Udis Gluten free - Cinnamon and Raisin Bagels

After finding the best deal in Tesco the other day, I managed to bag these Udis bagels for free! Since starting working in an office I have enjoyed more substantial breakfasts because I used to make lunch at home but now I have it out I tend to have something lighter.

And with winter in full swing my smoothies were just too summery! So what's better than cinnamon to give you a cosy feeling on a winter morning? I know I have said in the past I am not a huge fan of cinnamon but this is not fully the case. When I say this I really mean I don't like overpowering cinnamon, I much prefer a just the warmth received from the spice rather than full on smack in the face!!

The bagel pictured is actually the second bagel as the first one only had three raisins in the whole thing! I saw the one below had much more so I thought I would show you one that better represented the pack, I think the first one just got a little left out on the raisin front, poor guy!

I have to say for a wintery breakfast these may even beat the chocolate chip ones, bold statement I know but I think it's because I enjoyed these a whole lot more than I first thought I would as the cinnamon is very subtle and just gives a lovely warmth to the bread which was not what I was expecting.

I smothered mine in butter as there is no other way to eat a bagel! Unless it's a plain bagel then cream cheese and salmon is the way forward!

I find the texture of these very much like a mainstream bagel, I find the inside is not as soft but it is still a very pleasant texture and I don't think they are at all dry, but then again I do butter them or add cream cheese.

These normally retail for around £2-£2.50 for a pack of four but can be found on offer for £1, which is how I got them free as I had a £1 coupon too! Even at full price at roughly 50p a bagel I don't think is outrageous as this is how much you pay for an individual mainstream one in Sainsbury's bakery. These are 260 calories each which I think is fantastic as it feels like a lot of bread and is very filling so it keeps you going but at the same time isn't extraordinarily calorific.

And if you want to have the true winter wonderland experience, why try it with a warm apple juice too!

Hannah x

What I ate Wednesday

I'm back for another what I eat in a day! Today was a pretty average day so sorry if it is a little boring!

Breakfast
Today I had a Genius Pain au Chocolat which is one of my favourite 'treat' breakfasts. The pack I recently brought were much fluffier in texture than past packs I've had so it was even better than usual! Find my review here

Lunch
For lunch I had a basic salad with cucumber, iceberg lettuce, celery and some cheese, quick and simple to eat at work! It packs well and is still crisp when it comes to be eaten.

Dinner
Tonight dinner was quite simple and consisted of a pre cooked chicken breast, mash,  some veg and a whole lot of salad cream as I have been loving it lately! I also had a glass of apple tango! (sorry for the bad iPhone snap!)

I drank 2L of water over the course of the day and there may have been a sneaky cream egg too!

Hannah x

All of this for 50p?

We all know gluten free food is expensive, this is why I stock up when there is some great offers and freeze what I can. I wanted to get this post up as soon as possible as I want to make sure you can still get hold of it!

Over the years I have found Tesco is fantastic for finding some great gluten free offers. and today they did not let me down! I managed to get around £7 of goods for 50p.

Here's what I got

• Warburton's plain sandwich thins. These are regularly around £2.50 and I have a recipe I want to use these for so when I saw these on offer for £1 I jumped at the chance to pick them up. 

• Udis plain bagels and Udis Cinnamon bagels.These are regularly £2.30 (I tend to pick these up in Sainsburys) but the offer price was £1 too! 

These are amazing deals by themselves but if any of you have any coupons lurking around from the free from shows you will be able to get an even better deal. My Udis £1 off bagels coupons were still valid, which meant I walked away with these costing me absolutely nothing! As for the sandwich thins I had a 50p coupon for any Warburton product so these only cost me 50p!

I hope you can take advantage of these deals!

Hannah x

Kelkin Belgian Milk Chocolate Fingers - Time Out Chocolate Bar Gluten Free Style

Is it just me or can nothing beat a bit of flakey chocolate with wafer. Time Out bars were one of my childhood favourites. It was something always waiting for me at my grandparents house when I went to visit. If not anything else it was the nostalgia of eating that bar I missed more than the actual flavour. So when I went out on a Kelkin gluten free hunt a couple weeks ago in Lidl and came across these I couldn't be any happier!

 This twin bar is just over 100 calories and I am not going to lie it was much smaller than I first envisioned these being! But thats ok with me as I assume they are more aimed at children anyway!

This review will be quite short because I couldn't find anything negative, it tastes just like a time out bar that I remember. The chocolate has a good flavour, as my greatest loathe in life is cheap greasy chocolate. The bubbly chocolate and crispy wafer really compliment one another.

The only drawback to this product I can find is that I have only ever seen it in lidl. I am not the greatest fan of buying gluten free food online, other than using tesco.com because I do like to see the product and read the ingredients before purchasing. That doesn't mean I won't buy online but by the time I have thought about it I have brought something in store!

Overall I really enjoyed these bars and would pick more up next time I see them. They remind me of being a child, and although the chocolate is not cadbury's it is still very tasty. I would recommend them to people of all ages because they are small enough for a child's treat but also great for anyone that enjoys chocolate bars!

Hannah x

Tesco Free From Pasta Carbonara

Yesterday was another ready meal day.  I promise I do cook! I will be introducing more recipes to my blog soon, but when I see a new ready meal I like to try them to see what they are like, as they are easily accessible to everyone.

I spotted this on Tesco online but I'm sure you'll be able to find this quite easily in store too. When opening the box I found that the pasta and sauce are in separate containers, I'm not too sure why that was, but it did allow you to choose how much sauce you wanted. I added it all to review the dish as a whole. But I would say there was more than enough sauce to feed two people, which I could do, but for today I added some salad to my plate to eat with the extra.

The retail price is £2.50 which is one of the most inexpensive ready meals I have seen in the free from range,  if you were to share the sauce this would make a cheap dinner for two! Tesco have always seemed to impress me with their free from range and the price they offer these products for.

This dish is a total of 707 calories and 30g of fat. But if you look at the ingredients of this or any other carbonara, this is to be expected as it is mainly cheese, milk and cream! 

I found that the pancetta was lovely smoky flavour but compared to the amount of sauce it wasn't very prominent without eating a piece individually.  The sauce was thick and creamy. I really enjoy a lot of pepper in my carbonara and once I added some it gave it a fantastic lift from what was a slightly bland dish. However I can see why Tesco have done this, as it opens this dish to a wider audience. I am sure many children who are gluten intolerant would not enjoy a peppery taste, and I can always add it!

I found that this dish microwaved very well, the sauce didn't separate and the pasta didn't go rubbery, although like all ready meals gluten free or not, the pasta was a little stuck together, but this doesn't bother me as I think this is to be expected when reheating. I was a little apprehensive when I read you could only microwave this meal but it turned out to work well.

Overall I really enjoyed this dish, although there was too much sauce for my liking and was slightly bland without seasoning. It's safe to say I will buy it again as it has given me some great recipe ideas using the sauce as a base as it has a perfect creaminess. Maybe adding more pepper, some smokey bacon and possibly even some chicken or other ingredients such as veg, which will make a fast dinner or even two by using the pasta in the box and some extra for a second meal, which can either be saved for the next day or shared.

Hannah x

Ds Gluten Free Bonta D' Italia Salami Pizza

Friday night in my eyes is treat night so this means pizza, this week I decided to try Ds's  Gluten Free Bonta D' Italia Salami Pizza. Now the name may be a bit of a mouthful so I am glad that it's not something I'd have to order over the phone!

This pizza retails for £3.25 which is fantastic value and to sweeten the deal the whole thing is only 732 calories, which is half the amount of a dominos pizza, fraction of the price too!

The base is super thin and crispy with a tomato sauce which is topped with cheese and salami. I found that there were patches of my pizza that were not covered in cheese and I would have liked a bit more salami but then again you can't be pleased at the calorie count and then expect more!

The salami had quite a peppery flavour and thick slices but was in no way spicy so I really enjoyed it without wanting to cry! It wasn't greasy either which is one thing that really bothers be about takeaway pizza, particularly when they have pepperoni and salami type toppings. The cheese wasn't too strong but combined with a slightly stronger tomato sauce complimented the flavour of the salami.



























This pizza took quite a while to heat up to the point of getting a bit of colour on the base, much like many other gluten free foods you have to be careful once it has started to colour as it burns quickly!

Overall I really recommend this pizza. The only drawback is the lack of even distribution of toppings as I feel that if it was more evenly spread I wouldn't have thought it was slightly lacking in them! But nevertheless I would still repurchase this pizza as I really enjoyed the flavours and is considerably cheaper than ordering one in. Much less greasy too!

Hannah x

My new Obsession - Water with Lemon

I've never been a big tea, fizzy drink or squash drinker (although I do love coffee), but after seeing so many people infusing water with fruits over the last few years I thought that would be something I would enjoy. So for the past few months I have been having lemon in my water and really enjoying it!

The best part about lemon water is that you can have it hot or cold. I tend to have a mug of hot water with lemon in the morning and evening and enjoy it with ice throughout the day.

Not only is this a great flavour but it is believed to have health benefits too! I find that this drink is every addictive and I tend to have about 8-10 glasses a day! I have found that my skin has been loving this and although I've never suffered with spots, I have found my discolouration and blotchy areas are reduced. This could be down to the lemon or maybe because I have been enjoying it so much my body has become more hydrated through a higher water intake. Either way I have noticed a difference and the benefits of enjoying drinking water.

Other believed benefits of Lemon water are:

• Aids digestion
• Boosts immune system due to vitamins
• Detoxifying your body 
• Helps weight loss by curbing cravings
• Lemons are high in potassium

As I am not a health expert I do not know how valid these claims are. However, having lemon water is certainly better than grabbing a bottle of cola or high sugar drinks. It also tastes much more interesting than pain water and if you squeeze a little lemon juice in sparkling water, it tastes like a sharp lemonade! What could be better! 

Hannah x 

Helen's Chocolate Cupcake Mix

Yesterday I got my apron out and finally got around to baking my Helen's cupcake mix I brought at the free from show way back in June/July! I was hoping to bake them a long time ago but as they were still well within their use by date I thought there's no time like the present!

This mix only needs 150g of butter and four eggs, the ingredients also recommend some water but I felt the mixture was just fine without. With this mix you can make 12 cupcakes and surprisingly for such as rich mix they are only 170 calories each!

The pack retails for £2.69 and when including the price of butter and eggs these cupcakes only cost 37p each (depending on the choice of your ingredients). This is much more reasonable considering other brands charge as much as £3 for two cupcakes.

As soon as they were cool enough to eat, James and I cut one open and gave it a try. They are a fantastic fluffy texture and quite a bitter taste. I feel that they are a much more grown up cupcake as they are quite dark in flavour. I am not sure if they are really aimed at, or would be enjoyed by children with the flavour they have.

I found this mix was incredibly easy to follow and gave very impressive results. The deciding factor that these cakes were a winner was when James tucked into a second one! For someone who eats gluten and dislikes anything that doesn't taste like the gluten filled, branded mainstream version, this really impressed me!

I will most certainly have one of these in the cupboard to use when people come around at short notice and I want a sweet treat that we all can eat and not know the difference!

I also have the Helen's pastry mix still in the cupboard so I think I may make a few cheese straws and see how they go!

Hannah x

Lidl Haul - Gluten Free

On friday I saw on Facebook that Kelkin was being stocked in Lidl, they advertised this as #glutenfreeweek, which makes me fear it won't be around for long! I hope I'm wrong!

Lidl is not a shop I visit all that often as it is in town and I pass 4 other supermarkets on the way. But when I am in the area I always like to have a look, I find many products are great value and that you can sometimes find some great alternatives to what is found in supermarkets.

My main aim was to find my beloved teacakes which retail for £3.70 in the Sainsbury's near my office so when I managed to find these for £1.99, there was a little song and dance in the isle much to my boyfriends dismay!

So here is what I got!

• Kelkin Teacakes - £1.99
• Kelkin Mint Chocolate Rice Cakes - £1.19
• Kelkin Orange Chocolate Rice Cake - £1.19
• Kelkin Milk Chocolate Fingers - £1.59
• Kelkin Chocolate Chip cookies - £1.29
• Kelkin Chocolate Hazelnet Rice cake bars - £1.39

I found that all these prices were much cheaper than the supermarkets on mymoneysupermarket.com, most of them I had never even seen before and were also not available in other retailers according to mymoneysupermarket. I know I would have most definitely picked up the chocolate hazelnut rice cake bar had I seen them.

Next time you want a sweet treat why not try and have a look in Lidl?

Hannah x

What I ate Today!

Today I thought I would show you what I ate. Many times a week I recommend products on this blog, but today I'm proving I actually eat these things! I think I will make a weekly feature of this because it may give you some food ideas!

Breakfast
I had a very simple breakfast today, just some nestle gluten free cornflakes and a banana. I was going to make a smoothie but I couldn't decide what to have with the banana! I did have a splash of milk but I don't really like milk with corn flakes, but I didn't have yoghurt so it had to do!

Lunch
I had half a carton of Tesco broccoli and stilton soup, I have had soup everyday this week and I am really enjoying it, after the amount of rich food that was eaten at Christmas something more normal for me isn't going a miss! I did have a packet of salted crisps mid afternoon, which is rare for me at the moment but I just fancied some!

Dinner
I had to rush out for a meeting tonight so I opted for an Amy's Kitchen Cheddar and Broccoli Bake. More broccoli! Funny thing is I don't really like broccoli as a stand alone veg but I love it in soups and bakes, so clearly I like it more than I thought!

Snack
As an after dinner snack I had a couple of the Kelkin Milk Chocolate Rice Cakes. These were fantastic and I think are possibly the best milk chocolate rice cakes I've tried to date.

I would love to know if you have any staple meals as a quick fix!

Hannah x

Seriously Good! Gluten-free Cooking by Phil Vickery

One of my gifts this Christmas was a gluten free cook book, Seriously Good! Gluten-free Cooking by Phil Vickery to be exact. This book contains breakfast, snack, lunch and dinner recipes as well as much much more, including vegetarian dishes.

This book is in association with Coeliac UK and has prompted me to do some more cooking posts on my blog! So throughout this year I am going to aim to do many more recipes, and hopefully, availability of the kitchen permitting I may even be able to show you whole meals and film the progress.

I do have other gluten free cook books I brought last year and haven't touched! So I am also going to dig these out the book shelf and make more of an effort!

I have such a range of recipes I can try and although I am much more of a baker than a cook, I managed a food GCSE so I'm sure I will be able to make a few recipes right!

I am looking forward to sharing my creations, or disasters, whichever they may be!

Hannah x

Happy New Year! - A Quick Poundland Food Haul

Happy New Year Everyone! I hope you had a wonderful Christmas and an even better New Years!

Today I am going to show you the bits I managed to bag in the food section of Poundland none the less! I have always picked up little bits and bobs there, such as stationary, craft and cleaning bits, but today I went into a Poundland which was 90% food. So I decided to have a real look and see what I could pick up.

Obviously Poundland stock many naturally gluten free food such as crisps and nuts, but today I wanted to see if I could find something a little more interesting and perhaps something you wouldn't expect for £1!

So here's what I found:

Kallo Blueberry and Vanilla Rice and Corn Cakes
These are a wholegrain brown rice snack that are low fat at 3% per cake and are only 35 calories. There are no artificial flavours and preservatives and are also suitable for vegans and vegetarians. I love rice cakes but had never seen this flavour so I picked them up to see how I could pair up a sweet rice cake as I tend to use cream cheeses, cucumber and tomatoes. I think I may give these a go with a greek yoghurt! I find these sweet varieties tend to retail for £1.50 in my local Sainsbury's.

Kallo Dark Chocolate Rice Cakes
I get through tons of these rice cakes, at 80 calories they give a good chocolate fix. I tend to have a small banana with one of these as a snack at work. The Poundland I went to also had milk chocolate but dark is my all time favourite! In my Sainsbury's these retain for £1.69 but they are the 90g pack whereas this is the 100g, where the cakes are bigger for a lesser price.

Lunchbox Mini Snacks
These are small raisin size boxes with dried raisins, sultanas, apple and apricots. At 37 calories each I thought that these boxes are pre measured which will save me time! There are 12 mini boxes in the pack.

Mint Poppets
Poppets are naturally gluten free and what could be better than dark chocolate and mint? At £1 for 154g makes these 65p per 100g compared to £1 per 100g in the supermarkets. What's not to love!

Happy New Years everyone!

Hannah x