Free From products/ingredients/places to eat etc

[BJan 10]

I've recently started on a gluten & wheat free diet and trying to find things that taste nice and are more or less like the original has been a bit of a slog. I know you get lots of products, but I've found not all tasted nice/worked well. I thought a thread on here where we could all share our 'finds'/likes/dislikes might help anyone out there needing to change their diets because of intolerances?

 

So what have you found (not only wheat/gluten free) that you like/dislike?

 

Here are the things I've found that I like:

 

Really really like Salute pasta (sold by Waitrose only unfortunately) - it tastes (and cooks) just like the real thing and was a huge relief after trying many brands and almost giving up. My partner can't taste the difference either so that is a big thumbs up! I hope they continue stocking it as the others I've tried I really didn't like. One of them was DS, can't remember the other brands.

 

Genius bread is ok - I've tried the new Warburtons one and the rolls are very edible but a bit crumbly. It'll certainly be a good way of making lunch rolls for work as many of the other ones need to be heated and these don't require that.

 

Gluten Free Sausages: Sausages are probably going to have lots of different opinions, I didn't like the Ian Rankin or Good little company sausages much (it was edible just not to my taste), but I really enjoy the Waitrose Cambridge GF sausages (damn the Salute pasta only being sold there, it means I shop at Waitrose more!!!) and Debbie and Andrews Harrogate GF ones.

 

Naughty treat: TruFree Custard Creams are delicious - I'm almost sorry I've tried them once they're so nice! Something else that is good about them is that they're packed 2 per plastic mini bag in the pack so nice to take along somewhere as a snack. Have tried the ThuFree Bourbon and Rich Tea ones but I didn't enjoy them as much. Bought some digestives, will update once I've used them as a crumb base.

 

I was very happy to find lunch sandwiches at M&S (2 different ones using their own GF bread) and Starbucks (1 using Genius bread). Have tried all 3 and they're all pretty tasty and it is nice to know you can get some food if you've not had time to do pre-packed meal.

 

Green Steps Fish & chips is lovely but I know that has been mentioned elsewhere before.

 

Hope I've put this in the right section, but I figured with it relating to food it couldn't be too far off? If the moderators think it should be moved to general please do so!

[rosaespanola 10]

Good idea!

 

I don't know all the brand names of things unfortunately, if I don't have them in at the moment, but here are a few thoughts. I tend to bake my own things using Dove Farm flour as it's cheaper, easier and tastier than buying ready made stuff.

 

GF shortbread from Tesco - vile! Like eating sand. Works OK as a base for cheesecake though, especially if you mix it with some ground almonds or other nuts.

 

GF spaghetti from Waitrose - made with chickpea flour. Obviously doesn't taste like ordinary pasta, but very tasty and once your sauce is on you wouldn't really notice any difference.

 

Bohemian restaurant on Chesterfield Road does a very good selection of GF, vegan & vegetarian meals (with a couple of meat & fish dishes for people who think they'll die if they don't have meat for every meal )

 

Recipe books:

Red Velvet & Chocolate Heartache by Harry Eastwood

Any of Phil Vickery's GF cookbooks (often for sale cheaply in The Works bookshop)

[CHANutrition 10]

Nigella Lawson flourless chocolate brownies are fanastic! They use ground almonds instead of flour which works with some other cake recipes too!

[BJan 10]

Thanks for the recipe book suggestions, rosaespanola! Although I will sometimes attempt to bake something for the fun of it, I don't feel I have enough time to bake on a regular basis - I'm probably just lazy

 

That said, I have baked some banana muffins and these doughnut muffins recently which didn't turn out bad at all!

 

CHANutrition, thanks for the reply, that sounds great, is it from a recipe or can you buy it ready baked somewhere? The recipe linked to above also uses ground almonds (although it has some GF flour as well) and it was lovely

[fridayfeelin 10]

I am really glad I have stumbled upon your post OP!!

 

I am just about to undertake the same diet change as you have and I just asked on another thread where I could buy GF sausages from and now reading your post I have a recommendation ;-) Debbie and Andrews sausages have the lowest amount of fat and sugars of all the sausages you can buy from supermarkets anyway and they have always been my first choice so I will def' be trying the GF ones.

 

I will keep my eyes on this thread and as I go shopping and start buying and trying GF products I will try and visit back to this thread and recommend.

Edited February 28, 2011 by fridayfeelin

[BJan 10]

I am really glad I have stumbled upon your post OP!!

 

I am just about to undertake the same diet change as you have and I just asked on another thread where I could buy GF sausages from and now reading your post I have a recommendation ;-) Debbie and Andrews sausages have the lowest amount of fat and sugars of all the sausages you can buy from supermarkets anyway and they have always been my first choice so I will def' be trying the GF ones.

 

I will keep my eyes on this thread and as I go shopping and start buying and trying GF products I will try and visit back to this thread and recommend.

 

Hi fridayfeelin, it felt pretty daunting in the beginning, although it is nothing as bad as I thought it would be.

 

I love the D&A sausages, I've never heard of the brand before the diet thing, but I'm so glad I tried it. They claim to be 97% meat - I didn't know about the fat and sugar thing, and I wouldn't have guessed, they are very juicy not dry at all!

 

I almost gave up on pasta though as the ones I tried just did not taste like real wheat pasta at all. It was falling apart when cooked just a bit longer than stated as well so I decided not to bother - would rather go without than using a poor substitute when I heard about Salute from a friend.

 

Please do let us know if you find anything tasty (and don't forget to join the coeliac society it is free for the first 6 months but I definitely plan to continue my membership - their food directory is very useful and the magazine a good read too - that was where I heard of the Starbucks sandwich)

 

Welcome to the world of looking at labels and I'm glad the thread has helped you. The GF specific products aren't cheap which is why I thought recommendations might be a good idea

[lectrolove 10]

There's a restaurant in Nether Edge called Homemade which always has gluten-free options on the menu, and Bistrot Pierre on Ecclesall Road now has signs up saying they can do gluten-free. I'm not a fan of Bistrot Pierre though, I'm still smarting over the quail's egg salad with one measly quail's egg.

[BJan 10]

There's a restaurant in Nether Edge called Homemade which always has gluten-free options on the menu, and Bistrot Pierre on Ecclesall Road now has signs up saying they can do gluten-free. I'm not a fan of Bistrot Pierre though, I'm still smarting over the quail's egg salad with one measly quail's egg.

 

re the quail's egg - I'm not too fond of Bistrot Pierre either and don't think I'll go again. It seems very hit and miss, each time at least one of the dishes was disappointing. Thanks for the Homemade suggestion though - I've heard of it but never been so will definitely give it a try - hopefully soon!

[rosaespanola 10]

All this talk of sausages reminded me that there's a butchers somewhere near High Storrs School that make their own GF sausages and apparently they're really good. I haven't been there myself so I don't know exactly where it is, but I'm sure a search on google maps would show it up. I do know that it's not the Real Meat Co on Ecclesall Road (although they may well do their own as well, I wouldn't know).

Tesco sometimes stock GF bitter and lager, if anyone is really missing that. I've never seen it at the Infirmary Road store but the Abbeydale Road one has had it.

[eeejay174 10]

thats the butchers at the top of ringinglow road in bents green, we buy from there