Eating out with food Intolerances - At "Bel & The Dragon"

If I find a good place to eat...I usually like to share it on the "Eating out with food intolerance" section here on Henibean. Two weeks ago during half term we found a fab venue during our day out at The Sculpture Park (see last weeks post ...The Sculpture Park)...and today I'd like to tell you a little about it. 
Bel and The Dragon is a cosy classic country Inn, nestled between the historic town of Farnham & the Devil’s Punch Bowl...not only did we think the Bel and Dragon had an apt name... after seeing the magnificent Dragon  at the Sculpture park .... but it was in the ideal location too.... a mere stones throw away, and short wander over the road from the park entrance. This meant that we were able to walk around half the park, have lunch, and then after refueling, walk (or should I say roll) back again to do the rest of it....

I don't know if you have any sensitivities to food (possibly if you are reading this)... but if you do and you are anything like me, you may get rather tired of going somewhere and feeling like there is either only one item, (or no item) on the menu that is suitable to have. If there is something, then it is a rare place that has the ability to make that one thing appetizing and a real treat to eat... and make the whole process a pleasure to dine without making you feeling like you are an "inconvenience".

Digital Detox Time...

If you would like to catch up on Last Years Trip, see some more pictures of the gorgeous Lake District (Cumbria) and want to read more while I'm away, you can read about:

....Our Journey to the lakes - Traveling with Heni ,

....See some book reviews- Calm by Michale Acton smith and Alex Tew  (I read this last year on our trip....and  Beyond the summit by Todd Skinner, (which has some pictures of our climb up the Old man of Coniston!)

 ....Read about some places to Eat out with food Intolerances at Lucy's in Ambleside  , Chesters by the River and Greens of Grasmere 

....and find some  walking with wheelchair ideas: Grasmere Lake from Rydal car park
and fun ideas like our Four Wheel Driving respite day. 

Have a great few weeks and I'll see you on the 15th!

Jx

Lincoln trip and Eating out with food intolerances @ Thailand No1

I know it's only the beginning of March.... (but I know how some folks like to plan ahead)  so today I thought I would tell you about a trip that daughter number two, Gem and I took  at the beginning of December last year. We went to Lincoln (England) for a girls weekend break and to have a mooch around the Christmas markets! I know you probably don't want to think about Christmas right now and I promise it's not going to be all about that....  this post also includes an "eating out with food intolerance" restaurant review that we ate out at as well!  You never know, Lincoln may be somewhere that you want to put on your bucket list of  places to visit in the future.... or the market may be on your list of things to do?

Eating out with food intolerances - Gló (Reykjavik)

 The stodge of the Christmas menu is now well and truly past us and I thought a little  motivation on a change in eating habits might be useful on the run up to the new year. 
It's been a while since I had an "Eating out with Food Intolerance's" post on the blog, so  today I would like to share with you one of the places we frequented quite a bit when we visited Reykjavik recently (you can see posts on our visit here and here) and encourage a few small additions or changes to our diets.  
 We tried a few restaurants during our week away, but the wait and the lack of catering for food intolerances meant we revisited Gló a number of times. 

The long days outside in the elements, exploring the sights of Iceland can make you rather hungry and when you want to eat... you want to eat.... NOW!

Eating "In" with food intolerances - The Hungry Boy's Birthday Cake

The Hungry Boy turned thirteen yesterday and he wanted to have a celebration cake made out of his favourite flavours....chocolate and mango! Yesterday morning I set a few hours aside, donned my apron and rolled up my sleeves and got stuck into having a go at making a gluten free/dairy free cake good enough to eat for his birthday. Luckily we have introduced eggs  back in to our diets every now and again and so the prospects of it turning out OK (and not falling to pieces) were hanging in my favour.
I decided to use a Mary Berry's chocolate cake recipe and change it around to accommodate our food intolerances. You can find the original recipe here.

These are the cake ingredients that I used below. 

Eating out with food intolerances - The Cliffs Restaurant - Malta (plus a bit of sight seeing)

  I have literally just arrived home from our summer holidays, unpacked everything, put the dirty clothes in the washing machine and now I'm onto blog catch up...
I thought that I would post something from our respite break to Malta earlier in the year...It seems like forever since getting back from that trip... and I have finally got round to telling you a little bit about it! This is the first in a series of three from our break....
(Hopefully I won't take as long to write something about our most recent summer adventures!!)

During the middle of our week away we decided to take a rest from the pool and head out in the rental car to explore some more of the other side of the island.  We had heard that there was a beach called Golden Bay (one of the few sandy beaches in Malta) over to the north west of the country.  We  managed to navigate the notorious Maltese traffic and arrived at the beach in much need of a swim to cool down. The beach was nice.... but the sign for the "10 different types of jelly fish"  to watch out for put us off from taking a dip in the water..... and so we lounged around in the sun and took a  paranoid paddle or two instead!

Eating out with food intolerances - Ready made snack bags

A few weeks ago I listened to a podcast by Portland Roots media called  Stronger Everyday... the  podcast was a  "Summer survival guide"...  on how to survive the summer with happy children.  One of the hints and tips shared  on the cast that I really liked (and always have the intentions of doing but never get round to) was the suggestion  of being organised .... of planning and preparing and making snacks ahead of time so that there is always something healthy to grab on the way out the door.  I was motivated to have a go this year and so today I went shopping with daughter number two for some ingredients and we made up a bunch of snack bags together.

Eating out with food Intolerances - Greens of Grasmere

If you've  already read the post on "Walking with Wheelchairs - Grasmere Lake from Rydal car park" you will know that our half way point stop off in Grasmere village once again involved FOOD... this time at a place called "Greens".

However, first stop was to the Gingerbread shop.... which is obviously "off limits" for those with food intolerance's, due to the shed load of butter and flour! I can say from past experience though that it is VERY yummy and a definite must for those who don't have the misfortune of cutting gliadin and caesine from their diet! 
 You can't miss the shop...its super tiny and a squeeze to get in if there is a big queue. The shop assistants dress in old fashioned costumes like Sarah Nielson (the inventor of the top secret recipe) would have dressed in to add some more interest to the experience.

Eating out with food intolerances - Chesters by the River ...Cumbria

More on eating out with food intolerances..... This is a follow on post from our Cumbria Trip
...see "Eating out with food intolerance's - Lucy's" ... http://henibean.blogspot.co.uk/2015/04/eating-out-with-food-intolerances-lucys.html
 
One of the days on our Lakeland trip we decided to walk from Skelwith Bridge to Elterwater and back along the river..walking the map in reverse. It's a great flat, easy access route for Heni's wheelchair/buggy. Not too long for the oxygen to run out but nice enough to feel like we'd done something.  
see http://www.lakedistrict.gov.uk/visiting/thingstodo/walking/mileswithoutstiles/mws11 for other easy routes

Half way point at the Britannia Inn in Elterwater

We did the same walk last year and started and ended the walk at CHESTERS BY THE RIVER (cafe).  The location is great, It has a lovely deck by the side of the river and has a very pretty shop attached to it, in which you can buy anything from cards to blankets to books. 
Last year we did the walk for the first time and had a meal at the end.... which was very enjoyable. The food was great and very tasty .This year we wanted to go back and have a repeat experience.  Frustratingly it was a  different story. Although we had a really lovely walk we didn't have the most positive end experience with the food.

Eating out with food intolerances - Lucy's in Ambleside ...Cumbria

On the waterfall trek- Ambleside

Unfortunately, food these days contains everything...YES...literally everything that you would never really recognize as food and it's causing a lot of problems for a growing number of people. Life with food intolerance means preparation is paramount if you want something decent to eat. It's a challenge at home but it can be even worse when out and about or travelling.

When we finally reached our cottage here in the Lakes on Friday night we were disappointed to realise that the Sainsbury's delivery didn't contain the gluten free wraps that we had ordered for our lunch packs.  I  don't usually like to eat the store bought gluten free wraps very often as they contain a bunch of rubbish (in place of the things that are taken out)... however when on holiday it's the convenience factor that outweighs everything else. The fact that they were missing has made life a bit more difficult for us when out and about on our Lakeland treks....and so our lunch packs have been ...well..shall we say... non existent!  Instead of taking a wrap (an easy quick thing to make for a big group of people - 3 of whom have intolerances) we have eaten out or at the cottage.

You would think that eating out would solve the problem....but again when eating out with intolerance's it can be even more of a challenge in trying to find an establishment that can cater to your requirements.
So far We've had both positive and negative experiences here in Cumbria.This post is a Review of one of the more positive examples.

On Saturday we hiked up to the waterfall in Ambleside (a lovely...but short walk to get the legs going up hill!) and then looked around the town at all the outdoor equipment shops. Then hunger struck!