A couple of months ago I did my first post on what I had planned to be a regular blog on 'Life as a student with coeliac disease', as i had recently started university. Well that was an absolute fail! I really wasn't enjoying uni life in the slightest and i've recently dropped out of it. Wasn't an easy decision in the slightest but there wasn't any point in me staying there when i was that unhappy.
ANYWAY, i've decided to really have a good go at making my own gluten free meals because i keep finding myself eating the same stuff all the time and it's starting to get really boring. Has anyone made their own gluten free pizza before? I know supermarkets do their own gluten free pizza bases but they look really bland! Any ideas?
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Coeliac_Copper
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Hi Coeliac_Copper was meaning to nudge you and see how Uni life was. Sorry to hear you dropped out. Do remember that not all unis are the same - I hated my trendy hard to get into one and transferred to a different northern one and felt heaps better. So have a break but don't give up - a different uni/ course/ people etc you may love it. Hope you find something else to keep the brain ticking over and the wallet healthy soon.
Ref Pizzas - I fall into the can't cook category. My recommendations are Fria Pizza bases from Scandinavian Kitchen in London (Fria supply GF pizza bases to Pizza Hut in Sweden!). If that's too far to travel look out for Bel's pizza in Waitrose. Dead easy to make and tasty! isabelsfreefrom.co.uk/online/
Have you considered starting your own business and making GF pizzas? There's lots of funding still around for young business people. Your local college can advise. Worth a look esp things like Shell Live wire etc.
Bit of a long story but the uni i went to and the course i did was a bit of a gamble to be honest, i had originally planned to do something in nutrition but no uni's accepted my type of science A level (applied science as opposed to biology) and with the fee's going up i wanted to go for something else... but it didn't work out!
I have been thinking for the past few years that i'd like to start something like my own restaurant or food chain that does gluten free food as well as catering for other allergies! So it is something i have been thinking about, eating when you are out and about is the thing i probably struggle with most as a coeliac so it'd be good to do something about it!
Thank you for the advice on pizza's, i've tried the waitrose one before, it's probably the best gluten free pizza i've had to be fair but i still wasn't too keen on it And thank you for the advice, extremely helpful as ever
PS: We've tried the frozen DS marguerritta pizza and added toppings that we like. They've introduced a new style pizza which tastes a bit like we remember stone ground tasting. So just buy your fav toppings and throw them on top
That's a good way of explaining the taste! I'll have to try adding my own toppings to the marguerritta :), I've tried the pepperoni one but found that had a really bad after taste!
Sorry to hear you dropped out of Uni - but as already pointed out, they are not all the same and sometimes, age and mindset also play a role - I was 26 with a toddler in tow when I went to Uni and loved it so much, I ended up staying nearly 11 years with a few gaps inbetween - 4 years full-time for my HND and Degree and the remainder part-time for my Masters and teacher training.
One to Pizza's - DS do a range of frozen pizzas which are not bad at all - I tend to add my own ingredients over and above theirs.
Also - Asda will make you a "Create your own" if you take them a a DS Base sold in-store - our local shop gives you 6 toppins for the price of 4, so yes, a little more expensive as you have to pay for the bases - but definitely nice for a treat every now and again - and I can truthfully say, you would never know you were eating a GF base once cooked.
I get DS or Glutafin pizza bases on prescription and make my own pizzas at home with them. I never used to like pizza before I was diagnosed, and neither did my daughter. Now we both love them, but only when we make them ourselves. I take a pizza base (they are a bit like thin and crispy ones) and spread it with Napolina Pizza Topping, then sprinkle with grated Mozzarella cheese (both available in all supermarkets). I then put all sorts of toppings depending on what's in the fridge, so could be ham, chicken, mushrooms, sweetcorn, tomatoes, baby spinach, fresh mozzarella, etc. Then I usually top off with a few dollops of pesto. Bake for 15-20 mins, cut in half (never eat a whole one!!) and eat with a big salad. . If you can't get or don't like the pizza bases, try it on a halved roll, muffin or baguette. Delicious.
Hi, sorry to hear you had a bad experience at Uni. As Fiona and Swarthy say, they aren't all the same. It might be worth looking into the degree courses run by colleges, especially local ones. Many local colleges have awards which are affiliated to red brick (and met) universities, they really want the students and they may operate on a more part-time basis if that suits.
Hi coeliaccopper and good to hear from you.If you were that unhappy then you've made the right decision for you at this moment in time.
If you want to go into catering for coeliac and others on special diets why not do a baking course and learn the art of gf baking and make your own pizza bases. You could start off with a delivery gf pizza service thus cutting initial costs and it's something that could grow and expand into a resteraunt. The other thing worth considering is mobile catering for at festivals/events as I bet there's an opening there and you could enjoy the music at Glastonbury etc at the same time.
I'd find an Italian pizza parlour near you that does gf piza's and check out their pizza's and then think well if they can do this then so can you. And good luck with this as you are the right age to be looking at ventures like this.
Hi, well there is life after university! I never went to uni when younger (all my mates did) and just got into a job instead. A number of them dropped out, some stayed the course. Long term I don't think it harmed me other than that some recruitment companies reject your CV automatically if they do not spot a degree (more fool them). I am now a Director of a medium sized (and growing) company so if you have the motivation you can still get there! I started to do a degree at the age of 40 (part time) and have now done 2 years of it. Put final year on hold as my job is full-on!
Being a student and coeliac must be a bit tricky! Understand the challenge of low income and large swathes of cheap food which students normally live on being full of gluten! Would be interested to hear how you dealt with it.
Hey Coeliac Copper check these out ion.ac.uk/ they do part time nutrition courses - often at the weekends. Handy for a taster to see if you like it - I've been on a few v good! Plus citylit.ac.uk/courses/healt... so I bet there are some local colleges to you that offer similar courses. I've alway found that if you can do something you love or inspires you it doesn't feel like work ; )
Thank you all for the kind words regarding uni! I am gutted it didn't work out there, but leaving was definitely the right decision. Saying that though it definitely hasn't put me off forever and it's good to know quite a few others have done degrees later on in life!
Thanks for that link Fiona, i'll give that a look and see if there's any of those courses near me!
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And thank you for the advice, extremely helpful as ever 
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