Gluten free travel

ups and downs

I am on the plane from Athens to Dubai as I write this. Having spent 3 glorious weeks with family and friends in the UK and Greece, I am happy to report some successes and some tribulations!

Firstly, the UK is easy! If you have a chance to get to Waitrose, check out their bread.....I didn't know weather to laugh or cry. The GF bread was amazing. In fact I thought I must have picked up the 'real' bread by accident. I was chuffed to bits, but also wondering why that kind of quality isn't available in Australia as well? Sainsburys followed very closely behind in terms of bread quality, and they also had the equivalent of a Bakewell tart......oh my goodness it was good! Same experience last time I went to the UK last year....I was happy! 

If you are travelling around Europe but starting in the UK my tip would be to grab as many of the par baked, vacuum packed rolls from Waitrose or Sainsbury's rolls as you can. Take them with you to mainland Europe. I took mine to Greece and I never had any issues with friendly taverna owners popping them in the oven for me while I was in Greece.

The downside of gluten

free travel is airports.....gosh I find them tough.  Doesn't matter how organised I am, either when travelling professionally or personally, I must admit I find them frustrating. I almost wish McDonalds did a GF roll and burger, globally....it would help (although a bit lower down the pecking order than this amazing Greek salad!)....until next time.....x

Waitose Gluten Free Bread

I went to the UK in September. A flying visit without the family for a school reunion. My brother took me to Waitrose to grab some gluten free bread. I was totally blown away. I got the whole meal rolls and the sliced bread. I had to double check the to make sure it wasn't the normal bread I'd picked up by accident. It was amazing. Soft, smelled great and even lasted for days without freezing. It also didn't cost the earth! While  I think gluten free products have come a long way in this country, we sure could learn a lot from the awesome gluten free Waitrose bread and rolls. www.waitrose.co.uk

A definite improvement in gluten free products

Guys, firstly again, I'm so sorry for the lack of writing! The kids are now 5 and coming up for 3. We have also added a labradoodle puppy to the family. Are we mad? Yes, totally!

So, I feel that things with gluten free bread may have improved....anyone else agree? finally County Lifenhave either listened to their customers, or tasted the terrible bread the produced, and it's improved! I went to the Frenchs Forest Farmers Market last week for the first time in years, and picked up some yummy gluten free bread.... I will get a picture of the name and packaging next time I'm there.

If anyone has any great bread tips, let me know! 

Old Time Bakery Organic Gluten Free Wraps

I had the best tip ever from a cafe owner in Manly (Pure Wholefoods http://www.purewholefoods.com.au/) when I ordered one of their gluten free wraps, which I must share with you.

First off, I must tell you that the wrap I ordered was so good, I actually called the waiter over to double, double check for me that it was definitely the gluten free wrap he had given me! It was, but he shared his tip.

The wrap I had was the Organic Guten Free Wrap from Old Time Bakery. I had tried them before, and didn't like them. But the waiter said to me, boil some water in the very bottom of a pan, and steam the wrap (either straight from the freezer or fresh out of the packet) for one minute, with the lid on - you'll get a lovely, pliable, easy to use wrap.

So I bought a packet of the Old Time Bakery Wraps and now feel that I have so much more choice! They can be frozen and then steamed in a minute, and I feel like I'm having a normal lunch! I've even used them for bacon and egg wraps in the morning.

What a great tip - thanks guys.

Singapore Airlines Gluten Free Food

Singapore Airlines, in my view, have always rocked anyway. But I haven't travelled with them since I was diagnosed. My husband and I have lived in Australia for nearly a decade now, but are originally from Belfast and Reading (UK) and I still have (at the moment) 3 out of 4 of my Grandparents alive, so I figured a trip to the UK with our little girl, Lucy, was in order before it was too late.

We always travel with Singapore Airlines - the service, cleanliness, efficiency etc have always been fab. And I was not disappointed with my gluten free options. Firstly, I got served first, with my little one who got her kids meal. This allowed me to eat with her, while my Hubby supervised Lucy's messy eating!

On the first leg I got fillet steak, potatoes, and yummy veggies in a tomato sauce. They had rice cakes instead of bread, a yummy gluten free cake for dessert - it was fab. On the way back from the UK I had scrambled eggs, a gluten free roll (which was so yummy), chicken casserole - I think my fellow passengers were jealous.

The only thing that let them down was there were no gluten free snacks in between meals available. Normally that would be fine, but I was 10 weeks pregnant and needing to eat all sorts of things, all the time, to keep nausea at bay. But I went prepared, so was lucky.

I would highly recommend travelling wtih Singapore Airlines - their attention to detail in the gluten free meals as fantastic. As for Qantas here in Australia - hmmm, I'll save that for another post!

Gluten Free Aussie Girl is back

I'm sorry, I'm sorry.....do I have an excuse for being offline for so long? A toddler, a job, a pregnancy and masses of travel - do they count as decent excuses?!!

I'm 10 weeks off my due date with baby number 2 - another girl I'm told! My hubby is totally cool with this prospect (he is a metrosexual afterall - loves shopping way more than me!) but has insisted we will need a house with 2 bathrooms, and room for a shed for him in the future. Fair enough! Our two year old currently demands he turns the golf off so she can watch the Wiggles, so he's got no hope with 3 of us girls in one house!

All is well, and this pregnancy has been so much easier than the first. I was diagnosed after I had my first little girl, so perhaps the gluten free diet is making it easier? Who knows.

I've travelled to the UK, Ireland, Singapore, Thailand, Perth, Melbourne, Brisbane since I last wrote - so I'll try to catch up with the good, the bad and the ugly over the next few posts on travelling with coeliac disease.

Any tips for coping with a toddler and a newborn will be gratefully received! x

Gluten Free Expo 2009

Wow, this was such an awesome event! I'm so glad my hubby and I got there early, as by the time we ran out of money and wanted to pop out and back in again to the ATM, there was at least an hour long queue to get in.

I left feeling stuffed full of yummy food - lots I'd seen before, much I hadn't. Pies, cakes, breads, cereals, sauces - all the things we have to look carefully for were there.

My product picks of the day were from healthy feast (http://www.healthyfeast.com.au/). Check out their range of products - the pies are seriously yummy, I cannot recommend them enough. But they also had some yummy white rolls, quiches, the most amazing array of cakes, tarts etc I'd ever seen. To my absolute delight, I found out they are at our local farmers market (Frenchs Forest) every Sunday so I'll be up there tomorrow clearing them out of awesome products!

I found a bread company I hadn't come accross before (http://www.zehnder.com.au/) I tried their mixed grain and turkish bread and both seemed really lovely, so I'll definitely be ordering stuff from them.

The biggest message I got from the day was that if you cannot find some of these amazing products in your nearby supermarkets or delis or cafes, as the cafe owners. Everyone I asked said they could get products to me, but also could I recommend anyone they could approach. It's worth remembering, the power is with us to try to help these amazing providers get us there beautiful products.