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)