Banana Breakfast Muffins

Thanks to everyone who voted in my most recent poll. The product you wanted to see me develop next was breakfast muffins so....here they are!

Now, I'll say upfront that they need a little work because although they are delicious (two may have leapt into my mouth. Completely uninvited. Honest!), I don't think I'd class them yet as proper 'breakfast' muffins. I've lowered the fat and sugar content a little and I've used a heap of finely chopped nuts, along with mashed banana. Oh, and some chunks of really good dark chocolate. Yum!

But the question is, what makes a really good breakfast muffin?? Should it be more savoury or more sweet? Does it need to have dried fruit, such as cranberries or raisins in? I'll admit, I'm biased on this subject towards no, because dried fruit creeps me out. You take perfectly good fruit, suck all the moisture out of it like a vampire and then stick the chewy leftovers into perfectly good cake?!?! No way jose! Alas, many disagree with me on this front!

So then, what about seeds? Pumpkins seeds? Poppy seeds? Sesame seeds? Should there be seeds in a breakfast muffin?

This is where I need some guidance from you, the customer. If you could design your ideal breakfast muffin, what would you put in it?

In the meantime, I feel it is my duty to share with you that currently, Tesco is running a special offer on a number of gluten free items. Udi's bagels are half price (wohoo!), except for the sundried tomato bagels (boo!), as are ALL 9 Bars and Nairn's stuff. Grab it while you can!

Oh, I've also been working on my coffee & walnut cake. No picture, I'm afraid, as it all went to my husband's work for the Macmillan Coffee Morning, but it is finally perfected and it is to be added to the list of products this weekend. Keep your eyes peeled, folks!

Wishing you all a great weekend. 

Review - Feel Free Donuts

Ahh...donuts (doughnuts?? Donuts??). It's kind of the holy grail of snack foods for the average coeliac. Mainly because it's one of those foods that is virtually impossible to find gluten free.

Unfortunately, the way gluten free flours tend to work means that doughnuts tend either to fail to prove properly, or they turn into small, round brickettes soon as they've cooled Seriously. For a short time a few years ago, Tesco produced a gluten free jam doughnut. They were ROCK solid. If you heated them in the oven for 10 minutes longer than recommended, at a slightly higher temperature than recommended, they were perfectly edible for a good half an hour. Score!

So the excitement at this year's Allergy Show in London was palpable when Feel Free previewed their new sugared ring doughnuts. Oooh, they were so good! Fluffy, sweet, doughnut-y. You get the picture.

Ever since, the coeliac world has waited with baited breath for the day they'd be able to buy these lovely hoops. And at last, that day is here! Feel Free sent some doughnuts to our local support group for tasting (I'm on the committee) and a couple were passed on to me. Yay!

Please excuse the battered condition of the box - it's actually down to transportation between people, rather than the way it arrived from Feel Free. Anyway...they arrive frozen, which is a bit novel. There are four doughnuts, each in individual wrappers, so you can keep them in the freezer and pull one out to defrost whenever you fancy it.

As you can see, they come with a generous coating of sugar, which is a very nice change, as almost every gluten free doughnut I've encountered so far seems keen to shed it's sugar en route!

After defrosting, you remove the plastic wrapper and nuke the doughnut for 20-30 seconds in the microwave, until it's all puffed up and warm. Lovely!

The doughnut itself was delicious. It was sugary and warm and light and fluffy - just as a good doughnut should be. But, for the sake of honesty, I have to say that it was very, very oily (not the case when I tried them at the Allergy Show). I tore a bit of doughnut off by hand and the oil was literally running down my fingers. I squeezed it gently in tissue and soaked through two tissues.

Would I buy these doughnuts myself? It was a really tasty doughnut. Easily the best I've come across in terms of the texture. But the amount of oil in them did put me off a bit. So yes, I probably would buy them, but as a treat on occasions, and I'd give them a damned good tissue squeeze before I eat them!

Mad Hatter Dinner Party!

Wow, it's been a bit of a crazy week!

First of all, I couldn't post anything new on my blog for a few days because my laptop completely gave up the ghost on me. RIP laptop!

But the real reason it's been crazy is that on Wednesday evening, I threw a Mad Hatter's Dinner Party. Yepp. Why? Well, I'm doing an online course on Creative Problem Solving and the 'homework' for this week was to eat something different. I'm a coeliac and a vegetarian, which somewhat limits my options, so I decided to twist the theme a little and invite over some friends and family to partake of a slightly mad dining experience.

Oh, the fun we had! First off, I set out the table thusly:

And then I just let my imagination run a bit wild. So...this is what I did for food:

To start, we had carrot and ginger soup, which I had dyed a niiiiice bright green! Because what says 'fun' with food more than luminous green soup!? To make it more entertaining for my guests, I served it from a teapot and into mugs, so they expected tea and got bright green soup. What do you mean, that doesn't sound like a nice surprise?!!?

They also had heart and diamond shaped bread and butter to eat it with.

Next up:

Teeny sandwiches (using Genius bread, of course) served on cocktail sticks! We had cheese and cucumber, cheese and ham and chicken and blood. Just kidding, it was salsa. But it looked like blood! Trying to eat the sandwiches was particularly entertaining...

Next up, breadstick and chocolate 'hedgehogs', courtesy of DS Breadsticks and Nutella spread, decanted into some martini glasses. This one was VERY popular!!

I made chocolate 'mud' cupcakes - dark chocolate sponge, with chocolate eggs hidden at the bottom, a homemade chocolate ganache core, and orange-flavoured (but multi-coloured) buttercream on top.

And green 'boulder' cookies - green cookies (not that you can really see the green in the pic) with chocolate and fudge chunks...

Not to mention individual dishes of marshmallows for melting on kebab skewers over the tealights by each place setting, which could be turned into s'mores with chocolate ganache and the cookies...

Our dining room smelled like burnt marshmallow for a full day afterwards!

And all these treats were washed down with a shot of pistachio cocktail (equal parts Baileys, amaretto liquer and blue curacao - trust me, it's SO good) and, of course, pink tea.

It was a lot of work but I think everyone enjoyed themselves and it was certainly a lot of fun to work on and produce. A LOT of colours were tested for the soup and the tea to find one that wouldn't look like swamp water when mixed. Trust me on this, a lot of colours do!

The best thing about it, other than the great company, is that this would translate so easily for a children's party. I don't have kids of my own but maybe when my niece and nephews are a little older, this could be great fun.

Have you done something really fun for a party? If so, please tell me all about it!

Recipe: Vegetarian Chilli (or, Chilli Sin Carne)

In other words...chilli without meat!

As usual, there's a story behind this.

My mother-in-law is an AMAZING cook. She'll deny it, I'm sure, but their house always smells like something delicious. Anyway, a couple of weeks ago, I popped in and she was making chilli con carne. My GOD the smell! I'd been wanting to try making chilli con carne myself for a while but seeing it being made gave me the nudge I needed to try it.

I had no idea how many different ways there are to make chilli until I decided to try it myself. After scouring the internet, looking at an awful lot of recipes, I eventually settled on the key components, and then fiddled around with the recipe until I was happy with the quantities of each ingredient.

My favourite thing about this recipe is its versatility. Sure, you can have it with rice...but you can include tortilla chips and cheese when serving to give it something extra. You can make homemade oven chips, throw the hot chilli on top, sprinkle over some mature cheddar, and have chilli cheese fries (ohhh my God, SO good!!). You can even add it to a fluffy baked potato. Because it can be reheated in the microwave, you can also take it to work for lunch. No more reasonably-tasty-but-slightly-limp sandwiches!

Another great thing is that it makes a HUGE batch - enough for 5-6 hungry people, and the leftovers can be stored in the fridge for a good 4 days.
 
Don't be put off by the list of ingredients - it's actually very simple to make.


Ingredients

2 onions, finely chopped
1tsp chilli flakes (if you can get it, throw in a diced ancho chilli and 2 diced chipotle chillis, or 1/2tsp chipotle paste)
6 cloves garlic, crushed
2tsp olive oil
2 large bell peppers, finely chopped
1 pint dehydrated soya mince, measured in a jug before adding water (Tesco Wholefoods does a gluten free soya mince).
2 heaped tsp paprika
2 heaped tsp turmeric
3tsp ground cinnamon
3tsp dried coriander leaf
2tsp ground cumin
2tsp ground coriander
400g carton sieved tomatoes (passata)
2 400g tins chopped tomatoes
2 tins beans (I use one tin kidney beans and one cannelini beans for variety)
Salt and pepper, to taste

Method

Heat the olive oil on a low heat in a large stock pot or saucepan. Add the onions and chilli, and allow to sweat for around 5 minutes, or until the onions are soft and transluscent. Add the bell peppers and garlic, allowing them to sweat and soften for a few minutes, and stirring occasionally to prevent browning. Add boiled water to the soya mince and leave for a minute or two so the mince can absorb the water. Strain off, then add to the mixture in the pan. Throw in the sieved tomatoes and chopped tomatoes, then add all the spices. Turn the heat up so it's a medium-high heat.

Cover the pan with a lid and allow to simmer for half an hour, stirring occasionally to make sure it doesn't stick. Rinse the beans thoroughly, then add them. Give it all a good stir, then cover again and leave to simmer away. If you leave the lid on, you should be able to let it simmer for quite a long time, making this great to prepare an hour or so in advance of serving, if desired. When you're about half an hour from wanting to eat, leave the lid off and make sure you stir it often.


Serve hot, and in whatever way thrills you the most - whether it's with chips, rice or jacket potato. Most of all, enjoy!

Gluten in Lipsticks!?

Recently, someone mentioned to me that there are lipsticks out there that have gluten in. WHAT!?!!

Ohhh, I was horrified. To say I'm a fan of lipstick would be something of an understatement. I almost never go a day without wearing it, and on the days I do go without, it's usually because I opted for a lip gloss instead.

At the Allergy Show, wearing Revlon's Super Lustrous Cherries In The Snow lipstick

So I was horrified to find out that one of my favourite beauty products might actually be poisoning me, especially when I've been struggling with mild stomach problems for a very long time now. Could my beloved lipwear be the cause of it all?

At Christmas, wearing Avon Colour Trend lipstick in Jungle Fever

To get to the bottom of this mystery, I set about an extensive internet search, looking for the ingredients lists that were missing from the packaging. Unfortunately, my main finding was that almost none of the lipstick-making companies provide ingredients for their products on their website. Not helpful! So instead, I set about calling every company from whom I've purchased a lipstick or lip gloss. That didn't fare much better because very few of them had any idea what was in their own products, or had the ability to look it up!

My Dad's retirement party, wearing Boots 17 Lasting Fix Lipstick in Pink Power

As a way around this, a few of them agreed to find out and then call me back. So I left my name and number, and I waited....and waited...

In the meantime, I DID have some luck! Here's what I found:

Soap & Glory: the ONLY website I came across that actually lists product ingredients. None of their Motherpucker lip glosses contain gluten (yay!). I could find no gluten listed in the ingredients for any of their other lip products, which is great news.

Revlon: This is a tricky one. When I called them, they said that most of their products do not contain gluten (they confirmed the lipsticks I currently use - Revlon Super Lustrous - have no gluten in the ingredients), but that all may be exposed to gluten in the manufacturing process, so there's a question mark over them. If you have a Revlon product and you want to know if there's gluten in it, you can call their freephone number to ask: 0800.0852716. 

Bare Minerals: An internet search suggests that their products are exposed to gluten during manufacture, but their website lists ingredients that go into each product, so as with Revlon, this has to be a judgement-call.

Avon: I wear the Avon Colour Trend lipsticks, so called them to ask whether they have gluten in. But the person I spoke to had no way of checking this herself, and said she'd have to get someone to call me back within the next 48 hours. I'll update this post if/when I hear back from them.

Boots Seventeen and Natural Collection: Same story with Avon. No lists to hand and no way to check. Again, someone will call me back as soon as possible and I'll update you when I hear from them.

Lipcote: I'm thrilled to say they called me back and confirmed that Lipcote IS gluten free. So once you've selected your gluten free lipstick, you can make it stay put through the whole day!

On my wedding day, wearing Boots 17 Lasting Fix lipstick in Shocking

Well class, what have we learned today?

First of all, that if you're a coeliac, you need to be careful with make up. Although there are very few lip products that contain gluten, relatively speaking, there is still a risk. And since we all nibble at our lips and lick our lips and drink from glasses while wearing lip products, there is a very real risk of a glutening from lipstick, lip glosses and lip balms. So repeat after me: if in doubt, check it out!

Class dismissed.

Reviewed: The Little Teapot Cafe, Poole High Street

Last night, my Gran called me to remind me she had an appointment in Poole, and to ask if I wanted to go for lunch. Well, for the life of me, I couldn't think of a place in Poole I knew I'd be able to eat safely. And then, aha! I remembered that The Little Teapot cafe opened fairly recently in Poole High Street, and that they were very aware of gluten free.

Since I do a blog and all, I figured it was my duty (ahem!) to check them out, so I suggested to my Gran that we go there. Luckily, she was thrilled with the suggestion.

I must admit that my first impression was of a very small cafe indeed. I believe an estate agent would call it 'cosy'. But once you step in the door, what seemed small really does feel very warm and friendly. This place would be perfect on a cold winter's day as a place to escape the bitterly cold wind on Poole Quay and settle in with a soothingly hot cup of tea and a slice of cake (a plan in the making!).

I opted for a roasted pepper and goat cheese sandwich, which I was very pleased to find was made using Genius brown bread (my favourite). The goat cheese was creamy and there was enough roasted red pepper to balance it perfectly with chargrilled sweetness.

Then they spoke the magic words...'Are you ready for some cake?' Hmm...let me think about that...YES PLEASE!!!

Ooooh...it was good! A chocolate sponge cake so fudgey and gooey that a small slice is quite enough to last. It was quite dense, in the best possible way, and really did feel like a decadent treat! Although I didn't have a drink, I can't think of a better cake to have with a mug of tea or coffee. I would show you a picture, but I scoffed the lot! Oops!

 My one real issue - I can't really call it a complaint - is that although they make it very clear they can provide gluten free options, you have to ask to find out what exactly those options are because they aren't clearly marked on the menu or anywhere else. They offer a variety of cakes but, likewise, they aren't listed anywhere and they're kept out of the way to prevent cross-contamination.

That issue aside, the food and the service are excellent. As well as a rather tasty-sounding mezze platter, they can make a number of different sandwiches, many of which are suitable for vegetarians as well. They warned me off having a cheese toastie because they currently only have the one panini press, making it unsuitable for coeliacs, showing that their knowledge far surpasses that of anyone else I met.

Honestly, it was a great lunch out and my Gran, though not a coeliac, thoroughly enjoyed her toasted teacake, eulogising about it until we were halfway back to the car! I loved the sandwich and the cake, and it's great to know there is now somewhere in Poole I can eat without any fear of a 'glutening'. Tea and cake all round!

Want to know more about The Little Teapot? Find them here on FB.

Gluten Free - The 'Healthy' Diet?

Now, before all my fellow coeliacs leap down my throat for even suggesting that gluten free is a healthy diet (in keeping with so many of the famed celebrity 'fad' diets), hear me out.

While I'm sure there are confirmed coeliacs who are in the public eye, a great many more either claim to have 'difficulties with gluten' or state outright that they're following it for the purposes of maintaining a healthy diet. In a bid to avoid legal action, I should stress that the following names* are those who are rumoured to follow a gluten free diet because they consider it healthy:

• Gwyneth Paltrow
• Ryan Phillippe
• Victoria Beckham
•  Miley Cyrus
• Fern Britton

The truth, however, is very different. The majority of gluten free products, from bread and crackers to the 'naughtier' treats, tend to be far higher in both fat and sugar than their non-gluten free counterparts. 

 Doubting whether that's really true? Let's take a closer look.

Genius is one of the most popular gluten free suppliers out there. They were arguably the first manufacturer to produce gluten free that was considered edible by the general coeliac population (and if you knew what we had to put up with before that, you'd know why they became so popular!). So let's take a look at the largest loaf of brown bread they do. This is the nutritional info, taken from the Genius website, for their 535g loaf of Brown Sliced Bread:

And this is the nutritional info for a loaf of Hovis 800g medium-slices wholemeal loaf, taken from the Hovis website:

Notice anything there, did ya? Okay, let's just recap. Per 100g, the Genius bread contains 7.4g of fat. The Hovis, on the other hand, contains just 1.8g of fat. If you're looking at eating gluten free as a way to lose weight, you'd best steer clear of the bread because that stuff will stick to your thighs like glue!

So let's really blow the diet. Let's say you decide to really splurge and go for some cake. Nothing too big now, you don't want to look too podgy for that upcoming Christmas party. This is the nutritional info for Mrs Crimbles Bakewell Slices, taken from the Mrs Crimbles website:

 Wow! 30g of sugar per 100g? That's scary! But what about the non-gluten free version? Let's take a look at some 'normal' bakewell slices, and hey, just for kicks, let's look at Mr Kipling's, which even have a thin layer of icing on top:

Okay, so these ones have more sugar (that'll be the icing) but check out the fat content. While the gluten free ones have 24.5g of fat per 100g, the non-gluten free version by Mr Kipling have just 17.4g. But that's just the tip of the iceburg. Look at the saturated fat in both. While Mrs Crimbles' has 13.8g of saturated fat (my left ventricle closes just looking at that), Mr Kipling has only 7.8g.

 Even the least maths-capable mind can see that the gluten free version has almost exactly twice as much saturated fat as the non-gluten free version.

So what have we learned today, class? Well, if you're a celebrity looking for a bandwagon to jump on, you may have learned nothing more than that following this 'trend' would mean an extra 3k run every day. But if you've been thinking about going gluten free because it could help you lose weight, I hope you've learned that this probably isn't the diet for you. Almost every gluten free item contains more saturated fat and sugar than a 'normal' version. It's also up to five times the price! But if you're a coeliac, you'll have learned nothing because hey, we already knew all that.



*(Sources: Daily Mail, The Daily Scoop)