I Wanna Be POP-ular!

Today's blog post is dedicated to two of my great loves.....Wicked the Musical and popcorn! Both can be enjoyed in equal amounts but NEVER together!! Crunching your way through one of the greatest theatre productions of all time is most certainly not a cool thing to do!! I have been know to glare / shush/ tut etc at the offending theatre fools! You have been warned!! So, if you're a Wicked fan I'm sure you will already be humming along to my title and if you're a popcorn fan read on my fellow gluten free Ozians!

My all time favourite regular sweet and salty popcorn has to be Drum and Kernel (www.drumandkernelpopcorn.co.uk).

These people truly are the masters of all things popcorn related. No trip to Broadway Market is complete without a medium sized bag for Sunday night film night!

However, if you are looking for something more adventurous on the flavour front or maybe something you can get from the supermarket, how about some of these gluten free treats.....

Propercorn (www.propercorn.com)

Says fiery and wow it certainly is. I'm still trying to be convinced about savoury popcorn but this was a real winner, as well as being a little life saver during my recent Welsh adventures! Great for GF snacking! Also, the coconut and vanilla is a must for the summer. It smells divine and tastes just as good. I ration my popcorn intake (shocking I know!!) so, a large bag will be eeked out over three days of snacking! It's all very precise! However, this served the dual purpose of not overindulging AND my kitchen smelled coconutty and of holidays for 3 days!! Fab!! Bring on the sun cream!

I've blogged about "Pity Presents" before. If you're not familiar with the post let me explain..... Pity Presents are one of the small bonuses to living with a restrictive diet! Friends and family feel so sad for you (especially on those buffet days / someone brings cake into work days etc) that they kindly cheer you up with little gifts of safe treats! Sooooo kind and I'm always soooo greatful!

Anyway, I was presented with this the other day (www.tyrellscrisps.co.uk)

Lemon cupcake!!! I kid you not!! Quite sweet which is not a problem for me!! I'm definitely a fan! My friend at work sent me a picture of this 

which she has bought for me to try this week! Watch this space and I'll let you know how I get on!

Pretty sure this was a Pity Present too (I must look like I need feeding up ha ha!!)

Another fave!!  (www.metcalfesfood.com) Again it's sweet but if sweet is up your street you'll enjoy this! If sweet isn't your thing you might like these little discoveries I found in Waitrose

Nice alternative to crisps and even I like to mix up the sweet and savoury sometimes!!

Finally, a gluten free popcorn post would not be complete without Joe and Seph's (www.joeandsephs.co.uk). They are definitely appeal to the the treat/ posh / deluxe end of the market. I was delighted to receive a box of different flavours as part of my Christmas present from Dale.

The flavours are amazing.....cheese on toast, strawberry shortcake, white chocolate and caramel, mozzarella and tomato just to name a few. I still prefer the sweet flavours but the savoury ones are great too. They come in fancy re sealable bags (if you can stop yourself from eating the whole bag in one sitting). However, I was a little disappointed that some of the unopened bags had gone soft despite being writhin the Best Before date. I thought the fancy packaging might have prevented this. I guess the lesson is don't wait....eat straight away!! Maybe that's a good general lesson for life anyway ha ha!!

Well, that's the end of my poptastic post. Wishing you all a lovely fortnight! Xx (@lizprice79)

GF Mash Up

I wanted to begin with a little word about Prezzo. I've been in contact with them over the last month regarding their GF options. I won't bore you with all the details but I was confused by conflicting information on the website and the information staff gave me in the restaurant. I was also disappointed by the lack of GF knowledge and understanding staff had. Not what you expect from a Coeliac UK accredited restaurant! Anyway, I don't want to turn this into a moanfest but I did want to let you know the outcome. Customer Services have assured me that the most accurate info is what you can see online and the restaurants (should!!) know this. Any changes will be updated on the website so this is the best place to look for up to the minute menu info....now let's see if that filters through to the restaurants!

Anyway, on with the show.....

I think I may have found something special.....something almost as rare as gold dust.....yep......a nice tasting, long lasting, "no big hole through the middle", GF white bread. Ladies and gents I give you....

My Mother in Law got this for me when I stayed at Half Term and I was super surprised! This DS (dsglutenfree.com) loaf is fab. It had a really long date on it which meant I could bring the spare loaf home and it was still ok. I opened the loaf on Saturday and kept it in a food bag expecting it to be falling apart by Monday brekkie! But, NO! It was still as fresh by the Friday when I finished it! It toasts well and the sandwiches were lovely too.

The only down side is that is afflicted by the small slice curse! Sadly that seems the norm with most GF bread ....I just had to have two sandwiches to make up for it!!

Last week I was feeling brave and decided to tackle the lovely Free From Fairy's banana and date flapjack (www.freefromfairy.com). It seemed to fall within my culinary capabilities (just) but the challenge was finding a suitable oat substitute!

Here is attempt 1 with Sainsburys Freefrom porridge (rice and buckwheat flakes)

Rookie error number 1.... Crunchy rice flakes! Not unpleasant but not quite cooked! 

Attempt 2 saw me soak the porridge before use

This led to a bread pudding consistency which I quite enjoyed but not quite the flapjack experience I was hoping for! The Free From Fairy and lovely Twitter peeps have made some good suggestions for next time...toasted buckwheat, quinoa, seeds...... They are all saved in the "To do in the Summer hols" file! Do let me know if you have any other suggestions and I'll keep you posted!

Anyone else been impressed with Tesco recently? They just keep adding to their FreeFrom range and they are coming up with some beauties! I haven't quite got over the cornetto excitement yet but celebration cakes, Finest cakes, onion rings and now this....

Oh yes!! At last! A FreeFrom brown sauce that tastes like..... brown sauce!!! I've tried a few substitutes in my quest for the perfect bacon buttie but this really ticks all my saucey boxes!!! I'm one very happy Coeliac!

I also managed to find Heck square sausages in Tesco (www.heckfood.co.uk)

Cooked on the trusty George Foreman I must say I was quite a fan! Bit strange at first because you expect burger but get sausage! I like to be kept on my toes so I was happy with this combo, Dale on the other hand was just disappointed they weren't burgers!

Another little treat from my Mother in Law

I've only tried the Nature's Path (www.naturespath.co.uk) Munch so far but I liked it! I appreciate they are aimed at an audience "slightly" younger than me but hey ho, I'm young at heart! Quite sweet but that's a positive for me! I added a few raisins and happily munched away!

Finally, in the hope of Summer arriving sometime in the next fortnight let me recommend these

(www.claudiandfin.co.uk) found in Sainsburys. Again, I'm probably not their target market but why should kids get all the fun!? Creamy, smooth and fruity! At 52kcal per lolly they are a nice little treat on a hot Summer day (if you can remember one of those?!)

Have a great fortnight everyone! Xx (@lizprice79)