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Eating Out In Cardiff – Grey’s At The Hilton

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*AD. This meal was gifted for the purpose of a review*

You’ll have probably noticed that I don’t write many restaurant reviews. I often find that the amount of work that becomes tied up with what is considered a free meal out doesn’t always feel like a valuable use of my time and also sometimes I just want to sit down and enjoy a meal without taking any photos. This isn’t meant to sound ungrateful, I massively appreciate the perks that blogging offers but it’s just how it is at times. Sometimes however things come about at the right time and when we were invited to visit both Grey’s at Hilton and an exciting Dinosaur day out in Cardiff for the girls, I immediately said yes.

My mother and I took both girls up for a day out in the Capital, travelling up on the train and making the day a bit of an adventure, they had a ball. I haven’t really done much in terms of blog related stuff with the girls for a while and Izzy especially found it pretty exciting that we were so well looked after and even more so that we got to see the dinosaurs before the general public.

greys cardiff

I have visited Grey’s previously with some blogger friends and enjoyed but that was just for a quick glass of prosecco. This time we were invited to try their midweek lunch deal and I was keen to see what they had to offer. Grey’s is a small but perfectly formed modern restaurant based on the ground floor of The Hilton hotel. We visited last summer ( 2018 ) – due to the fact that I have taken some time off from blogging the review is more than a little delayed but if you follow me on social media you will have seen my many stories and images at the time we visited.

Some of the dishes we enjoyed are no longer on offer but I am seeing lots of good things on social media so I would encourage you to go see what they currently have on the menu. Based on our experience and the 4.5 stars they have on trip advisor I can’t imagine you will be disappointed. I especially like that the current menu has a whole section just for eggs – eggs are underrated.

Dining out with a child with allergies is always tricky and often you are made to feel a little awkward, I’m pleased to say this wasn’t the case at Grey’s. They dealt with Chloe’s allergies with ease and made sure she had options. Whenever I review I like to watch how the staff treat other diners, because after all when they know you are reviewing I am sure most sensible establishments make sure you have very little to complain over. The restaurant wasn’t overly busy on our midweek lunch visit but there was one other large party and a few smaller tables dining at the same time and I was happy to note that everyone was treated well – promptly and politely. The restaurant has a cool, relaxed vibe and was clean and a pleasure to dine in. But onto the food…

greys cardiff

My mother and I started off with light salads, my mother really enjoyed the mackerel and mine was delicious too. Fresh, crispy salad is always what I want come the summer months and the creamy mozzarella was a treat. The girls had crudités and houmous which they both loved.

greys cardiff food

Onto the mains, both girls really liked their dishes. Izzy had fish and chips and Chloe had a roasted chicken bun with chips – adapted for her due to her gluten allergy. Chloe was incredibly happy that she could have chips – this may seem minor to some but for a 5 year old girl who is told on most occasions that a jacket potato or boiled potato is the only menu option she was thrilled. As you can see!

The meals were plentiful and Chloe’s chicken was delicious, there was so much in the bun that we all had a little try!

greys cardiff

My mother and I opted for a roast chicken dish ( my mum) and chorizo and pea risotto ( me). We were both impressed with the flavour, quantity and aesthetic appeal of our dishes and both plates were empty pretty quickly!

For dessert the girls had an ice cream while we enjoyed a coffee. The coffee was excellent and I am a little fussy with coffee so a big thumbs up there.

greys cardiff

Overall we were all more than happy with our lunch, from the food to the service and atmosphere. Next up I’d love to try their bottomless brunch which at £27 for two courses and free flowing prosecco for 90 minutes sounds a bit special, anyone tried it?

And in case you were wondering the Dinosaur day out was pretty cool too!

cardiff castle kids

Thanks to Grey’s for inviting us and looking after us. As stated above our meals were complimentary for the purpose of this review.

Camp Bestival…Food Festival? The Feast Collective 2016

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I am very pleased to be able to tell you that I ( along with Andrew and the girls ) have been invited to be Official Bloggers for Camp Bestival again this year. This will be our fifth year as blog ambassadors for this special festival and I am not sure who is more excited! I will be telling you lots about what to expect from the musical line up this year as well as the best shows and adventures for you and your little ones over the coming months. Firstly and in my eyes possibly most importantly lets talk about FOOD. Feast your eyes on this line up:

camp festival feast collective food traders

This is what Feast Collective Producer Gemma Thorogood says: “This year we’ve trawled the country for the cream of the crop with British Street Food celebs Seadog bringing their seaside popcorn to the fields, plus Bánh Mì from Pho Sho, buttermilk chicken from Butchies, and sweet potato pancakes from the Chocolate Bear Kitchen. Not to mention the extraordinary Eritrean tacos carefully crafted by Lemlem Kitchen, oh and Polar Pops ice lollies made only from real fruit and vegetables (with NO added sugar)! I just hope I can get around it all in one weekend!”

The Feast Collective has the perfect vibe, a blend of music and hints of spice and smoke as well as a bustle of fellow foodies. I loved spending time there last year and with the addition of Polar Pops and The Chocolate Bear Kitchen I am sure I can entice the kids to linger there a little longer too!! Offerings for everyone this year as always with plenty of vegan and gluten free options.

I can’t wait to try Zoe’s Ghana Kitchen again and try out whatever awesome hunks of meat DJ BBQ has to offer as well as sample ALL of the new traders..for research of course. I’ll be telling you more about the traders and what to expect next month so you can get your meal planning heads ready to make the most out of the Feast Collective this year.

Zoe's Ghana kitchen at camp Bestival

Camp Bestival feast collective

Life Must Be Easy For A Coeliac

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It’s not often that I will comment on an article from the Daily Mail Fail but today’s headlines angered me.

If you didn’t see it here is a quick screengrab:

Daily mail coeliac

It’s the type of article which really doesn’t help raise awareness of how serious an issue Coeliac Disease is. Because it’s not a fad or someone trying to lose a little weight by cutting out bread. It’s not a choice. People with coeliacs disease cannot eat any gluten. Ever.

Our local GP along with pretty much every GP discussed in a Coeliac forum ( of thousands of coeliac sufferers ) does not prescribe anything which can be classed as junk food. Which can only make you question where on earth this headline has come from. Yes some surgeries offer a flour mix with which you can make bread – this mix can also be used to make cakes, doughnuts and the like. Yet the surgery offers it to make bread. They cannot control what people make from it. Nor should they. This mix is typically offered in cases such as Chloe’s ( prior to the successful reintroduction of egg ) where a suitable loaf can’t be offered due to multiple allergies.

For those who like to know..Chloe receives a loaf of bread ( previously it was a mix which I then made up and baked ), a bag of pasta and some plain rice puffed cereal. This is to help us as a family manage some of the absolutely exorbitant prices that come along with eating gluten free. It barely scratches the surface but we are grateful that our wonderful NHS can offer this to us.

We are additionally unlucky in the sense that Chloe also can’t tolerate dairy or soya (we had tried a soya reintroduction which didn’t work). This is common of a lot of coeliacs – extra intolerances or allergies. It’s almost impossible ( or so it seems ) to find supermarket products that are free of gluten, dairy and soya. It means that I can’t just grab a packet of biscuits from the supermarket. I can however buy her a single (plain) gingerbread man for £2.00 – that’s right, if we want to treat our daughter to a simple biscuit we are paying about 4 times the price of an entire pack of standard biscuits ( based on packets of Oreos at Asda today – 50p a pack ). If I wish to buy her chocolate at Christmas or Easter it’s roughly £2 – £2.50 for a bag of buttons ( same size as a small bag of the cadburys ones – 3-4 times more expensive ). I also have to order these online as they are not stocked locally.

On the whole we prefer both of our children to eat healthily, fruit, veggies, meat and potatoes/pasta etc. But we are far from perfect. We believe children should have treats. Our monthly grocery shop has tripled since Chloe’s diagnosis. Tripled. Our wages have stayed the same. Try to imagine how you would absorb that cost. It’s hard. Really hard. And have I mentioned how much longer shopping takes? We read the labels on everything. Even products we have bought before because ingredients change, factory processes change. It’s exhausting.

Definitely worth it to see this look of glee after a simple slice of cake:

Coeliac toddler

Normally I would just ignore this type of news story. Let myself take the higher ground with the knowledge that it’s not correct but after so much discussion on the matter today – including well known TV presenters ( shame on you ) I just felt so annoyed. I did a supermarket shop this afternoon whilst angered and almost cried whilst reading tiny ingredient lists over and over again.

If you don’t know much about Coeliac Disease then take the time to find out. Don’t let these headlines cloud your judgement or make you feel frustrated at how your taxes are spent.

Think of how you would feel if it was your child or you. For most people with this lifelong auto immune disease these prescriptions are like medicine. A necessary part of their day to day lives and who knows how many would be in real financial difficulty without this support.

Life is far from easy for a Coeliac.

Chickpea Flatbreads

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Over the last few months I’ve been trying to cook with different flours as Chloe had to change to a gluten free diet. At the time of making this she was dairy, egg, soya and gluten free which was really difficult. We have since managed to reintroduce egg which has made our life a little easier and we are hoping to start trying soya next week.

I bought a big batch of chickpea flour and as we love flatbreads decided to try making these, I didn’t create the original recipe for chickpea flatbreads or socca as some people call them – all recipes I’ve found use equal amounts of water and flour but I added some herbs and this is way we cook ours:

You will need:

250g of chickpea flour
250 ml of water
3 tablespoons of Olive Oil
1 tbsp of diced fresh herbs ( I used oregano )
Additional oil for frying

This should make about 3 thickish flatbreads/pancakes.

Mix together your flour, water, herbs and oil and rest for a few hours. I like to leave mine overnight as I think it’s a better batter after a good, long rest. Now oil a frying pan and heat over a moderate to high heat and pour in your batter ( I tend to use a ladle ) cook until it’s firming up around the edges (about 4 minutes) before flipping it like a pancake and cook for a further 3 minutes until brown on both sides. If you want more of a charred top you could now pop it under a grill for a minute or two. These are also pretty awesome in a pizza oven.

Chickpea flatbread, socca

Great to eat immediately, drizzled with a good oil and a sprinkling of sea salt but they are also just fine the next day eaten sliced and cold. I give these to Chloe ( minus the salt) and she loves them.

Serving ideas – ideal for topping like pizza but perhaps try some pesto and rocket on top or hummus and roasted peppers. Delicious.

Gluten free, dairy free, soya and egg free. Perfect if you are serving food to people with various allergies.

Some recipes from fellow food bloggers using Chickpea Flour.

Dark Chocolate Dipped Ginger Biscuits
Coconut Chickpea Chocolate Cake
Chickpea & Almond Biscuits
Mexican Vegan Crustless Quiche
Quick Indian Pancakes With Spiced Potato Filling
Bacon, Mushroom & Basil Savoury Muffins
Banana Bread Chickpea Flour Muffins

Chocolate Topped Coconut Biscuits – Dairy & Gluten Free

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Since we have discovered that Chloe can no longer have gluten ( along with dairy and soya ) we have had to radically rethink the way we cook and buy her food, I’ve been experimenting and creating recipes which will make her meals and snacks more enjoyable. I’ve recently made these coconut biscuits topped with chocolate which are deliciously moreish, completely dairy and gluten free and so easy to make.

These are delicious with a cup of tea (for me of course, not the kids ) and stay fresh for at least 5 days in an airtight container – they were all gone after that. They also freeze well, I popped a few in to test it and when pulled out a few hours before or even popped into an over to lightly heat and crisp up again they are delicious. If freezing, do not add the chocolate until defrosted.

You will need:

175g Caster Sugar
150g Gluten Free Self Raising Flour
100g Shredded/Dessicated coconut
100g Coconut Oil ( I used Vita Coco )
100g of dairy/soya free chocoate
1 Beaten Egg

Preheat oven to gas mark 4/180.

Melt your coconut oil and add it to your other ingredients apart from the chocolate. Mix well then place in small spoonfuls on a lined baking sheet. Bake for about 10-12 minutes. Be aware these go from undercooked to overlooked very quickly so keep a close eye. These do spread a little so space out well. They are done when the edges are golden but the middle still looks pale, remove from oven and leave for a few minutes before carefully transferring to a wire rack.

Dairy and gluten free coconut biscuits

When just slightly warm, drizzle melted chocolate over half of the biscuits and leave half plain for when you are out and about and don’t want chocolate all over your child.

This makes between 20-30 biscuits depending on your size preference.

Coeliac toddler snack ideas

Chocolate cookies gluten and dairy free

It’s not easy having a toddler who is gluten free and even harder to explain to her slightly bigger sister why she can’t share her treats with her so these are perfect as they are tasty enough for them both to enjoy and share.

Peanut Butter & Banana Bread – Free From Dairy, Eggs & Gluten

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As we get further into our journey of living with allergies I’m trying harder to make food that tastes good. Cake that tastes like cake for a start. Chloe has enough to go through without having to eat food that tastes like cardboard.

Today I baked with my girls because I was feeling especially grumpy and they were both a little fed up after having a chesty cold over the weekend. Baking makes us all a little happier so baking it was.

We made two batches of these muffins as I know that both girls like them and they freeze really well so I can pop them in bags of two and just pull them out each day. I made some adaptations to the original recipe which worked really well so I’m sure I’ll be posting that soon.

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We then tried making a Peanut Butter and Banana loaf which was just a bit of an experiment as I had made a batch of homemade Peanut Butter and I wanted to bake with it. This loaf is delicious, moist and actually on a par with my normal banana loaf recipe. I am yet to try any after freezing it so I will keep you posted on that.

Peanut Butter & Banana Loaf

You will need:

150g Gluten free Self Raising flour
100g dark soft brown sugar
7 tbsp of melted coconut oil
2 tbsp of peanut butter
1 medium mashed banana ( over ripe is always best )
1 tsp of vanilla paste/extract
75ml warm water

Preheat your oven to gas mark 4/180, grease and line a 1lb loaf tin.

Measure your flour and brown sugar into a large bowl and mix together. In a separate bowl mash your banana, then add your peanut butter, vanilla paste, coconut oil and warm water and combine thoroughly. Mix your wet ingredients into your dry ingredients until combined. Pour your mixture into a loaf tin and bake for 35 – 40 minutes or until a knife/skewer comes out cleanly. Leave to cool slightly before slicing..although it is delicious when warm spread with a dairy/soya free margarine or even a little more peanut butter.

image

This loaf cake is dairy free, egg free, soya free and gluten free. It’s also vegan…and tasty.

Both my girls enjoyed this and so did I. I hope you do too!

Allergy Friendly Truffle Style Sweets

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I made a batch of these rather tasty muffins for Chloe a few days ago and after filling 6 muffin cases there was about a tablespoon of mixture leftover. I could have just eaten it as raw mixture but I thought I would make some experimental truffle type sweets for her to eat as a calorie laden snack ( she needs to gain some weight) or occasional treat. I simple rolled the mixture into four small balls and rolled onto a plate which had a mixture of raw cacao powder and icing sugar on it to coat. AND they tasted so good. Well you know maybe not like a proper truffle but for multiple allergy type food..it was good. I’ve since made a second batch of the mixture just to make these sweets. It makes around 30.

150g Dove Gluten free SR flour
100g caster sugar
1 small mashed banana
1.5 tsp of vanilla paste or extract
75ml water
15 ml of coconut milk
6 tbsp of melted coconut oil

Mix together the sugar, oil and vanilla in a high speed stand mixer – I advise this because coconut oil solidifies quickly so you need to move fairly fast. Add your mashed banana, flour, water and coconut milk. Blend until smooth but still slightly firm.

To coat:

4 tbsp of icing sugar
3 tbsp of cacao powder

Or

6 tbsp of Shredded coconut

Roll into balls then roll in the coating of choice and onto greaseproof paper then chill until firm. Enjoy.

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I prefer them rolled in coconut but Chloe prefers the texture of the cacao/icing sugar. If you have a suitable dark chocolate you could try melting it and dipping the balls into it. I imagine this would taste pretty good!

These are dairy free, gluten free, soya free, egg free and vegan.

Allergy Friendly Muffins

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I’m just starting to get to grips with this new style of baking.. I miss my normal flours which work in the way I’m used to. The rich butters which give so much flavour and being able to just toss in ingredients whenever I fancy but I have to try and make food and especially snacks more appealing for Chloe. Yesterday we had a bad day with her health wise and a massive lack of sleep and I was grouchy and frustrated so I used that negative energy to create this delicious cakes for her.

Chloe Coconutty Cakes

150g Dove Gluten free SR flour
100g caster sugar
1 small mashed banana
1.5 tsp of vanilla paste or extract
75ml water
15 ml of coconut milk
6 tbsp of melted coconut oil

Mix together the sugar, oil and vanilla in a high speed stand mixer – I advise this because coconut oil solidifies quickly so you need to move fairly fast. Add your mashed banana, flour, water and coconut milk. Blend until smooth.

Place into muffin cases and bake for approximately 15 mins or until golden and spring back when pressed lightly on top.

When slightly cooler, dust lightly with icing sugar or Cocoa powder mix of both.

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This made 6 decent size muffins with a large spoonful or so leftover. Its quite a firm mixture so I used it to make cocoa dusted truffles..more on that to come.

This recipe is Dairy Free, Egg Free, Gluten Free and Soy Free. It’s also actually pretty tasty too! Chloe demolished hers in record time and considering her appetite is pretty shocking right now that’s brilliant.

I’ve popped one in the freezer just to see if it freezes well and I’ll keep you posted on that.