Monthly Archives: March 2010

The Black Farmer: Filling a Gluten Free Hole

Do your children like sausages?

Black Farmer Gluten Free SausagesMy younger two definitely do, so I took the opportunity to cook them some Black Farmer’s Daughter’s Chipolatas at the weekend, when we ended up with a group of 4 sausage-lovers who’d been ice-skating.

They ate the sausages with a chilli that my eldest made at school. My team will eat sausages with anything, but their favourite is sausages and mash, with gravy. The chilli went down OK, but not nearly as well as the sausages did!

The Black Farmer very kindly sent us the sausages to review; we seem to live in a wilderness when it come to their chipolatas – they’re not stocked by any supermarket within 40 minutes drive nor available for delivery by any supermarket prepared to deliver to us. Yes, we’re in a small village, but not that remote… We can (and do, regularly) get hold of the standard Black Farmer Premium Pork sausages, but I was particularly pleased to be able to try the chipolatas, because they’re more of a children’s sausage, being slimmer and less demanding.

black-farmers-daughterYears ago, finding gluten free sausages was remarkably difficult. Marks and Spencer stocked them (sometimes), and a farm shop some miles away also stocked some, though they were strongly, and unusually, flavoured – very adult. Getting hold of GF sausages for my children was hard, and always required a special trip. And every single birthday party my daughter went to seemed to involve taking sausages…

In case you’re very new to living gluten free, or live in a country where using rusk in a sausage […]

By |March 17th, 2010|Gluten Free Finds, Living Gluten Free|3 Comments
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Allergy Alert: Sainsbury’s Mandarin Jelly

OK, so like me you’re wondering why on earth there’s gluten in mandarin jelly… There isn’t, of course, but due to a packing error, some packs of Sainsbury’s own brand Mandarin Jelly contain Mandarin Royale (a bit like trifle, with sponge cake at the bottom and cream on top), but the label still says Mandarin Jelly.

This means that some packs, those with a use-by date of 14 March, might not be gluten free. I’m sure you’d notice the cream on top if not the sponge at the bottom. It’s the sponge, of course, that makes it not OK to eat.

Product identification:

Sainsbury’s Mandarin Jelly 172g – (chilled dessert packed in individual, single portion packs)
Use by: 14 March 2010

For more information see the Food Standards Agency.

Sainsbury’s has withdrawn the batch from sale and put up a notice in store to tell consumers. If you’ve bought this product, check it carefully. It might be Mandarin Jelly, as it says on the packet – but it might be Mandarin Royale. Take it back to the store, and they’ll refund your money.

Don’t eat it!

By |March 10th, 2010|Alerts, Living Gluten Free|0 Comments
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Gluten Free Chocolates for Mothering Sunday

Have you remembered Mothers Day?

chocsThis Sunday, 14 March 2010, is Mothering Sunday here in the UK, and if you’re looking for a last minute gluten free present to send through the post, here’s a suggestion: Letter Box Chocolate.

Letter Box Chocolate will send a box of 16 gluten free Belgian chocolates in a letterbox-sized package with a personal message from you.

The chocolates are all gluten free, though they do contain nuts, milk and soya, and the varieties in the box are:

  • milk chocolate and coffee
  • dark chocolate and orange
  • white chocolate and strawberry
  • milk chocolate and praline

Look nice, don’t they?

tiffanyThe idea is that you order online: choose a design for the box, write a personal message, and the Letter Box team put the design, message and chocolates together and post it for you.

Now this seems like a good idea to me: nice and simple, a good range of box designs, the chance to personalise the message – and everyone likes chocolate. Plus: they’re gluten free, and since the box fits through the letter box, there’ll be no need to make a trip to the Post Office to collect a parcel.

The gift costs £8.99, with standard postage in the UK being an extra £1.00, but those of you who don’t live in the UK haven’t been forgotten – the postage will be more, and the delivery times longer, obviously, but you can still send chocolates… even if it isn’t Mothers Day where you live!

And, as a special offer to Free From readers, Letter Box Chocolates are offering a 20% discount:

“Special offer for Free-From.com readers: 20% off of all orders placed […]

By |March 8th, 2010|Living Gluten Free|0 Comments
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In which Sainsburys make me cry again

reading-the-labelI was entertained to be told, last week at the free-from blogger dinner party held by Sainsburys, that one of their customers refers to the Free From aisle as “the library aisle”. I think we all know why, as we check the labels carefully to see if there is something suitable to eat, or whether our choice will make us ill.

Today, as I visited the library aisle yet again, I was once more struggling with a lump in my throat.

They’ve launched their new Free From range, as promised at the blogger meal. Without fanfare, as far as I can see; certainly my local store wasn’t making a big deal of it.

But why not? WHY NOT?

It is a big deal. It is a huge deal. The allocated shelf space must be twice as big, at least. About the same size as the pasta sauces shelving. Yes, that big! And there are a lot of new products, both Sainsburys own Free From brand and external brands, ranging from new breakfast cereal varieties, through cakes and biscuits to breads, and on to ready meals, sauces, mixes and cooking ingredients from stocks to cake decorations.

Choice. It’s all about choice. The reason for the prickles in my eyes and the lump in my throat? That’s because we’re getting to the point where coeliacs can choose what to eat, and it’s all good. Bread with bits? What kind of bits – seeds / onions / sundried tomatoes / rosemary? Brown bread? White bread? Buns? What size and shape do you want your buns? Baguettes? Pitta bread? Naan bread? Ciabatta? Focaccia?

Choice. Free From has grown up enormously over my daughter’s 14-year lifetime. […]

By |March 3rd, 2010|Living Gluten Free, Shopping Gluten Free|3 Comments
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