Gluten Free the old style way

ChopinonaBudget

cwtw wrote: »

Chip the gravy recipe would be most welcome. We currently use the Knorr stock pot which are gluten free.

I use knorr stock for this gravy - I buy it in jars, much cheaper than stock cubes

Gravy recipe! This is adapted from Sarah Brown's vegetarian cookbook - she makes a mountain out of a molehill making this - I can do it in 5 minutes flat plus cooling/sitting time. It tastes best when it's left for longer, so make it first, then let it sit while you cook the rest of the meal. For a really nice version, make it in the morning, and let it sit, unstrained, all day. Yum!

Fry a roughly chopped onion and 2 sticks of roughly chopped celery in a pan with a little vegetable oil. Doesn't have to be for very long, just soften it a bit.
Sometimes I can't even be bothered to fry it off properly and it still works.
Add all the rest of these ingredients in one go...
1 litre cold water
1 veg stock cube (it'll dilute as it heats up, so I just chuck it in cold)
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon marmite
1 teaspoon tamari
1 teaspooon thyme
half a teaspoon of mustard powder

Bring to the boil
Take off the heat and put somewhere out of the way to sit in its flavours till you need it.
At which point you....

Strain it through a sieve, tip it into a clean saucepan.

Meanwhile, dilute a few heaped teaspoons (quantity not important) in enough cold water to form a consistency that looks a bit like a yoghurt drink, or single cream

Once the gravy is near the boil, slowly pour in the cornflour until it thickens to the consistency you like.
Take off heat
Done!

Over the years, I pared this recipe down to get it to the least possible effort required - I certainly can't bothered with boiling a kettle and making stock to use! Chucking the water in cold seems to work best as it means I don't have to simmer. And life's too short to watch gravy simmering.....

I hope this all helps

ChopinonaBudget

P.S. are you sure your PCT don't allow pizza bases? I've had a several "discussions" with my GP surgery over the years, and they always tell me "only flour, pasta, bread" but they do actually allow pizza bases, and they always back down when I argue the point. You can request the list of PCT approved foods from your GP - it stops GP surgeris telling porky pies about what is and isn't prescribable. (I have had no problems since I've had this list...)

cwtw

Thanks chop that gravy recipe sounds amazing. I will get the prescription list from my GP, that is a great idea. I prefer making my own pizza bases for taste, but with the premade ones if you cook the base for 7-8 minutes in the oven, then spread nutella and chopped hazel nuts on top, it makes an amazing dessert.

ChopinonaBudget

cwtw wrote: »

Thanks chop that gravy recipe sounds amazing. I will get the prescription list from my GP, that is a great idea. I prefer making my own pizza bases for taste, but with the premade ones if you cook the base for 7-8 minutes in the oven, then spread nutella and chopped hazel nuts on top, it makes an amazing dessert.

That sounds delicious! I hadn't thought of using them as puddings! I did use to use the second one in the pack to make garlic "bread" - I'd cover the whole thing in garlic butter and cook. Very tasty, and cheaper than buying GF garlic bread.
Now I chuck the second one in the freezer. My daughter likes to take pizza to school for lunch a couple of times a week, so I get through quite a large amount of these bases

ChopinonaBudget

For anybody in Wales -

http://www.wales.nhs.uk/sites3/Documents/371/All%20Wales%20Guide%20to%20Prescribing%20Gluten-Free%20Products%20for%20dissemination%20and%20website.pdf

At the bottom is a list of prescribable foods :T

cwtw

Make your own garlic bread is a great idea - the DS one from the freezer section is about £3/£4!
I have made batch versions of Thai Green Curry / Chilli / beef stew tonight - should last us until Sunday. My DH made an amazing stirfry with rice noodles tonight - we don't have stir fries as much as we used to because many of the sauces contain gluten.
I'm definitely making banana pancakes at the weekend.

Any other exciting cheap gluten free recipes out there?

ChopinonaBudget

cwtw wrote: »

Make your own garlic bread is a great idea - the DS one from the freezer section is about £3/£4!

The asda one is cheaper, but tiny. I think they get away with the high prices because they look so dinky when they're that small!

ChopinonaBudget

cwtw wrote: »

we don't have stir fries as much as we used to because many of the sauces contain gluten.

I don't think I have ever used a stir fry sauce, that one wouldn't really occur to me - hence the homemade gluten free versions.
I make a version of Satay - I LOVE peanut butter so this works well for me....
Add a few tablespoons of peanut butter, a large splash of tamari, a dose of sweet chilli sauce, and enough water to stop it sticking to the wok. I doubt it's even close to authentic, but god it tastes good!

(I'm not coeliac, but apart from bread itself, there's very little in the house now that contains gluten, it's easier that way, so I eat gluten-free where home cooking is concerned)

chewynut

I try to avoid the supermarkets' free from ranges because they are so expensive and no where near nice enough to justify the prices. The only thing I will willingly buy is the Dove Farm pasta. I don't know why, I really like it compared to the prescription pastas.

I get through a lot of the Juvella Bread Mix (or something Mix) that should be available on prescription. It makes the nicest GF bread I've ever had. It's light and chewy and freezes really well. If you make it and pop it in the freezer as soon as it's cooled down, it's wonderful compared to the bricks I remember from my childhood. All you need to do is follow the recipe on the back of the box. I cut the sugar and salt out because they don't make a difference. The only extra ingredient you need is Xanthan Gum but not too much :rotfl:

The Juvella Mix is also great for cakes, pancakes and Yorkshire Puddings. I tend to add Xanthan Gum or baking powder for extra rise but it's fine on its own.

I forgot to mention that Asda do some wicked GF frozen sausages. I don't know about everybody else but when I fancy a sausage cob, I just want a sausage. Not some nasty thing with 50 spices to make up for the lack of gluten. I can't remember what they're called but the packaging is yellow and green. They're my favouritest shop bought GF things ever.

cwtw

Hi chop I used to like the stir fry sauces for a quick meal after a long day at work.... But now we mostly batch cook.

Chewynutthanks for the advice about the bread mix, I'll try it. I already use their fibre flour and white mix.

I struggle with sausages as I have other allergies too. Currently, I love the M&S sausages, although they're not cheap but they make quite a few meals on the 2 for £5 packs.

My DH is making me leak pie tonight for lunches for the rest of the week, yum yum. And I'm making apple crumble from Leftover apples from the garden.
I'm making myself hungry now :rotfl: