Coles Vegie Fix - Mexican Sweet Potato

Now throughout this blog you will most likely come to the realization that I have a love for anything that is spicy with tomato's, capsicum and corn. Mexican food is probably my favourite, if i had to live off one style of food ever it would be Mexican.

So when I was perusing around the salad section in coles for something quick a semi healthy to eat I noticed these new Vegie fix pot's the have on sale. The other to flavours they had either contained pasta or couscous in the mix so that was off the menu. Luckily enough after checking the ingredients the Mexican Sweet potato which comes with brown rice, kidney beans, capsicum, corn and chili is gluten free! Something that has not been noted on the packaging 

retailing at $5.98 and boasting the fact it contains 3 serves of vegetables I was hoping this could be substantial enough to suffice for a decent whole meal.

Tick off source of fibre which is always an important thing to make sure you get enough off when living Gluten Free.

It takes just 3 and a half mins to heat up in the microwave, so is perfect for a fast, easy and mess free meal for those who can be lazy after work like me! 

After letting it stand and mixing all the vegies up it's delightfully warm on a cold winter night like tonight. The brown rice has that nice little 'chew' to it which is something I did not expect and the flavours work really well together with a subtle little spicy kick. My only qualm with it is that the sweet potato is a little under cooked for my liking, but I think that's just my personal preference.

I would defiantly recommend this product, it would also be perfect as a side to a meal, the packaging recommending the addition of meat or seafood. It's only a shame that the Gluten Intolerant can't enjoy the other flavours in this range.

Duck Arancini @ James Squire Brewhouse

So today I went out for a light snack between having a meeting and going to work. Being around the corner and it's facade lead me to believe it would be your a-typical gastro pub meal. Parmas galore! But I was wrong, its influenced heavily by Australian produce and flavours. They kindly also place a v or gf to designate vegetarian and gluten free food. I was quite pleasantly surprised to see they have a lot on offer that is gluten free.

Loving both arancini and duck I was ecstatic to see it was made gluten free.


Costing $14 the three generously sized balls where a good snack that didn't break the bank too much. The coating was lovely and crunchy and the inside soft, but much to my disappointment the duck was bland and tasteless. The saving grace was the dipping sauce, I only wish there was more of it!

Melinda's Sundried Tomato & Spinach Muffins

Now these don't come too cheap. Retailing at supermarkets between $6-7 for a packet.
Since I don't have a particularly sweet tooth, I do love myself a good savory muffin smeared with cream cheese (muffin break does these quite well)

.

These are relatively simple to make and can be easily altered to adjust to other food allergies of intolerance.
Suggesting on the packet they can make 12 full or 40 mini muffins, I opted for both.

When baking I would suggest leaving them in a little bit longer than requested as the bottom on the muffins seem to have a much harder time baking. They don't rise particularly much either so make sure the muffin mould is filled up well. 

The Verdict: Straight outta the oven they are nice and moist still and light to eat. As I loved cream cheese lathered it on, quite tasty. Although when eating them plain the mixture gets quite doughy and floury which seems to be a problem for most GF baked foods. So the mini muffins offer a good alternative bite size snack, which when living gluten free can be quite hard to come by.
It also suggests adding extras into the mix like zucchini, feta and pine nuts which could help to break up the doughy texture.

Should you buy it? As nice as these are, eating them for breakfast the next day has left me with a tummy-ache. Hmmm. I feel the mistake a lot of people make when choosing gluten-free alternatives it that it is going to be healthier than the wheat varieties, but as this has three different raising agents and the dehydrated vegetables I would be tempted to say it may be easier and tastier possibly better for your health to make savory muffins from scratch using fresh ingrediants.

Do try these, but they are not really suitable, well financially for me at least as a good go-to-snack.

Freelicious Corn Couscous

The food so nice they named it twice.

Now I have never eaten cous cous before as it only really became popular and common after I found out that I had Coeliac disease, so this review is purely based on the product alone as I have nothing to compare it to.

As cous cous is essentially the germ of the wheat grain where all the gluten is found, pure gluten delicious! So making a GF substitute of gluten should be interesting and my expectations of this product are not high.

I found this at a Coles supermarket retailing at $3.25 for 375g it's not going to break the bank for something that will keep well and can be used for several different servings. 

 

Now as I have never eaten cous cous before, let alone have ever cooked it I decided to follow the suggested recipe on the back of the box to be safe.

It is actually dead simple to make. Boil a cup of stock

I used Massel Liquid Chicken Stock it's about $2 for a litre. It can be bought at most supermarkets and in powder form as well, it's also vegan!

  Opening the packet the cous cous looks a lot like polenta and yellow sugar. Kinda like jelly crystals, leaving me unsure what to expect.

Once the water has boiled add about 1 1/3 cups of cous cous and remove from the heat imediately, stir and let rest for 2 mins. Add some butter and stir and leave to cool. Then add oil (1/4 cup, I think this is a little excessive and you probably don't need that much since there is butter also in it).

It should look like this.

 I had a little taste before adding anything else. It's strange taste, I can't think of anything else that is like it, the butter definitely has given it most of it's flavor. It's not disgusting and is pleasantly light and fluffy. Most importantly it's not gluggy as I was fearing it would be. The texture is still 'grainy' as you can feel each 'cous' as you eat it.

I added some nice fresh basil straight from the parents garden, home grown tomato, finely diced onion and feta.

   Taa Daa!

Chuck all the stuff in raw and stir.

Wow this is actually quite nice, as there is next to no cooking involved it is really quick and easy to make. With the raw tomato and onion it tastes so fresh. Perfect side dish! I wouldn't say this is main meal worthy.

My lovely mother cooked BBQ Lamb (a cut of some description, I don't know and neither does she). Perfect accompaniment, would be absolutely perfect in summer. Yummo 

The rest of my Gluten eating family even loved it. I had seconds.

I'm not sure if this is as healthy as regular cous cous due to the large amount of butter and oil in it. I would still definitely recommend trying this, and can't wait to try it in other ways.

What's your favorite way to eat and serve Cous cous?

Simply Wize Gluten Free Gnocchi

Now I have already tried this more than once I think it's fantastic.

For those who haven't Simply Wize Gnocchi is around $5 I think in the health food isle at Coles and possibly Safeway(Sorry for the vagueness)

I like how it says it is Traditional Italian Style. 

I don't know about anyone else but I love Italian food and oh so conveniently cant eat any of it especially after having more than my far share of Chicken and Mushroom risottos (bleh) .As we all know Gnocchi is a very rich and filling "'pasta' not potatoes" and eating it can often lead to the odd food coma. So this is how I space it out and make in my option a very enjoyable meal. In the packet which is 500g i can get about 4 good sized meals out of it buy bulking it up with my favorite veggies.

Red and Green Capsicum, Red Onion, Mushrooms, Baby spinach and rocket

You can use any veggies you like and add meat, but these are essentially my favorites and will be found in most of my cooking.

I cook off the capsicum, onion and mushies in Gourmet Garden Mediterranean Seasoning in a saucepan.

Excuse my shitty nail polish. I don't believe it is meant to be used like this, but it adds a nice flavor and I reckon it works quite well. 

Once the veggies are nice and soft add pasta sauce. I chose Coles brand because it's $1.44 for a large bottle and the Arratiba flavor for extra spice. Then add the spinach until it wilts.

Cooking the Gnocchi is super simple - boil water add gnocchi and when it rises voila! it is ready. 

Wow so simple.

Add sauce and gnocchi. 

My presentation skills have a lot to be desired, but I assure you it is delicious. 

The gnocchi is soft and not too chewy, it is what in my now distant memory of what wheat tastes like, super similar to regular gnocchi.

Good purchase and can last you awhile provide you freeze it after opening. 

Full Recommendation. FuckYea!

Dovedale Multiseed Chia Bread

I was able to pick this little loaf up at Coles for a hefty$6.60 i believe.

Gf bread is a will always be quite small, its probably not going to change, ever. Gluten cetainly makes big fluffy loaves, but lets not cry over that right now.

Chia is the current super grain of the moment, packed with omega-3 (more than anything else apparently which is good because i abhor fish with a passion), protein and fibre. it's also used to make those wonderful chia pets. Yum?

As I don't go through bread that quickly I tend to leave it in the freezer till it's needed, big mistake for this bread. As it does offer several thin slices, handy to make it last longer. The slices are quite fragile and i split on in half as I pull them apart.

 Despite this I still carried on. Now I don't know if I have ever met someone who eats 'raw' GF bread, it really is terribly foul and I recommend ALWAYS toasting the bread however you are going to use it, as it kind of gives it some strength and texture to it.

Much Better, I did put this in the toaster 3 times and still didn't burn. I'm not sure if this is common for the bread.

I added the ever tasty Red Rock Deli dip onto it, the bread is a lot denser than what I am used to but due to its this slice makes it's pleasant enough to eat. I would definitely recommend adding extra toppings or fillings.

Would I buy it again?  Probably not, despite the inclusion of this amazing chia. I can't get over the price tag  for what is a pretty lack luster bread

Has anyone else tried this? Love it/Hate it? What's your favorite GF Bread?

Introduction

Hi my name's Brooke and I have been diagnosed a Coeliac since 2006 when is was 16/17.

I know what it is like to be that friend that people hate going out with or cooking for because of this intolerance.

Through this time I have tried oh too many horrible, dense and unsavory Gluten Free products. They don't come too cheap either ($5.60 for a loaf of bread), whilst I have tried to steer clear and eat mostly naturally GF food when your friend is chowing down on a slice of pizza next to you and your modest little salad it can get quite disheartening.

So being based in Melbourne which is quite a good city to be GF I am tasting and treating myself to it's GF delicacies and finding the best and cheapest. 

Hopefully this blog will help out any starving Coeliacs out there that are getting sick of the old curry and rice.