Buying gluten free produce that’s, created in a purpose built gluten free kitchen, by a passionate coeliac is music to my ears. That is exactly what Mandy’s Gluten Free is.
I love writing about my gluten free discoveries. I also love finding out other people’s gluten free discoveries on Facebook & Twitter. Facebook is exactly how I found out about Mandy’s Gluten Free & I’m so pleased I did!
Mandy is a Coeliac herself. She was diagnosed with Coeliac Disease after going through six long years of tests from doctors who couldn’t work out what was wrong with her. She was diagnosed age 38, and had been eating a normal diet until this time. I have spoken to a lot of people who have had similar stories to Mandy whereby they spent years undiagnosed. Make sure you check out the Coeliac UK website for details if you think you might have Coeliac Disease, it is very helpful.
It is great to see that Mandy chose to use her frustrations as a motivation to create gluten free foods for everyone to enjoy. Mandy was kind enough to send me a few of her products to try recently & I thought I would share some of Mandy’s Gluten Free offerings with you all!
1) Apple & Blackberry Pie
This pie was the first one to catch my eye. I love making my own fruit pies & crumbles, but I also love just eating them. Mark & I had to try this pie out immediately! We bought some dairy free custard & one night after dinner, shared it whilst watching an episode of Game of Thrones! The pie was lovely and full of filling, and it went beautifully with the custard.
2) Chicken Pie
We warmed this pie up and ate some of it with our lunch. There were huge chunks of juicy, succulent chicken buried within the delicious pastry crust. I really like it when a filling can be moist, yet the pastry still keeps its form and doesn’t go soggy. This was one of the best gluten free chicken pies I have had.
3) Steak Pie
Now, because Mark can’t really eat red meat I had completely forgotten how amazing a steak pie is. I haven’t had one in years! The meat in this pie was flavoursome beyond belief, & again, the pastry held it’s shape really well. I find with all of Mandy’s gluten free pies that the pastry is actually quite light. For a steak pie this is great, because otherwise you can feel rather lethargic & heavy after eating it. It only needed about 30 minutes in the oven and came out smelling & tasting amazing. With a dollop of mash & some gravy, this is the perfect dinner any day of the week.
4) Mediterranean Vegetable Pie
A Mediterranean Veg Pie sounds rather tasty to me. Essentially, ratatouille surrounded by pastry, yes please! Unfortunately this isn’t the pie for me, as a lot of veg disrupt my stomach. That didn’t mean Mark couldn’t give it a try however! The pie smelt amazing as it emerged from the oven. The filling oozed tomato, peppers, aubergine & courgette. To be honest I think this is a great idea for a pie. So often ratatouille is a side dish, but this puts a whole new spin on it, & makes it even more delicious.
5) Cheesy Leek & Potato Pie
This pie tasted and smelt as good as it sounded. Sadly my issue with onions (and leeks!) meant that I could only really destructively pick my way through the pie rather than eating it ‘pretty’. Nevertheless, I was obsessed with the flavours. I loved how strongly I could taste the rosemary on the potato & there was plenty of oozing cheese throughout. I would imagine with the amount of potato within this pie, it would be quite filling, it would be so worth it though… it is definitely a pie I would recommend.
6) Cheese Scone
Oh my, I love a good cheese scone. I haven’t got round to making my own in a while so this was a nice treat. However, it was a nice treat.. multiple times! This has to be the biggest cheese scone I have ever eaten! It is also one of the best I have ever eaten 🙂 The sign of a good scone to me is when you can eat it without any topping & it still tastes great. This scone was as cheesy as they come with a flakey, melt in the mouth texture. As a girl obsessed with cheese I opted for eating this with butter & MORE cheese, crazy I know. It rocked my world.
7) Fruit Scone
Not only does Mandy make beastly gluten free cheese scones, she also makes giant gluten free fruit scones, which will definitely be right up your street if you miss a good scone, clotted cream & jam! If you are looking to have a gluten free afternoon tea for yourself & few gluten free friends then these scones would be a perfect addition. They definitely taste as good as regular scones.
So…
There you have it, that was a few of the thing that Mandy’s Gluten Free has to offer. It is really nice to support smaller businesses like Mandy’s, especially when her products taste so damn good! Whilst I know shipping costs are always a massive problem for so many of you, I think it has to be appreciated that smaller businesses are not trying to rip you off. They are selling fresh & frozen homemade goods that need to be treated with care. To be honest, I would suggest putting in a rather large order & the postage definitely wouldn’t seem so bad then! All the gluten free pies & scones can be put in the freezer so you don’t need to eat them immediately anyway. & I promise you, it will be worth every penny.
You can buy Mandy’s Gluten Free online by clicking here.
Let me know what your favourite smaller gluten free businesses are. Have you tried Mandy’s Gluten Free before? You can leave a comment below, or on Facebook/Twitter.
Thanks for reading,
Becky xxx
