Resources for living gluten free in Melbourne: Part 2

Yesterday I published Part 1 of my top 25 Resources list; today, here's my favourite cookbooks and retail / products, to finish off the list.

Cookbooks

1. Irrestistables for the Irritable (Sue Shepherd)
Dr Sue Shepherd is one of the local legends in the gluten free and other dietary needs field, and I really like her two cookbooks in this series (there's a sequel, Two Irresistible for the Irritable, that I've also got). Her recipes are mostly simple and I have never had one fail, although there are a few I probably wouldn't attempt. (The lamb pilaf on page 81 of the second book is one of our family's favourite recipes).

2. Coeliac Australia's Gluten Free Recipe Book
As my banana bread post from Monday would attest, I like this book a lot too! The recipes are straightforward and non-fussy, and the section at the start of the book on reading labels and finding substitutions is a good refresher for me and would be invaluable to a newly diagnosed person.

3. The Eat Well Cookbook (Jan Purser & Kathy Snowball)
My brother gave me this book when I was first diagnosed, because he is kind like that :-) It is full of recipes that are both gluten free and dairy free, and contains one of my most triumphantly successful puddings of all time, the light and gorgeous Lemon & Lime Delicious Puddings (p 141).

4. Four Ingredients Gluten free
I know there are mixed views on the Four Ingredients concept, and whether it actually constitutes "cooking" as opposed to, say, "mixing". I am, however, a big fan, especially when pressed for time, and there are some corkers of dinner ideas in here.

5. From My Kitchen to Yours (Sally Wise)
My beautiful friend M gave me this book for Christmas, and I've been greatly enjoying it. I haven't made many things from it yet, but everything I have made has been wonderful.

6. 100 Best Gluten-Free Recipes (Carol Fenster)
This is a treasure of a book, but it's really a cookbook, not a baking book - light on desserts, but full of excellent and delicious main meal ideas.

Retail / Products

1. Absolutely Gluten Free
Located in Werribee, this store is like a mini gluten free supermarket. I cannot begin to tell you what it feels like, as a Coeliac, to walk into a shop where you can choose ANYTHING ON THE SHELF without thinking twice! Owners Carleen and Shane are very knowledgeable and helpful, too, and having this shop within a reasonable proximity makes my life many times easier.

2. Muffin break gf muffins
When a major chain offers regular gluten free options, it's such a big thing for me; to be able to get something when everyone else does is so incredibly nice. Muffin break offers a good selection of gluten free treats and I have never been burned with contaminated product by them, not even once.

3. Macro range (Woollies)
The gluten free component of Woolworths' Macro range (organic / health foods) have been a godsend for me. I've used many products from this range and some of them have my undying devotion (to wit: the sponge cake!)

4. Silly Yaks Gluten Free
Back when I was diagnosed in 2007, mainstream supermarket chains carried little that was gluten free. One of the first product lines I discovered was Silly Yaks' pies, which a local cafe ordered in especially for a customer who was Coeliac. I used to buy the pies in dozens and freeze them, and I enjoyed every mouthful :-) With more options now, I don't spend quite as much on Silly Yaks, but I still think they're among the tastiest of all the g free pie-type products.

5. Orgran
Again, old habits die hard - when I was diagnosed, Orgran was the only pre-mix flour available in supermarkets, and I still like it better than the newer competitors, and still prefer it in my baking, because I know how it behaves! Moreover, Orgran makes a lot of other products that I really like - their crackers and crispbreads high among them.

So that's my top 25 things that I rely on in living gluten free in Melbourne. You input and thoughts are most welcome...