Welcome
Welcome to our autumn newsletter! We hope everyone had the opportunity to make the most of summer to get out and about a bit now that restrictions have been lifted.
We are delighted to share some recommendations from our members of local coeliac-friendly places to eat out, but are always keen to hear from you if there is anywhere else you would recommend. We also have some suggestions for where you can get meal kit deliveries with lots of gluten free options, for those who would appreciate some inspiration when cooking at home.
We know, of course, that things are not yet totally ‘normal’ and this is still restricting what events we are able to plan for the group. We were pleased that our summer picnic was able to go ahead, despite the weather (more details below).
Coeliac UK are still requesting that if we want to have any in-person events we should stick to outdoor activities as much as possible, which will of course become more challenging as the weather changes. We have, however, been given the go-ahead to hold a coffee morning which will be on Wednesday 3rd November (details below) We hope that both old and new members will be able to join us for a chat.
We have also lined up a children's event at Alice Holt later this month, and are keen to arrange further events when Coeliac UK are happy for this to happen – and we need your suggestions! (More details below.)
As always we love to hear from group members, so please email us with any ideas you may have for the group or just drop us a line to say hello, particularly if you are new to the group. You can contact us at NorthHampshire@coeliac.org.uk or take a look at our Facebook page. We look forward to hearing from you – and hopefully seeing some of you in the not too distant future!
Keith, Gemma, Tom, Lesley, Carol, Faye, Margaret
Future events survey
As we approach the last quarter of 2021, we are starting to look ahead and consider what events to schedule for 2022. It would be great to have input from our members on the sort of events you would be interested in attending. For example, coffee mornings, afternoon tea, picnic, dietician talk, children’s events etc. To help us collate your feedback, we would be very grateful if you could take a few minutes to complete our survey by Sunday 17 October: https://form.jotform.com/212614033802039
Please feel free to send any additional comments via email to NorthHampshire@coeliac.org.uk
Mid-week coffee morning
Your committee members will be at the Waitrose café in Basingstoke on Wednesday 3 November 10.30 – 12 noon. You are welcome to pop by for a chat at any point. In accordance with Coeliac UK’s advice and to monitor numbers, please could you indicate your intention to attend by completing the form here: https://form.jotform.com/212702236532042
We look forward to seeing you.
Summer picnic review
Despite some early morning drizzle on Saturday 10 July, we were delighted that 20 members joined us in Eastrop Park, Basingstoke, for our first in-person event in many months. We took a sheltered position under the trees, but fortunately the weather brightened up. It was a great chance to exchange ideas and experiences and the children certainly had a lot of fun playing together. Quite why no one wanted to have a go on the pedalos was a mystery!
Alice Holt children’s meet up – save the date
Following the success of the summer picnic, we have received requests from parents for an event aimed at our younger members. Therefore, we would like to invite you to a muddy morning at Alice Holt Forest (GU10 4LS), where we shall be exploring the woods in search of the Gruffalo and his friends! The event will be taking place at 10am on Sunday 24 October. If you would like to join us, please email us to book your place and we will contact you beforehand with further details.
Please note that whilst there is no entrance price, parking charges apply (up to £12 for the day) for each vehicle.
Local restaurant reviews
Thank you to Lesley Dumelow and Andy Ward for sharing their recommendations of some restaurants not far from Basingstoke which offer a good selection of gluten free menu options:
Amore is a family run Italian restaurant located in the village of Overton, Hampshire offering a good selection of traditional Italian dishes. Gluten free pasta dishes are available and other menu items can be specially adapted. In addition to the indoor seating area, there are tables outside in the garden so you can dine ‘al fresco’ if the weather permits! Make sure you tell the staff that you will require a gluten free menu when you make your table reservation https://amore-overton.co.uk/
The Mill House, situated in North Warnborough, just off Junction 5 of the M3 is a Grade II listed watermill with lovely gardens and a millpond, a perfect location for lunch or dinner with family and friends. It offers an extensive menu with lots of gluten free options clearly marked and there is also a children’s gluten free menu available. For my main course, I chose deep fried cod in beer batter with chips and mushy peas followed by sticky toffee pudding and ice cream! The portions were generous and the food was delicious!
https://www.brunningandprice.co.uk/millhouse/
Barton’s Mill Pub and Dining, located in Old Basing (Basingstoke), does an awesome Sunday roast! They also have a good range of gluten free options on both the adults and children’s menu, including battered fish and chips, beef burger and chips etc. Situated next to the canal, it’s a lovely place to sit outside on a sunny day. On colder days, you can sit inside the cosy pub or take shelter outside under the large canopy. For those with children, it’s worth noting there is a small playpark in the adjacent field. https://www.bartonsmillpubanddining.co.uk/
Mayflower Chinese restaurant, Basingstoke – we know how tricky it can be to find gluten free Chinese meals, so this restaurant comes highly recommended as they are able to adapt many of their dishes to suit those on a gluten free diet. https://www.mayflowerbasingstoke.co.uk/
A Basing Bakes – whilst not strictly a “restaurant”, this is another recommendation received for a local business run by Helen, who has a gluten free stall at a number of farmers markets across Hampshire. Locations over the next month include Alton, Emsworth, Winchester and Romsey. http://www.abasingbakes.co.uk/
Meal-kit deliveries
The market in convenience deliveries seems to be specialising in the ingredients to conjure up specific dishes. Have you tried them? Which brands are more accommodating to dietary requirements? How informative have you found the labelling – and are the staff well-informed? Please do give us your feedback via NorthHampshire@coeliac.org.uk. We would be delighted to share it among members in a forthcoming newsletter.
In the meantime, we have included a couple of recommendations that we have already received from our members, Andy Ward and Gemma Moseley.
Gousto – their website has a filter for gluten free. They list what ingredients contain gluten from their other menu items, so they can be adapted. For example, they had a Chinese dish, where the only gluten containing item was soy sauce, so we substituted this for Tamari sauce. www.gousto.co.uk
Simply Cook – they provide the spices you need to liven up your meal with recipe cards to follow. There are plenty of gluten free options available, with allergen and nutrition information available for every meal kit. We have adapted recipes (eg. using rice noodles instead of egg noodles) to further increase the options available. We have recently enjoyed Thai green curry, Louisiana Linguine and Sicilian Roast Chicken amongst other dishes. Each box contains 4 meal kits for £10 (after a £3 introductory offer), with each kit having enough spices for 2- 4 people (depending on how much flavour you like!). Deliveries vary from weekly to monthly and are easy to cancel. www.simplycook.com
Gluten free staycation
For anyone looking for inspiration for a “UK staycation” that caters well for gluten free, Lesley has kindly shared her experience of a short break to Paignton.
“If anyone is planning a staycation along the beautiful Devonshire coastline and are concerned as to whether their hotel can provide gluten free food, I would recommend The Queens Hotel in Paignton, a 3 star hotel situated just a few minutes’ walk from the sea front, where I recently stayed for a long weekend. The quality of the food was excellent. Gluten free sandwiches were available at lunchtime and there was always a choice of gluten free options on the dinner menu every evening. The staff were very professional and polite and always available to help with any special dietary requests.”
https://queenspaignton.com
Stay in touch
By email – northhampshire@coeliac.org.uk
On Facebook – our private group is: https://www.facebook.com/groups/NorthHampshire and our public page can be found here: https://www.facebook.com/CoeliacUKNorthHampshire/
On our website - https://www.coeliac.org.uk/local-groups/north-hampshire/
