Foccacia Rolls - Yeast Free

I have been lucky enough to receive a promotional copy of another one of Carol Fensters books which is published by Avery, a division of Penguin Books. I did receive a copy of Carol's earlier book, Gluten Free- Quick and Easy, you can see the review here. I still use some of the recipes from that book to this day, but this book I believe would be a great addition to any gluten free cook's library, it includes all those dishes that you have avoided for ages, because they have small amounts of flour in sauces for example!

This recipe is based on the Quick-Bread Foccacia on page 34. The only adaption I have made is to make rolls instead of one larger bread. I have also used a pre-mixed flour blend instead of using Carol's blend - both were similar!

I will also make the Foccacia bread with yeast over the next couple of weeks, to compare the two! OK for me as I don't have a problem with yeast, but for those of you that do ... try this! Even better, buy the book, as there are other yeast-free recipes



2 cups gluten-free bread flour mix (I used Doves, but there is a bread flour mix in the book)
2 tsp sugar or honey
2 tsp xanthium gum
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp unflavoured gelatin powder
1 tsp baking powder
1 1/4 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp onion salt
1 tsp dried rosemary and thyme
1/4 tsp potato flour (not starch)
2 large eggs
1 cup low fat milk
2 tbsp olive oil + a few sprays of 1 cal per spray olive oil
Pinch Italian seasoning

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees
Line 4 4 " individual cake tins with baking parchment
In a large bowl add all the dry ingredients
Mix all the wet ingredients in a 1 pint jug
Slowly add the the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, mix thoroughly to combine - you should have a sticky, slightly wet dough
Divide between the cake tins, spray the top of the dough with the 1 calorie per spray olive oil and sprinkle with the dried Italian seasoning
Bake in the oven for approximately 11 minutes

The Ketogenic Diet for Control of Epilepsy in Paediatic Patients and a Gluten Free Diet

As the mother of a son with Tonic Clonic Epilepsy there have been many trials and triumphs along what has at times been a very difficult journey ...

Getting a diagnosis of epilepsy for some forms of epilepsy can sometimes be difficult. Once you have a diagnosis you move onto the treatment phase, trying to reduce or stop the seizures. For many people with epilepsy good control can be achieved, sadly this isn't always the case. So for some starts the battle to get as good a control as is possible

For people in the UK struggling with any form of Epilepsy, there has always been somebody at the end of the phone for me at Epilepsy Action. They provide leaflets and general information at all of the Neurological Centres of Excellence

Sometimes the need for information can be strong, when it was strongest, I logged onto my computer, accessed the internet, and did a Google-search. Hey presto! I found Brain-Talk (now known as Neuro Talk). Neuro Talk is an online community for people with all sorts of neurological disorders, providing forums for people to communicate their problems and their solutions. It was here that I discovered that I wasn't the only mother isolated by chronic neurological disease in their child. They helped me to find a way through, both for myself and for my son. They also opened my eyes to the possibility of manipulating epilepsy with diet, which I duly did, a relaxed form of the Ketogenic Diet that was fairly low in Gluten

The Ketogenic Diet is getting a lot of press here at the moment, due to the results of clinical trials in London. It is not new, it was developed in the 1920's. Paediatric epilepsy patients in the USA were using the diet, or a form of the diet at least ten years ago, that I know of, some with good results. It was developed to help with seizures in paediatric patients for whom seizure control is the most difficult. It is a very strict regime with increased levels of fats, normal levels of proteins and minimal levels of carbohydrates (naturally gluten low)

If you want to know more about one woman's true life struggle with her son's epilepsy, you could do much worse than watch the film, First Do No Harm, starring Meryl Streep. It follows a mothers journey from her sons diagnosis of a severe form of epilepsy through to the eventual trial on the Ketogenic Diet. It is released by The Jaffe/Braunstein Films Ltd Production Company and I acquired it as a giveaway from the Daily Mail




I was as a result of the Ketogenic Diet and Neuro Talk, that I eventually started to resolve my own food issues. I knew I was ill at the time, but had other issues to deal with! As a result of being low in gluten on a relaxed form of the Ketogenic diet I released why I was being sick all the time. It later got to the point where I couldn't tolerate gluten at all .... but that is another story!

I believe that some epilepsy patients do rather well on a gluten free diet!

Food for Thought :)

Noodles, Noodles, Noodles ... with a Free Giveaway of GF Soba Noodles!

Following on from the comments on my noodle recipe.

I loved being able to eat noodles after such a long time of not eating them. I still remember those days when I used to go to noodle bars in London and eat beautifull noodle dishes in stunning sauces, without giving a thought to food allergies. Then along came food allergies! And so I looked unsuccessfully for some good gluten free noodles, unsuccessfully! That was then and this is now. I have found some gluten free noodles

So ...

I have a few 250 g packs of buckwheat soba noodles, with the ingredients listed as buckwheat and salt only. Although there is a rider that states 'may contain traces of gluten', which is standard UK to cover manufacturers against contamination as they use gluten containing products in other lines

If you cant get gluten free soba noodles and would like a pack, hook out your best noodles recipe, post it to your blog by 31st May. Email me or leave me a message in the comments to this post, with the link and I'll publish the recipes as soon after that as I can. I'll also send noodles to the best recipes

Fruity Granola in Clusters

One of my sons has been real sick recently and has just been discharged from the hospital. He suffers from one of the neuro conditions that has a connection with celiac disease, so any time he is sick, it is a fairly big deal.

For a few days there I was living life in the worried and tearful lane ... it's at times like this that I resort to comfort food, definitely nothing complicated! If you'd been around here, you would even have seen me resorting to egg and chips ... me ... I don't even like eggs that much!

My son is recovering and so am I, so I decided to make some granola (still only eating comfort food). This time I wanted to try and get it into clusters, and surprise, surprise, this is in clusters!



2 cups jumbo oats
1 cup puffed rice
1 cup flaked rice
Handful dried blueberries
Handful dried cherries
Handful raisins
Handful red skinned peanuts
2 handfuls walnuts, chopped
120 g runny honey
120 g sunflower oil
1 tbsp maple butter


Preheat the oven to 190 degrees

In a large mixing bowl, add the oats, puffed rice and rice flakes, stir to combine. Add the fruits and nuts, stir to combine. Add honey, sunflower oil and maple butter, stir to combine

Tip the contents of the bowl into two large roasting tins, cook in the preheated oven for 30 minutes, stirring at least a couple of times during the cooking period

Leave to cool, then put into a storage container until breakfast time