Gluten free gnocchi
What on earth do you eat if you are gluten free and vegetarian?
Someone wrote in with this very question a few months ago and it gave me real pause for thought.
Once upon a time I was vegetarian and I can’t imagine how difficult it would be to eat meat free meals while also trying to avoid almost every carbohydrate (aside from potato and rice) that are generally on offer at cafes and restaurants.
And I’m not even going to venture a guess at what the dining options would be if you also had to give up yeast, soy or dairy – so for the moment lets just stick with gluten-free vegetarianism.
At least we live in a multicultural country. Mexican, Asian and Indian food are good options with their emphasis on corn, chickpea and rice-based foods. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by glutenfr | Posted in Events, Lifestyle, parties, treats | Posted on 24-10-2010
Eveleigh farmers market
I think I tasted the best gluten free cupcakes ever on the weekend at the Eveleigh farmers market near Redfern in Sydney.
I was having gluten free expo withdrawals so I headed into town to check out what was on offer at this gathering of boutique growers, makers and bakers.
Most of those in the baker category seemed to have something gluten free in their product line-up and the kids and I had a great time sampling their wares.
But lots of other products were also trading on their gluten free credentials – good to see!
So, back to those cupcakes.
I wanted to take a picture because they were also very pretty but they kind of got eaten. However I managed to grab a business card. They were made by The Cupcake Princess.
Healthy Feast also had a stall so I got to try a few more of their products including a couple of fruit pies and sausage rolls. Yum!
And I couldn’t resist a couple of gluten free chocolate and raspberry brownies from Fare Gourmet of Castle Hill. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by glutenfr | Posted in lunches, restaurants, Travel | Posted on 21-10-2010
Last week I regaled you with tales of supermarket aisles and vacuum packed bread in the UK, and I pondered the future of gluten free products here in Australia.
Now its time to discuss some of the other potholes we encountered on the road, oceans away from the comforts of our own sweet kitchen.
As always, the biggest trouble we had was with eating out. Hot chip fatigue set in early this trip as munchkin refused any type of potato foodstuffs that didn’t come heavily salted in a foil packet.
Britain proved especially challenging for us here because although the supermarkets offered a good selection of GF wares, very few cafes had any non wheat options whatsoever.
That’s a bit of a departure from our experience here in Sydney where a friand, muffin or an almond biccie can be found most decent coffee brewing establishments.
Then there were the restaurants and pubs which boasted little other than off-limits delights like scampi, beef and ale pie and sticky toffee pudding. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by glutenfr | Posted in kids, lunches, Recipes | Posted on 17-10-2010
I recently embarked on a new strategy to make carbs more tempting to my gluten free kids.
I blogged about it at the time so I have decided to write an update because we have been having quite a bit of success with the plan – which basically involves them making their own meals.
Here is a chronicle of our latest efforts:
The first involved them designing their own pizzas, a no brainer and predictably popular.
The second was more experimental: roll your own uncooked ricepaper springroll. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by glutenfr | Posted in bread, kids, Travel | Posted on 14-10-2010
Sainsbury's Free From range
I’ve just returned from a trip that sent me out of my culinary comfort zone and into unchartered territory: the gluten free food aisles of UK supermarkets.
I am happy to say we not only survived, but even thrived on this foreign soil.
I can also gladly report that all the important food categories were catered for: pasta, bread and jam tarts.
According to those in the know, Sainsbury offers the widest gluten free range which it has self branded as “Free From” and from there we procured some very nice pasta spirals that were exceptionally soft and palatable.
They also have a bread under the same label which I was very happy with indeed. It was a plain white bread loaf that is split in two and spread over two vacuum packs. Not only was it tasty as toast but a bit of gentle persuasion in the microwave rendered it suitable for sandwiches too which was an unexpected delight and added to our lunchtime repertoire substantially. It also was dairy free, which we appreciated very much. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by glutenfr | Posted in beverages, bread, News, Science | Posted on 10-10-2010
... or would bread be better?
I’m glad to see those brainy folk at the CSIRO have got their priorities right. They are developing a gluten free barley strain with one particular end product in mind….beer!
In case you were wondering, yes it is a gluten free bloke at the head of this project.
Now it’s not that I am averse to a tipple. No indeed. But it does make me wonder if perhaps he doesn’t have gluten free kids like we do here at GFF.
If he did I reckon we might soon be looking forward to munching into a lovely gluten free barley loaf instead. 
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by glutenfr | Posted in Lifestyle, pets | Posted on 07-10-2010
I spend so much time fussing over my 3-year-old’s diet, it only stands to reason that now I have two new kittens I must fuss over their diet too.
I lost my last cat to kidney problems, and co-blogger Mandy also said goodbye too soon to a furry friend this year.
One of the questions she asked at the time was whether gluten was afflicting our beloved pets in the same way it does some of our children.
She discovered that some vets are saying that cats shouldn’t be eating the carbohyrdrates that make up the bulk of many pet foods, leaving her to wonder whether this might be the cause of so many chronic illnesses and degenerative diseases in our pets.
With this in mind, I have had my eagle eyes on everything I buy for my cats. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by glutenfr | Posted in bread, Recipes, treats | Posted on 03-10-2010
What happens when you own two squishy bananas and a new gluten free cookbook?
Banana bread of course!
Unlike many gluten free cakes, this bakery treat is indistinguishable from its wheat-based equivalent.
And the one I made tonight was up there with the best.
My inspiration was 100 Best Gluten-free Recipes, a new US cookbook by Carol Fenster.
I had to tweak the recipe a little as it asked for a specific US brand of sorghum flour, but it turned out well regardless. Read the rest of this entry »
