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

Its Saturday night and kids are rolling their eyes at your offer of spaghetti bolognaise.

Time to step our for a bite . . . but where?

Your favourite cheap and cheerful Italian is now out of bounds, and the fish and chip shop on the corner wont fry up without first coating every menu item in batter.

The people at the local burger house gave you a dazed look when you asked if there was any wheat flour in their patties,  and the kids don’t like curry.

If you’re anything like us, thinking about all the places you can’t eat can easily take the fun out of an outing and sometimes we just resort to trying our luck anywhere in the desperate hope there will at least be hot chips on the menu (not beer battered please!).

Thankfully we have recently discovered a number of pizza restaurants adding gluten free options to their menus – so that is where we have started to head when we need a change or we are away from our normal stamping ground. Many cafes are also starting to serve up gluten free bread alongside perennial favourites like beans and sausage instead of the battered-everything style kids menu – so we always ask (before we are seated) if that is an option.

Asian restaurants have also become great family favourites – but checking out ingredients can be tricky in some places (are the noodles wheat or rice based?) – so its best to have an idea in advance which meals are safe (and enjoyable) for your family to eat so you only have to check one of two separate items on the menu.

Mexican restaurants can also come in handy with some of their corn-chip and taco-based offerings generally being wheat free (but always best to double check).

Over time, of course, we all find a handful of places that we love and trust for doing that little bit extra, and it is those restaurants we would like have in our new family friendly restaurant list.  This list is in its infancy – but with your help we want to turn it into a handy guide of nice family friendly places to eat – even if they are not officially a gluten free venue.

You never know – it might just help another gluten free family looking for a easy, pleasant meal out when they are away from home.

LH

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Rowies cakes

Ooops – Did I just write “Feather-light cup cakes for the kids?”  What I really meant to write was “Feather-light cup cakes for the grownups” because these fluffy little babies are way too good to waste on the youngsters.

I jest of course because my littl’un gets one every single time we visit the Pyrmont growers market – and unlike any other gluten free cake I have ever given him, he always devours the entire thing.

Yes, Rowie’s little gluten free cakes really are the business if you miss the taste of feather-light sponge. The sad news is that cakes like this don’t come in a packet mix, so you’ll have to try to hunt them down around town – or lobby your local cafe to start stocking them (they should fly off the shelf even with the wheat eating crowd).

In fact the secret behind their lovely light texture “is all in the making” according to the company founder, Rowena.

Luckily for me, when the market is not on, a shop near my work stocks these little cupcakes – and if you’d like to get your teeth around one, then Rowie has a bunch of stockists around the country listed on their website (although the vast majority are in Sydney).

There are a few readymade treats in the Rowie’s range and the cakes pictured above (which I have frozen for safe keeping) are called ‘cheeky passionfruit’. They also come with excellent allergy-free credentials: as the main ingredients are potato flour, eggs, fruit pulp and sugar (of course). This makes them wheat, dairy, yeast, soy and nut free.

Rowie’s also supplies some products to Woolies and one of these little treat bars was slipped in with my cakes in my last visit to the markets. Its a dairy and gluten free rocky road – which was just divine (and very rich).

There was none of that cloying flavour that you sometimes get with dairy free chocolate – and I have already decided a few of these bars will be sliced up and served at my next children’s party.

While on the subject of supermarkets, co-blogger Mandy insists that its high time I share with you my favourite gluten soup brand which you can find among the other soups (I’ve spotted it in both Coles and IGA). She says this product definitely qualifies as a ‘lurker‘ because it does not reside in the  health food section with all the other gluten free fare.

Mainly vegetarian (which appeals to the wanna-be health nut that occassionally resides within me) these La Zuppa soups have a nice flavour and texture, but its worth trying a few different varieties because some are definitely more delicious than others. My current fave is the spinach and chickpea.

LH

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