I sit here writing this post from my bed. It’s 9:39pm and I have been in bed since 4:30pm. My tonsils are so big it hurts to swallow and I feel like I have been in a boxing match where I lost, severely.

I used to get sick like this all the time before I was diagnosed with coeliac disease and I am starting this think that my immune system is a wreck again.

Why? Because I have been slack. Many of those out there with coeliac disease will think I am stupid. I am stupid.

You see at my current job we have staff cafe. Read More »

Yes you read right – I made a pizza with an unconventional main crust ingredient – cauliflower. I wanted to try this recipe as gluten free pizza crusts are so expensive to buy and they are often loaded with sugar. I also love a challenge and to try new and different things.

I never thought I would have this problem but I actually don’t have a microwave – the recipe I used for this crust has an alternative though, to steam the cauliflower. However I don’t have a steamer either (or anything that I can use as a steamer as my colander is plastic). Still desperately wanting to make this pizza I decided to use raw cauliflower. And guess what – it worked! So the crust stayed together and looked good, and the pizza tasted awesome!

I would love to say that I was clever enough to come up with this recipe by myself but I actually got it from Recipe Girl.

Ingredients

• 1/2 head of cauliflower
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup grated mozzarella
• Salt & pepper
• 1/2 tsp minced garlic
• 1tsp dried herbs
• Tomato paste or pizza sauce
• Topping ingredients of your choice (I used onion, red pepper, mushroom, olives, sliced ham and more cheeese; mozarella and parmesan)

Method

1. Shred the cauliflower into small crumbles (either using a grater or food processor).
2. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F and oil a tray very well (my pizza stuck to the bottom of my tray).
3. In a bowl mix the cauliflower crumbles with the eggs, mozzarella, salt & pepper, minced garlic and dried herbs.
4. Pat the “crust” onto the prepared tray and bake for 15 minutes (or until golden). Remove the crust from the oven and turn the oven to grill/broil.
5. Spread some tomato paste or pizza sauce onto your crust and then layer with your chosen topping ingredients (I fried onion, green pepper and mushrooms and placed on the pizza with sliced ham, olives and grated Parmesan and mozzarella cheese)
6. Place under the grill until cheese is melted and lightly browned

What unconventional meal have you recently cooked?

I saw an advertisement on TV for Hellmann’s Mayonnaise with this recipe.

Whilst it sounded, let’s say interesting, I was intrigued and had to try it.

The first time I tried this recipe I bought some gluten free rice crumbs but I found them too crunchy with an almost sand type texture.

The next time I cooked this recipe I therefore made my own breadcrumbs by blending a piece of frozen gluten free bread.

It turned out really well, the chicken was very tender and it tasted awesome served with cornmeal mash (cornmeal mixed with milk and cheese) and stir fried vegetables.

Read More »

We were having a discussion at work a couple of weeks ago about how it’s very hard to find good sushi that doesn’t cost you an arm and leg in London.

Then out of chance I stumbled across abokado the other day. I was looking for a small (cheap) snack to last me until I got home from my morning of sightseeing and so thought I’d go in and check the place out. Read More »

Rice paper rolls with carrot, coriander, cucumber and sweet chilli sauce. Photo: Petra Aitken

I love rice paper rolls and it’s disappointing how many thai places don’t have them on the menu opting for gluteneous deep fried spring rolls instead. However they are very simple and cheap to make so I often make them at home as a dinner entree or snack.

You can buy the rice paper sheets from most supermarkets and then you just need to decide what you want to fill them with. I usually make vegetarian versions using coriander, carrot and cucumber but go ahead and experiment with chicken, beef and different types of vegetables. You can also add rice noodles.

If your rice paper rolls always seem to fall apart when you dip them in Read More »

Gluten Free Quinoa Porridge

A little while ago I did a post on quinoa porridge with banana, however I thought that I would revisit the concept of quinoa porridge for two reasons: 1) it is definitely feeling like porridge weather and 2) I have come across a bit of debate recently about whether oats are in fact gluten free or not. Read More »

Wholesome Cook recently posted a recipe on her blog for fluffy ricotta pancakes (with the word fluffy in front you probably guessed they aren’t gluten free) with data and banana butter which caught my eye. I have made gluten free pancakes before but only from the Vitarium packet mix, however I had heard that buckwheat flour is very good for pancakes. I therefore decided to give these ones a go substituting the self raising flour for buckwheat flour and baking powder.

The buckwheat version of the pancakes come out a lot browner due to the colour of buckwheat flour however they were very yummy. I still believe that they are a bit dryer and less fluffy than glutenous pancakes, though with the banana and date butter and maple syrup (I decided to indulge a little) they are perfect.

I had a fair bit of leftover banana and date butter (which I didn’t want to waste due to the price of banana’s at the moment!) so I decided to mix it into some thick natural Read More »