll eat anything.

Right on the box it says Gluten free, Casein free.. hey! How easy is that!!! I love that :-) So, we eagerly opened them the next day at snack time. My son loved them.. as did my 2 year old. Every bar contains nuts, seeds, and fruit, so I feel good about giving them to them. It came in a variety pack that had Cranberry, Strawberry, Blueberry, and Tropical flavor. This is the ingredients in the Cranberry: Cashew, Almonds, Pistachios, Cranberries, Sesame Seeds, Sunflower Seeds, Pumpkin Seeds, Dates, Raisins, Rice Malt, Natural Flavors, Evaporated Cane Juice and Sea Salt. (*Natural Flavors - Dextrose, Corn Starch, Water, Silicon Dioxide (Anti-Caking Agent))

They are a little pricey.. at Costco they are about $16 and some change.. but they are so worth it. I just have to quit eating them as I'm mildly allergic to Almonds, but these bars taste SO good.. LOL.

http://www.mrsmays.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=26

Angel Food Ministries has a Top 8 Allergen free box!

Angel Food Ministries is a GREAT ministry that helps families stay fed at affordable prices. The food they offer is good quality and good amounts. We have in the past had to rely on our Angel Food boxes to get through to the next month. It's not income based, it's for anyone that needs it no matter what the reason. Now, with us being GF/CF, our food bill has not gone up that much, but finding foods and figuring out what to cook has become more challenging. A great option for a family like us would be the Top 8 Allergen free box from Angel Food. It's $40 and you get a nice variety. Every month is different but August's allergen free box will have the following:

Processed to eliminate the eight top serious allergens: Peanuts, Soybeans, Milk, Eggs, Fish, Crustacea, Tree Nuts and Gluten (wheat, rye and barley). Great for children and adults!

Allergen Free Frozen Food Products
2 lb. Breaded Chicken Drumsticks
1 lb. Breaded Chicken Tenders
1 lb. Breaded Chicken Nuggets
1 lb. Breaded Cube Steak

Battered with water, white rice, brown rice, modified tapioca starch, flax seed, sugar, salt, spices, dehydrated garlic, spice extractives and oleoresin paprika.

Breaded with white rice, brown rice, modified tapioca starch, flax seed, sugar, dextrose, salt, spices, dehydrated garlic, spice extractives and oleoresin paprika.

Breading is pre-browned in Canola oil.

Allergen Free Dry Mix Products

1 lb. Pancake/Waffle Mix
1 lb. Blueberry Muffin Mix
1 lb. Pizza Crust/Flat Bread Mix
1 lb. Breading Mix
8 oz. White Gravy Mix

And, with our family loving fruit like it does, this $22 add on box for next month would be awesome:

3 lb. Premium Fresh Idaho Baking Potatoes
2 lb. Premium New Crop Large-Medium Yellow Onions
1 head Premium Fresh California Sleeve Romaine Lettuce
1 bag Fresh Gourmet Caesar Salad Croutons (5 oz.)
1 pint Premium Fresh Vine-Ripened Grape Tomatoes
1 head Premium Fresh Green Cabbage
1 lb. Premium Sweet Cello-Pack Carrots
6 Premium Tree-Ripened Peaches
1 lb. Premium Fresh California White Seedless Grapes
1 Premium Fresh California Vine-Ripened Honeydew Melon
1 Premium Fresh California Vine-Ripened Cantaloupe
4 Premium California Valencia Oranges
4 Premium California Large Juicy Lemons


What a deal!!!! go here to find your local church that participates: http://www.angelfoodministries.com

Winning a battle, but there is still a war going on

Every day we have a new experience, new problems, new joys, new accomplishments. Our son has come a good ways since beginning this new diet. We've seen him improve in ways we never would have imagined, like he is better able to follow directions and mind and also his stomach problems are seemingly gone. We used to have a lot of incidents of him throwing up in his bed in the middle of the night with no warning and no apparent reason. He wasn't ill, he just would throw up. I have always believed his stomach problems were related to dairy, but have always met with resistance when I've tried to talk to others about it. Now that we have completely eliminated casein/dairy/milk, his stomach pain and throwing up have completely stopped and he's better able to go potty as well. See, sometimes mother DOES know best what is wrong with her child.. lol.

Our son has been showing a declining short term memory and today I became more concerned than I had been before. Within a 10 minute car ride to YMCA camp this morning, he completely forgot an entire conversation that we had just had not seconds before he re-asked me a question. This of course concerns me as it would any mother. I started researching and found that a common reason for this could be low self-esteem or also poor vision or hearing. Either of the first two could be part of it with him. Could also be some of his medications, I'm not sure... but he does have low self esteem and it's something we've been trying to work at. We found that his Love Language is Words of Affirmation, so the more you tell him he is a good boy, that he did something right, or that you love him, the more loved he feels. I think the biggest problem with his self esteem is his social skills. He struggles so much with making friends and finds it all but impossible to make friends with boys his own age. He has 2 children that he can really claim as friends, and they are both girls.. which is fine, but it makes it harder to get the kids together since the parents may be hesitent to send their daughter to play with a boy. He is also below his age in emotional maturity and verbal ability, so that complicates things and the boys his age don't understand him at this point. Every day is a challenge, but we'll get through it. It's hard as his mom to sit and watch him struggle and to know how cruel kids can be to him and how much he has been hurt, but unfortunately he does have to learn some of it himself and I can't be with him 24 hours a day so he'll have to learn to do it without mommy :-(

Regardless, though, he's so bright and a good boy. He tries so hard to please. I can see him being one of those boys in high school that is very good in class and then goes on to be a wealthy business owner, computer whatever, doctor, or scientist. He will be the one taking care of me and his daddy when we get old.. lol.

It's not only about choosing your weapon, it's also about picking what battles to fight

By all accounts, I'm a pretty strict mom. Loving, but strict. I expect my kids to mind and behave. I don't like seeing out of control kids in public and always refused to let my child (any of the three!) be one of those kids. But, the older they get and the older I get (not that I'm getting old.. lol.. I'm holding steady at 27!) the more I realize that it's not always just about discipline... sometimes it's about learning to let go. I've come to understand more that my child cannot always control his behaviors and it's okay for people to give me the evil eye.. heck, I can give it right back. My son looks totally normal and I know people don't understand that he in fact does have some issues that cause his behavior to not be easy for him to control. Because of that, there are some battles that are not worth fighting. Sometimes being strict on things only makes the situations worse, not better, and has the opposite of the desired effect. I have to stop myself now before forcing an issue and ask myself "Is this really worth the battle? Is this important enough to follow through?" Sometimes it is, sometimes it isn't.

I do NOT, however, excuse bad behavior because of his issues. I understand the behaviors and am learning what he can and cannot control, but that doesn't excuse every bad behavior. I still have and will always have high expectations of him. I think very highly of my son and see that he can do great things and grow to be a great man. I refuse to expect less of him because it's shortchanging him. He's smart and handsome. If I expect less and lower the bar, he won't reach his full potential. It's all a balancing act.. what's worth it and what isn't.

Every single situation is different. Sometimes the best thing to do is not cause the battle, but find a way around it to reach the same goal without causing a huge tantrum... uhhhhh... what was that called? Ah yes, COMPROMISE! Yes, I compromise with my child. It's an important skill for a child to learn anyways because we all know that compromise is SO important for a good and strong marriage and will benefit him in his adulthood in all relationships. Yeh, he needs to learn to mind and that he does sometimes have to realize that other people have authority over him... including his parents!

A Gluten Free/Casein Free 4th of July!

My husband and I are both very patriotic. He was a Navy man, and several members of my family are/were military.... so of course we love to enjoy our 4th of July! Now that our son is on the GF/CF diet, we had to come up with a new menu for dinner... also we are eating healthier too anyways, so it had to fit in our diet as well. Solution? Turkey burgers on Millet buns with Tofutti "cheese", Hebrew National all BEEF franks on Tapioca buns, and individual fruit salad cups! Can't beat that!!! :-) Following dinner, we went to catch a local minor league baseball game and stayed up late to watch fireworks after the game! Talk about a fun filled evening! (always make sure to use GF/CF CONDIMENTS as well! Annie's organic ketchup is a good choice and Fench's mustard! We're also looking into vegan mayo for him)

Gluten free/ casein free rice krispy treats!

We made healthy Rice krispy treats last night with all 3 kids using gluten free/casein free ingredients and TA-DAAAA! I was mommy of the year!the recipe was surprisingly simple:

3 tsp GF/CF butter (I used Smart Balance with Olive Oil, but it does contain fish oil if you happen to be vegan.. so you can find a vegan butter that would work)

2 cups Ricemellow (which is a whole tub)

6 cups puffed rice cereal (I used Arrowhead Mills b/c it only had one ingredient!)

1 tsp vanilla

melt the butter in a sauce pan. Add in Ricemellow and let warm. Stir in vanilla. Do not overheat the ricemellow or it tastes funny!!!Then I put the puffed rice in a big bowl and poured in the Ricemellow/butter mixture. then with MOIST hands (if they aren't moist, you'll end up with sticky puffed rice all over you!!!) mix it all together, then press into pan to cool.SUPER easy!

I read that you can add carob chips (like chocolate chips) to this to add more sweet... but we did not. They do NOT taste exactly like a gooey rice krispy treat, but they are a lighter taste and were very good. It's different to those of us that grew up on those sickeningly sweet treats, but they are good. A lot of the GF/CF stuff is like that.. good in it's own right. It's funny, though.. since we started eating healthier and since we started this diet for our son, I can taste every chemical and all the junk in the foods I used to eat.. like certain types of peanut butter that I used to just love now taste like chemicals to me as I've gotten so used to the natural peanut butter. It's all what you get used to I suppose. One day at a time, though, we're making the change, and it's definately for the better!!!

What day is this?

I guess you could say we aren't even really to day one yet of dealing with our son. We've known for a long time that he was different. We've known since he was three that something wasn't quite right, but because of other issues going on with the family dynamic, it was usually attributed to that for him.



At three years old his preschool teacher warned me that she was concerned for the child I was pregnant with.. that she feard my older son might hurt him. She suggested we have him tested for Autism. Since that day it's always been in the back of my mind. The signs fit. He had most all the signs of Aspergers. Family members have voiced concern, friends have pointed out odd things he does or his speech.. it's always been there. We've taken him to different pediatricians, psychologists, psychiatrists, and therapists. Since that day when that preschool teacher said the word Autism, though, it's always been in the back of my mind. As a mother, it's a nightmare when you're left wondering why your child is different and watching him struggle to make friends, missing social cues, not understanding consequences, and so on. It's confusing to know that your child is so incredibly intelligent and to see such beautiful things in him, but at the same time seeing how lonely and dark his little world can be when it should be bright and happy.

Well, through it all, we've faught for him and looked for ways to help him. When his psychologist finally said the word "Autism" I about jumped for joy, which was a really odd reaction. It's not that I wanted to hear that about my son. I certainly was not happy about it... I was just so incredibly relieved to have someone finally see what I had been seeing for so long. I actually went home and felt all the air leave my body and just sunk into the couch and cuddled with my laptop for a while to escape the reality of what had just happened. Then, after a little while, I started researching again. I started talking to my friends and making connections with people that knew what I was going through.. what we were all going through.. and could help me start the journey. I was guided by a friend of a friend (who has now become my friend in turn) to Jenny McCarthy's site. Okay, I must admit, I am a HUGE fan of Jenny McCarthy. While I was on bedrest with my middle child, I was given a copy of Belly Laughs and I just devoured it. I of course remembered her from her MTV days and was perplexed by the idea of her writing a book about pregnancy.. but it was a great read and kept me laughing through my terribly difficult and trying pregnancy and the premature birth of my son... soon after which I was given Baby Laughs. (Yeh, my family knows me.. laughter is what keeps me going!!!). I read Life Laughs almost as soon as it was released and eventually picked up Mother Warriors just because she wrote it, but never read it. Anyways, when I started reading the site http://www.generationrescue.org/, I felt this calm come over me. I had a direction.

Within a day, I had also found the Talk About Curing Autism site as well and dug my Mother Warriors book out of storage. It was time to make a change for my son. I was willing to try almost anything. Medicating him was breaking my heart, but I'm also still terrified to stop completely. Regardless, we decided to give the Gluten free/Casein free diet a chance. Our son had always had problems with an upset tummy, so this could only help. He was already on limited dairy, it couldn't be too much more work to cut it out completely, right? HAHAHA.. I had NO clue what all had gluten and casein in it!!! Really, it wasn't that hard though.. we just had to rethink our way of buying and cooking. We have found alternatives to almost everything that our son likes... some more expensive of course, but we're doing a lot of fresh, whole foods as well and that really helps keep cost down. We've been on the diet about a week or two now.. I can't even remember... but so far so good. We're learning as we go and we're getting through it as a family. We're already seeing a change in his attitude and he's starting to follow directions better. He also came to me and told me his tummy didn't hurt anymore. That right there makes it all worth it. This is by no means easy on him... it's hard to tell a 8 year old he can't have chocolate chip cookies like he always had before, but we're learning and finding alternatives!