Living GF

I'm sure iv'e mentioned it before but incase you didn't know I have coeliacs and can not eat gluten at all. I just found out last year and was very unwell with a few hospital stays and many many tests until finally the penny dropped and a diagnosis was reached. Since excluding gluten from my diet my whole life has changed. No more pain, reflux, tiredness etc.

Lucky for me it's not as hard to go gluten free as it was a few years ago. There are many yummy gluten free products and really i don't feel like i go without at all. I know how bad those krispy kreme donuts make me feel up to a week after consuming them and so I don't crave these foods at all.

The hardest part of having coeliacs is trying to get a good gluten free meal while out and about.
Have you noticed that all GF food in cafes and coffee shops is nothing but friands and orange/almond cake? Not so good when you're trting to go low GI and lose weight on this seemingly high GI diet and all you want is a good salad with protien or some vegie risotto. Iv'e also found that a lot of places will just tell you the food is gluten free but really they have no clue that the salad dressing has a wheat product in it or they simply don't care and will tell you what you want to hear.

But it's not all bad really, you just need to be super organised with meal planning and make sure you have snacks on hand to tie you over if you happen to be out when the hunger strikes.

Being new at this game Iv'e had to educate myself in how to produce good healthy GF foods. Joining the coealiacs society has been helpful too.

The 4 Ingredients gluten free cook book has been pretty good. I thought it would be a little dodgy but suprisingly my very fussy 3 year old has enjoyed everything from that book.

Another great book is Low GI gluten-free living . This is the book I prefer to eat from as it has balanced low GI foods as the title suggests. However, the littlest one is not so keen.

I don't cook 2 meals for dinner, we all eat GF . Brekky & lunch is whatever the family wants so they still get to eat their sandwiches and weetbix if they like.

Anyway, I thought i'd show you some pictures...



THIS salad is delicious! I had to try as soon as I found it, it has sardines & pear, a strange combo but delish. I used baby cos instead of spinach. It's an awesomly filling lunch.



Baked Ricotta & Thyme Pie from 4 Ing - yum



Nachos 4 Ing style. not my favourite only because i'm not a cheddar fan, but the kids requested it and of course they loved it.



Sweet potato & fetta frittata again from 4 Ing. and with that yummy salad.