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Why Gluten-Free?
My husband has recently gone on a gluten-free diet. He’s suffered from quite severe psoriasis on both his shins for a number of years. In the past, he’s been to the GP and been referred to a specialist who have prescribed a number of different creams. None of them have ever worked and so he had resorted to just moisturing them in an attempt to stop them itching too much.

Well, a couple of weeks ago I read an article which outlined the possible connection between psoriasis and coeliacs disease and it went on to say that many psoriasis sufferers find that their condition improves if they remove gluten from their diet. So he decided to give it a go.

Gluten-Free Meals
With Taran already being on a restricted diet I though that I’d be a pro at providing gluten-free meals for my husband. But in reality it’s been much harder than we both expected. I suppose in Taran’s case, he’s never known any different whereas for my husband it has required a big change from his usual diet. In particular, he is a great sandwich lover and gluten-free bread doesn’t quite hit the same spot!!

In general, breakfast and dinner have been fairly easy to adapt. His usual cereal has been swopped for gluten-free muesli and pototoes and rice have been the main source of carbohydrate instead of wheat at dinner. The hardest meal by far has been lunch. He usually takes a packed lunch to work and in the past that has consisted of a sandwich.  So I’ve had to get my thinking cap on and be a little bit more organised.  Some examples of his lunches are:

- tuna potato salad 
- sardine rice salad
- jacket potato with various filling
- leftovers from previous dinner (incl. curry & rice, lasagne using cabbage leaves instead of pasta, roast dinner)

The added bonus has been at the weekends. When going on picnics, it is easier to prepare the same food for all of us.

Science Museum on Sunday
On Sunday, we went to the Science Museum with Taran’s Aunty Sally. It was the perfect otpion for such a miserable day! We took a picnic with us and it’s great at the Science Museum as they provide a special picnic area. Both Daddy & Taran enjoyed their food and had the following:

- tuna rice salad
- avocado salad
- corn crisps
- lamb stew & rice (leftovers)

So Has Gluten-Free Worked?
Yes, I think it has. My husband has now been on the diet for a couple of weeks and you can definitely see a difference in his psoriasis. He is now at the stage where he should go to the GP to get some advice and find out what to do next.

For lunch today, Taran had leftovers..what could be easier?!

I made a roast chicken dinner yesterday and had bits of everything left over. So I put a selection in an insulated pot and took them out with us for lunch. As you can see, Taran enjoyed eating them with his fingers!

We’ve had another lovely weekend – once again the weather has been great and we’ve spent most of the time outside. On Saturday, we met some friends at a National Trust house/gardens near Dorking for a picnic.

On the previous evening, I’d poached two salmon steaks and made up a salmon rice salad with cucumber, peppers, sweetcorn and black pepper.

So I took that along for the picnic – it was simple yet so delicious!

Yesterday, we met up with a friend and her little boy at a local farm (Odds Farm Park) and enjoyed a great day out.

I often take finger foods for Taran to eat when out and about but yesterday I opted for a hot picnic lunch instead. I made mashed potato and mixed in sauteed chicken, aubergine and cabbage. We got to the farm just before midday and planned to picnic first and play later.

But the boys had other ideas and kept running off to see whatever caught their attention!! My little boy is really into ducks and sheep (oh and diggers!) at the moment so was easily distracted! So by the time we sat down for lunch he was starving and he wolfed his mash down.

He also had a banana and a square of 70% dark chocolate.