On holiday in Melbourne, Victoria, I'm eating masses of naturally gluten-free food and, of course, the occasionally necessary gluten-rich muffins and cookies etc. which are essential adjuncts to our morning Lattes and Chai Lattes!
I enjoyed a gluten-free apple and cinnamon cookie at Melbourne's Botanic Garden Terrace restaurant walk last week....to get my week off to a good start....
but did not have one of any of these more-ish mouthfuls from their front coffee bar, where folk were queueing up for Lattes, Chai Lattes etc. before heading off into the Gardens.....
Doughnuts and pies and other yummy regular gluten-rich foods!
Instead, I plumped for lunch in their Jardin Tan restaurant, dining on Prawn Fritters with two spicy oils, and green salad of coriander, bean shoots and crisp lettuce and, of course, my Latte...
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| Prawn Fritters - with a milk/flour batter.... |
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| Green Salad + my Latte. The spicy oils were excellent on the salad |
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| A good view of the two spicy oils which came with my lettuce |
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I'll try the Cocktail menu another time!!!
The lunch was really good and I did very much like the fritters but unfortunately, they reacted on me just a little, on Tuesday, so I'm presuming a regular flour etc. was used for the batter with normal milk. Somehow, I did not keep a full bottle of water with me for my garden walk and this, I suspect, was the cause of my reacting to the fritter mixture.
What I have been eating fairly regularly now on holiday, is the white Sourdough bread we have in the house and that's just fine, this probably being because its made from good flour and other high quality ingredients. Plus consumption of fresh water drinks. I tend to find my adverse reactions come with foods of a less good quality, while cheap, white, sliced and factory-packaged bread brings on an instant reaction i.e. the thickened throat, the nausea and lethargy.
Yes I do believe that's it! Cheap, factory-made and packaged, basic food, eaten too often and too much is the cause of many folk's problems with wheat, gluten and regular lactose rich milk. Too much pre-packaged food, too many TV dinners , little or insufficient fresh green vegetables and fruits, too much sugar-rich foods, puddings and sweetened drinks (tea, coffee, juice, squash and fizzy drinks) and too little home-cooked foods, are often the major cause of all of our problems with gluten-rich foods, digestive problems and general ill-health which bad eating inevitably brings about for so many folk and families today.
The Coeliac diet, with its need for total abstinence of gluten and lactose, is not a problem I am fully master of but from friends who must follow a coeliac regime, I understand how careful their choice of food must be, to keep themselves free of all the debilitating side-effects such foods give them.
Last week, we visited the Yarra Valley for The Dairy, Yerings and Yarra Valley's Chocolaterie and Ice Creamery, eating ice cream in my iced coffee, a salted caramel tart and macaroons, cheeses and breads, and gluten-free chips, plus Lattes etc. Plus copious drinks of cold water, for the hot weather, you understand.
Since then, we've been to Bendigo for fish and chips, Woodend for Eggs Benedict, asparagus pesto and delicious gourmet food from Maloahouse Gourmet Delights; Daylesford for luscious food from the Food Gallery and sampled Toni's wonderful fresh gourmet food, to the Digger Gardens at St. Erth, for its wonderful garden (we missed their coffee shop but - next time!!!) and to Trentham for the breads, ginger biscuits and brown sugar meringues from RedBeard Bakery plus, also, lovely goats cheeses in oils from Cloudhill Gardens at Olinda + their lovely restaurant food + wine+home-made chutneys, cookies and our quince and yoghurt Semifreddo variation of Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's recipe for Strawberry and Yoghurt Semifreddo from his book of fruit recipes - River Cottage FRUIT everyday - a splendid book devoted to bringing the idea of more fruit eating into our regular daily diet.
Of course, a great deal of this wonderful eating is "holiday food" and not altogether, unfortunately, a regular occurrence but.....variety being the spice of life, what I'm saying is that there are very many wonderful foods out there, to sample and enjoy, cook and bake at home. Good food does not only mean expensive items. To me, good food is fresh, wholesome food, home-cooked as often as possible, masses of green and brightly coloured veggies and fruit, good breads, oils and a dash of butter, fresh eggs, good cheeses and careful avoidance of food items you know are not for you. Plus grains, cereals - wheat is really the only one I must avoid, and there are many alternative grains and seeds (couscous, rice etc. the list is endless) some red meat and slightly more of chicken and pork, all organic whenever possible and, of course, game as and when in season - oh yum!!! I love a pheasant casserole also good sausages of good meat and very little poor quality bread based ingredients and well, so on!
Of course, food costs and the family budget have to come into play when choosing and buying food, so just become the savvy buyer your grandmother was! Read the labels, ask the questions you need to of your butcher, baker and supermarket manager - find out what it is you're eating and look for the best quality your purse can afford and feed yourself well and enjoy your living.
Happy eating...!
Daisy xxx
PS here's what I ate at Toni's wonderful Food Gallery at Daylesford yesterday - oh it was so good!!!
Toni's warm Chicken and Avocado Salad with Pine Nuts on a wonderful salad rich yet light with its glorious dressing and seasoning - oh yum indeed !!!
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PPS ...I know I can eat and enjoy some gluten-rich foods because, over the last few years (wish I'd done it earlier) I have eliminated a vast amount of gluten and lactose items from my diet and now find I can eat regular gluten-rich foods, as long as they are of good quality ingredients and I eat from a wide variety of foods of all kinds - all balanced out nicely with copious amounts of fresh cold water,
It's quite simple really and, if I can do it, so too can you...have fun !!!
