London to Italy.

For those of you who know me well there is not too much thrill seeker in me . I take risks, hell I just moved from Christchurch to Auckland.

I constantly work on overcoming my fear of flying. I gave myself a choice fly or stay home . When my son lived in a different island of course I had to visit. A boss of mine once did the fear of flying course and she shared some of the tips and they have stuck with me . Not one flight do I take without having to think about the funny noises that the planes makes and remind myself that the ducking and dipping is just like being in a river. When turbulence hits I wriggle my butt back in the seat and concentrate on pressing my feet flat to the floor. I still have good flights and bad but not so many bad times now. I don't often open my eyes and realise I am gripping the person next to me . 

I am sitting in  the Auckland domestic airport with a busy day ahead, off to Christchurch for a doctors appointment and then in two more sleeps I leave for the trip of a lifetime flying to Italy with four days in London first. 

The big plus is travelling Air New Zealand they have always managed to cater for me as gluten free.In advance I know the flight from Heathrow to Rome is British Airways and they don't . It is only a hop of a flight so that's not a big deal.

I don't know what it feels like to plan a trip when you don't have dietary needs but there has been quite a lot of gluten free reading done. Interestingly enough I belong to a great group that shares lots of information. In the UK they brought in legislation in December that means that any place that provides food whether it be the street vendor or the posh restaurant have to be able to tell you all the ingredients in the food you are about to eat . So that should make my time in UK easier. 

Italians test all their children for Coeliac disease before they are six which would make me think they are aware . There will be a bit of a language barrier but I have had the gluten free cards printed in Itslian and laminated thanks to a friend .Inalso have downloaded an app that you can use offline that has the gluten free card in whatever language you choose.

At the end of the day although food is not the reason we are taking this trip it is an important part of experiencing a countries culture and at heart I am a foodie. Shock horror. 

If you don't like pictures of food then tune out for the next month . 

Arrivederci xxxx

Felt blessed

You can feel blessed and nervous at the same time I know because I had that experience today . One of my lovely new workmates made a cake and brought it into work today . She announced that she had made a Betty Crocker Devils Food Cake -gluten free . 

I thought wow that's special but also when I saw it I thought Mmm it has icing .... Will that be gf icing sugar ? Hundreds and thousands will they be gf ? 

What do you do ?? In my mind I had a thousand questions ? Then she announced  that the hundreds and thousands she checked for gluten and also the icing sugar . Phew !!!

It's so hard when people care and go the extra mile and you still doubt them . 

I really appreciate the caring and acceptance . 

One thing discussed about the cake was you could put cream or mock cream in the middle this would be nice as well . 

Blessed !!! 

Lettuce Burger

I see that this week the restaurant/takeaway called Wendy's has launched a low carb burger and if you have without the mayonnaise it is gluten free. The lettuce burger 

Expectation exceeded

Catching a quick lunch with a friend yesterday what a lovely treat . 

We sometimes get so caught up in our work it's easy to not take breaks and not venture out at lunchtime . Yesterday my friend and I nipped down to Cafe Eleven wow wow wow . After meeting the staff and chatting to them last week over a coffee I came away with a menu and a must return to try the food feeling . 

So sitting overlooking a big duck pond in the busy hub in Waurau Park we had lunch. 

A full cabinet of food but we chose off the menu . A staff member told me the special of the day was a spicy paella my friend had the lemon risotto both were gluten free . 

 

The risotto was creamy and had a great number of prawns in it . The paella was spicy and flavoursome . I definitley know it will be a favourite place to visit .

Lovely not to just have a vege frittata when you are dinning out and need to be gluten free .

Anzac Day

After spending the morning making Anzac biscuits for the people I wanted to give biscuits too.I thought about the two members of my new team who are gluten intolerant I went up to the Naturally Organic shop in Albany and looked at the quinoa flakes at 14.50 or the rice flakes at 3.99 for 400 Gm . I purchased the rice flakes . 

I thought I would just try the recipe I had used for usual Anzac biscuits I used the Edmonds gf  plain flour and they look fantastic.

Recipe was  

Oven @ 160 degrees 

Ingredients

1 cup coconut

1 cup Edmonds gf flour

2 cup rice flakes

3/4 cup castor sugar

125g butter

2 Tbspn golden syrup

1 tspn baking soda

3 Tbspn boiling  water

Put all dry ingredients in bowl . Melt butter and golden syrup in pan or microwave . Add boiling water to baking soda . 

Add melted ingredients and baking soda mixed with boiling water to dry ingredients . 

Put on baking tray in dessert spoon lots on baking paper . 

Cafe Eleven

As well as changing and learning a new job . I need to get acquainted slowly with the eateries in my area . I am in Wairau Park in Auckland . I have not ventured out at lunch time yet as I have had my head down learning my job and peoples names !!!!

Luckily my husband is not too far away and we have been able to have a couple of "hot dates " as we call them . He has brought in Pita Pitt with jalapeño chilli so it's been a hot date !!!. I love the fact that we can share a healthy yummy lunch . 

However today after eating lunch we thought mmm a coffee might be nice . We stumbled upon Cafe Eleven . We only had coffee but I had a really great chat with the staff . I was given a card and a menu to take away . 

The cabinet had big array of gf options.  

Three cakes   Two salads, Vietnamese spring rolls .They will make you sandwiches, give you gf soup and toast . Make up salads and breakfast food off the menu . Definitely have to go back ... 

http://www.cafeeleven.co.nz/