Fake Away

So, while most people enter into the new year on a supercharged health kick, I, in true Pricey stlye, have been filling my face! As a Coeliac, Take Aways are do-able but like most things they require a bit of forward planning. So, in a bid to cut costs and to make life a little easier we have been exploring the "Fake Away".... the DIY fast food. Here's how we got on.....

KFC

After MUCH experimenting (and I mean much!!) Dale has finally perfected the fried chicken lark!

Here we have DFC (Dale's Fried....oh ok, you get it!) in a Sainsburys Freefrom white roll with bacon and  Santa Maria (www2.santamariaworld.com\uk) guacamole! Colonel Price used his secret blend of herbs and spices in Doves Farm flour. Apparently, it's all to do with the overnight soak in buttermilk... That's the top tip! Anyway, I might be biased but is delicious and very much GF......something KFC can't do at this moment in time!! 

Curry

This is my stlye of cooking! A few mins in the micro and Bob's your uncle!

Look What We Found (www.lookwhatwefound.co.uk) seem to be a great little company. The packets tell you the origin of the meat (all locally sourced apparently), the name of the farm including the name of the farmer as well as how many calories! They also state very clearly which of their packets are gluten free. I bought mine in Sainsbury's but they have quite a selection in Waitrose too. This was really tasty and everything you would would want a creamy Tikka to be. Perhaps I could have done with a little more chicken but maybe that's just me being fussy! Can't wait to crack open the Balti that's waiting for me in the kitchen cupboard!

Burger

Very, very rarely I am able to convince Dale to have a veggie meal. I finally managed to persuade him to try these (www.amisa.co.uk)

Now, the packet says the mix will make up to 12 burgers! Really?!? We got 2 (admittedly rather larger!) burgers! I quite liked them but for Dale they were lacking a certain ingredient....meat! The burgers held together well, had a pleasant taste but a slightly sticky consistency. I liked them but prefer the Falafel mix which is made by the same company.

Pizza

The following comments prove why Dale is in charge of all things foodie in our household! Let me set the scene...

Dale was working late so I was in charge of feeding myself (uh oh!). I fancied pizza but, problem number one....my Glutafin bases ran out over a year ago (oops!!). Didn't look that appetising so chucked them. Ummmmed and ahhhed about whether I could be trusted to tackle the Isabel's Pizza Mix that had been in the cupboard for quite some time (www.isabelsfreefrom.co.uk)

Yep, why not?! I'm a responsible, professional adult who can surely follow instructions on a simple packet mix without too many problems......(are you guessing what's coming?!)

I was feeling confident, I even added an egg (gasp!). As the egg white ran off the edges of my pizza base and slowly sizzled on the bottom of my baking tray I began to wonder if I had take on too much! And the answer to that question......a big fat yes!!! YEP I was clearly out of my depth. The pizza may look ok (ish) but once I cut into it, it became apparent I was eating raw pizza dough! So what did I do? Scraped off the topping, onto a bread roll and had a pizza sandwich.....classy eh?!

Isabel's mixes are meant to be fab....everyone raves about them! I am sure it is just due to my poor culinary talents that I messed it up! I will be saving the second packet for when I have supervision and hopefully I will then get to see what all the fuss is about! Silly me!!

Italian

Ok, not truly a Take Away but I know places where they do pasta "to go" and I just needed an excuse to tell you about this (www.tolerantfoods.com)

I saw this on Freego (www.freego.com) and thought I'd give it a try. I really, really liked it! I found it much less bloating than regular GF pasta with a pleasant taste and good texture. The only trouble is it wasn't that cheap and you don't get a huge amount! Nevertheless, I don't eat pasta that often so happy to treat myself with this instead of some of the other brands!

Beer

What good is a Take Away with a "cold one" to accompany it?! As a tea totaller I'd say it's just fine and dandy without but this seems like the perfect opportunity to give a little GF "shout out" to the lovely breweries flying the GF flag. My beer drinking husband informs me that there are several GF beers around now but here are 2 you may not have come across

Mikkeller "I Wish" GF IPA......I don't drink, I've never drunk, therefore a sip of this didn't do much for me. In fact I would go so far to say it's a taste I haven't missed since going GF! However, Dale was mighty impressed! Reckons you can't tell its GF and would buy again! Yey for Mikkeller! (Www.mikkeller.dk)

Wold Top "Against the Grain" is being drunk as we speak! To my non beer drinking palate I would say it tastes a bit like a shandy! Dale's professional opinion is that it tastes like a larger. So if larger is your thing.....go forth and enjoy! (Www.woldtopbrewery.co.uk)

Well on that note I will bid you goodbye! Have a great fortnight x (@lizprice79)

What a cliche!

As I stood in a packed Tesco's clutching my Coyo yogurt like it was gold dust, I frantically asked the lovely sales assistant where I could find the Free From aisle (as I had been searching for quite some time! ) I couldn't help chuckling to myself! What a typical, cliched, stereotyped Freefromer I have become! Did any of you see that picture doing the rounds on Twitter of "Hipster Santa" ( if not, go and Google it now!), it seems that this is what I have become.....Hipster Lizzie, Yep, that's me!? How did this happen....?!

Anyway, on with the show.....

So, Coyo yogurts (www.coyo.co.uk) certainly have a mythical aura to them! I have been searching for some time to sample these vegan, coconut delights but my goodness are they tricky to find!? As luck would have it between the Health Food shop (www.nutricentre.com)and Tesco at the Brookfield Centre I managed to collect 3 flavours of the said yogs

Once I had got over the shock or potentially remortgaging my house to pay for them (the choc one was nearly £2.00 a pot!) I felt slightly smug that I could go home and devour the lot fairly guilt free. To be honest with you I was a little disappointed. I had heard great things and therefore expected great things!  My favourite was the natural flavour, extremely thick and it almost convinced me that I was eating something calorific! I'm afraid I really didn't like the chocolate one, but to be fair, I'm not a "raw choc" kinda gal! If it doesn't come with purple wrap and Cadbury stamped on the front I can't get that excited! The mango one?.....it was ok?

However, my other purchase from the aforementioned "Hipster Lizzie" trip to Tesco was the much raved about Udi's (wwe.udis glutenfree.co.uk) sundried tomato bagels. Oh my....these are fab! Look....

....a naughty little bacon bagel for my lunch! These will most definitely become a freezer favourite for me. What made it even better was that Tesco had them on offer for £1 a pack! Bargain! Just wish I'd bought more!

While trawling the Sainsburys aisles for something to take to a friends for lunch I stumbled upon this

and was pleased to see it clearly labelled on the front as GF. I was slightly put off by the foil container and peel back lid as it felt a bit like I was eating cat food! Nevertheless, I was pleasantly surprised! Quite a tasty, light lunch! It does not refrigerating so it perfect for "on the go" lunches!

Speaking of "on the go" Dale and I found ourselves at Borough Market again the other week. It was lunchtime and I was ravenous but diaster....none of my usual GF haunts were there! Horn Ok Please came to the rescue! (www.hop.st) I must confess I have never heard of them before but I will be back! Delicious vegetarian, Indian street food that also happened to be GF. I opted for a lentil pancake with potatoes, chickpeas and a whole host of other lovely stuff! 

Caveman Dale opted for a big, fat burger from a neighbouring stall but sheepishly admitted (after finishing mine off) that he wished he had the same as me! Praise indeed from a loud and proud carnivore! 

Dale and I picked up this little gem from the Christmas Foodies Festival

Gran Luchito (www.gran.luchito.co.uk) is apparently also stocked in M&S, Tesco, Whole Foods, Ocado as well as some other stores although I hadn't seen it before! This chilli ketchup was a big hit with Dale although it was a bit too hot for me! However, I did really enjoy this

As you can see, Dale glazed our gammon with the Gran Luchito Honey and it was delicious! It still had a little kick to it but as it caramelised on the gammon it was (in the words of Jamie Oliver) a beautiful thing!

"What?! No sweets or cakes?!" I can hear you cry!! I'm not sure what has happened to me!!? Well, I don't want to disappoint so let me end with a little sweetness! Look what Dale bought me for Christmas

A whole box of the fabulous Joe & Seph's popcorn! (www.joeandsephs.co.uk) there is a mixture of sweet and savoury but so far I've cracked open the Double Salted Caramel and the Chocolate Mint! Mmmmmmmm is all I have to say! Mmmmmm mmmmmmm! I've had to hide the other packets away so I don't eat them all at once! Thanks Dale! 

Well, Hipster Lizzie is signing off for another couple of weeks! Have a fab fortnight one and all! Xx (@lizprice79)