I'm back with a funny chef story

I've taken a long break from blogging for health reasons. It's something that has always been on my mind, and I'm forever thinking of things that I can write on here!

But my health is finally in a position where I can blog again and get back to the things which I love doing, blogging and being in contact with all my readers.

My husband and I had dinner at the local pub tonight, a nice quiet evening. As most coeliacs and gluten intolerant people will know, carefully reading the menu, choosing between 2-3 different meals and asking lots of questions if the meal is gluten free is just part of eating out.

Tonight I selected a chilli prawn dish, even though it appeared to be gluten free, I asked the waitress if it had gluten. After asking the chef the waitress informed me that it did have gluten as there were tomatoes in the dish!

Yes people, that's right! Gluten in tomatoes!! I informed the waitress that there was no gluten in tomatoes. She responded by telling me that apparently some coeliacs couldn't eat tomatoes! WTF????

Sitting down waiting for the meal, I realised that people with IBS are generally advised to greatly reduce the amount of tomatoes they eat. Perhaps that is why the chef was confused or thought tomatoes had gluten in them! Either that or the chef was just ignorant to what gluten is and what foods have gluten.

Despite the warning that the tomatoes have gluten in them, over 2 hours later I'm fine, no puffer fish, no reaction, thankfully no gluten.

The meal was actually quite nice.....


Morale of the story, ask questions but empower yourself with knowledge about the foods you can eat and have faith in yourself.

GF Golden Syrup Sauce

I was excited by this month's theme of 'Feeling Saucy', many an idea has ticked through my brain of what delicious saucy dish I could come up with. Initially I thought I would base my sauce around fruits, to fit in with spring.


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But then..........................

I had a chocolate craving and nothing but my favourite GF Chocolate Fudge Brownie's would suffice(this recipe can be found in the Sweet Things tab at the top of the screen). Now it was a sauce to go with my delicious brownies, something nice and sweet with a hint of caramel/toffee flavour.

I didn't want something heavy, a light drizzly sauce to compliment the delicious gooey chocolate fudge brownies.

The recipe that I used was one that my Gran used to make golden syrup dumplings, one of my childhood favourites. I only used the sauce recipe and added a tablespoon of cornflour to thicken the sauce slightly.

Poured over warm Chocolate Fudge Brownies it was a taste bud delight, my friend and I both went back for seconds, it was just too delicious too pass up.

The best thing about this sauce is that is not only simple but gluten free! Quite often pre made sauces are filled with gluten, leaving us coeliacs and those on a gluten free diet to eat plain food and not try delicious sauces.

This sauce only takes 5- 10 minutes to cook and is so delicious no one will have to miss out on a tasty sauce again!

GF Golden Syrup Sauce

Ingredients:
1 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
1 desertspoon butter
1 desertspoon golden syrup
1 desertspoon cornflour (mix in 1 desertspoon of water to make a paste)

Method:
Place water, sugar, butter and golden syrup into a saucepan on low heat, stir until butter is melted and sugar is dissolved, stirring constantly. Bring to the boil, add cornflour mix to thicken sauce and mix through. Pour into a gravy jug and pour the sauce over your Chocolate Fudge Brownies.

I hope you enjoy this sauce as much as I did.

Missing Chocolate Bars!!

One of the frustrating things about being a coeliac is having to read labels every time you eat, looking for anything that contains wheat; specifically wheat startch or wheat flour (I have been told by a nutritionist that glucose from wheat is okay).

A large majority of chocolate bars contain wheat or gluten based products, making the number of chocolate bars that are okay to eat very minimal. Plain chocolate is gluten free but it doesnt have the same appeal as does the flavoured chocolate bars. Don't be fooled by the GF chocolate as it is more of a marketing ploy as plain chocolate doesn't contain gluten as does a small variety of flavoured chocolate. I have often selected a chocolate bar to eat and it is only after I have finished eating the bar that I read the ingredients and realise that it contains gluten. Then there is the side effects of eating gluten that don't nearly compensate for eating the chocolate!

What chocolate bars do you miss? I miss Frys Turkish Delight, Mars Bars, the chocolate bars that contain biscuits like Kit Kats, Violet Crumbles, the list goes on and on and on. I would really like to be able to go to the chocolate section in the supermarket and be able to pick whatever I was craving at the time, not what my coeliac disease dictated I can or more to the point cannot eat!

I would love for you to share your favourite chocolate or sweets that you miss eating, that has gluten and you can no longer eat.