Redmill all purpose GF flour. If you need xanthum it will only be a small amount so buy a small container. When I make GF spinach balls xanthum gum is necessary. It binds things that gluten would do.

I've had good results with Pamela's products - they have many baking mixes.

they have a chart showing what ingredients each of their products contain ALL are gluten free:

Pamela's Allergen info

I use the 1 to 1 GF flour from Bob's Red Mill. You can use it interchangeably for any baked good recipe that calls for AP wheat flour. All the necessary add-ins like xanthum gum are already included. There are some good recipes on the bag (chocolate chip cookies, blueberry muffins) but I just substitute with my own family favorites. Lemon bars are the most requested items with my family - if I dont show up with gluten free lemon bars at any family gathering, I am in trouble :-)

I have celiac and use King Arthur’s gluten free flour. I do add xanthan or guar gum or Pamela's Not Xanthan Not Guar to help with the structure of baked goods. Many baked goods just don’t come out well. However, I do use my pre-celiac recipes for brownies and carrot cake successfully just substituting the flour and adding the xanthan or guar gum. Those two recipes don’t have any dairy ingredients.

America’s Test Kitchen has a good gluten free cookbook. The chocolate chip cookies are fairly good.

There are some brands of gluten free flour that already have the xanthan or guar mixed in.

Thank you all for the GF recommendations. It looks as if I'm going to need the xanthum or guar gum at the very least. I've found a tortilla recipe that sounds simple, and can be made ahead and stored in the fridge, so he could use it for a wrap for shredded meats and salads. It uses two of the flours I already have, and no xanthum. I also found a cooky recipe that uses coconut flour, and I plan to experiment with using peanut butter as the fat. I think I can get him started with those two recipes.

My DD lives in an area where the GF/vegan products are more easily obtainable, so I can have her look for the GF flour mixes.

This is just further advice for him regarding all these substitute flours. I likely have similar type issues and avoid gluten/wheat and minimize dairy.

My advice is for him to really get his gut healed before adding all these flours like tapioca, sorghum and other substitutes. They can cause the same symptoms as his original irritants and he won’t know what his symptoms are from.

To really figure out what bothers him, he should try one ingredient at a time to test sensitivity. I have figured out that tapioca and sorghum flours are bad for me and I avoid them as much as wheat.

As as far as baking, the one thing I can recommend are the new Tollhouse allergen free chocolate chips. My son who avoids dairy is thrilled to be able to eat chocolate chip cookies again. There is a GF/dairy free recipe on the back. As far as recipes, have him look up Paleo recipes/cookbooks. Paleo cooking is both gluten free and dairy free and also avoids foods that can cause leaky gut such as beans. It would be ideal for him.

He mentioned yesterday that since he has given up dairy, he hasn't had stomach pain, and since he's been eating rice, I'm thinking rice flour would be a safe choice. I will keep a list of ingredients when I make something for him, so if anything causes a problem we can narrow it down. Thank you for the warning.

Fortunately, he doesn't have an actual allergy to dairy products, so we won't need to be as diligent. My DD brought him several packets of vegan cheese, so if I can find a good pizza crust recipe, he can enjoy every young person's go to treat. (Who am I kidding? Pizza is one of my favorite things!)

Powdered xanthum is nasty. It does thicken sauces, but the texture is just ....."nasty". Red Mill Gluten free....even smells bad, tastes bad...I threw it out.

See......my friend was eating only gluten free....so I tried cooking for her.

OK....soooooooooooooooo......the only way I could make anything and get it "right" was NOT to modify ANYTHING. Use mashed cauliflower to make a pizza crust......because it tastes good ......"and" it happens to be gluten free. I like "pine nut" flour.....it's so tasty! and.....gluten free. Fresh fruits, vegetables, fish, chicken....that's really what we should all be eating....nothing added or artificial.

Sometimes, trying to make it too much like the real thing makes it worse. Vegan cheese is fine for a sandwich kind of thing, and even for mac and cheese, but not really pizza. Better to put the vegan cheese with some meat, a little mustard and mayo, and crunchy veg in a big leaf and make a rolled/wrap sandwich, then make fake fake fake pizza. Or make pizza flavor rice mac and almond cheeze.

One thing I've recently learned is that bad bacteria in the gut, as well as an overrun of systemic yeast, can actually make you crave pizza. Putting such things on a true starvation diet can make a person feel like he's starving even if he's getting plenty of good nutritious food. It's not for the wimpy. It's possible, however, that if this is what's causing the IBS, if he were willing to do it, go totally grain free for a few months, and not cheat, he might be able to go back to eating whatever he wants in the long run. Something to discuss with the doctor, if he's interested.

Not sure if your nephew likes pumpkin, but these two recipes are liked by everyone in my family:

Pumpkin Squares

Ingredients

• 1 egg or egg substitute
• ½ cup pumpkin puree
• ½ cup oil (any kind)
• 1/6 cup water (don’t stress over this measurement; just fill 1/3 measuring cup halfway full … you can empty or add water as necessary until you’re right at the halfway mark)
• ¾ cup granulated sugar (or coconut sugar or honey; if you use honey, omit water)
• ½ tsp salt
• 1 cup gluten-free flour mix
• ¼ tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp baking soda
• ¼ tsp each ground cloves, ground nutmeg, ground cinnamon (or ¾ tsp pumpkin pie spice)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350F degrees. Lightly grease 9 x 13 baking pan.
2. Beat egg and add other wet ingredients in a mixing bowl (at least medium-sized); mix well.
3. Add dry ingredients.
4. The batter will just cover the bottom of the pan. Sprinkle some cinnamon over the batter if you like.
5. Bake about 25 - 30 minutes. Squares will be thin and moist.
6. Let cool before cutting.

Hope that’s helpful. Good luck!

For some reason, I can’t insert the second pumpkin recipe in my post. Hopefully this link works:

https://www.ambitiouskitchen.com/page/4/?s=Pumpkin

My oldest daughter is celiac, lactose intolerant and has diverticultis. I like the King Arthur gluten free flour substitute the best of the pre-mixed blends we've tried. You asked about a "bisquick substitute", and believe it or not, Bisquick makes a gluten free variety that is not horrible for a quick batch of pancakes or biscuits. It is packaged in a facility that also packages milk products, but there is no dairy in the mix itself and my daughter tolerates it well, using almond or coconut milk in place of any dairy called for in the recipes. King Arthur also makes a "baking mix" for things like muffins, cookies, scones, coffee cake, plus the pancakes and waffles.

Be careful with pre-made cauliflower/vegetable pizza crusts, most I have seen contain quite a lot of cheese.

Good luck to your nephew. We've had better luck with not trying to recreate commercially available favorites and fast food, and just sticking with real food. Fortunately fruits, vegetables, meats, eggs, beans and legumes, seafood, nuts, grains like oatmeal are all gluten free, dairy free and barring allergies are usually acceptable. Saving the substitutes for things like a biscuit sandwich for breakfast with an egg, meat and a gluten free biscuit helps the diet feel more normal. And, of course, french fries are acceptable. :-)

Annie

Ketogenic recipes that are dairy free are 100% gluten free. Just go online and google Keto recipes. There's a tons of them out there. Also, Pinterest.

So, on Annie's list of baked goods, above, notice that none of them as you to develop gluten in their ordinary wheat forms. They don't have yeast, and a lot of them go tough with overbeating, i.e., developing the gluten. Therefore, substituting flour that has no gluten producing bits won't greatly alter the basic structure, and the addition of such things as gum are for nuance.

I once threw caution to the wind and replaced AP flour in a cake with buckwheat flour 1:1 (it's not wheat and is GF). It came out great. Perhaps it could have used an extra quarter tsp of baking powder, but that's being picky. The only downside is that I didn't realize how taupe the crumb would be. Luckily, the ones eating it were of the opinion, "MMMM, cake!" and didn't linger over the color.

plllog, I once substituted buckwheat flour for rye in a Boston brown bread recipe, and although it was a bit heavy, it was entirely acceptable.

Annie

Thank you all for the advice--it's good to hear from those who have experience. humbleandkind, thank you, especially, for the recipes. I think I need to go over a list of preferences with my nephew. He's eaten dinner at my house many times over the years (and I babysat him one summer, before he started school), but I don't recall if there's anything he doesn't like.

humbleandkind, the vegan/gluten-free pumpkin/chocolate chip/oat bars in your link sound delicious, and use ingredients that I usually have on hand. That kind of recipe is exactly what I wanted. Thank you!

I hope you and your nephew like them - they are a big hit in our house. I’ve generally had good luck with the recipes on ambitious kitchen.

The egg substitute I’ve used for most baking recipes is 1 egg = 1.5 Tbsp water + 1.5 Tbsp oil + 1 tsp baking powder. I find it works perfectly for one egg and generally very good to replace two eggs. Not sure I’ve tried more than that.

humbleandkind, I've never heard of the water/oil/b.powder combination as an egg substitute. I generally use water and flaxseed meal.

Do you have an Aldi's near you? My friend loves their gluten free brownie mix. They also have a nice selection of gluten free foods, for less.

We mix our own GF flour using Jeanne Sauvage's recipe. Son-in-law can't have potatoes or soy and daughter is gluten intolerant and allergic to nuts so it's hard to find ready made stuff.

We use it for everything and most of the time no one knows they're eating GF. Jeanne's pancake recipe is really good (and I've made a few from-scratch pancakes). The mix also makes good quick bread-ey things...cupcakes, cornbread.

Jeanne's GF flour mix

Party_music: for pancakes and things a bit more earthy I’ve used 1 Tablespoon of finely ground flaxseeds + 3 Tablespoons of water as an egg substitute but I find the other substitute a bit better for chocolate chip cookies, certain cakes, sugar cookies, etc. I learned about the various alternatives in a magazine called Living Without (the name has since been changed to Gluten Free & More). My aunt gave me a subscription when my son was diagnosed with food allergies. The magazine has a lot of good recipes and the back always contained a list of substitutes which I found very helpful when we first removed certain foods from our diets.

Not really a recipe, but my grandson is stage 5 out of 5 allergic to milk and he likes the Daiya products They have all kinds of cheeses, frozen pizzas, and lots of other things. All Daiya are dairy free, you will have to check for gluten free. The Amy's frozen products are also good. You will need to check the ingredients. Some are dairy free and some are not. Same thing with gluten. Haagen Dazs Dairy Free ice cream is delicious.

Right now in the freezer, I have Daiya Supreme pizza and Amy's Rice mac and cheese. Both are dairy and gluten free. He really likes both.

ETA: Rao Spagetti sauce and pizza sauce is very good also.

https://www.raos.com/product/tomato-basil-sauce-2/

https://www.raos.com/product/pizza-sauce/

Here is a recipe that everyone likes. Just use gluten free maccaroni.

Hamburger Macaroni

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 sm onion, finely chopped

1 red bell pepper, chopped

1 celery rib, finely chopped

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1 lb extra lean ground beef

1 15 oz can tomato sauce

1 14.5 oz can petite diced tomatoes

1 14.5 oz can chicken broth (1 1/2 cups)

8 oz (2 cups) elbow macaroni

Heat oil over medium heat in 12 inch skillet or dutch oven on stove top. Add onion, bell pepper, and celery and cook until softened, 5 to 7 minutes. Add salt and garlic powder. Stir. Add ground beef and cook until browned, about 3 to 5 minutes.

Stir in tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, and chicken broth. Add pasta and stir. Cover, reduce heat and cook at medium high, stirring often until pasta is tender.

Top with cheddar cheese, regular or Daiya dairy free.

https://enjoylifefoods.com/products/semi-sweet-chocolate-mini-chips-1?variant=20209502879855

These are the chocolate chips we like.

Through trial and error, we discovered a few years ago that DH is severely lactose intolerant; probably always has been to some degree but more so with age. Even if he has been tested, I wouldn't assume your nephew isn't LI. DH can tolerate sheep and goat products but nothing from cows. We've also discovered, again trough trial and error, that he seems to be very sensitive to artificial sweeteners and preservatives. Your nephew may want to pay close attention to these as well.

If you nephew can have eggs and peanuts, the easiest peanut butter cookies in the world are gluten free and dairy free. I've been making them for years, far before I knew anything about gluten free baking, they're just "regular" cookies.

Peanut Butter Cookies

1 egg

1 cup sugar

1 cup peanut butter

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp baking soda

Mix well, portion out onto a cookie sheet, I use the medium cookie scoop, which is about 2 tablespoons. Flatten with a fork to about 1/2 inch, sprinkle the tops with sugar if you want. (My kids definitely want, LOL). Bake at 350F for 9-10 minutes. Do not overbake, you want them soft. They'll just start to set around the edges and brown a little on the bottom. Let them set on the baking sheet for 3 or 4 minutes to set up, or they'll crumble when you try to remove them.

Makes about 18 cookies.

I've left out the vanilla by accident and they were still fine. I've also overbaked and they do get crisp, if he likes a crisper cookie. It's fast, easy, has ingredients most people have on hand and tastes like a "real" cookie. It just doesn't have any flour.

Annie

We make these cookies all the time. We use canola oil instead of coconut oil. And we usually add a lot more chocolate :-) They are easy to make vegan too. Just substitute a flax egg for a regular egg. They are more crumbly with a flax egg but still delicious.

https://minimalistbaker.com/coconut-chocolate-chip-almond-meal-cookies/

And I second using cauliflower crust for pizza.

Annie, if you need to make your peanut butter cookies peanut free, use Sunbutter. It tastes and cooks the same. I use it in my peanutbutter cups that need to be peanut free.

I love chicken Marsala, and while my favorite recipe calls for cream in the sauce, I have made it without cream and it’s fine, just not quite as rich. My favorite recipe comes from Once Upon a Chef and is very easy to make. I would just use more of the chicken broth or stock and a bit more Marsala wine. DH loves the sauce over mashed potatoes. I am eating low/no carb, so I just cook extra veggies for me for my side dish and make him some mashed potatoes.

https://www.onceuponachef.com/images/2018/01/Chicken-Marsala-14.jpg

I also love a good spinach salad with warm bacon dressing. Another favorite recipe from Once Upon a Chef and it makes a nice dinner salad for us. You could add some chopped roast chicken if desired, but I just add a little more bacon. I make and refrigerate extra dressing for another meal and reheat. Yummy!

https://www.onceuponachef.com/recipes/spinach-salad-warm-bacon-dressing.html

Thank you all for the recipes--I think the peanut butter cookies will be perfect, since my nephew can have eggs and peanuts, and with so few ingredients, he might even enjoy trying that one himself. The hamburger macaroni sounds easy, too, and since we gave him gluten-free pasta and vegan cheese, maybe with all the other tasty ingredients, he wont feel as if he's missing something.

I'd read about flax eggs. I have some flax seed in the freezer, so I might try that, even though he has no problem with eggs. I try to remember to throw in some chia seeds in most quick breads (made banana cake with chia seeds tonight), but ground flax seed could be added, too. I think I'll bake cookies tomorrow. :)

Thanks, tigereye. No one in my family has an issue with peanuts, but it seems to be more and more prevalent, so that's a useful piece of knowledge to have.

Annie

Annie, please help me concoct a savory version for the peanutbutter cookies. I'd like them to be salty. Can I sub the 1 cup sugar with 1 cup heavy cream? Or with a couple eggs? Or with a combination of heavy cream and eggs?

I'm no expert baker - just someone who bakes occasionally - and I think I read somewhere (here?) that sugar is considered liquid in baking. I can't have any sugar whatsoever anymore. All the sweet cakes I bake now are for others, and I'd like to bake some cookies for myself.

wintercat, can you have fruits, or not natural sugars either?

Sugar does act as a liquid ingredient, somewhat, but I don't think these would be successful with just egg and peanut butter. I think I'd try some combo like peanut butter/egg/almond meal/baking soda or peanut butter/egg/oats/baking soda. Maybe even whey protein or flax might work.

You can actually leave the baking soda out, and I've tried that, but it's a heavier texture, I much prefer the cookies with the baking soda added.

This will take some experimentation, but I think it can be done. I make cheese crackers with just cheese, flour and butter, so I think the cookies can work. I do tend to be relatively "experimental", so I'm not afraid to mix up a batch of something that I think will work, and then adjust until I get something that is edible. If I can't eat it and the dog won't eat it, the chickens usually will!

The easiest start, I think, would be to mix that cup of peanut butter and one egg, and try to bake one. If that's not good, add the baking soda and bake one. If that doesn't work, add a little cream to a portion and bake it. Still not right? Add a little oat bran or almond meal and try again. That way you don't waste batches of "mix", but you can experiment with several different ingredients until you get something YOU like and that your diet can tolerate.

I'll be waiting to hear how it goes, that is a very interesting concept, a savory cookie with just a few simple ingredients. You might start a new hit snack!

Annie

As someone mentioned above be cautious about adding too many different food products all at once as they can cause similar problems. Also eating the same things all the time can lead to similar problems

He needs to learn how to cook. Perhaps rather than goodies if he has a local cooking school that teaches basics the family could enroll him in one. The one here is as series of classes that start at $65 but you need several of the classes. The first one from friends who have gone sounds simple but it is knife skills which include how to actually maintain a sharp knife.

I agree with Malfleur about learning to cook, but unless the classes are designed for people with food limitations it could really be frustrating even though the basics are basic and apply to all foods. Debby, up topic, said "keto" is a known diet that is GF and dairy free, so maybe find him some you'd better learn to cook if you're on this diet class that are basic and fun and other people eating the same kinds of foods whether from choice or necessity. He might find a social group to eat with too.

Annie's peanut butter cookies are awesome. Annie, i like your methodology for making them non-sugar. The great thing about this recipe is that the peanut butter is both the flour and the fat. I wonder if adding a tiny bit of soda water might help?

I am surprised he was given medical advice to become so restrictive in his diet. IBS is different for everyone and it has little to do with gluten or lactose intolerance which are separate issues and apparently he has not been diagnosed with those. It is also a bit of a "head" illness since anxiety and stress can bring on attacks.

He should follow his own elimination diet eliminating the foods that seem to have a pattern of creating grief or in his case since he is living on rice and chicken adding more foods to his diet. Healthy fibers often play havoc with those with IBS, I have to be very careful with high fiber products, berries, seeds and skins for example. However I do fine if I make sure to eat them in moderation with other foods. A belly full of fruit and berries can bring on an attack. On the other hand eating blueberry pancakes for breakfast is fine for me.

He needs to see a gastroenterologist if he hasn't seen one already. IBS is a diagnose given to a set of symptoms for which no disease can be found. It's hardly a lifelong sentence to a highly restrictive diet reserved for those who have celiac disease, have verified food allergies or are lactose intolerant.

Agree he needs to know how to cook. He could learn while experimenting with foods that are troublesome versus those that aren't.

I think the biggest take away from this is a life lesson.

We should ALL be capable of preparing and consuming what we need to keep us alive.

Being capable of feeding oneself is a basic and necessary life skill.

Others won't always be there to prepare food for us, there isn't always going to be fast food or some other kind of basically ready to eat food available.

It's high time this young man learns how to procure and prepare food for himself.

Annie, thank you so much! I'll do as you suggested and report back. Now I'm really motivated!

Edited to answer your questions: I can have 2 fruits a day, things like Granny Smith apples, which is lucky because I love these. As for non-natural sugars, I don't touch them. I once tried stevia, which is natural enough, and it was so cloying I couldn't stand it. I don't really crave sugar. Always preferred savory to sweet.

Annie, I just noticed that there isn't any kind of flour or oats in your peanut butter cookies! I'm not sure if the Sunbutter would work. While it tastes very close to peanut butter, (much closer than the soy nut butter,ugh) the texture is slightly different.

Well, despite my good intentions, I didn't get any baking done because my son-in-law awoke before everyone else yesterday, and used all the eggs to make us Mother's Day breakfast. Who could complain about that? ;)

I spoke to my brother (nephew's father) who does most of the cooking for their family; he said they'd made spaghetti using the gluten-free product we'd given my nephew. They all, including the two teenagers, liked it, and brother said he couldn't tell any difference in taste from semolina pasta.

Most of the time, I try to tailor recipes to my family's tastes, or convenience, so I appreciate the discussions of different methods and substitutions of ingredients.

Thanks again to all of you who have shared real life experiences and advice about gluten-free/vegan cooking and medical issues. My SIL (nephew's mother) shares a practice with a local internist, so I think they have the medical issues covered. I'm just trying to help out with my specialty--as the family baker.

I did find it interesting???? that you mentioned that he was vegan but then talked about eggs. If I am understanding correctly he apparently eats eggs which negates him being vegan.

I apologize for the confusion. As he's been advised to avoid dairy, I was looking for vegan recipes, since they don't contain real dairy products--milk, butter, cheese, etc. He's not vegan or vegetarian (I mentioned that he's been eating a lot of chicken and rice), he's not allergic to dairy or gluten, but he told me his doctor advised him that lactose and gluten are both irritants and can cause inflammation in the gut, so he is trying to avoid eating them.

If we're specifically talking about inflammation, perhaps he should also eliminate nightshades and maybe peanuts.

I'll check with him about those--do you mean potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, egg plant, ground cherries, etc (not that he eats ground cherries, but I think my DD gave everyone in the family a small pot of homemade ground cherry chutney for Christmas).

I was looking forward to his trying Annie's peanut butter cookies, and his dad makes the best lasagna, so I hope tomatoes aren't causing his gastric problems. AFAIK, I've never known anyone with sensitivity to nightshades (unless they consume the leaves, and we'd all react badly to that).

If he has always eaten a lot of rice it could also be a problem as depending on the doctor/expert the body can reach a point where it starts rejecting an overload. While rice is used in elimination diets to find a source of the problem I for one could not use it as too much causes itchy eyes and achy bones and muscles. As mentioned above if he is not seeing a gastro specialist he needs to as his problems may not be IBS which is more of a catch phrase than anything.

I think there is a bit of confusion going here regarding IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome) versus IBD (Inflammatory Bowel Disease). IBS does not cause inflammation. These dietary restrictions sound like someone with IBD might require.

Like Maiflue said, and it bears repeating, he needs to see a gastro specialist not a family doctor nor an internist if his symptoms are so severe as to require such a restrictive diet.

Wintercat, you're welcome, and good luck. I only asked about fruit because I was thinking that perhaps the sugar could be replaced by something like applesauce, with no added sugar, although it would add a sweetness, which you may not want.

Tigereye, you never know until you try, so the next time I get the itch to experiment, or find sunbutter on sale, there might be cookies! I do like mine chewy, but wouldn't pass up a crunchy cookie either, so how can I possibly lose? (grin)

Annie

It's not what most people call a sensitivity, but nightshades (yes, the ones you listed) are known to be generally inflammatory. People on an anti-inflammatory diet, generally avoid them. I first learned about it in this forum. If inflammation is his issue, eliminating them, or vastly reducing them, could be a help. I don't know much about peanuts but apparently it's not a good thing for people with gut issues. I don't know if that includes all peanut products, just raw, or what. Just something to check. In general, sprouting grains, beans and seeds make them more nutritious as well as more digestible, but I don't know much more about that either. We used to have an expert in the group, and if you search for sprouting you can find Grainlady's old posts.