Your help needed! Wheat free bread!!

Wow thanks for all your comments!!! - hubby can have gluten - its the wheat he cant have so thankfully its slightly less restrictive. We have tried the Doves bread flour to make bread quite a few times but sadly it came out very dense, didnt rise at all - might have to put a raising agent into it even though the packet didnt advise it. We currently as I type have a spelt loaf in the oven which we have made today - no wheat so hopefully it will be an improvement on the shop bought ones! Its certainly looking good!
Going to have to try some pastry too using it as he is missing having a pie! lol bless!!

Have been eating the GF porridge oats (much more expensive of course), so will get DD1 to try them as she loves porridge, and found the Black Farmer sausages and debbie and andrew's harrogate sausages which are good.
I did try a cereal I liked called mesa sunrise, like a sort of hard cornflake.
I seem OK with one crumpet, but of course DD1 can' t eat even one.
Will check the stock cubes and find gf ones, they are available, and usually use cornflour for thickening.
I will compile a list of all these tips and suggestions, thanks!

It's a whole new re-think on food shopping!

Rose, I make the Helen's white one in the breadmaker but the brown was awful and not much better in the oven.

Phil Vickery has breadmaking flour mix recipe in one of his books but it's quite a pain to acquire all the ingredients and to measure and mix it.

M&S do a nice bloomer but their crumpets are appalling. Their lemon cake is also good but my (ok, Delia's) Victoria sponge is so much nicer than theirs.

You can also get GF porridge oats but the other GF cereals are, in my opinion, a waste of [quite a lot] of money! I always serve GF pasta and no one has passed a comment ....yet!

Some of Sainsbury's TTD sausages are GF and so are some 'Black Farmer' ones. Tesco sell GF black pudding and McCains really expensive frozen chips are GF. Yesterday I discovered DS frozen white rolls - I'll let you know about those!!

I've got to the stage of only eating bread products that are readily available and not faffing about otherwise.

Have you tried making it in a breadmaker, roses, or is it easy to use like making a cake?
Will try a selection before DD1 arrives. Thank you. I must say if I feel bloated or have a tummy ache I tend to avoid it for a while and I am sure my energy levels go up.

Nothing seems as nice though , gluten feee pasta is not as good either.

I have been baking with Dove flour for years as various family members do not eat wheat/gluten and I feel better myself if I don't. Dove flour makes great cakes, scones and pancakes.However I buy Free From rolls from Tesco,cut each roll into 3 pieces and toast them.Perfectly ok this way, but not eaten fresh [yuk.]Luckily there are so many things on the market now that weren't available years ago. If you use Dove flour [bread flour?] when breadmaking, there is also gluten free baking powder to add.There will always be a big difference to the taste of the bread though, whatever you use.

Joan, our posts must have crossed. SIL would probably love that, he likes continental sausagey things.

Am going to do some research and may practice in the breadmaker, thankyou for all the suggestions.

You could try chestnut bread - several recipes if you Google.
Also cornflour is gluten-free - makes nice biscuits.

Sorry, Joan , but still no wiser, must have led a sheltered life.

We have to read every label carefully when DD1 is coming, and eating out can be a minefield although some of the chains now label items gf on their menus.

Strass is my bad spelling of Strasburg, a German style cold sausage. It is a bit garlicky.

Gluten is in lots of unexpected places:
Worcester sauce
Soy sauce
Some crisps
Most frozen chips
Loads of ready meals
Most stock cubes
Most commercial soups
Baking powder

I can't really shop in aldi as they have very little stuff with no gluten in

gluten is in some gravy powders, there are a lot of good gluten free recipes on the net

But what is Strass, Joan [numpty emoticon]

rosequartz asked me:'What is strassburg spread joan?'

Well, this is a perfect example of not getting the punctuation right. I meant strassburg, spread with cream cheese, ie a slice of strass used like a cracker with cream cheese on it.

My oven's hopeless! However Delia's recipes usually work, except for the scones which look lopsided and cracked (not due to her recipe I'm sure). Rarely make anything like that these days, sadly, unless I am in a baking mood like Bod's Aunt Flo.

I can do the Victoria sandwich and I'm working on the scones! Delias all in one sponge is good!!

You're right, kitty, or a yummy slice of fresh Victoria sandwich filled with just raspberry jam! With sugar on the top. Or scones, jam and clotted cream.

I have found that it's quite easy to avoid wheat and gluten once you get into the swing but there is no substitute for a lovely slice of fresh bread with soup or cheese or jam [sad[

Yes, don't think I have the same problem as DD1 but have been feeling bloated and had a stomach ache all afternoon after 1.5 slices of 'fresh' crusty bread for lunch. I do feel better if I avoid it, but with everyone here today it was quick and easy.
What is strassburg spread joan?

I decided to stop eating wheat, and discovered you just don't need to eat bread. I do have some almond flour recipes for nut bread, but they involve lots of eggs.

For breakfast I have something like fried tomato, mushrooms and bacon or bratwurst plus and egg, as I'm OK with eggs. For lunch I usually have fruit and cheese, or a slice or two of strassburg spread with cream cheese. For dinner it is meat or fish with lots of vegetables, and maybe grapes and brie for afters.

I keep boiled eggs in the fridge, plus cold meat and cheeses for snacks.

Eating a lot of protein means you rarely feel hungry.

So forget bread - it is easy to do without. Anyway, even without wheat intolerance, today's flour is appalling - adulterated with GM flour, soy, and heaven knows what else.

Thankyou kitty, will have a look online. DD1 has to be very careful as wheat seems to be in so many things these days, so have to have a re-think when she comes and read every label. A local shop stocks a few things such as Mrs Crimble's and Tesco have a few things. Haven't seen the crumpets but our local shops are a bit limited in their ranges.

I've bought Helen's on line rose and agree the white is great although the brown was a bit heavy! I bought a scone mix too but haven't used it yet. Genius crumpets are good and the DS ready made pastry is ok!

There is a website called something like the Intolerant Gourmet which has good recipes for all sorts of allergies. Phil Vickery has done a couple of GF cook books and all Delia's cake recipes work equally well with gf flour.

Spelt flour is no good for me at all - I do miss nice bread!

The Gluten Free flatbreads are quite good for wraps. I buy them in Sainsbury but probably available elsewhere!

Pancakes sound good!

Buckwheat flour is gluten free. Not sure about bread but it makes good pancakes.

I will look for that whenim64, thankyou. Will have to practice baking with it first before DD1 comes. The very wellknown gf bread is OK but some of the 'own brand' ones are like sawdust.