vegetarian

AD/PR Sample | Trying Gluten Free & Vegan Products From Incredible Bakery Company


When The Incredible Bakery Company contacted me and asked if I'd like to review some of their products, I jumped at the chance. I found out a few years ago that I have a fair few food intolerances, and one of them is gluten. It's been hard to find gluten-free bakery products that I like and it's only been in recent years that supermarkets have started to make an effort to provide these products to people. I thought it was great that I have been given the chance to review some free-from items and I am so happy to have been introduced to this lovely company. The Incredible Bakery Company is an award-winning bakery that wants to "help everyone to lead an allergen friendly life through a better diet - without compromising on taste". The difference with this bakery is that they are catered to multiple dietary requirements, as all of their products are; gluten, dairy, egg and soya free. Another great bonus is that they are vegan and coeliac friendly. The bakery is based in Warkton, Northamptonshire where you can pick up your orders if you are local, or if you're not in the area they deliver to all UK businesses and homes. They offer a range of products, both sweet and savoury. I'm glad the products are vegan-friendly too, as I'm a vegetarian who is starting to cut out some foods to lower my impact on the environment.



My favourite product I received had to be the Onion Focaccia (£3.75) which was a 280g tray that was so tasty. It was a lovely fresh and soft texture with an amazing flavour which made it so moreish. It had a good level of moisture throughout and was topped with finely sliced onion which gave it that great taste. The tray would be ideal to use as part of a sharing platter if you were hosting or even one to just nipple on over the course of a few days. I'd buy this again in a heartbeat as the caramalised onion was such a delicious flavour and has to be one of the best things I've ever eaten, and it has the bonus of being gluten-free and vegan.



The second item I received was the Gluten-Free Oat Loaf (£3.90) which is designed to taste like a wheat loaf. This was a family-sized loaf that kept us going for a good few days. It was nice as both bread for sandwiches and worked well being toasted also. I was pleasantly surprised how soft and fresh the bread was, as gluten-free bread from other companies/brands I've tried tended to be quite dry. The loaf still managed to maintain a good crisp crust to it, with the oats that topped the loaf gave a nice flavour and texture. It was a nice change to have a fresh bakery loaf that I wouldn't have known was gluten-free which shows they have really put the effort in to make a good product. I've really missed loaves that are close to being freshly baked and this was a treat.


Another product I've been trying out is the Flat Bread Wrap (pack of 4) (£4.00) which can be used for multiple different things like fajitas or pizzas, or simply just wraps. The wraps were so soft and really tasty and fresh to eat just as they come, or heated in your oven or toaster for a warmer snack. I also decided to try out using one as a pizza base, with just some tomato puree and cheese on top. I stuck it under the grill for a few minutes to melt the cheese and crisp up some of the flatbread so that it still had a nice soft base. Alternatively, you could pop it in the oven for a little longer to get a crispier base also depending on your preference. I also received the Submarine Roll (pack of 4) (£3.00). These were good-sized rolls that my partner particularly enjoyed using for a sandwich for his lunch. They were fresh inside with a good crusty outer which would also make them great for dipping in soup - I don't like eating soup unless I can enjoy it with some good crusty bread. I could see these being perfect for a BBQ also for those wanting a home for their hot dog. 


The last item I received was 2 of the Brazilian Carrot Cake slice (£1.30). It was a generous sized slice perfect as a sweet treat. My partner loves carrot cake so was excited when this turned up. He liked the spongey and moist texture of the cake and the flavour packed within and the melted chocolate chips topping the cake off nicely. 

I have been really happy with the products I received from the Incredible Bakery Company, all of which were fresh, tasty and a welcome change to some of the other gluten-free brands I've had in the past. There is a good selection of products available at a reasonable price, with UK wide delivery available making it accessible wherever you are located. They sell multiple brands on the website too, like the Gluten-Free Pie Company which I really need to try out in the future. If you need gluten-free or vegan products, or even if you don't have a dietary requirement, I would definitely recommend checking out what they have to offer and you won't be disappointed.

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Why I've Gone Vegetarian

Why I've Gone Vegetarian


I feel like this has been such a long time coming and I can't exactly find the reason it's taken until now, but anyway I'm now a vegetarian. The week of my birthday I just felt this need to turn veggie for some reason and the first two days I was toying with it I failed because I obviously hadn't prepared for this. At the start, I didn't put any pressure on myself and said I would still have a meat Christmas dinner two months later if I wanted and it didn't have to be forever. The first full day I was veggie was the 18th October 2019 and it seemed to settle that voice in my head telling me to turn veggie. I still have messed up since then, I had prawn crackers and I didn't know they actually contain prawn, I thought it was a flavouring. I had some Fruit Pastilles and totally forgot they had gelatine in them. I also recently had pesto on some ciabatta and didn't realise that parmesan cheese isn't vegetarian. So I'm still learning and it's not a straight road but it's definitely something I feel more content with.

When I was a fussy eater and when I was around 7 I remember not wanting bacon butties on the weekend anymore, then I stopped wanting fish fingers when I had a Happy Meal. My whole childhood and most of my adulthood I've really disliked the texture of a lot of meats. I wouldn't eat roasted beef, lamb, pork or similar meats off of a joint of meat. I never ate duck because ducks are cute. I never really liked a lot of seafood and only really tried cod/haddock again after the whole fish finger thing about two years ago. Andy warned me not to try prawns because they can pop in your mouth and the thought of that made me feel a bit sick. In 2019 I seemed to have a few nasty experiences with chicken and it really put me off. So throughout the year, I'd been eating Quorn instead. We'd been having veggie stir frys for quite some time now and I'd stopped eating gammon because I just never felt like it. So I'd been a 'flexitarian' for probably the last 5 years now so it finally came to a head and I decided to be a vegetarian. 

I decided not to go vegan for a few reasons. The first being that as someone with disabilities and often needing to have pre-packaged food, the options are limited for me. Although companies are now introducing a lot of vegan foods, in some places there are not always accessible options. The second reason is that a lot of vegan foods substitute eggs with banana when baking from what I've seen and I can't eat bananas as I have an intolerance to them. This also counts for a lot of vegan options that include mushrooms which I'm intolerant to as well. The last reason is that I do enjoy making brownies and cakes and I just don't feel the want or need to have to give them up or change them when I only have them on special occasions anyway. The last reason is that some Quorn and other meat substitutes contain egg in them and where I live there are still limited meat alternatives on the shelf already so I don't want to limit myself too much. As someone with disabilities, I can't cook often and when I can it needs to be quick or something not too hard to do as I have a lot of problems with my wrists and some full vegan meals can be challenging for me to make.

I'm really enjoying being vegetarian so far, and we went to our wedding tasting meal in November and I tried the 'allergy/dietary requirement' 3-course meal which was gluten, dairy, meat etc free and it was lovely. There are a few people who have helped with recommendations for foods to try which I'm thankful for, and although I still encourage Andy to eat meat and that I don't want him to ever feel like I'm wanting him to be vegetarian, he is loving some of the veggie options we've been eating together. He's decided to label himself as a flexitarian and has recently written about this on his blog. Here's to trying more veggie food in 2020!