Hello everyone,
Caroline Oldham
We are halfway through April and I am pleased to let you know that we have managed to rebook our holiday to Thailand for mid-May, which we are really excited about, a month overdue but better late than never so I will be able to share all my finds when I am out there. I used to live in Dubai for 5 years and we have decided to do a stopover on the way back so I can catch up with a few friends so I will have a lot to share with you in May. Firstly, we head to Lake Garda in Italy, the Italians are fantastic for gluten free food so I thoroughly enjoy visiting this country, it is also just a beautiful country with wonderful landscapes, it is the place where myself and my boyfriend can really switch off and have some rest and recovery.
With Spring here and the weather hotting up I am always looking for ways to satisfy my sweet tooth and I tend to go towards the cold desserts like this vegan chocolate mousse, it is really delicious and is healthier than normal mousses, it has avocado in it, maple syrup instead of sugar and the thickness is from coconut cream rather than milk. It is lovely with some dried raspberries on top. This recipe is gluten free, dairy free, paleo and suitable for vegans too. http://blog.biteappy.com/blog/vegan-chocolate-mousse/
Restaurant Hangout of the Week
Dynasty is a Chinese restaurant and takeaway located on Claremont Road in the small town of Seaford. Most Chinese restaurants are not clued up on the allergy world, however, this one is. It was a very pleasant surprise when I called on the off chance that they may have some gluten free options. My boyfriend loves Chinese food and I feel terrible that I usually have to avoid it due to cross-contamination and the heavy use of soy sauce and batter. When I rang, the manager was so helpful he told me that 95% of the items on the menu were gluten free as they used potato and corn flour and I could remove soy sauce from any of the dishes.
They also had rice noodles as an alternative if I wanted to have them. So very excited to order, not only because I was having Chinese food but also that he had made me feel so confident in eating the food he was serving. I started with the chicken and sweetcorn soup which was absolutely delicious, I have always loved this soup as I love sweetcorn. We then had the Hong Kong style sweet and sour chicken and the crispy fried beef which were both so yummy, accompanied with a spoonful of rice I was in heaven. I would highly recommend this restaurant if you find yourself in Seaford.
Top tip of the Week
Never be afraid to experiment, with Spring in full swing and Summer fast approaching, I love to experiment with salads as you can probably tell from some of my previous columns, don't be afraid to add in some summer fruits to give your salad an added freshness and boost, I tend to favour apples, strawberries and grapes, head over to the blog for some ideas.
Tagged in Caroline Oldham