Kini-Toos - Gluten Free Oreos!

Who doesn't like Oreos? I have yet to meet somebody who doesn't like these rich chocolatey biscuits with the white creamy filling. So I 100% know your pain when you are told, or discover you have to transition to a gluten free diet and you see your beloved Oreos walk out of your life! Luckily, more and more people have been trying to produce replica sandwich cookies for us, Udis and Schar have jumped on this in the UK market. When I was looking for the white Oreo style biscuits that I had seen in Yorica! I found Kinnikinnick did both versions, so I thought I'd give them both a go!

Kini-Toos come in very large packs with around 18 biscuits in each. Retailing on Amazon for £5.60, they are no cheaper than the Udis ones gram for gram, but they do come in larger pack so if you are baking, they may be a better option for some recipes. Being free of gluten, egg, dairy and nuts, these biscuits are suitable for vegetarians and vegans alike and so would be perfect for parties and buffets where allergens are an issue as there is none of the major ones in this product!

A recommended portion size is 3 biscuits which works out to be around 150 calories. I have tended to have two as a portion as this way it's a 100 calorie sweet treat, ideal for lunch boxes or throw a in your handbag snack!

Flavour wise and texturally I am not sure how to describe these as they are the same as the Oreos I remember. James eats regular Oreos all the time and agrees that there is barely any difference! Result for us free fromers! The biscuit itself is that hard dry consistency with the rich cocoa flavour and good snap, iconic to the mainstream equivalent. The vivid white thick cream filling is also slightly vanilla flavoured and perfectly portioned to what you would expect.

I think this is a fantastic product and I will certainly buy more if I can find them on Amazon still!

Hannah x

No.G Gluten Free Chicken, Bacon and Leek Pie

Wow! Who would have thought I'd see the day where I would be a pie person! Before being gluten free I 'disliked' many products that contained gluten from a young age, which ultimately we have found that's because they make me unwell, but at the time I just seemed very fussy! Pies were one thing I would never ever touch, let alone eat. The soggy pastry and thick gravy was something that used to turn my stomach. Until I tried gluten free that is! No.G in particular have mastered the art in pie making in a big way!

Available in Morrisons, Ocado and Sainsbury's, No.G is becoming more widely accessible day by day. Retailing at an average £2.50 with these particular retailers, I agree that it does seem the pricier end of the market but I would so recommend taking the plunge and giving them a go as the quality is outstanding! 

Each pie is 562 calories and 38.8g of fat, 20.1g of them being saturated fat, so certainly not on the diet plan. If you are looking to have a delicious treat, you won't be disappointed as this pie is super packed full of quality ingredients and is very filling.

Comparing this No.G pie to the Genius pies, as they are the only other ones I have tried, they are worlds apart. Most noticeably is the filling, Genius use a lot of gravy in their pies and meat dispersed within this, whereas the meat is packed in the No.G  pie with much less sauce, it also has more than one flavour element, which I haven't seen in any free from pie, more like a traditional pie with combining flavours. No.G reaches that market that just want to be able to find 'normal' food options, just gluten free, rather than plain chicken or steak. It's completely down to personal preference but I find I tend to like pies with more meat, less gravy and with more complex flavour choices as I can always add a sauce or gravy on myself unlike ingredients, which are baked into the pie itself and cannot be added to. The pieces of chicken and bacon are quite large and incredibly flavoursome and tender. Who honestly wants to be searching for the chicken in their pie? Not me!

Texturally the pastry is much harder and crisper than the Genius ones I have tried which tend to be quite soft. I feel that this is down to the drier filling. When taking the pie out of the foil, it was golden and crisp with no soggy bottoms (Mary Berry and Paul Hollywood would be pleased!). Flavour wise this pastry was perfection, No.G have truly mastered the gluten free pastry so well. I have tried some horrendous gluten free pastries in the past but not only are NO.G fantastic for a gluten free pastry, but a fantastic pastry full stop. I would happily feed No.G to my gluten eating Fiancé with no fear he will turn his nose up! (He is quite fussy when it comes to good food!) Slightly crumbly but crisp with a light crunch, this lighter pastry does not feel stodgy or overly dry, like many other free from pastries I have tried. 

Simple to heat up, this pie only needs 15 minutes at gas mark 6 or 35 minutes from frozen. It states it's best eaten hot, but I cooked mine last night whilst cooking dinner and ate it cold for lunch today and the texture and flavours were still beautiful. I cooked mine first though as nowhere on the packing does it say ready to eat, also cooking will alter the texture, so I wanted to try it as recommended. 

I would love to know if I need to try any other of the flavours of this pie or if I have convinced you to give this pie a go! 

Hannah x

Morrisons Gluten Free Haul

Thursday I left work early to pick up some food to do some baking with our Youth Club that evening. I took the opportunity to travel over to the largest Morrisons I know of which is a ridiculous distance away, in search for No.G!

There was a range of the pies and the chocolate tart in the free from fridge, I was hoping for some of their sausage rolls, but there were none to be found! Although there were some lovely bits, I only picked up a couple as they are fresh, I want to eat them as soon as possible!

I have tried the sausage rolls, pork pies and vegetable quiche from No.G so finding the range of pies meant I have something new to try! The first thing I chose was the open top vegetable pie. On a similar vain to the quiche but deeper filled and with what seemed to be a different pastry, this is a unique and interesting concept in the free from range. Retailing at £2.47 for a singular portion, these are pricier than the mainstream equivalent, but from past experience they are worth it as the ingredients are high quality!

I also purchased a chicken, bacon and leek pie which also retailed at £2.47 for a single size pie. I have tried the Genius pies in the past and I have really enjoyed them. No.G differs in the fact there is more than one flavour combined in the pie and a considerable amount more option compared to the chicken or steak version from genius. They are much more comparable to fish and chip shop classics.

I also found a Genius seeded loaf reduced to 99p, I couldn't pass this up and is tucked away in the freezer!

Have you seen the increased free from range in Morrisons? Have you been impressed, mine even had a gluten free black pudding and a range of desserts in their free from fridge!

Hannah x

Making Easter Cakes with Simple Mills Banana Muffins*

As you may have seen, Make it Gluten Free Ltd sent me some mixes to try a few weeks ago. We decided to bake something a little bit eastery as there is only a couple of days to go! When I think of Easter I imagine fresh foods, fruits and vegetables (as well as lots of chocolate of course!) So what would be better than baking some banana muffins? I dug out the Simple Mills banana muffin mix and found some easter cupcake cases and toppers from Poundland to decorate and headed to the kitchen!

Like all of the mixes from the Simple Mills brand, all of the ingredients are natural and the mixes are really easy to make. For this all you need is water, oil and two eggs. Just mix the wet ingredients, then add the dry, bake for 30 minutes and that's it!

The ingredients within this non GMO mix are; almond flour, organic coconut sugar, arrowroot powder, organic coconut flour, bananas, aluminium-free baking soda and sea salt. Being a 'clean' list of ingredients, these mixes are perfect for a range of allergies. I am sure you can trial an egg replacer to make the finished product free from egg too, as well as gluten, soy and dairy!

Once out of the oven, the muffins are soft, fluffy and have a beautiful texture. I didn't add extra banana as suggested to make it extra banana-y this time, but it didn't really need any more than what is in the mix already as the flavour really stood on its own. Predominantly almond flour, this mix is quite dark in colour but as it baked, the colour turned much lighter and brighter.  

I found that the flavour of these muffins were very fresh, as if it was made with real bananas, straight from the fruit bowl. I tested these out on three gluten eaters and they all loved them too!

Perfect for children, this mix is easy to bake, and would be perfect to decorate for an Easter activity in the half term! Why not experiment by adding cinnamon or chocolate chips?


Hannah x

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

Feel Free Gluten Free Mini Donuts

Today my prayers have been answered! I managed to get my hands on some gluten free doughnuts after months of looking! I ordered these from Tesco.com as my local store never had them in stock, and they arrived, not substituted!

If anybody knows me, they would know my ex-gluten free days consisted of a lot of doughnuts. There is something extremely comforting and homely about doughnuts, although jam were my favourite, I am more than happy to find any sort which are suitable for my needs now!

These Feel Free mini ring doughnuts retail for a mere £1.50 per 10, although I did receive 12 in my box for some reason! But I'm certainly not complaining! With around 4 servings per box, this makes for a very cheap snack or dessert, and due to being frozen, they keep much better than any fresh cakes and confectionary would! 

Following the basic instructions on the box, these doughnuts turn out amazingly well. All that is required is to leave out in room temperature for 30 minutes and then microwave for 20 seconds to make them truly authentic warm seaside style doughnuts! If you were to make 4 servings from one box it'll be around 270 calories, which for a sweet treat isn't too bad, I've certainly drunk coffees more calorific!

Texturally, these doughnuts are quite light, spongy and soft. The structure holds itself well, particularly if you give them a couple of seconds to cool before picking them up straight way, or you can squish them a little! The air pockets are very constant and very comparable to holes in a thick chocolate mousse, small but well dispersed. 

Flavour wise, these instantly took me back four years or so when I could eat doughnuts, they seem perfect to me. Sweet and doughy, that unmistakeable doughnut flavour hit me and I honestly wanted to eat the whole box. Where they are plain they are fantastic to dip in Nutella or any other chocolate sauce. 

Being the most satisfying product I have tried in a long time, due to being so hard to find and so desperately wanted, I was very pleased it didn't disappoint! This is a product I would recommend to everyone, perfect to store in the freezer, this family friendly snack will suit all ages!  

Hannah x  

Honeybuns Haul

Friday was pay day, so I thought I would treat myself to a new gluten free cook book to add to my growing collection! Cook books are something I find very relaxing to flick through, although I always seem to get a little hungry afterwards! I have several lovely cook books that have been gifted to me over the years, but have only ever purchased two myself and so thought "Why not?".

I have had my eye on the Honeybuns cook book for some time so I thought this would be a good one to invest in next. As I was browsing the Honeybuns site I saw that they have a baker's gift bag which consists of a Honeybuns bag, tea towel, cake mix and of course the cook book. James and I are currently looking at buying a house so when I saw the tea towel it spoke to me, I needed it for my future kitchen! I just had to have the whole set, I need another hessian bag like a hole in the head, but I just couldn't resist!

Retailing at £28 this is a lovely gift (even if, like me, you gift it to yourself!). It arrived beautifully packaged with ribbon and twine, it honestly was any crafters dream! You could easily have this delivered straight to a friend without doing anything to it yourself as it is so stunning!

I still have some fresh cakes I am trying to get through so I tried to refrain from ordering more of their scrumptious cakes. As you can guess, I caved slightly and ordered myself a Triple Chocolate Tinker Cookie as I think it's one of the only things from their range I have yet to try. As they are only £1.50 I thought why not!

Honeybuns is a company I love to support as not only are all their products the best quality cakes I have eaten, they are also a true small business, with a fantastic ethos. Coming from a family of small business owners and being one myself too, I feel it's important to support independent businesses when you can! I will certainly review the cookie, cake mix and cookbook soon, I just can't wait to take the pictures for this post so I can open it all properly!

Hannah x

Ask Italian Gluten Free Menu

Two weeks ago James and I celebrated our anniversary by going for dinner at Ask Italian. As you all know we have visited Prezzo many times, but we decided to give Ask's gluten free menu a try!

With quite an extensive menu to choose from I opted for one of my favourite's, pesto pasta with courgette. When ordering I was asked if choosing from the gluten free menu was lifestyle choice or an allergy to ensure there was no cross contamination, which was great!

When the dish arrived there was a sticker on the plate to ensure that it wasn't mixed up, which is something that always reassures me, as I am quite a worrier about being glutened whilst eating a meal out! The dish itself was beautiful too. The pasta was not over cooked and still had structure and the flavours were outstanding!

There is also a full dessert menu, so it would have been rude not to try something! unfortunately I got so excited I forgot to take a picture, I chose to have a chocolate lava mountain. This dish is composed of a hot toffee sauce which is poured over a dark chocolate cup at your table, underneath is a hidden scoop of vanilla ice cream on top of a hot chocolate fondant. This is by far the best dessert I have ever eaten, it was incredibly rich but it was perfect, having the ice cream to accompany the rich chocolate made it a much more decadent flavour rather than stodgy. Overall I really enjoyed this dessert which makes me want to visit Ask Italian on a more regular basis, as this made it miles ahead of the other Italian restaurants that provide a gluten free menu!

I would love to know if there is anything else on the Ask Italian menu I should try, as I will certainly go back!

Hannah x 

Kinnikinnick Haul

After having vanilla Oreo style biscuits at Yorica! I set it my personal mission to find ones that are accessible in the UK. I wasn't having much luck until Kinnikinnick popped up in my searches, however I couldn't find any UK stockists, until I hit amazon that was! However Amazon had them as add on products so I had to order £20 worth, which really isn't much when it comes to gluten free foods.

I am tempted to say that although I have not tried these yet, they maybe the brand or a similar brand that stocks Yorica! themselves, as they also had animal biscuits in chocolate and vanilla, much like they did in the store!

So here's what I got!

Kini-Toos Chocolate cookies 220g - £5.60
This bag is nice and large and hopefully are similar to ones I have tried before. I love the Udis ones but without opening the pack these are already seeming to be comparble in price to the udis, both working out to be £2.34-£2.54 per 100g. With these ones being slightly more expensive.

Kini-Toos Vanilla Cookies 220g - £5.60
Being the whole reason for the order, I have high hopes for these cookies! Again at just over the £5.50 mark, none of these items are cheap, but they have been imported so I guess it's the best price I will get them for! Comparing gluten free food to the supermarket counterpart isn't always a fair judgement when they have a much larger buying power.

Chocolate Animal cookies - £5.05
These were purchased to see if they compare to the ones I tried in Yorica! Also I haven't seen the outback animal cookies I used to love for ages in the store and as I had to get my order up to £20, I thought I would give these ones a go!

Chocolate Chip cookies - £5.15
A complete impluse purchase and I have no idea what to expect from this product, being Canadian I have them envisioned in my mind as being quite small but very thick. If this is the case and the taste and textural composition of this cookie is wonderful, I will be over the moon!

I would love to know if you would try these products, or if you have ordered anything online that we can't get here! Since looking on their site Kinnikinnick have so many more products I want to get my hands on, but have yet to find!

Hannah x

The Handmade Treat Company - March 2016

Monday I received my Handmade Treat Company snack box for the month of March. This month was a true sweet treat fest! Filled with cookies, chocolate and popcorn, this box was really a perfect snack pack for a film night! 

So what was in this month's box? 

Gnaw - Peanut Butter Chocolate

We received one of these in a box a couple of months ago and I have yet to try it! I love peanuts though, so I am sure these will be great!

Kent and Fraser Lemon Butter Shortbread

Snackly sent these to me a few months back and I did a review which can be found here. Sweet and lemony, these cookies are beautifully buttery! 

Joe & Seph's  - Popcorn with Caramel and Sea Salt

Having received this in my first ever Snackly box, I have tried these before and they have such a luxurious flavour to them. I would 100% recommend these and I would love to try other flavours! 

Snact - Apple and Mango Fruit Jerky

Again I have been sent this in a previous box, I have already reviewed this product! You can find this here! I absolutely LOVE these! 100% fruit so these are vegan too and good for egg and dairy allergies too. 

Fortnum and Mason Herbal Tea

I am not a huge tea drinker, other than peppermint and fruit, but I love how we also get something to wash our snacks down with, particularly as there are cookies and biscuits in this box! 

Beauty Junkie - Blueberry Mud Mask

Our beauty product of the month is a lovely face mask, I think I may pop this on Saturday night whilst watching a film with my Fiancé!

I would love to know what you thought of this month's box!

Hannah x 

 

Make it Gluten Free - Simple Mills Pizza Dough Mix*

Before heading off to my best friends 21st birthday party, James and I thought it would be a great idea to make some pizzas as a late lunch/early dinner. I was sent this packet mix just before my birthday/engagement party took over my life, so we thought that now would be the best time to make them!

The mix is suitable for two pizzas and only requires apple cider vinegar, oil and water, so it's super simple! The mix itself is made in a few minutes, if you don't faff like we did of course! The ingredients to the flour mix are almond Flour, arrowroot powder, flax meal, cauliflower, aluminium-free baking soda, organic oregano, cream of tartar andorganic garlic, so I was interested to try. The ingredients are all readable and understandable so in some respect are quite clean, I like the majority of the food I eat to be like this. This mix before adding topping is free from grain, dairy, soy, refined sugar & emulsifiers/gums and artificial flavours and colours. Its is also paleo-friendly, vegan, Non-GMO and certified Gluten-Free and Kosher.

The process for making these bases is one of the most simple recipes I have followed, just mix the wet and dry ingredients together until it resembles a dough, then split in two, flatten onto a pizza try and bake for 5 minutes. Remove from the oven, put all your yummy toppings on and bake for 10-15 minutes, until done! That's it! So simple I think these would be great to make with kids, even if you have more than one child you could make mini pizzas each with a side of chips and salad!

James and I chose to put cured meats such as parma ham and salami on our pizzas and topped with rocket and spinach at the end! They were beautiful! I made my base quite thin and I really enjoyed it, it went very crisp and honestly tasted like a good quality handmade pizza. There was no odd after taste and the flavour of the base was lovely, even James' couldn't tell the difference, so it was a winner!

We decided to film us making the pizza, so why not take a look! I would certainly buy this product again as I loved how the flour was premixed, I won't have to have a number of bags of flours that could spill or weigh out, its a quick fix and can be done at any time as its a fast bake!

You can find the packet mix on the Make it Gluten Free website and retails at £4.75 so at just under £2.40 for two for dinner or more if you share with sides or make mini pizzas with children, it is quite cost effective, depending on your toppings and sides of course. Nevertheless dominos for the two of us tends to cost £20-£30 depending on deals and what toppings we fancy. Making these not only were  cheaper than a takeaway, but also was really enjoyable and we had so much fun.

Hannah x

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

Schar Gluten Free - Pretzels

A couple of months back we were inundated with Schar coupons, both online and in the post, so I took advantage! Their pretzels ended up not costing me a thing so I got a couple of bags! I thought I would do a mini review on them today. As they are pretzels, there isn't too much to say as they are not full of different elements and flavours. But at the same time it's always good to see what others thought of a product, no matter how basic it is!

A 60g bag retails at £1 which I think is quite reasonable as you could serve these as a pre dinner nibble or even eat the whole thing in one sitting without feeling you've spent a fortune! I find I get around three servings from one bag as a snack, this way I can eat a few different things and not get bored! A bag contains 289 calories so is not too caloric for a bread based product.

Being egg, dairy, lactose and gluten free, this a a product suitable to the masses. It does contain soy  and there is risk of sesame contamination so just be aware of that. There is also no mention of nuts on the packaging or on their website so this may be a product for nut suffers too, as there is no may contain warning or a made in a factory that handles nuts warning, but of course use your own judgement and what you feel comfortable with, but on the whole everyone can enjoy these alike!

My personal favourite thing about these pretzels is the salt content, it is distributed quite unevenly, which I find enjoyable as I love finding the super salty ones and waiting to have them last! I just think pretzels are quite a fun snack in general and for some reason remind me of being on summer holiday as a child.

With a great snap and a crisp crunch, these glossy coasted snacks are very morish! The texture is very similar to a bread stick, making them quite a dry consistency. Although I should highlight that in a whole bag there is 13g of fat, so should not be part of your daily diet. But are fab for a savoury treat.

Taste wise they are no different to what I remember from the mainstream equivalent, I always find that pretzels are slightly sweet due to the glaze, yet then have a salty kick and would be a fantastic edition to a buffet or something to pop in a little pot in a lunchbox for all ages. They are versatile in this respect as they are not a strong flavour and can be universally loved. You could even dip them in something if you like, a peanut butter/satay style dip or sour cream are my favourites!

Being available in more supermarkets than most free from products, you should be able to find these in your local store with no trouble, which is fantastic. Availability of products is what I feel lets products down the most, although I happily order online. I know many can't or won't, or even just purely forget that there is more around than what is in our supermarkets.

I would love to know if you have tried these and what you think!

Hannah x

Yorica! Launch

Tuesday was the day before Yorica! were opening their doors for the first time in Soho, London. There has been a lot of hype online for the completely free from sweet treat store so we couldn't pass the opportunity to visit their launch evening when the invite hit my inbox!

In the heart of London, this fresh faced ice-cream store with a difference is bright and airy which would be a fabulous place to meet friends for a catch up with a sweet treat! You can find Yorica! at 130 Wardour Street. Noticeable by its cream and blue very hippy feeling interior, it oosed similarities to my favourite clothing store, Fat Face, in its laid back feel and embracing personality. The whole shop had such a fabulously friendly atmosphere.

Yorica! offer such a wide range of ice creams and shakes, which can be served either hot or cold. There are almost no allergens present in their products which was a freedom that I have never experienced before! I could happily pick anything I wanted, from cookies and cream ice-cream to a cone and all the biscuity toppings I could possibly squeeze on the top, knowing that I could eat it all!

Yorica! pride themselves in being egg, dairy, gluten and nut free and are also vegan, the only allergen contained was soy. The base product fundamentally is coconut, all of the ice-creams and whipped cream topping have been produced from a coconut base with flavourings added to this. There was a range of fruit ice-creams and sorbets as well as your traditional flavours of ice cream such as vanilla and chocolate. Toppings were also varied ranging from healthy fruits to cookies and gummy bears. There is really something for everyone!

As you all know James isn't intolerant or allergic to anything, so it was great to take him to give an opinion based on what he typically eats. He really enjoyed everything and said that there was no difference in most of the products he tried!

The highlights for me were:

• The cookies and cream ice-cream
• No nut peanut butter ice-cream, you all know how I feel about peanut butter! 
• The biscuits toppings in genreal, the Oreo style biscuit was amazing! 
• Gluten free ice-cream cones!
• Lastly the blackcurrant shake!

James highlights were:

• The Oreo style biscuits
• The range of toppings

If you find yourself in London, you should really pop in to give some of their products a go. There are multiple sizes of tubs for ice-cream from mini to epic as well as large shakes for just over £4, it is very comparable to Starbucks in prices, but so much more nutritious and original! I would recommend the cookies and cream shake with cream and an Oreo on top just because it's gluten free and you can!

You can find Yorica! on Twitter and Instagram at @yoricamoments where they constantly upload mouthwatering pictures of their products! So why not take a look! 

I will certainly visit again when I find myself in London as it was such an amazing experience to know everything on the menu was 100% suitable for me!

Hannah x