Christmas is the time of year where all notions of eating well are traditionally thrown aside and everyone indulges a little (or a lot!). Every family has their own traditions aswell which can be a challenge if you are a coeliac or you’re cooking for one. In my house one of our annual treats is my Mum’s homemade sausage rolls. Mine have to be made separately but I can still enjoy a few rolls using the DS frozen pastry and one of the many varieties of GF sausage on the market (Clonakilty, Hodgkins, M&S, Superquinn…).
The traditional dinner doesn’t pose a huge problem usually aside from the obvious potential of some accompaniments like gravy or stuffing. If you’re cooking for a coeliac and are not one yourself, a post on cooking for coeliacs I put together earlier in the year might help!
For me, the little treats are things I most look forward to as Christmas isn’t Christmas without a bit of grazing. With that in mind, my top picks are
Delicious Gluten Free Bakery – Christmas range
I met Clodagh of the Delicious company at the Dunnes Cornelscourt event earlier this year and she kindly offered to send me a few bits in the post. Delicious were my first experience of being able to have a gluten free treat on the run as very shortly after being diagnosed I ended up in the middle of the country in a random petrol station which stocked their brownies. I have sampled their mince pies and christmas cake already (Pictured above) and both were, to pardon the pun, delicious. There are quite a few companies doing gluten free christmas ranges but I really believe in supporting Irish companies where possible and it helps that the food is lovely. My mum is a mince pie fanatic as well as being a non coeliac and even she was raving about the quality and texture of the mince pies.
I’m a savoury person and genuinely would prefer a giant bag of crisps over a selection box. Since Keoghs launched their crisp range they have really made my crisp habit a lot easier with the clear gluten free labelling on the applicable flavours . They even have a Turkey and Stuffing flavour out for the Christmas season. Oh yeah, and they’re Irish!
Multiple flavours of pork stuffing, party food including mini chicken kievs and asian chicken bites, breaded fish….the only place to get your savoury gluten free grub on. It’s not cheap but hey, it’s christmas!! All gluten foods are clearly labelled.
Aldi’s nuts and chocolate
Whether you’re whipping up a batch of brownies or swearing to yourself that you’re just going to have one more handful of  nuts – Aldi’s the place to go. The coeliac society have kept us informed throughout the year of additions and changes to what’s GF – Moser Roth and Clancy’s mixed nuts (pictured above) are still good to go.
The usual suspects
If you’re a member of the coeliac society you will have received the Christmas goodie list with favourites such as Quality Street, Almondy frozen desserts, Roses (very low gluten), Haribo…the list goes on.
If anyone has any other handy tips or ideas for Christmas goodies be sure and let me know!
