Home Sweet (new) Home

Well we're in! The move has taken place! It's been a bit of a rollercoaster ride. though. 

It's meant to be one of the most stressful things you can do, right? I really can't tell you the number of times during this process that I've wished for the ability to nip out and get a quick take-away - no cooking/washing-up would have made things a lot easier! And we're still not fully settled - curtain poles to put up, boxes STILL to unpack etc. We have so much STUFF! I can't decide what to do with it/where to put it all! BUT! at least the place is functional. We even have the Internet again (phew)! The Hub had some device to tide us over, but certain things were off-limits such as iplayer, as it meant we used up our monthly allowance rather too quickly! (Oops! Someone should have explained it to me first, maybe?)

A little extra from our mortgage company, most of which is useless to me, but our guests may well see the benefit!

I'm beginning to get my bearings of our new surroundings now (well, not completely new - I've lived here before but quite some time ago). We're getting to know which parks, soft play etc. are worth a visit but there's certain things that I'm definitely missing!!

One is my former health food shop. OK, so it was a bit of a drive but it was so excellent. There's two near me now but neither stock any where NEAR the same amount of stuff as 'Food for Thought', in Guildford (there's another in Kingston). They seem willing to try new products/order stuff in, but I've been a bit disappointed, so far - one is permanently out of stock of the products she says that she stocks, the other one tried to order in Mrs Crimble's pancake mix, but it didn't arrive.

Then there's the supermarkets. My former Tesco at Brooklands definitely did a lot better for choice than my current Tesco Extra although I think Sainsbury's is just about the same. Our new Waitrose, is bigger but it doesn't sell our ice cream (Besssant and Drury) or 'Baby's' favourite sausages (The Black Farmer's Daughter's, in fact she won't eat any others, at the mo) and it ran out of the Antoinette Saville gluten free bread that I rely on - the only one that seems to really suit my gut! 

However, it's not all bad. 'Every cloud has a silver lining,' as they say. In fact, this 'cloud' seems to have not just one, but multiple silver linings!

First of all, we can still get Ocado here (BIG phew, as I rely on their Free From foods range SO much!) and secondly I discovered that this Tesco  still stocks the same new gluten and dairy free products that I liked before. I have also discovered that although this Tesco might not stock Mrs Crimble's pancake mix (which has almost become an essential item in my shopping basket, as we make them at least once a week, for breakfast) Amazon do - in packs of ten admittedly, but at least we're stocked up for a while now! And yes, I could make them from scratch (as some lady behind me in the queue at Tescos' 'Customer Service' desk helpfully' suggested - as if I were a bit stupid/lazy) but then 'Baby' wouldn't eat them (very fussy) so that wouldn't exactly do, would it?

Still on the shopping front, I came across 'Deli Divine' at the Allergy and Free From Show (well I didn't actually get a good look the stand, it was packed). It's a bit of a drive, but they are now within a reasonable distance, so I'm planning to visit them, at Netley, soon!

The next bit of silver in the lining is that I have discovered (by word of mouth - Internet searches didn't throw this one up) that our nearest chippy does gluten free fish and chips all day every Thursday - the nearest chippy to do that before was nearly half an hour's drive away. Needless to say, we have already availed ourselves of the opportunity to check out this one! 

Not bad at all! I always add my own veg, though!

I do wish I'd found them a little bit earlier! I did think of asking - after all, don't ask, don't get, but I wasn't feeling that brave and was sooo busy! They do have a large poster inside the shop, as I discovered when I went there, but since I'd never attempted buying fish and chips before I knew for sure, it was wasted on me! 

Can't understand why this wasn't on a sandwich board outside!

When we went there, the gluten free fish and chips were certainly popular - a brisk trade was being done and hardly any of it was for 'normal' fish and chips!

Not only, do I have a local gluten free fish and chippy, I also am not too far away from a gluten free cafe 'Celiacs Fayre' which I have visited before. I haven't made I there recently, but must do so soon, as I'm salivating over the thought of the chicken fajitas, that were being served the other week (she shared them on Face Book)!

More importantly, for me, another bit of silver lining is that I have discovered I can drink the water here! Now that might sound a bit weird to you, but in the last two places that we lived I discovered I couldn't. I had to drink bottled water (including in my tea and coffee) and cook my rice and pasta in it too! No idea why, but if I didn't, my gut became uncomfortable. 

The most important bit of the silver lining, though, is that we are now living in our own house in a particularly beautiful part of the South of England, with which I am already familiar and where some of my old college friends live, and where hopefully (all going to plan) we will live for some time to come - maybe even the for rest of our lives.

Are you ready for a ready meal?

Think of your favourite food. What if I told you that you were not going to be eating that food again, for some considerable time... years... maybe forever? How would you feel about that? That was an argument I read recently in response to one woman's innocent question, about Free From food. Well, many of you who are reading this, will know exactly how that feels!

When I was first faced with going dairy free, I had no idea how much was going to be cut out of my life (e.g. chicken gravy - milk gets into everything) but also no idea how much of what was missing was going to be gradually added back into my life. 

The most obvious one I missed was of course milk, but also cheese, cream etc.

Since then, I have found a dairy and soya free substitute for milk, margarine, cheese, yoghurt and ice cream and even cream, all of which I love (if only they weren't so much more expensive, I would love them even more). Recently, I have even discovered some gorgeous dairy free and gluten free cookies (Lucy's). 

One of the other things that I've really missed, though, is the ability to just grab a ready meal, when you're in a hurry. There are now quite a few gluten free ready meals available, so if that were my only problem, I'd be fine, but it's the dairy free element that always seems to be the sticking point. 

I knew that there were a few out there - I'd heard about them and got tantalisingly close to them, but until quite recently, they eluded my grasp. But now, I have finally got my hands on some great dairy, gluten and soya free ready meals, which I'd readily buy again.

The box

Amy's Rice Macaroni with dairy free cheese was one such. Manufactured by an American company, they have proved to be tricky customers. I missed my chance to sample them at The Allergy Show in London (earlier in the year) and passed up the chance to order them from Goodness Direct (I didn't want to buy six frozen items nor did I want to pay extra for post and packaging). The Whole Foods market and other places that stock Amy's products only seem to stock the gluten free products. That is, apart from her tinned soups (I can't eat canned foods) or her Burrito (which is made with Baked Beans and is thus unsuitable for me, for reasons which I won't explain here), so it was only when I visited Food for Thought, that I managed to finally get hold of Amy's elusive dairy free macaroni cheese.

Handily, it comes in a little cardboard tray, which you can place in the oven (I don't 'do' microwaves). I wasn't expecting the real cheesy hit that I got from this meal, but it was definitely all there! Not quite as wonderful as my mother's version (but what ready meal, ever is) it was still pretty marvellous! 

My meal

My only complaint? I'm a real piggy and I would have liked a slightly larger portion. It was an okay size for lunch, but would never replace a proper evening meal - I'd probably need to add some generous servings of veggies, which kind of defeats the idea of a 'ready' meal, really, doesn't it? If you want to know what else was in it, follow this link.

Slightly more generous as regards serving size, are Kirsty's ready meals. Fairly recently launched via Sainbury's, I've struggled to find a Sainsbury's that stocks them, and I've been to quite a few! It was Ocado (who have expanded their Free From range) who came to my rescue here. The good news is that Kirsty's have proved so popular that Sainsbury's are planning to roll out her meals to more stores, as from this coming October. Yippee!!

I've now tried two of Kirsty's range (there are five altogether) the Cottage Pie with Sweet Potato Mash and the Spanish Chicken with Brown Rice (follow the links for the ingredient lists and nutritional information).

Kirsty's Cottage Pie

Both of these tasted really great, although I think the Spanish Chicken was my favourite. That may just have been because it had a spicy kick and I happened to be suffering from a cold at the time (I really find spicy food comforting when a cold kicks in) but of course my tastes may be different to yours.

Now, it turns out that Kirsty is looking for more recipe ideas, so that she can extend her range. So, if you can think of any (my thoughts turned immediately to Paella and Lasagne)  I'm sure she'd be delighted if you left a message on her Facebook page or sent your comments via Twitter.

Bon Appetit!



Update 2015:

Kirsty's have not only expanded their adult range (click here to view), which you can obtain in Waitrose, Asda and Sainsbury's but have also added a children's range, which is now available via Asda (see here).

Food for Thought

'Food for Thought' is such a great name for a whole foods mini market, don't you agree?

We found them, for the first time, on Saturday in Guildford, following a bit of online research by The Hub. And what a find they were!

Tucked away in a side street, literally not much more than a few steps away from a main city centre shopping street, I can't help wishing that every town had one of these. Unfortunately, at the moment they have only two stores, one in Guildford and the other in Kingston.

Not quite as big as The Whole Foods market, that I visited, in Clapham, the other week, they nonetheless make good use of the space they've got and stock a pretty extensive range of specialist foods. In fact, it was a real Aladdin's Cave of goodies, I really had to restrain myself, from spending too much of The Hub's hard earned money!

The staff in the shop were quite friendly - one helpfully suggested that I might like to leave my cold purchases with them (whilst we shopped elsewhere) and return to pick them up later.  Bonus!! Being in town for the day, I happily accepted this offer.

However, I passed up the chance to buy more dairy free ice cream, - I've still got some in the freezer and was uncertain about getting it home. 

Co-yo's chocolate yoghurt soon found its way into my basket, though, closely followed by a larger tub of its natural version. I was delighted to restock my fridge with this dairy free yoghurt and was keen to try the chocolate flavour.

Another familiar face - Lucy's was in stock, as well. This time I bought a packet of mini cookies,  for taking out and about.

Amy's dairy, gluten and soya free macaroni cheese followed soon after - the first time I had seen this stocked any where, other than Goodness Direct or The Allergy Show. Its dairy and soya free version is not to be confused with their solely gluten free version, which seems to be much more widely available. Unfortunately, it's no good for us at all, as that version does contain dairy!

From the States and hard to find over here!

Joy of joys, their chocolate range was pretty good too - they stock my favourite chocolate bars, by Organica. Baby spotted their 'hamster chocolate' (Mini Moos by Moo Free) and, being a girl after my own heart, she made sure that also made it into my basket!!

All-in-all, it was a successful shopping trip. And now I know where they are, I'm sure that sometime or another I'll be back for more!!

Update:

This cream substitute really is quite yummy!

Just to let you know, I have been back. This time my top find was Soyatoo Rice Whip. Just like the squirty cream, I loved as a kid, this stuff is truly amazing! 

If you can't find it in your local health food store, try Amazon, or the Vegan Store. 

Okay, so I know, it's made with rice and there's a whole debate about rice going on right now (generally I avoid it as a daily milk substitute - just to be on the safe side) but I still eat rice, and being gluten free as well, have little choice but to consume it in baked goods too. Therefore, I think that in an occasional treat, like this hot chocolate (made with hazelnut milk) it should be alright.

Related Posts:

New to me - The Whole Foods Market

Avoiding the hop - doing Free From shopping online

Shopping Around
Heaven in a mouthful?