This website isn’t just for people with food intolerances, allergies, IBS and other health related problems but also for people who are simply looking to lead a healthier lifestyle. If you aren’t feeling great after eating food you buy, you should really considering making different and smarter choices when you shop and there is a massive range of food alternatives available.

Everyone has their own personal reason for wanting to change their diet and lifestyle; mine was the desire to want to learn more about food and the different, positive and negative, effects it was having on my body.  By doing this I have been able to change my diet to fit around my sensitive stomach and food intolerances. The more aware I have become, the more control I have gained throughout my entire life and have found I can enjoy everything I like without suffering afterwards and in a healthier way.

A big part of changing your diet is changing the food products you get in to the habit of buying; this is where this part of the website aims to help. For whatever reason you are thinking of changing what you normally buy, it can be hard when faced with so many choices in the supermarket. In this section I will post clear, quick and honest reviews on products which I both recommend you to try and would suggest you avoid!

Hopefully it can be of help and I would love to hear your thoughts on any products you have tried and tested, both positive and negative.

Each review covers the following points:

• Taste
• Cost/value for money
• Use
• Nutrition
• Marks out of ten

I do try and include everything I think you’d want to know but if you have any questions on anything I review then leave them below and I’ll be sure to get back to you!

I spotted these Hale & Hearty rice snacks for 99p, I was pleased to see a wheat free snack and decided to give them a try. Has anyone else noticed any change in the choices of free from food available in your local stores?

Taste – These mini rice and corn snacks are so tasty and light I would personally choose them over crisps every time. They are bursting with flavour and texture without being overpowering like many salt and vinegar flavoured snacks. I prefer the texture of these over crisps as they are not at all oily and have a lovely crunchy bite.

Cost – I bought these for 99p. Good value for money, one bag with lunch is plenty without being too heavy. Many single packed crisps often cost more than this anyway. Taking in to consideration there health properties and good taste, I would consider these good value.

Use – Perfect for lunch with a sandwich or salad for something light on the side to finish of your lunch. They are also great for an on the go healthy snack mid-morning or afternoon. I think they are a good healthy alternative to give children in their lunch box instead of crisps and also get some variation to their normal lunch.

Nutrition – They contain simple and natural ingredients which I love to see in a food product. Rice and corn snacks like this are healthier than potato based crisp snacks and also naturally lower in fat. They are 92kcal per bag which I think is fantastic for how tasty they are and a perfect addition to a lunch without overloading on high calorie sides. With them being Hale and Hearty they are Wheat, Gluten and MSG free and suitable for vegans, this is perfect for people with intolerances and even those without can benefit from varying from their normal food choices.

Simple Healthy Ingredients!

10/10

• On the go snack and perfect with lunch
• Healthy alternative to crisps
• Full of great flavour and also available in Sour Cream and Chive and Sweet and Spicy

Millionaires shortbread always reminds me of when I used to get squares of it for desert when I was in primary school, there was hardly any shortbread at all, mostly just a thick layer of oozing caramel and an even thicker layer of chocolate, they were delicious but I certainly can’t get away with eating them every day after lunch anymore! These however are a slightly less guilty version still with lots of taste!

Taste – The shortbread bases on these slices are moist, light and don’t have that overly buttery taste of shortbread. The caramel reminds me more of a layer of crumbly fudge rather than runny caramel, it’s the perfect amount and I personally loved the taste. They are topped off with a thin layer of chocolate, I like that the biscuit is only one third topping as it’s enough to give that taste without it being overly sweet or sickly.

Cost/ Value for Money – I bought these for £3.15 at my local health food store for 5 slices. With the quality of ingredients in these and the well established brand I would say that this is a reasonable price and after trying the product, would buy them again at this price. However if I was buying for my family on a budget this wouldn’t be my first choice as you only get five.

Use – I think these are perfect for sharing with guests; it’s nice to all be able to enjoy the same treat over a drink or even as a desert and not be the outsider with your intolerances. I wouldn’t suggest these for lunches or on the go, they are not individually wrapped and the can be quiet crumbly so even if you wrapped them yourself I’d imagine they would crumble or break.

Nutrition – These bars are approximately 150kcal each which I would say is worth it for how good they taste! They are free from gluten, wheat, dairy, egg and hydrogenated fats. This makes these slices great for people with intolerances and allergies but also the alternative ingredients used are healthier so even if you are on a diet and looking for a healthy alternative this certainly is an option.

7/10

• Ideal for sharing
• Fresh and moist homemade taste
• Not too high in calories and fat

• Not ideal for ‘on the go’ or lunch boxes
• Not ideal for budgets or feeding families

Taste – I always make my own flapjack now so I haven’t tried a shop bought one in a very long time. I was pleasantly surprised at how moist these were as flapjacks can often go dry easily. They were just sweet enough to satisfy my sweet tooth without being sickly and the sunflowers seeds gave them a nice change in texture from just plain oat.

Cost/Value for Money – These cost me £2.95 for five small slices. I think this is a good price as they could last you for a snack or desert to your lunch all through the week. Considering how cheap it is to make flapjacks in large batches homemade though this does make buying 5 at this price in my opinion only worth it if you don’t have time to make your own.

Use – My favourite thing about these bars is they are individually wrapped making them ideal for lunch boxes and on the go but they aren’t the type of thing I would share round with guests.

Nutrition – These are made with healthy ingredients as alternatives to butter and 60% of flapjack is made up of oats, sunflower seeds and raisins, all packed with energy and health benefits. They are 165kcal per slice which makes them a good snack or side to control high calorie and fat levels, plus this the ingredients in this provide your body with good fats, protein and carbs which your body uses and burns in a different way to 165 calories of chocolate. Also this makes a nutritious snack for lunch times and on the go as they made up with oats which are known to have slow burning qualities which give you energy.

 

 Individually wrapped – ideal for lunches, road trips, on the go snacking

Contain oats, raisins and sunflower seed, all with known health benefits

Taste really moist and sweet

•  You get 5 smaller bars for this price – would be cost effective to make your own if feeding larger numbers (check out my recipe here!)
• Each slice contains 9.1g of fat – although this is mostly good fats from the oats, not an ideal snack for a low fat diet

 

Have you ever tried these? Or can you recommend any other healthy shop bought flapjacks? Please leave your comments below!

Unfortunately after getting hyped up to start baking I began to look at the ingredients and was disappointed to find I was missing half of what some recipes needed. Most recipes called for ingredients such as cane juice, flax meal, xanthan gum and coconut oil, to name a few more mainstream of the long ingredients list. I feel many normal households wouldn’t always have these ingredients stocked and some of them can be hard to find and sometimes more pricey than normal baking ingredients. I’m a big supporter in changing your lifestyle to fit around healthier eating but I don’t think recipes like this are always convenient and easy to follow, meaning many of us won’t bother.

With this is mind I still wanted to try out some of the recipes as they did look delicious, I happened to have all the ingredients to make Johnny Cakes which were in the biscuits and scones section. I had never heard of them before but they are described as a ‘part cornbread pancake and part American biscuit’. I worked at a child’s summer camp last year in California and was there for 4 months giving me plenty of time to try out some authentic American favourites for myself! I become particularly fond of both cornbread and American biscuit so the combination of the two was definitely something I wanted to try.

The recipe was easy to follow and best of all I loved the result of the Johnny Cakes. I made some alterations to the recipe based on what I had in the kitchen and my own taste, I swapped the agave for honey and sprinkled with sugar and cinnamon as opposed to salt. This made them a much sweeter tasting treat perfect for tea time but you could try them with agave and salt for a more savory taste.

After the success of these I will definitely be trying more recipes from the book, I’ve seen some raspberry scones I’m tempted to try so keep an eye out for the results of how they come out!

In conclusion I would say that if you aren’t use to vegan and free from cooking this probably isn’t the first place I would suggest you try for recipes, as you will need to stock up on a lot of ingredients you most likely may not have in the cupboards. However I can imagine after great results of just one recipe from this book that it would be worth investing in the ingredients if you intended to bake several recipes from it.

Recipe:

Adapted from the BabyCakes recipe for Johnny Cakes

Ingredients:

• 180grams of Doves Farm whole spelt flour
• 100grams of cornmeal
• 1 Tbsp. of baking powder
• 75ml of coconut oil
• 2 Tbsp. of agave nectar
• ½ Tsp. of vanilla extract
• 50ml of warm water
• Sugar and cinnamon for sprinkling (optional)

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180c. Line a baking tray, ideally with greaseproof paper but if like me you don’t have any at home use tinfoil and lightly grease.
2. In a bowl mix the flour, cornmeal and baking powder until well combined.
3. Stir in the coconut oil, agave nectar, vanilla extract and warm water. Whisk until a lumpy and grainy like mixture is formed (as shown in the picture).
4. Scoop around two heaped tablespoons of the mixture in to your hands and create a ball then press down firm to form a round biscuit shape.
5. Sprinkle a little sugar and cinnamon on top of each cake and place on the over for ten minutes.
6. Removed from oven and while still on tray immediately drizzle honey over each one and then allow the honey to soak in and cool for ten minutes.
7. Move on to plate and enjoy while warm! To start place in an airtight container and they should keep for two days.

For many of us on day trips, it’s so easy to slip out of a healthy routine or even see it as a ‘day off’ but my outlook is you should see your diet as a way of life and shouldn’t even consider a ‘day off’. Many diet plans and blogs I’ve read suggest taking along some nuts, dried fruit to snack on and staying completely on plan at all time, not taking different scenarios in to consideration. I feel this is unrealistic and people should be able to go out with family and friends and enjoy all aspects of the day, including good tasty food.  With IBS I feel it’s all about planning ahead, I don’t suggest throwing aside all my known intolerances and snacking on a burger and ice cream to enjoy the day (if anything this would spoil my day and I’d end up struggling round with stomach cramps looking for the nearest toilet). Living with IBS I think nothing of planning now and by changing my lifestyle it minimises any risk of having a flare up by making wrong choices. I spent 15 minutes the night before packing a lunch and a few snacks. By doing this we all enjoyed a lunchtime picnic in St James Park together and didn’t have to struggle round hungry looking for somewhere or something I ‘could’ eat when lunchtime came around.

This takes me on to my review of vegetarian café Beatroot in Soho, London. On Sunday I did a quick search online for vegan food in London, this place looked laidback, full of selection and not only was most of the food vegan it also had many wheat free options.

Located on Berwick street, only a five minute walk from the Piccadilly Circus tube station or Tottenham Court Road, it was very easy to find. They have a selection of ten hot dishes and eight salads, you choose the size of box you want and then mix any combination of the hot and cold dished. I got the large box to sample more and was pleasantly surprised in the generous portion sizes, you’ll see from my pictures I had no chance of shutting the box! So with this in mind you could easily fill up off the medium box for a main meal.

As you can see there was no skimping on portion size, I managed to fit in a little of everything I want to try it all out!

Hot Dishes:  The shepherd’s pie, roasted vegetables and stir fry were my favourites. You could tell everything had been made from scratch and the different tastes were delicious and full of flavour.  They also had these sausage rolls which from asking in store and reading on other blogs are a firm favourite with customers.  The pastry wasn’t wheat free but I tried one anyway and enjoyed it so much it has inspired me to make my own with a wheat free pastry.

Obviously I choose all vegan choices but my sister, a strict vegetarian, had the lasagne (the pasta bake that day) and said it was one the nicest meals out she has had in a while.

Cold Dishes:  The salad selection was varied and bursting with different colours. I tried the dilled coleslaw, sesame beetroot and quinoa taboullah. I really enjoyed the coleslaw, it was very rustic with thickly chopped cabbage and carrots and unlike many types of coleslaw it wasn’t drenched in mayonnaise or dressing, it was the perfect amount. I enjoyed the beetroot salad but I enjoy my own homemade recipe much more and found the quinoa salad a little dull and tasteless.

Cakes and Sweet Treats: All cakes are vegan but I choose the two which are also wheat free to try, the flapjack and chocolate cluster.  Ever since I’ve made my own flapjacks I often find bought ones very dry and crumbly however this one was very moist and not overly heavy, the raspberry and coconut gave it a nice twist to just plain oat. It was also very large so great value for just £1.50. The cluster was very cholately and the different kinds of cereal and fruit in it gave it varied textures throughout.

Delicious coconut flapjack with a gooey and moist raspberry center, I enjoyed at home that evening

Drinks:  They also offer fresh juices and smoothies made to order, all at very reasonable prices and a variety of flavors including using coconut, acai berries, dates and pear. You can also sit back and warm up with one the many hot drinks on offer including a variety of healthy and refreshing Teapigs  (fine, whole leaf, organic teas. Find out more…. http://www.teapigs.co.uk/about_tea/) flavours which I often enjoy at home.

Drinks and handy packaging to take your order away with you if you're popping in for something on the go.

Whether it’s to grab a laidback bite for lunch, some dinner on your way home or to take a small rest with a fresh vegan cake and drink, I would definitely recommend coming to Beatroot. The staffs are low-key and friendly, which gives the place a relaxed feel and they’re very helpful in picking your food around any allergies or dislikes.

To find out more about Beatroot Cafe and to see their full menu of food and drink, visit their website: http://beatroot.org.uk/home.html