Nice gluten-free alternatives,

[MsVanRein]

I'm starting on a gluten-free diet from tomorrow and am really nervous as I eat quite a lot of bread, pasta etc.

What are the nicest gluten-free products? Or do you have any nice GF recipes?

notapizzaeater that's a great idea for them.

Madmonkeys this is brilliant news! I love them

LionHeart I noticed it when doing my shopping will maybe give it a try next time round.

Pleased with today, went well! Hoping tomorrow is a success too.

Just thought I'd pop back to say that today I tried the chocolate tray bake recipe from the Pink Whisk blog, but with wheat free plain flour (a little less than recipe required as it usually needs more liquid) and it worked! I can have yummy treats again! I am very pleased with myself.

Ooh thanks for the tip Gerty!!! I will try that one.

I love baking I'm actually probably most gutted about that bit! Will be nice to experiment though with a few things.

I like this thread :)

Warburton Newhouse do lemon poppy seed muffins that are gluten, dairy and soya free and taste just like normal cake, and I am very particular about cake. I think they are in all supermarkets. £2 for two. A lot of people also rave about the same brand wraps. I think they are ok. Asda also sell BWraps which are cheaper and more like normal wraps.

Morrisons do a millionaires shortbread which is lovely.

Sainsburys have quite a big gluten free range too. They do cakes too.

In terms of bread, the one I liked the best was DS rolls (I think they are called glutafin now). I get mine from tesco (the freezer sections ones) as they are dairy, soya and egg free too. I have heard that Udo's bagels etc are nice but I haven't tried them.

I tried the Ugg company cake mix at the allergy free show and thought it was lovely.

I get pasta and lasagne from tesco and waitrose respectively. I like them both and you can't really tell when it's fresh, it's just when it gets cold then you can taste the difference, but generally I don't mind.

I need to find a pancake mix or recipe that is nice. I haven't managed to try anything yet.

There's a chocolate cake recipe from nigella that is dairy and gluten free which is lovely, and I saw a gluten free lemon drizzle on bbc recipes which has good reviews and I need to try that.

Also I recently discovered the gluten free pizza at pizza express and it is absolutely yummy! You can't even tell the difference, and they are so lovely about it.

I'm also just copying over a couple of products I copied over from the free from awards list that I was looking through a couple of days ago (in quote are judges comments):

• Isabel's gluten pizza mix
• Amy’s Kitchen Broccoli and Cheddar bake
• BFree Brown seeded rolls

‘Good that it is free of all major allergens and with a good texture and crunch of seeds.’ ‘Does not look at all gluten-free but a little cakey and smells slightly treacley.’

• Tesco free from fresh seeded loaf 'best bread award'

-Ugg Foods Chia seed and nut bread mix

‘Wow! Totally grain, dairy and egg free – but tastes delicious!’ ‘Slightly cakey and eggy but lovely flavour and lovely crunch.’ ‘ Looks fab!’

• The Free From Bakehouse Chocolate ‘digestive’ biscuits

‘Appealing homemade look although ‘digestive’ slightly misleading. Quite chewy but great ingredients – original and wholesome.’ ‘Good that dairy and gluten free – not many bsicuits are.’

-Georgia’s Choice Gluten Free Mexican bean bake

‘Nice crisp exterior and sweet soft inside, nice and mealy – maybe a little more salt?’ ‘Great colour and texture – lots of beans and veg and splendidly free from all the major allergens – wheat/gluten, dairy, egg and soya – excellent.’

-Morrisons Free from raspberry macaroon slices

‘Very attractive. Lovely crumble base and topping. The jam is not too sweet but contrasts nicely sharp with the base.’ ‘Excellent that it is wheat, gluten and dairy free.’

-Juvela – Fibre Flakes
‘Attractive, wholesome and healthy flakes – not too sweet.' The judges were really pleased to see that this cereal was fortified – important for children whose diet may be deficient in vitamins.

Shine brilliant info thank you!!!

Was the lemon drizzle the one with mashed potato in it!? I spotted it yesterday and it has brilliant reviews. Was thinking of trying it at some point too.

I'm using this new gf as an opportunity to low carb as I've my first wedding dress fitting in 2 months but will make an exception for DS birthday so want to try some lovely GF cake recipes then!

Getting some great tips from this thread. I caved last night and had toast with normal bread. Feel rotten this morning. I wish gf bread wasn't so crap and expensive!

MsVanRein, yes the one with mashed potato, let me know how it goes.

PP, I know, bread is a difficult one. GF bread tends to have this taste ...

My ds doesn't like the. Bread much at all. I place can order every few months with wheat free bakery direct for tiger bread, iced fingers, doughnuts and sandwich rolls. The bread from here actually tastes "normal".

If you have a bread maker with a GF setting then try making your own bread. I use a mix of doves farm white and brown bread flour and add lots of seeds. Done in two hours. It does tend to dry out and therefore crumble so I slice it and freeze it. It's better and less sweet than the shop bought GF bread.

There are loads if biscuits in the main supermarkets and pastry etc.

Notapizzaeater, how are their bagels and cakes? And have you tried Udo's bagels?

Gerty hope your feeling better soon.

I discovered I can't have one of my go-to lunches yesterday -M&S teriyaki beef rolls - they are wrapped in mooli instead of bread and have rice noodles so I thought they would be fine but they have toasted wheat in them. I was gutted!

ShineSmile I bought Udo's bagels at start of the week. They were my first experience of GF bread so I don't have any comparison. Wasn't convinced when I tried one with just butter - too plasticy (!) but absolutely fine with scrambled eggs, banana and honey etc.

We didn't like the bagels /but he didn't like them pre coeliac.

The cakes are fab. Most of the stuff is freeze able (some if the cakes aren't but I ignore that and they've always been fine !)

I find I'm much more prepared these days, we don't have many "grab" lunches anymore.

Tesco, Sainsburys, Marks and Sparks, Starbucks all do a gf sandwich it's just finding one in stock ...

Does anyone get exhaustion as one of their symptoms? Not sure if it's just coincidence but I almost fell asleep in the bath this morning!

MsVanRein my DH opts for sushi or salad when he's out and about. I think there's a couple of salad options at M&S. He also grazes on nuts/dried fruit and eats a lot more fresh fruit than before.

He's only been eating gluten free for just over a month. Bread is the biggest disappointment but he's learning to live without it. He didn't like the Udo's bagels despite being a fan a fan of bagels pre GF.

I'll probably start to make my own bread once i'm more organised. We've got the baking sorted i think. Am about to set the DC off makign chocolate brownie this morning

Wheat Free Bakery Direct is the best bread around - the tiger bread is incredible and they do sesame seeded burger buns, hot dog rolls etc if you are having a BBQ. I've frozen their stuff too - I do a big bulk order and stick loads in the freezer.

In the supermarket category M&S is the winner. They do gluten free crisp bakes and fishcakes which are usually on 3 for £5! They also do a gluten free breaded chicken which is lovely, and their sausages are gf. The M&S crumpets are lovely too.

My whole family eats GF pancakes and Yorkies, they are much fluffier with the GF flour. I use either Doves Farm or Asda flour.

In baking, invest in some xantham gum - you can get it from Lakeland or health food shops. It gets rid of the dry crumb like texture that you can get from GF flour.

Eating out - Pizza Hut do GF pizzas (and they deliver) which I think are as good or better than Pizza Express. Carluccios does GF pasta which is lovely, and Zizzis have a GF menu too.

Gradually, thank you! Would you be willing to share your pancake recipe please?

Gerty I do - overwhelming tiredness. It's horrible.

Maybe it wasn't coincidence then. Think I need to get to docs and get proper diagnosis, just to rule out any other reasons for these symptoms.

Back to food, I had to have pulled pork without crusty bread last night, devastating! Made up for it with a lovely homemade coleslaw :)

Sainsburys do lovely buns for pulled pork

Mrs Crimbles choc dipped macaroon biscuits are gf and waitrose and a few other places have them. Waitrose also has a gf bread bun that is sort of flat, think the brand was a ladies name. Sweetish but really nice toasted well. Good luck

Gerty I had pulled pork last night but didn't miss my roll too much - had veg & halloumi kebabs with it.

My DP is back home after few weeks away and being very supportive of my new diet - I told him to get some bread for himself but he's gonna cut gluten y

Oops posted too soon - he's said he is going to cut gluten out too unless we are out for a meal.

I think the best GF rolls are the DS Ciabattas. Get them in Co op, Waitrose and maybe Ocado. The brown ones are brilliant, and they're egg free. I cannot eat eggs, and so many GF breads have them in.
Tried some cinnamon and sugar sliced bagels this week from sainsburys. Far too nice!