Saz

I'm Impressed this year. Some of the people I work with decided to give sweets to everyone. Two people went out of their way to find something specifically marked gluten-free that I could eat. Someone else managed to successfully find something from "normal" section that they thought was ok... and it was. I'm particularly impressed with that because as far as I know they don't have any reason to check labels for themselves.  While I don't expect anything - I really appreciate the effort, Most years I'm given things that I can't eat that is accompanied by a comment of "I know you probably can't eat this but". It's not a problem because I can always regift but sometimes it's a bit annoying.  

I feel a bit bad now that I didn't give anyone anything. 

Have offered to be in charge of snacks for Christmas this year. That way I can buy lollies and chips that I can have and so can everyone else.  Never much fun when I have my own bowls of stuff- other years when I've done this people forget and eat mine.  Which is fine but I'd only got enough for me and if it all goes I can't eat "theirs"

Apparently it's cold meant and salads this year. Family member organising it said they will try to make the salads gluten-free.  I asked them to let me know what they are so I can suggest dressings etc. Hopefully that way I can prevent needing to make my own version of something that could have easily been made gluten-free in first place if they asked me first. 

Probably got glutened last week. Got a burger who advertised patties and buns as been gluten-free. Forget to check the sauce. 

For anyone in Brisbane: I was in topshop a few weeks ago and they now have a little doughnut time store in there. I noticed they had a gluten-free option and asked for that. The person serving asked me if I was coeliac - was reluctant to say yes as I was expecting them to turn around and say- sorry you can't have it then. Turns out they were just been careful. I'm fairly sure instead of pulling one off the tray, they gave me a pre boxed one. It was glazed and wonderful.... I couldn't remember the last time I had a glazed one. 

Also impressed with the Jamie Oliver restaurant in the city. When I ask what I can have, the staff always ask if I am proper gluten-free and then get the manager to come and explain what I can have. They don't label it on the menu but they never make me feel like a pain for asking. Also when giving my pasta dish they say that it is the gluten free version. 

Might not seem like a big deal but it wasn't that long ago that my only option was to ask for  salad without the dressing or croutons. Only for it to be presented with one or both of these things. This would result in me having to ask for new one and a very cross wait person when I tried to explain that I can't just pick it out or scrape it off. In the end I used to exaggerate slightly and say I would be very sick if had these things. It was a bit of a fib as I'm not super sensitive but it seemed to work. 

Remember that international brands of packaged foods can vary from country to country. For example in USA M&MS are ok (at least they used to be, I'm not sure if they still are) however in Australia they contain wheat starch and so are not gluten-free. 

Also you might find that one type of food that is normally gluten-free in your home country is not in the country you are visiting. For example I have not found any cola drinks , regardless of brand in Australia that had gluten, however I have found some in England that have Barley in them. 

Try to find out what is available in supermarkets before you go. If you can't find anything prepacked in the supermarket or a restaurant to eat, you could get something like carrot and celery or fruit and eat that. Definitely not the most exciting thing but much better than starving or taking a chance and getting sick. You could make a a salsa of tomato onion and coriander for a bit of flavour. 

Welcome to the forum. I'm 28 and also struggling to work this since it was upgraded. We can be embarrassments to Generation Y together. 

In woolies tonight I found gluten-free up and go! Not sure if it will taste good but still exciting. Looks like sanitarium have realised that people who need to eat gluten-free actually like the same things as those who don't. I got the chocolate one- I'm impressed the resisted the urge to add some orange flavour to it.

Good Luck. Can't really give on recovery since I was diagnosed when I was 6. I'm not highly sensitive though and when I was a teenager used to cheat a lot. I did feel a bit better when I stopped cheating. 

Some advice-

- Try not to think of all the things you can't have- It's hard but there are lots of things that you can still eat. 

- Remember that you don't have to like something just because it is gluten free. 

- If you don't like a particular type of food it's fairly likely you won't like the gluten-free version. Nothing to do with gluten-free version tasting weird because it's gluten-free, just your tastebuds. For example I don't like the gluten versions of sausages or coconut biscuits. So I don't "count" them as foods I can't have or taste yucky because it's gluten-free .

On the positive side you can now get some really delicious gluten-free food.  Up until about 10-12 years ago the only biscuits you could get were some strange tasting Jam Drops from health food stores or Some from woolies. They had all chocolate one side and chocolate drizzle on the other. Now you can get gluten-free versions of mint slice, Oreos, Anzac Biscuits, Gingernuts etc. The best bit is that all tasty and edible!

Am starting to get a bit cranky that alot of new gluten-free products are raw and paleo. Same with recipes online. I don't mind that type of food sometimes but I don't want to eat that way all the time. 

Has anyone tried the woolworths brand of gluten-free bread? I think it is new as haven't seen it before. 

Went to gluten free expo today. found out that Latina are about to release some gluten-free fresh pasta. I think it comes out this week in Woolworths. Looks like there will be ravioli and lasagne sheets. Wasn't able to taste test but will be definitely buying some.

Also got a enchilada kit and soft taco kit from San diego tortilla company. Unfortunately they aren't available in supermarkets.

Bayview who do frozen chicken and fish are supposed to be adding some salt and pepper squid into the range at the end of the month. 

Noticed a increase in paleo/raw type products this year. Also various forms of coconut things although this seems to be a general food trend.

Sitting in pizza express in london. Best gluten free  pizza  I have ever had. They serve it on special boards that are only used  for gluten-free pizza.  Also the pizzas on the menu they list as been able to be made gluten-free means all of it. None this gluten-free base only or meat pizza been gluten-free without the meat business  you get at some places 

Yum. Has any tried the san remo gluten-free egg noodles/pasta?

I find that a bit poor. My understanding is that the company only produce allergen free products, so I don' t think it good that they have made a product that now includes one it previously did not. It annoys me when a "regular" companies make a product I can have and then change their ingredients to include something with gluten, but I can understand it a bit more that a specific allergen free one doing it. 

On the subject of oats- I'm off to the Uk at the end of week, where you can buy gluten free oats/oat porridge which I really really want to try. My dilemma is this: I used to cheat a lot and eat things with gluten, I was never really sensitive  and could eat a reasonable  bit before I would get sick. I have been good for about nine years. I have on occasion eaten gluten by accident and not gotten sick, but don't know if that means I would be ok with gluten-free oats or not.  From what I have read, it seems that maybe it is only very sensitive coeliacs who can't tolerate oats. 

I remember having oat porridge with honey as a Kid and really liking it. I buy the rice porridge now and although I do like it, it is just not the same as oats one.  

Anyone had a gluten-free meal on Singapore Airlines? Flying with them soon. Heard fairly good things about their regular meals, although I'm still expecting rice cakes instead of any kind of gluten-free bread and fruit salad for dessert. Also no yoghurt with breakfast..... even though the food for the breakfast flight will have been prepared in Aus and I can usually eat the brand of yoghurt served to everyone else!

End of the day though, as long as they remember to load a gluten-free meal for me I will be happy. Always take some snacks but it's a bit hard to pack anything decent with a 26 hour travel time and all the restrictions.

Anyone get things from Aldi?

I ended up getting a few. So far tried the cheese tubes and tom yum noodles. The tubes taste similar to the other gluten-free ones you get. The noodles are nice flavour, the texture is a bit odd but I think that it is more just my personal preference. 

I also bought some black forest biscuits, Mocha cake mix, Banana cake mix, two bread mixes, lava cake mix and some milk poppers. Ended spending about $28 all up. Wanted to get some Gazpacho as well but they didn't have any.

Some of those look good. I found some of their pancake mix the other day. Not tried it yet. Have tried a few bits from Has no range. Liked them all, but trouble is apart from a few packs of biscuits, pasta and bread they don't stock the other stuff most of the time. Will definetly pop in this week though. 

Made a massive twat of myself tonight. Went out for dinner and ordered a pasta dish. Normally it comes as linguine but they can make a gluten-free version using gluten-free penne. So my dish comes out and after taking a few bites, I notice what looks like bits of linguine in it. I pick out and when the waiter comes to check if everything is ok, I ask about the stringy bits. They assured me it was most definitely onion. It was. They were very nice about it and didn't answer in a huffy was like sometimes happens but I still felt Like a tit for thinking it was gluten pasta.

Is anyone else getting annoyed with family trying to arrange foods for Christmas? I offered to get snacks for the day including chips. Which was meet with a reply of well just organise food for yourself so you have something. Grr

I think that some of the Crabbies ones are and are labeled so. Haven't had them for a awhile though so it may not be gluten-free anymore. There is also a brand who's name I can't think of but it has a dragon on the label. Just check the packaging though as I think only certain ones are. It's also really expensive- around $9 for 500ml bottle. 

Some of Weis ones used to be and were labeled so- I haven't looked for ages so not sure if they still are. Blue Ribbon used to have some that were ok- not lableled gluten-free but were ok by ingredient-but this was about seven years ago. I'm not sure if it's just me, but unlike most things I find it harder to buy icecream than a few years ago. Coles do a very strange thing with their own brand and in the contains section it will state: Contains Wheat Glucose syrup (gluten) I recently found some of their own version magnum things that were ok, I THINK it was the maple ones. I think some magnums are ok- again not labeled gluten-free but they are ok by ingredient and have no shared equipment statement. 

I'm sure everyone knows this already but it's my favourite so I'll post it anyway, 

Tomatoes ( I always use the big ones but it is just personal taste.)

Red onion

Coriander

Salt

Pepper

Lime Juice

Basically cut up the tomatoes into small pieces and then dice the onion and chop coriander. Mix them in a bowl with the other ingredients and a bit of olive oil. Sometimes I use lemon juice instead of lime or add a bit of crushed garlic. 

No real quantities of each it depends on personal taste, I always add loads of coriander but that might not be to everyones taste. 

Also it can be fairly watery but if you don't use the tomato pulp it is a bit "drier" 

I never realised that they were gluten-free by ingredient, I have avoided them for years thinking they have gluten in them. Obviously that is irrelevant now. I think that if a product has been free of an allergen and a company changes the recipe, I think they should have to put at least a new recipe sign on the front of the packet, regardless of it was advertised as free from or not.  I think I posted a while ago about weight watchers adding wheat to one of their frozen meals and me nearly eating it.

 If it is helpful Woolworths used to do a gluten-free cheese tubes, which were like cheezels, I haven't bought them in awhile but I'm failry sure they still do them. Also both Coles and Woolies under their own gluten-free brand have versions of Twisties in chicken and cheese flavour. 

I saw an ad for Natural chip company chips today that says they are gluten free- I think this might be new as I think I have checked packaging before only to find they contained gluten. 

On another note had a frustrating experience with someone recently who suggested we get a bbq chicken for dinner. I politely explained that I can not eat that due to the seasoning/basting. Their reply was "oh it will be fine, we can take the seasoning/basting off for you" Me: Unfortunately all the flavouring goes through, so it doesn't work like that. Them: But surely if you take off the seasoning it is ok? There won't be much gluten left? Me: No . What I really wanted to say was No it is not OK. If it was ok I would have said so, because I would actually really like to have a store bought bbq chicken.

I tried the coles Blueberry rice porridge this morning- I love it. Tomorrow I will try the honey one. I usually hate breakfast and have to force something down but between the porridge, gluten-free weetbix and Genius Pan Aui Chocolates I just might look forward to it, at least on the weekend. 

Me again. 

Just thought I'd let everyone know that Coles has expanded their own brand range. They now include wraps- someone bought these for me, I was a bit worried as they have that plastic look, but I found them really soft and tasty if heated slightly. They also didn't fall to bits, although I didn't stuff them. 

I also found rice noodle cups in beef and Mi goreng flavour. I've only tried the Mi goreng ones,  they are bit spicy, the flavouring tastes like the one from the noodles you buy in the Asian section with the red and yellow packaging. The noodles that Coles use are thick brown rice ones. Much nicer that the glass ones in the Fantastic version and they don't clump as much. 

The third thing I found is the most exciting for me. A box of individual packets of flavoured rice porridge! The flavours are vanilla, blueberry, honey. I haven't tried them yet. 

As much as I feel a bit sorry for some of the gluten-free companies that Coles has stopped stocking since bringing out there own range, I have to say that it is fast becoming one of my favourites. I really like the way they have some different things like Banana bread and quinoa cups. Even of the things they have that other companies do like sweet biscuits, I sometimes find I prefer Coles brand. All personal taste of course but makes me a happy little English Marmite. 

Thanks Sammykins! 

This makes happy as I found them really tasty. I've tried  and looked at a few other products in the range and noticed they seem to use rice flour  or non wheat/gluten based sauces in alot them (some have wheat, but they are clear). I wish more companies would do this, gives me more options and I'm sure no one will notice a gluten free taste.  I'm going to visit family this weekend and one night we are going to have a roast- they were shocked when I said to them they will need to buy a plain roast as most of the others have wheat in. They had assumed the prepared one would just have some herbs on them . 

Whenever I have bought something with breadcrumbs it is either labeled gluten-free on the front or they note in brackets they have used gluten-free ones, so I just wasn't sure with burgers.

I'm not sure about the cider as I thought all were ok. Tried to google, the sites I saw that had lists of gluten-free ciders or suggested some aren't seemed to be mostly from the US... So I wonder if it is something different in the brewing process there? I really don't know but I just thought it was interesting. 

It doesn't say gluten free. I haven't had a reaction but I'm not very sensitive so even if it was wheatcrumbs I might not react from just one. I am hoping you are right about them been made from soy!