Shrove Tuesday is coming up on the 28th. Yes the day we can stuff ourselves with lots and lots of pancakes although here we tend to have pancakes all year around really and I have managed to make myself a nice gluten free batter.

I use a basic pancake batter recipe and really just swap the regular plain flour for a gluten free one, Doves Farm is a good flour to use. In some recipes it advises to add xanthan gum which is a thickening agent and acts a substitute to gluten in most free from recipes but I don't feel the need to add it to this one. So here goes.....

Ingredients

4oz (113g) plain flour (Doves Farm gluten free)
pinch of salt
1 egg
half a pint of milk
oil for frying
sugar, lemon juice to serve. 

If making dairy free pancakes you could use a coconut milk or lactose free variety. You could also use an egg replacer for an egg free pancake.

If making the batter for the family or if I just fancy absolutely loads of pancakes I tend to just double up on the ingredients. It is better to make up the batter and store in the fridge for a while before frying and you can store any batter not used in the fridge to use later. 

Method

Sieve flour and salt into a bowl and make a well in the centre.

Break the egg and beat well with a wooden spoon, whisk or electric hand mixer, gradually adding milk to make a smooth batter.

The batter can be made in a food processor - put the egg and liquid in first and then gradually add the dry ingredients and process for a few seconds.

as an alternative my youngest son always liked the Scotch Pancakes as well......

Ingredients

4oz (113g) self raising flour (Doves Farm gluten free)
2 tbsp caster sugar
1 egg (beaten)
quarter of a pint of milk

Method

Mix flour and sugar in a bowl, make a well in the centre and stir in the egg. Add enough milk to make a batter which resembles the consistency of thick cream.

We tend to enjoy our pancakes in all sorts of different ways, sometimes traditionally with orange or lemon juice and sugar or......

Nutella chocolate spread
Strawberries 
Bananas and honey
Fruit and ice cream
Maple syrup

For my fellow Slimming World folks you are looking at 4.5 syns for a plain pancake and 4 syns for a scotch pancake. I fry mine using fry light spray oil which is free from syns. You could add a Muller Light yogurt (free) and some fresh fruit (free) so it is still possible to enjoy Shrove Tuesday if you save your syns up, maybe just have one pancake as a dessert.

I love pancakes and so glad I can still enjoy them on a gluten free diet. It's taken a bit of practice to get a good batter but this recipe seem to work for me. If you have any top tips or alternative recipes, please leave a comment below.

Which ever way you choose to eat them, enjoy! 

Come back tomorrow for some chat about Autism.........Thank you for reading.

This is my regular meal deal when it comes to wanting something quick, easy, gluten free and Slimming World friendly.

I just need to take better food photos but it tastes fabulous and is so filling.

I can't actually give any amounts as I just usually throw it all together, it's usually a case of how hungry I feel as to how much I make but here goes......


It consists of:

-Gluten Free Pasta Penne (I used Tesco's)
-Tomato Passata or you can use tinned tomatoes and then add tomato puree
-Sweetcorn
-Slimming World Meatballs 
-Chilli flakes
-Garlic
-Italian Herbs
-Cheese (Healthy Extra on Slimming World)

I boil the pasta following the instructions on the packet. (cough cough). Does anyone actually do that unless your boiling pasta for the first time? I really just pour some past into boiling water and wait till it goes soft. I've probably just been boiling pasta that long I don't need the instructions anymore, crikey I'm showing my age now.
I cook the meatballs in my air fryer or the oven will do the same job. (I do follow the instructions on the packet for that).
When the pasta and meatballs are cooked I drain the pasta and then pop all the ingredients into a saucepan and heat them all up and so the pasta is nicely mixed in. Yummy yummy. 

It never fails me this dish and I'm not bored of it yet. On some days I do tend to swap the meatballs for tinned mackerel in tomato sauce or tinned tuna in spring water but you can pop anything in there really. 

The Slimming World range at Iceland is great to give you that syn free option and the sausages, meatballs, onion gravy are gluten free too, just check the ingredients though for all your free from requirements.

All this talk of food makes me hungry so have a go and if there is a great free from meal you can recommend please let me know and I will feature it on 'Free From Friday'

Catch you tomorrow.........

Yes!!! Warburtons make Gluten Free Crumpets and they are not too bad, either. I toasted them and had them with a bit of spread and jam. Well done Mr Warburton, a nice alternative to the gluten free bread which tends to fall apart without the aid of the elasticity gluten provides, but these crumpets stay quite well glued together. I purchased these little babies today from Morrisons who have a price cut on some free from items at present and a packet of 4 cost £1.18, not bad eh? Usually you need a small fortune for free from food which I can't understand why, apart from the special conditions to manufacture but wouldn't it be nice if  the cost could be reduced.

My next delights are The Foodie Market's Chocolate Biscuit Bars from Aldi which are very similar to Rocky Biscuit Bars, nice biscuit surrounded in a thick layer of milk chocolate. They are gluten free and wheat free and for a pack of 5 they cost £1.29. I count them as a syn on Slimming World for 5 syns so not bad for the odd treat on those days I just can't do without chocolate, which is most days really.....oops did I type that out aloud? 

My final choice for this week is Celebrate Health Recipe Base Teriyaki Chicken Stir Fry Sauce. This sauce is gluten free, dairy free, vegan friendly and nut free. I know what you're thinking, well whats in it'? Is there any ingredients left? Well yes I can say there are very tasty ingredients and I think it's one of the nicest sauces I've tasted. I purchased this from Tesco for £1.25 (175g pouch). It is probably a little more than you would pay for the equivalent by Blue Dragon and Tesco's own brand pouches priced at 50p but I think it's going to be a common issue that everything which is 'free from' is going to cost more. There are some of the other less expensive pouches of sauce which are free from some troublesome ingredients if you have got time to peruse the ingredients but I can certainly recommend this one.

After eliminating gluten from my diet I do feel so much better. it was a long process of trying to find what made me feel so uncomfortable and although I tested negative for Coeliac disease I settled for an intolerance. Coeliac disease is an autoimmune condition where the immune system mistakes substances found inside gluten as a threat to the body and attacks them, this can lead to a lot of gut related symptoms.
For me, I'm less tired, and don't suffer from so many headaches now but I certainly can tell when I have been 'gluten'd' as I get symptoms a few hours after eating. It isn't easy and it's by no means for fun or a dieting technique as a lot of gluten free food is actually added with extra calories and sugars to make up for the taste and texture lost compared to gluten alternatives. It's an expensive diet, you get very good at reading labels on food and investigating menus when eating out. 
The delight of going out to a place and finding 'free from' items on the menu is just so exciting, and you could actually 'high five' the establishment for providing food you can eat especially cake.

I will keep this weekly feature updated with food, places to eat out and I will try an include a variety of 'free from' dietary needs. Please feel free to leave any comments with ideas, or recommendations for food and places you may have tried and tested.

Bye for now and catch you for more next Friday.