Michelle’s Top Tips For Going ‘FreeFrom’ When You're Vegan

30 March 2017

You have decided to go ‘freefrom’ – ‘clean’ food – no gluten, no milk. Maybe it will help you feel less tired, less bloated? Maybe you just think it would be healthier way to eat? Sounds good – but – how easy is this going to be?

Michelle Berriedale Johnson

To help you on your way, here are FreeFrom Food Awards’ director, Michelle’s suggestions:

Label reading!

Your shopping will take longer as you will have to read ingredients labels! But this is relatively easy as ‘major allergens’ (gluten and milk/dairy are both major allergens) are highlighted in bold so are easy to spot.

Breakfast

If all you want is a cuppa you will need some alternative milk – soya, almond or coconut are the nearest to cow. Avoid rice; it is very sweet.

You’ll find plenty of gluten-free mueslis and cereals on the shelves – eat with your alternative milk.

If you want toast

Most supermarkets stock gluten-free sliced bread. Depending on the brand it may taste slightly dry or crumbly – if so, toast it and load on the marmalade and you won’t notice!

If you are really into bread, look for gluten-free artisan loaves or make you own! We had some excellent mixes entered into this year’s awards.)

‘Pick me up’ morning coffee

Most coffee shops now offer a soya capuccino. Most also offer a gluten free brownie but those may not be dairy free and are often not that exciting.

Do without (better for you!) or pick up a gluten free cereal, nut or fruit bar – most are milk free although many are also high in natural, if not added, sugar.

Lunch

Desperate for a sandwich? You can get gf sandwiches but gluten-free wraps really work better and are quite widely available.

Or – buy tasty gluten free oatcakes and crackers. Forget the cheese and try them with a hummus, avocado or taramalasata dip.

Alternatively opt for a healthy salad – or, if you need some carbs – how about some veggie sushi? Or a veggie ready meal? You can get excellent take away veggie bean pots which are seriously filling.

Tea break?

Gluten-free cakes are widely available and delicious – but it is harder to find cakes that are both gluten and dairy free. So abandon the cake and go for biscuits. Not all of them are made with butter!

Supper/dinner

The simplest way to go gluten and dairy free and super ‘clean’ is to stick with vegan sources of protein and two veg.

Grill or fry with coconut or olive oil, slow cook your casseroles so that they create their own gravy, which does not need thickening, steam your veg and drizzle with olive oil.

If you crave pasta – no problem. Dozens of excellent gf pastas available and you can get good dairy free pestos and good savoury sprinkles to use instead of parmesan.

Pudding? Fruit – fresh or cooked. Mix gluten free oats with some broken walnuts or pine nuts for a crunchy crumble topping.

Lots of great soya, coconut and cashew-nut based ‘ice creams’ all of which are gluten and dairy free – or how about a square or two of dairy free raw chocolate – or a dairy free chocolate truffle.

Good luck!!

Michelle Berriedale Johnson - March 2017

Director FreeFrom Food Awards

http://www.freefromfoodawards.co.uk

And now a shout out to some of the vegan winners from the FreeFrom Food Awards this week:

Tesco Free From Garlic Baguette