Toddler Tested, Mother Approved - Five Top Tasty Gluten Free Products.

During my long and often exhaustive journey of keeping my toddler's eczema at bay, through careful observation, avid research, and blood tests, it was determined that our daughter's diet played a major role in her frequent flareups.

In addition to dairy, tree nuts, citrus, tomatoes, and eggs, I was flabbergasted to learn that foods that contain gluten (sticky storage protein found in wheat), also exasperated her already delicate condition.

The hard thing about this revelation was, that just about every product on the shelf today contains wheat or other gluten filled products. Therefore, it became quite a challenge to find gluten free products that were conducive to our daughter's special condition.

To make things easier on myself, I decided to make a list of the basic items that needed to be replaced. These included:

1.) Breads/Pastas

2.) Cereals

3.) Flour mixes (such as pancake mixes, cake mixes, etc.)

4.) Finger snacks (such as crackers and cookies)

Not your everyday Betty Crocker or Martha Stewart, there was no way I was domestic enough to bake my own gluten free foods. I wouldn't even know how to began.

However, through trial and error, and my toddlers taste-buds, I was able to find some great gluten-free products to replace the ones that were adding to the agony of her condition.

Here's a list of the five top toddler tested, mother approved, gluten-free products:

* Bread/Pasta

1.) Ancient Harvest Quinoa Gluten-Free Pasta Shells- these easy to cook, gluten-free pasta shells are not only tasty, they're also rich in essential fatty acids that are often lacking in eczema sufferers. An 8 oz box will set you back about $4.00 ( available in a pasta noodle as well, I found that if you don't cook them just right, they can be extremely mushy).

2.) Van's All Natural Gluten-Free Waffles - found in the frozen display case in your grocery isle, these gluten-free waffles (containing 6 waffles in a 9oz box) come in two flavors, original and blueberry. These waffles are truly tasty, and will only set you back $3 to $4. [Van's makes great tasting gluten-free pancakes and french-toast sticks as well].

In addition, there are several gluten-free breads, but none to my daughter's liking. That is why we tend to stick with gluten-free crackers (such as the Brown Rice Snaps and Glutino brand), pasta shells, and waffles as our major bread source.

* Cereal

My toddler loves cereal! Although there are several great choices on the market, price was an extreme concern for my family and I. So we found...

3.) General Mills Chex Cereal- available in a variety of flavors (corn, rice, chocolate, honey, and cinnamon), Chex offers great gluten-free taste without breaking the bank. A 12 to 13 oz box will only set you back $3 to $4.

* Flour Mixes.

4.) Bob's Red Mill- provides gluten-free baking flour, bread, pancake, and cake mixes in 15 to 22oz bags for $4 to $5. I've personally used the pancake mix, and although the texture is a little different from other pancake mixes, the pancakes are still rather tasty.

* Finger Snacks.

5.) MI-Del - offers a great variety of tasty gluten-free cookies. Available in an 8oz bag, these tasty little cookies will only set you back about $3 to $4. They come in seven different flavors:

a.) ginger snaps (my toddlers favorite)

b.) cinnamon snaps

c.) chocolate chip

d.) pecan

e.) arrowroot (my toddler's second preference)

f.) chocolate sandwich

g.) royal vanilla sandwich (my personal favorite)

It was truly amazing how adopting a gluten-free diet really aided in keeping my toddler's flare-ups at bay. Although it took some effort, and quite a bit of assimilation, the results were really worth it.