I would love to say that I had been off travelling the world or something and thus unable to write.  The truth is sadly far less exotic - too much work, too little time and way too little sleep to catch up and do some blogging in the evenings.

So this will be a brief update.  Gluten-free stuff is all going well - I’ve adapted to the routine fairly well, it’s just a question of making sure the rest of the extended family are as comfortable with what it entails.  The lactose issue is more difficult, however.  Until Starbuck’s, Costa and Caffe Nero work out that not all people who can’t drink normal milk are either happy or able to drink soy, I shall be without a decent latte.  Of course I know there are people starving in Africa, and that my latte craving should be put in proportion, but still.  It was one of my few remaining vices and is therefore sorely missed.

The real problem I’ve found on the food front is the soy.  It seems that, whatever doesn’t contain either gluten or lactose (or often both) seems to contain soy, frequently in the form of emulsifier soy lecithin.  Even Black Farmer sausages (which are delicious, by the way, so do try them) currently contain soy.  Top marks to them for answering my email so swiftly and nicely, though, when I raised the issue with them.  I’m hoping Wilfred and his colleagues manage to put together some soy-free recipes soon.  Much as I love making my own sausages, it’s nice sometimes to just be able to buy the darn things ready-made.

The real hero food for the last couple of months has been the Look What We Found range.  They have some truly delicious dishes, don’t need to be kept in fridge or freezer and aren’t at all bad on the calorie front, either, so they’ve even been compatible with me doing WeightWatchers.

Oh dear.  I really must be on a diet - an entire post obsessed with food.  Will try and catch up the rest over the next few days, and start adding in some recipes I’ve been playing with, probably in another part of the site, and see how it goes.