Eat Natural Gluten Free Bars

These bars from Eat Natural have become a huge favourite at Gluten Free Towers in recent weeks. Chewy and nutty with a smooth yoghurt coating they have no artificial flavours or colours, and no preservatives. And most importantly they’re gluten free. Yay. Perfect for that mid-afternoon slump.

Next time we might actually have a picture of one of the bars. (Thanks guys for scoffing them before I took a pic!)

We’ve been buying ours in Waitrose and Sainsbury’s but I think they’re pretty much available everywhere.

How does it work? Go to the isitinit website. Register your intolerances and allergies and download the app. Then using the camera on your smart phone scan the product’s bar code and in seconds get all the ingredient information you need.

Haven’t got a smartphone? No problem. Shoppers can still use the service by manually entering the product’s barcode into their mobile phone and sending a text. The system will again respond in seconds.

The isitinit Food Angel is only for use in Sainsbury’s at the moment. Try it out for free for seven days. And if you like it you can sign up for a year’s subscription which costs £10 for smartphones or £20 for the text messaging service.

Sign up at the isitinit website. And let us know how you get on with it in the comments.

Which Innocent Veg Pots are gluten free?

There are eight in the range and I tried these two this week: Mexican sweet potato chilli with brown rice, jalapeno peppers and smoke paprika; and Indian daal curry with spicy cauliflower, chickpeas and fresh spinach. The ingredients are all fresh with no colourings, flavourings or nasty E numbers. And these two are gluten free, low in fat and contain three of my daily veg portions.

Not all the pots are gluten free so be sure to check the ingredients before you buy.

You can buy Innocent tasty veg pots at Sainsbury’s, Tesco, Waitrose and Asda where they normally retail for about £3.50. But Asda currently have them for 2 for £5 which is a bargain!

Try out a few of the other flavours and let us know what you think.

Gluten free tea at Claridge's

Do you remember last week we told you we’d been invited to tea at Claridge’s courtesy of Genius gluten free bread? Well, we went on Monday and we have to say it was absolutely delicious.

We enjoyed smoked salmon with horseradish and dill; organic chicken with lemon remoulade; dorrington ham; and cucumber and rocket – all with the crusts cut off, natch. And they were all made with Genius gluten free bread which will now be available as part of Claridge’s afternoon tea. (Just ring in advance and let them know.)

Gluten free cakes and pastries

As if that wasn’t enough we then tucked into gluten free scones served with Devonshire clotted cream and strawberry preserve; fruit tartlets; and to-die-for chocolate ondulay cake. These were all to Lucinda’s recipes although not part of the Genius range (yet!).

Lucinda Bruce-Gardyne Genius Founder

We managed to grab a few words with Genius’s founder, the lovely Lucinda Bruce-Gardyne, who told us the sales of gluten free sandwiches in Starbucks (made with Genius bread) were selling really well. In fact, non-gluten-free-people were buying them without even realising! And she told us about new products in the pipeline, namely brown and white rolls. We can’t wait. Of course, the next step is to roll (no pun intended) Genius gluten free bread out internationally.

On the way out we received gorgeous goodie bags containing a couple of loaves of Genius bread and Lucinda’s fabulous book How to Cook for Food Allergies: Understand Ingredients, Adapt Recipes with Confidence and Cook for an Exciting Allergy-Free Diet.

Not tried Genus gluten free bread yet? It’s now available in all major UK grocery stores.

Wheat free pasta is made from rice, corn, potato and vegetables. (Or more often than not a mix.)

Rice pastas
Orgran do a range of rice and rice/mix pastas including stoneground buckwheat and rice pasta; vegetable rice pasta; and a plain rice pasta. When you’re cooking, you need to keep an eye on the rice and rice/mix pastas otherwise they do have a tendency to go a bit gloopy. And they need a thorough rinse once they’re cooked.

Doves Farm do a number of rice based gluten free pastas that are organic and are really nutty and flavoursome. Favourites include their fusilli, penne and spaghetti.

Corn pastas
Corn (maize pastas) are quite neutral in taste and make a great base for spicy, tangy or creamy sauces. They’re often flavoured with spinach, peppers and sundried tomatoes as well. But, like rice pasta, corn pasta can fall apart quickly. So you need to ensure you don’t overcook it. One minute it looks fine and the next minute it’s a mushy paste in the bottom of your pan. Now personally, I think corn pasta gets a bit rubbery when it’s cool so it’s not great for salads.

Orgran do a number of corn only pastas which are pretty good.

Rice/corn mixes
The easiest gluten free pastas to cook – and the most versatile – are the corn and rice mix pastas. So it’s always worth having a couple of bags in the cupboard.

Doves Farm produces a delicious corn/rice penne, made in Italy. As does Dietary Specials, Orgran, Sainsbury’s and Tesco. Our favourite gluten free pasta though is the buckwheat, corn and rice spirals from Hale & Hearty. Perfect with a tomato sauce, oven roasted vegetables, olives and smoked mozzarella. Delicious!

Genius gluten free bread

Tried a new gluten free bread this week. And it was genius! No it really was. Genius’s gluten free bread tastes just like the real thing and is the brainchild of Lucinda Bruce-Gardyne, a mum of three and a professionally-trained chef.

When she discovered two of her children had foods allergies she set about creating the perfect gluten free loaf so her little boy could enjoy toasty ‘soldiers’ with his boiled egg. Not only that, she wanted to create a gluten free bread that the whole family would be happy to eat – not just the ‘gluten frees’.

“It took me three years to perfect Genius Gluten-Free Bread and my children would often come home from school to find 14 different loaves of bread waiting for them to try. I even broke my oven. But finally I got there.” Says Lucinda.

I agree. Genius gluten free bread is soft, bouncy and tasty. And unlike some gluten free breads you can eat this bread without toasting it. I made a fried-egg sandwich yesterday and it was delicious.

Genius gluten free bread is available from all major UK grocery stores. (Sainsbury’s have got it at half price at the moment, so try it!)

Grocery stores such as Sainsbury’s, Asda and Tesco all have their own ‘Free From’ ranges, as well as carrying other gluten free brands. Definitely worth checking out are Sainsbury’s gluten free muffins: they’re moist and sweet and taste like the real thing. And with Christmas coming up fast, it’s worth stocking up on Sainsbury’s gluten free Christmas pudding and gluten free mince pies. These come highly recommended. Delicious!

Tesco’s is another grocery store with their own ‘Free From’ range. Some of our favourites include the gluten free double chocolate cake. As well as cupboard staples like gluten free brown bread and gluten free pitta bread.

Mrs Crimble’s Gluten Free Chocolate Macaroons

Another grocery store with a gluten free range is Asda. We particularly like Asda’s gluten free penne pasta and spirals pasta. These both cook really well and don’t disintegrate into a wallpaper paste consistency like some gluten free pastas.

All the high street grocery stores carry other gluten free brands such as Glutano, Kelkin, Tru Free, Orgran, and Juvela. Don’t forget to try Mrs Crimble as well, now available in most of the major supermarkets. The gluten free chocolate macaroons are amazing. But will you be able to stop at one?

What grocery stores stock your favourite gluten free products? Let us know.