Gluten-free diet - support and tips

I will have to investigate the pizzas, Cari I think I'll be wise to have a stock of quick and easy meals in my freezer in case DD is working away.

Obviously learning to cook for himself will be the answer and not just ham egg and chips which is his party piece.

I buy frozen margarita pizzas (Schar or own brand) and top them up with bacon, mushrooms and extra cheese. I find the base is thinner and more palatable than the plain pizza bases. Mr C likes them too, which is a bonus.

Our Sainsbury's sells Pizza Express gf Margarita pizza which are fine and I top them with extra stuff like corner. We don't have them often and I go mad adding pancetta, red onion, mushrooms, tomatoes, grated mozzarella and drizzling with olive oil.

I agree Schar products are good. The frozen rolls are great.

Thanks for the info.

He will probably have to take a packed lunch to college just to be on the safe side until he gets really good at remembering what he can and can't have.

If any one can find GF and dairy free foods i would be grateful to hear from you. Thanks

DGS has just had the date for his endoscopy. It's not until 2nd May!!! That means another six weeks or so of having to eat gluten which is making him really ill. The poor lad is having loads of time off college because he can't cope with the diarrhoea so they've advised him to stay off until after Easter. He has missed a LOT of work.

I've been making him some gluten free treats to get his seal of approval. He's chief guinea pig taster at the moment.

I think his dad is going to try to get it done privately. I do hope so because I hate seeing him so poorly and miserable.

Oh, poor chap, Merlot.

Popped out for lunch to the pub in the next village which does really good food and they now have a whole gluten free menu!! Loads to choose from.

I had Moroccan lamb in a spicy tomato sauce with roasted baby aubergines. Delicious!!

All meals have low carb alternatives to chips, mash etc. Not surprisingly they were very busy!

I've bought a new breadmaker. I don't plan on using it much because of low carbing but I'm making and freezing fancy breads for Easter when we'll be going to stay with DD2. She's well up on gluten free cooking but I want to do my bit.

So far it's done a good job of Rosemary and garlic focaccia (made on the dough cycle and baked in the oven) and lemon and poppy seed loaf.

Fortunately DH slices and freezes it all before I can get at it.

DGS's dad has arranged for him to have an endoscopy in a BUPA hospital which will be next Thursday so that's much better than 2nd May. I do hope he can get on a GF diet ASAP.

I hope your GS gets his problem sorted quickly, Merlot.

I had an appalling lunch today. I met DD1 at a pub halfway between us. We both decided on steak sandwich with crispy fried onions and horseradish mayo and triple cooked chips. The chips were brilliant. The steak was poor and I got mine in a really poor ciabatta with no onions, no mayo but a smear of tomato sauce. I just couldn't be bothered to complain but they have lost the chance of us going there ever again.

GF new finds update! Tesco do a really tasty Freefrom hand finished cob for £2-90, which is considerably cheaper than the Warburtons one for £4.00.

Also Sainsbury's do Freefrom lasagnes which are handy to keep for a quick meal. They also stock Genius puff pastry as well as shortcrust.

Thanks for the info, Cornishgirl. I have some GF puff pastry in the freezer which I'm looking forward to trying out with a tarte tatin.

I'm a bit cross with our local Sainsbury's at the moment. They haven't had any GF white bread flour in stock for two weeks!!

I will have to go to Tesco on Monday which normally wouldn't be a problem but I'm stocked up with everything else so I wasn't planning on doing a twelve mile round trip for a couple of bags of flour.

DGS had his gastroscopy this morning which has confirmed the coeliacs diagnosis from the blood test so it's onwards and upwards now with a GF diet.

At long last he no longer has to eat food that was making him really ill. He still has to see a dietician as he has been unable to absorb vitamin D for quite some time but hopefully he'll soon be feeling better.

I've just baked him some celebration chocolate brownies

Glad he has a diagnosis now - it makes life easier if you know the enemy.

I'd be interested to know how your puff pastry turns out - mine was very disappointing.

I am shortly going on a GF bread, pastry and cake course (a Christmas present). I went on one before and everything was soooo complicated that I gave up trying to do stuff for myself so I hope this one is better and that things have moved on.

The puff pastry was like shoe leather, kitty Won't be bothering with that any more.

I've been doing a lot of searching online for good bread recipes and the best ones seem to be on American websites. My GF brownie recipe also doubles up as chocolate cake/gateau/choc fudge cake etc.

Sounds like a really useful Christmas present. Do share your experience/superior knowledge

Just discovered this thread. I've been on GF diet for over 30 years and it is very restorative to find others and learn from them. A big thank-you Kittylester. Like Whitewave I keep to gluten free to avoid migraines and as Merlotgran suggests for her GS I could not bear to go back to gluten for 6 weeks in order to take the tests. I have found all processed food difficult just as GracesGranMk2 writes. Over the years I have decided that sometimes it is due to wheat dust prevailing in the mill or processor. With others it is left in the oil for cooking or handling. Chinese restaurants used to be a problem because of MSG (a separate problem, glutamate is not gluten), or rice milled where gluten was left behind and similar. I stick to potatoes, sweet or ordinary, GF crisps and, fortunately can tolerate - and love - every vegetable, all salad stuff except when someone has added cous-cous or croutons! Keep the posts going (smile).

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Message withdrawn at poster's request.