Kent & Fraser Choc Chip Cookies

Coffee breaks are never complete without a biscuit or two! These snack pack sizes I keep receiving in my snackly box are perfect for me to bring to my office! Containing no artificial additives or preservatives means I won't become a caffeine filled additive run squirrel for the next few hours!

Described as 'Two cookies made with dark chocolate chips, creamy butter and light muscovado sugar. The perfect recipe for an all time classic that is simply hard to resist.' These cookies are sold to me instantly. Looking at the pack these are certified wheat and gluten free, but also do not contain any egg ingredients, although they do not claim to be egg free. These cookies are produced in a bakery that handles nuts and contain soya and milk. If you are diabetic or trying to avoid sugar I don't think that these are the cookies for you as the first ingredient is light muscovado sugar.

When opening my pack I did have a bit of cookie missing, it was only the edge of one but it did give me a giggle when I discovered it wasn't in the bottom of the pack. Comparable to the size of a mainstream Maryland cookies, I found two were perfect for a snack.

In terms of texture I would call these much more of a biscuit than a cookie, as they are crunchy. In my eyes cookies are soft and gooey, nevertheless they were still lovely. Quite aerated crisp mixture, this cookie has a very sweet sugary crunch. Being golden brown, these cookies are cooked to perfection, they have not been overly dried out to a crumbly consistency and there is not odd powdery aftertaste, which is a famous trait of many free from cookies.

Vanilla undertones are present in the cookie base, although not an ingredient itself, the sweetness is subtly there and is very much an vanilla aftertaste. The chips are quite soft in comparison to the cookie so there is a prominent contrast and as a result makes the chocolate chips seem so much more creamy and rich in flavour. My only complaint is the chocolate chip distribution is very inconsistent, one of my cookies had six or seven chips, whereas the other only had one. This means if you were sharing someone will feel a little hard done by! (but honestly you wouldn't catch me sharing!)

A full size box will set you back £2.30, which I think is more or less the price you pay for most free from biscuits, so I think that this price point is reasonable. I would be less inclined to buy this flavour over the other flavours Kent and Fraser produce however due to having a lack of chocolate chips in my cookie. If I am buying chocolate chip cookies, I would like a good amount of chips, so I would be more inclined to buy the Morisons choc chip cookies. Nevertheless, I have tried a variety of Kent & Frasers cookies and I would recommend trying them. I would have brought these again if I could guarantee even chips in each cookie.

I would love to know what you think these cookies if you have tried them. I am hoping I just had a odd one with only one chip!

Hannah x

Nature's Store & Holland & Barret Haul

This week was pay day, which always leads me to treat myself. I was on Facebook and Nature's Store were giving away free corn rolls with every order. James and I ate these whilst away and enjoyed them so I thought why not! I have wanted to try more of the range.

So here's what I got!

Swiss Chocolate Muesli - £2.99
I have seen this on the internet here and there and wanted to try something new for breakfast, so I thought that this would be perfect thing to try!

Mini Bread Sticks - £1.59
For grazing or have a snack like lunch, I thought that these would be great to take out and about, or to even have with dips.

Belgian White Chocolate Rice Cakes - £1.70
I love rice cakes and I have never seen white chocolate coated ones, white chocolate is something I enjoy as a sweet treat, so I was intrigued to give these a go!

White Chocolate Caramel Rice Cakes - £1.70
Again, I was intrigued by this flavour, particularly as you tend to see caramel with milk chocolate rather than white.

Rice Cakes Coated with Milk Chocolate Multi Pack - £2.50
I eat all brands of chocolate coated rice cakes and I thought that these would be great on the go as they are pre-packed in two's. Granted that buying them this way is slightly more expensive, but it's fun!

Chilli Corn Rolls - FREE
These are great to dip in sour cream, or even chilli.

This lead me to more shopping Holland and Barrett had the buy one get one half price sale so I ordered a few bits, I am still waiting on the Udis vanilla muesli but here is what else I got!

2 x Eat Real Quinoa chips sour cream and chive - 79p each
I have already eaten one of these and they have the texture of quavers, which really pleased me as I have missed them! Although this is not the same flavour as quavers, these have a lovely flavour and a good amount. I think these make great alternatives to potato crips.

Udis Bagel Chips cheddar and garlic  - £3.50
I have been looking for these for ages, I have used the plain ones for canapé style snacks with cream cheese and salmon, but I have wanted to see if this favour would be good for snacking on the go!

I would love to know if you think there is anything I should try based on the type of things I brought!

Hannah x

Costa Coffee - Gluten Free Coronation Chicken Wrap

I don't know if you remember a few months back that Costa came out with an egg mayonnaise wrap, which I really didn't enjoy. Since then I have just picked up my coffee and cherry bakewells and not looked on the shelf as to my dismay my local one no longer stocked the chicken wrap I loved. Last week I took a quick glance for some reason and noticed the gluten free wrap was not the egg one, but a coronation chicken one instead! Coronation chicken is a filling I love, which you don't see too often in a free from takeaway sandwich, as they tend to be more plain.

Not wanting to miss out I picked it up and thought I'd give it a try. Terrible I know but I didn't even look at the price through all my excitement, I would assume to be £3-£4 as this tends to be the rate of packaged sandwiches. At 375 calories, it is a reasonable wrap to have for lunch, I have taken a quick snap of the front of the box (above) so you can check nutritional information that may be of interest to you.

The wrap itself is filled with chicken, spinach, cucumber and coronation mayonnaise. Obviously having mayonnaise in this, it is unfortunately not suitable for egg or milk allergy sufferers. Like the wraps I have had before from Costa, I believe it is a Warburtons seeded wrap which are soft and quite thick in texture. I love these wraps so I'm pleased Costa do not try and create their own! This wrap is quite fluffy and has no odd aftertaste. Inside there is the coronation mayonnaise coating the wrap. There isn't too much of this but the favour is there, that sweet slightly mango flavour combined with the spinach and cucumber is a perfect pairing! The chicken was the same flame grilled style chicken pieces there was in the chicken and basil wrap, I assume this is present in all of their chicken flavoured wraps, sandwiches and toasties. There is not any raisins or sultanas in sight, which is an ingredient in a typical coronation chicken everyone may not be a fan of, so I think leaving this out was a good decision as it makes it more mainstream for children and those who just don't like wrinkly grapes!

My only grumble about the gluten free wraps from costa is the consistency. I am aware that the ingredients are more than likely weighed, but sometimes I find the wrap seems a little empty and they make sure from above they look full. I have had two of these wraps in the past week and the amount in them can vary slightly. I would prefer it if they packed them out with spinach, so you feel you get a good full wrap rather than a few bits rattling around. This way it will be more nutrious and wouldn't add many calories!

Overall I do really enjoy these wraps and I would most certainly continue to buy them, I am hoping and waiting to see if the Christmas wrap will make a comeback this year! I don't think I ever got around to blogging it, but it is by far the best wrap of the Costa gluten free wrap family! But then again I love all things Christmasy, so it is hardly a fair test!

What do you think of the slightly more adventurous flavour for gluten free? I think its fantastic. I find plain gluten free sandwiches quite a few places now, but having one with a twist, but isn't too out there is great for those of us getting a little bored of egg or chicken salad!

Hannah x

Delicious Alchemy - Vanilla Sponge mix*

Oh Delicious Alchemy... You have never let me down and this product is no exception. I tweeted a few days ago about fancying making the vanilla cake mix but I couldn't decide to leave it plain, add chocolate chips, or mini fudge pieces. Delicious Alchemy tweeted back with why not both, so that is exactly what I did!

I didn't add many mind, so it was more of a hunt the chips, as I didn't want to ruin the texture, seeing as this is the first time I have tried this mix and I didn't want to affect the review. To create the cake, all you need is 180g of butter and three large eggs. If you buy a 250g block of butter I found the left overs was the perfect amount for the butter icing I made!

I opened the mix and added it to the mixer, the consistency was almost as finely milled as icing sugar and was very white too, which I found interesting and different to most mixes I have seen. To this I added the butter and creamed together. Once that was done I beat in the eggs, choc chips and fudge. I had the mixture run for a few minutes, I have found the key to gluten free cooking is to fill the mixture with as much air as you can. This way you don't end up with a pancake!

These were then popped in the oven for 20-25 minutes at 180. The timing on this was perfect. I tend to have to add a couple of minutes to my gas cooker but using the electric one I did seemed to be more on time. I guess it just depends on where you live and the type of oven you have!

Straight out of the oven, the sponges looked just like the gluten filled Victoria sponge my gran makes, so this was a good sign, evenly domed and golden! Once cooled I sandwiched the cake with some basic butter icing.

Cutting into the cake the texture looked perfect, great aeration and soft to the touch. Nothing crumbled away and I have since found it travels well too, as I have been bringing bits to my office! The flavour is second to none, I gave a piece to my mum and she had to ask me three times if it was a gluten free cake and she thought it tastes just like any cake she would normally eat! In her words 'there is no dry bicarbonate powderiness you get with a lot, I honestly don't believe it! It tastes like your Grans'. If you have ever been lucky enough to try my Gran's Victoria spoke, you know this is high praise! The moisture, texture, flavour and presentation of this cake was perfect.

The mix retails at £2.99 on their website and £3.50 at most retailers. I added around £1.80 of butter and eggs. So for one cake, depending on the supermarkets you use for your eggs and butter you can make a cake for under £5. This cake is a similar size to the M&S birthday cake I reviewed earlier in the week and is half the price, of course that was decorated but you could decorate this cake too, more than likely for less than £5, which makes this a good budget option when considering birthdays and celebrations, as you can also personalise it too.

I would certainly be buying this mix again. I think I would love to try to create a 'cream tea' style cake with clotted cream and jam in the centre!

I would love to see if you have used this mix as a base for any baking creations or even just as a Victoria sponge!

Hannah x

*This product was sent to me to try, all opinions are my own.

Chippa Sauces Haul*

I am one hell of a sucker for packaging, so when I was asked if I would like to try some of the Chippa sauces, I took one look of the packing and was sold!

I have found these are sold in Sainsbury's and retail at £1.50 but I have found them on offer for £1 recently, meaning that these sauces are quite affordable and readily available. Where a majority of Chippa products are free from more than one allergen, they are great to have in the cupboard ready for any visitors that may have special requirements, particularly as they have a good shelf life, with mine being good until November next year!

Being owned by the Tiger Tiger brand (as says on the back of the label) I have tried a couple of these products before, it will be great to see if they have a new recipe to go with the new branding.

So here is what I got:

Tomato Ketchup
I know what you are all thinking, all ketchup is gluten free, I agree I find labeled gluten free ketchups lead our families and friends to think they need to buy us separate ketchup from what they have. Although I can forgive this product as it has such a reasonable price point. Many I have seen labeled gluten free can fetch up to £4! I am not one of these people that like nothing but Heinz, so I am excited to try this and see what the favour is like.

Brown Sauce
This is something that most of the time isn't gluten free so it is great that there is an option on the market. I have seen in the ingredients it does contain barley and I avoid barley as I believe it not to be gluten free. On further investigation I have not found anything that tells me it's ok to eat, as on coeliac UK it is on top of their no list, but I have contacted the company and I will update you on this one! *Upadate* The product claim's to be “Gluten Free” due to being registered to Coeliac Society of UK/Ireland and the product has proved that the Gluten content is <20ppm which satisfy the requirement of claiming gluten free as per Coeliac Society of UK/Ireland.

May-O
A very interesting product indeed. Being free from egg, dairy and gluten, making it perfect for vegans, this product seems to have rapeseed oil, apple and mustard, among an array of other ingredients. It is white just like typical mayonnaise, so lets see if the taste and texture is good!

If you have tried any of Chippas sauces I would love to know what you think. I believe there is 7 in the range to choose from!

Hannah x

*These products were sent to me to try, all opinions are my own.

M&S Made without Wheat - Chocolate Celebration Cake

On Saturday it was my Grans 69th Birthday so we decided to have a buffet at our house. We used the M&S online platter service as most things are gluten free, of course we ordered some sandwich platters, but on the whole I could eat anything I wanted!

When picking up the platters my Mum went to get a cake too. I am used to not joining in on the Birthday cake but to my surprise Mum appeared at the pick up desk, where I was waiting for the platters, with a HUGE celebration cake! I was over the moon and was just praying it was good, so everyone else wouldn't be disappointed!

At £10 a cake, this retails at the same price point as most of the mainstream birthday cakes you find in all major supermarkets, I find this really reasonable and perfect to share with a group of people without breaking the bank! I found this cake cut into 12 slices was around 84p a serving, that's fabulous as with baking and decorating I think I would be hard pushed to make one that looked and tasted the way this one did! I am terrible at icing and we would have ended up with a mud cake!

Once cut the cake was super chocolatey, not only was the sponge and frosting chocolate, but the sides were thickly coated in chocolate swirls. If you know me, this was heaven! The sponge was light and fluffy, with the softer icing made this cake gorgeously gooey! The real test was when my family tucked in. They didn't even notice the difference, until they realised I was photographing and eating it!

Cutting the cake was clean and easy, no crumbling or flaking apart, the structure of the cake held well. Crumbling is my biggest pet peeve on larger free from cakes, it always means you miss out on the middle of your cake as it disintegrates into nothing. M&S however only tend to remove gluten from the recipe, hence the made without wheat range. I feel this helps the cake to stay together, or any products for that matter, trying to remove all allergens is a very hard thing to achieve well, and if it isn't essential, why do so? I understand many people have multiple allergies, but sometimes it is nice to have something just gluten free. I am sure those who are only intolerant to dairy are sometimes sick of dry food because us gluten free lot have made their sweet treats dry!

The gorgeous knife in the photos is made by The Silver Birdcage. If you love stamped silver wares you have to look at her site! When I first saw her stall at one of the events I was trading at, I fell in love with all her products and I've brought a few bits since as they make such unique gifts! I actually won this knife in one of her competitions and thought it would be perfect for my blog photos!

Overall todays review is very small because I couldn't find a fault, the chocolate didn't taste cheap and the texture was perfect. If it fooled 5 others into thinking it was a regular, gluten filled cake, you can't beat that really! I am really pleased, fantastic cake at a fantastic price!

Hannah x

Devon/Cornwall - My week away!

Last week you may have noticed I was a bit MIA. This is because James and I packed up his little car (which is much smaller than you expect once we stuffed it with all our belongings!) and headed down to Devon/Cornwall. We stayed in a luxury lodge near Bude. This way we could see things in both Cornwall and Devon!

Choosing a selfcatering option was fantastic, as we could eat as and when we wanted and was also much easier for me. I was ready for packing picnic's everyday to make sure that there was plenty for me to eat, but surprisingly this was not needed!

I won't go through day by day what I ate, as this will bore you all to death, but I will show you some of my highlights!

When we first got to the lodge, we had paid for a hamper to be provided as it was Sunday and we knew not many shops would be open. Although I couldn't eat some of the items provided, there was a vast range of food in the hamper, from bread, cereals, juice, milk, bacon, sausage, biscuits, cakes, jams, sugar, coffee, tea, crisps, and that's just to name a few!

If you follow me on Instgram you will have seen some of these already. My life revolves around food, not just online! So you bet when I find some good food I am always the one taking a photo of it!

Tuesday was our first day out, as Monday we unpacked and did some food shopping, as the shops were so far away this took a day in itself. We decided to go to Dartington Crystal factory. Here we got to see some vases being made and there was a HUGE store to browse, there was a few sneaky purchases of some very reduced vases! We decided to stop by the cafe there rather than hunting another restaurant or cafe. I had a tuna and cheese jacket potato with a side salad, the potato was baked perfectly and honestly was one of the best baked potatoes I have had in a while. But to follow I had a gluten free carrot cake, yep, that's right, they had a whole fresh cake that was gluten free. Although I knew I would be so full after that and a potato, I just had to try it! It was fantastic!

Wednesday - We found a little cafe in Clovelly which had a wide range of gluten free options, from rolls to cream tea. Of course I had a cream tea with a green tea! The two scones were huge so I only managed one. Slightly more crumbly than a typical scone, but I had plenty of cream and jam to keep it stuck together! I could have had rolls too if I'd wanted. I was very impressed from a small independent cafe.

Thursday - We decided to visit Boscastle which was a lovely village filled with all sorts of craft shops, completely up my ally! We found a cafe which sold gluten free pasties and the chips were made with local potatoes, so we decided to give them a go! I went for a cheese and onion pasty, the filling and the puffier pastry was great. Although I did leave the crusts as they were a little tough! It was nice that it felt like James and I were enjoying the same meal again whilst eating out.

Friday - We went on a garden centre hunting trip and had coffee. We then went home and had some BFree fajitas for lunch as we would be out on saturday and needed to use some chicken up. We then went to Padstow and found Rick Steins fish and chip shop, where gluten free fish is readily available! Unfortunately I was still quite full so we shared some chips but so many people were ordering gluten free, so they had to be good!

I hope you liked this slightly different what I ate post!

Hannah x

What's in my Snackly box? - September 2015

Treats in the post day! Being the first week back at work since my holiday, this box was perfectly timed to perk me up! Being back to school time all these treats will travel easily in bags and lunch boxes without being squashed, if you dare to share your treats with your kids that it! If you love tupperware as much as me, you are bound to have those teeny tiny pots that you were once mocked for buying, but have proved endlessly useful! Well most of these snacks are picky style so you could break these down so you could have a mix of munchy seeds and nuts and even pop some mango in a pot and send your kids (or you) with a mix of each.

So enough with my food fantasising and let's see what's in my box!

Darling Spuds - Crushed Natural Sea Salt Crisps
Featured a few months ago, this was the first thing I ate out of that box, so we know these are a hit! My crisp and dip obsession was well catered to when I was on holiday. This smaller bag will be perfect for my portion control, as I do need to loose a few holiday pounds, but I can't give up my crisp treats!

Honeybuns - Mini Snowy Hills
I was so sad that Honeybuns open weekend was this week as last week I was right on their doorstep. Having this in the box doesn't make me feel so bad that I am missing out on coffee and cake there! Snowy Hills is a lovely ginger and polenta shortbread, topped with lemon sponge. Believe me I thought it was odd when I first heard of it, but it's honestly one of my favourite cakes! The flavours work so well together!

Chika's - Black Pepper Cashews
Chika's are in this box again this month, but now with some black pepper cashews. I love salt and pepper crisps and I also love cashews, so this is very much like combining the two! This pack has 268 calories so I will more than likely break this down into four portions, as there is a reasonable amount in there for a snack pack style product.

Urban Fruit - Magnificent Mango
Urban Fruit have such fun packaging! This 103 calorie snack pack contains one of your five a day and is just baked fruit. I love these snacks and mango is one I don't think I have tried yet!

Munchy Seeds - Choccy Apricot
New to Snackly, these sound like my kind of treat! With a great taste gold 2010 star, these Belgian chocolate coated sunflower and pumpkin seeds with dried appricot pieces sound amazing. Also something I know James won't touch as he isn't a fan of seeds... so more for me!

Walkers Gluten Free Pure Butter Chocolate Chip Shortbread
I was hoping and praying that these would make an appearance! I loved the plain shortbread that arrived in the Snackly box a couple of months ago and when I saw that there was choc chip ones on their website, I knew I had to try them! These are firmly in my lunch box as my Monday treat at work to help me get through packing all the boxes! 

Sorry there is no links this month, I can't work out for the life of me how to do it on the iPad app! I will add them once I'm back on the iMac!

I would love to know what you think of your Snackly box this month and what you're most excited to try!

Hannah x 

Provena Gluten Free - Raspberry Instant Oats*

Porridge tends to be a breakfast I associate with the colder weather. This means my poor oats are waiting for when I can see my breath in the air. But recently I have seen so many porridges and overnight oats on Instagram and Pinterest I thought I would give porridge in the summer a go, living on the edge huh?!?!

I thought the Provena instant oats with raspberries would be a good place to start as raspberries are quite a summery fruit, and would be perfect mixed with banana, berries and desiccated coconut. To make these oats all you do is add milk and a microwave. I never follow the instructions on these instant oats, as I prefer a more watery porridge. I normally do a good glug of milk and microwave a minute at a time. This Instant oats mix is gluten free and only containing oats, dried raspberries and salt makes them dairy and egg free too, depending on the type of milk used!

On first thoughts I was expecting a couple of pieces of raspberry lurking here and there as this is what I have found in similar products in the past. However I was pleasantly surprised as there was loads of what I think to be freeze dried raspberries well disbursed through the oats.

The oats were of very good quality, with no hard rusk like chunks, which I have found in cheaper gluten free oats I have brought, which in my opinion is as bad as finding some shell in your egg mayo! Once heated through the oats were beautifully creamy, as if I had used a full fat milk and a dash of cream for luck, but in fact it was only semi skimmed! The raspberries were packed with flavour, bursting berry brilliantly through the whole thing. If you mix enough you can actually turn your porridge slightly pink, which I think kids would love! As a child I always wanted the fun coloured cereals!

Being in the pre-portioned sachets is something I always look for as although it doesn't taste as creamy, at a push you can make these with water. This means I have these in my work desk, my handbag and anywhere else you can imagine, as popping the oats in a mug to microwave or pour boiling water over means you can make porridge anywhere. Quick cheats are always a hit with me!

Are instant oats something you find a staple in your cupboard? I'd love to know how you eat them, I think fruit topped is always the way to go!

Hannah x

*This product is sent to me to try, all opinions are my own