gluten free Archives - Page 2 of 4

saharasplash28 June, 2016

Drink No Evil Karma Cola

I was immediately drawn to Karma Cola drinks not just for their great design, but also because of the story that goes with the brand. Drink No Evil Karma Cola is all about doing good and enjoying some great drinks in the process. The brand currently has three amazing beverages for all walks of life, and I am in love with all of them! Let me tell you a bit more about them…

The Karma Cola foundation aims to produce fizzy drinks which stand for a cause. Every drink purchased helps a village in Sierra Leone, Africa and the proceeds help to support a number of Sierra Leonean communities by maintaining local areas to sending young people to school.

Flavour 1- The original Karma Cola

This is made from a cola nut (yes cola comes from a nut!) all the way from Sierra Leone. It has a unique blend including ginger and lemons which makes for a thirst quenching delight.

Flavour 2- Lemony!

This is a great mix of organic lemons and fair-trade sugar cane which makes the farmers smile. It makes its drinkers smile too as the lemon bursts out and hits all those taste buds.

Flavour 3- Gingerella

Gingerella is perfect for those wanting a fiery taste. It is quite strong and bursting with notes of vanilla and ginger.

Pour and Enjoy!

Here are some more shots courtesy of my sister Evie. You should get in touch with her here if you are needing a blogger photoshoot! She captured the drinks in action, which I’m sure you agree look so tempting during the hot summer season! We chilled the drinks before pouring each for a clean and refreshing taste…

This cute pineapple glass is from Sass and Belle

So good in more ways than one- don’t forget that the more drinks Karma Cola sells, the more help they can do! Why not join the Drink no Evil Karma Cola campaign and host a great BBQ with some amazing drinks for July?! These drinks are available to purchase at Waitrose right now

Saharasplash x

For tips on how to host your own party, I’ve got you covered in my latest post right here!

PR Samples included

saharasplash8 June, 2016

Food from Flora Freedom

To celebrate World Environment Day, I wanted to do something a bit different on my blog. I have previously reviewed gluten free products, and even done a step by step macaron post, but I’ve never done any of my own recipes on here before. So now is my chance to show you all that I can actually cook too! This post is all about going green and reducing your carbon footprint by using a brand new dairy/vegan friendly butter- food from Flora Freedom!

New analysis from the Carbon Trust in partnership with Flora Freedom has revealed the environmental benefits of reducing butter in our diets. Going dairy-free for even one day a week helps reduce our carbon footprint. New Dairy Free Flora Freedom spread is a good choice for those who favour a plant-based diet but want to add the indulgence of a great tasting dairy free spread to their meals. It is completely dairy free and contains no ingredients of animal origin, making it a spread suitable for vegans. I put it to the test and here’s what happened…

Recipe 1- Veggie Kebabs, free from gluten, dairy and vegan friendly

You will need:

Flora Freedom spread

kebab skewers

Peppers

Courgette

Sweet potato

mushrooms

Sweetcorn cobs

Savoury rice packs

Baby spinach

Chop your veggies up, not too small as we need to put these onto skewers! Start the rice first as this takes the longest. I boiled the rice for 20 mins in 1 pnt of water, and added in a little pepper and garlic salt. I also boiled my corn in a separate pan too, I did them for 15 mins.

Fry the raw veggies all up (I did peppers separate to the courgette and mushrooms) with a tablespoon of Flora Freedom and season with some jerk spice- fry until golden brown. I did the sweet potato in the microwave (5 mins), and then sliced them into round sections and peeled of the skin last, et voila!

You are ready to skewer.

I used the baby spinach to lay the kebab on top of, so pretty! I used the Flora Freedom on my corn too! A gorgeous, vegan friendly meal in under 30 mins.

Recipe 2- Classic Victoria Sponge, free from gluten and dairy

You will need:

300g Flora Freedom spread

300g caster suger (white or brown)

300g gluten free, self raising flour

3 eggs

Raspberry jam

Preheat oven to 180 degrees

First mix the Flora spread with the sugar to create a smooth paste. Next break in the eggs one by one and stir in individually. I do all my mixing by hand as I feel that this way the cake tastes better, but you can use a mixer too 🙂

Then add in the gluten free flour bit by bit, and carefully fold into the mixture to lose as little air as possible.

Once you are happy with the consistency of the mixture, separate out into 2 cake tins, and shake tins back and forth so that the mixture evens out and touches all the sides (we don’t want a wonky sponge!).

Place into the oven for about 30 mins. I usually don’t rely on exact timings, normally your nose will tell you when it’s just right! If unsure, stick a knife into the centre and if it comes away clean, your cake is done!

Once cooled, take out of the tin, and add a nice layer of raspberry jam into the centre before placing the top tier on.

You can leave as is, sprinkle with some icing sugar perhaps, or decorate it however you like!

So there you have it, 2 quick and easy recipes you can use to cater for allergy sufferers and vegetarians, plus at the same time you are helping to reduce the carbon footrint by switching to a dairy free spread too! It tastes just as good as your regular spread so why not try these recipes out for yourself? Food from Flora Freedom in my opinion was a great success!

Saharasplash x

This is a sponsored post

For more food and fun, check out my DIY spa night in with Oykos Whip n Mix!

saharasplash6 June, 2016

Getting the Greek Treatment with Oykos

It’s really important that we all have a good pamper once in a while. It can be quite expensive to go out in London to do so, so why not bring the spa to you? In this post I am working with Danone’s brand new Oykos Whip n Mix yoghurts and my friend and blogger Merrell to bring you all the fun we had at mine when I hosted a spa night in for the two of us! Getting the Greek Treatment with Oykos was so much fun, and here’s what we got up to:

Oikos in Greek literally means hearth and home, so there wasn’t a better way to enjoy these tasty treats while in the comfort of my own living room. We had some gorgeous spa packs between us to get us into the relaxed spirit

We lit some candles, and I brought out my foot spa to help us start to forget about our day at work. Getting the Greek treatment with Oykos was working out well so far!

After a soak we used the Sanctuary Spa body souffle from our spa packs and I got into my comfy slippers from The White Company, pure bliss! I also gave Merrell a mini pedi too:

Feeling nice and chilled, I went to go get the Oykos Whip and Mix yoghurts from an equally chiled fridge. We just had one tiny snag in our plans, which was that Merrell couldn’t eat the yoghurt as she is lactose intolerant. But I didn’t invite her over by mistake, I had a plan to make sure that we both got to enjoy getting the Greek treatment with Oykos that evening…

So I got the Oykos packs and some spoons, and we opened them up…

I ate some of mine as it would be a crime not to, the whipped yoghurt and fruity compote is just amazingly good!

I then got some yoghurt, and told Merrell to sit still… as it was going on her face!

As well as being a tasty snack, I decided to put the Oykos packs to a very good secondary use, and of course I then had my face done too…

We had such a fabulous evening and really enjoyed using all the goodies from our spa packs as well as eating/wearing the yoghurts! Getting the Greek Treatment with Oykos was just what we needed to help us unwind and have a great night in 🙂

Saharasplash x

If you enjoyed this, take a look at some more tasty treats in my post about Cadbury’s here

PR samples included

saharasplash2 June, 2016

Cadbury’s Obey Your Mouth

So this is a really quick and quirky post all about chocolate. So now I have your attention, I wanted to share a few images of what fun I had with Merrell at the Cadbury’s Obey Your Mouth house at Southbank London. Cadbury’s are doing a brand new campaign right now with 5 of their original best sellers and tying it in with some bank holiday fun from this Friday to Sunday. You can experience your inner child or entertain your own child with this free attraction for all ages as you go through the different rooms based around 5 different chocolate bars.

First up there’s some spinning fun with Double Decker, but I didn’t get my camera out until we hit part two, the Twirl ball pit!

Then we had to challenge a Panda with Wispa! It’s not as weird as it sounds, you have the panda to distract you as you try and throw ping pong balls into the goals behind him-

The next stage includes space hoppers and Boost, I almost fell off several times! You can race your friends to the end as you are timed, bounce as fast as you can there and back, I’ve got the videos on my snapchat right now so go take a look (search saharasplash).

And last you make your way down the slide (while snapchatting of course)…

…and it’s into a party room with Crunchie and a DJ! Props are provided for some camera moments 🙂

Bonus pic of us slaying on the roof, I’m sporting a suede effect dress and duster jacket both from Primark:

I hope you have a chance to get down there and try the Cadbury’s Obey your Mouth house for yourself, it’s really worth it if you are wondering what to do in London this weekend

Saharasplash x

If you liked this, you should try something completely different and check out this beauty post featuring Elemis!

saharasplash13 May, 2016

The Dubai Series: Day Three

So onto The Dubai Series: Day Three – the last day of our 72 hour holiday. Let’s start with some pretty awesome hair if I do say so myself…

So I did a mixture of French braid to the nape of my neck, and then I tied them up and did fishtails to the ends. I really liked the results of this spontaneous do! I think it went really well with the look from day three.

Paul and I took a taxi to JBR, the Jumeirah Beach Resort on our last day to spend some time with each other. We had a sizeable lunch at the Cheesecake Factory, I absolutely love their raspberry lemonade! The marble table at lunch provided a perfect opportunity to show off my second pair of nail wraps from Thumbsup nails, on the Dubai Series: Day Three I’m wearing ‘Mars’.

After that, we ventured out to find a great location to do some shooting.

I’m wearing a biker jacket with chiffon fall from Her Boutique, I love how unique the jacket is with this extra bit of detail. I decided to pair this with some crochet trousers from Primark. They are super comfy and perfect for hot weather down at the beach.

We found a stunning staircase and so we took advantage!

Underneath the jacket I’m wearing a bikini from Boohoo.com

As we made our way down to the beach, we spotted some camels walking towards us!

Here is the Boohoo.com bikini in more detail:

Now this post is quite a special one, not just for the fabulous fashion, but because I have some news to share with you all…

On the beaches of Dubai on the 2nd May, Paul proposed to me… And I said yes!!!

I know, so exciting- we are getting married at the end of this year and I am so happy! I’m ecstatic I can finally share this news with you all on my blog and make it a part of the Dubai Series: Day Three as it’s been killing me to keep it a secret!

And there’s more too! On to my final outfit of the trip, plus a close up of my ring…

My pantsuit is from Primark, and my clutch is from Next. My engagement ring is courtesy of my mother.

I’m sure you can agree that this was a very special ending to a very special trip. I want to thank everyone mentioned in my five days of blogging, I couldn’t have done it without you. And lastly a shout out to my husband to be, thank you for supporting me, my blog and being the best camera man I could ask for!

Saharasplash X (bride to be!)

If you’re not caught up on Day 1 and Day 2, take a read to see the rest of my time in Dubai!

PR Samples included

saharasplash12 May, 2016

The Dubai Series: Day Two

So we’ve now reached The Dubai Series: Day Two and I hope you are loving it as much as I enjoyed blogging about my three-day whirlwind adventure to the Middle East to surprise our friends. I’ve got so much more to show you from our second day, which includes a trip to the beach and some flying food! Let’s start with the beach as I continue with The Dubai Series: Day Two.

As you may have guessed, it was the perfect day for a trip to the beach. I had spent the morning doing some retail therapy and had picked up the hottest new pair of Roberto Cavalli sunglasses you ever did see, so these of course had to make it into the shoot down at Nasimi Beach!

On Day Two I wore this stunning Tara tunic dress from Boutique of Molly. Their summer collection range is so on point, I just had to take this dress with me to the beach.

I paired the dress with a blue clutch from Today I’m Me, one of my favourite accessory brands.

The bag also matched the blue in my Karen Millen sandals too, so a perfect ten for my co-ordination skills on day two of the trip!

Now I want to share with you what was under the outfit, and I have to give credit to my amazing partner Paul for these shots! I wore a bikini from To Dive For, which is a company I have recently discovered and they are literally to die for! Pardon the pun..

I fell in love with this palm print cross back two piece on their website, and it’s one of the best bikinis I own for originality and quality.

After the fabulous day at the beach, it was back home to change into the outfit for the evening. We were off to a restaurant at the Jumeirah Beach Hotel for Teppanyaki! Teppanyaki is a Japanese experience/style of cooking where everything is made right in front of you at the table.

We had our own chef who came and cooked everything and entertained us with his skills of juggling the food, and then he tossed it across the table right into our mouths! (I didn’t do it but Paul did!)

Here is what I wore, a lovely dress from Motel Rocks with my brand new Burgundy bra from Victoria’s Secret! Plus my ever trusty pineapple bag 🙂

Phew, that was a lot of outfits, that’s a wrap for The Dubai Series: Day Two… until tomorrow’s post for The Dubai Series: Day Three, and you won’t want to miss it!

Saharasplash x

Get up to date with The Dubai Series: Day One right here!

PR Samples included

Flavour 1- The original Karma Cola

Flavour 2- Lemony!

Flavour 3- Gingerella

Pour and Enjoy!

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Recipe 1- Veggie Kebabs, free from gluten, dairy and vegan friendly

Recipe 2- Classic Victoria Sponge, free from gluten and dairy

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