Eat Like a Dinosaur: Recipe & Guidebook for Gluten-free Kids

Let me begin by saying our household is not strictly Paleo. We also do not have small children.The transitional aspect of this cookbook is, in my opinion, its strength. It is hard to give up treats and snacks and hard for some of us to come up with new ideas or remake our old favorites. Sometimes we need a little boost to get our imagination going for things like lunches or dinners with vegetable substitutes to carb-full comfort foods.There are a lot of recipes using eggs, many eggs, which is very paleo, it isn't a problem for most. We however, cannot have eggs. Our gluten and dairy allergies and intolerance of legumes and grains led me to paleo. We were in fact eating pretty much paleo without knowing about it. My husband was the main resistor because he doesn't want to hassle with watching his diet away from home. He loves eating paleo at home (if he isn't cooking), but he misses his dairy and treats from time to time.Although it is true that there are several recipes with sugar (11 of the 28 treats), some of them can be adapted or rethought to use no sugar. I tweak recipes all the time, sometimes I need a framework to start with. Also, 11 of 28? C'mon! That means there are 17 creative treat recipes using honey, dates, maple syrup or whole fruit as the sweetener. The authors' note at the beginning of the chapter on treats is important to reiterate here: "What we like to do in our house is call a dessert a "special treat". It's not something we have every day, and when we do, we eat a small amount and really enjoy how delicious it tastes. ... No matter what kind of ingredients you use, something sweet will have sugar in it, and even natural sugars can make your body behave a little funny. ... So use the big human brain you have to help you save and choose your special treats for special occasions!"I also appreciate the lunch ideas. I cannot eat sandwiches and, although my husband will not give up bread, I don't like making him sandwiches for lunch even with seedy organic bread.I like the organization of the book, although it took some getting used to. There are many helpful lists, a half a chapter dedicated to kitchen tools and "paleo food", recipes that are creative ideas instead of strict instructions (Hot Pot pg. 254) and a discussion on transitioning into a healthy eating lifestyle. The index is one of the most important parts of a cookbook. You can have great recipes, but if you have to turn through the entire book to find them it is a useless tool. ELaD has a really good index.The back chapter on going into the world and finding food and tools for greatly reduced prices is great (even though I know most of it because I am old and have raised 4 children). Actually, the fact that I am old and have raised four children in as healthy a lifestyle as I knew how - organic, homemade, low or no sugar - is a great recommendation for this book. I've been there and done that and Stacy and Matt are doing a great job.

This book is a wonderful resource for transitioning the entire family to a Paleo lifestyle. It describes useful tools that I almost deem essential now and what they term "funny ingredients". My 5 year old loved the dinosaur story and she was instantly motivated to eat that way. My 7 year old was terrified by it but he has a strong food aversion disorder. The thought of eating what he thought was gross just made him cry. He did pick the Anytime Cookies recipe so we made that one first. They did not turn out like the picture at all. As a very visual child, he was furious and wouldn't try them. I found them tasty but they certainly weren't like the picture. I plan to try it again and then see how I can adapt it to make it less runny. My favorite recipe in here is the waffles and I think over time my kids will like those as well.There are over 100 reviews here that will tell you the wonderful parts with this book so I don't feel the need to repeat them all. Since this is a review, I feel the need to be honest with some criticism.There were two parts of this book that I did not like. First, they recommend transitioning your kids quickly. I don't necessarily agree with this approach for kids age 4+ who are going through a picky stage already. Our child became malnourished from his refusal to eat a few months ago and as much as everyone tells you that they will eat what you feed them, that is not always the case. Although my son is an extreme exception, I know there are other kids out there like him. My other two children are transitioning nicely. I feel it is better to empower the child to make the right choice. Read Cole's story in the book and talk about how processed food, grains and legumes make your child ill. Given the choice and knowing the consequence (tummy ache) of a bad choice often makes transitioning less of a battle. Now if you already have good eaters, you can probably transition over night without a problem but I just wanted to point out that it is not the best approach for everyone.My second issue with this book is that this is a Paleo family and although the book is not exclusively a Paleo only book, I expected all the recipes to be Paleo. Sugar is not Paleo at all. I was shocked to see how many of these recipes had sugar, some even up to a cup. Sugar will make you crave more sugar and leads to a host of learning problems for children. There are many ways to sweeten treats without sugar. Even coconut palm sugar is a much better option than granulated sugar. Sugar no longer exists in our home and I would hope that this Paleo family will eventually make that step in their diet.Criticism aside, this family is truly amazing in their transformation. They talk about more than just food in this book. Going Paleo is a lifestyle change, not just a diet change. I highly recommend adding this book to your library of Paleo books but avoid the recipes with sugar.

The item was as described.

Wow, a Paleo recipe book that the kids love to eat and love to help out with! Well done.

This book is fun, easy and lots of tasty ideas for the whole family. I don't have children in my life and I still enjoyed reading and making. Get this book if you want to enjoy some quick and delicious recipes.

Wonderful recipes. My children love choosing what to eat.

I keep giving my copy away to young families whose children have gluten and sugar issues!