The Allergy & Free-From Show, Experience & Haul.
- Nov 11, 2017
- 7 min read
On Saturday 4th November, I spent my day slightly different to how I usually would. Liverpool bound, my mum and I took a trip to The Allergy & Free-From Show North, to grab some goodies, taste some freebies and overall have a really fun day out! I was diagnosed with having a gluten and wheat intolerance a couple of months ago, along with other slight intolerance's, but gluten being the main one. Since, I have had to adjust to living on an overall cleaner, gluten free diet. This has definitely been a challenge, and at points I have struggled, but I have come to terms with it and know how to still have fun and eat what I want, whilst still being on this diet.
So with this in mind, when friends of the family told us about this event, we knew we had to go. It was such a fun day and it felt great to be back in Liverpool again, after being there for The Curve Fashion Festival. I managed to pick up so many things, I thought it might be helpful for some of you for me to do a haul! Here commences this food filled, gluten free galore haul.
Upon arrival, mum and I got there a bit later than the opening time of 10am, so we had skipped the queues and got in there relatively quickly. The event was mainly showcased by the brand Schar, a German company who are the leading brand in Gluten Free food products. When walking into the venue, we got given a free gluten and lactose free baguette pack. You get two in the pack, and when I was given this, I was absolutely buzzin'. With me being a student, I often find these products too expensive to buy, and that's the biggest problem I have found with a lot of gluten free products. So as you can probably imagine, being given this for free was one of the best things I could have been gifted.
This will be perfect for me as well, as I have found that too much dairy can upset my stomach quite badly. So with it being lactose free - what is found in dairy - it shouldn't upset my stomach too much. In fact, I had some toasted with tomato soup the other day and it was great!
This definitely set the tone for the rest of the day, and made me super excited to see what else was going to be on offer! Walking into the venue, it was a maze of stalls and demonstrations, ranging from food brands to support and health promoters. After getting our bearings and grabbing a drink after the long journey to get there, we decided to queue up for what seemed to be a bag of goodies from Schar. We had seen everyone walking around with these bright yellow bags, so we thought we would get in on the action.
In the bag, there was a whole selection of things, not just from Schar but from other brands as well. Some I couldn't have, like a mini Lucozade, because I have cut out caffeine from my diet, but here are a couple of the things that I am the most excited to try. Beginning with these, gluten free cream crackers from Schar. Crackers for me are a great substitute to bread when it comes to lunch time or just to have as a snack, and from the looks of it these are going to be perfect and will hopefully last me a while with the pack being bloody huge!
Out of everything in the bag however, this is what probably got me the most excited. It was this chocolate spread from the company Sweet Freedom. This company pride themselves on making sweet treats, but using completely natural ingredients. This means that there is no wheat or dairy present in this product, which almost brought me to tears. I haven't tried it yet, but I am super excited to provide my sweet cravings with this!
After this, mum and I decided to have a proper look at all of the different stalls taking place, and lets just say we weren't stuck for choice! There were so many companies there, some I had heard of before and some which were new to me. But when I came across the stall which the food company Nakd were at, I had to have a little look. A lot of the companies were doing deals on their products, which were special to that event only, and with Nakd, they were doing a deal where you could get 21 of their bars/nibbles for £10. When I heard this, I was in absolute disbelief, considering a pack of 4 for their bars is at least £3 in supermarkets. Considering this, lets just say mum and I took advantage of this opportunity.
All in all, I would estimate I actually ended up getting about 26 products, as when we went to pay, the woman asked me which flavour was my favourite, to which I replied with Bakewell Tart, and she just threw a few more in there for me! So now, as you can tell by the picture, I have Nakd bars and nibbles to last me the next few months. I absolutely adore Nakd products because of how delicious they taste, but they predominantly use fruit and nuts as their ingredients, nothing else. Some even count as one of your 5 a day! What more could you ask for?!
Next up, we came across another one of my favourite brands: BFree. This company is my go to for anything carb related. I mainly tend to buy their multi-grain wraps, as I find them to be the tastiest. I have also had their pitta breads as well, which again are really nice and great replacements for when I have a chicken kebab from the takeaway lol. Again, the only problem I find is that they are quite expensive, making it difficult for a student like myself to afford them. However, seeing them at the event, I knew I had to get my hands on some goodies whilst they were discounted.
The offer they had on their products was 2 for £5, which is amazing considering that a packet of the wraps in supermarkets is around £3.50 each. So I decided to stock up on my usual bits rather than risking going for something different, which is something I have found myself being an absolute fiend for since going on this diet. I like to stick to what I know and that I know for definite I like. Is anyone else like this?! Hopefully it's not just me.
The final company we came across which I am quite a big fan of was EatReal, who specialize in healthy snacks; something I am always on the look out for. I can personally admit that I am a massive snacker. I have to keep myself occupied throughout the day with food, because if I get too hungry, I can't concentrate. True story. So when I went on this diet, my snacks were the things that had to change the most, as I was eating too many unnatural sugars. It was difficult at first, but like I said, as time has gone on I have figured out what I can and can't have, with these crisps being some of my go to ones.
I can't remember exactly how much these crisps retail for in supermarkets, however at the event they had an offer on where you could get two bag for £2. I took this opportunity and bought two bags for myself, the flavours being Kale Tomato Spinach Veggie Straws, and Sundried Tomato and Roasted Garlic Quinoa Chips. These two flavours are my absolute favourites, and as you can probably tell by the names, the ingredients are super healthy.
They had a few bowls with the different flavours in, so mum tried some while we there, and she was completely shocked at how "normal" they taste. I think the perception with these kinds of healthier foods is that they won't taste as nice, or people are intimidated by the ingredients, but these are a perfect example of good, moreish food that you can chow down on in front of the tele on a Saturday night.
Lastly, with this new diet I have been able to completely cut out caffeine, when I can anyway. On a daily basis, all I ever drink is water or herbal/green tea, which means I am constantly on the hunt for new tea flavours from different brands. So when we came across a tea stand, I new I had to have a look.
This brand called MyTea specialize in herbal tea, but that aren't in strainers or bags. Instead you simply brew the herbs or fruit by using boiling water, and once you have drank the tea, you can actually eat the fruit afterwards. This, I thought was genius. It's a really simple idea, yet one which I am going to be really thankful for having in my life. So I got a passion mix of fruit, which when brewed makes a really sweet tea. For this it was one jar for £6 or two for £10. I decided to pick up just one jar, because one can apparently last you up to two years. I'm not complaining.
That is everything I picked up from the event! My overall experience at the show was so inspiring and heart warming. When I first got diagnosed with my intolerance's, I was so scared to think I was never going to be able to eat a nice meal again. But in fact, by seeing posts online and going to events such as this, it shows that I am not the only one having to go through this. I can have meals that are nutritious, yet still filling and yummy.
If you want to know a bit more about my diet, and how I make healthy, vegetarian meals for myself, then let me know and I would be more than happy to do that! I really hope you enjoyed this post, and it has enlightened all of you who didn't know this event existed. I myself will definitely be a regular there from now on.
Lot's of love,
Amy xoxo
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