Supernoodles

I use to live off Supernoodles. Especially during my time at University. I would sometimes venture out to the students union for cheesy chips, but my cooking ability back then only reached as far as heating noodles in water and adding a flavoured sachet to it. The flavour was usually bacon, which resulted in Frazzle burps for the next few days at least.

I went off them a bit though. Nothing to do with them not being gluten free. But once I got so drunk on quadruple vodkas that I was sick and supernoodles came out of my nose. Gross. I soon learnt to cook after that - even Pot Noodles made me feel queasy.

I now feel ready to try some noodle based convenience food again and it looks like Tiger Tiger have come to the gluten free rescue with these Thai microwave noodles.

Christmas Goblin

All families have their traditions at Christmas. Some families go to midnight mass, some insist on watching the Queens speech, and there are those strange people who don't open the presents until after Christmas dinner. But I'm yet to meet another family who eat chocolate biscuits for breakfast on Christmas day.

Keen to keep this tradition going, this year I provided a selection of gluten free biscuits that put that old McVities tin to shame.

Ingredients for Christmas day breakfast :-

Pink Panther Gluten Free Pink Wafers

Trufree chocolate fingers

Doves hazelnut cookies

Trufree custard creams

Trufree chocolate digestives

Birds Eye Potato waffles...

They're waffly gluten free

Be Bop - Milan

I was treated to a wonderful romantic trip to Milan for Valentines day this year. As pure coincidence, Spurs were also playing AC Milan the next day, so my boyfriend suggested catching the match as well.

I thought I might be in for a few days of salads and sneaky rice cakes in restaurants, but was in for a massive surprise when we found Be Bop Restaurant with a gluten free pizza and pasta menu.

Here I am enjoying a pizza and beer in Italy - so tasty!



And here I am next to a poor waxwork Ruud Gullit - not so tasty.



To fill our pudding pockets we went to Grom a few times. Their pistachio gelato was amazing, even in the rain...


http://www.grom.it/eng/celiachia.php

Abby and the Gluten Free Factory

I had the best gluten free day ever on Saturday. It started with the postman delivering a sample of Juvela’s Special Flakes. I’m not sure how they came up with that name for the cereal, probably something to do with them being for people with a ’special’ diet.

Then I met the Cake Crusader - a real superhero, although she didn’t have her pants on over her apron. She had a cake stall at the Harehatch Sheeplands market, and makes the best gluten free millionaire short cake I’ve ever tasted. All of her cakes are gluten and wheat free, so we brought four cupcakes, a brownie and a millionaire shortcake. There are none left today.

Already loaded with yummy cakes, we thought we’d have a quick look in the farm shop. It was like some kind of gluten free version of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Clive’s pies, Dietary specials Yorkshires and pasties in the freezer, Mrs Crimbles, Kallo rice cakes, Bryon Bay cookies and so much more, even ice cream cones . I could have stayed there all day, but was in real danger of becoming Augustus Gloop!

Surviving Japan, only to end up in Hell

I'm so pleased my big sister and her husband have returned to England from Japan. I loved Tokyo and survived eating gluten there. I also survived a massive earthquake and then being in a typhoon half way up Mt Fuji, but that's a different story.

I took my own bottle of gluten free soy sauce everywhere I went - luckily nothing is weird in Japan. Most Japanese restaurants have a mini BBQ on your table and you cook the food. As long as we ordered without sauce this was great for me, expect the time we nearly set fire to the restaurant...




Of course it helped having two Japanese speakers with us to avoid those Lost in Translation moments, but with places like Coco Curry having an allergy menu, it's possible to visit Japan and eat out gluten free.

So although their return has scarpered my plans to return to Japan on the cheap, at least they're returning to Clapham where Hell Pizza deliver gluten free pizzas. So they'd better get used to much more frequent visits from me!

Back to Basics

In the search for an alternative to Hula Hoops, I discovered Sainsbury's Basics Potato Rings. They're so cheap that they probably can't afford to add the barley malt extract that may or may not be in plain Hula Hoops.

http://www.sainsburys.co.uk/groceries/index.jsp?bmUID=1286126025691



The only down side is that I look like a pikey at lunch time in work. However the plus side is I can once again eat the cheddar cheese filled Hula Hoops snack I saw on Freaky Eaters.