HO HO HO Merry Christmas!

And what rhymes with Christmas….food. Yep food defiantly rhymes with Christmas.

Now the holidays can be beautiful and fun, full of parties, family meals and lounging around in your pj’s eating snacks and watching TV but for those of us who cant always join in the same foodie fun as everyone else it can be a little lonely and annoying at times.

I have many a year under my belt as a lactose intolerant vegetarian but this will be my 2nd years as a gluten free lactose intolerant vegetarian, and its not started to well as I’m currently mid way through a bout of unease after managing to eat something my body does not like and wouldn’t you know it I’m also on nights, winner.  But the flame of festivities has not gone out in this girlie, oh no I am ready to feast!

The Parties….

Now I don’t know about you guys but when it comes to parties and party food unless I am throwing the party the food at them is normally a no go. However, this year for the first time I attended a big party at Manchester Central ran by Festive & fabulous and was eating whilst there. So with it being a big event we chose our meals before hand, they asked if I could email them all my dietary needs so they could accommodate. And they did, and it was ok.

For starter I had tomato soup, now everyone else had pasta in there soup and bread to accompany it. Unfortunately there was no bread for myself to have like others did or pasta and the portion was small but the soup was nice. Next I had grilled aubergine with other roasted vegetables with a tomato sauce topped with crispy shredded carrots, it was beautiful! Couldn’t fault the main at all, perfect. And for pudding fruit. Nothing more nothing less just fruit. Now I love fruit, and I don’t want to sound ungrateful but when you sit next to 9 other people eating chocolate tarts with cream or a cheese board with crackers and you have a bit of pineapple, some melon and a slice of orange you kinda feel a bit cheated. But hey ho the party continued and sorry no photos, bad blogger Katie bad blogger!

Would I recommend their services for your Christmas party next year, yes I would. I had no issues the following days from there meal plan so I would recommend.

The build up….

Christmas isn’t just about the main day and its meal its about the build up as well. And there is nothing better than Christmas shopping! The hustle and bustle of folks running up the isle for the last bag of sprouts or buying a years worth of socks for everyone. But if you are like me and my friends we like to spread it out, several days shopping throughout the month. So I need to keep my energy levels up whilst out as you never know when you’ll have to run for the last lynx body spray set!

And I have found a beauty to help me with this, Love Corn.  Love Corn are flavoured corn kernel which are gluten free and vegan as well as GM free and Kosher. They come in 3 flavours sea salt, BBQ and habanero and are packed to the rim with those flavours. I chose the BBQ flavour as most of the time BBQ isn’t gluten free or vegetarian so it was a delightful change. And I wasn’t disappointed, initially I though I would just have a few whilst wandering around but once I opened them they were addictive!

These little kernels are packed with flavour, there not hard like some kernels you find in popcorn, there a reasonable price and come in a resealable pouch so perfect for chucking in your bag whilst on a retail therapy mission.

 

The big day….

This year I am working nights over the Christmas period, so when I was told Christmas day meal was at a family members this year I was delighted because after a 12 hour night shift you’d be laughing to think I could cook anything more than a pot noodle!

However, the planning started a few weeks back ready for the day. Now I don’t know exactly what I am having but I messaged them with all my allergies and intolerances so they knew what they were up against. And what we agreed was they would provide the main meal and I would take all the extra bits and bobs.

I’m not sure how you guys feel but I tend to feel a bit awkward when folks ask me round for a meal because most of the time they won’t realise what is in a lot of foods and that the majority of their food will have to replaced with suitable alternative for me which can be costly and wasteful if they wont eat it again afterwards.  That’s why I will always take the extra bits, for example…

Vitalite dairy free spread is my favourite buttery spread to go with the Warburtons tiger bloomer. This bread not only smells like bread it tastes almost the same, which is lovely as I do miss bread so much so this was a find! Alpro soya milk to add to my brews, Morrisons free from vegetable gravy an essential for any Christmas meal and to finish Alpro dairy free custard, the perfect accompaniment to any pud!

So whether your working, eating or sleeping I hope your Christmas is a fun filled feast of laughter, good food and happiness!

MERRY CHRISTMAS from me and my trust food sniffer Jim x