Showing posts with label Dairy Free. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Dairy Free. Show all posts

Wednesday, 3 December 2014

Gluten Free Christmas Treats


I have started to stock up on some GF Christmas treats so that I do not miss out like I did last year, as it was my first GF Christmas I spent so much time trying different brands of mince pies that by the time I went back to stock up on the ones I liked they were out of stock.


These were in Asda for £1.50 so I picked up two boxes, one box is at my mums house for safe keeping, as I have already demolished the box I kept at home (I bought these about 2 weeks prior to December)


When I opened them I remembered that although they tasted good and have a good filling to pastry ratio, they were the ones with the soggy bottom!


It's not soggy as in doughy, but they are transparent as if the filling is ready to drop out at any minute 



So yesterday I remembered where I bought the ones I liked last year, Wholefoods, so took a little detour on my way to work and picked theses up 


Good old Hale & Hearty! As soon as I saw the box (although last year I think it was black) the pictures of the mince pies confirmed that these were the right ones.


Although the price on the shelf said £4.99 when I got to the till they were £3.89. Very pricey but well worth the money


Slightly battered but I'm sure they will taste as good as I remember, very tempted to go and buy another box.



Another thing that was sold out when I wanted it lasted year was the Lactofree Cream, I am yet to buy any as need to find out the shelf life and/or if it is freezable, failing that I have noted 4 to 5 different stores that stock it in my area so hopefully I will get hold of one (or two) before they all disappear.

Now I never use to eat Christmas pudding, mainly because most of them contain nuts, but not only did I find a GF and DF one, its nut free too, thank-you Asda (although I did see the Waitrose one first)



It's a small one, just enough for one portion, so I bought one for my little brother as well because he too is allergic to nuts so has never had Xmas pud before.  These were £1.50 each.

When I saw these Mincemeat Crumble Squares in Asda I could not resist (bought the rocky road ones as well) and when I tasted them they did not disappoint





They did not stay in my cupboard for very long! At £2.00 I thought it was pricey, but again they were worth it and I will purchase another box to add to the treats at my mums house, then I at least have some variety over Christmas week.

Today (3/12/14) I picked up an Advent Calendar

At £2.69 it was the cheapest one I saw as it is free from gluten, wheat an dairy, however it does contain soya, it is towards the end of the list so I'm hoping it should be ok.


They had a larger selection in Wholefoods but at £4.99 I really didn't think it was worth it. I may go back in next week maybe and see if they have reduced the price.

Although these are not a Christmas treat per se, I picked up some Genius Lemon Cupcakes because I haven't had them since my first purchase and the Christmas packaging caught my eye.


I thought the lemon would be refreshing from all the chocolate and mince pies, except I know these won't last until Xmas week!

Enjoy your Christmas shopping!





















Thursday, 28 August 2014

Pudology




If you read my allergy and free from - haul post you would remember that I bought a selection of Pudology at 4 for £5.


So I'm going to start with my least favourite which was the Lemon Pud


It has a very fresh and clean taste, very lemony, but for me it was not sweet or even creamy enough, however if this was paired with something else like maybe a shortbread or cupcake it could work really well!



Next up was the Strawberry Pud.


Great taste, very light, almost a mousse texture and the biscuit base was just the right amount of sweetness and crunch to make this an all around great tasting dessert!


Now for my second favourite, Banoffee Pud.


Wow! The combinations were great and I'm sure you would not be able to tell that this was a dairy and gluten free alternative. The flavour of the toffee and banana really come through well, not too sweet and very moreish!



Last but not least, my absolute favourite was the Chocolate Pud


This reminded me of the chocolate part in the M&S Profiteroles that I used to buy all the time.  This pud was so good that I actually hate to admit that I licked the spoon as well as the container until there was absolutely nothing left and I still wanted more! There just wasn't enough of it!

Everything about it was just perfect yet so simple because it is just chocolate (dairy and gluten free of course).


 It is such a shame that I can not get these any where locally, even Tesco's online does not have it! I will search these out and I guarantee that I will have one in my bag wherever I go.

But there is also one other flavour that I have not yet tried and that is the chocolate orange, without tasting it I'm quite sure that it will be a close contender for my number spot!

If anyone knows where I can get these within the London area please let me know!



Sunday, 20 July 2014

Chocolate Chip Cookie Ice Cream Sandwich (GF & DF)

Blog Post written in collaboration with my little brother CJ.


I had my brother staying with me this weekend and we decided to make some treats, here is the final instalment combing both recipes.
You will need :

Chocolate Chip Cookies
Chocolate Banana Smoothie Ice cream

Steps
Step 1. Get 2 cookies 1 for the base and 1 for the top ( see previous blog post for cookie recipe )

Step 2. Get ice cream and lay a spoon full of ice cream on the base cookie ( see previous blog post for ice cream recipe)

 Step 3. Place 2nd cookie on to of the ice cream 

Verdict
I am actually yet to try the combo my self so I will leave this to my brother.

"The ice cream sandwich was amazing, how can I put this in to words, ummmmm, every bite left me jaw dropped and speechless." After laughing our heads of on his description I then asked him to describe flavours and he says "it was sweet, chocolatey and full of flavour" I then asked how was the cookie with the ice cream combination and he says "it was perfect!"




Related Posts

Recipe: Gluten Free Oven Fried Chicken Wings

Ice Tea

Chocolate Banana Smoothie Ice Cream

FEEL FREE Double Chocolate Chip Cookies Mix (GF & DF)

Snack - Oatcakes

Smoothie - Banana and Strawberry

Recipe - Gluten Free Tuna Pasta Salad

Recipe - Green Juice


Saturday, 19 July 2014

Chocolate Banana Smoothie Ice Cream


Blog Post written in collaboration with my little brother CJ.


So as a part of our weekend together the first thing I did was buy a bag of ice to make a chocolate banana smoothie, it was so nice that I thought to myself "we could make an ice cream out of this".  When deciding with my brother what we should do to occupy him, as well as making cookies (see previous blog post) I suggested the ice cream and then said "cookie ice cream sandwiches (see next blog post)


Ingredients :


2 bananas 
4 strawberries 
8 ice cubes 
1 cup of milk 
NestlĂ© nesquik 


Step 1. Cut the 4 strawberries in half, cut both bananas and place in freezer.

Step 2. Once fruit is frozen put in blender along with 4 ice cubes a cup of milk and nestle nesquik  ( 3 spoon fulls .)



Step 3. Gradually add the rest of the ice cubes until mixture thickens



Step 4. Once blended pour into a container and put in freezer.



Step 5. Stir every 30 minutes or so to incorporate frozen parts around the edges of the container



Step 6. Continue step 5 until you have a soft ice cream consistancy then serve


Verdict
As a smoothie, this recipe is great, but to turn it in to an ice cream I feel it needs a few minor adjustments.  I did look at other recipes online and noted that I should have used some cream in addition to the milk to help thicken it, rather than using the ice!

You still get the chelate banana flavour it's just icy rather than creamy, I will definitely try this again with cream to try and get a better outcome.

My brother reckons it's "amazingly sweet", hmmmmmm not to sure about that but at least he liked it.



Related Posts

Recipe: Gluten Free Oven Fried Chicken Wings

Ice Tea

Chocolate Chip Cookie Ice Cream Sandwich (GF & DF)

FEEL FREE Double Chocolate Chip Cookies Mix (GF & DF)

Snack - Oatcakes

Smoothie - Banana and Strawberry

Recipe - Gluten Free Tuna Pasta Salad

Recipe - Green Juice







FEEL FREE Double Chocolate Chip Cookies Mix (GF & DF)

Blog Post written in collaboration with my little brother CJ.


On a shopping trip to check out the Free From section in Sainsbury's, my little brother suggested that we make some cookies however previously we had only seen GF cake mixes, luckily we found these and finally chose this weekend to make them.


Ingredients

FEEL FREE Double Chocolate Chip Cookie Mix
70g Margarine
1 Egg

Steps :
1. In a mixing bowl , place 70g of softened vegetable margarine

2. Add the sachet of FEEL FREE Double Chocolate Chip Cookie Mix

3. Add a medium sized egg and mix well with a food mixer or wooden spoon for 2 - 3 minutes to give a workable dough


4. Roll the dough into a stick , approximately 5cm in diameter and wrap in cling film . Place in the fridge for approximately 1 hour

5. After cooling pre-heat the oven to 210° 200 ° fan assisted or gas mark 6. Cut into half centimetre pieces and place on a greased baking tray ,  pressing down slightly with the palm of the hand

6. Bake for approximately 8 - 10 minutes when cooked lift off tray and place on wire rack to cool.


Verdict
The mix was simple as you only need to add 2 ingredients, however the mix did turn out very moist so we put it in the fridge before rolling it in to a stick.  Maybe it was because we were having one of the hottest days of the year so far, but I ended up putting the mix into the freezer to firm up in preparation to slice it but maybe should have been in there a bit longer as it crumbled when we sliced it.

Either way this did not affect the taste of the cookies, they turned out extremely soft and chocolatey.

My brothers verdict is "delicious"




Related Posts

Recipe: Gluten Free Oven Fried Chicken Wings

Ice Tea

Chocolate Chip Cookie Ice Cream Sandwich (GF & DF)

Chocolate Banana Smoothie Ice Cream

Snack - Oatcakes

Smoothie - Banana and Strawberry

Recipe - Gluten Free Tuna Pasta Salad

Recipe - Green Juice