Blog Closed...

I have shut this blog down as I want to concentrate all my efforts onto the one blog.

Please come over at Nellbe Scribblings as I will continue to post all my gluten free finds over there.

I hate bread

As a coeliac, I cannot eat the glorious array of breads that are available. The gluten free range is not so vast and really don't like them. I do eat them sometimes and I will explore and perhaps try to create my own but I am lazy and since we are saving, I cannot afford to buy the expensive flours, etc to do so.

Good news though as an alternative are corn thins. They are rice cakes with different types of flavours and you can have almost any topping you like on top. My favourite at the moment is zucchini pickles. Yum, yum. They are also cheap. Between $2 - $3 a packet, much cheaper than a loaf of bread.

Once again though, I have to be careful which brand to buy. Corn thins are the best I think as I have had no reaction to them at all.

Link to check out

A friend sent this link to me.. I love it - doesn't the cake look yummy?!

Check it out!

http://www.epicurious.com/articlesguides/howtocook/primers/glutenfreerecipes_intro?mbid=rfv1w032608

Celiac Disease on The View

I saw this and thought it was great. I hope those that don't get 'The View' (only in Australia on pay tv) think so too.

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/