Thread: Recipes for those with restricted diets

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Anyone else have to make adjustments to their Halloween menus for food intolerances/allergies/digestive disorders? I know there's a thread for diabetic recipes, but I'd like to hear what people have done in the past for other diet problems as well.

Me, I'm on a pretty strict diet for acid reflux, so it's no caffeine/alcohol/sugar/spicy food for me, and everything has to be low fat. That's tough on Halloween--most of the food that's fun to eat contains, well, all of that stuff. I'm not resigning myself to plain fruit and pretzels, though!

I did find a good replacement for apple crisp. Prep the apples the same, then mix them together with a small amount of apricot jam (or any other flavor you like.) For the topping, mix flour, oatmeal, melted butter and Splenda (you'll have to play around with the amounts--I still haven't got it down yet. The last one I made, something was off with that and it came out kind of gross.) If you nix the oatmeal you can also make pie this way.

I'll be experimenting a lot with carob and Splenda this year to see what I can come up with for Halloween goodies. Made a "hot carob" drink earlier today that was actually pretty close to tasting like chocolate.

I do not have to make any adjustments, except for vegetarian which isn't too hard. But in my profession I help people with these things. It can be tough for those with gluten intolerances, etc. Most guests with rare food intolerances or special diets are used to having limited choices at parties. Those with allergies are used to asking what ingredients are used in dishes. I always offer to bring a dish so I know there will at least be something for me to eat. It is very considerate of a host/hostess to consider the diets of thier guests.

As for reflux, I had not heard of sugar being an irritant. You can't have any sugar at all? Splenda does not hold well when heated in baked goods. If you can have some sugar, they make a Splenda baking blend which is part Splenda, part sugar that is formulated for baking.

I've heard that Splenda does poorly when baked, but I haven't come across any problems yet (it does okay in the crisp recipe.) Usually I substitute honey if I can, though. I'll have to look into the Splenda baking blend and test it to see if I can handle it. Thanks for the suggestion!

(I've found that almost anything can be an irritant for reflux, depending on the person. For me sugar is a problem, especially brown sugar or something like caramel can set me off for hours even if I don't swallow it.)

I have Celiac, so I cannot have any gluten at all. And everything I make is gluten free. And ya know what? My guests never know the difference! I'm not kidding! They chow down on everything like it's what their momma used to make.

After a few years of testing and trying a variety of VERY BAD gluten free foods, I have discovered a lovely wealth of delicous ones. For instance, Gluten Free Pantry has an incredible Spice Cake recipe I use for my cupcakes. Cherrybrook Farms makes great frosting mixes. Pumpkin Pie from scratch with a gluten free crust made with a Gluten Free Pantry mix. Homemade Cheesey Spinach Dip with Corn Tortilla chips. Chex Mix made with Gluten Free corn chex and rice chex, and gluten free pretzels. There's an incredible amount of great gluten free food out there. It just takes a lot of trial and error and a little creativity.

I have vegan friends, and my husband is seriously allergic to milk, so this year I'll be making a selection of foods which cater for both (well, vegan covers dairy free anyway).

I've found this website is good for recipies

Recipes, cooking, preparing and growing food - thousands of free recipes including Special Diets

I have celiacs disease as well and adhere to a strict gluten free diet. I agree with MorbidMariah - Gluten Free Pantry makes some awesome cake, piecrust, cookie and bread mixes. My guests can never tell the difference either and my co-workers (who are all a bunch of picky eaters) ate all of the cupcakes I brought in - they ptretty much inhaled them and they never knew they were gluten free. You should give gluten free a chance to see if it might help with your acid reflux. Before I knew what was wrong with me I couldn't eat anything without getting sick - my entire digestive had ulcerated and I was pretty sure I was going to end up taking the long,dirt nap because of it. Anyhoo - give it a try. If you like pasta, Tinkyada makes the best gluten free pasta out there.......and Annies gluten free Mac and cheese is pretty rockin too

Best of luck!

Monsterboss

first off... could you give me the Gluten Free recipe for cupcakes???? I am cupcake freak for some reason. But anyhoo, My sister and I try to make sure there are veggie tray and fruit tray included so it does not be all good stuff. We are trying to learn how to make the selctions bit healthy but hey we are still learning...