Too Good to Go gone

 

I forgot to post about my last TGTG bag at the end of April.  It was an M&S bag for £5.  As you can see I got a lot of stuff.  There was: apple juice, cream doughnuts, eggs, beef slices, sour cream dip, mango fingers, smoked salmon and potato salad, luxury fish pie, sushi, Scotch eggs (yuck although my lovely mum ate one), chicken and avocado sandwich, spinach and falafal wrap and a strawberry mousse.  

Full retail price was £42.20!!  Definitely the best bag any of us have bagged so far!

But...

Most of it I shouldn't eat as it contained dairy and wheat.  The apple juice, mango, eggs and roast beef slices were all ok but I ate the rest of it any way 🙄  And I suffered for it!!  My digestive system protested big time, not ideal in the run up to the wedding.

Too Good to Go is a fab idea if you don't have dietary issues.  So I've deleted the app and it's gone.  I can spend £5 wisely at Lidl and get plenty of healthy food my stomach likes.

After yesterday's post about finding stuff in the bottom of my freezer, I emptied it and sorted out what I have in there.  I've made a list so I can plan some meals.  I think I have enough to keep me going all month.  That's going to be my challenge! 

Bread and milk

Gluten free bread is really expensive.  A small sourdough loaf or tiger loaf is usually between £3 and £3.50.  And they're just ok.  I've tried making my own using many different recipes and packet mixes over the years, some good but still expensive.  On a whim I made a very simple soda bread today (with GF flour, bicarbonate of soda, salt, honey and oat milk pre mixed with a tiny drop of cider vinegar).   And it tasted really good.  And best of all cost just under 50p to make!!

Edited to add: I've linked the recipe in the comments.  I used GF brown bread flour which makes my loaf a bit darker than the one in the link.  Next time I'll use my normal white GF flour.

Oat milk is also pretty expensive, usually around £1.50 - £1.80 per litre unless it's on offer.  I made a batch in my Nutribullet.  Just 2 cups of water with 1/2 cup of oats and a few cashew nuts.  Blend for 30 seconds and strain.  I used muslin over a sieve and squeezed it.

It tasted better than the one I usually buy!! And only cost about 40p (the cashews bumped up the cost but totally worth it!)  There was about 1/4 cup of oat fibre leftover once I strained it.  I gave it to the chickens but I've read that you can use it in recipes.  It even freezes well until you have a large amount.  More research is needed on that!

So I made gluten free bread and dairy free milk for under £1.  Result! 😊

Macaroni cheese

Why have I waited 5 years to make a gluten and dairy free version of macaroni cheese????  Gluten free pasta and a traditional cheese sauce made with gf flour, goat's butter, almond milk and goat's cheese.  It was amazing!!  Now I know it doesn't taste the same as 'real' macaroni cheese but not having had it for so long it was good enough.  Sadly not a frugal dish like the 'real' one as gf and dairy free ingredients are expensive but I'll consider it a treat.

Going bananas

Hooray!  I'm on half term holiday 😁 I survived 2 staff development days and now I have 3 whole days to rest/catch up on my life.  I rescued some bananas from the bin (!) at work.  They were leftover from last week's healthy tuck shop but wouldn't get used this week as there's no kids in school.  So I said I'd have them!!

This morning I whipped up a batch of my pancakes for the freezer  (recipe HERE ) and tried a new banana bread recipe.  It was delicious and got OH's approval too!

Original Chickpea Flour Banana Bread recipe HERE

My version:

1 cup gram/chickpea flour
1/2 cup coconut flour (since I was given a bag by my lovely mum)
1 tsp mixed spice (I didn't have any cinnamon)
1/4 cup unsweetened desiccated coconut
1 tbsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
3 tbsp icing sugar (I didn't have any other sugar!)

2 eggs
1 and 1/2 cup ripe mashed bananas
2tbsp rapeseed oil
2 tsp vanilla extract

Mix dry ingredients in a bowl, mix everything else in another then add to the dry bowl.  Gently mix and put in loaf tin.  Bake for about 40 mins at Gas 4.  I didn't hear my timer beep, oops!  So it was in the oven about an oven, still tasted good despite the well done top!

Even though there's a little sugar in it next time I'll try it with some honey instead of sugar to make it healthier.

I still have 6 bananas left to use up so I can go bananas another day too!

Hurry up Spring!

Today was cold but sunny.  I took a wander round my garden and found some snowdrops, crocus and tulips popping up through the cold soil.  Spring is coming! I know it's still far too cold to start any gardening but it's nice to start thinking about it.

I checked one of my raised beds at the front and discovered some carrots I'd forgotten about.  They were perfectly lovely if a bit small. Variety Eskimo.

The carrot tops were lovely and green.  I got to thinking and remembered that I'd read somewhere they were edible.  A quick look on Pinterest revealed carrot top pesto and drying them to use in soups and salads like a herb.  So they're currently drying in the dehydrator. I'm going to try to dehydrate the carrots too.  They have to be sliced and steamed first.  I'll report back on their success (or not!)

On Saturday nights OH and his Teenogre come over for dinner.  I always try to make something special plus dessert.  Last night I tried Pineapple Poke Cake.  Recipe HERE  I'd never heard of a Poke cake so was intrigued.  It was delicious and so easy to make.  I subbed GF flour, added about 30g of ground almonds and used dairy free butter and milk but followed the recipe exactly.

I had too much mixture for my cake tin so filled some muffin cases too.

It was amazing with some Alpro 'cream.'  I even reheated some this morning for my breakfast (well it has all that pineapple so must count as 1 of my 5 a day 😉)

I've finally cracked it!

I've finally made a great tasting gluten and dairy free Yorkshire Pudding!  I've tried several recipes over the last few years and they've never risen or tasted like these ones.  Crispy round the edges and soft in the middle.  We had them with some venison I got at the Farmers Market.  Absolutely delicious!

Recipe HERE.  It made about 36 yorkies but you could easily halve the quantities.  I re heated some tonight and they were fine.  I've also put one in the freezer to test it.

My first batch didn't work as well.  My muffin tin was too deep and the bottom was soggy so for the next batch I used a fairy/cupcake one (see above). Next time I'll take them out a few minutes earlier as they were a bit dark.

Huge thanks to everyone who posted a comment yesterday.  I've loved reading where you're all from and what you like reading about.  I'll close the giveaway on Wednesday 13th December and pull names.  Good luck!

This week's round up

It's been a busy week!  As you can see my hair is now a short bob and blonde.  Definitely a luxury but I felt with a new job I needed a new look.  It's taking a bit of getting used to but I think I like it.  I can still do my purple toner on it ;-)

We had a big family dinner for OH's daughter's 20th birthday.  I made a chicken lasagne where I used my white sauce to make the chicken sauce bit.

I layered it up with GF lasagne sheets and a home made tomato sauce (with a ton of 'hidden' veggies in it for the veggie phobes) 

Then topped off with grated goats cheese to make a totally delicious and gluten/dairy free lasagne.  No one noticed the difference!!

I've been successfully defrosting and heating the meals I made for the freezer.  Yeay!!

I finished upcycling the hook rack and painted the radiator purple (looks darker in this pic) and am pleased with result.  I've ordered a wee shoe rack to fit in the space between the radiator and the corner.  Just the woodwork now to finish off.

I picked a handful of peas.  TBH I've not had much success with them at all but I'll do an update on my poor vegetable crops this weekend.

I scored some reduced goats milk today with another 3 days before the use by date.  I'm planning to make some yoghurt and soft cheese with it.

I bought some lovely goats milk yogurt with live cultures as my starter so I'm hopeful it'll work the same way I used to make cows milk yogurt.

I also attended the funeral of my colleague's husband.  It was a humanist service and a fitting celebration of a genuinely good man.  It makes you stop to appreciate everything and reminds me to enjoy life to the fullest every day.

Meal prep

Last night's tea was venision burgers (yep reduced and in my freezer!) turned into meatballs, served with a quick chunky tomato sauce (carton of chopped tomatoes, onion, carrot, garlic and a squeeze of ketchup) and GF pasta.  2 burgers made 16 mini meatballs. One portion for tea and the other meatball with sauce portion went in the freezer.

Part of trying to be more organised before going back to school involves me trying to prepare meals to put in the freezer for me (and No1 son).  Saving money and having healthy food already prepared is a no brainer.  I've been watching a few meal prep videos on Youtube lately for inspiration.  These guys have a series of meal ideas and suggestions on how to store them.  Don't be put off by the macros talk, that's just info for those who need it.  There are 11 videos full of good suggestions plus they've got loads of other ones including one pot meals and snacky stuff.

Tonight's meal was a kinda tandoori chicken thing.  I very nearly picked up a jar of tandoori sauce paste in the supermarket.  It was £2.  I looked at the ingredients and thought 'I've got most of them in the cupboard at home!'  Saved myself £2!! I mixed 1 tsp each of cumin, coriander, ginger and paprika into a couple of big dollops of yoghurt (sheep's yoghurt actually, very creamy) with some garlic paste and a wee squirt of honey.  It wasn't 'red' enough so I added another tsp of paprika.  I marinated 3 large chicken breasts (chopped into chunks) in the mixture and left them in the fridge all day while I painted yet another coat of white emulsion on my utility room walls.  I baked them in a very hot oven for 25 mins.

 I served it with coconut rice (recipe here), mango chutney and broccoli.  YUM!!!

But then I put the second portion (a la Youtube chefs) into one of my new freezer containers :-) 

I popped the lid on and then it went into the freezer.  I suspect the rice might be mushy on reheating but worth the time (and money) saved to have a meal ready.

ETA I got the containers from here  They do 1 and 2 compartment versions as well.  I also got an invite with them to join their free VIP club which gives you more meal ideas.

Easiest ever healthy chocolate mousse

I found this recipe on Pinterest and tweaked it a wee bit.  So easy and VERY healthy!!  It tastes like Snickers :-)

1 x 300g packet smooth silken tofu (YEP, tofu!!)
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/3 cup natural peanut butter
6 tbsp of agave syrup (although next time I'll try just 4 tbsp)

EDIT: works with 3 tbsp honey

Blend together until smooth.  Chill for at least half an hour. Serves 4.  I served it in espresso cups.

It was a bit too sweet for me but everyone else loved it.  I didn't tell anyone it had tofu in it until they'd eaten it ;-) The original recipe used maple syrup but I didn't have any and they used 400g tofu.  My packet only had 300g but it seemed to work ok.  Might try it with honey sometime as well.

My parsley was beginning to go to seed so I picked it all and dehydrated it.  It only took 4 hours until it was all dry.  I had all 6 trays full.

It filled 2 wide necked salsa jars.  And it tastes of parsley funnily enough!  I'm well chuffed :-)

How much more??

I follow a few GF pages on Facebook and one of them this morning shared an article on the real cost of buying gluten free food.  I clicked on it and discovered it also had the cost of being dairy free.  I'm assuming they've just done direct comparisons like 500g penne pasta for 85p and GF penne pasta £2. Or 1litre of UHT milk for 90p and 1 litre of Alpro milk £1.60 (all Sainsbury's prices).

They've worked out that if you swap to gluten free alternatives it will cost you £370.76 a year more.  And if you go dairy free it will cost an extra £372.84.  So if like me you're gluten and dairy free it costs a whopping extra £743.60 a year.

Or does it?

The article had 4 top tips for those on a budget and I'm pleased to say I do all of them!

1. Hunt for deals
You know I do love my yellow stickers ;-)

2. Think outside the box
Yep, I stick to naturally gluten free food (except for GF pasta, it's the only thing I'm willing to pay the extra for) but in the early days I did try a lot of GF products.  I really wasn't impressed with the taste and felt they were not worth the money.

3. Cook from scratch
Oh yeah, always done that so no brainer there.

4. Freeze leftovers
I deliberately make enough for leftovers so I've always got an easy lunch to take to work.  And you know how full my freezers are with food!!

So really my annual food budget shouldn't be more than anyone else's.  It's something I'll be keeping a closer eye on in the future.

What DO you eat?

I regularly get asked 'What DO you eat then?' Most people think following a gluten and dairy free diet must be awful.  In the early days it was a challenge but I've been gluten and dairy free for nearly 2 years now with just the occasional glutening (accidental or deliberate!) And it definitely gets easier.  The biggest challenge I have is sticking to my budget.

If money's no objective then paying double or three times the price of  'normal' stuff isn't a problem.  You can buy GF versions of just about everything now.  They vary hugely in taste.  Sometimes they're so awful I just don't bother with them at all.  Or they are so processed.  So I mainly stick to food that's naturally gluten free.  Rice, potatoes, quinoa, pulses, meat, fish, eggs, fruit and vegetables.  I can eat goat's cheese, butter and milk although it's a bit more expensive than cow's milk products.  But it's for a treat.

I can eat some types of crisps and quite a lot of sweets.  And dark chocolate :-) So it's not all bad.

There are 4 GF things I buy and am happy to spend more on.  They are Tamari (a wheat free soy sauce), Helen's Bread Mix (tastes like a farmhouse style crusty loaf), Sainsbury's free from pasta (tastes the same when it's covered in sauce!!) and GF wraps (B Free or Warburton's Newhouse are the best)

I use Alpro soya milk and yoghurts and am happy to pay more for them.  But I eat them sparingly.  Since I'm doing WeightWatchers atm I stick to the recommended serving sizes on the packs which are much smaller than I'm used to!!  So I'm not just saving calories but also money by making my food last longer.

Eggs, bread, pasta

So I read on the internet (duh!!) that it was possible to freeze eggs.  All you had to do was crack them into a muffin tin and freeze them individually.  Then when you defrost them all you had to do was simply whisk them together and use them in cakes or an omelette or something.  Nope, didn't work.  The yolks were brick hard on defrosting and couldn't be whisked.  6 eggs wasted but worth a shot.

Then my second disaster of the day.  I've made my GF bread once a week for 2 years now and didn't do anything different today.  When I went back to my loaf tin sitting in warm water, instead of finding risen dough I found it had overturned into the water and the contents floating.  *sigh*

I seriously considered not bothering with my planned eveing meal, just in case it got wrecked too. I chopped up 2 wrinkly peppers from Lidl that had been languishing in the fridge for a couple of weeks. I chopped up the last onion in the veg basket.  I sauted all the veg with a couple of garlic cloves then added 2 cartons of basics chopped tomatoes, a shake of Worcester sauce, a squeeze of tomato ketchup and a goodly sprinkle of mixed herbs.  It simmered for about 20 mins until thick and turned into a chunky tomato sauce.

I defrosted some yellow stickered sausages.

I skinned them and cut each one in half then rolled each half into a meatball shape.

After 20 mins in a hot oven they looked like this.

GF pasta, tomato sauce and meatballs.  Delicious! Phew!!

Glutened!

I haven't been diagnosed with Coeliac disease although my GP wants me to be tested again.  However, this means eating gluten foods for 6 weeks so there's enough gluten in my blood for the test.  Every now and then I knowingly eat something with gluten just to see how I feel.  In the spirit of using up what's in my freezer this month, I ate a quiche yesterday that The Teenager wouldn't eat. Big mistake!! By bedtime I was doubled over with abdominal pain and had a VERY upset stomach :-(  So eating gluten for 6 weeks is just not on.  I know that avoiding it helps my digestive system so I'll just keep doing what I do and avoid being glutened.

So today I was in need of comfort food.  I made some Leek and Lentil soup for lunch from my freezer contents.  Just what I was needing :-)

I felt much better by teatime so was able to use up the wild smoked salmon I'd defrosted overnight.

Tea was GF pasta with broccoli and smoked salmon in a 'cream' and Prosecco sauce.  The cream was actually Alpro soya cream but normal cream would work.  The Prosecco was from an opened bottle that was a birthday present.  It was delicious.

Eating a gluten and dairy free diet doesn't mean depriving myself of good food.  The only thing I object to is the cost of GF foods like bread and pasta.  Having a diagnosis would mean I could get stuff free on prescription but I just couldn't put up with 6 weeks of pain.

Busy Sunday

 

January seems to be the time for garden and outdoor planning.  Today there was a break in the relentless wet weather so we spent some time outside.  OH added a new support to the roof in the chicken run while I did some general tidying up.  The chickens were not happy at his DIY efforts and spent ages shouting at him from the safety of the other end of the garden!  While he was doing that I went to the front garden to check on the raised beds.

 

 

There are still some veggies growing despite the recent wind/rain/snow. 

 

Parsley, leeks and kale

 

 

Something's been nibbling the green kale...

 

...but not the purple stuff!!

 

The pak choy (or maybe it's bok choy, I can't remember which) has a few teeny nibbles

 

And the spring cabbage is hanging on!

 

 

 

I ordered a third raised bed for the front garden.  OH assembled it and it's now in the garage awaiting a coat of blue paint before I put it out with the other two.  A few more seed catalogues arrived this week so I need to sit down and work out what I want to grow this year.  I do love the planning bit :-)

 

 

Back inside again and I made an almond cake.  I've made this before in a round tin as a pudding but thought it would work in a loaf form too.  It was a hit!  Gluten and dairy free and totally delicious.

 

Almond cake

 

200g ground almonds

200g Pure spread

200g sugar

4 eggs

 

Beat spread and sugar until fluffy. 

Add eggs one at a time then add ground almonds.

Pour into loaf tin.

Bake at Gas 5 for about an hour until middle is set. 

Cover top with foil if it gets too browned before it's ready.

 

Job done!

 

A visit form my lovely mum, a couple loads of laundry done, some ironing and a kitchen clean up saw the end of a busy Sunday.  I'm now waiting for a Sainsbury's delivery before settling down to crack on with my forward plans for work.  My 5 year old laptop is really playing up so here's hoping I manage to complete them before it gives up completely.  I'm thinking of replacing it as a 50th birthday present to myself.  I'll need to do some research on the best deal of course!