Life Unexpected

So, Sunday is my birthdaaaaaay! As I hit the big 3-6, I thought I had seen it all! Who'd have thought I'd be proved wrong by a supermarket .....and Tesco at that?! Dale works for Sainsbury's and I have spent the last few days fraternising with the enemy! Let me explain....

Some of you may have seen my Twitter feed over the last week trying to locate a Tesco (or Marks.... I'm not proud!) ready made, boxed birthday cake! Yes, I could make my own but I'm sure you, my fellow Free Fromers, will understand I realllllllllly wanted that shop bought, thick icing-y, buttercreamy moist cakey, ready made treat that I have not experienced for the past five years!

Sooooo to cut a long story short, the lovely Liam from Lea Valley Tesco jumped into my Twitter feed and suggested his equally lovely wages clerk (Miriam) would be happy to pick up said cake from another store and bring it to Lea Valley for collection....great service right?! (It gets better!). I rock up to Tesco to collect now famous cake and to meet the lovely Liam, only to find him striding towards me with my cake, in a party bag, with a bow and Tesco "have taken care of it for me"?!?! 

Genuinely lost for words and so thrilled! Never expected such a treat! Woohoooo for Tesco (sorry Dale!)  and I can't wait to sample (and review it!) on Sunday!

Anyway, on with the blog.....

Something else that fits into the "unexpected" category is decent sized GF bread.....decent sized GF bread that doesn't go into holes (and tastes good!) yep, you heard right! Well gone Genius (www.geniusglutenfree.com) for your great triple seeded sandwich bread and for giving me back the gift of proper toast!!

Unexpected treats can be discovered anywhere! Look what I found lurking in my cupboard

I bought these Foods of Athenry (www.foodsofathenry.ie) ages ago in my Freego (www.freego.com) order and they do as they say on the packet! Perfect little chocolately cookie shots for when you "have the need". Only trouble is, they really are little and very addictive! Consequently.....they don't last long!!

Hands up who likes Venice Bakery (www.shop.venicebakery.co.uk) pizza bases and flat breads?!

Hands up who's rubbish at wrapping stuff up in wraps...

...(it all feel apart!!).

Hands up who knew you can toast them and make tortilla chip thingies to dip...

...well, now you know! 

Not sure how may of my lovely readers are local but I nipped into Occo in Enfield Town last week. Been in once before ages ago but was so pleased I re visited. They offer GF and even advertise it (shocker!) but aside from that they are super clued up about cross contamination, with covered cakes, seperate toasters, grills etc! It was lovely to order the same food as my gluten eating friend 

and I even had a choice of cake for pudding! I went for the caramel and white choc cake which I believe was also dairy free!

I got a bit carried away and even took one of these home

Hadn't seen this brand before (www.heavenlycakes.co.uk) but I will be looking out for them again. This bar was divine and definitely appealed to my very sweet tooth!

Well, speaking of Life Unexpected I met with my dietician yesterday to discuss some "issues" I've been having! She suggested I try the dreaded Low FODMAP diet before re introducing foods again. So, my plan is to enjoy my birthday trip to Paris tomorrow, have my Pizza Express meal out on Sunday (along with my bday cake!!) and embark on this new project from Monday. I fear my blogs may be rice cake  related over the next few weeks but I will do my best to find as many suitable treats as I can! Any tips or advice will be REALLY appreciated! Thanks and have a great fortnight! xx (@lizpice79)

Maybe It's Because I'm A Londoner!

Maybe it's because I'm a Londoner, that I love London sooooooooo tra la la! Couldn't help a little opening sing song but I do really love London- the hustle and bustle, the busyness, the "no making eye contact on the tube / stand to the right on the escalator" un-written rules, the architecture, the theatre and.....oh.....the food!! Us Gluten Free-ers don't do too badly here in the big smoke. So, with summer hol time on my hands I've been out and about! Consider this weeks post a "travel slash food blog"!

Mum and I had the pleasure of going to Regents Park Open Air Theatre a couple of weeks ago. If you haven't been, you really should, it's lovely. I packed a mac and umbrella.....typically the sun shone and we got sun burnt! Oh well! We ate a picnic in the park before hand and I got to sample a Waitrose GF chicken salad sandwich

It was lovely to have a choice (chicken or cheese), however these do seem to be the bog standard GF sandwich choices wherever you go! Nevertheless, the bread was good and I loved the seeds on top. I also (finally) got round to trying The Coconut Collaborative yog (www.coconutco.co.uk)

I must confess I was a little reluctant after my Coyo disappointment but these were very different. Very creamy and I particularly like the layer of passion fruit at the bottom. I found the plain one a little sharp and would probably add a dash of honey to that one. I now regularly pick these up in Waitrose and Sainsbury's and have even got Mum hooked on them too!

I was thrilled to find the famous Bad Brownie (www.badbrownie.co.uk) peeps at Broadway Market! Obviously, I sampled their salted caramel GF brownie!

Oh my....these are good! I completely get what all the fuss is about. There are quite pricey at £3.50 a brownie but wow it was worth it! The GF version was kept well away from the regular ones and had a separate  cake cutter. Guess what....?! 3 days later I was shopping at Brent Cross.....guess who was there.....Bad Brownie.....arghhh!! I think I may be addicted....I must confess......I ate another!!!! Again, the GF brownies were sealed in a seperate box behind the counter! BUT my addiction gets worse because I also bought this...

....which I am currently slathering on anything that stays still long enough! Amazing on ice cream but even more amazing on a spoon straight from the jar......oooops! 

Ok, we all know how fab Leon is (www.leonrestaurants.co.uk) and I don't want to make their heads any bigger but they really are amazing! So much GF choice! I finally decided on a chicken and chorizo hot box mmmmmm

So, I mentioned Brent Cross, it'd be rude not to mention Lakeside right?! (My name is Elizabeth Price and I'm a shopaholic.....who is also a salted caramel fan!). I was excited to see that Gino D'acampo has a pasta bar which cooks GF pasta woohoooo! (www.mypastabar.co.uk). The GF sauces were a little limited but still, it was nice to have a pasta dish on the go.

Situated up in the food court, it made a nice change. The pasta held together well and the sauce was tasty. It was cooked to order in fresh water.

I was also pleased to see that Pret a Manger (www.pret.com) have finally got a GF sweet treat to sustain weary coeliac shoppers!

Added bonus...it had caramel on it!!

Dale took me on a mystery day out last week! We ended up walking over the O2! What a surprise! 

Can really recommend.....great views of lovely London from the top! Next we went for GF hot dogs at Top Dog (www.top-dog.com) woop!

We got a little confused by the wording on the website which is a bit mis leading. We have since spoken to them about it and they have reassured us they will be changing it. The website states all the hot dogs are GF, which we took to mean all the varieties on the menu would be ok. However, what they actually meant was that all the hot dog sausages were GF. Some toppings were ok but by the time we had discussed website wording I opted for a plain pork dog in a GF bun with sweet potato fries. It was delicious and the bun was great! I was stuffed! I look forward to returning when we have worked out what toppings I can have! I would like to say that the staff were really helpful and checked lots of things  for us, they were very keen to keep me safe...which is always a good thing in my book!!

I met my friend from work last week and we went to Bang Bang (www.bangbangcanteen.co.uk) on Warren Street. It's a Vietnamese restaurant which seems to be pretty allergy aware. We enquired about GF options as well as nut free options. We got an immediate response saying over 90% of the menu is GF and no peanuts are used on site. Result! We both ordered a brisket pho

and it was delicious! I made my debut into the chopstick eating world and all I can say is that it wasn't pretty! Thank goodness we are good friends! As I was wiping the soup from my chin and picking bits out of my hair, I was very glad I wasn't on a first date! (Too proud to ask for a fork?!)

Finally, I took the plunge and purchased one of these

I'm a big baby when it comes to drinking gross tasting things (especially if they are thick...bluergh??!). I have been experimenting lots but any tips for nice tasting, non thick smoothies (that don't involve ice cream, chocolate or salted caramel!!!) would be greatly appreciated!

Have a great fortnight everyone! Xx (@lizprice79)

Hurrah for Quinoa & Going Loca for Tapioca!

Quinoa....a gluten free-ers best friend! Buoyed up by my recent quinoa based products, I decided to go the whole hog and replace my rice with plain quinoa for dinner last week! Bluergh! It turns out that I'm not a fan of neat quinoa!!! However, here are some cleverly disguised quinoa products that I have been enjoying!

Dee's Quinoa Pot (www.deeswholefoods.co.uk)

Stocked up on Dee's at the Allergy Show and ironically you can now buy them from Holland and Barrett! Ho hum, least I'm well stocked now! Really liked this, love Moroccan flavours and this didn't fail. Quick blitz in the microwave (which you all know is my favourite type of cooking?!) and it was a great, speedy, meal on the go!

During my last "Cheeky Nando's", I noticed they are now doing a quinoa salad which gets the GF seal of approval! Tasty and filling! A nice change from the usual Nando's offerings!

Continuing with my love of "ping ping", micro meals! I am a great Kirsty's fan! (Www.kirstys.co.uk). I bought this in Sainsbury's as I am trying not to eat so much rice. I hadn't realised that this also has rice in it but at least it's mixed in with the quinoa. Nice, quick and tasty ready meal which doesn't bloat as much as some other carb heavy dishes.

I really like these Qunioa bars found in Holland and Barrett but I have 2 problems with them. They are (in my opinion!!) hugely over priced at about £1.49 per bar!! My second issue is that it seems you can only buy them on Hollamd and Barrett. When I looked online they had awful reviews and lots of places had stopped stocking them! What do I know eh?! I really enjoyed them and they are perfect for putting in your bag for days out etc! 

Eat Real (www.eatreal.co.uk) Quinoa Chips are great, particualry as I don't eat much potato, so crisps are a thing of the past for me! I picked these up in the pound shop but I have seen them in quite a few health food stores. They have a crisp like texture and the flavour is amazing (just don't go on a hot date straight after, the garlic is quite overpowering!! )

And finally......I have saved the best for last! Come, if you will, on a journey away from quinoa towards the Coeliacs next best friend....tapioca! 

Yesterday, I had the great pleasure to finally sample the culinary delights from Feed Me Primal (www.feedmeprimal.co.uk) at the Schoolyard Market (Broadway Market). I had read many a tweet raving about the gluten free joys that Feed Me Primal have to offer! Let's just say I wasn't disappointed!!

Watching the tapioca flour being sieved onto the griddle and then magically turning into a wrap is quite amazing! I opted for the spinach, tomato and feta filling and it was delicious! So glad to have finally sampled something from Feed Me Primal and I'm sure it won't be my last visit! 

Well, that's all from me! Have a great fortnight! Xx @lizprice79

AI Survival Tips!

Dale and I have just returned from two weeks All Inclusive at the RIU Paraiso in Lanzarote....."All Inclusive?!" I hear you gasp! Yep, you heard right.....I took my GF life in my hands and stepped once more into the lovely hands of the kind and helpful RIU chain! (http://www.riu.com/en/Paises/spain/lanzarote/clubhotel-riu-paraiso-lanzarote-resort/)

The only All Inclusive holidays we have been on have been to RIU hotels but I am sure there are many other allergy aware chains out there. I have only been glutened once out of 3 visits and that was because I didn't follow my golden rules. So, here they are , the Liz Price survival guide / top tips for a happy AI (All Inclusive) hol!

1. Take snacks.....I took chocolate, rice cakes and raisins! (An odd mix, I'll give you that but only the chocolate was necessary!!)

2. Talk to the restaurant manager ASAP and then approach each sitting with a "don't you know who I am approach!?" 

3. Get to each meal for opening time. This way you may look a keen bean or a greedy pig BUT you will get first pickings before the buffet monsters contaminate everything!

4. Go for plain meats, fish, veg and salads.....avoid sauces like the plague and if food is cooked infront of you all the better!

5. Ask if there are allergy options.....I nearly fell down in shock when I was told that GF bread, pasta, pizza and separately cooked chips could all be available on request! 

6. Bagsie your lounger and chill....!

Meanwhile back in the land of normality, I may have left behind sun, sea, amd laziness behind but I return to...

- Sundried tomato bread from Romeo's GF bakery (www.romeosglutenfreebakery.co.uk) 

which I craftily froze after the Allergy Show! Toasted really well for post hol brekkie!

- Fab Streetfood from places like Boss Hoss (www.bosshossstreetfood.com) and their amazing GF Johnny Cakes found at Spitalfields Market and The School Yard at Broadway Market!

(Chicken, beef and veggie options!)

- And good old micro meals for when Dale is working late and heaven forbid I have to get a pan out of the cupboard!! However, I do spiralize so that must make me nearly a Masterchef contestant right?! Enter Ilumi (www.ilumiworld.com).

 Fan forever, blogged about lots but worth a mention as they have permanent shelf space in our kitchen! I was also excited to hear, at the Alłergy Show, of some of the new products they have lined up for later in the year.... (Pot noodle styley things whoop!!)

All of these help to restore the post holiday blues....oh and these....these have helped too...

Happy fortnight everyone! Xx @lizprice79

Carbtastic!

I write to you today with a bulging stomach and a happy heart! I have just returned from the most wonderful afternoon tea at Sugarloaf on Potters Bar High Street. Celebrating a good friends retirement, I was a little nervous when I had heard they could "do gluten free" for me. You've all been there right?! Promises of amazing things, to be met with a rice cake and a fruit salad!! But my goodness, Sugarloaf really could "DO gluten free"! Everything everyone else ate.....I ate too, just a GF version! I didn't feel left out at all, if anything I feel slightly sick from the over indulgence but boy was it worth it! Have a look!

Apparently, all of this loveliness can be arranged if you just give them a little notice! If you're local you should go! If you're not....it's worth travelling for!

For someone that doesn't eat a lot of carbs, I've certainly packed them away this week! Ironically, as I made my annual pilgrimage to The Allergy and Freefrom Show (www.allergyshow.co.uk), I returned with carbs a plenty!! (Oh and a lot of sausages- vegan and meat....always good to stock up right?!). It's my aim to blog as I eat and even I haven't managed to wade my way through my whole stash yet but here goes with my sampling so far....

No.G (www.toogoodtobeglutenfree.com) I salute you! I finally managed to buy a quiche Lorraine and wait for it .....a sausage roll! Seriously exciting stuff!

My first quiche and sausage roll that actually taste like their regular partners! I fear this could be a dangerous discovery! Half of me weeps that my local Sainsburys doesn't stock them but the other half is celebrating for the sake of my waistline! These are amazing and definitely worth breaking the no carbs rule for......occasionally!!

I also bought this lovely looking sun dried tomato loaf from Romeo's GF Bakery (www.romeosglutenfreebakery.co.uk)

I must confess that I haven't tried it yet. I sliced it and put it straight in the freezer! If I recall, it was about £3 for this small loaf so I didn't want to run the risk of it going all "gf bread" on me, if you know what I mean?! I have tried their garlic loaf before and if it's half as good as that it'll be worth the wait!

Straying away from the Allergy Show for a bit I picked up these little beauties the other week. 

Marks and Spencer are really pulling out all the stops at the moment! These pies have already done the rounds on Twitter so I won't harp on about them but to sum up....they're good, really good, ok?! They should carry the same warning as the No.G pastries.....seriously addictive, to be enjoyed occasionally (with a splash of Tesco Freefrom brown sauce, obviously!).

Finally, I was sent a flour mix from the lovely people at Udi's (www.udisglutenfree.co.uk). I thought I would use it to make my own scones! Please compare my efforts with the earlier picture from Sugarloaf

Yep, I ended up with flat, pastry, biscuity things! Oops! Only I could mess up a flour mix! Thanks Udi's it was very much appreciated and I'm sure they would have been successful for most people but it's clearly not fool proof!

Well I'm blogging slightly early as I'm off on my hols tomorrow. Thankfully we managed to get our Tunisian holiday changed and we are now off to Lanzarote for some R&R! Have a great two weeks everyone! Xx (@lizprice79)

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)