Foodie Festival - Haul

The Foodies Festival is at Clapham Common this weekend, 6-8th June 2014. Check their website www.foodiesfestival.com or Facebook https://m.facebook.com/FoodiesFestivalor Twitter @foodiesfestival for more details on locations near you.

It was FREE ENTRY from 5-9pm today (6/6/14) for their 'Welcome the Weekend Party', so I went along to see what it was all about.

Live Music, food, drink and sunshine made the evening very enjoyable whilst wandering around the many different stalls sampling and tasting different treats.

As well as picking up some Jerk Chicken and Rice from Etienne's Cuisine (@etiennescuisine), some Popcorn from Popcorn Kitchen (@popcornkitchen) and a Energiser Juice (apple, orange and ginger) from Ascorbic (@ascorbic1948), I purchased some gluten free goodies to bring home with me.

MANGOJO

We sampled some lovely flavoured ice teas, still and sparkling varieties, I opted for the sparkling flavours - Sicillian Lemon Presse and Green Tea & Pomegrante Presse and Green Tea - they were at a special price of £1 each.

ANGELIC

My eyes lit up when I saw the magic words, Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Egg Free!  They had 4 different biscuit varieties, Cranberry, Orange Chocolate, Double Chocolate and Ginger Snaps. Then 2 savory flavours, Rosemary & Sea Salt and Chilli.

After sampling them all, I opted for the two chocolate flavours and both savory flavours as they were at a special price of 2 for £4.

SOULFUL ONE POT

With five different varieties to sample I thought I was spoilt for choice, until I was told that only two of which were gluten free, but I am not complaining because both tasted so good that I couldn't leave them there.

I picked up the Thai Green Chicken Curry with Kelp Noodles and the Butternut, Lentil & Spinach Hotpot.  Absolutely  bloody delicious!

They were on offer at 2 for £5, with a RRP of £3.99 each.

All in all it was a great evening, would have been even better if I could have sampled some of the alcohol delights on offer.

So if you have nothing to do this weekend and you are in the area, purchase your tickets and head on down to the Foodies Festival for some lively treats and live music.

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Dohertys - Gluten Free Thick Pork Sausages

Every time I went to my local Asda and browsed the limited frozen Free From section, I would pick up these sausages and then put them back!

But on my last shopping trip my Mum picked them up and dropped them in the trolley for me and I'm glad she did.

There are 8 in a pack and they are quite large compared to your standard frozen sausage.

They smelled delicious whilst they were cooking and did not burst or release a lot of fat in the pan.

The taste was good, very meaty and filling.  I had these for breakfast with baked beans and bread, but wished I had done a full fry up!

They were so good that I had them for lunch the next two day with chips!  Also I found a gluten free baguette in M&S so I'm thinking hotdog with fries onions and ketchup for lunch today, YUM!

Will definatley purchase again as they are great to just pull out of the freezer and put straight in the oven to accompany many different dishes!

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Costa - Chicken and Basil Salad Gluten Free Wrap

After seeing that Costa had launched a new wrap to their gluten free range I was very eager to try it out.

Having on the go gluten free options is still fairly limited so I was excited about this new product.

So I finally made a purchase last weekend whilst out shopping with my little brother.

The price is competitive for what you would find in a coffee shop, so no complaints on that front.

I wasn't too sure about the wrap having seeds in it as I am not a huge fan on seeded bread but I will try most things once.

To my surprise the wrap was very soft and did not fall apart. The seeds were minimal and therefore hardly noticeable.

The filling was just enough, maybe there could have been a little bit more, but less is more when it's too bulky and you end up losing half of the filling through the other end of the wrap (which can make things very messy!).

I let my brother have a taste and he liked it considering he is a bit of a fussy eater sometimes.

Overall, I enjoyed Cosra's Chicken and Basil Salad Gluten Free Wrap and would definitely repurchase on a regular basis especially when I don't have time to make lunch myself. I may even have to purchase the Warbutons wraps (which I always left on the shelf because they were seeded!) and create my own wraps!

Recipe - Gluten Free Tuna Pasta Salad

Tuna Pasta Salad is a quick and easy recipe that can be eaten for lunch or dinner and is perfect for making in large batches and storing in the fridge.

What you will need:

Pasta (gluten free)

Sweet corn

Tuna (in spring water rather than brine)

Mayonnaise

Spring onion

Red pepper

Salt

Pepper

Chilli powder (optional)

Step 1

Add the pasta to a pan of boling water and cook as per instructions on the packet.

Whilst the pasta is boiling with a pinch of salt, prepare the other ingredients.

Step 2

Finely chop the spring onion and red pepper.

Step 3

To a bowl or storage container large enough to store everything (including the pasta) add the tuna, sweet corn, spring onion and red pepper.

Step 4

Then squeeze in just enough mayonnaise to lightly cover and combine the mixture.

Step 5

Add salt, pepper and chilli powder to taste, then set aside in the fridge.

Step 6

Once the pasta has cooked, rinse in cold water to stop the cooking process and cool down the pasta quickly, then drain.

Step 7

Add the cold pasta to the tuna and sweet corn mixture and combine

Enjoy!

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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?

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What I Won With Udi's

A while back I entered a competition with Udi's in relation to my favourite Udi's product, which you may know is the Toffee and Chocolate Chip Muffins (YUM!)

To my surprise I get an email saying that I had won!

So I had a lovely treat for when I arrived home after being discharged from hospital.

I received as follows:

Cinnamon and raisin bagels

Strawberry breakfast bars

Apple and cinnamon toaster pastries

Toffee and chocolate chip muffins 

As you can see I already opened the muffins, I couldn't even wait 2 minutes to take the picture first (LOL).

Having tried these already I know I'm definitely in for a treat and at least it saves me stocking up on my favourite udi's products in my next shopping trip!

THANK-YOU UDI'S

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Hospital Stay - 12/5/14 to 30/5/14

So, I go for a routine outpatients appointment and end up staying for three weeks!

Why?  I was in need of IV antibiotics which would clear and infection quicker than taking oral antibiotics!

After waiting all day for a room (my outpatients appointment was at 9am, I got a room just after 5pm), they assessed me, fitted the cannula in my arm, took blood and started the antibiotics.

A few days later my bloods dropped (life if an anaemic) so they gave me an iron infusion.

Towards the end of the first week the antibiotics had completely kicked in and I was starting to feel better but still had to stay in and have several tests (MRI scan x2, colonoscopy, skin biopsy, blood tests daily).

As I was under the care of the dermatology team they also prescribed some creams alongside all of the drugs and when the IV antibiotics was finally stopped after 16 days I was given steroids to take along with my folic acid, vitamin D.

In the beginning I thought the food was great.

I hadn't been eating properly for a year as I had no appetite and no energy to even prepare myself any decent meals, so when everything is done for you, you appreciate it more and make the effort to eat.

But then as my appetite came back the food just seemed so boring and bland but I had to eat!

The good thing was that they catered very well for a gluten free diet, not so much for a dairy free diet though, however I can not complain. I think there was only two occasions where there was nothing I liked on the menu and had to get my mum to bring me some food.

I was on the 12th floor of the hospital and had an ok view of the area.

Now I am home I do feel 10 times better than than I have done in the past year and I am very grateful for everything that the team did for me over the three weeks that I was in their care, especially the nurses who were so caring and understanding, I will always remember what they did for me and the little chit chats we had!

I still have a long way to go but I feel that things are under control and I have the right support in place to help me get through this. It was an experience that I would not want to go through again so have learnt my lesson to always question and get a second opinion when it comes to my health as there is always another option.