Sharabelle bakes

Sainsbury supermarket has one of the most comprehensive ranges of Free From foods.  There free from  Christmas  selection has also increased as well.  When I think of Christmas festive food, mince Pies immediately pop up in my mind.   Mince Pies are a main part of our British Christmas food traditions.  Thought the ones we eat today contain no minced meat. The originally ones were filled with a mix of minced meat, suet, dried fruit and spices, which usually included cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg.  Only the rich could afford to buy spices, so were served to guests as a status symbol to show their wealth.   Modern mince pies thankfully no longer contain meat and the suet used is vegetarian not beef.  Households would have there own special recipe of mince meat, with their preferred blend of dried fruit and spices. They could soak the filling in brandy or rum. If you chose to make your own it has to be mixed clockwise as doi...

Christmas time is one of the hardest times of year for me, for  a lot of reasons.  Christmas reminds is of the people are who are no longer here.  This will be the first one without my dad.   It's a difficult time of year for those of us with mental health problems. My  depression and anxiety get worse, I find busy shops and streets hard to deal with.  My food intolerances increase my anxiety as well.  I dread the idea of eating out or being invited to someones house. Not everyone knows how to cater for those individuals with food intolerances.  I often wonder how many people feel they can't or just avoid inviting them at all.  There are so many foods that are naturally gluten and dairy free.   Free from foods are now more economical and readily available in our local supermarkets.  I've done some research and found ideas to share.  Hopefully making it easier for everyone this festive season.   ...

Tis the season to be jolly Buying Christmas presents for people with food allergies or intolerances, can be hard.  Free From foods can be more expensive than regular varieties, so they are  perfect gift idea. My mum always makes sure I have my favourite Dairy free Caramels filled Chocolates in my Christmas stocking.    This Christmas there seems to be  a greater variety of free from food products available in our  supermarkets.    There are gingerbread stars and christmas tree's to bake with the rest of the family.  Selection boxes to put in their stockings.  Mince pies and christmas cake to suite everyones taste.   There are also plenty savoury ingredients to make your Christmas dinner meal perfect.  There are gluten and dairy free pastries, so you can bake your own pies or tarts.  Along with Gluten free crackers and dairy free Cheese.   Down below is a small selection of m...

GLUTEN FREE, WHEAT FREE & DAIRY FREE I was in Sainsburys during the week and discovered they have a new range of Free From Chocolate bars.  I'm really impressed, the majority of supermarkets retailers have their own Free from small chocolate bars. However I've never seen a range as wide as Sainsbury's.   It's great to see a food retailer catering to  consumers who have food allergies or intolerances.  I then went to the cafe for a pot of tea.  I found a choice of 2 Free From options.  Mini Cherry Bakewells and a Chocolate Brownie, both Gluten and dairy free.  I passed these up and had a bread roll with strawberry jam.   It reminded me of the Jam pieces we used to eat for a snack when I was a kid.  Normally we got them as a snack, after we came back in from playing outside.  It was the perfect thing fill us up till tea time.  A jam piece is Scottish for a Jam sandwich.  100g bars of dairy free chocolat...

Sainsbury's Free From Hot Cross Buns It's been 5 years since iv had a Hot Cross Bun, that's how long Iv excluded yeast from my diet. The best  I ever tasted came from a small family bakery's in  Inverurie where my grandmother lived.  Iv recently come to the conclusion that I might not be yeast intolerant, but rather wheat intolerant.  My mum noticed that my IBS symptoms were always worse when Id been eating a lot of baked goods.  So for the next 2 months I'm going on an exclusion diet to find out.  The negative side is that Iv now cut out a lot of foods, from an already limited group.  The positive is that it's open up a whole other side. So when I discovered on a trip to Sainsbury's that they had Gluten free, wheat free & dairy free hot cross buns I just had to buy them.  Smell: The aroma of the spices as the hot cross bun is toasted  was divine. Well worth the 5 year wait since my last one Taste: ...