Banana Cream Pie

Arguably the hardest meal for anyone who is gluten free is dessert. Imagine sitting around a table with your family; you see home-cooked brownies, cookies, pastries, donuts, cakes, pies…and you can’t eat a single thing. But–fear not!–your aunt swoops in with some store bought gluten-free cookies, and you can’t wait to sink your teeth into chocolate chip cookie goodness, so you take a bite and taste…cardboard. You remove the “cookie” from your mouth, squint your eyes, and try to figure out how someone made a piece of cardboard look just like your favorite dessert. Soon, reality begins to set in; you realize that you are stuck with a mediocre dessert (at best), but to make your aunt happy, you choke it down with some milk and a smile.

Odds are, if you are gluten free, this has happened to you. Even in the brief time that I was gluten free, I was served multiple variations of cardboard that were incorrectly labeled as desserts. So, until companies correct their labels, gluten free desserts may be best prepared at home. To get you started, here’s a recipe I found in the New York Times for a gluten free banana cream pie (YUM!!) that will be ready for you to eat in under two hours. Say goodbye to cardboard, and hello to deliciousness!

Kids’ Korner

The epitome of childhood is the yummy food that we all know and love.  As a kid, I was one to eat endless amounts of pancakes, pasta, and cookies…who wouldn’t?!  So as a gluten-free child, you may think there are set backs.  Especially to those parents who love to cook with their children, it is important to understand what a gluten-free child can and cannot eat.

The National Foundation for Celiac Awareness offers a helpfulpage on their website titled “Kids Central,” where a reader will find all things gluten free that will please any and all children who live with this intolerance.  The best part about this site is that it offers the option of either kids or parents, allowing anybody on the page to find just what they are looking for.  

For the kids, there are multiple places to find information about celiac and gluten-free in fun and interactive ways, including games and fundraisers.  For parents, there is helpful information that is well suited for the care taker of anybody with a gluten intolerance.  Along with this are gluten free recipes that a parent can try out with their child, allowing any kid to have the experience of homemade meals and baking with their parent, no matter what they can and cannot eat.

As a child with such food restrictions, I would surely find this website comforting.  It offers parents and kids to see that they truly are not alone, and that a whole community of people is willing to help in finding all sorts of fun things to do athome with celiac needs in mind.

To learn more visit this link, http://www.celiaccentral.org/kids/

Feel free to check out the rest of the website as well for plenty of more information about celiac disease, recipes, outlets, and more!