gluten free familyA mum's blog about gluten-free living in Australia

Every so often we unearth a new gluten free product that makes a big improvement to our quality of life.

Lately, however, it is some older products that have been reinvented or distributed in a new way that have proved to be our saviour – and it is the reinvention of two new breakfast staples that has me all a-flutter this week.

Rice puffs
Our big breakfast discovery for the week are these “new and improved” rice puffs from Freedom Food. We tried this brand a few years ago – but there was something amiss with the texture and taste so we swiftly moved on to Nature’s Path Crispy Rice, which we have been eating happily ever since.

Only problem is they are hard to find – and our local IGA only has them in stock sporadically so we need to buy up a truckload when we see them. Read the rest of this entry »

Against all the odds, I did manage to produce a car-shaped cake for my son’s birthday party.

Yes, it took two attempts and far more time than I am prepared to admit here – but on Sunday I was able to serve him up that big blue car cake as promised.

Here’s how it unfolded. I bought two NaturallyGood chocolate mud cake mixes thinking that would easily be enough mix (6.5 cups) to fill the mold I blogged about last week.  As you can see from my picture gallery below, my first attempt at a car lacked – ahem – wheels.  And because it took ages to bake, it got a bit crispy on the bottom (or top) as well.

But fortunately the vegetable shortening and flour pan lining held up well and I had no problem at all removing my half-car cake from its mold.

In my second attempt (which I neglected to photograph owing to it being midnight) I used almost three cake mixes (which easily made up the 6.5 cups of mix) and used the rest to make muffins.

When my final result still fell short of a whole car,  I concluded that gluten free cakes probably don’t rise as much as ordinary ones and vowed next time to fill the mold almost to the brim and put a tray underneath to catch any drips in the oven.

Luckily I had kept the first cake and was able to carve bits off that to complete the car shape.

As you can see – the pre-made icing was not too hard to handle and didn’t scrub out too much of the original car detail. Read the rest of this entry »

Call it the folly of a desperate woman – but I am hoping to pull off a modern-day miracle this week when I attempt to bake the best ever gluten-free car-shaped birthday cake.

It all began a fortnight ago when our birthday party season officially kicked off with a bang.  A poolside party with one of our son’s best friends yielded a fabulous feast of lolly pops, marshmallows and hot chips – all things our little guy could eat.

Not only did he have a ball – but we didn’t have our usual heartbreak of him feeling like a party pariah – where he gets to watch all the other kids gobble down things he cannot.

Fortunately in this day and age -  most party hosts are sensitive to our predicament and are happy to make a little concession here and there to make our little guy feel like one of the crowd.

We are also lucky in that most hardcore party fare – chips, lollies, chippolatas etc – are largely okay for him to eat – or at least we choose turn a blind eye to the possibilities of small quantities of wheat  (I realise many other kids do not have this luxury).

But what happens when you are invited to a birthday bash with people you don’t know so well – and who may not even know that your child has a dietary issue? Read the rest of this entry »

My haul from last year

Its show time for Sydneysiders once again in November as the Irrisitable Gluten Free Show comes to the Royal Hall of Industries at Moore Park on November 20 – 21.

The venue has changed from last year’s show – which was held at Darling Harbour – and I think it is also a week later than previously scheduled, so do double check your diary.

It may not be as central – but one of the good things about the change of venue is that it also now a good deal cheaper to attend (I’m not sure if the two things are related – but last year I paid $25 entry which was a bit of a sting).

I believe ticket prices are now $10 per adult at the door – which makes a big difference for a family of four – but  a quick check of website indicates you can also pre-register for free tickets – so that could also save you a dollar or two. (Though you may also have to factor in the cost of  parking given Moore Park isn’t particularly close to any train links.)

My co-blogger Mandy and I will most certainly be there, soaking up the gluten-free vibes, sampling all the gluten free sweet treats, and quizzing stall attendees about the minutiae of their product ranges. So for those stuck out of town – and unable to attend – please send in any burning questions you may have for manufacturers or retailers and we will make sure the tough questions get asked! Read the rest of this entry »

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 »

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 »

It can be a complicated world out there for the gluten intolerant.

On top of not being able to eat wheat, many of us must avoid other stuff too, and the most common “poisons” seem to include soy, dairy and yeast.

Soy is one of the more controversial of these ingredients – and recently someone wrote in to chide us for ‘promoting’ soy products on our blog.

They claimed soy was far less healthy than the food business would have us believe.

Yet another wrote in to defend soy, saying that without it, many breads and pastries would be rendered inedible.

I must admit to being a fence sitter on this particular issue. I think people must make their own decisions when it comes to what they can and cannot tolerate.

As I personally don’t know for sure whether soy, yeast or dairy are healthy or unhealthy for the general population, I’ll have to stay on that fence for the time being. Read the rest of this entry »

Psssst, all you gluten free folks in Melbourne busily planning your day out at the Irrisistable Gluten Free show on October 2-3, we have some free double passes to give away (value of $40 – so a decent saving). [UPDATE: COMPETITION NOW CLOSED]

For the unitiated, the show is being held at the Melbourne Convention Centre and will feature loads of food stands, educational sessions and live gluten free cooking demos.

I think we have made it pretty clear how much we love gluten free food fests here on the GFF blog. They are where we catch up on all the hot new products and sample fairly large quantities of cake. We also try to sit in on the many interesting talks from nutrition and lifestyle experts.

Grownups will have to pay $20 for entry to the show and it will cost $15 for kids aged 12-16. Family tickets are also available for $50 – that is unless you enter our competition and win a free double pass.

All you have to do is email us at mail@glutenfreefamily.com.au with the name of the show in the subject bar. The first five replies will win a double pass each which we will post out to you.

Don’t be jealous Sydneysiders. On November 20 – 21  the Irresistible Gluten Free Food Show will take the floor at the Royal Hall of Industies, Moore Park. the Sydney Convention & Exhibition Centre in Darling Harbour.

LH

More than a dozen princesses and fairies descended on my house on the weekend to eat, drink and be merry.

This bunch of belles were in the dark about the gluten free thing and I don’t think the g-word was mentioned even once.

They were thrown off the scent largely thanks to my favourite gluten free mud cake mix – popular as ever with the gluten quaffing crowd – and some marshmallow-garnished red jellies.

Our little party people were also more than happy to tuck into the popcorn, rice crackers (which I cunningly jazzed up with a cheese square and half a mini tomato), a watermelon & kiwi fruit platter, gluten free mini snags, corn chips & dip and some regular chips. Read the rest of this entry »

As one of our Facebook followers commented, gluten free sweet treats are pretty easy to pull together at home. It is the creation of tasty savouries where new inspiration is most welcome.

For this reason, one of the highlights of the gluten free expo for me was the Diego’s stand. They make gluten free corn tortillas which are sold in Coles, IGA, BiLo and Foodland – and are also sold by Woolies under the Select brand.

But what was really great was that they were demonstrating were some brilliant new ways to use them. Though regretfully I did not get to their official cooking demo, I came away from their stall with two great new ideas to add to my arsenal of kid-friendly carbohydrates.

In the absence of specific instructions, I decided to put these to the test at home:

1. Yummy tortilla triangles:

They used a flat sandwich maker to make it. They sprayed the tortilla with oil, spread it with red pesto and added diced ham and cheese and folded it half. They then toasted it (the toasting irons need to touch to get the right effect). After it was cooked they sliced it into portions. Read the rest of this entry »