Greggs

A box of Greggs doughnuts was brought to the office on Thursday and their website didn't list the ingredients of their products, in any case here is what is the email they sent me:

___________________________

Hi Jo


Thank you for getting in touch with us about the ingredients used in our food.

Due to the way we make, bake and transport our foods, we can’t guarantee that they’re free from any allergens.  However we do try to minimise the risk of cross contamination occurring.

After checking some of our foods, I can confirm that all of savouries are glazed with milk, so they wouldn’t be suitable for a dairy free diet.  When it comes to our Breads, our Baguettes don’t contain milk by recipe, however all of our other Breads are glazed with milk.

I’ve also checked some of our sweet treats that we sell and the only ones that don’t contain milk by recipe are our Belgian Buns, Yum Yums and our Gingerbread Men (as long as you remove the chocolate buttons).

I hope that this information is useful and that you can have a few of these treats.  If you’d like me to check any of our other foods, please let me know and I’d be more than happy to help you.

We look forward to seeing you soon.


Remember to quote your call reference number: XXXXXXXX in any
correspondence, as this will assist us in providing you with a
quick response.


Kind regards

Customer Care Team

Chocolate Fondant

So, recently we've had a slight obsession with Chocolate Fondant. It's brilliantly quick to make and here is our recipe:

Ingredients
Serves 2 (ramekins required)

20g plain flour
50g dairy free margarine
50g sugar
50g dark chocolate
50g golden caster sugar
1 egg (white and yolk)
1 egg yolk

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius
2. Grease the ramekins
3. Melt the butter and chocolate (we do this quickly in the microwave) - leave this aside to cool
4. Beat the sugar and eggs together until the whisk leaves a trail in the mixture
5. Add the butter and chocolate mixture to the sugar and egg mixture and whisk
6. Gently fold in the flour to mixture
7. Divide the mixture into the two ramekins
8. Chill in the fridge for at least 1 hour
9. Bake the fondants for approximately 8 minute (trial and error for your oven and perfection!)

GOOD LUCK!

Bake a Boo, West Hampstead

Visited a really cute little cake shop in West Hampstead yesterday afternoon. After a wicked week of rain, the sun and the the warmth it brought could't have been more welcoming. I'd researched Bake a Boo online and found that it served dairy free cakes & also afternoon tea. After a response-less email from them and many unanswered calls, I decided to just stop by and see what it was like.

The cake shop itself is quite cramped and it was a little too warm inside for my liking. It was definitely buzzing in there and noise levels were high. We weren't able to get a table for three, so we just ordered take away: dairy free pineapple & passion fruit cupcake, dairy free lemon cupcake, dairy free raspberry cupcake and dairy free apple & date cake. 

Cakes were okay, I've tasted better, the frosting on the cupcakes were really good, but the cake mixture itself was a bit dry and crumbly. The apple & date cake was quite heavy and had quite a bit of nutmeg - a little too much for my liking.


In all it was a pleasant trip out. Worth a try if you are passing by, but I wouldn't go out of my way to dine there again

Congee Recipe

Congee is a type of rice porridge eaten across Asia. It's quick and simple to make, very healthy and nutritious and also really easy to digest if you're not very well.


Serves 4

Ingredients:

1 cup of rice

1 onion

2 carrots

1 potato

1/2 celery

3 chicken legs ( I prefer the leg meat as it's tastier and juicier)
Soya sauce

Instructions:

1. Wash the rice and place in pan.
2. Prepare the vegetables: Dice the onion, carrots, potato and celery and place in pan
3. Prepare the legs by de-jointing the drumstick and thighs and removing the skin and place in pan
4. Cover the ingredients in the pan with water
5. Bring the water to the boil, then let it simmer for 20 minutes.
6. Check the chicken is cooked, the vegetables are soft, add soya sauce to taste and serve

Yauatcha

I love a bit of dim sum.

Dim Sum is a cantonese style of food typically eaten around lunch time and served in small portions.

I have tried a lot of Dim Sum restaurants in London and Yauatcha, Soho is definitely my favourite. With one Michelin star the £30/ head price (not including drinks) is very reasonable.

Today I even discovered the allergy menu which included a dairy free section - very impressed. Service was brilliant and they kept on refilling our glasses with water.

My recommendations: Prawn Cheung Fun, Char sui buns, Scallop shui mai, King crab Shanghai siew long bun, 

Dinner by Heston

Last month I had the pleasure of 'lunching' at Dinner by Heston. Somewhat easier to book a table than at The Fat Duck - I was surprised that Acey and I could book so easily online.

Acey is one of closest friends from primary school - our friendship is full of gossip, a good laugh, girly times and of course excellent food.

Dinner on Sunday was an excellent choice, service was impeccable and the food was divine.

Dairy Free Rhubarb dessert

Cafe Espana

Last night I met with a bunch of university mates at Cafe Espana, Old Compton Street. Really nice, delicious food - though their English wasn't the best. Luckily I had a Spanish speaking friend in the group.

Food I'd recommend: Spanish omelette, chorizo & seafood paella.

HayfeGUARD

I suffer from horrendous hay-fever in the summer. I use hayfe-GUARD that works an absolute treat to suppress my symptoms. It tastes great and really is effective.

 I buy it from the The Hive Honey Shop, SW11 - £14.95

Comments You'd Die For

Believe it or not, these are all real life encounters.

Q: I'm allergic to dairy products, are there any in the sago?

A:Don't know, why don't you try some?

Q: Are there any dairy products in the curry?

A: No

Q: How about yoghurt?

A: Yes

Q: Do you use any dairy products in the pasta?

A: No, we just use a knob of butter at the end.

Rice Milk

I am a big fan of the Rice Dream rice milk, it's a great substitute for cows milk and it tastes really good. If you like rice - it'll be your thing!


I purchase this from the chilled milk section, Waitrose. The long life ones are also good and can be found in most Supermarkets.

The Fat Duck

The infamous restaurant The Fat Duck run by Heston Blumenthal in Bray is known for it's menu of unusual dishes. Bookings are extremely hard to come by, but there is a brilliant review about how they cater for food in tolerances can be found here.

After 53 attempts to call The Fat Duck, I eventually managed to secure an online booking at 09:41 1st March - keep checking for updates on the food!

___________________________________________

I had an absolutely amazing time at The Fat Duck - photos to be published shortly!

Claridges Afternoon Tea

Who knew! I've managed to book a table for Afternoon Tea at Claridges and they assured me that they can cater for dairy free diets - I will report back in a few months once I've tried it!

________________

What a brilliant afternoon tea, we arrived at Claridges at 17:30 and didn't leave till gone 21:00!

Scones and chocolate mouse were to die for! - Note the closest plate is dairy and almond free, middle plates are the normal afternoon tea and the far left plate is dairy free.

We left Claridge's ridiculously full having gorged on plates of sandwiches and cakes accompanied by an array of tea.

What is Dairy?

Dairy products are generally defined as those that are a by-product of mammary glands of mammals i.e. sheep, goats and cows.

Eggs are not within the dairy product category and is often misconceived as it is an animal by-product. They are also not a derivative of any dairy products. However, many people who are allergic to dairy products are also allergic to eggs - I am allergic to dairy products (& almonds) and not eggs.

Pret A Manger

Lunch today was a welcome grab-and-go stop that can be found all around London. Pret A Manger conveniently list all their ingredients online.

I had a tasty Crayfish & Thai Noodle Salad and a slice of Apple Cake for dessert. Yum!

Why go Dairy Free?

For me it's a no brainer - I'd most likely flare up in an anaphylactic shock, require a dose of adrenaline and be rushed to hospital.


For others, there are great benefits to a dairy free diet too.


See this link for more information.

Konditor and Cook

I absolutely love this cake shop - the dairy free carrot and pineapple slab cake is to die for. It's so nice to be able to just buy a really good cake off the shelf.

http://www.konditorandcook.com

I've even made my own version and just as it says on the website, "everyone I've given it to says it's lovely." Try it yourself!
http://allrecipes.co.uk/recipe/8747/carrot-and-pineapple-cake.aspx

Creation of the Moo Juice Free Blog

This blog has been inspired by my beautiful cousin who has recently developed an allergy to dairy products.


As a person who suffers from a milk allergy, I'm starting a blog to help others in the same situation as me - I often find myself wasting hours in supermarkets scanning all the products looking for dairy free foods that I can eat!

It hasn't always been so easy to source dairy free alternatives. As a child my Mum used to mix powdered soya milk (for babies) for my breakfast! I used to detest the lumps mixed up in my cereal. I very rarely ate cake - unless it was cooked at home and we seldom ate out as people never seemed to understand the seriousness of my allergies. Holland and Barrett was always a welcome treat where I had could buy carob, a dairy free alternative to chocolate.


I now happily wine and dine in restaurants with careful discussion with the staff and I'd like to think I live a normal life!


Please follow my dairy free journey...