Showing posts with label Genius. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Genius. 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!





















Saturday, 12 July 2014

Allergy and Free From Show - Haul




Last weekend was the Allergy and Free From Show in Olympia, Kensington, this year they combined the show with the Vegetarian & Vegan and Back Pain Shows, so it was much larger than previous years.

I had an idea before we arrived of the stalls I wanted to go to but when you are faced with so many gluten free products under one roof it is overwhelming plus there was loads of people which resulted in crowds around the popular brands.

So I made sure to get to Udi's, Genius and most definitely had to find Pudology as I have been wanting to try their products for months now.


genius we're selling any 4 products and a shopper bag for £10 so I got  pack of 4 white rolls, lemon cupcakes, chocolate cupcakes and pain au chocolate.


Udi's were sampling a lot of their newer products but we're not selling everything so I just opted for my favourite toffee and chocolate chip muffins then decided to try their new Tiger Bloomer.  These were £1 each.


Here I picked up two packs of the tomato and basil soup, mini breadsticks, tomato corn rolls and chilli corn chips.  Everything was £1 but they only charged £3 for the whole lot!


Nairns had my favourite chocolate chip biscuits, their offer was 5 items for £5, I was just going to get five packs of the chocolate biscuits but as I had been looking for a decent cracker I opted to get two packs of their whole grain crackers, which I sampled before I purchased!


We found this stall opposite nairns and I just tried these peach sweets and had to purchase them at £1 a pack you can't go wrong. They are so flavoursome and don't leave a synthetic sugary after taste like most sweets do.


I finally found and tried Kabuto gluten free rice noodles, they are good! I think they were selling them at 2 for £2.


Got these delicious cupcakes from Ms Cupcake who are based in Brixton (I will definitely need to make a visit to their store) I got 4 cupcakes for £9.50, mint chocolate, red velvet, lemon drop and pink champagne.


I didn't even know that Trek was going to be there, so glad I found them as I got 16 bars for £10, bargain! I got 4 each of oat & raisin, banana bread, cocoa coconut and cocoa oat.


My last purchase of the day was of course, Pudology.  Their offer was 4 for £5, it's such a shame that I can not get these in my area but one of the ladies kindly gave me the order number for tescos so I will see if they can order them in for me. I got banoffee pud, chocolate pud, strawberry pud and lemon pud. Still need to try the chocolate orange pud and if that is as good as the chocolate pud I will be in heaven!


I wish I took a trolley with me, like so many other people had, it was definitely the opportunity to stock up, I was lucky to have some birthday money to spend otherwise I don't think I would have been able to purchase half as much as what I did. I do regret not getting more savoury items like the pastas and pizza bases, also they had a lot of frozen goods on sale but I didn't want to risk them thawing out before I got home, so will definitely need a freezer bag as well and maybe a car!

Key tip, check the dates on some of the items as I noticed they have either a short shelf life or they purposely bring items that are nearing the sell by date, that's fine just make sure the item will freeze well so that you can put it away at home rather than having to eat everything straight away.  Although with all these yummy treats stocked in my cupboard there is no way I will let them go to waste. 






Related Posts

Taste of London @ Regents Park - I won tickets!

Foodie Festival - Haul

What I Won With Udi's

Gluten Free Goodies


Asda and Wholefoods Haul





Tuesday, 3 June 2014

Genius - Chocolate Cupcakes

I have been wanting to try out the new Genius  cupcakes since I first heard about them so was very excited to find them available in Sainsburys on offer at £2.00.



Each pack consists of 2 cupcakes


They look very tempting and delicious


Getting them out if the plastic container was a very delicate operation as I didn't want to get icing all over my hand before my first bite.


The cake looks soft and moist 


That first bite was HEAVEN! The icing is just the right sweetness in combination with the cake that is not overpoweringly chocolatey.

There were no crumbs, it was the perfect texture for a cupcake!

Thumbs up to Genius!

Now how long can I resist the temptation to not only eat the second chocolate cupcake but to open the lemon cupcakes?





Related Posts

Dairy Free Chocolate Coated Banana Chips and Raisins

Prewett's - Jammy Wheels

Free From Cheese Crackers

Newburn Bakehouse - Blueberry and Cranberry Muffins

Waitrose Free From - Fruit Scones

Nairns Gluten Free Biscuit Breaks

Genius Croissants and Pains au Chocolat

Udi's Muffins


Snack - M&S Mini Coconut Macaroons


Sunday, 9 March 2014

Gluten Free Goodies

Here are a few new things I picked up this week whilst out and about.


I found these in Sainsburys and thought "yum" as I use to love them both before I went GF.


However my first bite of the Pink Panther wafers was not pleasant, first word that came to mind was dry and second was tasteless. Not impressed at all. I tried again a couple of days later and there was no difference. Needless to say I will not be buying these again.


On the other hand the Jaffa Cakes by Kelkin were not bad at all, the only bad point is that the cake base is a little on the dry side, but other than that they have the great orangey chocolatey taste just like I remember. 


I originally picked up the chocolate flavored Trek bar in Sainsburys and it was so good that when I saw them in Asda a few days later I picked up some more.

Flapjacks use to be my easy go to breakfast or snack before becoming GF, so I'm glad I have finally found a brand that is GF and also nut free.

From what I have tried so far, they are moist, flavoursome and filling.



This flapjack by Linsuit looked interesting when I saw it sitting on the shelf in Asda so I thought it would be good to try and then make a comparison to the Trek bars.


I bought the Udi's muffins last week and only after I had devoured them I realised I hadn't taken any pictures!

Surprisingly it is one chocolate chip muffin and one toffee muffin. I assumed the flavours were combined, so when I bit into the toffee muffin first I was shocked that there was no chocolate chips (duh!).

That was my only disappointment, I can not fault them at all as they are moist, moreish and flavoursome!

So when I saw the last pack on the shelf in Asda I grabbed it with both hands.


After hearing so much about the new Genuis products I was excited to finally find the croissants in Asda.  It looks like they stock the Pain Au Chocolate as well but there was none on the shelf.

When I read the back of the pack it looks like these have to be put into the oven for about 10 mins before eating, so not a grab n go kinda breakfast option.




Related Posts

Taste of London @ Regents Park - I won tickets!

Allergy and Free From Show - Haul

Foodie Festival - Haul

What I Won With Udi's

Asda and Wholefoods Haul





Sunday, 2 March 2014

Breakfast - BFree Wraps

As I was unable to get any Genius bread these past few weeks I have been using BFree Wraps instead.


I first tried these after I bought them at the Allergy & Free From Show 2013, seeing their stand and spying the wraps I was so excited because before I went GF I use to eat wraps daily, sometimes with no filling!



It took a while but they finally made it into my local Asda store, they are the only GF wrap that I have tried and I have no complaints so would not go looking for another brand (unless Genius added wraps to their range).

So for breakfast this morning with no Genius bread in sight I used the BFree wrap for my egg and bacon this morning.


Ok I actually have one complaint, if you put to much filling in the wrap it doesn't hold well and starts to split right in the middle, but at least it doesn't crumble!

Sunday, 16 February 2014

Sunday Breakfast with Genius

This morning I decided that I wanted a double egg and bacon sarnie, actually I was salivating about it last night!



Since I have been gluten free I have tried just about every brand of bread that you can think of but they all have a tendency to crumble at the first bite , unless toasted.  I had been putting off trying Genuis because of the price but one day I ordered a loaf with my Tesco shopping and have not looked back since.  It is very much worth the price when compared to other gluten free breads.



The texture is the same, if not better, than a non gf loaf and I eat the crusts!!  It is moist enough that when I have my egg and bacon sarnie I don't even need to butter the bread, it's amazing!

I have tried the white and the brown loaves however I can only seem to get the white loaf online but I can't complain because the brown is just as good.  I'm yet to try the seeded loaf, but if it is anything like the seeded roll I had from Cafe Nero yesterday then it won't be my cup of tea unfortunately.