Thursday 31 January 2013

Chicken Satay Sticks with Spicy Peanut Sauce

chicken satay sticks
Just Out Of The Grill
I'm so glad that I made this, I hadn't had Chicken Satay in years. I'm always on the lookout for new recipes to create from scratch and this just popped into my head, I'm very pleased that it did, it was a bit yum.

The chicken needs to marinate for around 3 hours for optimum flavour but other than that this is a really quick and simple meal to make.

Wednesday 30 January 2013

Sriracha Burgers - Hot As You Want

sriracha burgers
Hot And Juicy
We're at that stage in the Free From G abode where we're planning meals around Sriracha, it really does work with anything. Obvious choice was to make a Sriracha Burger, so that's what we did, there's only a few ingredients but man, do these taste good.

Tuesday 29 January 2013

Butternut Squash Fries Experiment

I'm really new to Butternut Squash but it's fast becoming a favourite. Prior to making these 'fries' I'd only roasted it a few times, I love roasted Butternut Squash but felt that I could do a lot more with it. Plus, I miss experimenting, there hasn't been a lot of that going on recently.

I haven't eaten chips in over 3 weeks due to a bit of post moving over indulgence, I miss them. When trying to think up something else to do with Butternut Squash other than roasting in oil I wondered if it would be possible to cook them minus any fat, that's how this experiment came about.


Thursday 24 January 2013

Great Tip For Peeling Garlic

garlic bulb and cloves
Skin Peels Clean Off
One of my biggest prepping pet hates is peeling garlic and I use a lot of the stuff so I dread to think how many hours I've spent begrudgingly doing it. Only the washing up could get a greater sigh out of me in the kitchen. I absolutely hate peeling blooming garlic.

That was until I tried something so simple, yet so astonishingly effective.

I Popped a garlic bulb into the microwave on high for 15 seconds. It takes the moisture from between the clove and skin and makes peeling it really, really easy. In fact, of all the cloves I peeled, the skin came off whole for each one. The garlic comes out very hot so don't try to peel as soon as you take it out, leave for a minute or so to cool a bit.

If you only need one or a couple of cloves just microwave for a few seconds.

I wish I'd discovered this trick years ago, it works a treat. Oh, and it also means that you don't get sticky garlic fingers, I hated having sticking garlic fingers. Time saving and less mess, always a bonus.

Wednesday 23 January 2013

DS Gluten Free Ciabattas

ds gluten free ciabattas
Best Gluten Free Bread Around
Much like the DS Crispbreads these have been a staple for me so I've overlooked posting about them. I'm always on the lookout for new discoveries to write about but forgot a couple of long term favourites in the process. Ridiculous really when I consider these to be the best gluten free bread product out there.

Tuesday 22 January 2013

DS Gluten Free Crispbread

ds gluten free crispbreads
One Of My Faves
Not sure why I've never written about these before because they are a staple gluten free product constantly in my kitchen cupboard. I've eaten countless boxes over the years so you know that's a great sign. I guess it's because they've been a staple and not a new discovery, that I kind of overlooked them because they've always been there. DS Gluten Free Crispbread very much deserve a post though.

Monday 21 January 2013

Yoki Cheese Popcorn

yoki cheese popcorn
Cheese Popcorn
I'm a huge fan of cheese and a lover of flavoured popcorn so when I saw this I couldn't wait to try it. The cooking smell was incredible, even while it was in the microwave, our entire apartment smelt like we had been making cheese for a month. To some that may sound stinky, to us, very appetising!

Friday 18 January 2013

Bento Boxes Are Great For Gluten Free On The Go

It might be considered a form of O.C.D. but how my food is stored and how it's served is a constant worry whenever I'm not in my own home. I've been glutened enough by others to know that I never want another episode and so if I have to come across all O.C.D. to make sure that doesn't happen, I will.

I was admiring Bento Boxes online one day when it stuck me that this would be the perfect solution to eating out. I could make my own food, hot or cold, take it to wherever I'm going and eat straight out of the box with my own non contaminated utensil. It's not like whipping out something from cling film or a food bag, it's actually quite a classy way to eat.

Thursday 17 January 2013

Post Christmas Gluten Free Weight Loss Diet

I've never had to diet after a Christmas period before because I don't eat any differently during that time to the rest of the year. This is somewhat worse than just having to lose weight gained at Christmas though, this is weight gained since we moved in late August, happy eating weight gain resulting in half a stone. Ouch.

Two things are majorly to blame, Thorntons Chocolates and Jack Pots Crisps. I was eating both on a daily basis and enjoying them far too much. Other than that I was eating pretty normal, well as normal as you can possibly eat when you're experimenting for a gluten free comfort foods blog.


Wednesday 16 January 2013

Goiabada Cascao - Guava Paste

goiabada cascao wrapper
I'll Explain...

Why the empty wrapper photo you may be wondering? Well the reason is hunger, I woke up hungry on Monday morning and thought.... fruit! I'll have that fruit thing, that'll be good for breakfast. It was, but first thing on a Monday morning there was never going to be a photo op of the goods, I can barely use my limbs prior to 11am.

I love browsing the world food aisles in the Tesco we go to and we've had some surprising gluten free finds, this is the latest, it's yum.

Tuesday 15 January 2013

Gluten Free Digestive Biscuits - Tesco Free From

gluten free digestive biscuits
Crumbs
Digestive biscuits have never been on my radar, not unless they were covered in chocolate and even then they've never been a favourite of mine. The only reason I bought these were to make a biscuit base for Key Lime Pie over Christmas but I never got around to it, then I needed to cut back on some calories so I figured it was just a bit too naughty to make.

So these have been overlooked, until yesterday when I wanted a small sweet treat and I decided to try them.  Have to say, they aren't the boring, bland, dry biscuits I was expecting, they were really, really nice.

Monday 14 January 2013

Gluten Free Popcorn - Make Your Own Flavours

microwave popcorn
Not Just Butter For Long
Popz Popcorn has always been a favourite, it could always be found in one of my kitchen cupboards prior to being gluten free and it still is. I personally like the sweet flavour best but The Glutenite isn't keen, so we came up with a really simple way to enhance the flavour to suit both our tastes, the butter flavour is the best base for doing this.

Thursday 10 January 2013

Blair's Death Rain Habanero Pepper Potato Chips

blairs death rain chips
Check Out The Heat Meter
I've written a lot about gluten free crisps on Free From G but these are something else entirely. It had been a long time since I last had these due to a habanero overdose that will never be forgotten, so when I've been writing about how great the other crisps are I've neglected to recall how Blair's Death Rain Chips compare.

It's an unfair comparison really, the others are good but Blair's Chips are special. When I found out that most of Blair's products were gluten free I was over the moon. I absolutely love this stuff but I do have to take breaks or else I'd end up on a Britain's Fattest type show.

Wednesday 9 January 2013

Gluten Free Pork Scratchings

gluten free pork scratchings
Naughty But Nice
As mentioned in yesterday's post, it wasn't the end for the thick cut of fat from the pork shoulder, I didn't let it go to waste. Ah no, I made my take on Pork Scratchings, gluten free Pork Scratchings! Very yum.

Tuesday 8 January 2013

Make Your Own Mince, It's So Worth It

pork mince
Good Pork Mince
I've always used ready bought pork mince but for whatever reason our Tesco began stocking just the extra lean kind. It was ruining our meals because it was too dry and it lacked flavour, so I decided to make my own. What an incredible difference!

Monday 7 January 2013

Pigsty Pie

pig sty pie
AKA Pork Mince Pie
Not a shepherd or cottage in sight, this is pork mince with smoked streaky bacon, an indulgent golden Gruyere mashed potato topping and a rich herby gravy. The Free From G Pigsty Pie!

I don't eat red meat so this is a great alternative to using beef or lamb. It's a really filling meal that doesn't take long to prep and can be made in under 30 minutes.


Friday 4 January 2013

Gluten Free Thai Green Curry

gluten free thai green curry
Thai Green Curry With King Prawns
This is such a ridiculously easy meal to make and so long as you've already made your curry paste and deveined your prawns it takes about 10 minutes from start to finish.

All you need is a wok, a cooking spoon and a container to put the rice noodles into to hydrate them. So easy!

Thursday 3 January 2013

Gluten Free Thai Green Curry Paste

gluten free thai green curry paste
Homemade Thai Green Curry Paste
Here's an old favourite that we only just got around to documenting; Thai Green Curry Paste with the Curry recipe to follow.

This paste does require quite a few ingredients but the resulting flavours are amazing. We make up a big batch and freeze in individual portions, it doesn't take long to do.

Wednesday 2 January 2013

Happy New Year From Free From G!

crab christmas lunch
Christmas Lunch
The Christmas holiday just gone was my absolute favourite ever. I usually have some form of cough or cold at that time of year and it leaves me feeling run down and not in the holiday spirit at all. This time though I was lurgy free and full of Christmas cheer for the first time in my life. It made a huge difference, I'd never been a fan but now I'm converted.

That crab right there was my requested Christmas lunch. No frills, just a crab, just the way I wanted. I didn't use the knife and fork in case you're wondering.