You Spin Me Right Round Baby...!

It's official....I think I've fallen in love! I FINALLY own my very own kitchen gadget and I love it!!! My spiralizer arrived last weekend. After much ummmming and ahhhhhing I took the leap and I certainly don't regret it......it's even got Dale eating more veg so that can't be bad eh?! I went for a Westmark model from Amazon and I think we've probably had out money's worth just this week! We have spiralized everything in sight and here are the results....

Courgetti- pan fried for a few mins with Loyd Grossman pasta sauce!

Stir fried courgette and carrot 

Sweet potato baked in the oven (with chicken carbonara!)

Butternut Squash baked in the oven (instead of mash lol!) with Sainsburys Taste the Difference Pork and Herb sausages

Now, we can't be accused of not giving the gadget a fair go can we!? We are both sold on it! My particular faves were the courgetti and the butternut squash but all combos were great! I've been struggling a bit recently with my stomach and have been trying to lay off pasta and rice to see if that helps.....hence the spiralizing!!! Here's hoping I start to see the benefits soon!

Anyway, enough of the spiralizing....

Other things that have been getting me into a spin recently (see what I did there!?!) are these 

These appeared on my desk at work the other week and it'd have been rude not to dig right in! As with all Skinny Metcalfe's (www.metcalfesskinny.com) these are dangerously addictive and go a long way to help relieve the 4.00pm munchies! They come in a range of flavours (I have sampled the cheese ones too) and can fully recommend! Keep the snacks coming Skinny Metcalfe's!

I made my bi annual venture into the kitchen last weekend and rustled up a little cheesecake for Mothers's Day! I would love to tell you it was calorie free as well as Gluten Free but that's sadly not the case! It was amazing even if I do say so myself! Found it on a random Facebook link which I can't seem to copy on to here! Nevertheless, it was a lethal combination of Philadelphia Cadbury Chocolate flavour, whipped cream and Aero Mint, you'll get the picture!!

Finally a little GF shout out to Buckle and Vaughan (www.buckleandvaughan.com) in Winchmore Hill. No GF menu but knowledgeable staff who were happy to advise (and an open kitchen so I could observe!!!!). 

Beautifully cooked chicken kebab and salad.....sadly not spiralized but hey, I can forgive them for that!

Well, on that note I will leave you for another fortnight! Get spiralizing people it's sooooo much fun! Have a great fortnight! (@lizprice79) xx

Amore

Altogether now.... "Wheeeeeeen the moon hits your eyeeeee like a big pizzaaaaa pie..... That's amore!" Go on, admit it it, you're gonna be singing that all day now aren't you?! 

Sooo, pizza! That's my theme for the fortnight! DIY, easy, gf pizza bases. The research has been tough but I've been happy to take on all the "pizza eating" to help you lovely readers out!

So, in third place..... DS Bonta d'Italia pizza bases! (www.dsglutenfree.com)

I was eager to try out the "improved recipe and larger size" as I used to get the originals on prescription. It seems the lovely people at Asda sold me a pack which went out of date over a month a go, so this is worth bearing in mind when you read the review! Nevertheless, not put off by out of date pizza we still gave it a whirl!

Looks good yeah? Tasted ok?! I liked the bigger size, yup, I'm gutsy we all know that and the originals were just too small for me! However, it still had a slightly chalky consistency and tasted really sweet. I ploughed on through like a trooper but Dale actually gave up!! It's not like him to turn down pizza lol!

In second place we have Udi's pizza base mix (www.udisglutenfree.co.uk). I was expecting good things, as I like all things bready from Udi's. It was a bit of a faff because it's not ready made and requires technical things like adding yeast, rising and kneading! Hence I gave it to Dale to organise! It worked quite well et voila!

You can see it has a more rustic crust and it was definitely not as sweet as the DS one. Much more "normal" in my opinion! But...I'm not sure if you can still buy it!? I bought it during the Tesco Lifestyle Food Fair last Summer and I haven't seen them since?! They might still be around??? If not check out first place.......

In first place we have Isabel's Pizza Base Mix (www.isabelsfreefrom.co.uk)

Those of you who have read my past posts will know I had an Isabel's disaster when I tried to tackle the base on my own! Not wanting to give up (as I had heard such good reviews), I bought another pack and gave it to Dale to sort out! Yes it requires some mixing and kneading but there is no need to leave it to rise so it's much quicker than the Udi's mix. 

Not as pretty and certainly more "rustic" this was by far the best base we tried! A crisp base without needing a circular saw to cut through it! Tasty and not sweet. A great pizza "just like mama used to make" to quote Isabel!

I am well aware there are many gf bases on the market now and I'm more than happy to continue my research! I have blogged about The Venice Bakery before (www.shop.venicebakery.co.uk), they are great for a ready made base but can only be bought online with p&p delivery costs which is a shame. Nevertheless, I will consider this to be work in progress and I'll let you know if I find any to beat Isabel's! 

So, sterotyically what Italian delicacy goes hand in hand with pizza? Ice cream right?! So here's a little frozen delight for you! 

I had long since given up the hope of wafer style accompaniments with my ice cream! They were becoming a sad and dim memory of my glutem filled past! UNTIL, the lovely people at Freego (www.freego.com) introduced me to Eskal (www.eskalfoods.com) and look what I found!

AND....

How exciting! The chocolate wafer rolls don't contain nuts either which is fab coz I thought they might be a Nutella style thing! Wrong! All was well! The cones are great too! I must admit they are a little pricey but for the sheer delight of having ice cream cones and wafers they were kinda worth it! Mmmmmm!

Ok, well I hope you're still crooning along to Dean Martin and Amore! Have a great fortnight everyone! Xx (@lizprice79)