Christmas is coming....

As the shops have started to tell us, Christmas is looming ahead. ARGH! It is at my house this year, I have about 25 people coming throughout the day. I think they will all be here for lunch.

For the first year ever, it is going to be completely gluten free. Usually everyone makes stuff and brings it to the host house. This year I have offered to buy and make everything for the big day so I can be completely sure that nothing will be contaminated and I will be completely safe to eat anything.

Usually at family events, I take my own stuff or people will make me somthing and keep it safe somewhere. Which is lovely. But for once, I would love to be able to go up to the food table and help myself to anything on there and not worry about anything. It is very easy to do this - just have to buy the right products and those that do not require gluten free will not notice any different. For me the difference is huge!

Thankfully all the family are in agreeance with me and quite happy for me to make sure it is all gluten free. They have all offered me money as well as time to help prepare at my house.

I now have to think about the menu!

Holidays

Recently my family and I went to Queensland on a holiday and did all the usuals. I just had to share some experiences and advice for some of you out there.

If you are planning on hitting all the theme parks and going to the Worlds, they are a lot of fun. We went along to Australia Zoo, Dreamworld and Seaworld. I checked prior to going and not one of these parks had gluten free food available. Word of warning for any of you attending - take all your own food. There really is nothing available, I found a chocolate bar at Dreamworld but that was it. Dreamworld actually say you cannot take your own food in but we didn't anyway and I was prepared for a fight if they were going to take it off me. I did not have to worry as they didn't even ask to check the bags.

In Queensland, a lot of the supermarkets close early on a Sunday night. Like 6pm. We spent a Sunday with friends, found a gluten free place to eat at for lunch but I wasn't very impressed with the quality of the food, which is lucky as the name escapes at the moment. It come to 5.30pm and the little man was getting tired and it was getting near dinner time and his bed time so we drove back to our unit which was 30 - 40 minutes away. On our way back we decided to stop at the supermarket to get some supplies for dinner, for me mainly as I had nothing really back at the unit. We got there at 6.10 and the place was shut! We could not believe it! We are from a city that has supermarkets that are open till midnight or even 24 hours but in Queensland and in some areas, they close early. I was not impressed. I cannot get take away. The boys can but I cannot have any sort of convenience food at all. The supermarket is my only saving grace. Hubby stopped at a 7-11 and they didn't have anything there either. Luckily I had gluten free bread back at the unit - that was my dinner. Needless to say by breakfast time the next morning I was champing at the bit to get some decent food. And we did.

Habour Town is a great place which is a discount shopping centre, meaning most of the shops there are factory outlets. They also have plenty of cafes and we found one that made the most divine breakfast and they are gluten free! Mustang Sally's is their name. Really child friendly place too.

My advice? Always find out the hours of the supermarkets wherever you are going - vital to know this! Also have a meal always ready to go back where ever you are staying or have a back up plan.

Gluten free product websites

There are quite a few wonderful companies out there that make completely gluten free products and others that have a line of gluten free products

Check them out

http://www.orgran.com/

http://www.freedomfoods.com.au/

http://www.healthbrands.com.au/topics/freefrom/default.htm

http://www.patties.com.au/glutenfree/products.html

http://www.cadbury.com.au/sites/cadbury/index.php?pageId=35

http://www.naturallygoodproducts.com.au/

http://www.coeliac.com.au/

And the best places to buy these products?

http://www.absolutelyglutenfree.com.au/

http://www.glutenfreefoods.com.au/

http://www.glutenfreeshop.com.au/front.htm

http://www.glutenfreefavourites.com.au/

Good Websites to try for recipes

If you feel that you are frustrated with the lack of recipes and/or advice out there for when you are newly diagnosed or if you have been diagnosed for years and you just want to spread your wings, then try these websites

www.taste.com.au – you can search on gluten free recipes from magazines like Super Food Ideas, Notebook: and Delicious.

www.goodrecipes.com.au – this has a gluten free section also

http://members.ozemail.com.au/~coeliac/det.html

http://recipefinder.ninemsn.com.au/

http://allrecipes.com/Recipes/Healthy-Living/Gluten-Free/Main.aspx

Favourite Places to eat out

Eating out can be very tricky. Not only do you have to worry about if the food itself gluten free, but if the surroundings it is prepared in is gluten free. With some coeliac’s there is a high risk or contamination. That means that food preparers will need to watch the boards they use, the utensils they use to ensure they previously weren’t used for wheat and gluten products.

A lot of places do not realise this and will say something is gluten free without really knowing if it is.

I’ll share one experience I had.

I was at a 3 day training course the work had organised. Morning, afternoon teas and lunch were provided. This normally brings cheers from those that do not have to worry about intolerances, but it brings a big groan from me. I made the appropriate enquiries and was assured that gluten free is catered for.

Well, the 1st day comes. The course supervisor asked before we started if anyone had dietary concerns. Great in front of everyone – 30 people, I had to yell out that I had some. And I was the only one. But yes I said that I had advised the organisers and he was happy with that.

Morning tea came and there was chocolate cake for the others. Nothing marked gluten free for me. Oh well, it was not the first time I had been omitted from the morning/afternoon tea sessions. I had a cup of coffee and a gluten free bar I had brought along.

I was extremely nervous about lunch. I advised the person refreshing the room that I needed gluten free for lunch and I was worried that there would be nothing there due to nothing being provided for morning tea. The guy looked annoyed I approached him and went off to ask. He came back that gluten free would be provided for.

I was still nervous. Lunchtime came and we all trotted down to the dining room. There was a buffet laid out. I approached the supervisor (generally they are meant to know more than others) and asked if the gluten free meal was ready. Well he gave me the strangest look and said the salad on the buffet was gluten free. Oh no, I thought to myself, here we go again. There was nothing prepared for me and I was expected to eat salad off a potentially contaminated buffet when the others get soup, salad, hot dish (I think it was pasta) and dessert? Talk about unfair!

I took a deep breath and I told him that I could not have the buffet due to contamination issues. He look puzzled and I said that if someone uses the tongs for the salad and the tongs for the bread rolls, I am stuffed and I would be very ill.
He said that he would go to the chef. After 5 minutes goes by he comes back and says that they will do a vegie risotto. That sounds fine to me. So I sit. It comes out and I get my risotto. It was yummy. But that is all I get to eat. Time has run out by this stage anyway.

Afternoon tea comes by and there is a range of cookies for the others. Nothing gluten free for me.

This was the trend for the 3 days. The last day I asked for something for morning tea and afternoon tea – as the others were getting food. I was not. I was told there was nothing gluten free in the kitchen.

The place where the course was held, was across the road from the supermarket. If someone had been thinking and wanted to give good customer service, then someone would have gone across there and bought something for me. My company was paying big $$ for this course for goodness sakes!

Anyway, I wrote all this and more in a letter to the boss of the company and he apologised but that was it. It just makes no sense that the food industry isn’t aware of the common issues that coeliacs have.

I am very loyal to places that serve gluten free and are very gluten free aware. For the reasons like the above (which has happened sooo many times!) so to make things easier for me I stick to where I have been before.

I’ll list those I have tried:

Taco Bills
The Border Inn
The Food Cube - Melbourne CBD
Café de La - Werribee, Melbourne
The Imperial Hotel -
Trio’s – the mexicana spud
Dymocks Café in the bookstore in Melbourne City
So n So's Restaurant - Laverton, Melbourne

Orgran Food Magazine

If you haven’t already, be sure to head to the Orgran website as they have a great magazine that you can subscribe to for free! Yes it is full of advertising for Orgran products but at least you can see what there is and where to get things from. It has great recipes and new and upcoming products - plus a great kids section. You can get it sent to your for free or pick it up at your local health shop.

Oliver's

I am very envious of the folk in New South Wales. I read this article and wished all across Australia they could do the same! There are 2 Oliver's between Gosford and Newcastle - lucky people!

What is so great about them? Its a fast food place, but as they say, "Real Food, Real Fast". They are the healthy alternative to the normal junk food that we see along highways. And they cater for gluten free people! YAY!!

I would love it if they became a chain retaurant, I would rather take my son there then any other place that sells burgers, chicken and fries.

Well done Oliver's!

Magazines

I love it when I see magazines have a gluten free special. It is a guarenteed purchase from me!

Two this month have caught my eye - Better Homes and Gardens and Women's Health and Fitness. The latter is much better than the first but both should be encouraged and thanked for having gluten free recipes and information in them.

What?!

I was browsing the net today and come across this article.

I cannot quite believe this? Adding this to normal ingredients makes the items allergy free?

Does it really work and if so, how come the whole coeliac universe doesn't know about it? (the article was written in Dec 06)

has anyone used it?

It is coming to that time of year

One I hate as a coeliac, I really do. Where to go for Christmas lunch/dinner/evening out?

This year it is simple. Christmas Day is at my place. My family and in-laws don't know it yet but the whole day is going to be gluten free. I simply won't allow non gluten free food in the house. In order to do this, I will need to buy and cook all the food myself, but that is the sacrifice I will make in order to not worry about what is going in my mouth.

However, the office parties I have no control over. Thta's fine, I simply won't go. People ask me why. I reply because I don't want the hassle of trying to organise a gluten free meal.

I have been flexible, I have been easy going about going to different places and trying to organise a meal. But the time for that has ended.

Once place in Melbourne made me so cross and angry. It was a work do, a work lunch. The person organising it said that - despite it being a buffet meal - that I would be looked after. She rang the restaurant 3 times to confirm that a gluten free and vegetarian meal would be supplied. Yes they said, no problem. I was reassured. Sort of. We got there. All of the other 15 people got up and went to the buffet. I sat at the table by myself. The waitress asked me if I was okay. I said I would like my gluten free meal. She knew nothing about it. She went and asked the restaurant supervisor. He went to the front desk. He went to the kitchen with a menu in his hand. It was clear he knew nothing about it. They came back to me. I could have a plain steak. I don't eat meat. Back to the kitchen.

Now they knew all this supposedly! By this time everyone had finished their soup and was on their mains or the pasta/salads. I am starving and all this food around me is being eaten.

A word on buffets. No matter how nice a restaurant - I will never ever eat from a buffet. Why? Cross containmation is the coeliac's worst enemy. I tell people I cannot take the risk of bread roll crumbs or something like that going into the salad - the only thing on the buffet that I could possibly eat . What one tiny crumb? Um yes. One tiny crumb can make me sick for days on end. I don't know about you but who can afford to be sick so often? Not to mention the damage to my insides!

Finally I get a plate of roasted vegetables. And a pot of brie cheese with salad. While it was nice and I got to eat. It was not worth the $25 they charged. Plus I didn't get offered any dessert :( Everyone else had a huge selection of desserts.

I am never, ever, going out to a lunch again. I don't care if it makes me an unsociable misfit and outcast. It is easier being that then being dealt like you are a nusiciance andf a pain just because your body cannot handle gluten!

Yes I should be more positive, I will be. It is downright discouraging. If you are not a coealiac or gluten intolerant - please think about what it is like to never have a choice on a menu.

Potato Cakes

I made these yummy potato cakes the other night. My lovely and wonderful friend, JH, is a great cook and she always thinks of me. She made the batter for her family and shared the recipe with me. Very very simple!

1/4 cup gluten free cornflour
1/4 cup gluten free plain flour
2 eggs
little water

Mix all together - thinly slice potatoes, coat with the batter and fry in oil. I don't like using heaps of oil, so I used a little in the bottom of my fry pan and it worked wonders! These potato cakes taste like the real thing! I am not kidding! Don't they look scrummy?

Enjoy!

Menu Plans

I wanted to mention that I have another blog that is all about the everyday things - Nellbe's Scribblings . I blog my menu plan for the next week. In an attempt to organise and be a little more in control of my life, I have menu planned my and my son and Husband' s meals in advance and cooking them on the weekend to free up the weeknights.

For this reason I like quick, fast and simple meals. They also need to have the added bonus of being gluten free (for me at least). I discovered a great website, Calorie King, which has heaps of recipes on it, all of them indicate if they have gluten or not. Fantastic!

Gluten free article

I like this article from the Sydney Morning Herald. It explains gluten free and being a coeliac really well. It also says that coeliacs can spend up to $1000 more a year for due to the gluten free diet. I am not surprised as while it is handy to have all those wonderful gluten free products in the store, you do pay much more than the non gluten free equivalent.

Gluten Free Wheat Free Show in Melbourne

It only comes but once a year! The Gluten Free Wheat Free Food Show is back in Melbourne for 2007 ! If you are a coeliac, or cannot tolerate wheat or gluten then this show is the once for you. It is on at the Melbourne Exhibition Centre (Jeff's Shed to all the Victorian's) on October 20th and 21st 2007.

I went to the one last year and it was HUGE. So many people, so many shopping carts, so much gluten free food in one spot - I did not know what to do first! This seriously has to be the biggest event on any coeliacs calender.

So wear your most comfortable shoes, bring your appetite, bring your money and bring a friend to help carry all the food and enjoy yourselves!

Hello all

This blog is all about my experiences about being a coeliac. This very basically means that I cannot eat anything that has gluten or wheat or any of its by products in it.

When I say basically - that is exactly what I mean. Gluten, it seems, is in almost all foods on this planet. Okay I am being dramatic and there are so many foods that do not, the frustrating part is that most foods that are easy and everyone has have gluten in it.

Let me explain. All takeaway/fast foods have gluten in it. And if by some chance they do not, then more than likely they are prepared in the same area as food that does have gluten in it. This is known as cross contamination and something I will explain further down the track.

But, I hear you say, takeaway/fast food is bad for you. Why would you be disappointed that it does? Well, think of this way. Could you never ever ever eat takeway again? I mean never? Think back to that last time you had fish n chips, or a burger, or Subway, or a pizza, or roast chicken? Why did you have it? Having a bad day? Couldn't be bothered cooking? The kids were nagging you for a Happy Meal? You worked till 10pm at night and hubby hadn't thought of leaving you dinner? Just felt like it? All very good and valid reasons I think. If you are a coealic, you know you very well could not dash out to pick up something. You would have to cook something and if you had nothing at home, then you would have to go to the supermarket, think of what to make, buy gluten free ingredients and then go home and cook. Then eat and then clean up.

If you are a coeliac then I am sure that you get people coming up to you and telling you how much easier it is these days. To be a coeliac that is. There is food everywhere! I beg to differ. Yes, it is a little easier and a little exciting to see all those gluten free food products on the supermarket shelves. But, you still have to be responsible for all your own cooking. And in reality, 2 full shelves of food products you can eat in a whole supermarket, isn't really that much.

I think I am sounding down and bitter about this and I should be happy that I no longer have pain and I am alive and I am lucky to have the choice of eating good food.

I just want to explain what it is like to be a coeliac. So other coeliac's know that there is someone who understands what it like, who goes through what you go through. And for their family and friends, to know what it is like for them. To know perhaps how to make life a little bit easier for them and to know that you can invite them around for a meal and know what to make without asking them, "now what will YOU eat?"