Coeliac Disease – Harriet's Hamper

Brisbane Noodle Night Markets: A Coeliac Review

When people ask me why I moved to Brisbane, one thing comes to mind besides the blue skies -there’s always something to do. Even in the middle of winter (a very mild one) there’s a whole heap of festivals, markets and days out to keep everyone occupied until spring arrives.

This week, from 25 July – 5 August, the Brisbane Noodle Night Markets are lighting up the riverside along Southbank. Open from 4pm at weekends and 5pm on weekdays, it’s a great spot to grab some food and watch the sun set over the city skyline. The markets are free entry and cash-free to make queuing easier and quicker, however expect to fight the bustling crowds and wait in line for your top Asian food stall picks.

Before visiting, I hopped onto the Good Food Month website to check out the stalls and see if there was any information on gluten free dining. There wasn’t. After browsing the individual stall menus, I found just 2 options which stated gluten free and to be honest I was pretty disappointed by the lack of choice. However, I still wanted to experience the foodie atmosphere and allow my non-GF partner to enjoy the sumptuous Asian flavours on offer.

Just a short walk from the Cultural Centre bus station, the smokey sky reflected the mouth watering BBQ aromas which tempted your tastebuds before you entered. Considering it was a Sunday evening, it was pretty busy with food taking 10-15 minutes to churn out.

Noodle_Night_Market_Crowd — The hungry crowds waiting for their orders

I visited the first stall that I found on the website to have gluten free options, Zagyoza – The Home of Gyoza. With no gluten free depicted on their menu board, I asked what GF options were available and was surprised when I was told they had gluten free chicken teriyaki on offer. The website stated they only had pork gluten free gyoza…. hmm. Riled by the taste of BBQ in the air, I trusted the serving staff and ordered 6. When I went to collect, they certainly looked very different from the other gyoza orders and the server asked if I wanted teriyaki sauce on top which was also gluten free (with GF on the squeezy bottle label).

Zagyoza_Gyoza — No Gluten Free options on the sign at Zagyoza

The filling and the sauce were flavorsome, however the gyoza dough was a little thick and stodgy on the bottom. I’ve had a bad experience with dumplings before but tried to put it to the back of my mind and enjoy the first of only 2 options I would be eating that evening. Overall, they weren’t anything worth shouting about – I understand the difficulties with replicating the dough but they still didn’t quite live up to expectations. Also, just 6 gyoza for $12 seemed a bit of a rip off – a common theme experienced throughout the evening!

Gluten_Free_Gyoza — GF Chicken Teriyaki Gyoza at Zagyoza

Wondering around the stalls, I couldn’t see any gluten free options on menu boards or food signs. Considering Brisbane is a pretty GF-forward city, I was both disappointed and a little surprised by the lack of gluten free on offer. Either the food stalls didn’t want to be held liable for sickness, or they simply didn’t see gluten free food as a viable option on their menu. I’m sure others were as disappointed as I was.

My second (and last) option ended my night on a sweet note with a naughty gluten free waffle from Waffeland.

Waffleland_Gluten_Free_Waffles — Not advertised but all GF at Waffleland

All of their menu options were gluten free so I felt it would be a pretty safe (and delicious) choice. As my first taste of waffle, it was pretty darn good. I opted for Bangkok Night – a fresh baked waffle with warm, gooey Nutella and icing sugar, with optional vanilla ice cream on the side. For $14 ($12 + $2 extra for ice cream), I have to say it was the highlight of my evening. With Nutella all over my face and hands, I left the markets with a warm fuzzy feeling (although still a little bit hungry).

Gluten_Free_Waffle — Bangkok Night GF Waffle with warm Nutella

After getting home and eating some gluten free toast to fill the small hole in my stomach, I started to feel very sick, my stomach expanded to maximum capacity and I came to the realisation that the dumpling curse had most likely struck once more. After being very sick, covered in a red heat rash and hives, with a stomach to rival any pregnant woman’s, I went to bed thinking about how much money I’d just regurgitated into the toilet bowl (I won’t include a picture so here’s a nice one of the Brisbane Wheel instead…)

Brisbane_Wheel — The Brisbane Wheel glimmering at night

Morale of the story, you should probably contact the market organizers or food stalls beforehand to understand exactly what they mean by gluten free. Let’s hope in the near future that markets such as these are a bit clearer with their gluten free options and their dedicated to providing 100% gluten free food for people who rely on their transparency (aka ME!)

Did you visit the Noodle Night Markets? How was your experience? I’d love to hear from you!

Happy reading 🙂

Gluten Free, Low Sugar Choc Chip Peanut Butter Cookies

I hate to admit it, but I’m an emotional eater. Even the slightest bit of stress triggers my sugar cravings. This is one of the main reasons behind experimenting with sugar-free or low-sugar treats – so I don’t have to punish myself or feel incredibly guilty if I do give into the cravings.

I never used to like peanut butter – I mean I still wouldn’t eat it out of the jar – but I’ve used it a lot in Asian-style cooking and decided to try baking with it too. The majority of commercial peanut butters contain a lot of crap – high in sugar, fat and oil. I decided to try a healthier, low sugar option and I found that Mayver’s Smooth Peanut Butter ticked all the boxes. It’s all-natural with no added sugar (only 0.8g of sugar per 1 tablespoon) and dairy, gluten and cholesterol free. PLUS it was the same price as most of the standard peanut butters so it just made sense!

With my low-sugar or sugar-free recipes I replace the sugar with granulated natural sweetener (Natvia is my current preference). I feel that artificial sweeteners are a) too sweet and b) full of weird and wonderful chemicals that I would just rather steer clear of ( I also think they may be linked to many of my stomach issues in the past but we’ll leave that for another day!)

These cookies are super easy to make and bake in around 12-15 minutes. They will come out feeling way too soft, but harden up as they cool.

INGREDIENTS
3/4 Cup Granulated Nativa (or any granulated sweetener)
1/2 Cup Butter (Melted)
3/4 Cup Peanut Butter (Room Temperature)
1 Egg (Beaten)
1 1/2 Cups Gluten Free Self-Raising Flour Mix (I used Orgran)
1 tsp Vanilla Essence
1 tsp Gluten Free Baking Powder (I used McKenzie’s)
Handful Choc Chips

METHOD
1. Preheat oven to 180°C and line baking tray with baking paper.
2. Add melted butter, beaten egg, vanilla essence and Natvia into a bowl and combine.
3. Add in the peanut butter and combine.
4. Sprinkle in the choc chips and mix throughout.
5. Sift in the flour and baking powder and mix well to form a soft dough.
6. Measure out a tablespoon of the dough and roll into a ball.
7. Place the ball onto the baking tray and press down lightly on top.
8. Repeat above until all the dough has been used – placing balls around 3cm apart.
9. Bake in the middle of the oven for around 12-15 minutes until golden brown.
10. Allow to cool before enjoying!

Are you a fan of low-sugar or sugar-free baking? Do you feel it has helped you to manage your sugar cravings? I’d love to hear from you!

Happy baking! 🙂

Gluten Free Vanilla Choc Chip Muffins

Prince Harry and Megan Markle’s wedding crept up on me out of nowhere and I realised I just had to celebrate somehow! Even here in Australia we haven’t been able to escape the mass media coverage of this global event (and all its dramas) but it seems the celebrations are a little less sought after on the southern side of the equator.

So, a less extravagant way to celebrate is by baking of course! And who doesn’t like choc chip muffins? I decide on plain vanilla muffins with the choc chips as I wanted to top with some colourful icing, so I didn’t want the muffins to be too sweet (but not too plain either!)

The result after baking (a bit browner than I’d like!)

This recipe should make 10-12 smallish muffins (or large cupcakes) however it depends on how generous you are with the portions and how much of the batter you eat during the baking process (oops).

INGREDIENTS:
1 1/4 Cups Self-Raising Gluten Free Flour (I used Coles brand)
1/2 Cup Almond Meal/Ground Almonds
3/4 Cup Caster Sugar (you can replace with natural granulated sweetener)
180g Butter (softened)
1 tsp Gluten Free Baking Powder
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
Handful of Chocolate Chips, dark, milk or white (I used Coles brand milk chocolate buttons)

TIPS:
Always check the ingredients when buying for gluten free recipes. Make sure they are 100% gluten free as you don’t want to poison yourself or others!

METHOD:
1) Cream together the softened butter, sugar and vanilla extract.
2) Combine the eggs one at a time.
3) Mix in the rest of the dry ingredients, adding the chocolate chips in last.
4) If you’re using a muffin tray, line the tray with a bit of butter or light cooking oil. Otherwise spoon your mixture into muffin or large cupcake cases.
5) Bake in the middle of the oven for around 12-15 minutes at 180°C.

TOP TIPS:
1) I always taste my batter. No, I don’t recommend that you do this since we are now encouraged to steer away from raw eggs, however I think it helps when you’re unsure if you’ve missed something or added in too much/too little of something.
2) Gluten free cake batter needs to be more moist than your standard cake batter. This is to ensure the cakes aren’t too dry and crumbly after baking. If your batter feels too thick, loosen it with a bit of milk. It should be a slightly thick batter but not too dry.
3) Fill your muffin/cupcake cases/trays to just over half-way if you’re planning on decorating your muffins. Filling to half way will ensure an even rise with a relatively flat top, perfect for icing!
4) Don’t add too much baking powder as the muffins may over-rise!
5) Bake in the middle of the oven. I find that even in fan ovens the top of the oven gets way hotter than the bottom. Cook in the middle and keep an eye on your muffins to make sure you don’t over-bake them (I always get distracted!)

TO DECORATE:
The main reason I didn’t make these muffins sugar-free was because I wanted to decorate them with icing and I haven’t quite mastered the sugar-free icing yet (to be honest I haven’t mastered the standard one either!)

INGREDIENTS:
2-3 Cups Icing Sugar
1/3 Cup Butter
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
Drop of Natural Food Dye (I used blue and red)
Splash of Milk (if icing is too thick)

METHOD:
1) Sieve the icing sugar into a large bowl and combine with butter and vanilla extract.
2) Separate the icing into separate bowls and add food dye (I had a bowl of the basic white icing, a bowl of blue and a bowl of red).
3) Add the nozzle into your piping bag, then add your different coloured icing into sections, depending on how you want your icing to look. I did a stripe of white, stripe of blue and stripe of red (trying to keep the white in the middle to avoid purple!)
NOTE: You want your icing to be quite stiff to hold its shape!
4) Make sure your muffins are completely cooled then decorate your muffins as desired!

I made my icing way too soft so it didn’t hold its shape well at all! Try and make your icing quite hard if you want it to stay in shape on top of your muffins. Otherwise, the end result wasn’t too shabby and they tasted delicious!

Hope you all enjoyed watching the Royal Wedding! We certainly did 🙂

If you’ve got any top icing tips I’d love to hear them in the comments below!

Happy baking! 🙂

Annoying Misconceptions about Coeliac Disease

Being “gluten-free” and having Coeliac Disease are two completely different distinctions that people often fail to comprehend. Here’s some more annoying misconceptions about Coeliac Disease.

1. You’re on a ‘fad diet’.

Yes I’m eating gluten-free. No it’s not by choice – why would it be?! All these people following a ‘fad’ diet that excludes gluten (without medical reasoning) have somewhat ruined the experience for those of us who don’t have the choice. Many food establishments that advertise ‘gluten-free’ aren’t Coeliac-friendly, because we’re just on fad diets too yeah? Erm NO!

2. Just a little bit won’t hurt.

If I punched you just a little bit it won’t hurt, right? I can’t even count the amount of people that have said this to me, even my own family. Coeliac suffers shouldn’t be subjected to even the smallest amount of gluten, not even a crumb. Even if we don’t experience any immediate physical symptoms, the smallest traces of gluten can cause months of untold damage to our guts. Coeliac Disease is an immune response to gluten – yes, our immune systems literally attack our own guts if we eat gluten. The gut can then take years to fully repair itself which is why it’s so important for sufferers to remain on a strict gluten-free diet for the rest of their lives.

3. Getting ‘glutened’ is just like getting food poisoning.

To the untold eye, yes. When a Coeliac consumes gluten they will appear to have the same symptoms as food poisoning, but it’s actually whole lot worse. Symptoms can differ from person to person, but usually consist of nausea shortly followed by vomiting, diarrhoea, horrific abdominal cramps for hours on end, followed by ‘brain fog’ and a general feeling of being completely worn out. As before, it’s a rapid immune response which can leave you susceptible to minor illnesses for a weeks after – not something that just disappears within 48 hours!

4. We ‘enjoy’ the gluten-free label.

No-one enjoys having Coeliac Disease and not being able to eat gluten. There’s so many things we miss out on, so many times where we’ve been unable to find anything to eat or been caught out by something we thought was gluten-free. Speak to anyone with Coeliac Disease and they will name 5 things they miss about not being Coeliac in a microsecond. That’s not to say that we can’t enjoy life, enjoy food and have fun – it’s just a lot more difficult for us. We don’t enjoy being the awkward one at parties, or the one everyone feels sorry for when the restaurant doesn’t have any gluten free options. It’s not what you call ‘fun’!

5. Eating gluten-free is good for you.

Well, it depends. If you eat gluten-free food and don’t include the gluten-free alternative products, I imagine the diet would be reasonably healthy. I mean, especially if you subtract all the takeaway meals and fast food stops you can no longer enjoy. However, many of the gluten-free alternative products are packed full of fat, sugar and oil (especially palm oil) to make up for taste and texture often lacking in gluten-free food. Next time you pick up a packet of gluten-free biscuits, check for yourself. Just because they’re located in the ‘health food’ isle, don’t make them healthy!

6. you’re gluten free? me too!

Nah, don’t even. If you choose to eat gluten-free, we are definitely not on the same page. Not only do people with Coeliac Disease have no choice, we can’t just stroll into a restaurant claiming to be gluten-free and just happily sit down and eat. The same goes for the gluten-intolerant or wheat-intolerant who aren’t as sensitive to gluten and don’t have to worry about cross-contamination. What really grinds my gears is when a gluten-intolerant person complains about the lack of gluten-free options, then decides to eat gluten anyway and just ‘suffer the consequences’ for the sake of a doughnut. Go away!

7. We’re just being fussy

OK, if you think that eating the slightest crumb doing untold damage to your gut is being fussy then see ya! Trust me, if we had a choice not to be ‘fussy’, we’d take it!

8. Eating gluten-free is expensive

Yes, many of the gluten-free alternatives you find in supermarkets and specialist stores are more expensive, but eating gluten-free doesn’t have to be expensive. Compared to when I was diagnosed back in 2011, the price of gluten-free food has come down considerably. Many supermarkets now have an excellent range of own-brand gluten-free foods at half the price of other brands. Some supermarkets have better choice than others so it’s always worth shopping around and making the most of any special offers!

Life isn’t always a breeze, but we make do! What misconception about Coeliac Disease annoys you most?

Happy reading 🙂