The other week Holland and Barrett asked me to check out the new ‘Free From’ section on their website, and if you suffer with any sort of food intolerance or allergy then you definitly should too!
Food shopping can often be hard when you have to avoid certain ingredients or foods; I’m lucky in that I don’t personally suffer from any sort of food intolerance or allergy but I do get questions daily about where people can buy ‘free from’ products or what people can use as an alternative ingredient in my recipes. If you can relate to this then carry on reading to find out more about this new service and (most importantly!) what goodies I have been trying out!
The Free From Range
The free-from section of the website allows you to filter products that are;
- Nut Free
- Dairy Free
- Wheat Free
- Sugar Free
- Soya Free
- Peanut Free
- Gluten Free
Once you’ve selected a category of products to look at you can then further filter the products to exclude any of the above ingredients in addition to others; celery, cereal, crustacean, egg, fish, kiwi, lupin, milk, mollusc, mustard, sesame seed and sulphite – clever stuff hey!
So what goodies have I tried from the range?!
- Nut & Seed Butters
One of the most common questions I get is about nut butter (in particular peanut butter) and what you can use as altertive. If you suffer with a peanut butter allergy then almond or brazil (FYI this brazil cacao spread IS AMAZING!!) or cashew nut butter will work great – however it’s worth noting that cashew butter has a much creamier consistency and almond butter is much more sticky (in comparison to peanut butter).
If you however suffer with a nut allergy then a sunflower seed based spread is perfect – it not only is the perfect consistency (it’s exactly like smooth peanut butter!) but it also tastes amazing too; I prefer mine with a spoon or on top of frozen banana slices or apple pieces! Yum!!
- CHOCOLATE!
If you’re a chocolate fan (like me) but can’t eat dairy then I recommend trying the Cocoalibre Dark Chocolate Bears – they taste delicious and are free from gluten too. I also really like the fact that 2-3 bears really does satisfy a chocolate craving! They are gorgeous!!
If you prefer a suger free chocolate option then check out the Diablo range – I tried their dark chocolate with hazelnuts and it honestly tastes delicious. Just be warned though – too much of this stuff could up set your stomach due to the sweetener maltitol (similar to other sugar alcohols large quantities of it can have a laxative effect – yuk!).
- Healthy Snacking
Hummus Crisps are made from chickpea flour and despite what you may think are serisouly mourish – they went down really well with my friends and are gluten free, vegetarian and vegan. I will definitly be buying these again!
One of my all time favourite things to snack on are nut based bars, and the ones from Meridian are great. I loved their cashew nut bar in particular, which is 55% nuts and provides 6g protein. Nuts are a great source of healthy fats and help you to stay fuller for longer.
- Breakfast & Yoghurt Toppers
If you read my blog frequently then you’ll know by now that I love jazzing up porridge, overnight oats and yoghurt with, well, anything!! And these three products below have definitely been making an appearance at my breakfast and snack times recently.
Both Chia seeds and Flaxseeds are a great source of fibre and omega 3 fatty acids and add a great taste and texture to what ever you add them to; they also will leave you feeling fuller for longer. If you’ve got a sweeter tooth though then definitly checkout cocoa nibs – these have a slightly bitter taste (almost like coffee) but add a great flavour and ‘crunch’.. I’ve been loving them on top of frozen berries, natural yoghurt & honey for a sweet treat on an evening!
Have you tried anything from the free-from range? What do you think about the products that I got to try? I’m off to go make something for dessert now – I would give a medal to anyone who can write or talk about food and not get hungry ;).
*This blog post was written in collaboration with Holland & Barrett. All words & views are 100% my own. This blog post contains affiliate links. Please read my disclaimer page for more information.