Author Archives: lindaFB

EPI!

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Gimme an E, gimme a P, gimme an I, what do we have? EPI!!!

Do I sound exited? Thats because I am, cheerleader kind of exited with high leg kicks!

For ages now whenever I say we are gluten free, people ask if we do all our shopping in Epi. Im like… ehhhm, no I go to a few places. Then in my head I think I should visit Epi one day, but I didnt get around to it, we are fine, and how good can it really BE?

Let me tell you how good it can be! So good that my eyes went all shiny and I almost had to cry a happy tear and Im pretty sure the staff were viewing me with great suspicion walking around with my giant smile and shiny eyes.

Walking in to Epi is like walking in to gluten free heaven, or like I described it to hubby, like a mixture between the best spinneys and organic foods and cafe but cheaper and BETTER (Dubai ppl will understand). The jams are all high end good jams, there are tahinis galore, most organic, no other shop in Wroclaw has a choice of 10 tahinis, and they have sunflower seed butter (insert cheerleadery star jumps here)!

Then you get to the gluten free bread section, and its the size of a normal bread section, and part of you is so happy its crazy and the other part a bit disappointed because where are the biscuits and flours…?

Then you get stuck at the freezer section that has a whole freezer just with gluten free! Fish fingers, mini pizzas, lasagne etc. Onwards to the cheese and milk section and they have a ton of lactose free / dairy free cheese and milk and butters.

And meats! Poland might be the country of cold cuts and sausages, but finding gluten free ham and sausages here can be very very difficult. No problem in Epi, daughter and hubby will be happy, they are real sausage lovers.

Then.. then you get to the biscuit section, and there is a giant gluten free section, and flours galore and choice! Isn’t that what we all miss the most? To be able to choose between several things rather then having to buy whatever is there?

I also found organic potatoes (woop woop) and several kinds of organic gluten free drinking chocolate.

Is it expensive… well yes, but buying gluten free and organic stuff is expensive anywhere so actually I don’t think it was that bad.

Will I go back to Epi? HELL YES! I might even move in if they let me!

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-Linda

Epi is near Arkady Wroclawski (actually just across the road) and has its own parking, parking is free if you spend money so show your car park card at the till.

They are open 8am-10pm every day except Sunday when they are open 10am-4pm.

http://www.epi.com.pl/site/

Autumn soup

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1622014_726987724021811_5018130055690459151_nThe leaves are turning orange here in Poland and its gorgeous. Everywhere you turn there are gorgeous fall veggies to be seen. My kids always eat well when I give them soup so what a great opportunity to make some!

Im not one for following a recipe, and when I cook I never measure or remember how I made something, if you are needing precise recipes then all I can do is apologise! Dollops and drops and a bit of is the way to go (unless you are baking). So here we go.

I used :

  • 2 large carrots
  • 1 small pumpkin
  • 1 white onion
  • 1 yellow onion
  • 1 gluten free organic stock cube
  • water
  • red lentils (you don’t need lentils, I like to add them for some extra dimension and nutrition)

Clean up your pumpkin discarding the inner bits and seeds and the peel (obviously). Peel the carrots and onions. Chop everything roughly (the pieces can be pretty big, it doesn’t matter). Make sure the onions kindof stay together or they will burn. Pop everything in a roasting tray and drizzle with a  generous amount of olive oil, add salt & pepper.

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Now, pop it all in the oven, 175º degrees for 45 minutes.

Once its ready take it out and discard any black onion bits. Add everything to a large pot. Add your water and stock cube, you want to just cover the veggies. You can always add more water later if you want. IMG_9577

Bring your soup to a boil. Once its boiling you can add your red lentils, I just use around a handful two. lower the temp and simmer for about 20 minutes.

Now its time for that trusty hand mixer to do its job again, get it in there and whizz until everything is nice and smooth with no bits. Taste and add more salt and pepper if needed. I leave my soup nice and thick and freeze in portion sizes, then I just add a bit more water when I reheat.

This soup is a fab way to use up leftover veggies from a roast dinner, just don’t add the potatoes 😉

-Linda

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Cauliflower Mash (LCHF staple)

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My kids absolutely love cauliflower mash, at first I would have it as a main for me as Im on LCHF (Low carb high fat), and give the kids only a small bit as a veggie along with their starch (rice, potato etc), but then I realised how much they love it, so now we all eat it in a full portion. The kids even like to eat it on its own with cheese on top! RESULT for mummy!

So, although this is so simple and basic, I have had several people ask me how to make it, so here goes 🙂

You need, one cauliflower, butter, cream, salt and pepper (yeah, thats really it!)

Clean the cauliflower up and cut it in to 4 (or less) pieces. Boil in a large pot of water with some salt added. When the cauliflower is ready, drain it in a colander and pop the cauliflower back in the pot. Add a big dollop of butter, if you are an LCHF’er like me, then you know what big means, lol, if you are your average person, then just whatever is big to you, don’t be shy 😉 Add some salt & pepper.

Get your hand mixer/blender in the pot and work it baby!

When everything is mashed and smooth add a teeny dollop of cream, and whizz a bit more. I cant say how much cream as I don’t know how big your cauliflower is, but a few table spoons is more then enough, if you add to much you will have soup.

Thats it, khalas! You are done 🙂

(this dish reheats well, so make a big batch and keep leftovers in the fridge for up to 2 days)

-Linda

(I am on Facebook! Come join in!)

 

3 pneumonias in 9 months

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I mean seriously, enough already???!!! How many steroids and breathing aids do we need to use for all this crap to stop??!! Poor Celiac kid just cant catch a break, why??!! If I could take all these pneumonias from her and have them instead I would, only I don’t know how anyone who’s had 3 pneumonias in 9 months can even function?? Yeah, so the pneumonia came before my post earlier (I didn’t want to rain on my own parade), and we caught it so super early she was able to continue with school with just one day off, but still, she must be absolutely exhausted! How can anyone grow and live and function when all their energy goes to fighting bloomin’ pneumonias? On top of the pneumonias poor kiddo now has bone pain from having been on steroids so long. Can we take her off the steroids? No, because then we would be looking at more pneumonias then 3 in 9 months… we cant win here, and poor kid can hardly walk down the stairs properly because her legs hurt! Im tired of seeing doctors and getting second opinions, and Im even more tired of every bloody doctor having a different opinion, who are we supposed to believe? This is our child’s life we are talking about! Now the latest dr. didn’t want to prescribe the tablet that really helps her, because she wants her to see another allergist, another doctor says she can take the tablet long term no problem, yet another says it should only be used short term. So who am I supposed to believe? I know the tablet helps her, I know that, because every time she comes off it she gets sick, so just prescribe it please! I don’t want my kid to be on every medication under the sun, but we need to stop these pneumonias! Not all people with pneumonia survive so seriously just give us the darn tablets! Never mind then the money we fork out on all these doctors visits… bah… its very very lucky we can afford to, not all are so fortunate.

Anyway, rant over. If anyone knows of an exellent paediatric pulminologist in Wroclaw or nearby, please let me know!

-Linda

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I am home ALONE!!!

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7caxrn5MiHOME ALONE!!!! I mean really ALONE!!! I know mums will understand after the long summer break, but imagine then that the last time I was home alone was April!

I am not going to clean, or empty the dishwasher, or fold laundry. Im going to sit / lie / veg around and do absolutely nothing! I am home alone baby, yeah!!

So here I am (alone – just incase you didn’t catch that part!). Not stressed in the slightest, because Celiac kiddo is at school with her brother, and today I wont go in for snack time or lunch, because they’ve got it all under as much control as they possibly can.

I keep promising myself I will put my school letter up, but by now schools have already started so I guess Im yet again to late. I will be starting a new section on the blog called stuff, check there in the future for the school letter and other goodies. The fact that I am sitting here, not stressed, is all to do with the school letter and preparations. About Celiac kid being prepared and every adult in school knowing what she can / cant do.

Sure, its a bit of work, but the payback is tenfold. HOME ALONE BABY! (yeah!!)

-Linda

The walkabout purse

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So, we finally went to Sweden, in a rental car, a baby car (Long story).

We drove to Kiel and stayed in a lovely little hotel, then the morning after we went shopping. Germany has ALOT of gluten free stuff! Think I will need to do a Germany shopping run once a month. Anyway, shopping done, we drove on to the ferry. Went to our cabin, unpacked some stuff and decided to check out the ship. Went to grab my purse so we could have a drink…. but THERE WAS NO PURSE IN MY BLOODY BAG!!!!! My blood almost turned to ice in my veins and in my head I can see myself paying in the food shop and leaving my purse on the counter while digging for euros in my second purse……

We are on the ferry. We drove on first. The purse is 1-2 hours away, ferry leaves in 3 hours. Neither of my mobile phones work, one has no battery, one has no credit. We cant get off the ferry (car is impossible to get off).

Mad race begins, to car to get charging cables, back to cabin to make hysterical phone call to hubby in Dubai. I remember screaming to him to call the shop and get them to put my purse in a taxi…. poor guy was in a meeting! Hubbys meeting all got involved googling for the shop… big dramas.

Herr Zimmermann found my purse! We asked him to put it in a taxi, but no, taxis wont go to the ferry port, so we ask him to send it with DHL receiver pays. He sent it DHL… but DHL as in German post.

1 week in Sweden passes, I have no money, no cash cards, no driving licence…… still no purse. It was sent express and we were tracking it the whole way….. in the end I had to extend my ticket, and then… the day before we HAD to leave, finally, my purse arrived! Nothing has ever looked so beautiful…

I am so grateful!!! Thankful for Herr Zimmerman for being a real honest guy, for having a hubby who (once again) drops everything to ‘rescue me’. For a family who with NO HESITATION gave me a debit card to use freely until my purse arrived.

-Linda

One of those mums…..

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So I was sat on twitter yesterday looking for interesting new people to follow, I looked at the ‘who to follow’ suggestions, and it was ALL allergy advocates, Celiac tweeps and egg allergy people. It suddenly dawned on me that I have become one of those mums. I don’t want to be one of those mums. I don’t want to have a kid who has egg allergy or Celiac disease, I don’t want to have to ask questions everywhere we go and carry a bag with food and baby wipes, I don’t want to wipe down the table every time we go to a cafe, I don’t want to be difficult at parties when I ask someone to please not touch my daughter with cake all over them….

But you know what….. I do all this. I do it because I have a child with Celiac disease, I have a child with a newly diagnosed egg allergy. I didn’t ask for any of this, and neither did she, but I do all this to keep her safe, because its my job to keep her safe. Im not doing it to be difficult, to annoy, to be one of those mums…..

I would give almost anything to not be one of those mums….. we are not in this for attention….. we scream and shout and tell and advocate for our children, as Im sure any mum would, to help keep our kids safe. If you love someone all the way to infinity and back, then you would do pretty much anything for that person wouldn’t you…? So here I am……

One of those mums.

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Tomato Sauce from scratch

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When I say I make everything from scratch, I almost never lie. (<- note the almost ;))

I always preferred making food from scratch, even before the gluten issue. As time goes on I realise more and more how many people cant cook to save their lives. Many were brought up with processed foods themselves, so even a simple thing to them can seem totally overwhelming.

So, here it is, a simple (like totally simple, you can get your no cooking experience tween to do it simple) tomato sauce. My kids cant get enough of this one. You can use it as is, or use it as a base for whatever you need to make 🙂

You need;

  • Tomatoes, roughly diced, sliced, chopped or mashed in any way you so wish.
  • Onion, roughly chopped, sliced, diced or whatever you wish.
  • Spices
  • Olive Oil (extra virgin, always extra virgin)

So, today I used 4-5 large tomatoes, slightly overripe. Any tomatoes will do. Pop a deep saucepan on the stove on medium – high heat, add olive oil and onions. Once the onions have sizzled for a bit add your tomatoes and spices. I used a large basil leaf from my garden and salt and pepper in this batch. If you have homemade stock you can add some of that, or an organic gf stock cube, if you don’t have any, then go without. Add some water, just a little so that the tomatoes have something to boil in (about half a cup-ish). Lower heat and walk away.

Return at some point to stir and check, once your tomatoes are dissolved more or less you are ready. I use a rice colander and pour the whole thing through in to another pot, this gets rid of the onion bits and tomato skins. You will need to push with your spoon a bit to get all the good bits through. Whats left is a thick tomato sauce that tastes like heaven, if you want it a deeper red, add some tomato puree!

I never do this in advance, its so fast and fresh and easy I really don’t mind doing it when I need it.

Kids will have theirs over some gf pasta and veg and I will eat mine with broccoli later (yes, still on the low carb diet!)

Try it with some added cream as a soup, or with garlic and chilli!

Enjoy!

Linda

Lunch box staples

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You all know I write most of the content for GlutenFree UAE right? I was looking at some of the stuff I have written for there and thinking some should be moved over, but not only is it time consuming, but it already exists 🙂

Having said all that, I know that GF lunches are always a hot topic when gf mums get together. Its not easy doing a gf lunch thats interesting and nourishing day in and day out. Some lucky mums, like those in Sweden get lunch provided for their kids in school (yes, even gluten free!), but even those kids sometimes require a packed lunch.

So, about a year ago I did a small series of my favourites over on GF UAE. Do go have a look, each one opens in a new window.

Enjoy! All of these contain egg obviously, I need to rework them and come up with new staples!

For more ideas for lunch boxes, don’t miss out on My top 10 tips for a gluten free lunchbox! 

-Linda

Eggs and dogs and underwear.

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Its been a while. Ive been feeling very uninspired and lazy. Frankly, its been to hot to THINK. We have had days with 33 degrees, which is not so bad actually compared to Dubai, but in Dubai there is AC everywhere! Here, the closest I get to AC is standing in front of the open fridge looking for snacks. Me and the kids have all taken to wearing just underwear in the house.

(Funny that, apparently Polish people do a fair bit of walking around in just their underwear, lol,  Polish Housewifes facebook post , my friend Brooke has a whole blog post coming on the subject )

We had a ton of new medications given to us for Celiac kid, we are getting closer to answers. Seems her lungs, the bronchii (bhroncolii?) bits, are constantly inflamed, when it flares up and gets even a tiny bit worse, pneumonia or upper respiratory infection follows. We also now know that her bone pain is highly likely to be linked to her over use of steroids. Dr has her on a new medication and we are hoping to slowly faze out her other two steroids.

Her allergy test results are also back, and they say dogs and eggs. Both a total shock. Dogs, because although we have dogs, our dogs dont have the dander normal dogs have, they are a non shedding breed and most people with pet allergies tolerate them very well. Doctor also seems to think its wrong as nothing showed on dust, yet she reacts strongly to any amount of dust. More testing needed in that department. But EGG! It all makes sense once I start reading…. egg allergy can cause wheezing, respiratory issues etc etc etc. So on the one hand Im numb and a tad devastated that she can no longer eat eggs, but on the other hand, I feel a little like we just won the lottery, because maybe, just maybe this is the answer we needed, and maybe, just maybe, her lungs will finally be able to improve!

We have also consulted a naturopath, who also happens to be one of the ladies I met with just when I started GlutenFree UAE, her daughter is gluten intolerant. She gave us some great advice and I hope to share all this with Celiac kids Dr – who seems very open minded – and hopefully we can all work together to help make this awesome shining star of a girl feel a bit better.

Celiac Kid’s comment when we told her about the eggs was ‘but mum, thats so lucky, I don’t even like eggs!’ , its true, if she knows something has egg in it she wont eat it, the only hard blow here is ice cream and pancakes. Awesome kid that she is she is already getting stuff out of the drawer asking me if she can still eat them, ‘has it got egg inside mumma?’.

We still haven’t been on our holiday, but should be off soon, then school starts with all the work that comes along for us gluten free mums, new classroom, teacher etc. I never shared my school letter last year, I will be sure to do so this year. I edit it yearly to suit our needs so have a ton of versions already 🙂

Off to make glutenfree – eggfree cheese rolls now 🙂

Have a fab day!

Linda

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Please note, its the egg thats sad, not us! 😉