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.