Tasty and healthy fruits

Gluten Free Yoghurt

Whether you’re heading off on a road trip, a romantic weekend getaway or months of intercontinental backpacking, if you are Coeliac then being prepared is important. Ensuring you are never without a few gluten free supplies is a must no matter the length of your trip or where you’re going.

If you’re road tripping then you will have lots of space in your car to keep emergency supplies. If you’re backpacking you will obviously have less space but there will always be some room for a few important, just in case, snacks. Even on a short weekend trip, you never know when you may find yourself hungry and glad that you decided to pop a few ready made snacks into your purse.

Great alone or for dipping

Perfect for travelling

Here’s my top 8 must haves for any gluten free traveller! Add your favourites in the comment’s below….

Fruit: A delicious, healthy and completely gluten free snack which can be found almost anywhere. Bananas, apples, pears and oranges are best for carrying with you, grapes and berries can be great for nibbling and melon, pineapple and mango can be tasty treats as long as you have something to cut them up with.

Hard Boiled Eggs: Easy and quick to prepare before you leave for a trip, a food that stays fresh for at least a few days and needs no preparation on the road is a great addition to your emergency food supply. Just peel away the shell and enjoy.

Yoghurt: Not all yoghurts are gluten free but there are many that are. Having a pot or two with you can be great if you find yourself hungry and unable to find anything else. If you’re struggling to find a flavour that’s definitely gluten free then go for natural yoghurt. Great on it’s own, great as a dip and great as a dressing.

Corn Tortillas: Easier to pack than bread and far cheaper than gf bread but works the same if you fancy something a little more substantial that fruit or yoghurt. These can be eaten with cheese and/or egg and veggies if you’re looking for something savoury or jam and/or peanut butter for something sweet. Rice crackers/crisp breads can also be used like this.

Gluten Free Bars: If you can pick up a few of these before you go, you will almost certainly be glad you did. Not to be eaten in place of a proper meal but can be a great snack to keep the hunger at bay until you can find something more substantial. Throughout my travels I’ve found lots of different fruit, seed and nut bars, in a wide variety of flavours, and on many occasions they have come in very useful.

Nuts and Dried Fruit: These contain lots of good vitamins and nutrients that your body needs and can also very filling and delicious. Making your own bags of fruit and nut mix is simple and easy to pack, no matter the size of your luggage or where you’re going. There are so many different fruits and nuts out there that there is sure to be something you like.

Rice Cakes: I find myself eating these more and more frequently as they can be used in so many different ways and are usually pretty easy to find. Flavoured rice cakes are great on their own as a snack and natural ones are tasty when dipped in yoghurt or topped with various sweet or savoury things such as jam, peanut butter, honey, cheese, ham or egg.

Your Favourite Spice: Not really a food but a must have. Carrying your favourite herb or spice can really add something to whatever you’re eating. If you love to spice up your meals then chilli or curry powder is a great choice and if you prefer something sweeter, cinnamon or nutmeg can be that small but tasty addition. Try  hard boiled eggs or corn on the cob topped with chilli powder or natural yoghurt mixed with cinnamon…yummy!

Don't forget your favourite spice!

Rice crackers

Good dietetica in microcentral

Small dietetica in Palermo

For any coeliac living in or travelling to Buenos Aires you are going to want to know about dieteticas. Dieteticas, which are health food stores, can be found all over the city and almost always sell gluten free foods, suitable for coeliacs. They come in various sizes and some are better for gluten free food than others but each dietetica has at least a few gluten free products and many of them have lots.

The majority of these places stock rice cakes, dried fruit and nuts,  gluten free bars and sweet, chocolate snacks. The better ones also sell cookies, crackers, pasta, bread and even fresh goods like empanadas, pizza, sandwiches and cakes. Many of them have signs up saying ‘apto para celiacos’(suitable for coeliacs) or ‘alimentos para celiacos’ (foods for coeliacs) so be sure to look out for these signs and the plenty of gluten free symbols which are found on everything they stock which is free of gluten. Dieteticas are great for picking up something gluten free no matter which part of Buenos Aires you find yourself in.

'Food for Coeliacs'

Tea Connection, Palermo

Tea Connection is another great place for Coeliacs looking for a place to eat out in Buenos Aires. There have 4 restaurants in different areas around the city,  in Palermo, Recoleta, Barrio Norte and Belgrano. We ate at the one in Palermo and really enjoyed the food and the cozy atmosphere. Gluten free dishes are labelled on the menu with a star.

There aren’t a huge number of dishes libres de gluten but there are a few in each section of the menu (2 starters, 1 wok dish, 4 salads and all smoothies and milkshakes) The average price for a dish is around $30 pesos (US$7-8) and the portions are a great size to fill you up. I decided to go for the wok dish that was gluten free: a bowl of rice and chunky veggies in a mild curry sauce…..very tasty!

When ordering I double checked with our server that my meal was suitable for coeliacs (apto para celiacos) and asked whether gluten free dishes are prepared in a separate area within their kitchen. She said yes, that gluten free meals are prepared separately. Great!

All of the meals at Tea Connection are freshly prepared using natural ingredients. My meal was healthy, delicious and nicely filling after a very long run. I will definitely return before we leave to city to try some of their other dishes.

Pretty teapots in Tea Connection

Fresh and tasty food!

Quinoa burgers

Let’s face it, there are lots of things about being Coeliac that suck! Let’s think much more positively though and talk about the good things that come with requiring a 100% gluten free diet…and yes there definitely are a few!

I’d be interested to find out whether fellow gluten free travellers agree or disagree with my 6 great things. Be sure to get in touch if you think I’ve forgotten anything….

1) You get to pick the restaurant! When you head out for a catch up with your mates and there is going to be eating involved it will most likely be up to you to choose the place. Not everywhere does gluten free options and being the one in charge means you can ensure you go somewhere that not only serves gluten free food but your favourite gluten free food.

2) You have an excuse not to eat bad cooking! You are visiting a family friend and they have cooked a lovely stew that to be honest looks terrible and smells even worse. This is a great opportunity to play the ‘Sorry I’d love to but unfortunately I’m coeliac’ card that will work much better that ‘emm, I’ve already eaten’ or ‘I’m just not hungry’ which will likely result in you being forced to ‘just try a small amount.’

3) You get to discover exciting new foods! Being diagnosed as coeliac will force you to try interesting new foods that you have never tried (or possibly never even heard of) before. Many people get into a pattern, especially when busy, where they end up eating the same things over and over. This will have to change when much of what you’ve been eating is no longer safe. You are forced to look for alternatives and many of these will turn out to be delicious! Bring on the Quinoa and tamales!

4) You aren’t tempted by all the crap at the office! For some reason office kitchens tend to be filled with unhealthy rubbish that you really don’t need to be eating every single time someone suggests another cup of tea. Most of what people bring to the table tends to be glutenous filled such as biscuits, cookies and cakes and they eat it just because it’s there. You will no longer have to exercise restraint as your gluten free brain knows it’s off limits anyway.

5) You always know what you’re eating! Many foods are filled with things you wouldn’t normally consider eating but do because they they are hidden in your food. Luckily for you, this is the case most commonly with processed foods, many of which also contain gluten.Freeing yourself from many of these processed foods may also be saving you from eating a whole load of dodgy stuff.

6) You are unique! Apparently up to 1 in 100 people may have coeliacs, with many of these people not aware of the fact. Whilst this figure is high, there are still many more people who are not coeliac and this makes you unique!

Empanadas

Jamon y queso sandwiches

Celigourmet is a dream for any coeliacs visiting Buenos Aires. They have 4 branches situated in different parts of the city and all of the products they sell are gluten free. There is a lot of variety to choose from and everything is delicious!!

No one should visit Argentina without tasting Empanadas and Celigourmet makes sure that this includes those of us on a gluten free diet. They sell 6 chicken or beef empanadas for $22 pesos (US$5.50) and they are extremely tasty! Their sandwiches are really good too and you can buy these either singularly or in bulk. I love their ham and cheese baguettes which cost $10 pesos (US$2.50) individually or $38 pesos (US$9.50) for 6 but these are quite a bit smaller than the individual ones which doesn’t make it as good a deal as I expected.

They also sell lots of cookies, cakes, muffins and chocolates. The closest celigourmet to me has different cakes out for trying each time I visit and they are always so good that you would never imagine they could possibly be gluten free….but they are!!!

Celigourmet in Microcentro (the centre of the city) is a bit bigger than the one in Palermo and also has an area where you can eat in. You buy whatever you wish to eat from the bakery and they heat it up and serve it to you in their cozy little seating area. Whilst you can choose to have whatever you want, most people tend to go for one of their 3 menu deals. You can get a tart, small pizza, crepe or cannelloni which comes with a roll, soft drink and a cake for dessert. These deals range from $18-25 pesos (US$4.50-6.00) depending on your choice.

I ordered beef and spinach cannelloni which came with a sachet of grated cheese and was delicious. The blueberry muffin with a frosting of icing sugar was light and fluffy and very yummy too. I will definitely be returning at least a couple more times to try the tart and the pizza.

This was the first time I have been able to eat out in the city and it was a great experience. It felt nice to be surrounded by others like me who cannot eat gluten and got me seriously considering the idea of starting a similar business myself some day.

Lunch at Celigourmet

A great dietetica in Palermo

Today I found an amazing dietetica for coeliacs looking for a wide variety of gluten free products in Buenos Aires. Dietetica 100% Natural can be found just off Santa Fe, on Bulnes, in Palermo. This place had been recommended to me by a local woman and I was very glad I took her advice and checked it out.

They have tonnes of gluten free products. Bread, pasta, pizza, empanadas, gluten free flours, cookies, cakes, rice cakes, crackers, seed and nut bars, candy, chocolate snacks and lots more. I bought a selection of things to try and as I waited in line it was difficult to resist the various snacks smiling their gluten free smiles at me from next to the cash desk. I bought a quinoa, almond and sesame seed bar and various chocolate and yoghurt covered rice cakes. I also bought a few things that I couldn’t be sure of what they were. Looking delicious and being labelled with ‘sin TACC’ was good enough for me!

Tasty ice cream!

Freddo in Recoleta

If you are looking for gluten free ice cream in Buenos Aires then Freddo is one good place to go. There have a number of locations throughout the city and clearly label which of their menu items are gluten free.

We ate at the Freddo in Recoleta right across from the city’s famous and very interesting cemetery (where Eva Peron and many others are buried) but I have seen many others in various areas throughout this huge city. A small tub of ice cream was $13 pesos (US $3) so not cheap but not bad. The ice cream tastes really good and you can choose from around 10 different gluten free flavours. I hear that they also do flourless gluten free cake here so I may have to check this out on my next visit.

Other than obvious glutenous ingredients such as cookies, I have no idea what some places put in their ice cream to make it not gluten free! Still, lucky for coeliacs, Freddo have decided to tell us which of their products we can and cannot eat and this makes me very happy.

Apto para celiacos

Sin T.A.C.C.

In Argentina, a law was passed in December of 2009, which if enforced could make life much easier for Argentine coeliacs and for gluten free travellers to this country. The law has yet to be regulated so as a result not all companies are adhering to the law. Still, by passing this law the Argentinian government are on the right track to making companies and the public more aware of celiac disease.

I have already found during my first week of living in Buenos Aires that many products are labelled as ‘sin TACC’, ‘sin gluten’ or ‘apto para celiacos’ which makes choosing what I buy a pleasant experience. Hopefully this law will force more and more companies to label their products as suitable for coeliacs (apto para celiacos) or not suitable for coeliacs (no apto para celiacos) and possibly even encourage those who are ‘no apto’ to consider whether a simple change could in fact make their product gluten free and therefore not lose them a percentage of their market.

Below is an English translation (from http://www.ley-celiaca.com.ar) detailing the new celiac law passed in December of last year but which is yet to be regulated.

Argentinan law states that the current level of gluten permissible in products labelled as gluten free is 10ppm and this level should decrease gradually. For comparison purposes the ‘safe’ level of gluten permissible for gluten free products in both the UK and US are currently 20ppm. This law fills me with hope that very soon living gluten free in Argentina could be simple. Strict regulation of this celiac law in regards to product labelling and general public awareness could make this dream a reality!

1.	The maximum permissible gluten content in the products “gluten-free – without TACC” is currently at 10 mg / kg (10 ppm) and as stated in Article 3 of Law 26 588 “… should decrease gradually … ‘
2.	All industrialized food products not containing gluten must be tested and labeled with the words “gluten-free – No TACC”, in a conspicuous position, accompanied by at least one of the two symbols in common use in our country. Those foods gluten content of greater than 10 mg / kg must carry the label“contains gluten” in a conspicuous position.
3.	The cost of diagnostic studies, treatment and monitoring of the EC must be paid for lifeby the authorities of health care providers. Patients who have no health coverage, will receive the National State.
4.	Celiac disease is a chronic disease. For the celiac, gluten-free diet is the only way to be healthy. A balanced diet requires at least 20% of starchy foods (breads, pastas, pizzas, biscuits, flour, etc.. .) The bodies of health care providers should cover between 70% and 100% of the cost of such foods under the chronicity of celiac disease. Patients who have no health coverage, will receive the National State.
5.	The State is carried out at least one annual awareness campaign and public outreach. be used, all media, radio, TV, newspapers, magazines and public roads.
6.	The Ministry of Education, in conjunction with the Ministry of Health,incorporated into educational curricula at all levelsand in all those careers related to food and services (food, hotel, tourism, etc), issues related to EC and its social impact.
7.	There shall be an annual day of refresher and training in celiac disease for all health professionals.
8.	The National State lines finance and promote research that will lead to: a) Improve the level of knowledge about the causes and consequences of the EC. b) To facilitate early detection of CD. c) Develop better, more simple and effective methods of diagnosis of CHD. d) Develop better, more sensitive and economical methods to detect gluten in food. e) Develop gluten-free food of high nutritional value, based on new meal or mixtures thereof.
9.	The Ministry of Health will manage and operationalize the verification of the offenses and penalties as prescribed by law.
10.	Through ANMAT, the Ministry of Health to medical laboratories indicate the need to label properly all drugs administered orally, in full agreement as outlined in the paragraph 2.

Hot polenta with apples

I have been struggling to find gluten free cereal in Buenos Aires and when I came across something called Polenta in the supermarket, it looked like something that could make for a possible porridge substitute.

I wasn’t too sure what Polenta was but it looked interesting and it was crazy cheap. It cost$1.50 pesos (about 40 cents US) for a  500 gram bag! Wikipedia says it’s ground cornmeal and also that it was originally, and still is, classified as peasant food! Now the price makes sense! The packet I bought said I could cook it in 1 minute and they weren’t kidding. I boiled some water, poured some polenta into the pot and 60 seconds later I had a bowl of mushy yellow stuff ready to go!

It wasn’t the most appetising thing I’ve seen but it did remind me of Cream of Rice that I had recently been eating for breakfast in the States so I figured some milk, fruit and cinammon may turn it into something tasty…

I wasn’t wrong. It tastes pretty good and very similar to Cream of Rice. I intend to try various toppings until I find what works best. I’ll still be searching for gluten free cereal but in the meanwhile my hot cream of corn breakfast isn’t a bad substitute.

Don't cry for me Celiacos

It’s been one year since I was diagnosed as Coeliac which means it’s been 365 days since I’ve eaten gluten.

I must say, it hasn’t been an easy transition, in fact it’s probably been the most difficult thing that I’ve ever had to deal with. There have been times when I felt so angry that I couldn’t eat something at a restaurant, irritated by someone who didn’t understand, frustrated that I was eating the same thing over and over again and brought to tears by numerous difficult situations.  This probably makes the past year sound like a very negative one but despite the to be expected adjustments to something so huge, my eating life really hasn’t been all that bad.

To be honest,  there are lots of new, interesting things that I now eat, which I would never have tried if it wasn’t for my new dietary requirements. Corn tortillas in particular are one thing that I’ve never eaten so many of! It’s been great to discover all of the things that I can still eat (like rice which I have always loved!) and try to focus on these rather than the glutenous things I can not longer have (like most breakfast cereals which stills breaks my heart). Despite the times when people or places haven’t been helpful or understanding, there are also those that have gone above and beyond to help me and to these people and places I am extremely grateful and happy to have encountered. I have friends and family who in a variety of ways have included my new lifestyle into theirs in some way and again for this I am extremely grateful. I must thank my lovely boyfriend for all of his help over this past year. Together we are learning how to live without gluten and he is becoming quite the gluten free culinary expert!

Living gluten free encourages me to focus on finding positive (and often very imaginative) ways of eating. These days I’ll try pretty much anything as long as it’s gluten free. I mix ingredients I never would have considered previously and quite often this works. It’s not to say that the past year hasn’t been hard work because it definitely has. Whether I’m researching tips for living with Coeliac disease, spending hours browsing the menu’s of cafes and restaurants, checking even single label of every single product that I plan to eat or calling companies for gluten free product lists, I’m always thinking gluten freely.

My life is completely different than it was a year ago. I don’t go anywhere without considering what I’m going to eat and the number one thing on my mind whenever I see or hear the mention of something for consuming is whether it is gluten free or not. Feelings of anger, frustration, irritation and sadness started because I didn’t know how to deal with all of the changes in my life and whilst they continue from time to time, they are appearing less frequently to be replaced with excitement when I discover something new and gluten free, and interest in discovering how other coeliacs live. I find a lot of enjoyment in  discovering new gluten free products and coeliac friendly eateries not only because I have a new meal to eat or place to go but also because I know that I can write about it in the hopes that I can help someone else in my position.

Living gluten free at home has become comfortable. I can experiment with all of the things that I can eat where I have the space and the time. It’s travelling gluten free that is the most difficult thing for a coeliac and visiting 8 different countries in this first year of gluten freeness has shown me just how hard it can be.

I am delighted to discover what’s safe and delicious out there in the hopes that travelling gluten free can be made just that little bit easier for other coeliacs. Everyone should have the opportunity to see what this amazing world has to offer and whilst exploring gluten free is probably never going to be simple, it can be done.

With each others help, hopefully we can learn how to live gluten freely. I look forward to finding new and delicious gluten free treats in this second year as a celiaca!