So recently the weather in England has been improving which means more time spent outside! I've been doing a lot of picnics and outdoor lunch's with friends and family, but while doing these me and my friends have realised the low number of options there are for convenience foods for those in the gluten free community. From this I decided to write up a post explaining my go to snacks when on the go and some helpful tips for next time you plan to have a picnic.
Firstly if you are able to pre plan your food and bring a few snacks with you, it takes away a portion of the initial stress you could feel if you didn't have any supplies with you and it saves you time as you don't have to look for gf options! I love to bring my own choices, as it brings a guaranteed safety of having food I know I enjoy on hand and ready to go. A few of my favourite options that are really easy to prepare are:
Pre-cut fruit and vegetables
Homemade baked goods such as brownies, cake, biscuits, cookies, tarts etc
Homemade sandwich or salad options such as a tuna sandwich on toasted bread (to prevent the bread going soggy) or a tuna salad
Home bought crisps or crackers
My favourite snack or bar options which include Livia products, deliciously Ella snacks, 108 rhythm snacks all of which are easy to find at your local supermarket or on there online shops
Dinner leftovers - any leftovers that are in the fridge could be ate by themselves or combined with other ingredients and turned into a new meal
Sandwich thins filled with a variety of fillings
Homemade billines topped with your favourite topping- these are really easy to make, I use healthy living with James pancake recipe with buckwheat flour and fry into small circles of mini pancakes
I especially love to have food on me as then I know I won't miss out and I have food to share with my friends however a lot of the time I don't have these ingredients available to me or the picnic is an improvised event so I have come to learn the good, the bad and the safe foods available to get conveniently in supermarkets and small restaurants to!
We can always rely on fruit pots but this won't fill you up for the rest of your days activetys, which is why I have my go to safe options and shops which I can rely on for more than just an apple or a cucumber! Below I have listed some of my faveriote products as well as there availability and rating.
1. Schar gluten free pretzels
These pretzels are one of my favourites are they are easy to find and only cost a pound to buy. With a middle aerated texture and an outside crunch the golden couler adding flavour and texture these pretzels are the perfect salty snack for a lunchtime, as they are super versatile and could be served with a variety of dips or eaten with cheeses or alongside a sandwich or wrap option to! There are available from a variety of shops both in person and online, these include Ocado, Waitrose, Morrisons, Asda, Sainsbury's and Tescos. So easy to find at a wide range of shops, low in price and delicious to these pretzels are the perfect snack for a picnic or quick lunch! I would give these a 9/10 as they are versatile depending on what I want and are really easy to buy and are always delicious.
2. Small cakes
Now you may be confused by what I mean by this, but small cakes entails smaller cakes that are easy to eat with a small number of picnic members, and I've seen many options in a range of flavours to. Bigger than cupcakes or muffins and less likely to have a dry texture I've found that small cakes like these are the perfect picnic staple. There not so big that there are leftovers in need of carying yet there big enough a small party of picnic members would each receive a good portion and there cheaper to. At an average of 3 pounds per cake the price could be easily split between members. Many well known supermarkets do cakes like these from a range of flavours to carrot cake, chocolate cake, Victoria sponge cake, coffee cake there's many to choose from to suite the taste buds of the individuals. Many supermarkets also do caterpillar cakes which is a great option for children or bigger parties of people. Small cakes can be found in a range of supermarkets such as Asda, Tesco, Sainsbury's, M and S and Morrisons who have a range of circular and square cakes in a variety of flavours. Persanolly one of my faveriotes is Sainsbury's choclate cake and Eric the caterpillar with a Rich fudge cake in both encased in velvety icing and adorned with toppings there a brilliant option. I would give both an 8/10!
3. Hippeas chickpea puffs
These puffs are the perfect snack option or crisp alternative with simple ingredients and a range of flavours to choose from they make for a perfect snack! While these are a great option there availability is limited to a select few shops which stock a few of there flavours so if you want to try a variety ordering from there website is the way to go! There are a few supermarkets and shops which stock a limited range of there flavours and these include Asda, boots, co-op, Sainsbury's, Tesco, Waitrose, WHSmith and Holland and barret. The chickpeas are arratid and full of flavour whilst being super crunchy to! For more information on my thoughts on individual flavours head to my instagram page @rubysgfkitchen and to the mini reviews highlight were you will find my in depth opinion on the products and there availability.
4. Deliciously Ella products
Now this might sound vague but livas and deliciously Ella are two of my faveriote brands who offer easy and quick snacks for when your on the go. Deliculsy Ella do a wide range of breakfast options such as oat bars in a variety of flavours and granola to. They also do a variety of energy balls and sweet snacks which are perfect for smaller picnics were you may not have a lot of time to eat. I've found there products to be consistent in price and product as well as filling and are always delicous! I love there products because they offer a wide range of options and flavours within each product for example there choclate covered almonds come in both salted almond choclate and orange choclate. Deliciously Ella products can be found in a range of supermarkets and online locations which include Sainsbury's, Waitrose, Tesco, Holland and barret, boots and Ocado.
5. Rice cakes
I love rice cakes as there's so many different toppings you can choose for them wether its sweet or savoury there the perfect easy snack that can be easily found in the majority of supermarkets. Usually there are a selection available in the free from isle from plain, to choclate covered! I prefer to eat mine plain but there are a variety of spreads that could work for these to, some common combinations include salmon and cream cheese, peanut butter and banana, avacado, humous and veg to name a few! A naturally gluten free snack (just make sure to check the ingredients) and can be found in a variety of flavours, produced in both a larger size and individual mini bags for snacking on the go. Rice cakes can be found in the majority of supermarkets but some of my faveriotes for them is Sainsbury's (they have mini ones covered in choclate and yogurt so are perfect for when in need of a snack), M and S (do small bags with two rice cakes in each covered in different choclate and yogurt), Aldi (have both large packs of rice cakes as well as rice cake bars to).
All of these options are easy to eat on the go and you can easily share them with friends to! If you have prepared food from home it is great to carry it in a resealable container so not to spill the contents and keep it fresh. Remember: picnic foods need to be easy to eat and not have to be kept at a certain temperature. Foods like chocolate or hot pasta would melt and get colder to were they would be unenjoyable to eat and melt in your hand. aside from the products listed above there are some that are naturally gluten free found in isles other than the free from isle. below I have listed some of my favourites which make great picnic food which abides by the usual check of labels and contamination warnings:
Humous which can be eaten with a variety of gluten free dippers such as gluten free breadsticks, falaphels or pitta bread or dipped with a variety of vegtables
Cheeses- usually cheese such as cheddar, bourbon, rule, edam etc
Fruit- pre packed sliced fruit are great or packs of berries or loose fruits such as apples or banna
Smoked salmon- goes perfectly with crackers or bread or put it In a homemade sandwich
Coleslaw- usually made with mayonnaise and chopped vegetables and is perfect for a picnic or outside barbeque to!
Cold meats and precooked chicken pieces- a variety of these can be found such as salamis, peparoni, chorizo and salami all of which would be great in a sandwich or on crackers
Quinoa- if your pre preparing your picnic options quinoa is a great option as you can cook it in advance and add any additions you want such as vegetables or cooked meat
Rice- much like the quinoa if cooked or heated before hand a variety of additions can be made to flavour rice and make it a great picnic option
Nuts and seeds- wether this is a nut mix, salted peanuts or choclate covered almonds nuts and seeds can be a great option as they are really filling and contain beneficial fats to
Popcorn- wether this is a bag of popcorn or made into popcorn bars (I have a recipe on this in the sweet recepie section of my blog) there's a range of flavours you can experiemt with to such as toffee, salted, chocolate covered etc
Olives- can be used as the side to a dish, in a dish or as a light starter before a main
Now the brand of products that you use can be super important in the outcome of your dish, there's a variety of gluten free brands for products such as bread, but which are the best ones? Next I am going to explore and detail my favourite brands for a key picnic ingredient...bread!:
Bread
There's a variety of gluten free breads in the Supermarket and I've found that often the best ones are a little bit more expensive and there are some easy things you can do to improve them to create the ultimate sandwich, so here's my list of great gluten free breads:
Promise gluten free bread- I love both the multigrain and chia and quinoa loafs. At 3 pounds per loaf they are quite expensive but a great option as the slices are large with little to no holes and they hold up great in a sandwich to!
Bfree pitta breads, baguettes and pre cut loaf- Bfree do not only delicious pitta breads that are £2.75 for four, they offer a pack of two baguettes for £1.50 which are great warmed up.they also offer small loafs of bread (£3) which could be great for an on the go picnic as it will prevent wastage
Schar- do a range of rolls and panini rolls which are perfect for on the go homemade sandwich and toasties as well as reducing waste to! averaging at around £2 for a pack of four these rolls as great for individual lunches that are unlikely to fall apart.
Warbotons- I love there tiger bloom loaf if your looking for a good gluten free white bread however one of my faveriote products that offer are there sandwich thins as there super versatile and can be made like a sandwich or individually topped with a variety of fillings.
I would always suggest toasting your bread before filling as this allows it to retain its structure and not so easily fall apart like how it may if it was not toasted. Most of these brands can be found in Sainsbury's free from isle, Tesco free from isle, Waitrose free from isle, Morrisons free from isle! Remember there are loads of blogs and websites with hundreds of amazing recipes all of which cater towards picnics. This can make it so much easier to prepare food in advance, whenever I'm looking for a recepie like this I head straight to instagram to see what I can find!
If you found this post helpful head over to instagram @rubysgfkitchen to let me know!
Thank you for reading,
Ruby x
Comentários