Go Gluten Free with Genius and Greg Rutherford: share your g-f tips or recipes - chance to win a £100 Love2Shop voucher NOW CLOSED

[AnnMumsnet]

Genius Gluten Free has challenged five Mumsnetters to go gluten free for a week, following a seven day plan jam packed with delicious gluten free recipes as well as fitness and nutrition tips from Olympic gold medal winning athlete, Greg Rutherford.

The Mumsnetters will be indulging in a selection of delicious and convenient recipes created by Genius founder, Lucinda Bruce-Gardyne, as well as testing out the latest mouth-watering additions to the Genius range: Pitta Breads, Pancakes and Pizza Bases. The Mumsnetters will also be trying out quick and easy fitness tips from Greg Rutherford, designed to slot easily into a busy lifestyle, and will be posting their feedback on the thread below. They were all sent £100 voucher to buy ingredients.

Lucinda Bruce-Gardyne, Genius Gluten Free founder, says: "We’re thrilled to be offering mumsnetters the chance to go gluten-free for a week, and can’t wait to hear what they think of our recipes and, in particular, our newest products. As a busy mum myself, these recipes feature regularly on the menu for the week as they are really tasty, nutritious and quick to prepare. They also offer a lighter, easier to digest alternative to gluten rich dishes, which I find particularly important when I am squeezing regular exercise into my schedule. Whether you’re coeliac or just opting to go gluten-free as a positive lifestyle choice, there is something for everyone in our delicious gluten-free range."

NON TESTERS: Genius Gluten Free want to also hear feedback on Genius Gluten Free products and gluten free recipes and tips from the entire MN community - so feel free add your comments on the thread if you’ve tried going gluten free, tried any item from the range from Genius Gluten Free, tried one of their recipes (all of the Genius recipes can be found here) or even if you have your own gluten free recipe or tip. Add your comment and you will be entered into a prize draw where one MNer will win a £100 Love2Shop voucher.

GENIUS TESTERS: Please share on this thread: (All official testers who add their feedback will be entered in a prize draw where one will win a £200 Love2Shop voucher).

Why did you want to take part in this product test?
What you thought of the Genius products? Which foods did you try?
How easy it was to cook the Genius recipes? Which ones did you try?
Whether your family enjoyed it – what they thought?
If you added your own twist to any recipes (if so what)?
How did you find the tips form Greg Rutherford: what tips did you get and how easy or difficult were they to include in your life?
Finally (and you may need to answer this one later in the week) how you feel after cutting gluten out of your diet?

If you have any questions on the Genius range or going gluten-free, please post them onto the thread and Genius will endeavour to answer them as soon as possible.

Thanks, MNHQ

Standard Insight T&Cs apply

[PrimalLass]

Why did you want to take part in this product test?

We are mainly GF but have been slipping recently (DD is very intolerant, I am hypothyroid, DP has joint, digestive and nerve issues).

My parcel is coming today, but I buy Genius seeded bread anyway so have had some toast for breakfast.

[Quills]

One of the lucky testers here!

Firstly, thank you to Genius for the beautiful hamper full of products. Ours arrived on Friday and we headed up to Asda with our shopping list yesterday. I was impressed with the range of food we could get on the plan, somehow I'd imagined that going gluten free would be far more limiting.

Most of the recipes appeal to us, but we'll be putting our own twist on a couple which I'll post about as and when we cook them. For breakfast today we had the Genius pancakes warmed up with chopped banana, honey and cinnamon, which were delicious and a hit with both DDs (aged 7 and 1). I have a batch of the cinnamon raisin swirls from the Genius website in the oven at the moment, and I think we'll have filled pitta bread and salad for dinner tonight.

Why did you want to take part in this product test?

As DD1 is getting older, DH and I have both become far more aware of the example we set to her with what we eat and how we look after our bodies. We've been making a conscious effort to teach her tasty, healthy recipes and to enjoy exercise, and also to think in general about what she's putting into her body. For that reason, Genius and Greg Rutherfood's plan really appealed to us.

Health-wise, I have stress related IBS, so personally I'm very interested to see if going gluten free for the week has an impact on my symptoms. Also, since we applied to be testers DD2 has been having digestive issues thought to be related to cow's milk, so again it's made us think a lot more about our family's diet in general and eating as healthily and naturally as possible. We're excited about this week's meals and looking forward to trying out the recipes!

[CMOTDibbler]

Non tester: I've been diagnosed coeliac for 17 years now. I really like genius bread, but it does annoy me that so many loaves have a big split at the top so the whole crust falls off.

[SagaNorensLeatherTrousers]

Hellooo, another lucky tester here!

I want to echo Quills and say thank you to Genius for this opportunity!

I wanted to try this challenge because of my preconceived notions of "gluten-free" equalling a life of restriction. DH and I both have weight to lose and he has psoriasis. It occurred to me that our daily diet is made up of a lot of bread, pasta, and other gluten-rich foods and that these could be culprits for a lot of our health issues.

The hamper really was a surprise and I was really excited to see all the products inside! I've attached a photo here of the products in the hamper, minus a few things as we got stuck in over the weekend!

The recipe book was surprisingly full of recipes that even my picky DS(9) says look nice. I was pretty amazed at how varied the meals are. DS was particularly keen on the pizza bases so we made those for dinner on Saturday night (photo attached).

As I stated earlier, for some reason I've always thought "gluten-free" is synonymous with "limiting" or "restricting" and I honestly thought the products here would be...well...dry. This was not the case with the pizza bases at all! They crisped up on the sides when cooked, as pizza does, but provided a nice base that tasted really good! DS was very impressed because he thought it was really fun to make them and REALLY liked the taste.

Sunday morning we made the pancakes with pure maple syrup and bacon (again, photo attached, but please don't mind how dark it came out...not sure what happened there but it looks like the pancakes are burnt and they really weren't! ) These were really good...I'd say they're not as nice/moist as homemade pancakes but they ARE nicer than other shelf-bought pancakes from the grocery store. And obviously the maple syrup drizzled on helped to give them a bit more moisture. I think they'd be great for a day-to-day breakfast option.

Anyway, I'll keep updating throughout the week as we try other products and try some recipes...I LOVE the look of the Mexican eggs and the fish pie so will be giving both of those a go.

[Snazapoo]

Another tester here!

I received my hamper last Friday and it was a very welcome surprise. My DH is gluten free already so he pounced on the crumpets and cooked some straight away. They were lovely with butter and jam and not too heavy.

I did my weekly shop this morning and got everything to follow the week's eating plan. My local store didn't have any Genius muffins which was a shame.

Why did you want to take part in this product test?

We already try to follow a gluten free diet at home but I rarely use gluten free products. My daughters miss things like toast and sandwiches so I was keen to try some alternatives to regular bread.

I'm also looking forward to following the meal plan. I'm a keen cook and I'm hoping to add some new recipes to my repertoire

For breakfast this morning we all had pancakes with caramelised bananas and yogurt. It was tasty and my DDs enjoyed it. I wouldn't usually choose something so sweet for breakfast but it filled me up and I wasn't hungry again until lunchtime.

I have just finished my lunch of tuna nicoise and it was delicious. A did find it a bit of a faff to make with a 2 year old round my ankles but it was worth it. I did halve the portion as a can of tuna and 4 eggs seemed a huge amount for one person!

[sharond101]

Non-tester here. i tried a genius white loaf, (got it marked down in Supermarket) and found it a little less soft than regular bread, maybe a little denser, but we ate it all so it can't have been bad. better toasted in my opinion.

[PrimalLass]

Ok my hamper came this afternoon and I was so impressed - I really wasn't expecting so much. No time to shop today, but we were to be having home-made burgers anyway so will do that 'day' tonight, and have them in the pittas.

Photos to follow.

[PrimalLass]

Pictures

[Maiyakat]

Non-tester. DD loves the Genius fruit bread - makes excellent toast!

[EmLH]

Hi, another grateful tester here!

I received a lovely big hamper on Friday containing my supermarket voucher and some genius products; pancakes, crumpets, pittas and pizza bases. I have to say, from what I received and what I saw on my trip to the supermarket today, the items available have far improved from a few years ago when I remember my nan getting gluten free flour on prescription for my grandad, who was a coeliac. I was really surprised at the range, but note that the price is still relatively high.

I signed up to do this test as I have always wondered if I might be gluten intolerant. It runs in my family and although I have tested as negative for coeliac disease, I do suffer from IBS type symptoms, lots of bloating and generally feeling uncomfortable after eating. I also read that gluten can contribute to spots on your chin, which is the only area on which they appear on me!

So, after having a look through the booklet and viewing the recipes on Genius' website, I went shopping today and bought an array of things to last us the week. I went to my local Tesco as apparently the Morrisons nearby don't stock Genius. They had a lovely Free From section in one of the aisles, but not much from Genius. I bought some rolls and a white loaf from their range, but the croissants I wanted were sold out and they didn't stock the pain au chocolat or pastry. I figured Genius would be happy to promote gluten free living as a whole so I bought some other stuff from alternative brands, including Tesco's own range. I got some pasta, SR flour, lasagne sheets, a ready made pizza, some fish fingers, yorkshires, an Amy's Kitchen noodle ready meal, some rice noodles, stir fry stuff, refrigerated pastry, and various other ingredients so that I can make lots of lovely meals.

Today has been my first day completely gluten free. For breakfast I had the pancakes with maple syrup, blueberries and whipped cream. I thought they were really nice and the texture, though different to the scotch pancakes I am used to, wasn't off-putting at all. I usually have this type of pancake with a little slather of butter alone so I will try this later in the week and report back again.

For lunch I was at a friend's house, so I took with me some of the fish fingers, some lettuce and tartare sauce to go in one of the pittas. My friend had done some homemade potato wedges and salad so I put these together and it made a really tasty lunch. The fish fingers were really tasty and the pittas tasted 'normal' to me.

For tea, DD, DH and I have all had pizzas on the gluten free bases. All of us thought they were lovely and commented that we would have them again quite happily. They are nice and crispy and again taste like 'normal.'

One thing that has concerned me is that when reading the labels of the sweet treats available (muffins, cakes and biscuits etc) the biggest ingredient listed is sugar. I'm not sure why and would be interested in the answer as the general view I took was that I wouldn't want to buy them as they all seem really unhealthy. If I go to any other supermarkets this week I will have a look at what they have and see if I can find anything better but at the moment I have avoided buying anything of this nature.

As for me, tonight I am not bloated, but this may be coincidence. I have consumed dairy today (latte, milk in tea and cheese on pizza) so this is interesting to me as I wondered if I might have an intolerance in this area too. Watch this space!

I am now going to sit down with a cup of tea before I do the squats for today's fitness tip! It's been a busy day and I did fit in a long dog walk!

[EmLH]

Apologies for lack of lunch pic. I was so hungry I ate it before I realised I hadn't taken one!

[purplepandas]

I am not GF but my Dad is. I have sampled some of the GF stuff. The fruit loaf from Genius is nice toasted. I know that he likes the crumpets too although I have not tried the GF crumpets personally.

[Snazapoo]

I made the pea, courgette and goat cheese quiche for dinner. I did change the cheese to Taleggio as I don't like goat cheese and it was fine.

The quiche was lovely and very tasty. I usually make my own gluten free pastry so I was keen to try it ready made. It was quite sticky so I had to work fast but it baked well. It wasn't as 'short' as regular pastry but had some crispness.

[EmLH]

Morning!

DD and I have just tried the crumpets for breakfast, with butter and marmite. DD wasn't keen as they were 'too thick' and I didn't really like them either. I found the texture quite squishy and cakey and I like my crumpets to be firm and preferably crispy/verging on burnt. I actually try to buy pikelets when I can (so I can get them even crispier), so I think this may just be personal preference and that if you like chunky crumpets usually you would find these a nice alternative.

DD tried a pancake instead and these got the thumbs up (again with maple syrup, blueberries and whipped cream). She liked them so much that she asked for a second, which is quite a novelty for her so I was pleased. I tried one with just a bit of butter and it was nice, but quite sweet. I prefer them with all the toppings because I figure if you're going to go sweet you may as well go the whole hog! Not sure I'd want them every day but they're lovely for an occasional treat.

[PrimalLass]

DS and I had pancakes for breakfast too, with Nutella and banana - lovely. I think I've had the crumpets before and wasn't keen, but will give them a go. The pittas were great last night.

I think we will do the pizzas tonight as Tuesdays are crazy.

I will have a tuna salad and pitta for lunch.

[SagaNorensLeatherTrousers]

I've had the crumpets with butter for breakfast! Didn't take a photo as it's pretty boring, to be fair. I thought they tasted pretty nice! Didn't notice much difference from ordinary crumpets.

Going to have a pitta toasted with cheese to dip in my soup for lunch, and about to embark on some of the recommended exercises in a bit. Will report back!

[Quills]

Hello!

It's a beautiful day here so I'm really rather glad we're having the pea, mint courgette and goat's cheese quiche tonight. I've cooked it already (see photo) as DD1 has gymnastics straight after school so she's generally ravenous by the time we've walked home. It looks and smells wonderful, so very much looking forward to eating it. DH, however, isn't keen on goat's cheese, so he'll be having GF spag bol using spaghetti and bolognese sauce from the Free From section at the shop.

I used the offcuts of the pastry from the quiche to make cheese straws rather than throwing them out - a tip I picked up from my nan! I usually use JusRol pastry rather than making my own as handmade pastry has always been my nemesis, and although I found the Genius pastry very short and harder to work than the JusRol, it cooked perfectly. As for the Genius puff pastry, I made cinnamon whirls with that yesterday and it was difficult to roll out, but again I have no complaints about how it cooked, it flaked up even better than JusRol and cooked evenly.

We had gluten free porridge with homemade jam for breakfast this morning, and Croque Monsieur from the Genius website for lunch.

[Wjjkl]

The fruit bread is lovely - has loads of flavour & better than a lot of other fruit breads out there

[PrimalLass]

If I liked quiche or cheese I'm sure that would be lovely Quills!

I had an organisation fail tonight. I managed to roast tomatoes and onion to make pizza sauce then realised I had no mozzarella. So we are having the Genius steak pies with garlic roast potatoes and green beans. Pics to follow.

[PrimalLass]

The steak pie was lovely.

[EmLH]

Evening all.

Today I made the pea, mint and courgette tart but substituted feta instead of goats cheese as goats cheese is one of the only things I can't abide. I don't usually cook with pastry but found it easy to roll out and assemble. The tart tasted really nice fresh from the oven, but even better cold! The pastry was slightly too well done underneath but the crust was perfect; nice and crispy. I would definitely cook this one again as I gave some to a friend and she liked it too. With the bits left over I made jam tarts and DD and DH really liked these, as did I. These were better straight from the oven because a few hours later they'd gone a bit soft.

For tea tonight I made chicken schnitzel with the Genius white bread crumbs. I think it's one of the most well received meals I've ever made! DD loved it and kept asking if there was any left and DH said he would love to have it at least once a week. I added some Season All to the breadcrumbs so it had a lovely salty and savoury flavour. The breadcrumbs crisped up nicely so we are all impressed and shall repeat this recipe for sure.

As for me, still not bloated out today. Also, I've noticed I'm not wanting to snack as much in the evenings. Not sure if this is related or if it's simply because I'm sticking to a plan and therefore eating a proper breakfast, lunch and dinner rather than picking little bits but it's surely a benefit!

Am generally feeling quite pleased with myself but had my first mishap today where DD got a free mince pie from Waitrose and only ate half of it. She handed the leftovers to me and I took a bite without thinking before quickly realising and spitting it out and popping it into a handy nearby bin! I think I'd really have to retrain myself if I was going to do this full time!

[PrimalLass]

EmLH - one of the 'benefits' for me of being GF is that it has vastly reduced my mince pid consumption.

Love the jam tarts.

[PrimalLass]

Pid??

[DirectorFury]

Non-tester here.
OH is coeliac so I'm used to baking everything using GF ingredients. We had a Genius loaf a few weeks ago as it was reduced in the supermarket and it was surprisingly nice. I would echo another comment that it's much nicer toasted.

I'm very interested to see that Genius are doing a ready-made GF pastry as that's the one thing I can never get 'right' (am rubbish at pastry with normal flour mind ). I'll look out for it next time we're shopping!

[Snazapoo]

Yesterday we all had crumpets for breakfast and they were well received by my daughters. Again, I wouldn't usually have something like this for breakfast but I didn't get hungry again until lunchtime.

I made pizzas for lunch with the help of my children. They made one with salami and olives and mine had roasted peppers and olives. We had them with salad and it was all eaten, which is saying something!

I can honestly say that I couldn't tell the difference between Genius pizza bases and regular ones. They made great pizzas and we're my favourite product so far. I will definitely buy these again when I want a quick meal that my children will eat

For dinner I made fish pie and it was gorgeous. I usually make white sauce with gluten free flour but making it with corn flour made a much smoother sauce. I liked the addition of the crumble topping too. My daughters didn't eat it but that says more about them than the recipe