Sunday 16 March 2014

Better Than Sliced Bread!

My carbtastic week got off to a shaky start when I eagerly unwrapped my second box of Newburn Bakehouse cracker thins (blue cheese flavour) only to discover I had a box of gluten free crazy paving! Yep, it had happened again! 


I don't know what happens between factory and supermarket but the Asda staff may well have played a game of footie with my box of crackers! Sadly I get a similar story from other disappointed gluten free cracker fans! However, don't be put off. They taste great, have a good texture and the little pieces are great for dipping!

So, "What's better than sliced bread?"Answer.... unsliced bread!! After reading a rave review of "Helen's Brilliant Bread Mix" by Helen (no relation I don't think?!) at  http://fabulouslyfreefrom.wordpress.com I thought I should take a little look!



The first part of the test is.....can I manage to produce a successful loaf without supervision / support / guidance from Dale?!?!

The second part of the test is.....does it look / smell / feel / taste like "real" bread?!

This was my first attempt at any of the "Helen's" packet mixes and do you know what?.....it won't be my last!

Soooo.....the packet says just add water and oil.....surely even I could cope with this AND...could it really be that easy?! YEP!! Sure diddly!

This is the mixture before sitting for 40mins in a tray of warm water?


This is after 40 mins


Ooooooo my excitement was already growing! Baked for 35 mins and ...TA DAH!!!!


Woop woop! Proud baker moment ha ha ha!! Yep, I. DID. THIS!!!!

So the verdict is.....easy peasey! Great looking loaf which sliced well.


It has a fabulously crunchy crust (that's not a fancy way of saying I burnt it...honestly!) If I did it again I would probably bake it for a few minutes longer as it was very slightly "elasticy" in the middle but I'm sure that's down to me being a novice in the bread baking department! This is definitely worth a go and tastes very "normal" to me. I also had it for toast this morning and it coped with the toaster very well. My only slight criticism is the size of the slice. Like many GF breads, I don't think you could get a decent sized sandwich out of it and you definitely burn your fingers getting it out of the toaster (cue the toaster tongs!) but I guess you could always have 2 sandwiches?! 

Dale had a life changing experience this week. He has spent the best part of our married lusting after what I have always called "a glorified chip fryer" but this week I has a moment of weakness and caved in!! So I would like to announce the safe delivery of the latest gadget to clutter up the Price household......a Tefal Actifry! For those of you in the dark please let me explain....the Tefal Actifry is a monster of a machine that performs little healthy miracles! A whole kilo of chips can be fried in just a teaspoon of oil! "Whaaat?" I hear you gasp! Yep,  a fat filled chip has now become "healthy" (that was clearly the selling point for Mr Price). Please see below


Actually, it pains me to say it but they were really good and I'm pretty impressed! I'm told we can now "Actifry" a whole host of things....so watch this space!  FYI.... This is a chickpea burger (bargaining tool with Dale....ok....you can have chips.....I want veggie burger lol!). The burger was great...chickpeas, carrot, coriander, cumin seeds, Newburn Bakehouse white roll bread crumbs, Doves Farm GF plain flour and egg all whizzed up in blender and made into burgers! Yey!

Well....as I write I can hear the dull tones of the Actifry whirring in the background (at least he's getting his money's worth!), I'm off to see what's cooking! Have a good week! X










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