Eating Smart – a wonderful new Gluten Free Magazine

Before being diagnosed coeliac nearly 4 years ago I used to love spending hours flicking through food magazines. Drooling over stunning photos of caramel drizzled cakes, crusty loaves of bread and crisp pastry topped pies and puds. After being diagnosed my love for them faded. I still enjoyed looking at the photos, but it was now more of a longing torment, “look at all the delicious things you can no longer eat” the photos seemed to imply. I did adapt some of the recipes to be gluten free, and enjoyed the challenge, but it involved extra effort and often didn’t turn out quite as hoped. Page after page of banned foods led to heartache. So imagine my delight when I was recently contacted by Woman & Home magazine to ask me if I would like to receive a copy of their new sister magazine Eating Smart, a food magazine brimming with delicious recipes that were all gluten and/or dairy free. Would I?? Yes please!!!

Last Saturday morning at the bleary eyed time of 8am there was a knock on the door and a delivery man handed me a hefty parcel which turned out to contain the new magazine and a whole assortment of different gluten and dairy free goodies to enjoy. What a lovely start to the weekend.

Amongst the goodies were a selection of cereal and snack bars – something a coeliac should never venture out without, for all those emergency snacking needs. I’m a big fan of Eat Natural bars but also included were a couple of Honeybuns slices, a brownie from Rollys Brownies a company I have not heard of before and a minty dairy free chocolate moo free bar.

The savoury bits included Rude Heath corn thins, Metcalf’s chocolate mini rice cakes (they make yummy popcorn too), a packet of chia seeds (always wanted to try these), some Eat Natural oat free muesli and a little sachet of Miso Tasty soup that I took to work – yum!

A final few goodies included Sacla gluten & dairy free pesto (I loved this as I don't actually like Parmesan cheese), coconut water, a gluten free oat milk substitute and a bottle of Sweet Freedom choc shot. I think I’m set for treats and goodies for a few weeks!

The magazine itself was brilliant, it looked just like a regular magazine. A proper full size complete with glossy front cover, stunning photos and tempting sounding recipes. There were some very informative pages at the beginning with hints and tips on gluten free and dairy free diets, perfect for those newly diagnosed or for their friends and family who want to cook something special for them, and maybe feel a little nervous about getting it wrong.

I settled down in my pajamas and spent a very happy hour reading the magazine and nibbling on a few of the treats. The Almondi cookie from Honeybuns was very nice. Good nutty flavour from the hazelnuts and almonds used as the base, crisp on the outside and a little moist and chewy in the centre. I wasn’t so keen on the fat strips of candied orange and orange oil in the mix though, as it rather overpowered the almond flavour.

Next was the brownie from Rolly’s. This had the classic thin crisp top crust and was wonderfully moist and fudgy in the middle. It had a rich chocolate flavour and felt very treat worthy. This too was also flavoured with orange, but it didn’t overpower the chocolate too much. You definitely couldn’t tell this was gluten free. (After a bit of research I’ve discovered they make gluten and non gluten free brownies in a variety of flavours).

With summer hinting at being on the way I will definitely be trying Hugh’s recipe for tahini dressed courgette & green bean salad – look how fresh and vibrant it looks! Perfect for a BBQ or picnic lunch.

There are also plenty of desserts included. I’m longing to try these divine looking profiteroles and rich chocolate cheesecake. I’ve tried making gluten free profiteroles once before by adapting a ‘normal’ recipe and they were a bit of disaster, so having a tried and tested gluten free recipe to try is brilliant!

I was delighted with Eating Smart magazine and loved how it contained real recipes for ‘normal’ food rather than only those which are naturally gluten free. Every recipe looked fresh and inviting and was the kind of food that I would want to eat and would inspire me to cook. It was informative without being condescending and as every recipe was either gluten and/or dairy free it should be suitable for a wide variety of people – not just those with coeliac disease. Do keep a look out for it – I know I’m going to be a regular reader.

Note: Even though I was sent the magazine and goodies for free, I was not required to write a good review and the thoughts are my own.