There is no love more sincere than the love of food...

So after a few days off the 'blog-sphere' I am back and ready to write!

Today I thought I would write about my aversion to bread. This is a relatively new 'thing' of mine...I would say that I have been trying to avoid bread for almost a year now. I discovered last year after numerous blood tests that I am borderline Coeliac. Not many people really understand what it is to be a Coeliac and everyone who suffers such intolerance's have different symptoms and avoid different things. I can eat as much cake and pasta as I like and be absolutely fine but give me bread and I get a bad tummy.

Over the past year, I have weaned myself off bread and now I no longer really think of including bread within a meal - unless its breadcrumbs which I am fine with for some reason! Breakfast & Lunch became particularly problematic and Dinner just had to be altered slightly. It was incredibly frustrating at first that I couldn't eat bread without getting a tummy ache and when it got to lunchtime I got annoyed because I couldn't have Cheese on Toast or Soup & Fresh Bread or a Sandwich or a Pannini. But over time I have developed new 'lunchtime loves' and instead of all these things am happy tucking into a Pitta Bread Pizza, Soup & Chips or a Wrap Sandwich or Crackers & a Lovely Topping.

The latter is my new obsession! Over Christmas I discovered these beautiful 'flat-bread crackers' and have since been experimenting with various toppings. My favourites have to be; Smoked Mackerel Pate with Cherry Tomatoes and Spinach & Cream Cheese with Smoked Salmon. I know my lunch sounds sooo 'posh' compared to a students regular lunch but I'd rather pay that bit more to be healthier and tummy pain free. 

I definitely recommend you trying to cut out bread and wheat in your diet as I no longer feel like my system is on a go slow and am definitely not as bloated these days!

My Top Recipes for a Gluten Free Lunch 

(Bread Free - not totally suitable for Coeliac's as I am 'ok' with Pitta, Bruschetta etc.)

• Cracker Flat-breads spread with Mackerel Pate with chopped Cherry Tomatoes and spinach laid on top to add a bit of extra flavour.
• Crackers with Cream Cheese and cut up bits of Smoked Salmon & Cracked Black Pepper (which is surprisingly cheap in Morrison's).
• Pitta Bread Toasted slightly, Spread with Passata or Tomato Puree, Covered with Grated Cheese of any sort and Blobbed with Pesto & Basil Leaves and then grilled so it turns into a 'Sort-Of-Pizza'. (Tortilla's can be used instead of Pitta's and work just as well!)
• Tortilla's Baked in the Oven so they 'Crisp Up' and then can be Dipped into Home Made Hummus.
• Butternut squash boiled until soft and then mashed with Soft Cheese & Spread on Bruschettini's (I got mine in M&S) and then topped with Shavings of Parmesan & Spinach Leaves - Add a little extra spice by blobbing Tabasco on top!

Hope that my Tips can help others just like me who discover their body doesn't love bread as much as they do and shows you ways you can save money by not having to buy the expensive gluten free bread!

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