Whenever I take on a Gluten Free, Wheat Free & Oat Free diet I cry to myself each morning when I can’t have my Oat Bran on Rice Milk breakfast. So in my recent desperation I hit the shops in search for a Gluten Free (Oat & Wheat Free too) equivalent to Oat Bran. Note: Many Gluten Free people can tolerate Oat Gluten which is a different ‘strain’ of Gluten (Gliadin being the primary culprit found in wheat & the likes) but word on the street is that even if you can tolerate the Gluten found in Oats, it is very difficult to get Oats
uncontaminated by Wheat due to manufacturing cross-contamination and even just cross-contamination in the field where it is grown! - I have actually seen this myself: a lovely field of wheat with these random huge stocks of oats scattered throughout or visa-versa blown in the wind from one crop to another)...So, what did I come up with you ask?
Well, during my search I had a moment of blissful excitement in the
Hopsack when I fell upon a box of
Ener-G Rice Bran (also available in
Down to Earth)!! It wasn’t really being marketed for cereal usage but I tried it anyway... (note: it does suggest to
add the rice bran to hot or cold cereal for extra fibre).
Ingredients: Rice Bran -Free of All Allergens other than Rice, of course.
Normally (& if you can tolerate oats I highly recommend this!) I cook 1 part oat bran (1/2 a cup per person) to 3 parts simmering rice milk (1.5 cups) stirring for only 2 - 3 minutes. I put it into a bow & add extras to my hearts content, such as pea protein, ground flax seeds, ground sunflower seeds and ground pumpkin seeds with a handful of frozen blueberries. I stir it all up and eat it with calm, quiet content. So I did the exactly same with my Rice Bran, only my added extras were chopped pumpkin seeds, chopped almonds, ground flax seeds and pea protein powder (no blueberries). It technically worked. The end result wasn’t overly appetizing looking as it has a bit of a green tint but with the ground flax seeds and pea protein I got it to a nice thickness. The biggest problem was that the rice bran is ground too finely so the end result becomes a bit too gloopy and smooth for my liking.
I ate it and thought it to be OK but longed for my blueberries and decided that I would only make half a bowl next time. The other downfall was that it’s NOT very financially viable at €4-5 for a box with only 227g. I think I’ll stick to using the rice bran in baking, as recommended, but if I cry too much one morning I know it’s there...
Alara ‘into the garden’ Gluten Free Active Organic Muesli: At first F. and I weren’t overly impressed. The milk (rice milk) made the cereal look like quicksand because all the tiny puffs instantly floated to the top which made it look disturbingly dense. We both felt that the apple juice sweetener was a bit tangy and overall were not instantly loving the experience... however, I was left with the box and I hate to waste food so I continued to eat it over the next couple days and ended up sort of liking it. There’s loads going on in it and although it’s easy to eat, unlike most muesli, I found it nice to give each bite a really good chew to release all the flavour. I would tag it as more of an acquired taste and not for people who want the very sugary mainstream cereals. If you are trying to refrain from sugars you’ll know how hard it is to find a cereal or muesli naturally sweetened or isn’t loaded down with dried fruits [which normally speaking I would love ;)] let alone a Gluten Free one! But 5 bowls later (about 6-7 generous portions in a box) I found myself buying another box!
P.S. If you care about packaging, this one comes in a really uplifting happy healthy bright box which says ‘Welcome the Sun’ on the opening flap. The whole experience made me feel healthy and earthy, in a good way! :) I got mine in
Nolan’s Food Fare in Terenure for €4.69.
- Gluten Free
- Wheat Free
- Oat Free
- Dairy Free
- Free from Added Sugar
- Corn Free
- Coconut Free
- Soya Free (note: ‘produced in a factory that handles soy)
- Vegan
- Vegetarian
- Organic
Allergen Warnings: Contains nuts and sesame seeds. Produced in a factory that handles Peanuts and Soy.
Ingredients: quinoa flakes, sesame seeds, apple juice, puffed amaranth, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, raw buckwheat, golden linseeds, dried apple pieces, brazil nut pieces, puffed quinoa.
Kelkin Gluten Free Muesli: Yuck. It was similar to what I imagine chewing on wood chips to be like. F. and I had it on unsweetened Soya milk, which didn’t exactly help but F. put loads of sugar on it too, and still hated it. I liked the sweetness from the raisins but the flakes were so crunchy and crispy that it was more of a chore to eat than a pleasure. However, I think that Rice milk, or sweetened milk of some sort would benefit it as well as perhaps warm milk (actually recommended on their website) which would soften the texture. They also suggest yoghurt. If you are a regular buyer do share why you buy it and and what you like about it because what suits me might not suit everyone, and
and I’m always interested to hear other people’s opinions!
- Gluten Free
- Wheat Free
- Oat Free
- Dairy Free
- Free from Added Sugar
- Corn Free
- Coconut Free
- Soya Free (note: ‘produced in a factory that handles soy)
- Vegan
- Vegetarian
Allergen Warnings: Contains nuts and seeds.
Ingredients: rice flakes, sultanas, millet flakes, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, linseed, almonds, hazelnuts.
