Books on Gluten Free and Allergy Free Cooking

Millions now suffer from food allergies. They are going gluten free, and giving up dairy, soy or eggs. If you suffer from gluten intolerance or food allergies, or someone in your family can't eat certain foods, how do you plan these special diets and still eat delicious meals? Here are some books that can help with allergy free cooking:

Allergen-Free Baker's Handbook by food writer Cybele Pascal includes egg and dairy free baking tips, plus recipes for tasty treats like brownies, chocolate chip cookies and pizza. Great if you need allergy free recipes for kids. My husband needs to follow a gluten free diet and he loves cookies and brownies so this book was a lifesaver for me.

More gluten free recipes from Celiac.com

Allergy-Free Desserts: Gluten-free, Dairy-free, Egg-free,Soy-free and Nut-free Delights by Elizabeth Gordon. Another recipe book loaded with luscious gluten free and allergy free dessert recipes. Also included is a section on how to use allergy and gluten free ingredients to create your own recipes or to substitute in another recipe.

The Gluten-Free Good Health Cookbook: The Delicious Way to Strengthen Your Immune System and Neutralize Inflammation is by authors Annalise G. Roberts and Claudia Pillow, PhD gives you a complete wheat free meal plan to help with chronic inflammation. Recipes for every meal, including 140 tasty wheat free recipes.

Other great gluten free and wheat free recipe books from Amazon.com

Gluten Free Every Day Cookbook: More than 100 Easy and Delicious Recipes from the Gluten-Free Chef

Wheat-Free, Gluten-Free Cookbook for Kids and Busy Adults, Second Edition

Gluten-Free Baking Classics

Cooking allergy free meals and baking allergy and gluten free goodies with these recipe books proves that an allergy free diet doesn't have to be boring and bland. If you or someone in your family suffers from gluten intolerance or food allergies, it's possible to eat tasty meals and treats just like everyone else.

For more healthy living tips, visit my website, Path2HealthyLiving.com

Best Gluten Free Bread

My husband went on a gluten free diet about six months ago and my quest for the best gluten free bread and other gluten free baking products was on. In looking at his diet, gluten free bread and noodles were the two main products I had to find. Buying a loaf of gluten free bread is expensive so I ruled that out in favor or using my own bread machine, which, honestly, I hadn't used in months.

My first step in a search for the best gluten free bread mix was my local supermarket. Krogers has a good sized health food section and gluten free products are starting to become more common. I tried several of the bread mixes to compare them but, at about $5.50 to over $6 per mix, they proved very costly to purchase. Many grocery stores, like Albertson's or Walmart, don't even carry gluten free bread mixes. After research, however, I did find a way to save money and still bake gluten free.

My favorite among the gluten free bread products turned out to be Pamela's Products Wheat Free and Gluten Free Bread Mix. The texture of gluten free breads is rather heavy but Pamela's had great taste, was easy to make and it was easy to slice for sandwiches. At the grocery store, Pamela's cost about $5.49, but that was on sale. I think the regular price was over $6 per mix.

Once I'd found favorite, I went over to Amazon.com to see what they had to offer and found I could save money by buying great gluten free bread mixes in packages of 6. Pamela's Wheat Free, Gluten Free Bread Mix was under $27 for 6, which turns out to cost about $4.42 per loaf. Since it's over $25, it also qualifies for free shipping.

If you use a lot of bread, you can also save another 15% by subscribing to autoship, which you can set to arrive each month, every other month, or even every 6 months. I found that we use about a loaf of bread a week, so I used the every 2 month option.

My second choice for best gluten free bread mix is made by Bob's Red Mill. On Amazon, this product is sold in packages of 4 and it works out to about 40 cents cheaper per loaf than Pamela's. For a change of pace, the Bob's Red Mill Whole Grain Gluten Free bread mix is really good but very heavy and it doesn't slice well for sandwiches. It is good though, served with soup or other meals.

Bread mixes made in a bread machine don't have preservatives and start molding within about 4 days. One secret I found to making my gluten free loaves last longer is that, when I take it out of the bread maker, I slice up about 1/3 of the loaf and freeze it. We can use up the other 2/3 loaf within the 4 days and then I can use what's in the freezer for the rest of the week.

Other great gluten free products by Pamela's that I've tried are:
Pamela's Ultimate Baking and Pancake Mix , sold in 64 oz packages on Amazon

Pamela's Products Cornbread & Muffin Mix , 12 Ounce Bags

Bob's Red Mill Gluten-Free Cornbread Mix, 20-Ounce Units

Bob's Red Mill All-Purpose Gluten-Free Baking Flour, 22-Ounce Packages You can use this gluten free flour as a substitute in just about any recipe calling for flour so you have the gluten free version of gravy, cookies or other foods. It is gluten free baking made easy.

Just because you have to follow a gluten free diet, there is no reason to suffer. These gluten free bread mixes and other gluten free products make life much easier and hassle free. And buying in bulk from Amazon is a one sure way to save money if you're shopping gluten free on a budget.