April favourites: My gluten free round up

Following on from last month’s favourites, I’d like to try and keep this going each month. I receive so many amazing gluten free products and don’t always get a chance to review them all in full, so this is a great chance to mention those which really deserve a shout out!

Marks and Spencer gluten free tempura chicken

Anyone who is coeliac will know finding gluten free Chinese food is a minefield. Marks and Spencer have brought out a new range of gluten free food which includes this tempura chicken. It’s chicken breast in a crispy batter, served with a sweet chilli sauce – my favourite!

I cooked mine up with some egg fried cauliflower rice and it was delicious – perfect for a Chinese take-away style meal but with less of the cost and none of the gluten!

Sadly not much of the M&S range has filtered through to my local store yet – so I am continuing to watch on in envy as everyone talks about how amazing the trifles and cheesecakes are!

The Hummingbird Bakery

I was very excited when I went to London recently to have stumbled across The Hummingbird Bakery in Kensington as I have heard so many good things about their cakes.

My friend Lauren and I popped in and I spotted a delicious looking red velvet cupcake among their shelves. It was absolutely delicious and survived the journey back to North Devon just so I could share it with the other half – it was amazing!

Raw millionaire bites from Livia’s Kitchen

Another goodie I picked up in London, these raw millionaire bites in salted date caramel flavour from Livia’s Kitchen were delicious. They are gluten and dairy free, and also refined sugar free – though they are still made with dates so don’t think they are low in sugar.

I love dates and I love salted caramel – which meant I thought these were pretty awesome! They are not as gooey and sticky as millionaire’s shortbread but they are great for a quick treat – and they did the trick on my post-James Bay hangover!

The Body Coach Lean in 15 book

I might be a little late to the party here, but I finally got my hands on Joe Wicks’ (aka The Body Coach) Lean in 15 cookbook this month – thanks to a nice little usage of the Nectar points offer!

I don’t follow Lean in 15 plan but wanted some inspiration for quick meals which would fit my macros. I’ve tried a few of these recipes (like the teriyaki salmon, above) and they really are super quick and easy to make. It’s great if you’re pushed for time and there are both protein/carb based meals and protein/fat based ones – so I can adapt depending on if I’m training or not.

A lot of the carb recipes use wraps, pasta, noodles of rice – but there are quite a few notes on the recipes to help you adapt if you’re gluten free. It’s definitely worth getting if you want something easy!

Feel Free gluten free mini donuts

Oh. My. God. Has anyone tried these gluten free mini donuts from Feel Free? Firstly, they are amazing (and new to my local Tesco store – find them in the frozen aisle). Secondly, I bought them twice this month and both times they had 12 donuts in instead of 10 as stated – which made my day!

As soon as I bit into the first one it was so nostalgic – I had forgotten what donuts tasted like! I popped mine in the oven for 5 minutes to get them hot and crispy and served them with ice-cream. So sinful, but so good! I’ll definitely be reserving these for my next refeed!

Gluten free dough balls from Pizza Express

I also finally got round to trying the brand new gluten free dough balls at Pizza Express! Twitter erupted when their arrival was announced with excited coeliacs everywhere. So when Steve got a rare night off work, a date night at Pizza Express was my first thought!

The dough balls were very nice – they had a good texture and I loved the garlic butter with them. They are slightly bigger than the normal ones so you get less, but they are pretty tasty. I hope they introduce cheesy gluten free dough balls in the future though!

Gluten free quinoa granola

Yes, I know I am STILL going on about the gluten free granola I made, but it is just sooo good! Filled with nutrient rich apricots, nuts and seeds, it’s made with quinoa and honey and forms these delicious clusters which I simply cannot stop eating. Big shout out again to my amazingly talented friend Lauren who has taken these lovely photos for me!

What’s happening in May?

As if April hasn’t been busy enough, expect a bumper list in May! Coeliac Awareness Week is May 9-15, and there are always a whole host of new products launched then – I know of a few exciting ones coming up which I can’t wait to share with you! I’m also heading back up to London and BodyPower Expo on May 13-15 and my birthday at the end of the month – it’s going to be mental and I can’t wait!

What gluten free products have you tried and loved this month? Comment below and let me know!