Australians And New Zealanders Hellooooooo :)

[georgie]

I emailed the Gourmet Co and they have a retail outlet in Adelaide !

Its called Best Things in Life , 92a Unley Rd. They are also on the web at Open Original Shared Link I got some rocky road from them. Yummy !

Peg, Hi! How did you cope in England ? We may be there next year and I am getting stressed. Lots of info about supermarket food but how do you cook it ?Do you need to stay at places with kitchens ? And are all pubs easy to order a gluten-free meal ? And how was the flight over? Did you fly with a good airline with good gluten-free food ? I can't imagine trying to take all the food for 21 hours with you!

[Aussie Peg]

Hi Georgie!

England was surprisingly easy to cope with, rather expensive though but at least i was well fed We mainly stayed at bed and breakfasts so i took gluten-free cereal with me from tesco and had that with hard boiled or poached eggs, some places even got gluten free bread in for me!

For lunch, i made sure we had a marks and spencer nearby because they seemed to be the only place where i could buy a premade lunch to go - always salads lol, but they had about 4 different ones which are gluten free (greek salad, garden salad, cooked salmon with potato salad and some others i can't remember, well labelled too) and they are delicious!! For places to eat at for lunch, i often got a baked potato with cheese and salad with no dressing at pubs, everyone was really helpful but i had to explain a bit more thoroughly in the country towns and tell them exactly what to put and not put on my food.

I always carried around snacks from the supermarket with me too so if i was stuck without a place to get lunch, i could always just buy some cheese and ham slices to go with crackers i brought.....there were these crackers in a black box in some herby flavour but i cant remember the brand but they were amazing!!! *Edit: just remembered the brand, "TruFree" Open Original Shared Link

Only the big supermarkets have a gluten free section, i was caught out once when there was a mini tesco and i thought i'd be ok but they didnt have anything specific so i just had some coleslaw which was safe.

For dinner, we usually ate at pubs so i got steak and vegies or roast lamb and vegies, making sure i told them what i couldnt eat, they do a mean roast i must say! Yum! Indian take away is pretty safe too if you avoid deep fried things and naan bread (always make sure about it all though). If you have access to a microwave, soup and crackers is another good option for dinner. Some Marks and Spencers had one microwaveable meal that i could see that was safe - i think it was a singapore noodle one.

If you are staying at a B & B, it would be a good idea to take your own gluten-free bread with you and buy some toasta bags (Open Original Shared Link) to prevent CC and just ask to use their toaster.

Cup-a-soups are handy to have with you too, there were a couple of safe flavours, and fruit, always a good snack!

Now, as for the plane trip, i specified with both companies i was flying with (quantas and british airways) that i needed gluten free meals but on the way there one of my meals came out with a normal bread roll chucked on top!! i knew as soon as i smelt it that it was dangerous so i handed it to my dad to eat, i had wet wipes with me so gave my hands a good wipe and avoided touching anything which had been contaminated (everything is packaged so i just had to be careful with lids etc). I worked out that if they give you something breaddy which isnt in a packet or cling wrapped, then dont eat it! Also, any gluten-free breaddy things they did give me were often made with gluten-free wheat starch which is annoying coz that still gives me D! On the way back on the plane, i was given a little box of rice bubbles as part of my breakfast but in the ingredients it had malt extract listed so make sure you check labels on things like that! Apart from these hiccups, the rest of the food was fine and gets served to all us special people about 10 minutes before everyone else and its labelled with your name and seat number so they make sure they're giving it to the right person

Its a good idea to take crackers and biscuits on the plane too and anything else you can think of (prolly not fruit and vegies though), and i found fruit tingles helped with any nausea i had too Longlife flavoured milk in the little tetra boxes with straws (they've got different names in different states so i thought i better just describe them lol) would be a good idea too as they're nice and filling

Also, when telling people what you cant have, make sure you list malt and malt vinegar too because people dont usually associate malt with gluten

Phew, thats all i can think of for now but if anything else comes to mind i'll let you know!

....just remembered, there are gluten free FLAVOURED potato chips in the shops too!!! None of this plain chips business like over here! Just read the labels and you should find some

[georgie]

Thanks Peggie , there is amazing info there. You are brave to eat airline food ! My major symptom of a Glutening is Fatigue and am scared that my holiday may be ruined by the Fatigue before I even start if I eat airline food !

We will probably have backpacks - so not much room. Its so scary to go to another country and not have your safe kitchen and safe homecooked meals.

Your tip would be to always carry snacks with you? And take your own bread for breakfast ( I am a toast for breakfast person ). Are the roast meals safe in pubs ? No cc happens ? And then we plan to go to France and Italy - so - OMG ! Although I have heard that Italy is good.

Its such a hassle. Thanks for the links to the breadbags. I will order those. Can cc happen that easily ? My hubbie is sharing the toaster here right now.....

[Aussie Peg]

There are no guarantees about the pub food but i never had any problems except for the incident with the crumbed onion rings (i said calamari in my previous post but i meant onion rings). I dont think they really use any gluteny things with the roasts except for the sauces which they would make separately. I emphasised that i couldnt have flour and bread at all as i think these would be the main culprits. I took restaurant cards with me everywhere too so if i thought it was risky at all i would break out the cards (i've got these in english, french and italian if you want me to email them to you)

We went to Europe on a bus tour and stayed in France and Italy, having the restaurant cards made it so much easier, i even got gluten free gelati from a place where no-one spoke english! In Italy i was generally given risottos and grilled meat or fish, very yummy! In France i had salmon and rice and a prawn cocktail, another night i had trouble finding food as my family just got toasted sandwiches so i went to a little supermarket and got bits and pieces like cheese, plain salad,yoghurt and hommous - sometimes i just had to improvise lol Lunch was tricky though because we didnt have much time as we were usually on the way somewhere so i often had the crackers i had brought, baby bell cheese and whatever else i could find.

CC can definitely happen from sharing a toaster!! The sides of his bread touch the inside of the toaster which you then place your bread against, it would be full of his crumbs too and even have some stuck on the sides that your bread touches! I have my own dedicated cheap toaster at home

[georgie]

Thanks Peggie! I have just just found your post. Lots of good info there. Please send the Italy, France and English cards. I will send my address. I just found yesterday that I maybe Casein Intolerant and have to do that diet challenge. I am REALLY stressed now about travelling No cheese !!! No milk powder !

The toaster bags sound good. Have to have ahunt for them.

We had a really good meal yesterday at an Italian resturant/cafe and you are right about their knowledge of Celiac ! I just asked the waitress and she knew even without asking the chef that all risottos there were gluten-free. At another place I asked last week they tried to tell me that rice had Gluten!

[flowergirl]

Open Original Shared Link

Thanks for the link, georgie. I saw your post a few hours ago, grabbed the car keys and off I went. They moved to a bigger shop thats now at 553 North Rd, Ormond. What a wonderful shop ful of friendly, very knowledgable people. They even have chocolate that I can eat.

[gfp]

I hope everyone is well and not too hot in this toasty summer! .....Sorry about the giant post!

Nothing about the length of the post its full of useful stuff but don't you think it would be better shared with everyone? Not just antipodeans?

Just my 2c but when I posted about Australia I made the posts here ... but its more useful to everyone if UK posts were made in the UK area etc. ???

[Aussie Peg]

A very good idea gfp! i'll start a topic in the travel section and copy it all in

[Saz]

Hey all.

I was watching the new Jamie Oliver series tonight (the one on ten) and we could have eaten some of the things he cooked, some of them looked so good my mouth was watering. I have watched some of the other series he's done and I think that alot of the would be ok for us eat.

[georgie]

I have been to a couple of proper restaurants after going gluten-free, and can say that a good chef can do a brilliant meal WITHOUT gluten. You just have to ask. And Italian restaurants seem even easier. I think that Celiac is very recognised there, and they know so much more. My worst experience from last week was the trendy cafe where the waitress thought that rice was Gluten, and then spent ages asking the chef what was safe. I ordered a gluten-free muffin while waiting and a coffee and then she put cocoa on it that had Gluten ! I am going to carry my own cocoa in future !

[Aussie Peg]

Good evenin' everyone,

Does anyone know what brands of frozen potato chips/wedges we can have? Last time I checked my arm went numb from being stuck in the freezer checking ingredients, didnt have any luck though.

I had nandos chicken the other night, it turns out that they cook all the chicken on the same grill so the gluteny bbq chicken residue ends up on anything cooked on the grill, found that one out the hard way! No-one in the shop knew anything about gluten either when I attempted to double check that the non bbq chicken was safe. They even told me that the items on the menu with the "G" next to them were gluten free, luckily I had investigated the website earlier and the "G" actually means "contains gluten" So be careful!

Thanks in advance for any chippy recs

[Saz]

Logan Farm Guilt free fries are gluten free according to their advertisment in Against the grain. It says that they are available form IGA and Foodworks, I would check the ingrediens first tho just to make sure. Also I THINK that Woolworths select crinkle cut chips are ok but please check.

If anyone is ever at Southbank in Brisbane I recomend going to Amici for pizza! I enjoyed the nicest gluten-free pizza there the other week, I actaully got worried for a moment that I had been given the worng thing. On the day that I was there they also has gluten-free choc Mousse baskets that looked divine as well as a few other things, but I don't know if they change them each day.

[amber]

There are quite a few McCains fries that are okay.

Remember that Dextrose (from wheat) is okay to eat.

Also Health Choice brand of potato wedges are fine too.

[amber]

Some interesting news people.

Melbourne people may be aware of a gluten free bakery called Uncle Ricks which had lots of yummy gluten-free goodies.

Apparently Uncle Ricks has closed down and it was bought by Patties Pies. Patties Pies have used some of Uncle Ricks recipes and they are planning to release in April in Coles supermarkets a range of gluten free goods.

I have been told this will include pies, sausage rolls, lamingtons, 2 types of bread, apple pies, pizza rolls and a few others things - 10 in all.

Now if any of you have tried the Patties gluten free pies they have been trialling will know that they are excellent and good value for money.

Not sure if it is in Victoria only at this stage or nationally.

[amber]

If you read the allergen statement on Mcds website it says that both chicken salads have gluten in them.

Yes I noticed this too but when I read the ingredients list it didn't have anything that had gluten.

I spoke to the Victorian Celiac society and they assured me that the warm herb fusion chicken salad is okay.

I think McDonalds need to update their website or check its accuracy.

[Aussie Peg]

Thanks for all the chip reccs! I bought the woolies ones, straight cut and wedges, i cant seem to get them crispy though, probably need to coat them with oil I'm a sensitive lass, so the dextrose from wheat would give me problems which is a shame because I recall mccain were great.

Thats so exciting about Patties Pies, I hope it is Australia and New Zealand wide, not just Victoria!

This is an email I received from them on the 11th of Jan when I asked about the trial:

"Thank you for your enquiry regarding our Gluten Free range of pies.

Peg unfortunately the pies are not currently available in Qld, however the trial has gone well and we are hoping to expand availability in the not too distant future.

Thank you again for your enquiry "

I'm hoping April is the not too distant future

[newman]

Hi I'm from sunny Newman 1200km North of Perth WA. Looking for anyone else living

remote and having problems getting gluten free. Ayn sugestions for online shopping??

[georgie]

Absolutely ! I live remotely too, and have agreat online shop. Their range is HUGE! I just ordered the swiss roll cake and its YUM and I am going to make a trifle with it using their gluten-free custard powder. Try gluten free shop without the spaces and com.au on the end. Just be aware that refrigerated items carry a higher freight charge.

[Aussie Peg]

I just got a newsletter from the gluten free shop and they now have some Livwell brand cakes and apple pies in, I had some of these in the UK and they are delicious!! Think i'm simply going to have to stock up despite trying to lose weight lol

[Saz]

Does anyone know if the little bars of Kinder chocolate are ok? Obviously the Burnero(sp) aren't but I not sure about the others.

[Aussie Peg]

I've had those little kinder chocs with no problems (double check the ingredients though), they're delish!

[Saz]

Has anyone tired the Freedom foods version of vegemite? I think it's called vege-spread. I know won't taste like vegemite but just wondering if its ediable, as I have had some bad experiences with some of their other products.

[flowergirl]

I have it in the fridge but I don't eat it anymore. For some reason it gave me stomach cramps when I started eating it just as I went gluten-free. I don't understand why because there is nothing suspicious in the ingredient list. It may be because my guts were still confused and inflamed.??? Anyway, it doesn't taste like vegemite, more like Marmite and it is quite nice once you get used to it. I want to reintroduce it at some stage and see what happens but not right now. I hope you like it.

[georgie]

I have one here called AussieMite which is sort of OK but tastes a bit more like Marmite.

[Saz]

Just been having a browse on the freedom foods website and it say that their frozen range is available from the 1st week of March ( so this week). They are available from Coles Nationally and Franklins in NSW. They have crumbed chicken pieces and fish fillets, pizza, donuts, as well as a few other things.

Hoping to try the chicken this week if Coles have it - when their wraps came out it took Woolworths a while to get them in.