M&S Cheese and Onion Roll

M&S have released a whole new range of gluten free food, much to all our coeliac tummies delight! When I was browsing, I found these cheese and onion rolls. As I have a craft fair this weekend and I need to eat on the go whilst running my stall, I thought this would be a great opportunity to try!

With two in a pack for £3, this is a typical price for these types of products in the gluten free ranges. They are always a bit pricier than their gluten filled counterpart but I didn't think these were too unreasonable. Each roll is around 250 calories so are not too calorific for a lunchtime treat!

As there is two in a pack, I tried one baked in the oven and one straight out of some foil at a craft fair! Which means I can let you know what I thought of them both hot and cold!

When heating the roll, you will need to put the oven at 180 and bake for 10 minutes. The cheese and onion roll will come out golden brown and super crispy looking. I found that this pastry crisps nicely and turns so flakey and buttery, it's texture could have fooled you for a gluten filled equivalent! Taste wise, the cheese had gone warm and melty and was not too mature but had a great smooth flavour. The other thing I enjoyed about this roll is that there is not too much onion, its certainly preset when you are eating it, but it isn't on your breath all afternoon when you are talking to people if you have enjoyed it whilst out and about, unable to brush your teeth!

Cold it was just as flakey but wasn't as light. It was still enjoyable but I think eating them warm is really the way forward!

Overall I think that this new product is great and I'm happy that M&S have thought about making something suitable for veggies too. How many times have you struggled to get gluten free vegetarian snacks like this, because I know I have! They all seem to contain meat! I have seen many sausage rolls but this is the first veggie version I have seen in the gluten free market. This makes going on picnics and parties easier, as sometimes you just don't have the time to make all the snacks from scratch.

I would love to know if you have tried any new M&S products and if there are any you think I need to try!

Hannah x

Budget Bride - Making Dominos using Isabel's Pizza mix

Who doesn't love pizza? But at almost £15 each at Dominos for a small gluten free BBQ pizza, this is certainly a treat when you have a large wedding to budget for! This led us to be a bit more creative with our cooking, we are avid fans of fake-aways, not only are they tasty, it gives us something fun to do! When I do treat us and order from Dominos, I have taken to ordering their big BBQ dips, as once cooked on a pizza base at home, it is the same sauce as on the Dominos BBQ pizza. Result!

For this recipe I used the Isabel's pizza base mix. This retails at £3.25 per pack which makes four bases. The great thing about Isabel's mix is that it is in two packets so you can easily save half the pack without making your cupboards messy! I know it could be cheaper to make the base from scratch in the long run, but with the types of flour in this mix that I barely use, it wouldn't be worth my while. Also, this turns out perfect each time, whereas I have had some super gluten free fails in terms of baking that requires lots of flours mixed together!

I find the Isabel's bases become beautifully crisp around the edge and fluffy in the middle, the texture is beautiful and the taste is gorgeous too. There is no aftertaste or oddness, James enjoyed this base too and as a gluten eater he always compares to the gluten ones he is used to eating. The other joy of making the base yourself is that you can choose the thickness!

To make the base you will need a small egg, one of the pizza base packs, 1.5 tablespoons of olive oil and 100ml of water. All you do is pop it all in the bowl and make it into a dough. Roll into a pizza shape, then pop in the oven at 200c for 5 minutes on each side, then add your toppings. Talk about simple!

For the toppings, I used the Dominos BBQ sauce as a base, half a big dip covers a pizza well. Don't worry if you don't have a Dominos sauce, any BBQ would work. Then I popped on some mozzarella, I don't like mine too cheesy if I am having other toppings so I didn't add as much as most would. I then topped with left over chicken from the Sunday roast and then the left over of a smoked sausage. You could always add red onion or peppers if you have any, but as I was using up left overs, I didn't bother!

I worked out that this meal for two people costs only £5.67 compared to the £30 I could have spent as Dominos, I think that is great! Particularly as the Dominos dip is £1.69 alone!

I would love to know if you are a fan of fake-aways and if you have any money saving tips whilst eating gluten free!

Hannah x

Aldi Gluten Free Week Haul

Aldi had a gluten free week about six months ago and it was superb, there was so many different foods to try so I was quite excited to hear that they were going to do it again for Coeliac awareness week. Unfortunately I felt the range was not as good as last time but I did still pick up a couple of bits.

Here's what I got:

Betty Crocker Devils Food Chocolate Cake Mix - £1.99
These tend to be about £2.50 in stores near me so I thought this would be a good change to try these. James and I love a good chocolate cake, and as he loves the regular Betty crocker mixes, we thought these would be worth a try!

Betty Crocker Brownie mix - £1.99
Again this I thought was a good price for this product so I thought that we could give this one a go too! We love brownie and ice-cream for desserts!

Aldi Gluten Free Oaties - 99p
I don't know if these were new for this week, as I know they stock gluten free pasta all the time but I have yet to see these oats. At such a good price I thought I would give them a  go!

Did your Aldi have different, more interesting bits to mine? I'd love to know!

Hannah x

M&S Yellow Sticker Haul - Gluten Free

Tis evening we had to pop to Homebase for some tiles so as we left with 15 minutes to spare until closing time, I thought I would sneak into M&S next door and I was sure glad I did! We found some absolute bargains!

Here's what I got:

M&S Made Without Wheat Cheese and Onion Rolls - £3.00
My M&S is a little slow so this is the first time I've seen them in there, I had to pick them up to give them a go!

M&S Made Without Wheat Puff Pastry Bacon and Cheese Tarts - £3.25
Same with these! I've only just got them in my store! With the summer rolling around, I think these would be great with salad and baby potatoes.

Mixed Sliders - 45p per pack
Normally £4.50 a pack, I got these at 90% discount! There is four lamb and four pork and chorizo mini burgers. I have popped these in the freezer and we can't wait to have them!

Chicken Breast - 50p
As I tend to buy my chicken from Ocado for £4 for 3-5 breasts, I thought this was a great deal for a good quality breast. Perfect for when I am just feeding myself when James is shooting a wedding too! The normal price for this is £2!

We also got a lamb plait for 30p and two cod fillets in batter for 45p for James to eat, as obviously these contain gluten!

Have you ever been to M&S late and got some great deals? I think I am going back more often!

Hannah x

Tesco Free From Sweet and Sour Chicken Balls

I don't know about you but the chicken balls always used to be one of my firm favourites at the Chinese. Since you don't really find any Chinese takeaways who cater to gluten free in this way, they have been missing from my life ever since and it has meant having a Chinese has never quite been the same!

Tesco have been releasing a lot of new products recently and one of these is the frozen chicken balls with sweet and sour sauce. Being an avid battered coated chicken fan and missing typical chicken balls so much, I knew I had to try these! Retailing at £3.75, I felt these were not too badly priced as the bag was a good size. We ate these as a dinner with Tilda egg fried rice and stir fried veggies. The balls took about half an hour in the oven to get a good crisp to their coating and the sauce only took a couple of minutes in the pan to melt and warm through. The great thing is that if you are eating these alone, there are two sauce sachets so you don't have to try and split the bag for two servings. We ate the whole bag between two and had 6 balls each, which was plenty for dinner.

In terms of the chicken, it was succulent and had a lovely flavour. I was also impressed that it wasn't processed. One of my pet peeves with free from food is when you pay the earth for a product and they cannot put a breast fillet in the coating. As they aren't processed, I feel these chicken balls will appeal to more people because who really wants to eat a chicken that has been pushed and pressed and moulded into the shape of a nugget or dinosaur!

The batter went crispy and had a good flavour too. You would be hard pushed to tell whether they were gluten free or not! It was a good light coating that covered enough to be crisp but not stodgy. I think the sauce was the stand out element of this whole meal though. From the sweet and sour I remember from my takeaway (which they told me isn't gluten free) it tasted the same! I cooked both sachets and not a morsel was left! It had a slightly thinner consistency than what you would usually expect but nevertheless the flavour was on point!

Although it only says gluten and wheat free on the label, there is no sign of dairy or eggs as far as I could see on the packaging. I also couldn't see a warning. Of course I would strongly advise you to check this as recipes can and do change, but as far as I am aware it would be great for a wide array of allergies.

We both really enjoyed this meal and I will certainly be stocking up on these again. I think they would be great if your are having some friends around for a Chinese fakeaway. I'm not sure if they would even be able to tell the difference! As they are frozen, they will also keep for some time so are great for a quick fix dinner!

Hannah x