Pre-celiac cereal

Guatemala, a few months before diagnosis

Can you remember the last gluten filled meal that you ate before gluten became your most loathed enemy? Did you know at the time that it was going to be your last?

I remember my final glutenous meal very clearly. It was the morning before I headed to the hospital to find out the results from my endoscopy. The idea that I may have something called celiac disease had been around for a while. I had almost all of the symptoms but they wanted to make sure this was the answer to my problems before I started my gluten free diet.

I was about 90% certain that morning that this was going to be the last bowl of gluten that I ever ate so I made sure it was one to remember. Before I left my apartment I ate a bowl of frosted flakes, corn flakes, rice krispies, shreddies and grape nuts. I used to love mixing all my favourites into the one bowl and that morning was no exception. It was a huge bowl of cereal! Of course I didn’t feel the best waiting to speak to my doctor after consuming all this gluten but it had to be done, I needed a final goodbye.

We have the results from your biopsy…celiac disease….gluten free diet from now on.

That huge bowl of cereal was the last gluten I ever (intentionally) ate. On the way home from the hospital my dad and I stopped at Tesco (a huge supermarket chain in the UK) and headed straight to the gluten free section. At this time my knowledge of gluten free grocery shopping was very limited. They had three different boxes of gluten free cereal. My dad bought me one of each and that evening I had my first bowl of gluten free cereal. It wasn’t the same, but it wasn’t so bad.

What was your final glutenous meal before you began your gluten free diet? Share your stories in the comments below..

Avocado with chilli powder

Tasty and healthy

There are lots of delicious gluten free breakfast, lunch and dinner recipes out there but how about when you fancy a wee snack? Whether at home or travelling we all like to nibble. These are a few of my favourite gluten free snacks which are great at any time of the day. They are also things which you can find to eat almost anywhere in the world.

Natural yoghurt with blueberries. I love yoghurt, especially the natural stuff because then I can add whatever flavour I want to it. I think yoghurt tastes best once it’s been open for a couple of days. It has a thicker, creamier consistency at this point and it tastes great with all sorts of toppings. Blueberries, raspberries or blackberries are probably my favourite. Sometimes I add a spoonful of peanut butter too.

Avocado with chilli powder. Avocados have to be one of the best vegetables out there. They are filled with lots of great vitamins and nutrients and they work great as a spread (a healthier alternative to butter), in salad, as an accompaniment to almost any meal and even on it’s own as a snack. If I’m nibbling an avocado I almost always shake a little chilli powder on first.

Rice or corn cakes with peanut butter. I love peanut butter, especially brands that are simply 100% peanuts with no added nonsense. I eat it on it’s own straight from the jar but sometimes when I start eating it this way it’s hard to stop, it’s so tasty and addictive! I also like to spread it on plain rice or corn cakes as a healthy, energy filled snack.

Edamame. I buy frozen edamame and just boil it in some water when I want to eat it. It’s great to eat on it’s own or with a little salt.

Cereal. As you know I’m a huge cereal fan so I think gluten free cereal is a great snack for any time of the day. Envirokids Peanut Butter Puffs or Gorilla Munch are probably my favourites when I’m in the mood for something sweet. Cinnamon or Honey Nut Chex are also great if you’re in the US or Canada or Dove’s Choco Stars if you’re in the UK.

Dried fruit and nuts. A handful of dried fruit and nuts is a great gluten free snack if you’re feeling a bit peckish between meals. Sometimes these types of products are made on shared equipment with wheat, etc, so double check that the brand you’re buying is safe.

Boiled egg. Whether you’re at home or off gluten free travelling, boiled eggs are a great, simple gluten free snack which you can eat anytime, anywhere.

Asparagus with olive oil. Cook some asparagus and drizzle it in a little olive oil for a delicious, healthy snack.

Fruit. Something which can be found anywhere in the world and is naturally gluten free. Fruits such as bananas, apples, pears, peaches, grapes and berries are great if you’re on the move and others like melon, pineapple, mango and kiwi fruit are better suited to when you are a little more stationery.

Gluten free bars. There are a whole bunch of gluten free bars out there to choose from. Protein bars, breakfast bars, energy bars, fruit and nut bars, seed bars. I carry a couple of bars with me wherever I go so I’m never without a quick bite of energy.

What are your favourite gluten free snacks? I’m always looking for new ideas! Share your favourites in the comments below…

Great for nibbling

GF snacking when you're out and about

Chocolate granola...yum!

Recently I received a bag of double chocolate crunch granola and a big bag of semi-sweet chocolate mega chunks from Enjoy Life.

The chocolate chunks are the kind of thing we probably should have incorporated into gluten free baking but instead my husband and I couldn’t resist munching on these straight from the bag. John in particular was a big fan of these and would often dip a few of the chunks in peanut butter to nibble as an evening snack. Yum! Next time I’ll include them in some gluten free peanut butter chocolate chip cookies or muffins. I’m sure they would be a delicious addition!

I really enjoyed the chocolate granola both as a sprinkling on my breakfast cereal and again just as something to nibble straight from the bag. This granola isn’t the type of thing I would choose to eat by itself in a large amount for breakfast but it’s great as a chocolate topping to plainer cereals. I also think it would be very tasty sprinkled on natural yoghurt or ice cream.

Gluten Free Rice Krispies

Since my gluten free life began, not having the wide choice of breakfast cereals like I used to has been the most difficult thing for me. At first I thought being coeliac meant I could never eat cereal again but thankfully I quickly found out this was not the case. I couldn’t have the cereals I was used to and I no longer had the variety to choose from but there were some nice companies out there who made special cereals just for me! Discovering new gluten free cereals has been great whether they are naturally gluten free or specifically made. I was extremely excited to discover that CHEX in the States were made and re-branded as gluten free.The fact that Kellogg’s were not in the gluten free ring has always irritated me! I was a great customer before I found out I was coeliac and I could no longer eat ANY of their cereals… What are Kellogg’s playing at? Is the infamous ‘malt flavouring’ really necessary??

There has been talk of Kellogg’s bringing out a gluten free version of Rice Krispies and now that the information is on their website for gluten free-ers of the world to see, it appears they really are bringing out Gluten Free Rice Krispies. Gluten free-ers of the world are excited by this news but will this new cereal be made available world wide or only in the United States? Many of us are also left wondering whether they will be manufactured in a safe environment. Let’s hope gluten free snap, crackle and pop are not made on the same machinery as their glutenous brothers!

Apparently her other coeliac friend isn’t nearly as cautious but not only that, she also sometimes ‘cheats’ and eats small amounts of gluten from time to time..KNOWINGLY!

I understand that accidents happen and the possibility of being glutenated is certainly a risk, especially when eating out, but I can’t imagine anyone who has been diagnosed with coeliac disease and who understands both the short term symptoms and long term consequences of eating gluten wanting to risk being careless.

Admittedly I have always been a little OCD and by nature can become very obsessive about things even when they aren’t extremely important, never mind when they are, so I can certainly understand why not everyone would be as cautious as myself. However, I still cannot understand why any coeliac would KNOWINGLY choose to eat something containing gluten!

I could perhaps even understand a situation arising when you couldn’t find

Lots of gluten free cereal

anything safe to eat and chose to risk something you weren’t certain about. I personally wouldn’t risk it but I can understand why others may. What I’m referring to though is a completely different story. It turns out that my friend’s friend eats (gluten containing) Rice Krispies from time to time and toasts her gluten free bread in the office toaster alongside normal glutenous bread. I am amazed by this! There are plenty of safe, gluten free cereals out there so why eat a cereal which is known to contain gluten? And why deliberately contaminate yourself with glutenous crumbs? It makes no sense at all! Can anyone understand this or are you amazed like me by the unnecessary sillyness?? Would you eat something you knew contained gluten just because?? I’d love to hear your opinions on this…

Gluten Free labelling

More cereal for your gluten free shelf!

Yabadabadoo!!!! The Flintstones don’t like gluten either.

Post is following in the footsteps of General Mills, making the decision to re brand one of their top cereals as gluten free! Five different varieties of  Chex have filled the shelves of many a gluten free household for a while but they now have a prehistoric companion…

Fruity, Cocoa and Marshmallow Pebbles have been free of glutenous ingredients for some time but since last month celiacs can buy them without any doubts that they are gluten free. I know seeing the words ‘gluten free’ on my cereal box makes me feel a lot more comfortable.

Unlike Chex, I’ve seen on the move small tubs of  Pebbles so let’s hope these little guys will display the gluten free labelling too!

My favourite thing about ‘normal’ cereals being re branded as gluten free is that they are usually much cheaper than cereal specifically made to be gluten free. I love my Envirokids but sometimes they are bit expensive. Let’s hope that Kellogg’s follow the lead of their cereal rivals and decide to make some gluten free cereals of their own! Come on Kellogg’s, get rid of the ‘malt flavouring’ in your Rice Krispies and I may start liking you again!

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 cinnamon 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.

All of this training means that I’m hungry pretty much constantly and finding interesting and varied gluten free meals to eat gets pretty difficult. Much of what I’ve read talks about loading up on carbs and since many carb filled foods tend to also be filled with gluten, I’m careful to ensure I still get enough carbs whilst remaining gluten free.

I’m doing the first half of my training in Iowa and my second half when we move to Argentina, 2 months before the race.

Tasty Chex for breakfast

Vegetable sushi

My tasty tortilla lunch

Cream of Rice with pineapple and cinnamon

In Iowa

I like to start my day with a bowl of Chex. On a short run day I’ll nibble a few pieces of fruit before my run and leave the cereal for afterwards but on a long run day I’ll fuel up with cereal first thing when I wake up. I’ve starting mixing corn, rice and honey nut Chex and I love it. Some days I substitute Chex for Cream of Rice, which tastes great with fruit and cinnamon.

For lunch, I’m all about corn tortillas with various fillings. Recently my favourite is ham with cucumber/spinach and cottage cheese. If we go out for lunch, I like to fill up on lots of Sushi with wheat free soy. New Pioneer Co-op in Iowa City does some great, fresh Nigiri and Maki sushi sets, which are gluten free. They also have wheat free soy. When buying pre-packed sushi, always check with whoever prepared it that it’s gluten free and stay away from imitation crab meat and any sauces. Fish Nigiri and either fish or vegetable Maki are usually the best bet.

Blue Bunny with strawberries

Yoplait yoghurt

Glutino breakfast bars

Envirokids snack bars

I find myself getting hungry between meals, especially on my long run days, and I try to keep my snacking pretty healthy. I eat a lot of yoghurt (normally Yoplait as the fat free is gf and says so on the label) with rice cakes for dipping, gluten free bars, lots of fruit, and sometimes a bowl of Blue Bunny vanilla Ice Cream.

For dinner I find myself eating lots and lots of rice. Lucky for me I love the stuff but I still like to bring new ingredients in to eat with it to spice it up. Some of my favourites are Chilli with rice, ground beef with pineapple salsa and rice, black beans with rice, Kimchi with rice and Bolognese with rice. On the few occasions I don’t have rice, I eat various omelettes, tasty Iowa sweet corn or gluten free sandwiches (although I’m yet to find a great tasting gf bread in the States)

Tasty chilli

Yummy Iowa sweet corn

Running around 40 miles a week means that I can eat pretty much whatever I want but I try my best to eat the right things to fuel my body and prepare me for long distances. I don’t eat as much variety when it comes to my meals as I did in my pre-coeliac days but I’m working on this….

In Buenos Aires

My marathon training diet had changed quite a bit since moving to Argentina but thanks to a few great gluten free stores and eateries, I’m managing to keep my carb intake high. Cereal was such a huge part of what I was eating in the states but as there is no gluten free cereal to be found here, I’ve had to make a few changes to my diet. Before short runs I eat a cereal bar and if I’m going on a longer run I like to have a bowl of crushed up rice cakes with milk which is the nearest thing to a bowl of cereal here. Almost every day, the first thing I eat post run is a big bowl of polenta with fruit and cinnamon.

Pre-run cereal bars

Polenta with apples

For lunch, I’m all about the empanadas (usually ground beef or chicken) or gluten free baguettes with ham and cheese from Celigourmet. As my weekly mileage is increasing I’m all about eating between meals too so I find myself eating a lot of yoghurts, fruit, nuts and chocolate covered gluten free snacks. My favourite snack here is Chocoarroz which is two small rice cakes stuck together with a layer of dulce de leche and covered in milk or white chocolate!

Choco Arroz

Empanadas de carne

Celigourmet baguettes

Tasty yoghurts

Dinner in Buenos Aires, like in the States, is almost always something with rice (or rice with something the night before a long run). Here I eat a lot of rice with egg and cheese, rice and veggie stir fry or my favourite, chilli with rice. Again, not a huge variety in what I’m eating but I try to vary it as much as possible and I enjoy everything that I eat.

Cereals: Gorilla Munch (crunchy little balls of corn), Koala Crisp (chocolate rice puffs), Leapin Lemurs  (a mixture of peanut butter and chocolate balls), Amazon Frosted Flakes (crispy corn flakes) and Panda Puffs (peanut butter flavoured corn puffs).

Rice Bars: Lemur Peanut Choco Drizzle, Fruity Burst, Cheetah Berry, Koala Chocolate and Peanut Butter

Envirokidz cereal and rice bars

Generally these products are marketed for kids (or kidz) with a different interesting animals appearing on each delicious variety but every one of these cereals is amazing and perfect for cereal lovers of any age. In my opinion they blow Tony the Tiger and his glutenous flakes right out of the water!

The scrumdiddlyumtiousness of these cereals is probably not completely unlinked to the fact that they are pretty sweet but they are sweetened with organic cane juice rather than sugar and contain way less sugar than most similar gluten filled cereals. Almost half as much if you can believe it as the fore mentioned flakes marketed by our orange tiger friend! I still like to pic n mix my cereals to balance things out though and my morning favourite these days is corn and rice chex with a topping of one of the Envirokids cereals….gluten free cereal perfection!

I was so happy when I discovered that Chex are gluten free! There is finally something in the regular cereal aisle of the everyday supermarket that coeliacs can get excited about.  The corn, rice, cinammon, chocolate and honey nut varieties are all gluten free! This is very good news.

Cinnamon Chex

Lots of gluten free Chex!