Recommendations for tasty and good value coeliac foods.

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Sue Ellen

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I cooked spaghetti the other night for my daughter who is coeliac and I got absolutely mad because despite standing over it, stirring and timing it, it still went into mush (read on other forums that this happens regularly). I had cooked the same brand the week before and it turned out perfect. I keep it in a sealed container so I don't think it was damp. This particular brand cost €2.99. Like the well trained Mammy that I am off I went to Dunnes to see what else was on offer. Did see one there for €3.75 but decided I would chance a packet @ €1.00. It turned out perfect.

Because of this I'm looking for recommendations for coeliac foods that cook well, taste nice and aren't too expensive.

The items that she currently uses are:

Bread - Genius, it crumbles a bit but is the best she has tasted to-date. She has tried one from Aldi, Juvela and Be Free but she still reverts to Genius. Off the top of my head its €3.29 in Dunnes so not cheap because its so small.

Kelkin chocolate fingers are nice.

Dunnes own brand spaghetti bolognaise sauce is gluten free so she uses that regularly. Sharwoods korma sauce also.

We know about the [broken link removed] and statements that are available from Dunnes, Tesco and others on the loyalty schemes.

I want to keep this thread on track for recommendation for coeliac foods as I don't want to break the , please and thanks :)
 
SuperValu have own brand gf fresh rolls and sliced bread which are delicious and far better than the genius bread. Not all SV stores have then so ask the manager in your local store. It goes quickly though so I normally grab a few and put some in the freezer.
RE pasta - rice based gf pasta is my preferred- it cooks much quicker than the corn-based ones, has better texture, and as made from brown rice is also better for you. The Dovefarms brand is best in my experience. in fact most of the stuff from them is really good.
For the occassional treat, a gf pizza can be obtained from pizza credo in Montague st (just off Camden st).
I presume ye are members of the coeliac society. They have a website forum as well which might be useful
 
amgd28 said:
SuperValu have own brand gf fresh rolls and sliced bread which are delicious and far better than the genius bread. Not all SV stores have then so ask the manager in your local store. It goes quickly though so I normally grab a few and put some in the freezer.
RE pasta - rice based gf pasta is my preferred- it cooks much quicker than the corn-based ones, has better texture, and as made from brown rice is also better for you. The Dovefarms brand is best in my experience. in fact most of the stuff from them is really good.
For the occassional treat, a gf pizza can be obtained from pizza credo in Montague st (just off Camden st).
I presume ye are members of the coeliac society. They have a website forum as well which might be useful
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Thanks for reply. Yes we are members but admit we haven't looked at the forums in a while.

My daughter wouldn't be interested but I heard Beshoffs do gluten free fish and chips on certain days in one of their branches. The gluten free fish seems to be freely available in O'Connell St.
 
I was diagnosed as a coeliac about 16 years ago so have plenty of experience with gluten free foods!

To my taste ( and everyone's different!)

The best g-free bread that tastes like real bread to me is the Marks & Spencer seeded brown bread. I bulk buy this and freeze about 3/4 slices to a packet in the freezer. I also buy some Juvela g-free bread as it is vacuum packed and handy to have in the press though honestly it tastes quite card-board like to me.I've tasted the Genius bread and it's quite nice too.

The best bread roll is the Liv-well ciabatta roll toasted, though it is very crumbly and needs care.

The best pizza base by far is the DS one- just add toppings. I know there is a frozen g-free pizza ready made available in Dunnes which to me is horrible.

The best pasta is the tesco own brand fusilli and the bunalun spaghetti.

The best flour is the Odlums tetramyl self-raising flour which you can use to bake lots of things on a trial and error basis. You can mix in a bit of corn flour too. I've tried the Dove farm ones but they are useless.

I really only buy g-free jaffa cakes in the line of biscuits or cakes as unfortunately a lot of g-free desserts contain a huge amount of sugar and fat to make up for lack of taste otherwise. Or I would also buy chocolate rice cakes from time to time. I tend to make my own desserts at the weekend if I feel like something.

Can't think of anything else right now.
 
Hi Vanilla,

Thanks for that. I find it amazing how some branches of the bigger shops have poor coeliac sections and others in the same chain have great selections.

Dunnes are ok locally but our Tesco is very poor. I suppose the stuff just does not sell because I have seen bread on display that was way out of date.

I keep on reminding her that fresh food is the safest option but at 20, fruit, vegetables and the important stuff is not a priority.
 
Was in Kielys in Donnybrook last weekend and saw gluten free beer .....amazing.... or maybe as I dont visit Dublin much anymore maybe everyone knows about this!
 
They sell the gluten free beer in Dunnes nationwide too. I don't like beer so I can't think of the name of it.

I used to eat a lot more gluten free food a few years ago, from habit. Nowadays I tend to eat just a slice of toast for breakfast ( the m&s one), a salad or homemade soup for lunch and dinner is usually meat/fish with plenty of vegetables. So the amount of gluten free food I actually buy has diminished quite a lot. It's a habit to have a sandwich for lunch or pasta for dinner and easily broken.

The amount of gluten free food in a supermarket is just like any other item- supply and demand. If the demand is there...But I know what you mean about out of date bread and this can be a problem.
 
Hi Sue Ellen, My seven year old daughter is coeliac. School lunches are the issue for me. She doesn't really eat bread so I have to think outside the box. I have found the gluten-free sections of the supermarkets to be limited and often cannot find anything I would buy there.

We get porridge in the health food shops, made from pure oats. It is expensive but tasty.

She loves the gluten-free frozen pizza by Dietary Specials, avaiable in Dunnes. €4.89

For take away pizza we go to Prego's in Ballyowen Shopping Centre in Lucan. For Indian we go to Bombay Pantry and for fish and chips it's Beshoffs near Baggot St Bridge. 'Bay' in Clontarf has an extensive menu. I am not sure where you are based but you will find good local restaurants on the coeliac website 'eating out' section.

We (meaning I...) do a lot of home cooking. For lunches we have homemade soup or baked potato or omelette. I always cook extra dinner and freeze it in pots for the after-school snack.

With regard to spaghetti I find that rinsing it out through a colander at the end of cooking helps.
 
Hi homebird,

Must try that frozen pizza, haven't seen it in our local Dunnes but will make enquiries. We tried the, I think Kelkin one, from the ordinary shelf but the base is far too thick and she didn't like it. She is always getting a longing for pizza.

Keep on meaning to make it to Pregos and we did try one Indian restaurant.

S.E.
 
Yes, the kelkin base is awful- thick and biscuit like texture. But the DS one is actually very nice- what I do is that I make the pizza about half an hour before I put it in the oven- just get the base, put on a spoon full of tomato sauce ( even passata is fine), layer on some grated cheese ( I like emmental), sliced mushrooms, finely chopped peppers and onion, some slices of tomato and then a drizzle of olive oil with a final topping of more grated cheese. It's good to leave it for half an hour before cooking as the tomato sauce will soak into the pizza base just a little to save it from being too dry.

I've tried the frozen one from Dunnes and it's not great.
 
just to add few bits to this thread..

Beshoff's on Mespil Road near Baggot St corner/bridge does GF fish n chips and chicken pieces all day/eveningSat and Sunday. All week there is GF chowder. Also nice salad box with own dressing = GF and coffee for 1euro. I often get some of the soup to take away cold and heat at home. O Connell Beshoff's is different establishment, I dont think the fish there is so good?

Beer. I have found the nicest IMHO and cheapest and in 330ml bottles to be Estrella Daura to be found in Dunnes stores in box set of four for just under 10 euro. My local Dunnes puts it with the 'healthy' options ie nonalcoholic beer :)

Bread: my favourite now is Supervalu seeded rolls in pack of four and also Aldi. I used to make my own using the Juvela bread mix in a breadmaker and add seeds and things to it.

I manage cooking dinners at home ... just eating out is bit boring when stuck for choice on a menu.

Irish Coeliac society forum is good for news/discussion etc.
 
Im not coeliac myself but a good friend is and I from eating out with her I would recommend The Millstone on Dame Street and Manifesto in Rathmines.

We also went to [broken link removed] at Grand Canal Harbour before a show and although they do not do gluten free pizza base they agreed to allow her to bring her own pizza base and they topped it/served it for her.
 
truthseeker said:
Im not coeliac myself but a good friend is and I from eating out with her I would recommend The Millstone on Dame Street and Manifesto in Rathmines.

We also went to [broken link removed] at Grand Canal Harbour before a show and although they do not do gluten free pizza base they agreed to allow her to bring her own pizza base and they topped it/served it for her.
Click to expand...

The menu in Millstone looks very nice. The only problem, for some people in using Milanos, might be the cross-contamination. It doesn't appear to bother my daughter but some coeliacs do appear to be affected by it.

Thanks for the recommendations.
 
Well I can sympathise with that! Roly's in Ballsbridge is run by chap who is himself a celiac but one special occasion, we had lunch there but there was nothing on the set menu I could eat and the bread provided was more of a banana cake. And I so love my food and would previously eat anything .... :(
 
Sue Ellen said:
This is what she complains about, so much so, that she stays at home when we go eating out. She just couldn't be bothered.
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I often feel the same- but it has gotten better over the years. I remember when first diagnosed going out to restaurants and there was very little awareness of gluten/coeliac disease. So much so that very frequently I was sick after eating out even though the restaurant had ostensibly served up a gluten-free meal.

I also hate the feeling of being 'different' to everybody else, and you can be made to feel like a fussy or faddy eater when you ask for a gluten free meal. There is a whole movement now of people who are on all sorts of diets- low carb, wheat free, dairy free, gluten free etc etc who have never been diagnosed with anything and are simply doing it as a health kick or a weight loss plan so you can get labelled as being part of that.

Another problem is eating at friends' houses- I don't advertise the fact that I am a coeliac, so that can be an issue too- I know I try to avoid these situations as I don't want a fuss.
 
Bread
The DS brown bread is ok toasted - taste is quite similar to ordinary brown multigrain - 2.49 in Dunnes and Tesco, 2.79 (I think) in Supervalu though not all supervalus have it.
Supervalu range of bread and rolls are quite nice if quite expensive though not as expensive as livwell which is also quite nice.
I don't like the Genius bread as I find it horribly salty - checked the amount and found crisps to have less salt per 100g. Hmmmm. Admittedly I haven't tried or looked at this for a while as I was so disgusted the first time.
The Aldi bread is ok, definitely not as nice as DS bread, but I buy it because it's much cheaper than anything else (1.99 and the packet is bigger) and it makes excellent breadcrumbs. It's edible without toasting too, just about.
Pasta
The Tesco free from spagetti is quite good for not breaking up - make sure to just simmer it and watch like a hawk - I think it's about 2.70. I get King Soba brown rice noodles and use them as spagetti too they just take 5 minutes to cook, again not too expensive. The Sam Mills corn pasta is ok but can be a bit gloopy, 1.79 in supervalu. I get the Sam Mills lasagne corte for making lasagne, works out well and a lot cheaper than gluten free lasagne sheets. A lot of pasta sauces are marked as being gluten free, brand names and own brand.
Pizza
Most bases are horrible. I thought the DS frozen pizza was ok but only ok. Thinking of making my own using a scone type base as previous pastry type bases haven't worked too well!
Baking/making
For pancakes I use the Doves farm rice flour but I use rice milk with this too as it doesn't really work otherwise! A few drops of vanilla extract makes them yummy. Rice flour and rice milk make a decent white sauce too. I find the Doves Farm flours good (1.99 per kg in Tesco) and I think the Odlums has a strange taste as well as being way more expensive (approx 3.00 per kg). My sister says the brownie recipe on the back of the Doves Farm self raising packet is nice. I use this for scones mostly but need to add extra baking powder.
The Odlums brown bread mix isn't too bad.
I use ground almonds a lot for baking - more interesting texture and flavour - make sure to buy own brand as way cheaper then Shamrock or whatever. All the supermarkets carry own brand now. Green and Blacks have a good recipe for dark chocolate mousse cake using ground almonds - very rich but if you halve the amount it come out more like yummy brownies and really easy to make..
There is a corn bread mix available that my sister uses, it's quite nice but I haven't tried it myself as couldn't find it anywhere.
Treats
'No wheat' chocolate orange wafers - 5 for 1.20 in Tesco - good for kids
Aldi Jelly beans marked as gluten free - approx 80 cent for 200g. Chocolate moons I think 70 cent for 100g. Most of their chocolate is marked gluten free, just check.
Tesco free from range of biscuits reasonably priced and ok. Tesco brand chocolate usually marked gluten free.
Mrs Crimble things are nice but a bit expensive. An Irish company 'Gourmet Jelly Bean Factory' or something like that does gluten free jelly beans too with savings boxes, dispensers and things available - fun for kids.
Thai
Thai gold range all gluten free and in most supermarkets (not Tesco). Includes noodles, sweet chili sauce and pastes.
Modelling clay
Crayola is gluten free, play doh is not. Plasticine is grand, made from mineral ingredients.

Can't think of anything else right now!
 
Sue Ellen, I trust that you have found

[broken link removed]

I 'cook from scratch' which is sometimes tasty - & sometimes not :) - and usually good value.
 
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