Gluten-free snacks and brands I love

So, over the past few months I’ve written a couple of posts about shifting my diet towards a gluten- and dairy-free approach. I’m not going to pretend this is because of any pseudo intolerances or allergies. I was just inspired by Natasha Corrett and Vicki Edgson’s cookbook, Honestly Healthy and started off deciding to swap some of my meals and snacks for their gluten/dairy-free, and alkalising alternatives as a more gentle, nutrition-conscious way of fuelling my body.

Quite frankly, a life without pizza, cake, crisps and chips is one I’m not willing to live, but now we’ve perfected amazing spelt pizzas (with no wheat bloat – hurrah!), incredible sweet potato chocolate brownies (so fudgy and intense), kale crisps and cajun sweet potato wedges, which satisfy my ‘chip’ cravings. Zero feelings of ‘missing out’, but also zero guilt about binging on junk food. Win, win!

Gone are the days when I was hung up on the fat and calorie content of the foods I eat. Now, all I focus on is a/ what nutritional benefits does this give my body? b/ is there anything in here that is crap for my body? c/ how does it make me feel?

C/ is the most important here. As soon as I started asking myself this question honestly, I soon realised that wheat-based breads, cakes, biscuits, pasta etc were all making me feel bloaty, uncomfortable and tired. Ditto sugary sweets were giving me an almost drunk feeling of light-headedness and woozy, headachey ‘come-down’. Which made cutting them out a no-brainer, who wants to actively inflict that on themselves?!

On the flip side, since I’ve started juicing and exploring some gluten-free snack brands I’ve noticed a boost in energy levels, a calmer (and flatter) tummy and just much more settled hunger levels. Whereas before I would get starving hungry, then eat waaaay too much and be uncomfortably full, now I am eating smaller, more regular meals and snacks so never get that ‘open the fridge and devour whatever I can lay my hands on’ feeling. Which, I always find leads to me eating crap, and a lot of it.

I’m gradually developing some recipes of my own, using some basic switches from conventional baking recipes – the vanilla cashew cream I posted about has been a godsend in lieu of dairy cream in patisserie style recipes – and I’ll post these as I perfect them.

Until then I thought I’d just show you what I bought this morning during a quick stop off at the local health food store on my morning bike ride.

Cofresh chickpea/lentil chips – a US brand, these are naturally gluten-free, come in amazing flavours (I love the chilli and lemon, and the creamy dill) and a big bag is only 1g sat fat, and around 170kcal. As a HUGE crisp addict these have been one of my favourite finds. The ingredients list is all basic, ‘real’ food. No crap.

Clive’s pies – This is a Devon-based, gluten-free brand that do traditional (but veggie/vegan) pies, as well as pasties, cakes… basically when I want ‘stodge’ but not crap stodge, these are perfect. I adore the Greek lentil and olive pie with a big tabbouleh salad.

Co Yo – I wish these dairy-free, coconut yoghurts weren’t so ruinously expensive (ditto coconut water). They are SO GOOD but at £1.99 for an individual pot, something of a treat. The pineapple is like a pina colada and the raw chocolate one is a-mazing.

Let me know in the comments below of any other great brands I should look out for!