Monthly Archives: September 2013

The end of an era…..

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The days are flying by, seems like only yesterday our big move was over a month away, now its a matter of days… How do you end an era? Because thats what it is. 8 years in the country where I met my husband, fell in love, got married, had 2 children, lived laughed and cried and breathed… for 8 years. How DO you wrap it up? Its not about things. I never cared about things, I moved country enough times to not care about the ‘stuff’. Its the people, the place the air (the very air we are going away from), the colours of the landscape, the school runs and Catboy and Geordie bird and the school run song and my mummy friends and the teachers and the SCHOOL! Our awesome school that has gone out of their way to be the best school they could possibly be for our celiac kid. The pizza lady who became Auntinka, Glutenfree UAE and the support group that I started and that supported ME also, our celiac buddies (as my husband so lovingly calls them), our HOME.

Just how DO you wrap it all up….? Im so exited, but am I ready…? Don’t think I ever will be…..

-Linda

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Pizza! There is a new contender in my kitchen!

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There is one food that is always mentioned more then any other food when we have meets and events, and yup, its pizza, it even beats bread hands down!

Restaurants who serve a safe gluten free pizza will have visitors from far far away, even a not very safe gluten free pizza will draw some attention (hopefully the establishment serving it is honest in telling their customers its not safe for Celiacs), but there is one place to eat pizza that absolutely beats all the others, and its home! First of all, I know what Im doing, so even if there WAS gluten in my home, chances are I wouldn’t contaminate anything, second of all, there IS no gluten in my home, so in order to contaminate it Id have to run over to the neighbour and rub my food on his kitchen table…..

In Europe you can buy frozen ready made pizzas fairly easy, here in Dubai, you will be lucky to find one when you need it.

I have tried most of the ready made bases available, and they are good, ok you know. But nothing to write home about. But the latest one I tried you can totally write home about! Its yet another one of Katinka’s gorgeous creations. Katinka is the owner and manager of GlutenFree-Supermarket, she is also Celiac and has an amazing knowledge about baking, often her creations are gluten / wheat/ corn / soy and dairy and egg free. How she manages to still make stuff taste amazing I will never know, but she does. She also NEVER takes shortcuts with products, ask her where any ingeredient comes from and she will be able to show you the package, its gluten free certification or a letter showing you its safe. I trust her 100%, there is noone else in Dubai I trust as much, apart from maybe myself 🙂 And skinny genie.

Anyway, back to the pizza!

The base is not the thinnest of bases, but its not thick either, you just pop your passata on top (I mix mine with some olive oil and salt and pepper), then add your chosen toppings and shredded mozzarella (Kraft is safe, no gluten), pop it in the oven and 10 minutes later (or a bit longer if you like it more well done) you will be enjoying delicious yummy pizza.

The base doesn’t go all grainy as it starts cooling down, nor does it ‘sweat’ and go all soggy. It actually keeps so well I was able to rescue one of the pizzas and send it to school for the kids lunch box the day after. They both finished their lunch 😉 Cant ask for much more then that…

Hope you all enjoy 🙂

-Linda

Direct link to pizza 😉 –click here–

Our life revolves around food.

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It really does. Not always in a bad way, and don’t get me wrong, it doesn’t stop or hinder us in any way, its just how we THINK thats different. Take this move for instance. Most families I know would just eat takeout for the last couple of days, get a pizza on arrival in the new house and have breakfast out or get something ready made until plates etc were all unpacked. For us, its all about the food every step of the way. Making sure I have enough things unpacked to still bake bread, that I have all the saucepans I need for cooking. Then that the airline we fly has ok gluten free meals, that we bring enough food in our hand luggage, that we know where the nearest shop is on arrival so we can buy cleaning products and food and start the process of de – glutening the kitchen. Our life revolves around food, and the kitchen, but the planning and thinking becomes second nature, so its no different then say a cold person making sure they wear thick socks. This is just how it is!

On another note I have seen some awesome pink and blue pots I like, but Im wondering if pink saucepans will be just a bit to much…? Im normally a stainless steel kindof girl, but these look awesome! What do you think?

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-Linda

Wash your hands!! (Please!)

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I have a gluten free home. And its REALLY gluten free. Every soap, every beauty product, every cleaning product and obviously all the food has been checked. It is 100% gluten free. But keeping it that way is not an easy task. When people arrive it can be hard to find a way to politely tell them to wash their hands without offending. Of course old friends know and go and wash as soon as they arrive, but I always struggle telling new people. Even worse, when they arrive with kids and one of them has a biscuit in their hand! I thought about this a lot lately, especially now that I’m moving to a new country and everyone I meet will be a potential new friend. I don’t want to offend anyone the first thing I do! So, I came up with a brilliant idea (if I can say so myself), SIGNS! Of course signs will do the trick, you know the kind, Home sweet home somewhere in the hall way, only, mine will look a little different! What do you think? I will have to work on the Polish version, and get some nice white frames.

-Linda

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Spices! Who needs them?

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Spices Smiches, bah. May contain, may have traces, produced on a line that handles, produced in a factory that, etc etc etc. Did you know that many spices coming out of Asia are milled in a mill that also produces flour? Did you know some have flour added to them to make them a better consistency? Did you know that many of these countries have no laws whatsoever about telling you they added gluten?

We live in a melting pot of cultures, foods here come from all corners of the world, and unless a spice is certified gluten free, I just dont even go there. At first, it was hard, now it is super easy.

Think about it, what is a spice, really? Its flavour! So add flavours, not spices! Fresh herbs, chilli, onion, garlic, shallots, fresh ginger, tabasco. All you need is salt and pepper, then the rest, you just use your imagination!

Big bunches of herbs are often very cheap (or why not grow your own!), I freeze my leftovers in small pots so I always have fresh herbs available. Ginger root is also always in a small pot in my freezer, I use a grater and grate it straight in to the dish that needs it. Chillies dry beautifully on a plate in the kitchen, no need to buy fresh until you run out.

If any of my food is going to have traces of gluten, it certainly wont be from my spices, or rather… flavours 🙂

Happy Cooking!

-Linda

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Gluten Free & Me…. and Poland!!??

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Isn’t it strange the things we worry about in life? Like now, Im sat here stressing over my blog name, because its a gluten (free) blog, not a travel blog, and holy crap I’m moving to Poland. In one month. Then my sane voice in my head says, ‘chill woman, who cares, not like that many people read your blog anyway, and so what if it says gluten free, it also says ME’.

Not going to bore you all with what the other voice replies. Instead I will just take a deep breath and try to calm myself.

My life, is gluten free. Gluten free is with me, everywhere I go. Its my friend, my enemy, the one thing in my life that is always there, no matter which direction I turn. So yeah. Gluten free….. and me…. and soon… Poland!

Strangely one of the things Im most exited about is having a letter box, at my door! Here in Dubai everyone has a PO box. I miss letter boxes, and I didn’t even realise how much until I got super exited about having one again. Lets just hope I get things other then bills eh?

1 month to go.

-Linda