My Gluten Free Journey

My name's Andrea and this blog is all about the highs, the lows and the discoveries I'm making as I adjust to a whole new gluten free lifestyle.

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It's my 3rd Coeliaversary!!!

The only way I remembered that this is my coeliaversary is thanks to Timehop!

Last year I posted this blog...and also around the same date I had this lovely GF experience with Ellie:

There was no Timehop celebration for my first coeliaversary (though I'm sure I wrote some posts!!) but this was the post it turned up for me from 3 years ago!

One word that brings back a whole host of memories...this was the day I was diagnosed and this post was written just before I had the dreaded endoscopy! I don't want to put anyone off who's waiting for theirs so I'll just say that it was definitely something I don't want to ever do again but it's also definitely get-throughable (pretty sure that's not a word!) and is worth it to get a proper diagnosis.

Things have come a long way since then. Both for me personally...I am in control of my diet and know where to get the things I need and want...and in the gluten free world in general. Restaurants are in a completely different place, many of them now have a variety of options on their menus and some even have separate GF menus. There's new products coming out all the time and people just seem so much more aware of what gluten free means and that it's not just about the ingredients but also the cross contamination.

New regulations are coming into force in December whereby all food retailers, regardless of type or size, must display or be able to show you the ingredients of every one of their products with the allergens highlighted. This means that there should be no grey areas when it comes to deciding whether or not you can eat something, at least according to the ingredients.

As usual, there have been GF highs and lows for me over the past year. The biggest low is the huge amount of times that I've been glutened. I've actually lost count it's been that many and my reactions seem to have got consistently worse! I threw my lipgloss away after reading an article which led me to discover that it had the key wheat-based ingredient in it. This seemed to get me back on track for a while but when things struck again the only common food I could identify between incidents was home popping popcorn so I cut that out (much to my distress!) which again seemed to settle things. However, since it's continued to happen on the odd occasion the only culprit can be cross-contamination and potentially that I'm becoming more and more intolerant the longer gluten is cut out of my life.  Fun times!! The crusade to eliminate all crumbs from my life is on!!

There have been many many highs, some of which you can read about in previous blogs, for example the amazing meal that Carluccios put on for us, Marks and Spencers bringing out Scotch Eggs!! and discovering Leon in London. However the mega highlight was eating out in Italy whilst visiting our lovely Estelle. The Italians are much better at catering for the GF lifestyle (except in Pompei!) than we are in the UK. These were my favourite foody highlights:

Gelato, gelato and more gelato!!

This was an entirely GF gelato place, all cones included!

Restaurant with delicious bruschetta (thanks Stella for ordering a GF one so that I could try two types!) and pizza like no other! Had a few service issues the second time we went which put me off a bit but their food was amazing!

A restaurant in Orvietto, a beautiful hilltop village, which was recommended by the Italian Coeliec Society (handy knowing an Italian speaker!). I had a lovely plate of pasta here.

Some incredible home cooking from Estelle. This was my starter on our last night in Italy. Oh. My. Word.

And finally, sad but true, a McDonalds burger in Naples WITH a GF bun!!

We obviously had many other highlights that didn't revolve around food, not least loads of time to catch up with Estelle, but if you logged into facebook at any point during that week you would have been deluged with our pictures!! It was a great week and I'm looking forward to our next trip when we can explore some of the less touristy places having now ticked most of the big-hitters off our list!

So another year of the GF life lies ahead. Who knows what developments will take place and what delights I will find to eat?! What I do know is that my wonderful husband will continue to be the very careful, understanding, supportive and caring man that he is :)

Thank you xxo

[andreasgfjourney]

Finally made it to Leon in London! Given a free brownie by the manager to mark the occasion ;-)

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Lovely time in sunny Bath today ;-) Great lunch from Whole Bagel, toasted Brie and Cranberry toastie. Then some gorgeous lemon polenta cake in a baguette bar just round the corner from the Abbey. Highly recommended!

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Had a lovely day in sunny Bath ;-) Thanks to lots of recommendations from my GF twitter and fb friends I had a great lunch from The Whole Bagel and a fab slice of Lemon Polenta cake from a baguette shop round the corner from the Abbey in the afternoon. In fact I had so many recommendations I'll need to head back a few more times to enjoy them all! Great fun hanging out with Pat, Moe and Tim too obviously! ;-)

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If you ever find yourself in Rome on a gluten free diet wondering where you should eat, this is the place!

Mama! Eat restaurant is located in charming Trastevere, on Via San Cosimato, 7/9.

The english translation would be something like “Here, the food is for everyone, even for celiacs!”…

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Must remember this for my September trip to Rome ;-)

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String in biscuits update!

The mystery of the suspect string in my Nairns breakfas biscuits has been solved! This was the offending article which I happened upon whilst munching away one January morning...

...and here is the link to my original post (read on down a bit to find the right section...it was all pretty interesting tho!!).

Today I received a letter from a quality assistant at Nairns teling me that the "foreign body" has been identified as "a piece of frayed conveyer web"!  I'm glad it wasn't anything more revolting but I'm not too excited about nearly having eaten conveyor belt for breakfast!! I was also sent some coupons to entice me to try their products again...assuring me that no one else has ever reported conveyor belt appearing in their biscuits.

I'm going to give them a go and hopefully I won't have a repeat experience! It took a good while to get a response from Nairns but the full explanation and sincere apology along with their coupons was much appreciated.

I'll let you know how I get on!

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These were amazing!!! Scotch eggs have been one of my big misses going GF. It's a happy day ;-)

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Some Northern Ireland picks...

Tim and I are just back from a great week in Northern Ireland visiting family. It was so good to spend quality time over Easter with Tim's sister and brother-in-law and also with this gorgeous boy!

Whilst there we had some lovely home cooked meals (thank you Mel you amazing cook you!) but we also tried a few new places to eat out which I thought I’d throw out there in case any of you GF people are heading to NI any time soon.

Firstly there was Clenaghans in Aghalee, not far from Portadown. It’s out in the country in a beautiful setting and as you walk in you really feel as if you’re stepping into a scene from the Hobbit! It’s a mostly candlelit pub/restaurant with lots of nooks and crannies and a lovely open fire. The atmosphere was really warm and friendly. The menu was clearly labelled with GF options (of which there were plenty) and the waitress we had was herself coeliac. She reassured me that due to this fact the kitchen staff are very well versed in preventing cross-contamination. We had a great night there catching up with friends Matt and Kat.

We then headed into Belfast on Friday evening after a lovely sunny afternoon in Bangor checking out pedalo swans, building sand (well really gravel!) castles and skimming stones.

We went to a restaurant called ‘Made in Belfast’ and it was fantastic. There are two in the city and they have a unique vibe with great decor, amazing food and good cocktails! They had a separate GF menu and were hot on their knowledge regarding cross-contamination, they even had a separate fryer that is permanently kept uncontaminated. I had an amazing chicken dish here.

My final pick was in Enniskillen just yesterday. We went down to visit extended family and had lunch with Tim and Mel’s aunty Kim in an independent place called ‘Flo’s Restaurant’.

There was a sign on the door stating that they served gluten free options (which is immediately welcoming and reassuring) and all those behind the counter knew exactly what they were talking about. Flo herself guaranteed that my cottage pie and massive portion of chips was safe and she brought it out first so that there was no risk of other peoples food flying into mine! This experience was the epitome of Northern Irish hospitality right down to Flo’s husband pulling Levi out a complimentary lollipop for being so good ;-)

So there we go, a few more venues to add to your list which are not only safe but really great places to eat.

Besides the foody focus we just loved having quality time with family and friends and look forward to heading back there sometime soon.

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Thank you Carluccios!

I recently wrote about a meal I had at Carluccios when mum and dad came to visit. It was really tasty and we had a good time there but unfortunately the meal left me suffering the ill-effects of having been glutened. This was really disappointing as many people have spoken highly of their provision for those of us who can’t eat gluten. Tim therefore emailed them to explain what had happened so that they could be aware and maybe change something to prevent it happening again.

Their response to this was amazing. The area manager, Chris, phoned Tim within a couple of days to ask about my experience, to explain the procedures they already have in place as standard and to see what else they could do. Tim had a great chat with him, suggested a couple of small things that they could do to further reduce cross-contamination (my husband has become an expert on such things and I love him for it!) and generally found Chris to be very concerned and keen to do whatever he could to make sure things were safe in the future. He then said that if we were willing to give them another try he wanted to treat us to dinner in order to redeem our Carluccios experience.

We were a bit nervous about this after the last time but Chris gave us every reassurance that his staff would ensure my food was safe to eat. The perfect occasion then presented itself last Sunday on my birthday. Tim had booked ahead and from the moment we walked in the door we were treated amazingly. The waiting staff knew who we were and did absolutely everything they could to reassure me.

We ordered starters (check out my mozzarella, prosciutto plate – yum!)…

…and as we were chatting away our good friends Vicky and Vianney walked through the door! Tim had booked for the four of us as a surprise for my birthday and I had no clue! We haven’t hung out altogether for a long time so it was brilliant to share this meal with them.

Unbelievably Carluccios treated all four of us to a 3 course dinner, a bottle of wine and coffees all round! We were literally treated like kings and queens and they could not do enough for us. Our waiter Edward was an absolute star and the branch manager came over a couple of times to check that everything was okay. It was obvious that they were taking very good care of my dishes and were really aware of confirming that it was all gluten free and prepared safely.

Here’s my amazing main course of lemon chicken risotto and a mixed side salad.

We had great chat and belly laughs and generally had a fab time. When our desserts were brought out they’d even popped a birthday candle in it for me, just so so thoughtful.

Eating out had gotten a bit nerve-wracking for me, especially as I’ve been glutened in other places I’ve eaten out in recently, but the extents to which Carluccios went to make me feel safe, check their procedures and redeem our experience of their restaurant certainly left me wanting to return to them again. I had a brilliant night and I can confirm that I wasn't unwell afterwards!

This was a great way to celebrate my birthday so massive thanks to Carluccios for going the extra mile and helping me really really enjoy a great meal, to my husband for being so incredibly good to me and to Vix and Vianney for coming out and helping celebrate. Thank you!

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Some new Cardiff finds

Last weekend I tried a few new places to eat out and loved them so I thought I'd share. Number one was Viva Brazil in the city centre - a meat based restaurant that filled me full, right up to the top! You pay a set price and they serve 15 different meats direct to your table on long skewers. You then load your plate with delicious potato dishes and salads from a buffet stand. All of this, as many times as you want!!...

There was so much good stuff to eat and everything was clearly labelled either 'Contains Gluten' or 'Gluten Free'. There was only 2 meats that I couldn't eat and there were loads of great options at the buffet. It was also a fab way to celebrate George's 30th :)

The very next day I met some of the choir girls for lunch at Waffle in Canton. Oh my word! It was sooooo good! Here is a pic of me and Ellie in our glee at being served these amazing GF banoffee waffles!

Finally, Tim and I had a day off together on Monday and we made our first use of these vouchers. Take a tip from me (well actually from my mother!) and go right now to www.johnlewis.com, set yourself up with a My John Lewis card and you'll get 6 of these lovely vouchers which you can use once a month. A-mazing!

Heeding my mum's advice I didn't just have a pot of tea, I opted for the luxury hot chocolate and then snapped up this lovely honeybuns traybake. It was a strange mix of ginger, almond and lemon but it was really good!

It was a delicious weekend and for the first time in months I was able to eat out without getting glutened, hurray!!

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It’s been a couple of months since my last post and whilst I’ve thought on many occasions “I must blog about that” it just hasn’t converted into reality! However I’ve found myself with some downtime today and thought I’d log some experiences and thoughts.

Some great things…Visitors! We've had a lovely couple of weekends with family coming to see us, first my mum and dad...

and then this lovely crew from NI...

We really do have a gorgeous rascal of a nephew and a fab sister and brother-in-law.

There's nothing like family and we loved spending time catching up, getting out and seeing and doing things and chilling out. They were (and always are) all so so good at coping with my pain of a diet and making sure I'm well catered for.

It was also awesome to see Levi and Macy meet for the first time, Macy being my cousin's lovely daughter, when Megs and Mike happened to be in Cardiff the same weekend. They had loads of fun wearing big foam puzzle pieces and chasing each other round the house!

I've had some great foody experiences this last couple of months too. Whilst watching the first game of the 6 nations (*cough* and supporting Wales *cough*) I was treated to these cupcake beauties thanks to Lady V and her thoughtfulness.

I also had a great afternoon out at the City Bakehouse in Rhwbina with some of the choir girls where I polished off a Bacon, Brie and Cranberry toastie with a side of potato wedges and coleslaw, followed by the most massive slice of chocolate caramel cake! It was so delicious (like really delicious!) and was a fab catch-up with the girls.

Last night a group of us attended a fundraising dinner for a Welsh charity called Dolen Cymru. They are doing some amazing work linking schools, hospitals and churches between Wales and Lesotho so that skills and resources can be shared. You can check out their website here. It was a brilliant evening where we were literally laughed till we cried, sang our socks off round the piano and ate our own bodyweight in food!! The entire menu for the 3 course meal was GF and absolutely delicious. I really need to hound Veronica for her recipes because it was seriously yum!

Some not so great things…I was merrily eating some Nairns breakfast biscuits one morning when I came across this:

Gross! I've been back and forth with Nairns and I've now got to shake myself to get to the post office and send them the offending article so that they can investigate!

I've also been glutened far too many times since 2014 began :/ For 2 or 3 of these I now know the responsibility lay with toaster bags I was trying out. These have consequently been binned as a bad job and I'm back to grilling! I've also been stung eating out, once at Carluccios (Tim got straight on the email and the area manager was in touch to see how they could improve their service and gave us free meal vouchers) and once at TGI Fridays (must email them!). I can categorically say that I do not enjoy being glutened and although sometimes it's very tempting to have a little cheat on the diet, the consequences of doing so put that thought right out of my mind! Here's to a glutening free March!

Some interesting things…I found out about a place called Vozars in Brixton Village. It’s a gluten free restaurant which is also a WAG (wheat and gluten free) bakery by day. I’ve already planned with mum and dad that we’ll visit and have dinner there next time we’re in London! Check out their menu and the background to their venture here.

I have been sent a free sample by Ilumi to try. They do a whole range of microwave meals in sachets that could provide handy lunch or dinner options when I'm in a hole. The option I was sent was Vegetable and Chickpea Jalfrezi. I'm assuming this is spicy so I'm not sure how great a test this will be of their products (!) but I'm looking forward to trying it out.

I'm looking forward to more great and interesting things in the next month and hoping not to encounter too many not so great things!

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Wow 2 years!! I will get posting again soon. I guess there's just not so much to write about now I'm so much more accustomed to the GF diet, but I do have a post brewing so keep a look out ;-)

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Amazing gluten free Christmas pudding served up today...de-licious!!

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I hung out with some of the choir ladies on Friday night and was royally catered for with GF Pizza and a glass of Cava followed by these delicious treats - millionaires shortbread and mini welsh cakes - all homemade. I felt so much love ;-)

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Coeliaversary!

Today is the 2 year anniversary of my gluten free life. I haven't marked it in any special way and the fact that I haven't had to think twice about what I'm eating has symbolised to me how far I've come. It's such a natural part of life now. Obviously I do have to think about my food, but it's very rare now that I have to worry about it or that it stresses me out. Yesterday we ate out at Jamie's Italian and I had an absolutely delicious carbonara. I'm really excited about all the developments that restaurants are making and I've enjoyed checking out lots of venues this past year. Again this year I've also enjoyed the opportunity to chat with people, in person and online, who have just been launched into a gluten free life for one reason or another. It can be so daunting to begin with and if what I've learned can be of help to someone else then I like to share it. Who knows what this year will hold but I'm looking forward to trying more new recipes, visiting new places & eating out and getting to know more lovely people travelling the same journey.

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Review: The City Bakehouse

Today I FINALLY visited The City Bakehouse in Rhwbina/Llanishen, the home of the Allergy Free Bakery, and it was completely worth it! The bakery has been running for a couple of years producing delicious cakes and bakes, some of which I have sampled at the Llandaff North Craft Fayre and Bakers Coffee Shop in the city centre. I have also blogged about them before here. A couple of months ago Jo was able to open the Bakehouse as a home for the bakery and as a coffee shop 6 days a week (9am to 4pm). The beautiful thing about the Bakehouse is that 90% of the food is gluten free and as a coeliac herself Jo makes sure that everything is free from cross-contamination.

This was my lunch today, doesn't it look beautiful ;-)

And to be honest I just couldn't come away without a baked good ;-)

That lovely slice of rocky road goodness is currently sitting in my fridge as a reward for some cooking prep I"m about to do for tomorrow's Canadian thanksgiving celebrations!

The other highlight of my visit was a lovely chat with Jo and other customers about the gluten free world in Cardiff and the plans that she has for the bakery. Jo is such a genuine person with a passion to see good quality, delicious gluten free food across the city. Even if you don't have a GF diet, you will definitely enjoy her cakes and other produce, Tim couldn't tell that his last cupcake was GF and he said that it was one of the best he's every tasted!

So this is a shameless plug for The City Bakehouse, get yourself down there if you're in the area, it's based on the little parade of shops just off the Rhwbina/Llanishen roundabout opposite Morrisons. Open 9am to 4pm Monday to Saturday. She does all sorts of breakfast and lunch options and you will sure of a warm welcome ;-)