Shopping Gluten, Egg, Sugar, and Garlic-free

I had a chance to do some grocery shopping alone after talking with Kate's doctor about her new allergies.  My first stop was the natural foods store where I got a lot of help from the woman working.  I told her I was looking to substitute my daughter's Omega-3 supplement with a sugar-free option and together we scoured the labels and found one I thought might work. She told me I could return it unopened if there were any problems. Phew! Because these aren't cheap.  Next, I asked about Egg Replacer, and she knew the product well because she uses it. She told me it isn't the same consistency as a real egg so it is best used for baking when egg acts as a binder.

My second stop was the grocery store where I read every label of every food Kate eats.  Her beloved Vans blueberry waffles have sugar, but the flax and apple/cinnamon flavors don't.  Score!  She eats the peanut butter my husband likes, which has sugar, but I found a store-brand natural peanut butter that has no sugar.  To replace her jelly, I went with Polaner All-Fruit.  I found a few brands of sugar-free jar pasta sauce, but they all have garlic.  I can make that myself.  The GF pasta isn't made with eggs so that's not a problem, we can keep buying the same kind.  The yogurt she and her dad eat has sugar.  This is something else I can make myself with fresh fruit and honey to sweeten it up.  Alright, I made it all the way across the grocery store and so far I'm able to substitute most of the foods she eats pretty easily.

The next thing I need to find is a sugar-free, gluten-free bread mix.  Now that I have my milled flax seed and Egg Replacer, I can easily sub out the eggs with one of those or applesauce.  As far as I can tell they all have sugar, which is a problems for me because I have yet to master the art of gluten-free baking.  The doctor emailed me a recipe she knows that doesn't use eggs or sugar (yeah!), but it isn't gluten-free (d'oh!).  Unfortunately, GF baking substitutes is not an exact science, you can't just replace wheat flour with rice flour or potato starch, you need a good mix of flours to get a decent flavor and consistency and you need to add a touch of xanthum gum.  This I have a hard time with, despite the instructions on the labels and web site, I just can't seem to bake decent GF breads or treats from scratch.  The consistency is all wrong.  But, my search isn't over, I'll find a way to make bread she can eat.