London Pancake Day -- Gluten Free Recipe

I love pancakes! By far one of my most favorite breakfast foods. Since I was at work, I was not able to celebrate pancake day, but I plan to make it up this weekend!

A lot of the gluten free pancake recipes I find are quite complicated. So many different types of flour, xanthan gum, this and that. Seeing all the ingredients puts me off. Because I usually don't have all the ingredients since I am fairly newly diagnosed. I like plain and simple sort of recipes. And believe it or not, one of my easiest gluten free recipes is pancakes! My recipes isn't based on exact measurements, but I work around how much I plan to eat/make.
--Few heap tablespoons of gluten free white flour.
--1 egg
--1 tablespoon sugar
-- Mix it all together
--Then add milk to make it a medium consistency.
--Grease the pan, pour in some pancake mix and move the pan to the size you want it. And there you have it!

** A bit of a sidenote. These don't come to be big fluffy pancakes. They come out quite thin. I've learned that most British people prefer thin pancakes over thick. And I have got used to the thin.

Let me know how the recipe works out for you!

Gluten Free Baking -- Macarons

Every Friday at work is Cake Club day. Those that have signed up, have a specific week they bring in some sort yummy baked goods. Boy do I love cakes, muffins, cookies, brownies and all the sweet stuff you could imagine. But you guessed it -- I’m not in Cake Club. No cakes are really ever gluten free. Unless you make it with gluten free flour.

This past Friday, it was my friend’s turn to bring in something. So she brought in raspberry cupcakes, which looked amazing! She always hears me moan and groan about things I can’t eat so made me homemade macrons. Macrons are made with almond flour, so its gluten free! It was so sweet of her to make that extra batch, because macrons aren’t the simplest things to make.

Here is a recipe similar to my friends. Also, a book she recommends is "I Heart Macarons." I haven’t tried making them yet, but plan to do so very soon. They just taste like a normal desert! Because they are made with almond flour. Nothing really changes in the recipe for coeliacs. YAY for that! Even the fillings are usually gluten free. The above photo is chocolate. Another flavor I had was coffee macarons with a vanilla filling. 

T.G.I. Friday's - Gluten Friendly Restaurant

What can I say... I've always loved T.G.I. Friday's and always will! Though it may not be the healthiest, man is it delicious. I had the sizzling chicken and cheese and did not feel sick after. They have a variety of salads, steaks, burgers (without the bun), etc. 

 

Sadly, a lot of my favorite dishes I can't have. But luckily they do have a gluten free/lactose free menu. Not many choices, but still its better than nothing. This is one of the very few restaurants in the U.K. that actually have its own gluten free menu. I think they have one because it is a big U.S. chain and a lot of U.S. chains are good at having gluten free menus. Here are some U.S. restaurants that have gluten free menus.

 

P.F. Changs (Click on gluten free) 

Bertucci's Italian Restaurant

Chilli's Bar & Grill 

Boston Pizza Gluten Free Menu

Any one know of any other good chains?

Coeliac Disease Symptoms Come In All Forms, Shapes & Sizes

When I read this article written by the well-known British journalist Esther Ranzen -- I was just wowed. Esther’s daughter, Emily, suffered in her early years with ME (myalgic encephalomyelitis) a disorder that leads to extreme chronic fatigue and weakness. They went through a lot with her – she was bed ridden and basically disabled. Emily had lost any sort of hope that she would be able to do things normally again. With Emily’s will power and determination to get better she learned to talk and walk all over again.

As Emily grew up she decided to go on a diet that involved no carbohydrates, no wheat, basically nothing that is fine. She had always had this rash on her arm and after being on this diet it disappeared. Emily was tested for everything in the book, but not coeliac disease. To make a long story short, Emily did have coeliac disease.

It just shows, coeliac symptoms come in all forms! This was the first I had heard of coeliac disease causing a rash. Sometimes when I feel really down on missing out on some of my favorite foods, I think to myself… “Man, I feel a lot better – food is staying in my stomach, I don’t feel so tired, I don’t look so drained even after 10 hours of sleep the night before. I guess that’s some positives” Everyone’s body is different, so I guess symptoms come in all forms.

Definitely, take a read of this article. It’s great. At Last, I Have Discovered the Secret of Emily’s Lost 14 Years. 

Barcelona - A Gluten Free Friendly City

Beautiful Barcelona!

Sometimes when I'm at home and in my own environment I kind of forget I have coeliac. That's because I'm in my own element. I have my foods around me, I can cook on my own will or even go shopping if I need too.

So going on trips and holidays isn’t that easy for me, especially since I’m not that fond of any meat besides chicken. And when I go on holiday, boy do I feel the wrath of coeliac -- especially in countries where most workers at restaurants don't speak English. Even though I print out coeliac travel cards, most don't understand what it actually is. I try not to get frustrated, but it’s hard.

I recently went on a business trip to Barcelona.  On a whole, people at restaurants there are more aware of coeliac disease than other foreign countries I’ve been to. I gave my coeliac card to restaurants staff and most seemed to know.

Chicken a slice of cheese and side salad

Here’s a recap of my meals out in Barcelona, Spain.

One night we went to the Hard Rock Cafe in Barcelona. They actually had a list called "Platos No Gluten" (plates without gluten). Needless to say, there isn’t much on the list, so I ended up having a piece of chicken, with cheese on it and a side salad. Surprisingly the honey mustard and blue cheese dressing were gluten free. So I said just chuck it on the side! But at least they know what coeliac is and what they were dealing with. The meal was good, but it was really annoying that nothing but a piece of meat was gluten free.

Roasted Vegetable Paella

The best restaurant I went to is La Fonda Del Port Olimpic. They were so fantastic and aware of it!. They even had pasta dishes, and at the bottom of the menu said "We have pasta for celiacs." Which made it helpful. I had the traditional roasted vegetable paella. It was delicious! And I did not feel sick the next day. They ensured me they only used oil and spices in making the paella. Later that week, I went back to the restaurant with colleagues from work, as I was I craving pasta. I ate it and was ok. 

I’d rate Barcelona as a fairly gluten friendly city. A lot of their chips and snacks also have "Sin Gluten" written on it. Meaning no gluten! So they are aware! Which makes it a lot easier.

The Best Gluten Free Cereal – Chex!

I think the hardest meal to cater for on a gluten free diet has got to be breakfast. I know there are eggs and meats, but I’m not that fond of  the breakfast meats and I’ve just got myself to start eating eggs! Even if you like eggs and meats you can’t really eat that kind of breakfast when you go to work everyday.

Most people just have cereals or some toast. I don’t make toast at work because the toaster is contaminated and gluten free cereals are well nasty!!! I’ve bought so many gf cereals, had it once and then not touched it again. However, one gluten free cereal that is amazing and makes me feel like a normal person is CHEX! Chex has five gluten free cereals, rice, corn, chocolate, honey and cinnamon. I just love them! For those of you that live in that states, you’re lucky because you can get them at a grocery store, but for those that live elsewhere in the world we don’t have them in our supermarket. But here in the U.K. my husband found a place that sells it. You can order it online or go to the store. It’s called “The Stateside Candy Co.”

CHEX it out :-) 

FREE Gluten Free Treats

Since I got diagnosed only a few months ago I’m always surfing the web for recipe ideas, product reviews and of course free gluten free products! Seriously, who doesn’t like free stuff? I think the trials are great. Gluten free food is not cheap at all. Sometimes you even buy the product and you just don’t like it. I’ve thrown so many things away because they taste awful, but with a free trial it’s great! If you don’t like it that much and you throw it away you don’t feel as bad.

I received a wonderful trial package from DS gluten free. I received coupons; custard creams and crisp bread, which were both delicious. Here is the link for the free offer. 

I’ve also signed up for other offers, but they have expired. If I get anymore I’ll be sure to post. 

Gluten Friendly ToasterBags

Gluten free bread always tastes better toasted, but when I’m at work I can’t really toast my sandwiches and I don’t use the sandwich maker.

For the obvious reason -- contamination city like woah!

So this weekend I discovered toaster bagst! I know this is old news, but I never saw the need of these up until I was diagnosed. At work today, I wiped away as many crumbs on the toaster as I could and gently placed my toastie bag with my sandwich into the toaster. Left it in there for about three minutes and boy was it perfect! Bread was nicely toasted and most of the cheese had melted and the bag was in the same condition as it went in. 

I managed to dump the sandwich on another plate without the bag getting on the plate. Skills I know. If you are coeliac and haven’t tried this, give it a try! 

Starbucks Gluten Free Sandwich

I work in one of the most beautiful areas of London (in my opinion) -- St. Paul's Cathedral. I love the area! It is always buzzing with a mix of tourists and business men and women. With that combination of people there are tons of restaurants, fast food joints and small supermarkets everywhere!

So for lunchtime, people always have a choice of the type of cuisine they'd like to have, but for a coeliac it's not that easy. A standard lunch is a sandwich, wrap or panini. I've scoped out a lot of places around me and only one place does a gluten free sandwich and that is Starbucks. Every few weeks Starbucks changes up there gluten free sandwich. So far, they've had tunafish, Branston Pickle with mature cheddar cheese and my favorite so far -- the Starbucks gluten free roasted chicken pesto sandwich on good ole Genius bread. It is delicious and I highly recommend it. The filling tastes nice and fresh and the bread becomes quite soft because of the pesto filling. Also, it just feels so good to be able to go out and buy a sandwich. Though it is sad out of all the in such a buzzing area like St. Pauls that coeliacs only have a choice of one sandwich from on place! But hey, think about it this way... its better then nothing right?

P.S. If you work around the area and know of any places that does gluten free sandwiches, let me know!

Marks & Spencers Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Muffin

One day I was at Liverpool Street Station and had about 10 minutes to go before my train departed. I was craving some pecans, random I know. So I went into Marks & Spencers and stood in line because that’s where they usually keep the dried fruits and nuts. I was walking through and saw yummy mini donuts, little pieces of cake and then I saw a chocolate chip muffin in a different green packaging. I picked it up and saw that is was gluten free one! So I bought it J

This muffin is absolutely delicious. I cut into half and put some butter on it and microwave it for 30 seconds. It becomes so soft and tastes like a melty chocolate cake. I highly recommend it. Also, since I’m the only one in my family with celiac if I buy a big package of food it makes it hard for me to finish before it goes all hard and out of date. This is packed as an individual muffin so you can finish it easily.

I look at nutrition facts quite a bit, and processed gluten free food is high up there on the calorie and fat scale. This M&S muffin is no different. One muffin is 525 calories and has 29.4 grams of fat, but hey it’s all good in the hood. We can treat ourselves every once in awhile :-)