It was a huge challenge when Mia was initially diagnosed with Coeliac Disease in 2014, which at times (and even today) can seem really overwhelming. We were a family who had experience of cooking at times for a dairy free and wheat free diet. However, the enormity of realising that people with Coeliac Disease need so much more care and attention in their planning, preparation and creation of snacks and meals arose shortly after diagnosis.
We decided to make this recipe book as Mia (now 6 years old) had been struggling to come to terms with being ‘different’ and in her eyes was ‘missing out’ on the treats and foods that her friends were having. During a monumental meltdown with Mia claiming that she wanted her ‘Coeliac Disease to go away and never come back’, we grabbed the moment and decided to turn what seemed so daunting into something so positive. We decided to create a book of her favourite recipes to share with other newly diagnosed families, in order to help them through the difficult days.
We are by no means cooking experts and have had many failures during our gluten free journey. However, we have created and adapted a lot of recipes to suit Mia’s needs and tastebuds. They are easy to make and include ingredients that are readily available in most supermarkets. There also didn’t seem to be many cookbooks available that are aimed specifically at children with Coeliac Disease, so we thought that we needed to change this.
We hope that you enjoy our recipes and have fun making the snacks and meals together. Life is tough having Coeliac Disease and can be a daily challenge, but it does quickly become a routine and (almost) second nature to cook and prepare food in this way.
Love and happiness from
Mia and her Mummy xoxox
Hi Mia,
My names Una and I was diagnosed with coeliac disease when I was 4 years old. I’m now 5 years old, 6 in May. I found out I had coeliac disease just before I was going on holiday, luckily my mummy did lots of reading and made sure I had treats to keep me going for 2 weeks in Cyprus! I don’t really like vegetables but I’m slowly trying new things and my brother and sister haven’t minded too much having to eat more gluten free food, most the time they don’t even know!! I find parties hard esp when they give out cup cakes and slices of cake . Looking forward to reading some recipes. Not sure where you live but I just discovered my local restaurant serves gluten free chips, it’s my favourite place to eat now!!
Best regards
Una and my mummy Fay x
LikeLike
Dear Una and Fay,
It’s so lovely to hear from you. I’m really pleased that you are finding more yummy things to eat. We are always trying new recipes, and I love sharing my ideas on here.
Parties are the most difficult time, but Mummy always saves the extra yummy treats for parties, so that I know I am having something fun and exciting just like my friends. They usually have the biggest sprinkles and oodles of chocolate on!!
One of my favourite foods is also fish and chips!! I think we must be pretty similar, Una!
We live in Hertfordshire. Where do you live? We’ve set up a little coeliacs get together in our area, so I now have a few friends who also have coeliac disease. It’s nice knowing that there’s other people who have the same diagnosis.
Mia and my mummy (Lydia) xx
LikeLike
Hi I am Lily Colley. I am 7 years old and have had celiac for two years now. I really love your blog it will help so many children like us.We all have to go though the same thing but sometimes it isn’t so bad. Love Lily ( and mummy)
LikeLike
Hi Lily and Lily’s Mummy,
Thanks so much for your message. It’s great having things in common. We’ll be putting more recipes up soon. I’m glad you enjoy our blog.
Have a good weekend.
Mia (and Mummy) X
LikeLike
Thanks Mia and Mia`mom
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hi Beth, My name is Steph Tilley and I’m the socail media manager at Center Parcs UK. We would love to invite you to a gluten free testing event. Would you private message https://www.facebook.com/CenterParcsUK/ your email address so we can invite you? Any questions my email address is steph.tilley@centerparcs.co.uk
LikeLike