NEW! Genius Chocolate Cup Cakes

This is possibly the best thing I've ever eaten! I feel Genius are on a roll and these are definitely the BEST cupcakes I've ever eaten!

I don't know what to say about these cupcakes other than, imagine picking up a 'regular' cupcake in a shop and thats it! But there is no gluten and no dairy!

The icing uses palm oil and this gives it a lovely thick decadent texture and the use of cocoa powder over 'fake' flavourings allows a rich chocolate taste.

The cupcakes use mainly rice flour by the look of the ingredients but the texture of the cupcake is soft and fluffy, and there is not tangy aftertaste which I find in many other cakes I've tried! I honestly cannot believe how genuine they taste!

Pros:

• At £2.50ish a box I don't feel they are over priced
• The icing is so delicious
• The cake mixture tastes like a regular cupcake, which I used to love!
• They are suitable for dairy sufferers too.
• They look very pretty!

Cons:

• They can be hard to find in shops, luckily I live near a large Sainsburys, Tesco, Waitrose, ASDA and Morrisons so I can find most things.
• They do contain egg so not suitable if you are allergic to egg, but they have to be made with something!

Hannah x

Mrs Crimbles Choc Chip Muffins

Cake, everybody loves cake! Who can honestly say they don't like Shrek, or cake!

Today I am reviewing a firm favourite of mine, the Mrs Crimbles Choc Chip muffins, these muffins can be found at most supermarkets at the 70p mark, yes thats right 70p! Often these can be found three for two as well!

Image from my supermarket.co.uk

These muffins are relatively long life, there is about a month on each pack I've brought but they do not taste like a typical long life baked good. The sponge has quite a bouncy texture and is in no way dry or crumbly. The chocolate chips are little chunks of a hard almost crunchy chocolate, this juxtaposition of textures gives the cake a uniqueness which I enjoy.

Pros:

• They are only 70p for 2, this price is unheard of in gluten free food!
• They have plenty of chocolate and the chocolate tastes of good quality
•  They are not dry and don't leave a powdery taste in your mouth like many others
• They have a good date so if you're the only gluten free person in your house (like myself) you have a reasonable time to eat them!

Cons:

• They do contain milk and egg so be aware if you have other intolerances (but I believe they are not dry because of these ingredients). 
• They have ingredients that I have never heard but that is more than likely down to my own ignorance.

If you are struggling to get a good cake, I would most certainly recommend these to try! Let me know what you think!

Hannah x

Saving Money shopping - 85% saving

I have a new love in my life... Coupons! I have been hunting them down and looking for the best deals. There is no way I could large shops with tons of them, it would take way too long, but picking the bits up little by little I have made some successful savings. BUT remember its not a saving if it is not something you would not normally use!

Yesterday I went to Sainsburys to pick up a couple bits so here is a break down of what I got and Prices:

• John West Steam Pot - £2.69
• Shape peach and passionfruit yoghurts x2 - £1.50 each 

Total cost - £5.69

Of course I had a few coupons for this and there was some offers too, so these were what I had for savings:

• Sainsburys Brand match from previous shop - £1.32
• Sainsburys Brand match from previous shop - £1.00
• coupon £1 off any two shape yoghurts - £1.00
• Coupon £1 off any steam pot - £1.00
• Two for £2 on shape yoghurts - £0.50

Total of coupons/savings - £4.82

This meant that I got £5.69 worth of goods for a mear 87p! That 9p an item. As you will know I can't eat couscous but this was brought for my dad to try and from the machine I got another 50p steam pots and double nectar points on fuel, which is handy because I need to fill up! 

Why not give it a go

Hannah x 

Metcalfe's Skinny Corncakes

In the past week I have been getting bored of the same old food so as you can tell I have been venturing the shops for alternative 'naughties' to snack on.

Image from mysupermarket.co.uk

I was in Sainsbury's and I found these Skinny Corncakes on offer for £1 (usually £1.50), these are where the rice cakes are kept. Just a little bit of advice, you don't have to stick to the gluten free isle to find things to eat, a lot of the time you can find these products in the 'normal' part of the shop cheaper!

Of course I checked the back and the common allergy section and they contain soya but may contain milk and nuts, this means that they should be 100% gluten free for all of you that can't eat things that have been made in the same factory that handles gluten, I'm fortune enough to not be affected by 'may contains' anyway.

The only way to describe these are like popcorn squashed into snack-a-jack form! The best thing I found is that I find rice cakes can be quite dry without thick creamy topping, where these were not like this due to being made using popcorn.

The chocolate tastes high quality on both the dark and milk varieties and even better they feel like they are 'bad' but they are only 118 calories a bag and they will be full of fibre because of the popcorn, which is important on a gluten free diet where grains tend to be swapped for rice.


Pros:

• They taste naughty but it's more nutritious than eating a chocolate bar!
• The price is good for what you get, it took me the whole day to snack through these!
• The texture and flavour compliment one another.
• they are easy to take on the go

Cons:

• They are only available in Sainsbury's according to mysupermarket
• You have to buy them individually, there is no multipack option 

Overall I think these are a great snack for on the go or in your handbag, they taste amazing and I would really recommend trying them!

Hannah x 

11th Birthday Card

I had the challenge this week of creating another boy card! I am terrible when it comes to boy cards but I think I kept the ribbon and glitter under control (maybe!).


This card was for my Dads colleagues son, he was turning 11 and my Dad said he was at their house that day so I told him it would be rude not to take a card! (any excuse to get crafty!) I didn't have much time so I decided to spend more time colouring than paper layering but I think I'm happy with how it looks!

This is what I came up with:

Products Used:

• 5x5 Card base
• Paper Cellar 6x6 pad in 'Checks'
• Party Time Cling stamps in 'Cookie'
• A number of pro markers
• purple Card Candi
• stickles in 'Gold'
• Circles and Scalloped circles nestablities
• Blue Cardstock

Hannah x 

NEW! - Tesco and Genius Gluten free Sandwhiches

Well words cannot explain how happy I was when I heard that Tesco and Genius were coming together to create a 'plastic sandwich', or as normal people call them pre packed sandwiches!

The second I heard the announcement on Facebook I waited till the day I could get my hands on one, but the sell out quickly so I've only just managed to!

Sorry for the bad picture, I was at work and noticed Tesco do not have a photo!

The one I picked up (the only one left in the shop!) was ham and cheese ploughman's. This sandwich is made from the Genius brown bread (which is my all time favourite bread). It was filled with ham, cheese, mayo, lettuce, tomato, cucumber and an apple and raisin chutney, YUMMY!

This sandwich was full of flavour and you honestly cannot tell the difference between this and real thing, this really pleased me as I was concerned that they may not be as full or flavoursome but it was such a pleasant surprise, and the best part is I now know what I can eat when on the go!

Pros:

• The sandwich is the same quality as the other sandwiches
• The price is a reasonable £3, I got mine for £2.55 at the end of the day (9pm)
• The selection are good, all the flavours I would enjoy 
• No other supermarket offer these products.

Cons:

• The sell out Quick!
• Only available in tescos larger stores so not convenient when you're out and using tesco express.

I am so happy we now have a quick option and they taste AMAZING!

Hannah x 

What I've used up - April

This month I have been successful at using up some more little bits and pieces in my beauty collection, I have found this process very therapeutic surprisingly! Each time I use something up I throw it into my little basket and watching the basket fill up is very rewarding!

So this month I have used up:


Lancome - Bi Facil
Yet again I have used up another one of this and I am beginning to really enjoy this product, I have still been using it all over my face to remove makeup before I start to wash my face, it is very effective in removing makeup and I have found it makes washing my face much much quicker! Always a plus when you are tired!


Lancome - Hydra Zen Nuit
This is a sample size of the product which came in a reduced christmas gift set, this is not too thick unlike other night cream which have been too heavy even for my dry skin. I found that this product was not oily like many night creams I have tried, which lead me to use normal face creams at night, but this may have just converted me!

l'oreal - Elnett
What can I say this product is my favourite hairspray, it holds and doesn't look crispy, it is also easy to hold and spray, which was in issue I had with tresemme, although I love their formula I like to buy the largest bottles and I found it hard to hold. The other advantage of the elnett is that the spray gives an even light mist and covers well.

Sainsburys - Extra strong nail polish remover
This nail polish is pretty cheap and takes polish off in a single wipe (unless it's glitter, nothing gets glitter off easy!) I find that I don't have to scrub my nails for ages and I feel this means my nails do not get as damaged as they do when I use other polish removers. It does take a little while to get glitter off but if you hold the saturated cotton round onto your nail for a few seconds, I find that does the trick!

Lush Snow fairy shower gel and The Body Shop raspberry shower gel
Sorry I forgot to take photos again! Shower gel is very hard to remember to take out the bathroom and not just throw! But I used up another small bottle of snow fairy as well as The body shop raspberry shower gel which was taken out my stash to use up now they have made it permanent!


I didn't use up as much as I did last month, I haven't had much time for baths and moisturising so I will woking on using all those bits up!

What have you used up?

Hannah x

Kelkin Teacakes

Today I was walking through Sainsburys and found Kelkin has teacakes. I have always loved teacakes so when I saw them I had a little shriek of joy!

Image from Kelkin.co.uk

The box contains 6 teacakes and was £3.50 (they are £3.70 elsewhere) which I feel is quite expensive! But when you open the box the teacakes are huge! There is a thick layer of biscuit under a large marshmallow which is covered in chocolate. 

The biscuit has a very crumbly texture but does not have a dry feeling in the mouth, the marshmallow is the typical tacky marshmallow that you would find in a teacake, which may be why it does not feel dry, then there is a thin layer of chocolate coating the teacake!

Pros:

• The teacakes are very large
• Flavours are very accurate to a regular teacake
• The pack size is not to big or small
• Textures compliment one another well

Cons:

• The price leads them to be a 'occasional treat' product 
• They are hard to find, I've only found them in large stores.

Overall I feel that this product has a great taste and texture I only wish it was a little more accessible and that the price was a little less, but I love the most important thing about this product, the taste! So I would definitely buy them again!

Hannah x

Georgias Choice Gluten Free Chicken and Mushroom Bakes

Is it just me or has the market for gluten free products expended in the last year! This has to be a good thing and today I am back with a review of this interesting discovery. 

Image Sourced from Tesco.com

These are Chicken and Mushroom Crispy bakes from Georgia's Choice. On the pack they look as if they have a section of chicken and a section of a mushroom sauce. However they are more like a fish cake in texture, of course this isn't a bad thing but it was a surprise!

The texture of these are very much like a fish cake, so if you do not like that texture I would advice you to stay away, although I found them very enjoyable, subtlety flavoured but they are surprisingly thick, I thought they would a similar thickness to a chicken burger but they were at least twice as thick! They also crisp nicely and the contrast of the crispy outer to the soft inside is very enjoyable.

Pros:

• The portion is a good size
• This product taste and texture is good
• Obviously it is gluten free!
• £2.50 in tesco which means they are affordable at £1.25 per bake!

Cons:

• They are subtle flavour, do not expect a strong mushroom taste!
• The texture was not what I expected
• Hard to find in very store

Overall I would repurchase these and think they are a great alternative to other gluten free breaded food which can tend to be aimed at children, and lets face it adults like battered and breaded food too!

Hannah x