gluten free Archives - Mummy's Little StarsMummy's Little Stars

Jane Plan is a delicious diet plan that is delivered to your door monthly. Having put on weight and overeating since my youngest was born four years ago, I’ve felt really uncomfortable in myself and have a wardrobe full of clothes I no longer wear. With my 40th birthday coming up in March this year, I knew I had to change the way I eat (and drink wine!) to start enjoying life to the full again instead of hiding away in leggings and baggy tops, feeling uncomfortable at social occasions and wondering what on earth I’m going to wear on the beach this year for our family summer holiday!

When Jane Plan spoke to me about trying their program, I knew this could be the answer to get me on my way to feeling fit and fab again. With the food delivered to my door, I couldn’t dish myself up oversize portions and along with working and a busy family life, I wouldn’t have to worry making myself different meals to the rest of the family as it was all taken care of for me. So I placed my order with Jane Plan and looked forward to the delivery.

Aimed at providing you with around 1200 calories a day, you are sent your choice of 28 breakfasts, 28 lunches, 28 dinners and 28 snacks from the fairly large choice available. The only thing you need to add is milk or yoghurt to use with breakfast and additional fruit and vegetables to supplement your meals should you choose to.

I chose all my meals based on a vegetarian diet and tended to pick soups and salads for lunchtimes and pasta based meals for dinner. When the box arrived it seemed like a lot of food, but had to remember that this was to last me for the next 28 days!

Although the meals are long life, they are freshly cooked and packaged using the SousVide method, avoiding any artificial preservatives, colours, or additives. This is done by steaming the food to a high temperature then sealing each portion whilst still hot, thus preserving it naturally.

The daily snacks included in Jane Plan consist of either a single small round biscuit or three mini oatcakes. I chose a variety of each in quite a choice of flavours from toasted almond shortbread, to vanilla crunch and fig & hazelnut cookies. The oatcakes came in plain, cheese or black pepper varieties. I was slightly concerned when I saw a lot of these biscuits were gluten free as I’ve not found gluten free products to be very palatable before but there is only one thing I can say about every one of the snacks you see in the above picture – Absolutely delicious!!

The biscuits are quite small but they are thicker than your standard biscuit. Every mouthful tasted rich, buttery and just melted in the mouth. I couldn’t wait for my daily snack each day as it really was that little bit of something sweet I craved each day. I did really enjoy the oatcakes too and with three in each pack, it gave me something to nibble on to help beat afternoon cravings. It’s lucky the snacks are individually wrapped as I don’t think I could have just eaten one otherwise!

I started each morning with a bowl of porridge or Maca’s Secret Muesli which I added natural yoghurt too. I found all the breakfasts totally satisfying and the perfect way to start the day. They were all quick to put together too, the porridge (both plain and vanilla) microwave in a couple of minutes with some added water in the bowl you eat out of, so no added washing up!

For lunches I tended to have soup when at home, which came in a pouch that you simply heat up in the microwave. I usually added a couple of low calorie crispbreads or occasionally a slice of unbuttered bread to help fill me up.

When at work or out of the house I opted for a salad, which came in a small pot that just required a fork to eat with. I had both a couscous salad and wholegrain salad to choose from and although I enjoyed them both and found them quite pleasant to eat, they both contained red kidney beans and sweetcorn. I would have preferred them to have been a bit more varied with perhaps something green in them. There is a three bean salad which I wish I had tried, not sure how I missed it but as I’ve mentioned there is quite a lot of choice available on the Jane Plan menu.

Dinner time was something I eagerly awaited each day whilst following the plan and have to say I found the meals really tasty. I chose a lot of Mediterranean dishes such as pasta arrabiata, vegetable lasagne and ratatouille. I have to say my absolute favourite is the pasta Mediterranean which was delicious in a rich tomato sauce with peppers and courgettes (two of my favourite vegetables!). The lasagne was good too, once I got used to the fact that it had no cheese on it! lol I have to say cheese was one of the food items I did miss throughout the month.

So how did I find it?

For the first three or four days, there is no denying it was hard!! My body is used to me grazing all day, then enjoying a couple of glasses of wine in the evening. I did find the gap from breakfast (7am) until lunch quite hard particularly on work days, but I had some fruit mid morning to see me through. Likewise going from lunchtime (12pm) through to bedtime which is often 11/12pm with just a small biscuit and a single course of dinner could be tough, but I found my body soon learnt to adjust and the stomach rumbles eased off. I found cups of green tea with lemon (which I really enjoy) to be a big help between meals to see me through and a bowl of grapes in the evening (rather than the liquid variety) would help me last until bedtime.

I found having the food ready made and portioned to be an enormous help. I am a working mum with two young children, a husband who works shifts and life is hectic enough. The portions ensured I kept on track and didn’t leave me open to temptation as I know I would have been had I been preparing my own food. This is definitely the kickstart I needed and now feel my body is used to eating less food, so I feel more confident continuing myself after finishing on Jane Plan. Although should you wish to continue they do offer money saving plans if you sign up for longer periods.

And the question you’ve all been waiting for – how much weight did I lose? 12lb

So as you can imagine, I’m thrilled!! As much as I did stick to the plan, I have to admit to having a couple of glasses of wine one weekend and a couple of other extras sneaking in. But what I have proved to myself is that I can do it and Jane Plan really helped me achieve a great first month’s weight loss. I still have a further couple of stone to lose (yes really – fresh bread/cheese/chocolate/wine all have a lot to answer for!) and then I hope to be at my pre childbirth weight and feel fit and fab throughout my forties!

Keep an eye out as I will keep you updated with my progress in the upcoming months.

Following on from the fantastic bloggers night in at the end of last year, I did a round up of all our savoury snacks and here is a look at the great selection of sweet treats we had the opportunity to try out.

Soreen very kindly sent us each a goody bag packed full of the Soreen range to try. I took this home to my family who couldn’t wait to get stuck in. The Chocolate Soreen stood our for us and is a firm favourite with all of us – it didn’t last long, with a husband and two children devouring it at every opportunity! The fruity Soreen was perfect for the husbands pack lunch box and the sliced loaf made perfect snacks for the children at home. The banana lunchbox loaves are a favourite of three year old Mister B, being individually wrapped I keep them for out of the house or in his nursery lunch box. Overall I have to say as a family we are very impressed with Soreen and think they have made some wonderful additions to their range recently. We are definitely fans and Soreen is always on our shopping list!

Green & Blacks, a name we all know well in the world chocolate, kindly gave us a bar of their organic dark chocolate to taste. Personally I’m not a fan of dark chocolate but the husband is, so I let him try it for his opinion. He said it was “rich and smooth”, a taste he could savour and enjoy and only needing a few squares at a time meaning it lasting him several nights. A great quality chocolate he enjoyed.

Choc Shot by Sweet Freedom is a revolutionary 100% natural liquid chocolate with only 14 calories per teaspoon. It can be used in multiple ways from hot chocolate, milkshakes to toppings for ice cream, porridge or fruit. Choose your own way of using this multi functioning product. When my children saw it they immediately wanted to make hot chocolate and it couldn’t be easier, no more powdery lumps, just stir into warm milk and there you have a cup of creamy hot chocolate. My children loved it and it was great that they could make it themselves. We also tried it on ice cream for dessert and this was a hit too. The only thing that could be improved is perhaps an easier to squeeze bottle as once we were half way through the rest of the chocolate was a little difficult to get out – apart from that, what a fantastic product. Being suitable for vegetarians, vegans, diabetic and GM, dairy and gluten free this really is a product that anyone can try – why not give it a go?

Another brand we tried that caters for special dietary needs is Orgran, a top brand in the gluten free food market. All Orgran products are Gluten Free, Wheat Free, Dairy Free, Egg free, Yeast Free, GMO Free and Vegan. We were sent a selection of sweet treats to try including shortbread hearts, Amaretti biscotti and chocolate biscotti. We did find the shortbread hearts a little hard and not quite the crumbly shortbread texture that we are used to but they did look pretty on the plate. The biscotti were nice and I did like both of the flavours. I took some samples home and found that they make the perfect accompaniment to Sweet Freedom’s Choc Shot. I think for someone limited to certain dietary requirements, then these Orgran biscuits are the perfect treat. They all look good and are perfect paired with a hot drink to dip in. If you are following a gluten free diet then I’d definitely recommend checking out the Orgran website as they have a wide variety of food choices and even a great range aimed at children following a gluten free diet.

Darling Spuds have brought out a sweet and salty popcorn. They come in handy size snack packs and I left the pack I had for my children to try. I did intend on trying one or two pieces myself but by the time I came back into the room they were gone! I think that speaks for itself – they obviously taste good and were a hit with my two. These are great as a snack and another that is gluten free along with being suitable for vegetarians and coeliacs. But the best feature has to be there are just 39 calories per bag!!

When I opened my bag and showed my children the Swizzels-Matlow goodies, their eyes popped out in excitement! Can we have one now they asked? With traditional favourites such as Love Hearts, Drumsticks and Fruity lollies my children were in sweetie heaven – oh but I did keep the Parma Violets for my handbag though!

Last but not least I have saved you the best till last. When I was offered my favourite ever chocolates to review how could I refuse. Guylian, the Belgian chocolate seashells are made from 100% pure cocoa butter with a unique hazelnut praline filling that is utterly divine.

The distinctive, glossy seashells and seahorse shapes are a sign of quality, a box of these is perfect as a gift for someone being affordable but luxury chocolates at the same time. I highly recommend these!!