2.Planning- quite a challenge.

Going on a trip of any sort involves planning. Add in the need for gluten and dairy free vegetarian food and the planning moves to a whole new level! Head to a remote Scottish Island and the need to know what is available becomes paramount. I had booked a trip to Barra in the Outer Hebrides with my friend Meryl. Accommodation (a static caravan), hotel for the journey up (near Glasgow), ferry crossing and boat trip to Mingulay were all booked. So my mind turned to what I was going to eat.

Buying suitable food on a car journey is tricky, and on a busy Friday evening in May, quite probably impossible. I took a container with some salad, rice and other bits to eat during the evening, so that went well. We stopped at Tebay Services and Meryl had a pie from the farmshop. If I had needed a full meal, the restaurant had gluten free/vegan options which looked tasty. There was nothing in the farmshop or cafe for me, so I was glad to have my prepacked supplies. I enjoy a cup of tea, but find that generally most places only have oat milk as a dairy alternative. I understand that, but I need to have something gluten free, usually soya. (Busy places and big chains tend to have a choice). When thinking about how to deal with this earlier in the year I bought a small metal flask which I fill with soya milk (or gf oat milk if I have any in) to take out with me. This means I can have a cuppa anywhere, including a morning cuppa in the hotel before we continued on our way.

One of my favourite things about travelling on a CalMac ferry has always been their macaroni cheese. Clearly, this is no longer an option for me, but the website revealed a couple of options. A chat with the staff resulted in them preparing me a special salad, with sweetcorn bites, asian slaw (with the dressing adjusted) and a mixed salad. Delicious, and I was made to feel special, not annoying. Five star service, thank you Cal Mac.

The rest of the trip was a combination of home cooking (I had taken a couple of preprepared meals and some ingredients), looking at menus online and talking to cafes and restaurants, all of whom were very helpful and accommodating. I had some delicious food and the whole trip was fantastic. The people of Barra and Vatersay are so friendly and helpful. The only let down was the boat trip to Mingulay which was cancelled due to the weather. A good excuse to go back though!

If you are interested in what and where I ate during this trip, details can be found on my instagram account cooking.on.2.rings.

1. It all began in a van…

It all began almost 2 years ago. I was on holiday in my camper exploring Dumfries and Galloway. The weather was warm and the scenery idyllic. Unfortunately, I was struggling and unable to venture far from a toilet. I thought I had a bug, but it didn’t clear up, so I thought it was stress caused by my daughters upcoming wedding. The wedding came and went, the struggles remained. I was having to take time off work and life was getting tricky. I recalled a few years earlier giving up gluten and feeling much better at the time, so I thought that was worth a try.

It was like a switch, I felt instantly better. Less bloating and much less dashing to the loo. But something still wasn’t quite right, so I did a bit of research and personal observation and decided to give up dairy too. That was the final piece of the jigsaw and I could see a way forward.

Eating dairy and gluten free is quite straightforward at home, but makes going out subject to more planning. Even more complicated is going away in my van. Up until this point, I always enjoyed eating at least one meal each day in a local pub or cafe, but quickly realised that not everywhere has suitable food, many places do, but planning and communication is key to finding them. This blog will describe my travels and places I find that cater to my requirements (and those of many others), and the challenge of cooking nutritious food on the 2 rings in my van.