A journey into Gluten free

For the last 5 weeks my mum and us (partly) have been on a gluten free diet as part of following a low fod map plan.

When you think of gluten straight away  thoughts of Bread then Cakes & Biscuits  to avoid. But gluten is in many products such as Cereals, Sauces, Potato wedges & Soups.

We live in an age where you can pretty much get lots of gluten free replacements easily, but they are much more expensive than their gluten counterparts. This is a guide of our experience of going gluten free and finding things to have.

For me baking without gluten is a tricky one as the consistency and texture is different. Buying gluten free flour and replacing it in your usual recipe can work for some. A sponge cake is simple enough to switch but it will be much more crumblier. Biscuits also will have a bi of a grainy texture.

Rice flour and oats will be used quite a lot in gluten free baking from Bread to Biscuits. You can find recipes with oats and avoid the grainy texture. Flapjacks are gluten free anyway as well as oat Biscuits or Oatcakes.  I found some good recipes on Tesco real food which I used.

For me I personally found making gluten free Bread a bit of a hassle , nerve knowing How it would turn out,  so I brought some gluten free breads. Breads differ greatly Genius make a white loaf which is  not grainy but a bit dry textured but does cost £3.oo per loaf !  Sainsburys own gluten free bread was a real close match to bread with seeds in it. Burgen make a seeded bread but this is heavy textured and really not bread like, better for toasting than a sandwich. As for wraps  their are a few around which are okay but do have a grainy coating.

A big recommendation to schar for their gluten free panini rolls and white ciabatta rolls they did not taste any different than the gluten versions so a Good switch without any real taste difference. Tesco also get a mention for their sandwich thins which also were a good sub, albeit a bit thin and  a little grainy on  the outside.

Pancakes are also another thing you can either make from scratch or buy a premade mix. This one from Holland and Barrett was okay but does have a wholesome earthy taste to them which is expected from wholemeal based products.

When it comes to Cakes and Biscuits it can differ greatly. I have been making my own  mostly with oats and the gluten free flour replacement. The texture is different  though

Pastry is a bit of a challenge  I tried making some and it was so crumbly, I would not repeat that, if you could buy some maybe best. The finished pastry does also have a grainy gritty texture which is unavoidable.

Lots of recipes use Almonds to replace flour  if you are not an allergy sufferer or intolerant like me. Using polenta  and ground almonds to make a moist cake.

Look for recipes where the raising agent is the eggs or egg whites to give it a light and airy texture otherwise could be a little heavier and grainy textured. You could also make sponge cakes with margarine or spread to give  more of a rise, which I did an all in one Victoria sponge cake is a good recipe to use from Mary berry.

Chocolate Roulades are also Gluten free which you could bake into a round  tin and make a Chocolate cake, i have done this before and worked out great for Gateaux type cakes with cream fillings, fruits etc like a Black forest cake. Or make a normal Roulade and fill it with what you wish/

Biscuits also do have a gritty texture, so using oats and half  Rice flour mix works without the gritty texture. Tesco real food have an oats biscuit  recipe like a hobnob which was great.  I once had some gluten free bourbons from schar and they were quite gritty so best to experiment with the flours and oats or polenta.  Nigella also has a Peanut butter biscuit/cookie  which is very nice and Gluten free

Now dinners are a little simpler to sort out. Flour is used a thickener in sauces and to bind ingredients so making it yourself can be more controlled. Use gluten free bread for breadcrumbs and cornflour to thicken sauces. Gravy granules  contains gluten also  so make your own Stock again with cornflour to thicken. Same with soups.

Surprisingly some crisps also contain wheat flour and potato wedges for the coating so read the labels first. Pea snacks based crisps like these i found in Tesco

Once you can sort out a good biscuit , a good sponge cake , bread etc you can make these into other dishes and make them gluten free.

Some dishes are already gluten free sweet and savoury and companies do play on people labelling them as gluten free and  charging more on the gluten free section, where they are cheaper on the normal section.

Here Is a list of gluten free things anyway

• Rice cakes, plain or chocolate covered, snack a jacks, white chocolate covered, yogurt covered etc
• Meringues, pavlova
• Rice snacks -I buy these from home Bargains ricesnax brand chilli, cheese  chive and salt  vinegar
• Oatcakes
• Oats
•  Coconut macaroons
• Flapjacks
• Some cereals  Rice crispies, rice pops, cornflakes
• Tomato ketchup
• chocolate roulades

HOW TO SAVE MONEY ON GLUTEN FREE FOODS

As i said earlier gluten free foods are more expensive than the usual variety of stuff. Look out for reduced to clear Bread, Cakes etc on the Bakery section in the supermarket  and you can save a fortune, freeze the stuff and get out as you need it.

I got the genius bread for £1.00 in Sainsburys rather than £3 used one loaf and froze the other. You could even freeze the loaf and use it for breadcrumbs later to make dishes that need breadcrumbs like fishcakes,  Chicken goujons, Chicken nuggets, sauces, desserts etc. Cakes including Mr kipling bakewell tarts and Wraps freeze well also. Gluten free crumpets and sandwich thins.

Reductions are best in the late afternoon and evening if you can get them.

Do not always stick to the gluten free section as gluten free products like pasta, oatcakes, Biscuits rice cakes can be found in the usual sections and sometimes cheaper!

Although i am not a Coeliac or gluten intolerant until you experience not having gluten then you can understand what it must be like. The choice of products to buy is vast but not always like for like, avoiding lots of things and not easy or cheap to follow.

i shall keep some of the recipes i made and maybe swap some gluten out time to time.

It has been an interesting experience and learning from the journey.