It's not Asda's it's mine!

Well, this week got off to a good start when a friend at work presented me with some Free From treats on Monday morning! Needless to say, they didn't last very long but I managed to take a pic before sampling!

Since becoming Gluten Free last year I have long since craved the King of all Chocolates....Terry's Chocolate Orange!! While some, more normal, GF people pine for crusty bread, pasta bakes, cheese on toast and jam doughnuts, I have spent my time missing the satisfying cracking open of Terry's confectionary delight! Christmas just wasn't the same!!! Unbeknown to my work friend I devoured the choc orange flavoured bar with glee! The verdict?? Ok, "Free From" choc never seems to be quite the same but do you know what, it certainly helped to fill the vacuum left by Terry's gluten contaminated choc orange. However, "It's not Asda's, it's mine!", just doesn't have the same ring to it does it?!

Monday, was certainly a good day as Dale suggested an impromptu trip to Pizza Express. Never one to turn down a pizza (especially when I'm not paying!!) I bit his arm off (note to self...was it gluten free??). Now, I am aware that there has been some controversy over Pizza Express' offers and whether they include the GF pizzas or not. Bearing this in mind, I thought it best to check before ordering but there was no problem at all. 

Gluten Free La Reine no olives! Anyone who has read my past blog posts will know that I have mixed feelings regarding Pizza Express Gluten Free pizzas. They seem to be a bit hit and miss. Sometimes they are jaw breakingly tough but sometimes they are not a bad substitute for the real thing. Thankfully, this one fell into the latter category! However, I will still be asking for a pizza cutter next time just to give my poor arm a rest!

Wednesday was a dinner out with a friend. It's always so tempting to stick to the "safe" chains that you know provide GF menus. Nevertheless, in my experience, it is worth chatting to local independent restaurants about what they can do for you. You can usually get a feel about whether they know what they are talking about! So, we paid a call to The Blue Olive in Cockfosters, North London. The Blue Olive is a Greek restaurant, so I felt sure there would be a meat/rice combo suitable for the GF diet. The staff were great and made sure my halloumi starter was grilled on a separate part of the grill to the pitta. I was so thrilled, I ate it before taking my pic! However, I did remember half way through my pork kebab, rice and salad (no dressing). 

MUST get better at remembering to take pics before I start eating #tooexcitedtogetstarted

Saturday and a shopping spree was in the offing! After a week at school, retail therapy was just what was needed! My friend and I headed to Bicester Outlet Village, just outside Oxford. On my last visit I noticed a pancake stand advertising GF pancakes and was keen to give it a go. However, the mile long queue combined with the drizzly weather even managed to put me and my sweet tooth off sampling the crepes. Maybe another day!

 With a slightly heavy heart I headed to Pret a Manger. I strode up to the man behind the counter and asked if he could advise me on what GF food they offered. He confidently produced a large A4 book (which, for ease, I shall refer to as the Allergy Bible!), from behind the counter. As he flipped it open to a page containing various charts, he looked at me with a withering look and said those fateful words , "I don't think there's much though!" Great!! I then asked if I could take the Allergy Bible with me, over to the chilled cabinets, to cross reference what I could / couldn't have. This was met with a look of shock, similar to what you would expect if he had caught me filling my pockets with the flapjacks from the counter! By this point a collegue had come over for back up! I asked the same question - Could I take the Allergy Bible over to the shelf to see what I could eat????? After much nervous laughter, it was decided that it would probably be best if I was escorted around the food cabinets by a member of staff who could closely guard the Allergy Bible and therefore stop me doing a runner with it! After a frustrating and incredibly annoying process, I finally decided on a Mexican Chilli Soup.

(Another half eaten photo.....I was really hungry by this point though!!)

To be perfectly honest the soup was ok but I'd really gone off the idea by the time I got to eat it! Not impressed with my Pret a Manger experience! I think they seriously need to up their game especially bearing in mind the steps their rivals (such as Costa and Starbucks) are making in their gluten free labelling. They really wouldn't have to be so precious about their Allergy Bible if they could be bothered to simply put a GF label on their products to show what's in them!

Speaking of labelling, I'm off to email to FSA about the changes to food labelling next year. The removal of allergen boxes on labels and  no longer using the term "contains gluten" are just some of the worrying changes that seem to be in the pipeline. I'm not an expert on what's happening but if we all express our concerns maybe someone will listen?! In the words of Tesco... "Every Little Helps"!