Gluten Free With Love Cookbook

A while back, I was given a review copy of Gluten Free With Love: Hypo-allergenic Recipes for the Sensitive Family from Lee Fecteau, the husband of the author Tricia Fecteau.  There are many things I think this cookbook has to offer, and I'd like to tell you a little more about it.  You can see and order the cookbook online here.

The cookbook is set up with an introduction that tells the background of the Fecteau household's gluten free lifestyle and some of the things they have learned through trial and error in their diet.  I really think this approach--being sensitive to reactions and learning more about what one's body can handle through experience--is very intelligent, though often pooh-poohed by established medicine.  Doing this is, in fact, research.  I applaud them for working hard to learn what foods make their family well and what foods make their family sick.  If we all had the patience and dedication to do this, we'd be a much healthier species.

The book is divided into the following categories:

• Appetizers
• Breads, Muffins, etc.
• Breakfast Entrees
• Desserts
• Dinner Entrees
• Drinks
• Salad and Dressings
• Sauces and Gravies
• Sides
• Soups

It's a pretty no-frills book, with clip art photos on most pages (so unfortunately no photos of completed recipes).  I think it's got a kind of down-home charm.  And that's really a compliment, from a small-town Ohio girl like me.

The recipes are easy to read, in a large enough font, one per page.  Some recipes are very short and quick, others more involved.  I think dividing the directions for the longer recipes into more paragraphs would have made them easier to read while cooking.  Some of the recipes were so easy, at first glance they seemed a little boring.  But who says simple can't taste great?

What did I try, you ask?  Well!  My favorite recipe in the entire book was "Vermont Maple Pie" with a "Mock Graham Crust."  Check it out:

 

The book has many gluten free/dairy free recipes.  The above Maple Pie is totally gluten free and dairy free.  It was amazing.

I really appreciated that the recipes are tested and reliable.  These people really know how to cook things that are safe, in both large and small quantities.  All the recipes have nutrition information and say if they are "quick" and/or "lowcal." 

Definitely a worthwhile cookbook.  Definitely a great cookbook for families.  It's so inspiring when people share their experience and help everyone by doing so!