gluten free familyA mum's blog about gluten-free living in Australia

At last, a book to help teachers in school, pre-schools and daycare centres deal with the most daunting dietary challenge of recent times.

The explosion in food intolerances is continually being written off as an imagined phenomenon of an attention seeking ‘helicopter-parent’ generation, but amid all the conflicting theories and information, it is the teachers and carers who are increasingly being charged with keeping our kids on the straight and narrow in a world filled with wheat. Read the rest of this entry »

Hey Aldi fans, it’s that time again. The discount supermarket’s popular Has no… gluten free range is back on the shelves. If you’re not familiar with the range, Aldi annually releases a range of gluten, wheat and dairy free products under this brand.

We describe them as popular, not because we’re on the Aldi payroll, but because our posts on this topic tend to go off. It’s not just the price that’s appealing, according to our readers. Apparently the products are pretty decent quality too. Read the rest of this entry »

As Easter approaches, most people have smartie-filled bunnies or boxes of assorted Lindt on their minds. Not me, I think about hot cross buns — or rather about hot cross bun deprivation. 

But Simply Wize has once again come to the rescue with their gluten free variety which can already be found in the freezer section at Coles supermarkets. We tried them last year and loved them!

On the topic of things soft and spongy, in the last few months we have happened upon quite a few new products that we liked and wanted to spread the word on: Read the rest of this entry »

It’s been a busy month for us at Gluten Free Family. Some of us have moved house, others have had our first taste of big school – but we still managed to stumble on some great new gluten-free products (when we weren’t stumbling over cardboard boxes or school bags). Watch this space in the next week or so for a full rundown.

First though, a quick heads-up about a competition being run by Melinda’s, the maker of all those yummy pink gluten-free packet mixes that you see in the supermarkets. If you buy two of her products before March 31, you can enter online to win a weekend escape worth almost $6,000. (I’m guessing they’ll have a pretty decent gluten free menu).  Two runners up each get an Apple iPad. (Melinda’s facebook fans get a triple entry).

Here’s a batch of Melinda’s walnut brownies that I whipped up a while back. Yum.

Mandy

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Our product 'haul' from previous expos.

You win some, you lose some: that’s how it played out in the world of gluten-free trade shows in recent years.

2010 was a bumper year for them with many capital cities getting two each, then last year we had a show shakeout and we just got the one. (The official word from the Irresistible Show folk was the market was not strong enough to sustain two events in the one state.) Read the rest of this entry »

Happy New Year! We here at Gluten Free Family may have downed tools these last few weeks, but we haven’t completely frittered our idle moments. Our days out and about, traveling here and there, have provided some inspiriaton.

We have a few new gluten free projects in the pipeline this year (as a result we won’t be blogging quite as regularly) so watch this space.

We have also pulled together a gluten free holiday survival guide. We know how tricky things can be when you are away from your own familiar cupboards and your regular retailers — and it’s tempting to fall off the wagon — especially at this time of year.

So here are the tips we’ve collected in the weeks and years past — and please feel free to share yours! Read the rest of this entry »

Yes the yummy Christmas season is here again and we at GFF love the festive ambience — but the relentless parade of parties does make it a tricky time of year for the gluten-free.

I’m hoping this year will be a little different, though, because I will be hosting the festive dinner in my home for for the first time in years. That means I get to banish all things gluten from the Christmas menu.

This does not mean, however, that I will be skimping on the good bits. No indeed, we are doing the whole festive, cold-climate affair — right down to the steamed Christmas pudding and fake snowflakes on the windows. Even Santa will be munching on gluten free shortbread once he heaves his way through the catflap. Read the rest of this entry »

Healthy Feast's legendary lemon meringue

It’s the sort of news no gluten free blogger ever wants to deliver: a favourite bakery has quietly shut up shop.

Healthy Feast, makers of arguably the best spread of gourmet gluten-free baked goods in Australia, is no more. The Leichardt-based shop front has closed its doors and there will be no more appearances at local food markets. Read the rest of this entry »

Coles pops up frequently on this blog as a strong player in the gluten free market — so I was disappointed when it recently went missing in action on another food issue that is close to my heart.

In the gluten free market, we applaud Coles for resisting the path taken by other retailers who push their own self-branded merchandise — potentially stifling innovative new products — in a bid to corner the market. As a result, its shelves, in our view, contain the best selection of products. Read the rest of this entry »

Gluten free pizza - one of the major food groups for the gluten intolerant.

I know it’s controversial, but we’ve never been tested for coeliac disease. We gave up gluten following an elimination diet that involved removing lots of different things from our diet and then introducing them back in.

Guess what was causing the most trouble? When we quit the gluten, my son’s behavior improved and my eczema completely disappeared. Read the rest of this entry »