Glutened

Having not been glutened since August, being glutened today was a shocker, I had forgotten just how awful it makes you feel. Feeling slightly better now, my stomach still feels like a washing machine on spin cycle but hey, the worse is over thankfully.

Problem is, no idea how it happened. I made Chicken Soup, gluten free stock cubes, no pepper in sight, all the same ingredients I usually use. It's a mystery how I got glutened. I did use the same pan to cook the lovely gluten eaters dinner of Chicken Carbonara last night, but as always, the pan was scrubbed with Fairy antibacterial liquid the same as every other time it's used.

No more chicken soup for me. The coeliac disease diet is a tough one sometimes.

Have Issues Eating Out Because You're A Coeliac?

I'm a night owl, and late last night I saw a show called Freak Like Me on BBC3. There were some freaky things that people did, but there was one person in particular who annoyed the hell out of me.

There was a women who has a hard time eating out due to her 'problem'. She described eating out "as a nightmare" Is she a coeliac I wondered? Maybe she's intolerant, or has food allergies? I was thinking, aw, I can totally relate to the eating out problem.

What was the 'problem'?

Genius Gluten Free Bread Review

I had high expectations for Genius gluten free bread as you may have already read about. I had it delivered, not by Amazon, because they don't stock it at the moment, but by my delectable gluten eating other half. He picked it up for me at Waitrose (though you can get in in lots of other places too). First off, I was surprised that it wasn't sliced, not a problem at all, but I'm used to encountering (in the bad old days) gluten free bread that is sliced, and that falls apart as you try to get it out of the bag!

The Thing About Being A Well Coeliac...

With a blog about gluten free foods, is that because I'm well (thankfully), I don't obsess about being a coeliac. I don't think about needing a coeilac disease diet that much. I just get on with it and in the back of my mind I'm aware that my diet is different to how it used to be and that I do need a special diet with lots of gluten free goodness.

Gluten Free Tortillas - Fajitas Devoured!

Fajitas had been missing from the menu for quite some time in our household. There was an attempt to make my own gluten free tortillas, but they ended up like naan bread rather than tortillas. Last week we made the discovery of a site that sells gluten free tortillas and so we ordered a pack.

Result! I made Chicken Fajitas and the tortillas were lovely. They fill you up quickly, much like all gluten free bread related products, but no complaints there. The gluten free tortillas are a bit on the small size, so the chicken and vegetables had to be made smaller than I would usually make them, but again, no biggie at all.

Promising New Gluten Free Bread

During a repeat of Come Dine With Me (my favourite foody show ever!) yesterday there was an advert for a new gluten free bread called Genius. A few showings of the adverts later and a bit of research and indeed, this bread does indeed look promising.

I haven't had a chance to sample this bread yet, but as soon as I get my hands on it I'm having cheese on toast! The thing about this gluten free bread is that it actually looks like bread, not like the gluten free loaves you usually see.

I cannot wait to try this and I'm hoping for a gluten free bread that actually is somewhat like bread. I hope that the next time I write about Genius it's a glowing review, but if it isn't, then it's because it's just the same as all the other inedible rubbish that we on a coeliac disease diet get palmed off with.

Genius Gluten Free Bread - anyone tried it yet?

Gluten Free Eating Out - When It Sucks

I was planning a special night away for me and the other half, so I emailed the restaurant / hotel asking whether or not they could cater for my gluten free diet and pepper allergy. I went into great detail about what being a coeliac meant, that I would require gluten free with no pepper seasonings. The owner assured me that I didn't have to worry and that he could cater to any needs that I had. So I gave him fair warning right? I emailed and then called a couple of weeks in advance and everything was set.

Avoiding Gluten Cross Contamination

Joseph Joseph make great contemporary items that are highly design led but also very practical. These Index Chopping Boards are not only great for storage, but also for piece of mind.

Each chopping board is colour coded with index tabs containing a food icon. The green is for vegetable preparation, blue is for fish, white is for cooked foods and red for meats.

Not only is this great for a regular kitchen, as it keeps foods being prepared separate from each other, but it's ideal for a gluten free kitchen where cross contamination may occur.

Cross contamination is a big problem for us on a coeliac disease diet, if there are things to make it even easier to avoid it, they're worth investing in. Even better if they look as great as this too!

There's other Joseph Joseph Index Chopping Boards Available too:
New Style Joseph Joseph Index Chopping Board
Index Plus - Chopping Board Set With Co-ordinating Knives by Joseph Joseph

It's Foods Like This That Remind Me Being A Coeliac Ain't That Bad

Even if I could eat gluten, there is no way that I would want to eat this. I may fry foods from time to time, but my gluten free naughtiness recipes have nothing on this! And no, you aren't seeing things, those are doughnuts!

Gluten Free Homemade Chips

Straight Out Of The Pan

I don't think there's any competition when it comes to homemade chips verses frozen oven chips. For starters they're fresh and they're fried, that's what I consider to be a real chip.

Free From G is all about gluten free comfort foods and what better recipe to share than this one? Who doesn't love chips?! Good homemade gluten free chips to go with almost anything.

Here's how to make them: