Carrigans, Hamilton Gluten Free

Feb
21
By Laura

Yummy gluten free curry!

John Carrigan’s is a fantastic, family run bar and restaurant in Hamilton, Scotland, very near to Glasgow. The food is tasty, the portions are big and the staff are friendly. It’s an altogether nice place to have a drink or to go for a meal out. I ate here a lot before being diagnosed as celiac and it was one of the places I always wished I could still eat at but up until recently there was no mention of them doing gluten free options. Around a year ago my mum was there for a meal and noticed an introduction of gluten free signage on their menu! I had to check it out when I was back in town!

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Gluten Free Paris, France

Feb
20
By Laura

More gluten free goodies!

YES! These are all gluten free!

Paris is fantastic. Paris is, well, it’s Paris. I’ve been lucky to visit the French capital on three different occasions over the years but all of this was before I was on a strict gluten free diet. France is a country filled with amazing breads and pastries but all of these are gluten, gluten, gluten. What do you eat in Paris as a celiac?

Last weekend my mum and her husband, John, travelled to Paris for a long weekend. Paris is one of their favourite cities and they visit pretty often. Neither of them are celiac or gluten free but on their travels they always have an eye out for stores selling gluten free goodies or menus with gluten free options. They hadn’t come across anything celiac friendly in Paris, until Helmut Newcake.

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Gluten Free Creamy Tofu and Asparagus

Feb
16
By Laura

Delicious and healthy!

Sizzling away

Recently I’ve fallen in love with asparagus spears. It’s not a vegetable I’ve cooked with much in the past but I bought a couple of bunches recently on a kick I was having to try new things and now I can’t get enough. In reading about it’s nutritional value I see that asparagus is a very good source of dietary fiber, potassium and maganese amongst other vitamins and minerals. This recipe is very simple and has delicious results.

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Gluten Free Quinoa Avocado Salad

Feb
15
By Laura

Quinoa and avocado salad

I love quinoa and I love avocado so really how could any recipe which combines the two not be good? This very simple recipe is one of my lunchtime favourites.

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Gluten Free Kimchi Beef

Feb
14
By Laura

Kimchi beef stirfry

Almost ready...

As you’ll know if you’ve looked at any of my other recipes I’m a bit of a kimchi fan. Ever since South Korea I can’t seem to get enough of it. At first I thought ‘Really? Fermented cabbage? but then I got pretty addicted. It’s spicy, it adds a lot of flavour to dishes and it tastes great. Of all meats I think kimchi tastes best with beef. I ate a lot of kimchi with bulgogi in Korea. Maybe that’s why.

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Gluten Free Cadbury’s UK

Feb
13
By Laura
Delicious Twirl!

Delicious Twirl!

UPDATE: Jan, 2015:

As of this month, there are still a whole bunch of Cadbury’s selection which they say is “Gluten Absent”. You can check out the most updated list here yourself. I came looking to see if creme eggs are still gluten-free after all the recent madness about the change in recipe and for now at least, they no longer appear to be on the gluten absent list! Strangely the Creme Egg Twisted is still on the list so I’m hoping someone from Cadbury will get back to me soon and let me know once and for all if these new creme eggs are safe for us to eat! Until then, Twirls, Crunchies and Wispas it is..

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Cadbury’s chocolate is everywhere in the UK. It comes in egg form at Easter, selection boxes at Christmas and simply as it is all year round. Dairymilk…Twirl…Fudge…Crunchie…Curly Wurly..Chomp…Flake… and the list could go on and on. In my opinion Cadbury’s chocolate is one of the best out there. I don’t think there are many chocolate bars here in the States which measure up to a nice cold Twirl straight from the fridge.

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Triumph Dining Gluten Free Grocery Guide

Feb
10
By Laura

Gluten Free Grocery Guide

Last week Triumph Dining sent me a copy of their Gluten Free Grocery Guide.

Since moving to the US from the UK I’ve often wondered why there was no equivalent to the Coeliac UK Food and Drink Directory here in the States. It’s something I use constantly back home. The small book is the perfect size to keep with you at all times and it’s filled with information on products which are safe for celiacs. As the information is relevant for the whole country, it’s great for  gluten free trips to Scotland, England and Wales.

I was pretty excited to check out Triumph Dining’s Grocery Guide. This is something that celiacs living in or travelling to the United States are very much in need of. In a country where there is currently no gluten free labelling legislation, it is difficult for celiacs to know which products are safe for them to eat. Some companies label products as ‘gluten free’ but what does this mean? Without a country wide legal definition of the term ‘gluten free’, gluten free consumers have no idea what they are getting. Products labelled as ‘glutenfree’ in Europe for example must contain less than 20ppm of gluten. In the US this is not the case. This is why this book is great. It helps gluten free consumers to make more informed choices regarding the products they are buying in stores throughout the US.

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Gluten Free Labels: What to Watch Out For!

Feb
09
By Laura

Reading labels can get confusing!

No matter where you are in the world when you’re celiac reading product labels becomes a necessity. Being able to understand the language the label is written in is only the first hurdle. Next comes the challenge of figuring out what ingredients such as ‘flavourings’, ‘colouring’ or ‘spices’ actually mean. These ingredients can mean different things in different countries and even from company to company making the experience of reading labels a very confusing one. If we know what to look out for and which ingredients could be a hidden source of gluten we will be less likely to make gluten mistakes and in turn feel happier and healthier.

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Gluten Free Bakery On Main

Feb
07
By Laura

Gluten free instant oatmeal

I haven’t been eating oats much in the last two years. Whilst certified gluten free oats are meant to be safe for celiacs, I decided to keep oats from my diet until I was feeling 100% better. That way it would be obvious if I am one of the celiacs who aren’t able to tolerate oats. I then pretty much forgot oats existed until very recently. Even in pre-celiac days the only oats I would eat were Scots Porridge Oats for breakfast or those found in Haggis..clearly I’m Scottish!

More recently a few of the protein bars I’ve eaten contain small amounts of gluten free certified oats but I haven’t yet eaten a whole bowl of them. Last month when I was home in the UK for the holidays I ate some gluten free oat cakes and gluten free haggis! I felt great after these products so now it’s time to try a whole bowl of gluten free oats. I received some tasty sounding flavoured oats from Bakery On Main. Let’s see how it goes…

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Why Everyone Needs A Gluten Free Friend

Jan
30
By Laura

With my best friend, Fiona. 🙂

With Debbie and Nicola

We celiacs are lovely people so of course you would want to be our friend but just in case you aren’t completely sold on the idea here are some fantastic reasons why everyone should have at least one gluten free friend! ( Yes, I’m aware this post is a little silly but I thought it would be a bit of fun. )

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