Pig out...

Eating in... unhealthily!

Pizza and Garlic Bread

Gluten free pizzas currently only seem to come in margarita or pepperoni (not complaining, we're lucky to have them at all!) however, my favorite was also ham and pineapple, so why not make one yourself (well decorate one yourself that is!)

Buy a gluten free pizza base and top with your favourite ingredients, couldnt be easier! Oh and add some DS gluten free share and tear (or in my case, don't share!) garlic bread while you're at it....

 DS Lasagne

 A handy microwave meal to keep in the freezer! Tastes just like any other microwave lasagne!

Not forgetting brekky...

(Black Farmer's Daughter Chipolata sausages of course)

Gluten Free: Bath

I have to say Bath surprised me, at first sight it appeared to be a gluten free unfriendly city but on closer look its very gluten free friendly.. if you know where to go!!

So I'm going to tell you!

1. Roscoff Deli

18 Northumberland Place

Bath

BA1 5AR

Does THE most amazing gluten free sandwiches I have ever tasted! They get their bread from a local bakery and it's scrummy!

The best for gluten free bread and cakes - I had the Sicilian Lemon Cake - amazing!! They also have lots of gluten free mains too.

And not only is the food fab, but the staff are super friendly, especially the owner who is more than happy to help out and advise!

One of my favourite food places I've ever been to, a great experience all round, I just wish I worked down the road so I could get my lunch from there!

http://www.roscoff.co.uk/

2. Whole Bagel

Another place in Bath offering yummy gluten free sandwiches with a huge choice!

http://www.thewholebagel.co.uk/

3. Tea Monkey

Offers lots of gluten free cakes

http://www.tea-monkey.com/Stores/Bath-Tea-Monkey.aspx

4. The Pump Room - POSH GLUTEN FREE AFTERNOON TEA!!

 The Roman Baths
Abbey Church Yard
BA1 1LZ

 http://www.romanbaths.co.uk/pump_room.aspx

5. Salathai - Thai Restaurant

 14-15 Pierrepont Street
BA1 1LA 

A lovely family run thai restaurant near the station with the BEST authentic thai food. I had the See Krong Moo (Spare ribs cooked in a home-made Thai style barbeque sauce) and Phad Thai with pork (thin rice noodles stir fried with egg and seasonal vegetables in a Thai style “Phad Thai” sauce). Absolutely scrumptious food.

The staff couldnt have been nicer and more helpful either and knew all about their ingredients and what was gluten free or not.

http://www.salathai-bath.co.uk/

All the cafes/restaurants mentioned are a must visit in my opinion!!

We also ate at Las Iguanas.

Sweet tooth...

Bird's Angel Delight

A childhood favourite - banana Angel Delight with chopped bananas at the bottom and sprinkles on top

Asda's Free From Cherry Bakewells

Scrumptious!

Warburton's Lemon and Poppyseed Muffins

Finally got hold of the lemon and poppyseed flavour!  Very nice indeed!

 

Simply-free.co.uk - a great new website find

I came across this website recently -www.simply-free.co.uk - which sells only gluten free products, with free delivery straight to your door when you spend over £40 if you live in England. A great excuse to stock up on all those products that seem to disappear so fast or just simply don't seem to exist within your supermarkets, meaning 10 trips to 10 supermarkets just to try and find some gluten free bread!!

They stock some of the most popular gluten free products, including:

Genius -

Loaves

Pittas

Naans

Lemon & Raisin pancakes (a personal fave)

Warburtons -

Muffins - both Lemon & Poppyseed and Blueberry & Cranberry (both VERY yummy and hard to find in supermarkets as they go so quickly)

Loaves

Rolls

and Trufree, Mrs Crimbles and Hale and Hearty.

Other brands I'm not so familiar with include - Barkat and Isabel's Mixes.

Products I'm tempted by...

Barkat Tea Cakes (a tad pricey!!) and Lemon Cream Wafers

Hale and Hearty Honey Bee Pops

Barkat Macaroni

and Isabel's Dough Ball Mix!!

Also note that as a thankyou for referring friends and family to their site they offer all customers 10% off their next order everytime one of your friends places their first order. 

I think it's a great idea and a great website stocking all your gluten free essentials and much more!

My favourite Choc Cake/ Muffin mix...

I've tried Mrs Crimbles, DS (Dietary Specialists) and many other cake mixes but I have found Glebe Farm's Chocolate Cake Mix to be the best by far for making Choc Muffins.

The best bit... that crunchy bit on top that you always get on normal muffins but never seem to achieve on gluten free muffins. Delicious!

My new favourite bread... Yes! You Can

This is by far my favourite gluten free loaf - Yes! You Can by Roberts Bakery.

 Roberts Bakery say...

 

 

Why compromise?

Just because you’re eating gluten free bakery products we don’t think you should have to forgo the delicious taste and texture of fresh, well baked bread.
That’s why we have developed the Yes! You Can range – gluten, wheat and dairy free, but tasting just the way bread should!

Our gluten free story

Yes! You Can is a brand built around an ethos of ‘no compromise’ – we will always aim to deliver products that taste great while at the same time being gluten free. Although the Yes! You Can brand is new, gluten free baking is not new to us.
We have a dedicated, state of the art, gluten free bakery in Hawarden, near Chester,  and here they’ve been baking gluten free products for over 12 years – originally inspired by a member of the owners’ family being diagnosed with Coeliac disease.
Our Yes! You Can loaves were in product development for 2 years – until we got the recipe just right!
We’re always working on new product ideas, and with 125 years of baking expertise from Roberts Bakery we’re pretty confident that we know what great tastes like. Watch this space for more developments from Yes! You Can.

(Taken from:  http://www.robertsbakery.co.uk/yesyoucan/our-gluten-free-story/)



I say...

The only gluten free loaf I have come across so far with normal sized slices (almost!) which is a joy in itself, but in addition the top didnt fall off and the slice remained in tact even when I made eggy bread, finally!!

Also the most normal tasting and least dry of all gluten free loaves, so well done Roberts Bakery!! 

AND, less calories, fat and sugars per slice than Genius!!

Try it for yourselves - both white and brown 600g loaves are available online from Tesco for £2.95 each.

http://www.tesco.com/groceries/Product/Details/?id=274182871

Size comparison - gluten free on left 

and normal on right!

 

Let's hope Roberts Bakery expand their gluten free range very soon :)

Gluten Free: Spain

Having just got back from a week in Javea in Spain I thought I'd share my gluten free findings with you all.

Already aware of the numerous gluten free options available in Madrid (including the best ever gluten free pizzas and gorgeous bread at Da Niccola), I thought I'd check out what the supermarkets were offering us in the South East of Spain.

I came back with some yummy bread and cake. The bread comes in tiny squares and is much sweeter than the bread available to us here - it is more like brioche. This makes it much less dry and easier to eat, and is also much nicer to eat without toasting that all the bread available in our supermarkets. Yummy dipped in oil (as I was given in a restaurant) or toasted (the butter soaks in to the bread mmm).

The cake is plum and chocolate cake, also very moist and easy to eat.

Also, literally everything has it marked on the packet if it's gluten free (fruit, yoghurts you name it!) 'Sin Gluten' - if it doesnt say it on the front then it's not gluten free. Simple!

Zizzi's Gluten Free Pizza - My Review!

Well done Zizzi you have done me proud again!!

Check this out...

This was my scrumptious gluten free... yes GLUTEN FREE Pollo al Rosmarino pizza at Zizzi.

After hearing they were trialing gf pizza bases there was no way I was missing out on this one!

So I trekked to the Notting Hill branch to try it out, and it was well worth the trek!!

If you're going to be extremely picky and fussy then yes it was thin, yes it was maybe a tiiiiiny bit soft but come on it's gluten free pizza.... in a chain restaurant (and the outside was nice and crunchy and the toppings were lush).... Exciting stuff I think and I LOVED IT!!

I gave it 10/10, it was a massive treat for me and I think you should all give it a try.

They give you a form to fill out after finishing it to ask for your opinions on it, I just hope I did enough to get it rolled out into all branches.

Enjoying my meal as much as I was I decided to finish up with a chocolate melt (rich, chocolately and gooey) with gelato.

A brilliant feast, thank you Zizzi!

And if you've never tried Zizzi before and would like to know what there is for you to eat before heading there, check out their website where they have a Special Diets Filter http://www.zizzi.co.uk/food#filter=*.filter-gluten-free

Zizzi trial gluten free pizza bases...

The best gluten free related news I've heard since finding out Zizzi did gluten free pasta (still can't get enough of their carbonara!!), Zizzi are trialing gluten free pizza bases in 5 restaurants (the ones they get the most gluten free custom: Notting Hill and Earls Court, London; Bluewater, Kent; Farnham, Surrey and Grey Street, Newcastle.

I'm off to give it a try at Notting Hill on Saturday so I will update with photos and a review!! I can't wait!

My latest new tries...

Genius naan

This gets a massive thumbs up from me - how I've missed dipping a naan into a good curry - curries arent the same without a naan!  Not cheap (what gluten free stuff is!?) but well worth it to go with the odd curry night in.

 

Mrs Crimble's cake mix

A home bake mix to make some yummy muffins (or sponge) - we made choc chip but you can pretty much put what you like in!
And cheaper than buying muffins separately - 2 can cost £1.99, so this is a bit of a bargain at £2.29.

Mrs Crimble's Giant Choc Macaroons

Another new try by Mrs Crimble, she's now doing giant macaroons in single packets, very tasty!

Check out Mrs Crimble's website too for recipes and her other gluten free products. http://www.mrscrimbles.com/recipes/

White Horse: Ramsden Heath, Essex

The White Horse in Ramsden Heath nr Billericay, Essex is another restaurant find with a pretty decent gluten free menu.

It's basically just a selection off the main menu of things we can eat so often things are missing but it definately helps out! And the food is yummy. Shame about the lack of gluten free desserts though!

Another plus point - they also do gluten free gravy so you can enjoy a roast, although serving gluten free yorkshire puddings would make it my fave restaurant ever (yet to find one of these!!)

Truly Scrumptious: Maldon, Essex

I found a treat of a tea room style cafe in Maldon, Essex called Truly Scrumptious.

Here I enjoyed a huge piece of gluten free carrot cake.

They also do gluten free bread and tea cakes and at least one gluten free cake a day (and not forgetting the vast selection of jacket potatoes and other things on the menu we are able to enjoy.)

Teapots and teacups are everywhere in this oldy worldy style cafe and there is even a teapot/ teacup/ cakestand selection for sale in the wonky, creaky old room upstairs - it's a bit like a jumble sale of china!

Full of character this is a lovely little place to enjoy a gluten free treat.

Breakfast Idea

For a yummy breakfast idea why not enjoy some gluten free Eggy Bread!

I make mine with Warburton's bread as that's my fave!

Coeliac Awareness Week 14th - 20th May 2012

It is Coeliac Awareness Week next week from the 14th - 20th May.

It is important that people are made aware of coeliac disease, this way people's lives can be made so much easier - be it in restaurants, cafes, supermarkets etc, places people use in their day to day life without much thought, unless you are coeliac - then these day to day activities can become unnecessarily stressful and unenjoyable.

You can download your gluten free challenge pack at:

http://www.coeliac.org.uk/node/200793

So who's helping you out this year? 

Dr Chris Steel and Phil Vickery are amongst the celebrity and chef supporters, see the above link for some yummy recipes offered by our chef supporters!

Marks and Spencer have a page on their website dedicated to Coeliac Awareness Week and alongside their newly launched gluten free range and new labelling system, they are doing us proud!

See below for more information:

http://health.marksandspencer.com/your-diet-needs/coeliac-awareness

Coeliac disease is not an allergy or intolerance but an auto immune disease, where the body's immune system damages the lining of the small intestine when foods containing gluten are eaten. Coeliac Disease affects around 1 in 10 people in the UK and although there is no cure, a gluten free diet can help to manage symptoms.

Coeliac Awareness Week 2012

This year, the annual Coeliac Awareness Week (14th-20th May), organised by Coeliac UK, is raising awareness of the condition by challenging friends and family to try a gluten free diet, particularly when eating out.

How M&S can help...

Gluten Free Foods

Our specially developed range of gluten free bakery products, Made Without Wheat, is available in most of our stores and includes gluten free bread loaves, rolls, cakes, crumpets and even hot cross buns. The range also includes two fresh sandwiches, Gluten Free British Ham and Salad Sandwich and Gluten Free Cheese Ploughmans. To find out more about the range and to download a list of stores where it’s stocked please click here.

Rather than have a special diet section in store, we’re making it easy for our customers to identify gluten free foods by putting a gluten free logo on the front of pack. Look out for the many new products we’ve recently added, including gluten free crumbed chicken, fish cakes, crisp bakes, soups, sausages and burgers. Products that carry this logo have all been tested to ensure levels of gluten do not exceed 20ppm.

Gluten Free Ordering

You can now choose from a selection of your favourite M&S Made Without Wheat products online and simply collect from your nearest M&S store (not including petrol stations and some smaller Simply Foods stores). Chose from a luxury fruit cake, crumpets, seeded loaf or even chocolate and cherry cake. To browse the range, please click here.

Product lists

We also provide lists of our foods that don’t contain gluten to help our customers find food that’s suitable for their diet. These lists are updated monthly and can be downloaded from our Allergies and Intolerance section.

Allergy Information Box

We use the allergy information box on the back of pack to indicate whether a product or its ingredients contains gluten. This makes deciding whether a food is suitable for your diet easier as you don't have to read through the ingredients list.

M&S Cafes

If you are visiting our M&S cafes and are avoiding gluten, you can chose from a selection of gluten free options including soup with gluten free roll, gluten free muffin or gluten free brownie. Our M&S staff can also provide more information about any of the food served in our cafes.

Ask the Nutritionist

Do you have any queries about a gluten free diet or our products? Then our Nutrition Team is on hand to answer your queries, simply email Nutrition@marksandspencer.com for a personal reply.

Dover, Kent: Wallett's Court Hotel Restaurant

During an amazing stay here we ate in their restaurant and enjoyed a stunning top class meal.

They could easily tell me what I could and couldnt have and there were about 4 delicious desserts I could indulge in!!

For main I had - Monkshill Farm fruit-fed pork, buttered greens, apple & five spice puree, sarladaise potatoes with prune, apple cider jus
(No photo, I was too busy enjoying it to remember to take a photo - sorry!)

For dessert - Elderflower creme brulee with strawberry parfait and strawberry jelly and basil oil strawberry coulis

 

 Another of the delicious desserts, also gluten free - Vanilla pannacotta with rhubarb, burnt orange puree, orange powder and rhubard jelly.


WOW!!!!

At 34.95 for 2 courses it's not the cheapest, but well worth it for a special occasion - my mouth is watering now just thinking about it!

P.s I highly recommend a visit to the hotel, a peaceful retreat, the staff couldnt have been friendlier, everything was perfect! And a Crystal Massage by Mary is an absolute must, an hour of pure bliss!!!

 http://www.wallettscourthotelspa.com/The-Restaurant%281399639%29.htm

The Restaurant at Wallett's Court is the beating heart of the hotel. The Wallett's Court team's creative culinary experience brings imagination and flair that has seen them win recognition with entries in The Good Food Guide for 22 consecutive years, a 2 rosette award in The AA Best Restaurant Guide and many other plaudits from national and international guides and in the press.

Birthday Hamper!

My very thoughtful and very clever friend made me up a hamper for my birthday which she filled with gluten free treats amongst other lovely things!!

 

It included: 

Half & Hearty Pure Oat Flapjack Super Snacks - with raisins and sunflower seeds, so so moist and scrumptious and I do love a flapjack!!

 

Morrisons Free From Rocky Road Slices 

and

TruFree Custard Creams

It also contained Dairy Milk, Highlights Hot Chocolate, Minstrels, and a Galaxy Ripple.

I won't be going hungry for a while!!

I think she should go into business making and selling gluten free hampers like mine, it's just brilliant!!!

Canterbury, Kent: Boho Cafe

We ate in here yesterday for lunch where I enjoyed a gluten free brie, bacon and sweet onion chutney pitta, which was delicious!

They're decor is funky and different and there is a fun and friendly vibe and the owner is coeliac so understands the importance of an easy eating experience for us gluten free-ers.

They offer white and brown gluten free bread and gluten free pittas.

Unfortunately I forgot to take a photo as it was so good I ate it all as soon as it was put infront of me!!

But here's a photo of the front of the cafe and my empty plate!

So if you pay a trip to Canterbury, Boho is your place for lunch!