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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

to think I should be able to eat pizza

248 replies

letmeeatpizza · 26/03/2015 21:43

Nc. Basically my gp has got very stingy with prescriptions, for years I've been getting pizza bases and crackers for my celiac. But now apparently I can only be given pasta, bread and flour mixes. I know the NHS in Wales has some funding problems but I can't eat normal foods and they are more expensive and I could die if I doNt stick to the diet. I'd be perfectly happy to pay a nominal price of a pound or so a packet so they end up no more expensive than normal stuff but the system isn't in place. So I'm at the mercy of profit driven supermarkets who charge loads because they can.

OP posts:
TestingTestingWonTooFree · 29/03/2015 18:28

Where's OP?

Superexcited · 29/03/2015 18:58

Hopefully trying out some basic Gluten free recipes to reduce her reliance on uneccesary NHS prescription foods.

fascicle · 29/03/2015 19:29

Superexcited It makes no sense that coeliacs are entitled to some gluten free foods on prescription, whilst someone like your child, with an allergy to gluten, is not.

ZingDramaQueenOfSheeba · 29/03/2015 19:33

Hopefully OP is trashing her kitchen trying to make pizza under instructions of a Michelin starred celebrity chef Wink

TheRealAmandaClarke · 29/03/2015 19:37

Just eat the topping. Its the best bit.

Superexcited · 29/03/2015 19:52

I know fascicle, especially as eating gluten could kill my son instantly whereas with coeliac it is still potentially lethal but not instantly lethal by eating a one off serving.
I'm not bothered about not getting stuff for free on prescription though as buying the correct free from foods is just something we have always had to do. I do think providing gluten free foods for anyone on prescription when other prescription items are being axed is just wrong. I can buy gluten free stuff but I can't buy epi pens and inhalers without a prescription.
I think the NHS really need to rethink giving gluten free stuff on prescriptions.

RawCoconutMacaroon · 31/03/2015 10:03

Wow Amandaclarke, if you really think that you have no understanding whatsoever about food sensitivities, although your reaction is pretty common.

As a non coeliac (no formal diagnosis anyway, despite hospitalisation and various tests), I nevertheless react very strongly to all of the gluten containing grains, and to a lesser extent even Gf oats. A tiny amount will make me ill for days.

I've been grain free (paleo) for a number of years and in my own kitchen, that's fine, I know how to avoid cross contamination, but I've lost count of the number of times I've been glutened when eating out because people don't realise that cooking oil, or spoons, or a couple of crumbs can transfer enough gluten to cause a reaction (or whatever the hell I'm reacting to, gluten is not the only allergenic protein in grains).
On several occasions I have been served a gluten free option (after specifying that I need to be gluten free) and have had it served with gluten containing sides (ie onion rings on top of my gluten free steak)!

Eating out is such a minefield for anyone with food allergies/sensitivities.

LisaMed · 31/03/2015 10:10

I got such a bad reaction once, after about a fortnight going gf, when I absentmindedly licked my fingers which had crumbs on from my son's mini kievs.

It is hard to explain, just one crumb, or a shake of malt vinegar, or some malt that is used for colour as well as flavour. Sometimes you get reactions from stuff because flour has been used not as an ingredient but on the machinery for eg chocolates to clean between batches. I keep separate tubs of spread for me and the rest of the family so they don't have to stress about risking cross contamination after buttering normal bread.

It has really improved the family diet, as I have been forced to give up a lot of my processed food.

Superexcited · 31/03/2015 11:01

As well as separate butter tubs lisamed you also need a separate toaster if you eat toast. When we go away I take toaster pockets for my sons GF toast.
I keep all my sons Gluten and dairy free foods in a separate cupboard and on a separate shelf in the fridge. Cross contamination is a pain in the ass.

RawCoconutMacaroon · 31/03/2015 11:36

Yes Lisa, miss salt and vinegar flavoured things and sharp flavoured salad dressings - when at home I can use cider vinegar and make my own dressings but when out, I always ask for salad to be completely dressing free, it's safer that way...

sparechange · 31/03/2015 14:20

There is a reason that GF food costs more in the shops...
... because unsurprisingly, it costs a lot more to make.

For starters, it has to be made in totally gluten-free bakeries, which means having a separate, dedicated store room, oven, packaging line.
Secondly, the ingredients are a lot more expensive. A very quick Google shows that a tonne of bread wheat seems to be around £160/tonne. The main ingredients in gluten free bread - tapioca and rice flours - are currently at £380/tonne and £300/tonne respectively. And that is before you take into account the crap that they put into cheap nasty bread to pad it out and make it even cheaper.

But come ON, OP and the other one who leapt to her defence. I don't even know any Italians that think pizza is an essential food group. Also, Jamie Oliver's pizza dough recipe takes about 8 minutes and requires 1 mixing bowl and an area of work surface about the size of a chopping board, so no one is buying that horsecrap about it being difficult to make...

CactusAnnie · 31/03/2015 14:55

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

HappydaysArehere · 31/03/2015 14:56

Panasonic bread makers make excellent, easy and quick pizza bases.(45mind). You have the initial outlay but if it is a health issue the outlay may well be worth it. You will be be in control of bread, buns, etc.

AdoraBell · 31/03/2015 15:29

I find balsámica vinegar is okay as it's made from grapes, for those who miss the taste of malt vinegar.

MonstrousRatbag · 31/03/2015 16:22

I can see that the prescribed bases made life a lot easier because the OP could just come home and sling toppings on, cook and hey presto! Quick cheap dinner.

Compared to that, having to plan ahead, learn to make bases properly, and freeze batches to have available must seem a massive effort.

But it really really isn't unreasonable to expect the OP or other GF sufferers to do that. The prescription is surely to give people necessary staples, not convenience.

It does just mean switching to a different kind of cooking-in advance, in batches. The more you do it, the easier it gets.

I Googled 'No Knead Gluten Free Bread' and found a lot of results. I picked out this one which sounds easy to do but does include expensive ingredients you'd have to track down. Extra faff, no doubt. But doable with planning.

And this website looks lovely, but again, unusual ingredients mean this isn't an easy throw together option.

And the, ta-daah! courtesy of thekitchn.com, I found this:

**
Yeast-free Pizza Dough
Makes 1 large pizza or 2 individual pizzas

2 cups self-rising flour
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon kosher salt
3/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 cup water plus additional as needed
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon honey

Place a pizza stone in the oven and preheat to 500°F.

In a large mixing bowl whisk self-rising flour, cornstarch, salt, and garlic powder together until mixed. In a separate bowl, combine water, olive oil, and honey. Add the liquid ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until a cohesive ball forms, adding more water a tablespoon at a time if necessary. (The dough should be moist and firm but not sticky.)

Form the dough into a rounded disk and wrap with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 15-30 minutes. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough with a rolling pin to form a perfect circle. Transfer the dough to the hot pizza stone and cook in the oven for 2 minutes.

Remove the dough from the oven. Top with tomato sauce, shredded mozzarella, and additional toppings as desired. Cook until the cheese is melted and the crust is very crisp, another 7-10 minutes. Cool for 3-5 minutes before serving.

**

Got to be worth a try, OP?

Superexcited · 31/03/2015 16:32

If the OP really doesn't want to make her own (very easy to do) GF pizza bases she can always just buy them. They are readily available in supermarkets and if she wants to be really lazy and isn't allergic to dairy she can buy ready made frozen GF pizzas complete with topping.
The NHS is not really there just to make eating cheap for people (speaking as somebody who has to buy free from stuff every week and understands the expense). OP has been spoiled by being given this stuff for free.

GoodbyeToAllOfThat · 31/03/2015 16:46

Are you joking? I can't tell.

ToBeeOrNot · 31/03/2015 16:50

MonstrousRatbag that recipe is yeast free not gluten free.

MonstrousRatbag · 31/03/2015 16:59

Oh, bollocks, sorry, I got carried away thinking I'd found the answer.

MonstrousRatbag · 31/03/2015 17:01

Ok, this looks promising.

expatinscotland · 31/03/2015 17:09

Think OP might have been the biscuit lady. Thread on here a while back from someone grousing that they had to pay for GF cakes and biscuits.

Phephenson · 31/03/2015 17:18

Oh My God!! The NHS in the whole country (not just Wales) is in bloody crisis, people get turned down for cancer drugs and other life saving drugs. Others get turned down for therapies, IVF or other life changing treatment and you're moaning about pizza.

'I could die if I don't stick to the diet'

Stick to it then! I'm allergic to most margarines and can only get on with real butter - I've never been offered a bloody prescription for Anchor!

YABVVVVVVVU

Delphine31 · 31/03/2015 17:28

I think YABU. I'm severely allergic to nuts and intolerant to soya and palm oil. I pretty much can't eat any processed foods. Most bread, biscuits, ready meals, pizzas, cake, crackers are off the menu for me as they'll either contain soya or palm fats.

I have to cook everything from scratch. Some things work out cheaper; others a lot more expensive (e.g. bread). And it is time consuming preparing everything from scratch.

However, there is no way on this planet that I would expect the NHS to subsidise my food bill.

It's not as if it's detrimental to your health not to have pizza!

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