Gluten-Free, Whether You Need It or Not

Very good article in the New York Times on gluten-free diets and eating no wheat.

Brighten up your sunrise!

As we know breakfast is the most important meal of the day, so it's essential to get in enough nutrients first thing. What better way to do it than a cereal with a mixture of grains instead of wheat. I tried Nature's Path new gluten-free cereals. Maple Sunrise is a cereal with a variety of grains - flax, quinoa, buckwheat and amaranth, corn and brown rice puffs. These grains are all combined with maple syrup. The mixture of grains gives this cereal a great boost to your body with essential nutritional benefits, such as good sources of energy, protein and B vitamins. I really enjoyed the crunchiness and texture of the cereal as well as the variety of flavours. The maple blends well and adds to the sweetness. I did however find the maple flavour very strong. I had someone else try the cereal and they loved it and didn't agree with maple being too strong. So, maybe it was just me!
I also tried the Nature's Path gluten-free Os - primarily aimed at children, but I think adults would happily eat them too! Corn and whole grain rice make up this crunchy cereal which I really enjoyed. The texture and flavour is really nice. Just a suggestion, but I think if the maple syrup from the other cereal was added that it may appeal to children more! Nature's Path do a great range of cereals, see their website for more details. I'll definitely be trying more of their products. Nature's Path products are available in all good independent health stores throughout Ireland and some large supermarkets.

Pizza time-the wheat-free living way!

Wheat-free and gluten-free homemade pizza, we've sorted that one. But what if you actually don't feel like cooking, and want to indulge pizza the fast food way? I finally found one! It is Tesco's free from range - cheese and tomato pizza in the freezer section in Tesco stores. The base was dough like and a good texture, tomato sauce was grand, could do with a bit of a kick, maybe more spices and the cheese was stringey and tasty, what you would expect from a pizza. Made from maize starch and flour so both wheat-free and gluten-free. With 300 calories per 3rd of a pizza, it is hefty enough on calories. But sometimes we just want fast food and calories! Now, I'm not saying this pizza is the most amazing thing you've tasted but it's not bad and I would try it again, and I'd prob add a few extras myself! Enjoy.

Mrs Crimbles roast dinner!

Mrs Crimble's stuffing mix makes a welcome treat as usually I've to avoid the stuffing in a dish and can't go near it in a sandwich! Stuffing can be a really tasty treat. Mrs Crimbles stuffing mix is easy to make and the sage and onion stuffing is delicious. You can use it when you are making you next roast chicken dinner. It's made in a matter of minutes and ingredients include rice flour, gram flour, onion pieces, salt, sage and parsley. Literally made in a matter of minutes! I really enjoyed the taste of it and was delicious stuffed in a roast chicken! Mrs Crimbles in available in most large supermarkets in Ireland and some health shops. For more info on products and Mrs Crimbles story, have a look on www.mrscrimbles.com I will try more of the Mrs Crimbles product range such as mixes and crackers and report back.

Anyone for pancakes?

It doesn't just have to be pancake Tuesday for pancakes! In fact, they make a terrific treat for breakfast at the weekends! It's tough to find ready-made pancake mix that is wheat-free and gluten-free. Hale & Hearty do a 4 grain pancake mix that is very tasty! The recipe is crammed with 4 supergrains - rice flour, quinoa flour, buckwheat flour and chickpea flour as well as golden flax seed which is rich in omega 3 fatty acids. Therefore this recipe is high in fibre and low in GI. The pancakes are easy to make too, simply prepared in 3 minutes. I really enjoyed the pancakes, very tasty and nutritious, filling too. Try them plain with just some honey or syrup or be a little more adventurous. I tried mixed berries and creme fraiche - delicious! For a hearty breakfast, try crispy bacon with maple syrup or add a poached egg. Or try it sweet with melted chocolate. The possibilities are endless. Hale & Hearty foods are available at health shops. Check out their website for more great products.

Oats so nice

I'm a true believer in oats being a superfood and one of the healthiest grains. They contain protein, iron, zinc, and magnesium, which provide the body with energy and oats can lower your cholesterol too! Oats release energy slowly and keep you sustained all day. They are high in fibre too, wholegrain, and suitable for vegetarians. Paterson's do a super range of oat products - Oat bites, rough oatcakes, olive oil oatcakes, cracked black pepper oatcakes, and triangle oatcakes. I was spoilt for choice! Oatcakes are wheat free and a great nutritious snack or for lunch. Paterson's oatcakes are great quality, nice and crunchy, a good texture and very filling. I liked the cracked black pepper the best. They are very different, and have a real kick to them. Here's a separate review. Paterson's oatbites are very interesting, I found these great for on the go, just pop them in your bag and you know you've a healthy and nutritious snack with you. They do 2 flavours - cheese and chive and chilli and cheese. Both are really delicious and are filling and very tasty. I particularly like the chilli and cheese, nice and spicy yet subtle. Here's a full review on them. You should really try Paterson's oats range, very good. Available in most good health shops. They should consider developing the oatbites range and look at other flavour combinations. I'll be queuing up to try them!   

Dessert please!

Dessert is a rare treat and usually happens only if there is an option on a gluten-free menu. And custard is something that I haven't had in years! Hale & Hearty do a gluten-free and wheat-free custard, so I was delighted to get a chance to try it! I followed the instructions on the pack, which seemed pretty straight-forward. Put 3 tablespoons of custard powder, 6 tbps of milk or a dairy-free alternative and 2-3 tbps of sugar or sweetener into a pan. Stir it all into a smooth paste. Add remainder of pint of milk and stir well. Slowly bring to the boil at medium heat whilst stirring. Reduce the heat and simmer for a minute to desired consistency. Allow custard to stand for a minute before stirring. It sounds very easy. However, I tried cooking the custard twice and it was really runny both times. The second time I cooked it, I tried adding an additional spoon of custard powder to thicken it, but it wasn't much better. On the plus side, the taste was really great, so I really wished that it did work. I'll try a third time and see if the consistency is any better. This custard has no added sugar and real bourbon vanilla pods and the vanilla taste really comes through and is very tasty. This custard is wheat-free, gluten-free, dairy-free, sugar free and GMO free. Hale & Hearty do a great range of products, so I will be tasting more and reviewing. Watch this space!

Spice things up!

In need of a healthy savoury snack instead of a sweet one? Crisps are off the menu as we don't want to be unhealthy. I tried Patersons oat bites, and really enjoyed them! I've never had an oat-bite before! These are basically little bites of oat cakes packed with flavour to make you feel fuller for longer. Absolutely ideal for snacking. I tried the chilli and cheese flavour - very tasty! And might I add, very filling too. Chilli, cheese and oats might sound like an odd combination but they really work! There's a hint of cheese and a mild chilli flavour to give it a bit of a kick and the oats are delicious. I really liked these and would recommend them too. What I also liked is that there are 5 individual packs in the box, which make them ideal for snacking and for popping in your handbag for a snack when you are out and about. Don't be tempted by the crisp aisle, oat bites will satisfy your craving. Available at all good independent health stores and from Goodness Direct

Wheat-Free Living Blog is 3 years old!

Hard to believe that I started writing this blog 3 years ago! My passion to find healthy wheat-free food as a necessity and a hobby has turned into so much more. I've been in touch with so many suppliers of food brands to taste their creations and review loads of wheat-free and gluten-free products. I'm really grateful to all you blog readers too as your comments help me greatly, and also encourages manufacturers to create even better food! It's great to see more and more brands catering for the wheat-free living market and restaurants and cafes catering for dietary requirements and coeliacs. Ireland in particular has really stepped up its game and offers a lot more variety than 3 years ago when I started my blog. Long live the wheat-free community, and here's to many more years blog writing and reviewing! Thanks everyone :-)

Pure Indulgence

Wow is all I can say! I have tasted the most divine gluten-free and wheat-free chocolate biscuits ever! Chocolate bourbons by Prewetts from Northumbrianfinefoods are seriously pure indulgence. These biscuits are crunchy, chocolately, a great texture and just fabulous! A chocolate biscuit with a chocolate flavour filling coated in milk chocolate. Made from rice flour and maize flour, also contains milk and soya. These biscuits are also suitable for vegetarians. Each biscuit has 126kcal which for pure indulgence isn't too bad in my eyes. They are pretty filling too, so one should be enough. The only problem is that they are so tasty that you'll want more!! They actually taste better than what I can remember of real biscuits! The packet didn't last long I can tell you that! I'm not sure where these biscuits can be bought as a friend gave them to me, but I'll contact the manufacturers and find out and let you know. More info on their products is on their website. They have a good range of wheat-free and gluten-free products which I'm interested in trying. If you find these biscuits in a local shop, please let me know!!