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
Walking into a chip shop and smelling all the batter and gazing upon all the treats that you just can't eat is one of the worst things! So fake-aways are surely the best thing for all of us with allergies! Onion rings are just one of those things that even if you go to a fish and chip shop, or even in burger places are something you never find gluten free. So James and I thought that this would be the perfect excuse to use the Isabels batter mix.
Being extremely simple to make, all this mix needs is 180ml of water. I popped the mix into a bowl and slowly poured in the water as I mixed them together. As they were only slices of onion I shallow fried them using some vegetable oil. I fried them for about a minute on each side and they were done!
The batter coated the onion well and was very consistent, even the first ones looked good, which is unusual in any batter type products. If anyone says that their first pancake comes out perfect, they are lying! The fact that it feels like nothing is wasted and that I know I could cook these for guests and they will all be perfect is very reassuring as cooking for friends is something I love to do!
Out of the pan, this batter is crisp and has a lovely consistency. The ease of making this batter means it is perfect for a weekday evening too! James also loved it flavour wise and texturally and commented on how there was no difference to regular ones he has and that they were delicious, so a winner in my eyes!
I loved this mix and I would love to try this in more ways, finding out it was so easy and quick I feel I can be more adventurous with what I try next. I am thinking of trying some chicken nuggets and trying to make a Mcdonalds fake away!
Hannah x
I look forward to the Allergy and Free From Show every year. I love seeing all my favourite brands as well as finding new companies and products that become firm favourites. This year was no exception!
If you have never been to the show before, I would really recommend you pop along next year, the tickets are free and there are so many traders, samples to try and some great deals on a lot of products. Held in the Olympia, London, this show has very good public transport links so there is no fear of getting lost or stranded in London!
As usual I have really stocked up on bits so here is what I got!
Genius
Genius are one of my staple brands, they never seem to let me down and have a good range of products to try, from frozen pies to white loafs, they pretty much have you covered! They had a show deal which included 4 products and a tote bag for £10. Now I have a million totes but a Genius one was not one in my collection, so obviously I needed it! In the tote deal I also got their pittas as I had been searching for these for a while, plain bagels, lemon and poppyseed muffins (which may already be gone) and some vegetable quiches. Unfortunately my quiches had an accident so I can't try those but I recovered the rest, except the tote! We also all got a free pack of the cupcakes, which is always welcome!
BFree
Finding BFree at the show is always one of my priorities as finding their products in my local stores can be a nightmare. It is just easier to stock up at the show. They had released some sweet potato wraps, so I couldn't resist getting some to give them a go, as they had the 4 items for £8 I also got the chia wraps I loved from last year, the amazing pitas and their bagels, as bagels in general are my favourite! The fajita kits were also £3 and as they are a staple in the cupboard for James and I, we picked one up!
WOW cake Company
Being a company I'd never heard, WOWcake make the nicest packaged packet mixes I have seen in the free from market, with all their mixes in little tins, which is so cute! The people behind the brand were fabulous too so I thought I would give the carrot cake a go as this is not a mix I have found in the free from market before! For £5.50 I felt this was quite reasonable for a small company with smaller buying power of ingredients. Eat Real
If you have never had the Hummus chips from Eat Real, you should really try them, as they are hands down the best snack style crisps around. They had a pretty good deal at the show of two big bags for £2 so I got two of the tomato and basil as they are my favourite, the taste is so good and very authentic Italian seasoning!
Feel Free
Finally I found the large doughnuts! For £2 I picked up a 4 pack of large doughnuts. I love their small ones but nothing can beat a real sized doughnut!
Goodie Bag
As well as coupons and the normal leaflets, the goodie bag was very impressive this year, with a box of nutribix, a bottle of lime Zeo and an orange choc shot each! There was also rice dream available but as I don't drink it I didn't take it!
Isabel's
After trying their dough balls on holiday, I knew I wanted to try more, so when we found their packets were 2 for £3 and the pizza mix was 2 for £5 I decided that the offer had to be taken! James and I love pizza so they will cover a couple of our fake-away pizza nights. Packet wise, of course I picked up the doughnut mix, in a bid to make my sorely missed jam doughnuts. I also found chocolate pudding pots which will be a lovely weekend treat!
Make it Gluten Free Ltd
We heard that Make it Gluten Free Ltd were going to be there this year on twitter, so we made it our mission to locate them too as we loved the Simple Mills mixes and wanted to try the cookies in particular. As these mixes are natural and free from so many things they are perfect for so many people. We got the chocolate muffin mix and of course the chocolate chip cookies! The guys at Make it Gluten Free have so many recipes online using their products and are super friendly with really good customer service, so if you have yet to try their products, I would recommend them!
Warburton's
Warburton's have a new and improved recipe for their sandwich thins, and I have to admit they are about a million times softer, which is great! They are currently on offer for £2 in the supermarkets too so even better for those of you who didn't get any or weren't at the show! I have got the white, seeded and raisin and orange ones to try! I loved the old ones so these can only be better!
Delicious Alchemy
Delicious Alchemy is my favourite company for fail proof cake mixes. I find they are fab to have in the cupboard so I always have something ready incase somebody pops round for tea and cake. The team working there were lovely too.They had their normal 3 for £5 deal so I picked up the brownie mix, the Victoria sponge mix and the brown bread mix, which I have yet to try, but the white one was great so we thought we would change things up!
I would love to know what you picked up!
Hannah *
*Some products were given to me to try, all opinions are my own
What pasta dish isn't complete without some garlic bread or dough balls? For years it has been hard to find good gluten free sides, but there have been quite a few new products hit the market recently from Tesco, such as their dough balls and garlic bread (which I have reviewed here). But I have never tried the old classic of Isabels Doughball mix, so I thought it was about time I should!
The mix only needed some cheese (we used mature), an egg and some oil (I used butter as I had no oil to hand). Very simply all you need to do is combine these ingredients with the dry mix, form into balls and bake! No need to leave it to settle before baking or messy prep work, I had put off making them for a while because I thought it would be a messy task, but I couldn't have been more wrong!
The mix said it would make 12 balls but I managed to create 15. This maybe because mine were quite small, but I enjoy more bite-sized pieces, which is the beauty of making your own, you can choose the size. Once out of the oven, these golden brown dough balls are very crisp on the outside and are soft and bouncy in the middle, I think that the fat in the cheese helps create this winning combination.
These very cheesy dough balls are rich and perfect with some Lurpak garlic butter. We had ours with tuna pasta bake but they would be perfect with any pasta dish, pizza or even on their own as they are very addictive in taste and texture! I find packet mixes seem to have much more superior taste and texture to many shop bought pre made equivalents.
I would love to know if you have tried these dough balls and what you thought, or even if you have used the mix in part of a recipe I'd love to know! I am thinking about trying making something similar to the Dominos dough ball bites by stuffing them with pepperoni before baking!
Friday was finally here, my favourite day of the year! The Allergy and Free from show was back at the Olympia, London. I found that the show was bigger than last year but at the same time it felt there was a lot more smaller traders which gave us plenty of new things to look at.
I met a lot of lovely people and traders, it was fantastic to talk to people who also have the same diet as I, because I don't know many gluten free people in my life, particularly those who I talk to often.
And whats a show without a bit of shopping? Here's what I got!*
Angelic
I love every Angelic product I have tried so far, even if the chilli ones were a little hot! When we found their stand right by the front door I went there instantly to see the newer products I have been waiting to view and try. The boxes were on offer for 2 for £5. I picked up the chocolate chip and the cranberry and sunflower seed oat cookies, as when I tried them I knew I couldn't leave without some. These are packed in 5 packs of two. Making them perfectly portable for work and days out but also allows them to stay fresher for longer. I also got a box of each of the new savoury crackers which I had yet to see. The new flavours are multi-seed, and tomato and Mediterranean herb, so I got one of each.
Gookies
I forgot to get this out of the fridge, so it is not pictured! This pre-made cookie dough is the white chocolate and cranberry flavour. All you do is cut the dough into eight rounds and bake. Simple, fresh cookies effortlessly. These are £4 per pack.
B Free
I always look for B Free at the free from shows as I love their fajita kit. Typically the kit retails for £5.50 but is always £3 at the shows, making it a fantastic deal. While at the stand I also got both the regular and multi-seed bagels and also white and brown loaves of bread. B Free had launched some new products too so I also got the new stone baked pittas, which were amazing when sampled, as well as a pack of the quinoa and chia seed wraps.
Plamil
The majority of the items I brought from Plamil are for a friend whom cannot eat dairy. Although I did pick up another orange and cranberry for myself which was featured in a Snackly box a few months ago as I really enjoyed it. I also brought the mint chocolate produced by Plamil. Minty chocolate is my favourite flavour, with no added sugar I thought it would be interesting to try.
B-Tempted
I have not seen this company before but on the packaging they state that you can find them in Harrods and Selfridges. I thought that the flavours are so unique so I decided to pick up three packs as they were three for £10. Matcha green tea and macadamia nut, white chocolate and rose, and lemon, white chocolate and cashew were the flavours I chose.
Isabel's
Isabels packet mixes are something else I have never tried. I enjoy baking and cooking but with gluten free foods it's always a bit trickier to get these recipes right. So when I do not have time to experiment I enjoy mixes. The mixes were 2 for £3, I brought a second Yorkshire pudding mix for a friend. With the batter mix I want to make some prawn tempura. I can't wait to try the dough balls either!
Natures Store
Everything from Natures store was on offer for £1 at the show, to go with my Fajitas I chose the tomato as well as the chilli corn rolls. I will be taking these away on my holiday.
Samples
There wasn't as many samples being handed out as last year, from what I recall. But I did receive a mix of porridge samples and a couple of natures path granola bars.
Find my video on what I got here!
Hannah x
*Note: Some of these items were given to me to try, all opinions are my own.
Hi I'm Hannah, I'm a 21 Year old jewellery creator. I own HannahMade, a small jewellery business. I also have a gluten intolerance so I share my experiences of gluten free living with you!
