Gluten Free Baby Edition Pt. 1

Since I had a baby, many have been asking me what I plan to do about having her tested for celiac or if I've been feeding her gluten, etc...

This hasn't been an easy decision for me or my husband, so we're taking things slow, doing research, talking with our (experienced with CD) pediatrician, and being cautious.  I'm really not crazy about wheat anyways and all of the refined unhealthy forms that it comes in, so the urgency to introduce it is really not there.

Regardless of that, I had a tough time finding snacks for my daughter that didn't have added salt or sugar or empty fillers like rice and corn.  I know to a lot of parents these are not a big deal, but I really do think about everything I put into her body and whether or not it will provide nutritional benefit or not. I also consider the fact that nutritional excellence has a huge impact for children, and childhood is an important time for growth.  Yet so much of our food industry (like school lunches) is working against them, so the more I can do as a parent now, the better off they will be in being armed against what's out there when they go off to school and are bombarded by what is accepted as "kid food".

One big influence for me in considering these issues has been the book by Dr. Joel Fuhrman: Disease-Proof Your Child: Feeding Kids Right. I actually read this book long before I had my own, because I took a lot from it myself and ways to change my diet (before I went gluten free).  I am not a total fuhrmanite and don't follow his diet completely, but there is a lot of amazing advice, recipes, and guidelines for ways to help your entire family to enjoy good, healthy food without making it boring.

So- I totally digressed.  I was talking about snack food. I couldn't find anything. So I made some quick and easy snacks that I'll be sharing here and there. My daughter loves them and as a mom with very little time these days, I can throw something together for her quite easily.


My first project was a teething biscuit. I had already introduced gf oats and quinoa to my daughter, so I made biscuits out of each of those.  You can fiddle with the recipe to make different shapes, etc. These were actually kind of small, so shaping them as bars might be helpful as well. Water content will also change cooking time and softness so add more "flour" as needed.  These are mostly just recommendations for what you can do, so good luck! :)

Quinoa Baby Biscuits

1/4 cup Quinoa Flour
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/8 cup pureed organic pear (I used some that I had made for baby food)
1/8 cup water
**1tsp coconut oil (see note)


GF Oats Baby Biscuits

1/4 cup certified GF Rolled Oats (blended into flour) or you can use preground Oat Flour
1/8 cup pureed organic pear
1/4 cup water
1/4 tsp cinnamon
**1 tsp coconut oil (see note)


Blend ingredients and put into mini muffin tray.  Bake at 375 degrees for approximately 15 minutes.  

*Note, the longer these stay outside the soggier they become, so don't make too many at once!

**Now that my daughter is older, I add in a bit of coconut oil to keep them from sticking to the pan

 

 

Packed up and ready to go! I love these little snack cups from Green Sprouts. You can order them here:

I also love these cups:

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