Author Phyllis Pacella came up with the cookbook for her grandson, who was born with autism among other disabilities and he suffered from seizures. His physician recommended a highly-restricted diet -- no gluten, sugar, dairy, citrus, fruits, honey, corn or potatoes.
"I started to get all kinds of cookbooks - gluten-free cookbooks, lactose-free - but putting them together was too complicated. There was nothing that addressed all of his needs," said Pacella.
"We were wondering, 'What could we feed this poor child?" she said. "So my kitchen became a test kitchen and my garbage disposal ate very well for a while because not everything worked right away."
But after trial and error, she perfected recipes with great success.
"After about a year on this diet, now his seizures are completely gone and he's completely weaned off his medications. So it helped him and I hope it helps others," said Pacella.
She uses flour made from brown rice, quinoa, tapioca and coconut to provide carbohydrates easy on those with allergies. She also uses Stevia, Truvia and Splenda for sugar alternatives.
Some of Pacella's recipes include chicken pot pie, coconut cashew crusted shrimp, which can be swapped for chicken, curried rice and crepes made from sweet potato, a lower sugar vegetable than fruit.
Pacella's book gets the thumbs up from autism groups, diabetics, people who are gluten and lactose intolerant, and even those with fibromyalgia. It's available on Amazon for $19.99.
