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Chocolate covered coconut lime ice-cream – lactose free, dairy free

Ingredients

4 heaped dessert spoons of freshly grated or desiccated coconut

3 heaped teaspoons of golden caster sugar

Juice from 1 small lime

80g of dairy free chocolate – ideally made with coconut oil.

165 ml of coconut milk

Method

Melt chocolate in a bowl over a bain-marie.

Coat the inside of silicone moulds with chocolate and place on a tray in the freezer.

Add coconut milk, coconut, lime juice and sugar to a mixing bowl and mix well.

Remove chocolate moulds from the freezer and add a small amount of coconut mix to each one.

Return to the freezer until fully frozen.

Remove the moulds from the freezer and add some melted chocolate to cover the top of each mould.

Return to the freezer till frozen.

Remove from the silicone moulds and ENJOY – these are mouthfuls of heaven, resembling the popular chocolate bar promising a taste of tropical heaven – you know what I mean 😉

If using gluten free chocolate these mini ices are gluten free, lactose free & dairy free. A treat for a hot summers day, easy to make.

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Book Review IBS Free at Last – Second edition Patsy Catsos

Book Review IBS Free at Last – Second edition Patsy Catsos

This recently published book is based on the FODMAPs diet for irritable bowel syndrome. It’s a guide for those wishing to trial a low FODMAPs diet to alleviate symptoms; as such it is comprehensive, explains the diet fully and includes information about who should use this diet. It is safe, explanations about possible other conditions such as coeliac disease, which may be masked by going on wheat free diets, for example, are discussed fully. Dietetic treatment is vital to help with following the exclusion and reintroduction phases to ensure the diet is nutritionally complete and to give advice about eating out and shopping, finding onion and garlic free processed foods can be problematic, for example. Patsy has included common questions that patients have and answers these very well, useful for those following the diet and those who treat them. For USA patients this book does give examples of food plans and recipes – for those outside the US information about converting cups to grams may be useful for following the recipes and some of the medications and supplements mentioned may not be available in all countries. It is important to include information for those who do not get resolution of symptoms using this diet and this is mentioned. The book does not clearly detail other factors for consideration such as stress, anxiety and other areas such as behaviour around mealtimes, as it was intentionally written as a book about diet. Although written for the United States, this book is certainly useful for those who wish to know more about this new treatment for IBS, and would be a good accompaniment to those who are treated with  by their dietitian.  Healthcare professionals wishing to know more will also find it useful and it is fully referenced, it is available on Kindle and hardcopy from good book suppliers.

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This book in Kindle version was provided free of charge by the author

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1952-2012 austerity & celebrations, is alcohol the new tea?

In 1952 the UK was still recovering from the devastation that occurred during the second world war, but there was an air of optimism for the future. During the war food was rationed and this rationing was still in place during the first part of the 1950’s and in 1952 tea rationing was lifted, but staple food, such as bananas, were still in very short supply. So being able to have unlimited cuppas must have been luxurious and I am sure I would have struggled to ration my cups of tea, an English staple. I recall after an operation, or being starved for medical procedures and scans the first drink I always crave is a cup of tea – tastes so refreshing. We are currently undergoing a new period of austerity, not as a result of a war, but as a result of excessive spending. So this weekends diamond jubilee celebrations are a bit of a distraction, and welcome at that, for all we seem to hear is doom and gloom. But what do you think we are using as a celebration drink? Tea? Probably not.

Having to go for my usual weekly shop at the supermarket I was astounded with the amount of alcohol in the store. Large boxes of cans of beer and lager from floor to ceiling and more alcopops in crates waiting to replace the overstacked, groaning shelves. Whilst I do not begrudge anyone having a small celebratory drink, and I shall probably join in – we do have a problem in excessive rates of alcoholic liver disease in this country, which has very high rates of mortality and morbidity. The problem is that you may not have much warning about it until the damage is done. I don’t wish to be a party pooper  – so have a party this weekend if you want to celebrate, think about how much alcohol you SHOULD have for your health – have a soft drink in between alcoholic ones. It is difficult today to know what a unit of alcohol is, as portion sizes, like those of food, have increased enormously in recent years, in our ever-increasing indulgence in excess. Wine has increased from 125ml to 175ml to 250ml, using a 125 ml glass may reduce your intake, does anyone drink wine spritzers, or shandy? Another way of reducing your intake is by diluting your drinks.

Click on the following link to calculate how many units are in your drinks and remember no one wants to be moribund on the sofa with a pounding head and sick digestive system tomorrow! So lift up your spritzer or shandy and toast the jubilee ;-)!

  • Men should not regularly drink more than 3-4 units of alcohol a day.
  • Women should not regularly drink more than 2-3 units a day.
  • If you’ve had a heavy drinking session, avoid alcohol for 48 hours.

‘Regularly’ means drinking this amount every day or most days of the week. ( http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/alcohol/Pages/alcohol-units.aspx)

http://www.drinkaware.co.uk/tips-and-tools/drink-diary/?gclid=CNjU6I3Mpa0CFegmtAodmHgrlA

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LOFFLEX recipes Third Edition

Ground rice pudding Annette Sharp RD

50g Ground rice

25g Sugar

600ml rice milk (plain or vanilla – try to get one with added calcium)

1 tsp vanilla extract (optional)

Flavouring tinned pears, pineapple juice honey/cinnamon/cardamom to taste

Method

Place ground rice, sugar and milk in a small non stick saucepan and whisk until smooth. Gently bring to the boil, stirring whilst cooking – the mixture should quickly thicken into a custard consistency.Continue to simmer over a very low heat for 5-6 minutes, stirring occasionally. Transfer to a bowl, cover and leave to cool of can be eaten whilst warm. Can blend cold pudding to achieve a very smooth consistency.

Rice Flour Pancakes

1/2 cup of rice flour

300mls of milk

2 tbsp caster sugar

oil for frying

Whisk ingredients together and fry small pancakes (approx 2 inch in diameter) in a small amount of oil until dark golden, serve with jam made from allowed fruit or honey.  Alternatively omit the sugar and add herbs and serve with meat or fish from allowed list.

Chicken Noodle Stir Fry My Le Lac RD

100g Chicken Breast

50g Courgette (skinned and sliced thinly)

50g Mushrooms (chopped)

Dried Rice Noodles

1 tbsp Vinegar

1 tsp sunflower oil/olive oil

Salt to taste

NB this counts as one portion of vegetables

Bring a pan of water to boil, place noodles in the pan

Cook the noodles till softened, drain and rinse in cold water to prevent them sticking together

In a non stick pan heat the oil, add the chicken

When the chicken has browned add the courgettes and mushrooms

When the vegetables have cooked add the noodles and stir fry, them add the vinegar, salt to taste and serve.

Moroccan Lamb Tangine Layla Brown RD

Serves 4

2 tsp black pepper

11/2 tsp paprika

11/2 tsp ground ginger

1 tbsp turmeric

2 tsp ground cinnamon

1x shoulder of lamb, trimmed and cut into 5cm/2 inch chunks

2 large carrots, peeled and grated

2 tbsp of garlic infused oil

3 peppers

115g canned apricots

55g stewed plums

1 tsp powdered saffron

brown rice miso

1 tbsp clear honey

2 tbsp coriander

2 tbsp flat leaf parsley

Place the black pepper, paprika, ginger, turmeric and cinnamon into a small bowl and mix to combine. Place the lamb in a large bowl and toss together with the spice mix. Cover and leave overnight in the fridge.

Preheat the oven to 150C/300F/gas 2

Cut the remaining food into small pieces/chunks and place in a slow cook oven or casserole dish along with the other ingredients and brown rice miso, water and cook for approx 21/2 hours till meat is very tender.

Place in a serving dish with fresh herbs.

Serve with boiled rice.

Please note: Everyone’s dietary tolerance of foods, with crohns disease, is individual. If you suspect you have problems with these ingredients please check with your dietitian if the ingredient is OK for you, before trying the recipe. The recipes are designed for stage 1 of the LOFFLEX diet, but occasionally people can have reactions to foods in stage 1, so it is very important to keep in touch with your dietitian, when following the treatment.

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Coeliac Awareness Week, food labelling and celebrity intolerance!

Sausages may contain gluten via fillers or bin...
Sausages may contain gluten via fillers or binders such as Butcher’s Rusk (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I have had a very busy week and been unable to blog, my wish was to blog of my findings at the end of Coeliac Awareness Week however we were extremely busy on The IBS Network stand at the Allergy and Free From Show – I needed a weeks rest (but I was still at work during the day!) It was an experience to follow the gluten-free diet again, I did find it much easier second time around but the challenge was eating out, of which it was my first experience. I managed to resist the temptation of eating the ginger biscuits left on my tea-tray in the hotel room and survived the eating out experience. I did find discussing my requirements a little difficult at first, being someone with a shy disposition (you may find this a little difficult to appreciate, but I assure you its true,) I was soon used to the challenge of asking how food is cooked and served.

At the show, a colleague informed me that someone was selling a freshly cooked sausage 97% gluten-free – we discussed this, why make 97% gluten-free sausages? Why not go the whole hog, so to speak – 100% gluten-free and suitable for all? Who were these sausages aimed at? Clearly not people with coeliac disease, perhaps those with gluten intolerance?  I suspect that 3% gluten may affect those with gluten intolerance also. Or possibly aimed at those with the highly exclusive condition ‘fashionista celebrity gluten hypochondria’ who follow the latest dietary trends and can afford to be a little selective in their gastronomy – perhaps now I am being a little too cynical or cruel? I am sure you will tell me, if I am! Am I suffering from celebrity intolerance, I wonder? This food was being provided freshly cooked for direct sale – not prepackaged, but freshly cooked food in restaurants and cafe’s provided for those with coeliac disease is included in the new UK 2012 gluten-free food legislation and to be labelled gluten-free it should have been tested and have no more than 20 ppm of gluten. What this does show is industry food labelling obfuscation at its worst – despite the fact we now have regulations regarding the labelling of gluten-free and allergen containing foods. We do seem to have individual suppliers who still persist in supplying food that is unsuitable for those who need to avoid certain components that may cause illness. Unfortunately I didn’t have adequate time to discuss this with the vendor as we were so busy, but I do hope that someone had the time to elucidate them with the details of the legislation.

Where I felt that I was of use was to explain about contamination risks for coeliacs with the hotel before I left. If you recall the breakfast was a buffet style with gluten contamination risks with serving cutlery, this was discussed when I checked out of the hotel, I did suggest that it may have been better to provide and gluten-free cooked meat and cheese on a separate dish and avoid contamination in the kitchens, then people with coeliac disease could be a little more confident in the food provided. I still feel that people with coeliac disease will still struggle with eating out despite the new legislation, but we must continue to explain what is needed to the catering industry and if this is done sensitively, working with the industry, awareness hopefully will increase. Let me know of your experiences of coeliac awareness week, eating out, food labelling and the new legislation.

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Thursday and London gluten free life

Less than 24 hours in London and feeling slightly claustrophobic – missing green spaces. I suppose I need to give you an update of where I am with the gluten-free challenge. Breakfast today was the same gluten-free rice cereal with milk + no yoghurt. I arrived in London arround lunchtime and had my lunch at Nando’s – this was OK, I checked that all that was cooked on the griddle was chicken and sweetcorn – so no contamination. The waitress didn’t understand what I meant by coeliac disease but she let me check their allergy book, which had all the dishes clearly labelled so it actually was fairly easy to see which dishes were OK as in ‘no gluten containing ingredients.’ My evening meal was at Carluccio’s and again the gluten-free menu was clearly labelled. If I had made a mistake I wouldn’t be aware of it though, not having coeliac disease – so as I am often told in clinic I have to go on trust that no contamination has occurred. My hotel is nice except for one small problem – I have a packet of ginger biscuits on my tea making tray, this is testing me and my resolve – it would have been a nice touch to have a packet of gluten-free ones. I await the joy of breakfast! Good night :-).

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