Surprisingly Suitable – 21st Sept 2018

I thought I’d pull together a list of things that we can eat (i.e. dairy and soya free) that you might not have known were suitable. Effectively edible food hiding in plain sight!

(I should point out that such is the nature of mine and Piglet’s allergies, we don’t usually have to avoid food that may have traces/contamination – we just make sure it isn’t a listed ingredient. Please always check the packaging yourself to make sure the ingredients are suitable for your specific needs)

Green and Black’s Velvet Edition Orange & Almond Dark Chocolate

Chocolate is one of the first things to fall off the shopping list once you remove dairy and soya from your diet. Obviously milk chocolate isn’t suitable but even a lot of dark chocolates that don’t have milk in use soya lecithin as the emulsifier. Finding ones that don’t have either is difficult and finding ones that also taste great are even rarer! So I was delighted when I found this new range from Green and Black and even more surprised that they weren’t doing it as an obvious ‘free from’ marketing campaign. A few of the flavours in this range are also suitable but not all. This is definitely my favourite of the ones I’ve tried.
Link here

 

Nature’s Store Hazelnut and Cocoa Spread

I’ve mentioned this before in the sausage roll post (don’t worry, I don’t use it in the sausage rolls… it’s in what I made with the left over pastry). Nutella was one of my guilty pleasures in my pre-allergy days and I would crave it for ages until I found this. There are several other dairy-free chocolate spreads but this is head and shoulders above the rest for me. Great on toast, great on porridge, great in smoothies and (let’s face it) great eaten directly from a spoon. My only complaint is that my local supermarket doesn’t sell it but that does help justify buying multiple jars of the stuff when I do find myself in one that does!
Link here

McVitie’s Fig Rolls

A lot of biscuits contain whey powder or milk itself. In an entire aisle of biscuits in the supermarket its pot-luck whether you’ll be able to pick out one that’s suitable. I’ve always liked fig rolls and was disappointed when I realised that the own-brand ones I’ve previously bought contained milk. So I was delighted when I checked the ingredients of these and found they were milk-free. The only problem is displaying the self-discipline to not eat the whole pack in one go. (Not that I’ve ever done that… obviously…)
Link here

Kallo Dark Chocolate Rice Cakes

A personal favourite of my wife’s, these. Sweet enough to give you that chocolate ‘hit’; light enough to snack on throughout the day without regretting it by 3pm. These were a go-to in the early days when Piglet was going through his long feeding stints. Beware though: bizarrely, these are suitable but the mini-ones contain soya. Explain that?!
Link here

JusRol Puff Pastry

These were also included in the sausage roll post (and were used in the sausage rolls, unlike the chocolate spread). Perhaps not deserving of being on the list if you’re familiar with the ingredients but I had always associated light, fluffy pastry with butter; so I was amazed when I found out that none of the standard pastry blocks or pre-rolled packs used anything other than margarine. Great for sausage rolls, tomato and mustard tarts, cheese-free quiches or even just eating off a spoon. (No, wait, scrap that last point… that’s just chocolate spread).
Link here

Let me know of any other suggestions for future editions! Always happy to learn about new things I can eat!