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!