Last night I decided to make a chilli. Haven’t done it for a while. It seems that whenever I have any mince in the fridge I just make a Bolognese for the children. Easy but lazy. I had two packets this time so decided to have a go at multi-tasking and made both. Good job I have seven burners on my range cooker. I think I used all of them doing this. Two massive pans of sizzling beef in ‘sauce’ – moving them round across all of the different sized burners in an attempt to keep them cooking evenly.
I often make two meals at once. If you have got the time to chop and cook, why not make two lots of dinners, so long as you don’t mind eating ‘leftovers’, then it seems like a good idea to me. Meant I didn’t have to cook tonight.
Everyone has their own ‘chilli con carne’ recipe, so I won’t bore you with mine. Needless to say I use gluten free stock cubes and don’t add any cheese anywhere. Obviously, this is a good meal for all the gluten free guys as you usually just serve with rice, or a jacket potato if you are really pushing the boundaries!?!
However, I really like Mexican style dinner parties with (GF)tortillas/wraps, nachos, tacos – the works! That is a bit much for the two of us on a weekday evening but every so often I will serve the chilli in tacos, just for a change. I recently discovered that a lot of the ‘normal’ taco shells on the supermarket shelves are naturally gluten free as they are made from corn and not much else, so they are quite a good all round option. Even better, I just discovered a new ‘shape’!
Alongside the standard Old El Paso taco shells, were some little taco trays or ‘boats’ made by Discovery. I actually prefer the Discovery range of Mexican foods as I think they are more authentic, so was thrilled to see they are being a bit creative. As soon as I saw them I thought they could be a good option to tempt my intolerant child. They are gluten free and dairy free and just the right size for little hands to manage. He is not a chilli lover, but that doesn’t matter. You could put any of his dinners in them.
Everyone always says you eat with your eyes or something, and that is definitely true for children. If they like the look of something they are always more likely to try it. Also involving the children is so important, so letting him ‘fill the boats’ should get him to the table at least. So that is my next mission. Tomorrow evening, I am going to serve the children’s dinners in boats and see how we get on.
any tips to make food less bland?
A question for those who are self-diagnosed gluten sensitive.
Your positive Coeliac stories!
Foods causing insomnia 
How many of you have milk problems?
