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.

Top ten tips for being gluten free

Check this out! My husband wrote this last night and posted it on http://www.taste.com.au/ which by the way, is an excellent website.

It's an awesome post that I wanted to share with you all, from the husband of a Coeliac, not an actual Coeliac. He talks a lot of sense, and has some great tips:

Great to see some solid advice for those who are new to the world of Gluten Free or have been diagnosed with Coeliac Disease. My wife is Coeliac and we both like to cook. It didnt take long to realise how little this needs to restrict you and in fact has helped us become more creative in the kitchen. Here are the top tips we have found

1. Join the Coeliac Society they can give you all the facts and assistance you need to get started. They also supply a great ingredient reference book.

2. Read up on what Gluten Free actually means and get smart on what ingredients and products need to be avoided. You dont need to hang around health food stores or the health food section of the supermarket. You can find gluten free products in the normal aisles if you take a look at the label and they are usually cheaper and better tasting.

3. Feel lucky you are in Australia - it has the best labeling policy in the world. If a product contains gluten it has to state that it contains it. So if it is an Australian labelled product and it doesnt mention gluten/wheat/barley/oats/grains etc then its gluten free! It doesnt have to say gluten free. Again the more reading up you do then you will understand this.

4. Gluten Free is a rapidly changing and improving market. Keep checking all types of stores for new products and try everything. We recently found some amazing GF products in a local IGA which was surprising.

5. Pasta - this can be a tricky one to replace but new brands are coming out all the time. One of the best is the cheapest - San Remo. Again just keep trying the different brands and eventually you will find something close to the real thing.

6. Bread - this is the tough one. There are many types of so called "Gluten Free Bread" which are barely edible and look more like cake with a funny chemical smell. Pick up a loaf and smell it. If it smells bad then you can guarantee it tastes similar. Dont give up hope there are some good brands out there and new ones are arriving all the time. Try Naturally Gluten Free and Choices Gluten Free

7. Someone has already made this point but it's a good one - just make naturally GF food then you are not substituting anything

8. Flour/baking - yes you can mix different flours but for me White Wings GF plain and self raising flour is fantastic so we just bake and add it to recipes as normal.

9. Keep looking online there are plenty of great websites and blogs around.

10. Enjoy it - GF cooking means using fresh quality ingredients which tastes so much better than the processed packged or take away rubbish and if you crave a pizza and a beer then try http://www.crust.com.au/ and buy some O'Brien's Lager from Dan Murphys Good luck! Jon

Not bad from a Northern Irish boy who was brought up on gluten!