Gluten Free Foodie

When my wife found out she had celiac, I had no idea what that meant or how serious an issue it was for her health.  I learned pretty quickly though. I was shocked at how common gluten is in food and how little the food industry knew about gluten, including cross contamination. Sometimes, staff at cafes would use the same tongs for gluten treats as they would the gluten free treats.  I would say "this is not okay!" And they would look at me with puzzled looks, we don't eat at those places anymore.  Other times staff asked "how serious is your wife's celiac?" Early on, my wife didn't want to order for herself and have to explain EVERYTHING about celiac every time we went out.  So I would often do the ordering so she wouldn't get frustrated.  I would get quite protective when I was asked those strange questions of her celiac and made sure the places we went to knew what they were doing, otherwise we would walk out. In the 6 years we've known,...

Two Cheese Risotto Tips:  I use a really good sauvignon blanc, and a really good chicken stock.  I don't follow this recipe to the word. I add cooked, seasoned cubed chicken breasts (500g).  If you are GF, check your stock and cheese. If I can't find rocket, I use baby spinach. Enjoy x Ingredients: olive oil 1 medium leak - thinly sliced 2 crushed garlic cloves 450g arborio rice (2 cups) 1/2 c. white wine 5 c. simmering chicken stock 2 finely diced tomatoes 180g mozzarella cut into small squares 1 c. grated parmesan 1 c. torn basil leaves 120 g baby rocket leaves  Method: 1. Heat 2-3 Tbsp of olive oil, add garlic and leak.  Stir for 2 minutes.  2.  Add the rice, stir to coat.  Add the wine and reduce by half. 3.  Add simmering stock, 1c. at a time.  Stir after each addition, until absorbed and rice is tender. (About 25 minutes). 4.  Add tomatoes, cheese, basil and ...

My second pregnancy was a bit of a journey in itself, which I will share another day. Once our son arrived the journey didn't get any easier, as cute as he was. He screamed for hours in the evening and I mean for hours. I would try everything I did with our daughter, but nothing worked. My husband travels for work so it would mostly be our daughter and me at home.  At this stage, she had been an only child for 7 years and I could tell my precious first born was becoming stressed. Our peaceful home had turned into a screaming nightmare. I remember being at a BBQ and he started to get fussy. I tried to put him down for a sleep but he cried and cried and nothing would work. I was feeling a bit isolated in my friends babies room, trying not to cry myself! My friend came in and we started to talk about dairy intolerances through breastmilk, since I was questioning my cheese intake that night. I had eaten a lot of cheese at this BBQ, because, well if you put cheese in front of me...

When you have a restricted diet, the thought of going out to eat can be a bit depressing, especially in the beginning. My second baby, had a dairy allergy through my breast milk. This meant, not only was I gluten free (celiac), but I also had to be completely dairy free. Jay, the owner of Manna Coffee & Bread Store, told me how he made his own almond milk. Let me tell you, his almond milk is so good! I haven't found any other almond milk as good in all my travels. Jay makes divine raw treats and is so lovely to chat with. Sadly we moved out of Auckland, but we often talk about how much we miss Jays coffee! Following is a piece kindly written by Jay, for the GFF. You can learn his reasons behind Manna's raw treats and alternative milks, inspiration for us all. Please go say hello if you are in Auckland, he really is the best. JAY'S STORY: Why Raw? It's all about the benefits. We get a lot of customers come through our door from different walks of li...