With Goodies snacks don’t have to be naughty.

There “No Junk Promise” range of Goodies organic yummy & nutritious toddler snacks avoid added salt, processed sugars or any nasty additives and in most cases are dairy and wheat free too.

I just tucked into the Organic Carrot Cake bar; a blend of wholegrain oats, raisins, carrot juice and orange oil. It’s kind like a flap jack but less sticky and I love them, perfect to have in your back for a snack emergency.

Goodies Carrot Cake Ingredients

• Organic Wholegrain Oats 44%
• Organic Raisins 32%
• Organic Sunflower Oil 10%
• Organic Carrot Juice Concentrate 7%
• Organic Coconut 5%
• Organic Apple Juice Concentrate 2%
• Organic Cinnamon less than 1%
• Organic Orange Oil less than 1%
• Organic Orange Oil less than 1%
• Junk 0%
• TOTAL 100%

I have purchased Goodies Oat Bars in Boots (where there are often offers), Sainsburys & Waitrose, you can also buy them at Goodies for £2.25.

One bag of Bear Granola Nibbles counts as one portion of your daily wholegrains, is high in fibre and contains around 99 calories depending on the variety. Best of all, they are wheat free, dairy free and sugar free and contain no preservatives, sulphites or gumming agents.

So far, I have tried the Cherry Cocoa Pie variety which contain oats, maize, cherry pieces (cherry and apple puree), coconut, nibbed cocoa beans and grape, apple & carob extract. They are a great crunchy, chocolaty snack that kept me going between meals – and I especially loved the cherry pieces!

As well as the Bear Granola Nibbles Bear make a whole range of different healthy snacks including two other varieties of granola nibbles (Apple Crumble & Tropical Crunch), fruit nibbles and fruit yo-yos and I’m looking forward to checking them all out!

Bounce Energy Ball - Gluten Free Snack

Since trying my first ball (the green one) I was lucky enough to be sent all the other flavours to taste, now being the loyal person I am, I am sticking to the green one as my overall favourite but the others are really tasty too.

As the name suggest the snack comes in a squished ball shape, covered in nuts, which makes it crunchy on the outside and soft and chewy in the middle, really great texture combination that makes the eating even more enjoyable.

When I first opened it I was amazed by its dark green colour due to the spirulina and once I tucked in I was really impressed by its sweet and health taste. In fact the Gluten Free ball went down so quickly I had to pop back to the shop to buy another one so I could take some photos.

The Spirulina Ginseng Ball is the Bounce best seller, quoted by Bounce as being “unusual but tastes great” .

What is Spirulina?

Spirulina is an amazing superfood, it helps to boost the immune system, and is a complete protein and a rich source of iron & fibre.

Spirulina Ginseng Ball Ingredients

Gluten Free Rolled Oats, Almonds, Brown Rice Starch, Grape Juice, Crispy Brown Rice (Brown Rice), Gluten Free Oat Bran, Spirulina (1.25%), Sesame Seeds, Raisins, Panax Ginseng (0.62%), Vanilla, Sea Salt, Natural Almond Flavouring (no MSG), Antioxidant (E306 from natural sources).

For those like me with a dairy free diet, watch out for the yellow and the orange Bounce Balls as they have whey in, however the rest of the balls you can freely tuck into as they are all dairy free. My partner Phil tried the the Yellow and Orange Protein bounce balls and he really liked them too, even with his sweet tooth.

For local stockist follow link – priced at £1.59.

Check for stockists in your area as Bounce Natural Energy Balls are a tasty Healthy AND Gluten Free Snack.

It’s is also amazingly healthy and Fussy Foodie friendly.

Rick Stein’s Hainanese Chicken Rice (Khao Man Gai) – Recipe adapted from Rick Stein’s Far Eastern Odyssey

Rick Stein says: “This chicken rice, like babi guling, the slow-roasted pig from Bali, is a dish I would cross continents for. It appears in various forms all over the Far East, especially Malaysia and Singapore. There are people who wouldn’t let a day go by without a plate of chicken rice, and I can perfectly understand why. It’s the moistness of the chicken that gets to you”

Ingredients for Hainanese Chicken Rice:

• 1 x 1.5kg free-range chicken
• Freshly ground white pepper
• 25g peeled ginger, thickly sliced
• 15g garlic cloves
• 6 spring onions, trimmed
• Ginger and chilli dipping sauce (see recipe below)
• ½ cucumber, peeled, halved lengthways and sliced
• Handful of roughly chopped fresh coriander

For the rice:

• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 350g Thai jasmine rice, rinsed
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 1 pandan leaf, tied into a knot (optional) ( I use a couple of kaffir lime leaf’s as easier to find)

For the chilli sauce (Fussy Foodie style):

• A teaspoon of dried chilli flakes
• Salt and pepper
• Half a lime juiced
• Small glove of garlic (crushed)
• 1/2 tsp of grated fresh ginger
• Squeeze of Agave Nectar

This is my sugar and wheat free version of the chili sauce:

In a small bowl mix all the ingredients and taste for seasoning you may need to adjust with more lime or salt, for your taste.

Steamed Chicken Rick Stein Style Preparation:

1. Remove any fat from the cavity of the chicken and set aside. Season the chicken inside and out with salt and white pepper. Lightly bruise the ginger, garlic and 4 of the spring onions with a rolling pin and push inside the cavity. Set aside for 1 hour (I am not a big planner, so tend to just get the chicken in the pan at this stage).
2. Bring 4–5 litre of water (enough to cover the chicken) to the boil in a large, deep pan in which the chicken will fit snugly. If the pan is too large, the amount of water needed to cover the bird will produce a watery stock. Immerse the chicken in the water, bring almost back to the boil and leave to simmer very gently for 15 minutes. Turn off the heat (yes turn it off), cover and leave for 30 minutes, then remove the chicken, cover and set it aside. Skim the fat from the stock and boil until reduced to 1.2 litres.


Chicken Ready for Steaming

3. For the rice, heat the vegetable oil in a medium-sized pan over a medium heat. Add the reserved chicken fat and leave for 2–3 minutes until melted. Remove from the heat, and lift out and discard any bits. You should be left with about 3 tablespoons fat. (This bit is not for me). Add the rice and stir-fry for a couple of minutes to coat the grains. Add 600ml of the hot chicken stock and bring back to the boil. Add the sesame oil and half teaspoon salt. Stir once, add the pandan leaf if using, cover, lower the heat and leave to cook for 10 minutes. Turn off the heat and leave to sit, still covered, for 10 more minutes, while you remove the chicken from the bones and cut it up into small pieces. Halve the remaining spring onions and thinly shred them lengthways.
4. Divide the ginger and chilli sauce between dipping bowls.
5. Spoon some of the cooked rice onto each plate, top with the cooked chicken and garnish with the cucumber. Reheat the remaining chicken stock and season to taste. Ladle into small soup bowls and sprinkle in the coriander and the shredded spring onion. Place a plate of chicken rice, a wedge of lime ( I love lime my little addition), dipping sauce and a bowl of soup in front of each person, and tuck in.

Steamed Chicken Rick Stein Style is my favorite recipe so far from Rick Stein Far Eastern Odyssey – give it a try love to know what you think.

What makes Free From Fish Fingers so great is that they suit a variety of restricted diets including dairy free, gluten free and wheat free. They are also suitable for coeliacs.

Ingredients: MSC Certified Pacific Cod, Batter; Crumb Coating; Palm Oil

Batter contains: Cornflour, Maize Starch, Water, Modified Maize Starch, Salt, Mustard Powder, White Pepper, Stabiliser: Zanthum Gum, Colour: Paprika Extract

Crumb Coating contains: Rice Flour, Dried Potato, Salt, Emulsifier: Mono and Driglycerides of Fatty Acids

After a quick 12 minutes under the grill or 15 minutes in the oven, the Free From Fish Fingers are ready and smell divine! Served with a few chunky potato wedges and salad, they make a very tasty, satisfying and comforting dinner reminiscent of days gone by where food restrictions where not an issue. I am one very happy fussy foodie - Free From Fish Fingers made my day!

So keen to give them a go I riped open my new box of .Low and behold they taste just like I remember a crispbread to taste like (does anyone else have food memories, had one last night re spaghetti bolognese at school – was the one good thing on the menu) – they have the same texture and taste but with a buckwheat kick – so if like me you like the taste of buckwheat you will love these.

Gluten Free Crisp Bread Ingredients

Corn flour* (50%), rice flour* (49%), sea salt
*= certified organic ingredients

Just checked online and you can buy them from Goodness Direct for £1.79

NB On the Goodness Direct website it says they contain sugar however my box just says the ingredients as described on the Windmill Organics (people who make Amisa Range) website.

I cant wait to give my Gluten Free Crisp Bread a try at lunch with a topping – perhaps some avocado, mackerel or maybe even some sugar free jam… ummm. If you fancy a crunchy gluten or wheat free cracker then these are great – highly recommend.

What you need: Fish of your choice (I had a mixed bag of salmon, haddock and smoked haddock – diced), Gluten free breadcrumbs, gram flour, coriander (or other favourite spice/herb), vegetable oil, a lemon and salt & pepper.

The main challenge was to make a mixture that would stick the breadcrumbs to the fish.

• In a small bowl I mixed a tablespoon of gram flour with a a pinch of coriander, salt and pepper. Then added a squeeze of lemon and a drop of water to get a slightly thick liquid.
• Coat your pieces of fish in the mixture and leave to one side.
• In a large wok heat enough oil to allow a 1 inch covering on the pan (kind of semi deep frying)
• Add a few tablespoons of the breadcrumbs to  plate
• Roll the coated fish one piece at a time in the breadcrumbs to coat them
• When the oil is ready fry the breaded fish gently a few pieces at a time in the pan, turning and browning on both sides.
• Once ready remove the fish from the pan and drain on kitchen paper.
• That’s it the fish is ready to serve.

I enjoyed my Gluten Free Breaded Fish, with peas, mash potato and a big squeeze of lemon. They went down a treat with me and my partner Phil loved them.

Gluten Free Bread Mix Ingredients

Wholemeal rice flour*, corn flour*, wholemeal corn flour*, quinoa sourdough* (quinoa flour*, rice flour*), sunflower kernels*, flaxseed*, carob bean gum*, sesame seeds*, sea salt, baking powder (rasing agent (sodium bicarbonate, cream of tartar), corn flour*), xanthan gum*.

To make the bread I simply added water to the mix, and also a glug of olive oil and placed in a pre heated oven for 60 mins until the bread was brown and crispy.

NB. As recommend by Hale & Hearty I placed an overproof bowl of boiling water in the bottom of the oven while baking the bread.

The bread had a great texture and taste too, great warm from the oven with you favourite dairy free spread, also worked really well toasted.

Buy from Goodness Direct for 3.29, also Waitrose, some Asda branches and Planet organic (see stockists)

Having something that actually looked at tasted like bread was a real treat, so give Hale & Heart gluten free bread mix a try.

All I can say is wow I love them and since reading about them I love them even more.

All their products are…“Lovingly handmade, Baked not fried, Gluten free, dairy-free, guilt free, Hand-made to traditional recipes, No Artificial or Refined Ingredients Suitable for Vegans and Supporting small organic farms holdings in India.”

Conscious Food, based in Mumbai, is one of the leading organic food companies in India. Over the last ten years they have developed and nurtured relationships with numerous small organic farms and communities throughout the subcontinent, ensuring a high level of quality and fair trade. Several of the farms are part of organic collectives which directly benefit the community as a whole through supporting schools for the poor, women’s rights, animal welfare, etc.

Conscious Food is an Indian company that has pioneered organic farming and food in India since 1992. It was set up by Kavita Mukhi because her son had a number of allergies and healthy unrefined ingredients were hard to come by.

Conscious Food in India has spent several years developing and nurturing relationships with small organic farms and communities throughout the subcontinent, ensuring a high level of quality and fair trade. Several of the farms are part of organic collectives which benefit the community as a whole through supporting schools for the poor, women’s rights, animal welfare, etc. Conscious Food (UK) Ltd in the UK is a partnership with the Indian company and its objective is to market and distribute all Conscious Food products in Europe.

In 2006 Kristina Locke discovered Conscious Food’s range of snacks whilst on a trip to India and was so impressed to find healthy gluten and dairy free nibbles that tasted good that she brought them to Europe for us all to enjoy over here.

Such a fantastic product with a great story. I loved my first taste of Conscious Food crackers they are really delicate and totally tasty, such a treat to have something alternative to oat cakes with my houmous, so if you see them give them a try (list of stockists).

“I’ve recently been diagnosed with various food allergies and intolerance’s. During my research I found your website and I’d just like to say what a relief it is to meet other people who have a similar situation as myself.

The foods I am highly intolerant to include: yeast, wheat, all dairy products (including egg), sugar, all alcohol and all E numbers, to name but a few.

I also have environmental allergens including: all pollens, pollutants, sodium lauryl sulphate, to name but a few.

I was diagnosed this Saturday just gone, using an unusual method of testing (see: http://www.allergytest-london.co.uk/).

It seems very over-whelming as it’s both food and environmental allergens which I need to avoid. Being at university it is going to be a huge change on my lifestyle.

I was interested if you had any recipes which were quick – aka on the go so to speak? Also do you have any more information on Candida as I read on your website that you thought that you had that condition? Finally, I’m going to Tenerife on a fieldtrip mid-June, I’ve read your article about travelling abroad and it was very interesting. I just wanted to know what foods can you take abroad? and if you have been to either Tenerife or Spain, did you find any supermarkets which catered for your needs?

Thanks for making such a fantastic website, I intend to make your yeast, wheat, gluten and dairy free bread during the week (see Yeast Free Bread Recipe)!”

Newly Diagnosed Food Intolerance’s Advice

So from a foodie point of view your challenge is to avoid dairy, eggs, yeast, wheat and sugar (inc alcohol).

I have very similar food intolerance’s to you – dairy, eggs, yeast, gluten, sugar, some oily fish and cashew nuts – so I understand the challenges you face.

I would be really interested to hear more about why you decided to have a Food Intolerance Test e.g what symptoms led you to going in this direction and also more details regarding the tests that you had done. (On the Candida I will come back to you about this in separate message as it can make things a little more complex. I would be interested to hear about your journey a bit more which will then help me give you more details regarding my experiences.)

There are lots of recipes and articles on getting started on Fussy Foodie including a recent one I think you will find really beneficial: Multiple Food Intolerance Advise and also Food intolerance on holiday

Travelling with Food Intolerance

Travelling with food intolerances can be a real challenge especially when on a long haul flight as you will need to pack extra food. Airlines can cater for certain foodie requirements but the challenge of certain food intolerances makes it pretty impossible for them. Airlines however do have a couple of options you could take e.g

• Vegan which will be dairy free (see Vegan Diet Explained)
• Coeliac, therefore wheat free but you might find you have dairy in the meal.

With the airline meals I normally plump for vegan and then wing it a little as the coeliac options are often loaded with sugar and egg. Alternately, just go for the normal and see what there is available as there is normally a potato and vegetable option, however be careful as there might be a few things added that you don’t know about, so always pack a few snacks in your hand luggage just in case. The best solution is to eat before you get on the plane – Pret A Manage have stores in a few airports now and they have a few salad options that are great, including the No Salad Dressing and other tasty alternatives.

When travelling be flexible

I am a bit of a 100% er when it comes to my food intolerances, so plan ahead with lots of snacks e.g nuts and oat cakes, and take every opportunity to eat as food I can eat is not always on the menu.  Also most of the time we travel self catering – as the need to have variety and cook for yourself when on a restricted diet comes apparent after a few days.

The great news is Spain especially has loads of options and I have been to both Spain and Maderia recently and found a huge variety of products e.g soya milk, Gluten Free Pasta etc – enough options to keep me going. One good thing to pack is your cereal and a carton of soya long life milk (in your checked in bag) just in case, but most European countries I have been to have soya milk you just need to find a big supermarket.

Spanish food is very tomato and potato based and they tend to cook with olive oil and not butter which makes things a little easier.

In summary – pack lots of  snacks and eat when you can – and also take a list of food words e.g Dairy Free, Wheat Free, Yeast Free, No added sugar etc – this is really important if eating out and sometimes the only way to know if something is OK  for you is to ask.

Quick Recipes for Food Intolerance

I love cooking and previously had a pretty healthy diet which has always made things a little easier for me moving to a Free From way of life. The real challenge with this change of lifestyle is to see it as a positive and really embrace it, the negativaty that might come will only make the process harder. Keep checking to see if what you are doing is working for you – this isn’t an exact science and over and above everything its important to keep a balanced and healthy diet.

Keep it simple and health – lots of spices and herbs for added flavour.

Gluten Free Paste - with herbs, fresh peas, seeds and olive oil

Gluten Free Sausage with Lentils

1. Gluten Free Pasta – love this with Vegan Pesto, carrot and seeds (random I know) | tuna, olive oil, herbs and lemon | Gluten Free Sausages and ragu style sauce (home made – 5 mins to make)
2. Jacket potato – I have a new love for potatoes, after avoiding them for years, I have come to love them. So simple pop them in the oven and an hour or so later crispy heaven – dollop of  Dairy Free Spread, Tomato Pesto and some salad – delicious.
3. Summer salads got to love them – get in some frozen prawns – much cheaper frozen and fast to defrost for a quick meal – prawn salad with avocado is fantastic – and really filling too.
4. Soups – Making up a batch of soup is a great way to get efficient meals – give this recipe a try (see Spicy Squash Soup)- takes a bit more work that usual but its AAAmazing
5. Stews loaded with beans – Pick a weekend and cook a few stews – great for re heating and simple to make. I am into Moroccan stews at the moment  – next time I make one I will post a recipe for you to try.
6. Corn Wraps – Not a recipe but you can make lots with them – fellow Fussy Foodie Claire’s favourite – always takes a packet when away from home.
7. Fish Fish Fish – you gotta love fish – some fresh fish – squeeze of lemon with a few herbies under the grill – done. Load up with some salad or veggies and potatoes.
8. Platter- plate of your favourites things – houmous, guacamole, oat cakes,  Corn Thins, carrot / pepper/ cucumber sticks for dipping, maybe some ham (check for added extras), few mixed seeds – delicious.

Mini platter on the move

Few more recipe ideas and ingredients to get you started:

Sophie I hope this give you some ideas – let us know how you get on with your Newly Diagnosed Food Intolerances.