England, UK

First, I've got to apologise for the lack of a posts. Lots of traveling, seeing family, cancelled weddings (due to appendicitis!) and getting back into work hasn't left a lot of time to write up my recent trip to the sacred (currently falling apart) homeland.

So now that's out the way, I'll let you know that the majority of this post is going to be focused on one giant supermarket's GF selection. Every time I go back to the UK I'll review a different chain, but for this trip, it's Tesco. Before I rate their items though, I have to give a special mention to one of the loves of my life, Pizza Express.

Pizza Express

No-one will ever understand my love for The Express. I grew up obsessed with it, always wanting my mum to take me there and forever getting confused between Pizza Hut and Express and always being sad when I went to the Hut and realised I'd made a mistake. The Hut is so, so terrible and I'm happy I haven't eaten it in years and years, but I will forever crave Pizza Express.

I mourned the loss of it when I could no longer eat it, but luckily they were one of the first pizza restaurants to provide a GF option! Now every time I go to the UK, I have to eat it, it's a must. No-one I know who lives in the UK ever realizes the luxury they have or understand's why I want to go there so much, but to me, it's glorious. ( I promise I don't just spend my whole life eating pizza, even if it does look that way and does sound like perfection.)

When eating there, I always get a Pollo Ad Astra (chicken, sweet peppers and red onions) and this time I added pepperoni. As I'm unable to eat the dough balls, I also always ask for a side of their garlic butter (best I've ever tasted), to dip my crusts in and it never fails (you are welcome to steal that idea btw). It was just as good as ever, their base is truly one of the best I've had, crisp, soft and not chewy in the slightest. I wish I could have eaten two, but my stomach would have exploded. If you're not from the UK and you ever make it over to England you must pay them a visit and if you live in the UK, rekindle/remember the love for The Express and pay them a visit soon!

[Sidetone: I also went to Prezzo during my trip and their GF was terrible. I wonder if it's cause the chef's didn't cook it long enough but it was chewy and gummy and tasted terrible. It wasn't worth the calories so I left half of my pizza (something which is a usually a no no from me). So, don't go to Prezzo!]

Tesco

So, back to Tesco. I've bought a few of their items before, so on this trip I took the chance to buy my favourites and also try a few new pieces of their selection. Firstly, my mum's lasagne is truly remarkable and always has been; I have no idea what her recipe is, otherwise I"d be sharing it with you all, but this time she had bought GF lasagne sheets from M&S. I know, this isn't Tesco, but the item I found in Tesco was made for having with Lasagne, so I had to quickly mention it. The M&S sheets themselves were a bit sticky and not as soft as usual pasta, but that is expected sometimes with GF. It was a damn good imitation and I would definitely recommend as a replacement. I can't find GF lasagne sheets over here, so it was a nice to have something I don't get to eat often - especially my mum's version! Anyway, so the item I found was a heaven send in my eyes...Garlic Bread! I have always been obsessed with garlic bread and to find a frozen baguette was truly remarkable to me (can you tell I'm easily impressed with simple things?). It wasn't 100%, but if you enjoyed the normal frozen garlic baguettes of the good old days from any supermarket then this is as close as you're gonna get for now. And it went perfectly with my pasta!

Other items I bought were:

• GF Digestives (Not so great, they lack the saltiness that a McVities Digestive pairs so well with the sweet chocolate. I bought two packs and I wish I had only bought one.) 
• Hot Cross Buns (If you love a fruity bun with salty butter and don't mind the texture not being as soft, buy these and toast them). 
• Tesco Finest Free From Chocolate Cake (which was quite dry, but the frosting was yummy) and... 
• apple pies! These Apple Pies are my saviour! Who else misses Mr Kipling? I love everything he does (except for stuff with marzipan - gross), but Mr Kipling's pies are the one. And these, although not as crumbly, are so good I can't express how much I love them. The filling is exactly the same as Mr Kipling and I bought two packs for my freezer. I will cherish them until my next visit, when I'll buy more. Honestly, buy, buy, buy these - but please leave some for me on my return in a month!

I also have to give a special mention to Tesco GF Brown Sauce. As a ketchup lover, who puts it on everything, there's only one time to use brown sauce for me - on eggs. There's nothing better on them and although I'm not sure how much HP sauce affects me allergy wise, it did use to give me stomach issues, so switching to this option was a good idea. Although not as sharp as the regular, it's a close second and I'll take it every time.

The last item I bought was Kelkin Free From Jaffa Cakes. Another classic that I throughly miss (and that no-one in America understands the concept of when I try and explain), and although they aren't Tesco brand, I was delighted to find them in there. I bought two packets and tried them for the first time yesterday. Obviously not as soft as the original, they tasted pretty darn close and I'm super excited to eat the rest. I'd definitely recommend them, they were bloody brilliant.

So, are there are any items from Tesco that you love to use? They have so many items it'll take me a while to get through their selection, but if you have any particular shoutouts I'll keep them in mind for my visit to the UK next month. Also, if you have any favourites for other supermarket's let me know in preparation for another blog post!

'Til next time!

Ps. Go eat at Pizza Express. Was that clear?

PPs. A recipe will be coming up soon - it's hard when you've begun a diet to make dangerously tasty things, but I'll do it for the greater good.