Supermarkets, UK

My last visit to the UK was in July, but I never got around to writing about a few of the cheeky little finds I found in the supermarkets. Last time I did product reviews from the UK I focused solely on one shop, but this time I visited a few just to check out what small bits they offered. I will of course do more of an in-depth review on each of them in the future, but here are some little treats I found. First up is Sainsbury's...

Sainsbury's

The Sainsbury's I visited actually had a terrible GF section (and I'm not sure they're ever much better in different locations). The area was very small and didn't really have anything I hadn't seen before (e.g bread, rolls, wraps). It pretty much offered very little for the GF life, other than the usuals...until I spotted something very special indeed - Free From Sticky Toffee Pudding!

I had recently been looking up recipes to make my own Sticky Toffee Pudding for the autumn but as it was here (what a coincidence), I thought it would be rude not to buy it, and eat the whole thing! It was delicious. It tasted exactly like my memories of a steamed pudding, and there was plenty of toffee sauce pouring over it, it was exactly the type of Sticky Pudding, I had memories of. I (of course) added some cream (because I'm terrible), and the combination was an absolute winner. I would definitely recommend this - I honestly couldn't even tell it was GF, which to me, makes it a success. I now (kind of) forgive Sainsbury's for having that laughable selection for coeliac sufferers!

Oahu, HI

Last week I got back from 9 days in Hawaii. Caleb was playing a show on the Oahu island and was going to stay afterwards before flying off to Japan, so I told him if he got to stay in Hawaii, I definitely was allowed to join in on the fun too. A few years ago me & Caleb actually got married on Shipwreck's Beach on the Kauai island, and it was magical. It was my first ever visit to Hawaii and it was just as I imagined it would be - volcanic, tropical, indescribable. This time, as I said, we were on Oahu and it had a very different feel to it when we first got there. The first couple of days we stayed in Waikiki as his show was in the area and there were tons of tourists. This Hawaii didn't feel as secluded, but the volcanoes were still everywhere, as were the beaches and it was still just as beautiful. After the show was done we left Waikiki and all stayed at an Air BnB in the Hawaii Kai area. This area was a lot quieter and felt more like the Hawaii I remembered. It was perfect.

Now, down to the food. For the most part we cooked at our Air BnB, grilling, light meals, breakfast etc. but there were a couple of times that we tasted a few local places and so, although this won't give fellow celiac sufferers a lot of ideas for Oahu, there's a great place for cake and one restaurant that you should definitely visit...

Columbus, OH

Ever since I was little, my favourite food has been pasta. I wanted it for every meal, I lived off of it my first year of Uni (as well as chip butty's. Whoops.) and my cupboard/fridge was always full of fresh & dry versions. When I learned I had coeliacs, I was livid. I mean, it made perfect sense as to why my body hadn't been functioning since I was tiny (seriously ask my parents about the amount of prune juice & orange with sugar they had to give me), but I was so angry that I'd no longer be able to enjoy such a great love of mine.

Well, times they have a changed. Not too much - it's still impossible to find GF Tortellini anywhere (let me know if you have a hook up that isn't ravioli), but these days leaps and bounds have been made in the Italian way of life for us sufferers and this post is about some places I just had to try in our hometown...