Travelling anywhere when you're on a strict gluten free diet can be problematic, but particularly when the traveler is a child. Spending five or six hours in the car to go and visit relatives isn't great fun at the best of times, but if you're stressing about what you're going to feed your child it is worse.
Fortunately, we had been lucky in New Zealand that there was usually a McDonalds restaurant that we could stop at. When our kids were younger, we would get them a Hamburger Happy Meal without the bun.
Sounds easy. But here are some of the questions we'd get.
"So you only want the bun?"
"Do you want the sauce with that?"
"Sorry I don't understand, do you mean you only want the meat?"
So my wife's standard request became "This is an intelligence test. I'd like a Hamburger Happy Meal without the bun. I only want the meat patty and I don't want it anywhere near a bun. My child is highly allergic to the bun. No bun".
Once the Store Manager overheard this conversation and asked if that was really necessary.
Occasionally we'd still end up with a bun.
Some people may stress out about residual traces of gluten in the deep fryer contaminating the chips. Can't say it was a problem with V, because any traces of gluten and she would get dark circles under the eyes.
The great thing about McDonalds is that it is the same in Australia. As she got older she has moved onto two ten-to-a-pound meat patties, a large fries, a caramel sundae and an orange juice. Yes, I know, but it is not as though she gets it every week.
We did have a couple of McDonalds restaurants offer to heat up our own gluten free buns for us too, but we were never organised enough to take up the offer.
Having a quick look at their ingredients list (June 2012), the Breakfast menu hashbrown is also has no gluten, and an egg would be a fairly safe bet.
http://mcdonalds.com.au/our-food/nutrition
note Even a plain sundae may contain traces of gluten
Sunday, 15 July 2012
Saturday, 14 July 2012
Instant Noodles
When we moved from New Zealand to Australia, we found a few things were different. Gluten free bread available at the supermarket could actually be made into a sandwich. The gluten free bread that was available from the local Woolies bakery in NZ was really only good for toasting. Dried pasta was a lot cheaper in Australia as well.
One thing we really did miss though was Trident Vietnamese Instant Rice Noodles. These were available at Countdown supermarkets , in Beef and Chicken varieties. My son, now 17, used to love them, but we haven't seen them anywhere in Australia.
So after a lot of hunting around on the net, I found the following.
The noodles are a bit thicker, like the ones you get in your typical plain bulk rice noodle packet.
They come with two packets. One, the seasoning, has compartments for the Chicken flavoring and the oil. The other called Garnishes, has dried vegetables including chili flakes. Now I like hot food, but I don't like to use the full packet of Garnishes.
If you're making them for a child, I'd leave out the Garnish packet altogether and go easy on the flavoring.
Making them is easy. Put them in a bowl, pour on some boiling water. Now you can either wait for four or five minutes, or put the bowl in the microwave for one minute.
Add the flavour, the oil and maybe some of the garnishes and Yum.
My son managed to eat about 15 packets over the month, especially in the school holidays.
They're also available in Beef flavor.
I've been buying them online from i-Ramen www.getnoodles.com.au
They'll freight 12 packets of Chicken and 12 of Beef flavour up to Brisbane for around $30.
One thing we really did miss though was Trident Vietnamese Instant Rice Noodles. These were available at Countdown supermarkets , in Beef and Chicken varieties. My son, now 17, used to love them, but we haven't seen them anywhere in Australia.
So after a lot of hunting around on the net, I found the following.
 |
| KOKA Fragrant Chicken Pho Ga Rice Noodles |
They come with two packets. One, the seasoning, has compartments for the Chicken flavoring and the oil. The other called Garnishes, has dried vegetables including chili flakes. Now I like hot food, but I don't like to use the full packet of Garnishes.
If you're making them for a child, I'd leave out the Garnish packet altogether and go easy on the flavoring.
Making them is easy. Put them in a bowl, pour on some boiling water. Now you can either wait for four or five minutes, or put the bowl in the microwave for one minute.
Add the flavour, the oil and maybe some of the garnishes and Yum.
My son managed to eat about 15 packets over the month, especially in the school holidays.
They're also available in Beef flavor.
I've been buying them online from i-Ramen www.getnoodles.com.au
They'll freight 12 packets of Chicken and 12 of Beef flavour up to Brisbane for around $30.
Friday, 13 July 2012
Beginnings
My daughter was diagnosed with coeliac disease 11 years ago, long before a wide range of gluten free food became available. Some people may complain that gluten free food has become a trendy fad, but it does mean that the volume, and hence the variety, availability and price of food has improved immensely.
From struggling with guide books and lists of gluten free products, I can now confidently look at ingredient lists and find suitable products for her.
Of course things have changed over that time to make things easier for us, proper product labelling being the main one. My aim is to share some of the knowledge we gained over that time, from hard to find products, baking tips and lifestyle.
From struggling with guide books and lists of gluten free products, I can now confidently look at ingredient lists and find suitable products for her.
Of course things have changed over that time to make things easier for us, proper product labelling being the main one. My aim is to share some of the knowledge we gained over that time, from hard to find products, baking tips and lifestyle.
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