Duke of Edinburgh Expedition with Coeliac disease: Watching My Daughter Do It All Herself

When my teen daughter signed up for her Bronze Duke of Edinburgh expedition, I had mixed feelings.

I knew she was capable. She would breeze through the other sections through activities she already loved. Netball covers her physical activity, coaching younger players counted as volunteering, and learning to officiate matched her skills section perfectly.

But the expedition part felt very different for us.

We are not really an outdoors family. We realised that properly last year in Sri Lanka when we booked a sunrise waterfall hike and arrived in the freezing cold, windswept, and questioning our life choices. We completed it without issue and enjoyed the scenery, but it confirmed that while we are fit and capable, we much prefer relaxing holidays to hiking adventures.

So although my daughter was excited to spend time with her friends, this was definitely walking into the unknown for her and she was a little nervous about the food side of the expedition.

What the Duke of Edinburgh Expedition Involves

For anyone unfamiliar, the Bronze Duke of Edinburgh expedition involves two overnight hiking trips: a practice expedition followed by the assessed expedition. Participants are dropped off in the morning, hike all day, camp overnight, then complete another day of hiking before being collected the following afternoon.

They carry everything themselves within their teams:

• tents

• sleeping bags

• clothing

• food and water

• cooking equipment

So as always with Coeliac disease, food suddenly becomes one of the biggest considerations.

The Part That Felt Most Challenging

Day to day, my daughter manages her coeliac disease brilliantly.

She knows how to:

• read labels

• assess risk

• advocate for herself

• recognise cross contamination concerns

If you need support helping your teen to grow in confidence and manage life with a coeliac diagnosis, please get in contact.

But this expedition highlighted one area where she still has room to grow: preparing food completely independently. This is probably partly my fault. She is always busy with school and activities, so I often prepare food for her because it is quicker and easier.

Usually on Duke of Edinburgh expeditions, participants cook together as a team.

But after her training session, she came home and told me she would be cooking separately because she was the only gluten free participant. She also told me she would have her own stove.

At that point, I mainly worried about two things:

• would the stove setup actually be safe?

• would she end up carrying loads of extra equipment because of her medical condition?

So I contacted Adventurous Horizons, the company running the expedition, and they were brilliant.

They confirmed a separate stove would safely be provided for her at camp, meaning she did not need to carry extra cooking equipment during the hikes. That reassurance made a huge difference.

Keeping the Food Simple

Once we knew she would be cooking independently, we agreed the food needed to be:

• simple

• high calorie

• easy to prepare

• lightweight

• genuinely enjoyable to eat

Participants are encouraged to eat around 3000 to 4000 calories because of how much energy they burn hiking.

All her friends started planning popular noodle meals and naturally, she wanted noodles too. But the gluten free rice noodles she normally eats are not really substantial enough for this kind of expedition, so we needed another idea.

What She Took to Eat

Before leaving home, she started the day with a big bowl of porridge topped with dried fruit, honey, nuts, and seeds, plus a big glass of milk.

For lunches, she took:

• gluten free meat and cheese sandwiches (cured meats lasted no problem overnight)

• fruit and vegetables (first day only)

• Nairn's cheese oat cakes

• mini Snickers bars

Food choices don't have to change dramatically with a coeliac diagnosis, we can help you find out how.

I also baked one of her favourites, a Becky Excell recipe banana and chocolate loaf. You really can't beat a homemade cake.

For hiking snacks, we focused on calorie dense foods that would survive being shoved into pockets:

• Jelly Babies

• I found a naturally gluten free trail mix in Lidl

• mini & peanut M&Ms plus Minstrels were all great as they don't melt

We basically made a little gluten free pick and mix.

The Meal She Was Most Excited About

To solve the noodle disappointment, we found a Ben’s tomato and basil risotto packet that she absolutely loved.

Before the expedition, we practised making it at home and added:

• chopped chorizo

• grated Parmesan

All she needed to do at camp was boil water and stir everything together.

She was genuinely buzzing about that meal.

She also had a chicken 'cuppa soup' style starter, which was Tesco's own... it was a bit of mission finding gluten free options for this, but she said it was delicious!

I feel strongly that it is so important to help young people with coeliac disease feel included and excited about experiences like this.

The Things That Worked Less Well

Not every idea was a success, which is completely fine.

I experimented with making instant custard using custard powder, sugar, and hot water. Technically it worked, but after a long day hiking she decided it was a bit of a faff and she would rather just eat the cake on its own next time.

For breakfast the next morning, we had pre-blended gluten free porridge oats with sugar and chia seeds so they would cook quicker. But after a cold and uncomfortable night camping, she decided she couldn't be bothered with porridge and just had hot chocolate and more cake instead.

Honestly, I would probably have made the same decision.

She Absolutely Smashed It

When she got home, almost everything had been eaten.

The only things that came back were:

• some porridge

• one sachet of hot chocolate

Which honestly felt like a huge success.

The only thing she really craved afterwards was salt, so next time I might include a few more savoury snacks alongside all the sugary hiking food.

But overall, she managed brilliantly.

She cooked independently. She kept herself safe. She handled all of the responsibility herself.

And I am incredibly proud of her.

Usually when she goes away somewhere, there is always a little underlying worry in the back of my mind about how the food situation will go.

But this time actually felt reassuring because everything was in her control:

• her ingredients

• her cooking equipment

• her decisions

There was very little risk of cross contamination because she had ownership of the entire process.

And she proved to herself just how capable she really is.

Final Thoughts

If your child is preparing for a Duke of Edinburgh expedition with Coeliac disease, it can feel overwhelming at first.

But this experience reminded me how adaptable and resilient young people can be when they are given the right support and preparation.

Did everything go perfectly? No.

Did she learn independence, confidence, and trust in her own ability to manage her coeliac disease? Absolutely.

And honestly, that probably mattered even more than completing the expedition itself.

Coeliac Compass can support you and your family to take on new challenges, find out more here.