Strange way to buy bread.

Well this is a first.  I have been to the chemists and ordered some bread mix.  Usually you buy your groceries from the supermarket or local shop, in my case they are one of the same, but not from the chemists and on prescription.  However, when you suffer from coeliac disease the only place you can get certain bread mix is on prescription.  This still seems strange but there we are.

On the way back I indulged my current obsession with daffodils.   They are starting to go over so in a week or so's time they will be gone and I can put this obsession to bed for another year.  However, it will be replaced by the next great flower of spring - the blue bell.

Slicing Bread and Jenny Wren

What a beautiful morning.   I spent quite a lot of it down by the river.  I am on the look out for the first sign of the warblers return, now that would be a good name for a pub.  To date there has been no sign of the returning birds.  Still a bit early.  I did manage to grab a couple of shots of a little jenny Wren.   You always find these birds firtling around the river's edge.  This time of year they appear to be setting out their ranges and trying to attract a mate.  They are a wonderful little bird with such a load and memorable song.

As for slicing bread.  Well we have just bought ourselves an electrical carving knife.   One of the problems we have found with baking your own bread is that it can be difficult to slice, that is if you don't like door steps, I do but my wife doesn't.   The good news is that the carving knife really works and makes things so much easier.

We have now tested the gluten free bread from Asda and Sainsbury's.   Both are surprisingly good.  Not a patch on baking your own but ok for sandwiches if you are away from your bread maker, such as if you are on holiday.   Another small step along a step learning curve.   We had another surprise yesterday.  We found some gluten free chocolate cake at Starbucks - this was a real bonus.

More Bread Making...

More mixed results from the bread making front.  We tried to make bread from a recipe that came with the bread maker.  Didn't seem to rise as much as it should so looking into that.   To date the best bread mix we have found is Mrs Crimmbles.

As for the move to a gluten free diet this is now in full swing.  We really are lucky as we have so many big stores in such a short distance from where we live that at times we seem spoilt for choice.  Yesterday we tried out some food from Waitrose,  again very good - my favourite item was the Mrs Crimmble's Jam and Coconut rings...yum yum.

The Coeliac charity's food and drink directory was a god send when trying to find food that could be used at Waitrose.  It is so easy to use, the only problem is to find the food on the shelf/freezer section etc.  However, the idea of the shopping expedition was to locate where the foods are on the shelf so this shouldn't be a problem in the future.  All in all a successful day.

Finding gluten free food

So the hunt is on - where is the gluten free food?   We are lucky in that we have three large supermarkets very close, two within walking distance, one only a 10 minutes drive away.   They each have their own brands and the task at the moment is to find the food that you like within the produce.  Not easy but it has to be done.

I am living a gluten free life vicariously.   I have to say you start to appreciate how much food we eat now a days is prepared for you.  I have been used to looking at the calorific values of food for sometime but now I am examining every box for the dreaded word gluten.

So what is the result so far?  What are the foods that actually are very tasteful.   As with all food this is a personal choice and so should not have any bearing on what you might like.   lets take bread.   yesterday we tried to make some bread from the ds white bread mix from Tescos.   The pack said that it could be used in a bread maker and so we followed the instructions on the pack to the letter.  Disaster!   After consulting their web site it became clear that the product can be used in a bread maker, but not with the recipe on the back!   You have to use a totally different recipe that is only available on their website.  Needless to say we will not be using that product again.   

Of all the breads we have tested so far the best is the mix Glutafin.  I really liked this, much to the annoyance of my wife as this was supposed to be for her!   Still the search continues and no doubt there will be further updates.

Bread making - a whole new ball game.

An interesting few days.   We have finally started to test the new bread maker and I have to say the results have been very encouraging.   It is really evocative the smell of bread cooking - very homely!

Anyway, we have only tried two gluten free mixes so far and both have been really quite nice - in fact very good indeed.  I had read some horror stories about the appalling taste of gluten free bread.  Well to date I have not found this.  In fact I quite like it - however I am not the one who has to have a gluten free diet so I have the choice