A weekend filled with gluten free bread!

For those of you have followed my blog, you’ll know that I don’t really eat bread at all anymore. My meals seem to consist of meat or fish and vegetables, but every now and then I just crave some bread. So this weekend I went a little bit overboard! Sandwiches two days and in a row and the best garlic bread I’ve ever had!

Although I’ve now relegated myself back to a bread-free zone, I enjoyed having a break from the norm and thought it was only fair I share it with you all! Gluten free bread has come a long way since my first days as a coeliac. It used to be so solid you could build a house with it, but now there’s so much choice and most varieties are easy on the palette.

Grabbing a gluten free Caffe Nero sandwich on-the-go

I started my weekend by grabbing lunch on the go in Barnstaple’s Caffe Nero on Saturday. I had hoped to get a Marks and Spencer sandwich but it seems that now they have Christmas goodies in the ‘on the go’ section, gluten free sandwiches have been pushed aside (but that’s another story/rant). Suddenly I had a brain wave – Cafe Nero released a gluten free chicken and pesto roll earlier this year which I hadn’t yet tried, and it seemed the perfect opportunity had just presented itself.

I was pleased to see they, unlike M&S, actually had some gluten free sandwiches in stock, so I grabbed one for the slightly costly price of £3.50. I don’t know how this compares to a normal priced sandwich – perhaps it isn’t that expensive after all – but it certainly seemed it at the time!

The roll was very tasty – the Genius gluten free bread roll was soft despite being kept in the refrigerator – and the filling was generous. This reminded me of the chicken and pesto sandwich Starbucks used to do. I love pesto mayo, it’s one of my all time favourite sandwich additions, and I thought the combination of this with the chicken and fresh tomato was just delicious.

Mouth watering home-made garlic bread

Next on the bread menu was home made garlic bread – possibly one of the all time best comfort foods in the world. For this, I enlisted the help of Newburn Bakehouse’s gluten free white baguettes. I LOVE these. They just look like REAL bread! I love the shape, I love the flavour, I love the texture – I just love, love, love them!

I picked the two-pack up from Sainsbury’s and stuff them with garlic butter made of butter, garlic (obviously), oregano and a little lemon juice. I made sure there was plenty of filling to it was literally dripping with melted butter after 15 minutes in the oven. The best thing about this? I got to have a whole baguette to myself while everyone else had to share theirs!

Sarah one, Gluten Eaters nil.

A proper gluten free ‘sub’

I have banned my boyfriend Subway. Or at least, when I’m there. I can’t stand it – the torture of the tantalising smell when you walk past, the gluten-filled delights and stuffed baguettes I see people stuffing into their faces. It just makes me sick with jealously.

So this is another reason why I love the Newburn Bakehouse baguettes, because I can finally make myself a stuffed-to-the-brim ‘sub’ which makes me feel ‘normal’. To use the second of my baguettes, I waited until Sunday lunch time then raided the fridge.

I decided to warm the bread in the over (5 mins at 200 degrees) before filling with thick slabs of brie, a drizzle of sweet chilli sauce, spicy pepperoni and ripe, squishy avocado. It was simply divine. I gobbled the lot down in one without a second glance!

Back to reality

So now it’s back to my ‘no bread’ lifestyle, though I have enjoyed a weekend of gluttony and indulgence. I don’t think I could ever eat bread all the time – it does tend to make me feel bloated and stodgy and I’m quite happy avoiding it. But when I fancy a treat there’s nothing better than hot bread dripping with garlic butter – especially now the cold winter nights are drawing in

Do you eat gluten free bread regularly or do you avoid it? What do you fill your baguettes and rolls with? Comment below with your suggestions – you never know, you may convince me to have a bread-y weekend again sooner rather than later!