Genius has announced it’s partnership with Caffè Nero to supply their amazing and delicious gluten free rolls to almost 600 stores across the UK! 

That means we can now enjoy tasty gluten free sandwiches whilst sipping on our coffee! It also means we can skip into any Caffè Nero branch and pick up a tasty sandwich on our lunch breaks!

And it was only this morning when going through my tweets that I saw something that actually made me scream with delight – GLUTEN FREE WRAPS!

Yes, that’s right. Warbutons have brought out their own range of gluten free wraps and I’m pretty excited to try them!

Us coeliacs have not been lucky when it comes to gluten free wraps. Firstly we had those horrid, dry as leather, wraps from LoveMore (you can read my review here).

I even had a try at making my own gluten free wraps (recipe here) and although they were quite tasty – I missed the convenience of having already made ones.

Then Caliegh from Gluten Free[k] came to the rescue and showed us where we could order authentic Mexican gluten free corn tortillas from Mex Grocer.

But now, instead of ordering out gluten free wraps online, we can pick them up at our usual supermarket chains when we do our weekly shop! – HURRAY

For a more indepth review of the new gluten free wraps by Warbutons (and also have a nosey at their other gluten free products) check out the fabulous website: Gluten Free[k]

I’ve not blogged and I’ve not tweeted for a couple of weeks months now.

All is well though! I’m still here, I still silently pop on every now again and see how the little gluten free universe is doing and I could never, ever give up on the blogosphere as you guys have been such amazing support to me throughout my gluten free journey.

Things have changed for me. I ended up getting my dream job, working as a branch co’ordinator but I am also working with people who suffer from anxiety and mental health issue, which is something close to my heart. I absolutely love it but it’s a little demanding – I find myself absolutly cream crackered at the end of the day and often find myself comatosed on the sofa watching endless repeats of Big Bang Theory till I can muster the energy to crawl upstairs and into bed!

I’ve also been on a holiday of a lifetime to New Zealand (which I promise to blog all about soon) where I witnessed the lovely Jenni and Dave get married!

(I'm the one in the dark red skirt)

And some of you may know that during the flight to New Zealand I ended up being rushed to hospital in Singapore.

They suspected I had a grumbling appendix but it turned out to be ovarian cysts – which from what I’ve learnt is quite common but it’s extremely painful. I’m still in a lot of pain now but I’m waiting on more test results (to rule out any other underlying problem) but to help me with the pain I am often popping strong painkillers which knock me out and send me off with the fairies – which is another reason why I’ve not been able to blog.

But I shall be back! And I look forward to catching up in the gluten free blogsophere soon. I can already see exiting things happening, such as Pizza Express doing gluten free pizza bases and Heinz bringing out their gluten  free range (which I am yet to try!) and my god, I have been eating endless amounts of Dominos gluten free pizza!

Firstly, way back in January, we discovered Dominos did gluten free bases in Australia and New Zealand – but not here in the UK or the US.

Then in May Dominos US announced they were doing gluten free bases in the US – but it wasn’t suitable for those with coeliac disease or those with gluten/wheat intolerances [that still baffles me!]

Then, we discovered Dominos UK announced they were also going to do gluten free bases and my friend David Johnstone [DavidJ_GF] was kind enough to blog about his experience trying them for the first time at the Coeliac UK AGM Food Fair in July.

But with all this talk about Dominos, we kind of neglected to think about the other huge pizza chain; Pizza Hut and Coeliac UK has announced that from Monday the 8th October we can now order gluten free bases from Pizza Hut!

Although many of us began to wonder what Pizza Hut would do regarding cross contamination but according to the Coeliac UK article:

 ”Pizza Hut keep all their dough separated throughout the entire product journey to ensure that it doesn’t come into contact with floured dough bases and they’ve made all their toppings gluten-free throughout their restaurants. They also use separate sauces for their gluten-free pizza bases, which are also stored separately, and separate utensils are used for making each product”

“All their team members are receiving in depth training so they rigorously clean all the food preparation areas, and they have a thorough hand cleaning process before they make any gluten-free pizzas“

BUT WAIT THERE’S MORE!!

Dominos UK gluten free bases will become available from NOVEMBER 5TH! And both Dominos and Pizza Hut pizza bases won’t incur any additional charges!

Marks and Sparks isn’t really the place I shop when it comes to buying gluten free food. The food is a little expensive if you’re trying to save the pennies but I assumed their gluten free range would mirror their normal food range, which from what I’ve heard, is pretty tasty!

[Thanks you Little Missed Gluten for finding a photo for me!]

The bread is sliced [which is always handy] and of reasonable size. Some may think that mentioning the slice size is a little odd, but there’s some gluten free bread slices out there that’d be suitable for an ant!

So I toasted a slice, buttered it and then took a bite and my reaction was:

It was probably the worst gluten free bread I’ve ever tasted and when I took to twitter to vent some rage, most of you agreed!

For starters, it has a weird consistency which is more cake like then bread like. Secondly, it was so saltly, which is rich coming from me as I’m dubbed ‘the salt queen’ by my friends as I always drown my chips in the stuff. It also left a horrible after taste in my mouth, which I didn’t like.

I also assumed I’d prepared the bread wrong. I know some gluten free bread tastes better once refreshed a little in the microwave. I did this but sadly, it still tasted horrible, cakey, salty and crumbly!

I know some of you may absolutely love this bread [they wouldn't sell it if it wasn't popular, or would they?] and this is obviously a one persons opinion. I’m also not tarnishing all marks and spencers gluten free products will taste as horrid as this and I will probably try the odd product when I’m feeling flush but  sadly for now, I give this bread two huge thumbs down.

More than a  month to be precise.

But I’ve not been neglecting my gluten free duties. I’ve still been finding out the easiest way to make things and still trying out different gluten free products out there [there's plenty of reviews coming up real soon!].

The reason I’ve been M.I.A is because I’ve started work experience. It’s been so damn hard trying to find work that the longer I was out of it, the less confident I was becoming. However, the lovely people from Remploy have given me some work experience around their offices and I absolutely love it! Although I’m absolutely knackered when I get home from work –  sheesh!

Anyhow back to some gluten free cooking!

As some of you may know, I love my Mexican food but because I eat it more than once a week I was getting slightly tired of the usual Mexican grub I rustle up. So putting my ‘cooking hat’ on I came across a yummy and easy Mexican recipe that I’ve never tried before: Mexican baked fish!

I cant’ remember where or when I saw this recipe, but I had found it scribbled down in one of my notebooks! It’s so simple to make, you need hardly any ingredients and involves one of my staples for any Mexican food: Discovery Seasoning Packs.

I love them! Not only are they pretty cheap, include the necessary Mexican spices but they’re also certified gluten free! Usually I only use 1/2 a pack but I can store the rest away for next time.

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp Oil
• 2 White Fish Fillets
• 1 small Onion [chopped]
• 3 tsp Discovery Mexican Seasoning [or more depending on how spicy you want it]
• 400g tin of Chopped Tomatoes with Chilli
• 1 level tspn Sugar
• 300g tin of Pinto Beans [drained and rinsed]
• Sprigs of fresh Coriander

Method:

1. Pre-heat oven to 190°C/gas mark 5
2. In a small pan, heat the Oil and add the chopped Onion and fry until soft and translucent 
3. Stir in the Discovery Mexican Seasoning [or if you don't have any, use a mixture of Paprika, Chilli Powder & Ground Cumin] 
4. Add the Pinto Beans and stir until they’re evenly coated 
5. Add the Chopped Tomatoes, Sugar and  simmer for a couple of minutes, stirring occasionally and season with salt and pepper. 
6. Add the White Fish Fillets to an oven proof dish 
7. Pour the tomato mixture over the top and cover with foil. Pop in the oven and bake for 8 minutes 
8. After the 8 minutes is done. Carefully take out of the oven and take the foil off. Put back into the oven for another 8 minutes. 
9. Once done, garnish with some chopped coriander [optional] and serve with rice or vegetables 

So what have I been doing all this time? Nothing much and nothing exciting but I’ve been enjoying the ‘summer’ [even if it's rained  nearly every day!], I’ve enjoyed the Olympics, getting out more, meeting friends, enjoying beer gardens and I also got to see my friend Sophie who I hardly ever see since she’s moved to Spain!

Right… on to my July favourites!

Genius Croissants & Pain Au Chocolats

I honestly thought I’d never see the day when I, a coeliac, would be happily eating a croissant and pain au chocolat! Genius answered our prayers and brought out these beauties which are amazing! All I did was heat them up in an oven and smeared a little butter in the middle! I’ve written a more in-depth review about them here  and they’re becoming an all time favourite of mine – thank you Genius!

HaveCake Brownies 

As we all know, nothing beats a good brownie, especially when they come in huge boxes and are the size of house bricks! The only brownies I’d eaten prior to these delightfuls, were Asda’s own free from brownies which were pretty bland, tiny and quite dry! I’ve written a more indepth review about them here 

Home Sweet Home, Manchester 

Home Sweet Home in Manchester is a cute and retro bake house and coffee bar in the heart of the Northern Quarter. Many of my friends had been before me and told me about these amazing toasties they do, not realising they do gluten free toasties too! So you can imagine my excitement when I finally got to have my very own gluten free toastie! Honestly, they were AMAZING! Please excuse my shoddy iphone picture above because it doesn’t give it justice! I highly recommend going if you’re ever in the area!

Asda Free From Instant Porridge

When I was little [and obviously before my gluten free days] I would have chocolate flavoured ready break for breakfast every day [makes me feel sick just thinking about it!]  which then morphed into an obsession with Oats So Simple golden syrup instant porridge. I obviously had to give that up when I was diagnosed with coeliac disease. It was so painful watching my house mate ’Wheat Pete‘ devour bowl after bowl of the stuff … until Asda came to the rescue with their instant gluten free golden syrup flavoured porridge! I absolutely love the stuff! Some people may find it a little too sweet, but I honestly don’t mind this [then again this is coming from a girl who's trying to ween herself off 3 sugars in her coffee!]

One thing you should know about me is that I love, love, LOVE my brownies but it’s sometimes hard to find those gluten free brownies that have that ‘home baked’ taste. I’m lucky that my local supermarket, Asda, produce their own gluten free brownies, but I find they lack that ‘home made’ taste and are actually quite dry!

So, when the huge box of brownies arrived at my door, I was quite surprised at how big the box was! I did pause for a moment to think whether I’d inadvertently ordered myself new shoes! I just loved the way the brownies were packaged. With coloured tissue paper and a cute bow, this made them ideal as a gift for your coeliac and free from chums!

I was also impressed at the size of the brownies!

As you can see you get your moneys worth and because you get 9 whole brownies in a box it also explains why the box was so huge – great value for money!

So What Did They Taste Like? 

They had that ‘home made’ taste that I adore from gluten free bakes! They were chocolatey, light, moist without that horrible crumbly texture that tends to plague gluten free baked foods! What’s more, because I shared them with my family, they couldn’t believe that they were gluten, dairy and egg free! Even my ever so fickle brother loved them and trust me when I say this – he’s very fussy with his food. In fact he’s the one who ate most of the brownies and wants to order more!

Plus don’t take my word for it, if you check the HaveCake Brownies website, you’ll find amazing and glowing reviews from coeliac and  free from peeps who have been lucky enough to try these amazing brownies!

So Who Are HaveCake? 

HaveCake is run by the lovely Louise  who has been a passionate baker from a very young age. She started baking traditional recipes for friends and family who encouraged her to set up her own business selling her own cakes and brownies. So when a friend with coeliac disease asked Louise if she could make gluten free brownies as everything she had tried was bland,  too sweet, or too dry, Louise set about experimenting with all recipes until she came up with one her friend could enjoy – and I think she definitely succeeded, they’re amazing!

How Do I Get These Amazing Brownies? 

You can order a box of 9 gluten free or gluten free & vegan brownies directly from the HaveCake website. They also come with free delivery and if you order before the 30th September 2012 you’ll also receive 5% discount using the code: ”GFSTUDENTCOOK”

• HaveCake Website
• HaveCake Twitter
• Louise’s Blog

We missed not being able to indulge on some warm, buttery croissants on a Sunday morning and most, if not all, of us missed those buttery,  flaky viennoiserie bread rolls! Now fast forwards a couple of months to the month of June when I noticed Genius had uploaded a picture of the most spectular thing I’d seen. So spectacular that it made me stop what I was doing and stare at the screen with my mouth agape. There staring at me was a picture of their latest gluten free product: gluten free croissants and gluten free pain au chocolats!

 They’re available from Tesco and and retail at £2.10 for the gluten free croissants [for a pack of 2] and £2.70 for gluten free pain au chocolats [for a pack of 2]

What Do They Taste Like? 

I was lucky enough to be able to taste these beauties and I can honestly say… they’re the nicest things I’ve ever tasted! It’s hard to believe they’re gluten free and the pastry is everything that I remember; flaky and buttery!

The croissants basically arrive pre baked. You have to bake them in the oven for 10 minutes which is the only downside. You see, I was so excited to taste these that those 10 measly minutes felt like a lifetime! But on the plus side, once baked, the kitchen is filled with that sweet aroma of freshly baked croissants!

Once baked, I cut them in half and smeared a little butter in the middle, made myself a fresh brew and polished them off in record time. Even my ‘fussy with food’ brother tried one [who's lucky enough to be able to eat anything] and couldn’t believe how nice they were. We both agreed that they tasted just like the ‘normal’ croissants out there!

My personal favourites have to be the gluten free pain au chocolats! Before my diagnosis, I would always have pain au chocolats for my Sunday breakfast [as a treat of course!] and these, in my opinion, taste like the real thing! Just like the gluten free croissants, these have to be baked in the oven for 10 minutes. What you get at the end is a soft and flaky pastry and warm, melted chocolate in the middle [even typing this is making my mouth water]. It’s hard to believe they’re gluten free!

Verdict? 

I give both the gluten free croissants and gluten free pain au chocolats 9 and a  1/2 out of 10. They’d get a 10 if there was 3 in each pack, but that’s because I’m greedy! Although the croissants taste just as nice plain, I do recommend heating them in the oven and smearing a little butter in the middle! I’m just praying to the Coeliac God that Genius will start bringing out more of these pastries, especially Pecan and Maple Danish Pastry!! [pretty please Genius!!! *flutters eyelashes*!]

• Genius Website
• Genius Facebook
• Genius Twitter
• The Gluten Free Student Cookbook Facebook
• The Gluten Free Student Cookbook Twitter 

We started pestering, tweeting and retweeting  Dominos UK, begging them to start offering gluten free bases in the UK! So to show we cared so much we signed a petition to show them how much we missed it, plus Martin Saunders offered to assist them in finding a  suitable supplier – but it was no easy task! But, we have to give it to Dominos UK, they were trying their hardest and really wanted to do this.

Then in May we discovered that Dominos Pizza were launching gluten free bases in the US which came with a huge, bad ass disclaimer - their gluten free bases weren’t suitable for coeliacs or those with gluten sensitivities….

 [I've explained it more in this post]

Many of us wondered whether this would happen in the UK, that we’d finally get our gluten free bases but wouldn’t be able to eat it! But…Dominos UK surprised us.

David Johnstone [DavidJ_GF] attended the Coeliac UK AGM Food Fair where Dominos UK had a selection of their new gluten free pizzas which unlike the Dominos US – ARE SUITABLE for people with coeliac disease! Why? Because Dominos US uses a wheat/corn flour mix to ‘pound’ and ‘knead’ their dough whereas Dominos UK uses corn flour! So if you’re wanting to know what went down, what they tasted like, David was kind enough to write me a guest blog post!

David’s Guest Blog Post

“I noticed that Dominos was attending the Coeliac UK AGM Food Fair a month or so ago when reading through the exhibitor list. Intrigued me instantly, especially after all the recent fuss from the USA… Dominos none Coeliac safe Gluten Free Pizzas! 

“I’m massively intrigued as to what you guys are doing here today?” I said. Also noticing a big sign on the desk… Saying that the next batch of Pizzas was due to arrive in 30mins.

 The Dominos lady explained how that it was all about a taste test and fact-finding mission on their behalf. Today they were trailing a New Gluten Free Pizza base and wanted to gauge Coeliacs reaction to it, get feedback forms completed from everyone who tastes tests it and to get registered interest / location of all the people interested. So if today was positive and a success, Dominos could then decide if and where to demo run the range in selected stores!

I couldn’t wait to try then! All the usual questions a Coeliac should ask just slipped my mind as I was slightly over excited by this point. But to contradict myself, I honestly wasn’t expecting much from the experience. I’ve had decent gluten free pizza bases that I’ve used and topped myself before. As nice as it was, they never really compared to having a [and I use the words loosely] professional made pizza from any chain. I’ve also been lucky enough to get Gluten Free McDonalds while travelling in Spain and Sweden. But again,  as fantastic it was to have the naughty Maccy D’s taste, it just wasn’t quite there, the bun couldn’t match it! 

So I went away and came back to the stand later, just as teams of delivery staff was running though  with the familiar Dominos bags. Boxes piled up and flung open. People crammed around the table excitably, like a scene from a New York Toys R Us at Christmas when the new Buzz Lightyear is delivered.

What They Tasted Like! 

The Gluten Free Pizzas on offer then were: Original Cheese and Tomato, Texas BBQ, Vegetarian Supreme and Pepperoni Passion! 

I graded a slice of the Veggie Supreme, stood back from the crowd and took a bite – WOW – it was everything that a Dominos Pizza should be!

The base was light and crispy on the outside, light and fluffy on the inside, not too think and not too deep! Great crust, everything that I remembered, just perfect! I’ve eaten a lot of Dominos over the years while having to work late in my old career; this was absolutely as it was pre Coeliac days! OMG WOW!

I managed to salvage another slice as the first wave of Coeliacs attacks died down. This time I tasted the Pepperoni Passion and once again it was everything that it should be! Stunned, I went away and completed the feedback form. 10/10 – everything EXCELLENT!

How They Are Prepared! 

At a quite point I returned to the Dominos stand to ask more questions about UK manufacturing risks and the issues surrounding Dominos gluten free pizzas in the USA. The Dominos ladies were fully clued up on the situation. They explained the main problem in the US stores was that they used a Wheat/Corn base flour mix when dusting or “pounding” the dough. Where as in UK, Dominos use only Corn Flour, so this dramatically reduces the Cross Contamination risk to begin with.

Secondly, if this project was to go ahead, the staff would be given specific education and training regarding Gluten Free food preparation and manufacture! I was thoroughly reassured by them that this would not be sold with a waiver and would be a safe product for Coeliacs to eat.

As the day went on the Pizzas came in thick and fast. Stock was piling high and people were either full or had gone home. The Dominos staff handing out boxes to all the other stand owners. In fact I ended up eating 10 slices in total and the lovely ladies were trying to give me more to take home. Amazing!

Everyone I spoke to was over the moon by it. Filling out as many feedback forms as they could to guarantee this comes to trial. Every slice, every flavour and every batch was brilliant and completely consistent. If there is a Gluten Free God out there, please let him shine down on this and bless it with all his love. I’m so very thankful and humble I got to enjoy this, hope you all can soon!