NOW CLOSED Talk to Mrs Crimble's about gluten free cooking and shopping and be in with a chance of winning a hamper of goodies

[TheOtherHelenMumsnet]

We've been asked by Mrs Crimble's to find out what your top tips are for a gluten free diet. We've posted a few questions below to get you started but please feel free to add any other comments/tips you have here too. Mrs Crimble's would also love it if you checked out some of the recipes on their website. Everyone who posts their comments on this thread will be entered into a prize draw to win a hamper of Mrs Crimble's goodies.

~ If you buy gluten free products, where do you tend to buy them from? Do you ever buy Mrs Crimble's products? If so, which ones and where do you buy them?

~ Do you do lots of gluten free cooking? If so, what are your top tips for knocking up delicious gluten free meals/snacks? Please do share any brilliant recipes you have here - Mrs Crimble's may feature the ones they like the most on their website.

Thanks and good luck with the prize draw
MNHQ

[jellybeans]

I forgot to say I always use the stuffing balls mix-amazing stuff :)

[CookieM0nster]

Hi there, great to see this thread, thanks for all the top tips so far!

My 3 1/2 y/o daughter is a coeliac, diagnosed at 18months, so it's basically all she has ever known and she handles it beautifully. We are in Surrey which is one of the few counties to withdraw the majority of GF foods from prescription, (we can have flour and long life bread, but she won't eat that and I don't blame her!) Consequently I buy almost all our GF food.

Most of the Crimbles food I buy from my weekly shop with Ocado/Waitrose and from our excellent local health food shop & occasionally Tesco's. It has the highest profile & distribution of any other GF manufacturer and I think it is quite reasonably priced.

Of the Crimble's range she loves the little chocolate orange macaroons, and the big jam ones, but always leaves some of the coconut 'ring' (not the jam though!) since they are a bit too big for her. Also the cheese bites are great so she feels included at kids parties, and cheese biscuits are handy for 'picky' lunches in place of bread.

The majority of my cooking is gluten free and cooked from scratch, but I do separate pasta for the 3 of us to her because of the expense. More rice, potatoes and mexican food, am hoping to build up to curry soon too ;-) We all eat very little bread in our house nowadays and feel much better for it.

A few people have commented on GF pasta being a bit gloopy - my tip is undercook it by a minute or two, keep a close eye on it when the buzzer goes off and usually within a minute it's safe to pour it into a colander and then run it under the cold tap briefly, which 'perks it up'! Also ConnieBradshaw I highly recommend "Salute" GF spaghetti, but again with the cold water trick. Spag Bol is one of our family favourites!

Ironically I have started giving my kids GF breadcrumbed food when I preferred to give them protein 'au naturel' before her diagnosis. But there's something about it that feels like a treat?!

In addition to Crimbles products (!) we couldn't live without: AWT instant GF gravy, Dietary Specials GF Yorkshire Puddings, Nature's Path Cereal - Mesa Sunrise, Amisa - GF porridge w/ apple and cinnamon spice, Waitrose - GF cherry bakewells, Genius bread, Sunstart - Rocky Road.

I have tried baking with great success, but with two young kids helping it takes aaaages, so I rarely do it and I'm afraid I really love the convenience of shop bought GF products. I agree with the others comments that a single or small packaged product that's portable would be wonderful. My daughter goes to pre school 3 mornings and I am still searching for the ideal 'individual' portion to leave with the teachers at the start of term, that's got a decent shelf life on it for emergencies when it's another child's birthday and they bring in cakes to share. I once bought a Byron Bay GF cookie with GF smarties on that looked awesome, but I can't find it any more!

Right my wine is beckoning me, Cheers

[trueblonde]

I love Mrs Crimbles Cheese Bites, very moreish and i love them as they are Gluten free which is fab, I have tried others but Mrs Crimbles wins hands down every time, Gluten free products are so expensive, I am not entitled to a free prescription as this is my choice even though it is a medical condition i have

[mumbow]

The mrs Crimble's things that i buy most often for my coeliac son are the cheese bites. He takes them to school for his play piece. I don't really buy that many gf cakes from the shops because they are so expensive and they usually have so many ingredients. But I'll get the occasional muffin for taking to a birthday party or something.
We get bread and pasta on prescription and go through masses of those. Otherwise we'll usually just have dinners that are naturally gluten free. Marks and Spencer's sausages and burgers are all GF and sometimes i'll make phil vickery recipe for gf pizza bases and freeze some for later.
Sainsbury's has the biggest and most extensive freeform range near us for extra bread (own brand) or flour, other baking ingredients or treats and snacks.
We also get through a lot of sesame snaps and 9 bars for school snacks! No nuts allowed at our school so that rules out a lot of gf snacks too.

[stephgr]

I mostly buy gluten free products online because there is a wider selection than in supermarkets/pharmacies. I haven't bought Mrs Crimbles products yet although I will try them. I get some gluten free products on prescription and then order extra goodies I can't get on prescription. I'm not a brilliant cook but I do use gluten free products when cooking. Despite an increasing range of products which are gluten free, many of them don't taste great which is really frustrating!

[Bryzoan]

Dh is a coeliac. He gets some stuff (mostly bread) on a prescription prepayment cert - and the luxuries we get from supermarkets. Mrs crumble features heavily, especially the bakewell slices and jam rings. The whole family eats them and loves them. He did once try to fob me off on mr Kipling bakewell slices as they are cheaper - but they are nowhere near as nice. We also like the livewell brownies, and he likes th pinkpanther wafer biscuits though I think they are revolting. I often buy them for him though as they are cheap.

Cooking wise I do all our baking with doves farm and I actually think it works better than normal flour. Only exception is bread which always seems to turn out quite cakey. For cakes/ biscuits etc I just use normal recipes and adapt. Don't bake at the moment though as we have a toddler amends baby so even finding time to shower feels like an achievement!

[insanityscratching]

I buy most of the GF foods in the supermarket. Love lots of the Mrs Crimble products and then don't feel deprived especially the Bakewell slices which for me are a necessity.
Found a soup recipe online and discovered they'd used crispy potato skins for croutons and so have stolen that idea and use them in my soups now.

Turn oven to 220c. Put potato skins in baking dish, toss with oil, salt and fresh chopped rosemary to taste. Roast until crispy.

[talkingnonsense]

I forgot about the asda gf oat cookies, they are v good.

For crumble, use butter, sugar, and then half gf flour and half gf oats for a more crumbly texture.

In cakes with gf flour you usually need a little extra liquid if converting from a normal flour recipe- I add a bit of milk.

You can make a Swiss roll sponge with cocoa instead of flour, v good too.

[MissRee]

Do you do lots of gluten free cooking? If so, what are your top tips for knocking up delicious gluten free meals/snacks? Please do share any brilliant recipes you have here - Mrs Crimble's may feature the ones they like the most on their website.

My favourite gluten free cake:

300g/10½oz plain chocolate, broken into pieces
225g/8oz caster sugar
175ml/6fl oz boiling water
225g/8oz salted butter, cut into cubes, plus extra for greasing
6 free-range eggs, separated
1 tsp instant coffee powder
2 tsp vanilla extract

Blend the chocolate and sugar in a food processor until a fine powder forms. Add the boiling water, butter, egg yolks, coffee powder and vanilla extract and blend. Whisk the egg whites and gently fold into the chocolate mixture. Pour the mixture into a cake tin and bake for 45-55 minutes. When its cooked, put in the fridge for a few hours. Simples! You can decorate with whipped cream, fruit, more chocolate...

[mupity]

Honestly, I don't know how anyone stays sane on a gluten-free diet. Having recently made a new friend with coeliac disease, I am worried that I will unintentionally feed her gluten when she comes over to my house.

Food labelling is woefully inadequate and after doing some research on the internet, I have become even more jittery. Spending an age reading the ingredients on the back of a packet is not only time-consuming, but also futile as it often doesn't give the required answer gluten-free or not. Why can't every item of food be labelled with sufficient dietary advice? Is it just me, or should this not be a legal requirement?

Congratulations to Mrs Crimbles for making life easier. Products are clearly labelled Gluten Free, readily available locally and very tasty.

[Pinot]

mupity. In all honesty, when you are coeliac or gluten intolerant, the diet is the lesser of two evils. I liken gluten to kryptonite - it literally poisons me, in so many ways. Spots, weight gain, pain, ulcers, welts, headaches, joint pain, brittle nails - I could go on.

I just thank god I live in a time where we can be diagnosed and can heal ourselves so easily.

[sassolino]

My family is not on a GF diet, but some of our freinds are, which started me on a journey to find decent GF recipes that I could serve for everyone when we have guests for dinner.
With Mrs Crimbles, we found some favourites that I buy regularly, my little man adores the macarons and flavoured rice cakes.

[micra]

My friend's husband is coeliac so if they come round for a meal I tend to stick to anything without a trace of wheat in. I know my friend buys special loaves etc and says most of it's not very nice so I've never tried buying these special things when he comes round. I have noticed a few gluten free bits in Tesco but never heard of Mrs Chrimble. Perhaps I'll look now - interesting reading comments above, perhaps all gluten free stuff doesn't taste like cardboard??!!

[Keirley]

My husband is a coeliac and loves the cocoonut macaroons. Readily available in all big supermarkets, however beware not all Mrs Crimbles wheat free products are also gluten free. If memory serves we had a problem with the apple cake. Find it best to buy g.f. products in large supermarkets as health food stores hike up the price too musch.

[Igmum]

Get a fair few gluten free things for when friends visit and have been pretty impressed that all supermarkets now stock 'em and with some of the cakes and biscuits - will look out for Mrs Crimbles

[C4ro]

Howdy. My mum/ sister/ brother are all coeliacs. They get Doves Farm and the Freefrom stuff from Sainsbo that I know about. I get whatever they have in the tiny (and rubbish) selection in Eurospar here in Austria for when I'm catering GF for them (or they just get the thrilling jacket-potato...).

Someone up thread said puddings are tough. Here are some very excellent choc puddings that you can make the day before and fridge until you want to cook them.

Tortino al Cioccolato Caldo (No idea where from, some Italian cookbook as my photocopy is page 68 "comfort food from the mountains" and it recommends to use some of Turins finest chocolate...)

250g good quality dark chocolate
125g butter + some for greasing
4 egg yolks
50g sugar
6 egg whites
salt

Serves 6-9 (depending on the size of your ramekins)

Oven 180deg C
Grease 6 large or 9 small ramekins
Melt chocolate and butter over simmering water.
In a second bowl whisk egg yolks with 30g sugar until creamy.
Stir in melted chocolate + butter.
In another clean bowl whisk egg white with remaining sugar and pink salt until stiff.
Fold into the chocolate mixture until well amalgamated.
Divide mix into dishes and bake in oven for 6-10 minutes (depends how much liquid gooey middle you want and how much crustier/ cakey bits). Tip out onto plates or leave in the dishes. Reheat in microwave OK after being cooked but won't be fluffy/ souffle-like.

[michelleblane]

My sister has to follow a GF diet and I'm amazed at the number of brilliant recipe sites on the internet. I use BBC food for hints, tips and information. Chick pea flour is great for pastry.
Supermarkets seem to have good sections of GF products too now.

[ILoveAFullFridge]

Widen the range of what you eat. Don't think in terms of substitutes, of classic British diet, of bread/pasta/cake etc. Consider other nationalities' foods, look at diets such as Paleoithic, and - most of all - make friends with Google. There are so many recipes and ideas to try!

And if you want to bake, Doves Farm flour is good.

[peronel]

Try a simple fritatta for breakfast; we love them and have them alternate days.

Two rashers of bacon chopped, fried in olive oil with mushrooms and slices of green pepper. Add two beaten eggs swish around and cook as an omelette. Add grated cheese, brown under the grill.

That's it! High protein, gluten free, no additives, filling and delicious!

[KindleMum]

My Sainsburys has a large selection of Mrs Crimbles, I buy a few but I do find it expensive and would buy more often if it were cheaper. Recently I've tried the Kirsty's meals in Sainsburys that are gluten and dairy free as they are often on special offer and I've found them ok as a standby and cheap when they're on offer. Mostly I just cook without wheat rather than using substitutes. I tried GF bakewell tarts in Costa the other day and they were vile.

[Salbertina]

With Peronel on homemade, gF frittata!
Sorry but find Crimble stuff overpriced and under-tasty.

[valsh]

Wairose has a small 'free from' section, and shop there sometimes if I'm entertaining a friend who cannot tolerate gluten. I don't have any such issues myself, but I'm addicted to Mrs Crimble's Choc Macaroons!
Best quick recipe I have is for chocolate banana ice cream - gluten, sugar & dairy free! ... slice some banana and put it on a tray in the freezer till just before you need it. Then take it out and transfer to a plate or bowl and start mashing with cocoa powder. Takes a bit of effort, but by the time the banana is mashed and the cocoa incorporated, you will have a yummy chocolate ice cream.

[RachelHRD]

My 5 year old son has recently been diagnosed as gluten intolerant after years of bowel problems so I'm new to GF buying and cooking.

So far I've bought most of his GF food from Sainsburys as they have a reasonably extensive range and a couple of items from a local health food shop.

I have today bought GF flour to make bread and some cookie and muffin mixes to try out so will move into GF baking this week.

I've not tried any Mrs Crimbles products yet but will look out for them on my next shop.

I have digestive issues too and have often wondered if I might also be gluten intolerant so may well put myself on the same diet to see what happens!

[compy99]

another Mrs Crimbles fan here! we often have gluten free cooking, not through dietary restrictions but just for a healthier option.

[lizd31]

I love the Mrs Crimble home bake gluten free products, can't wait to try the pancake mix for pancake day next month