Hula Hoops (edible ones!)

It's a happy day indeed when a girl discovers that she can eat Hula Hoops (albeit only the 'Original' variety). KP have removed all artificial colourings, flavourings and MSG from the recipe,* which makes them a-okay for the anti-Candida diet. Woohoo!

* though I'm trying not to think about the fact that one of the ingredients - potassium chloride - is the constituent of lethal injections (for execution purposes). :S

Once you pop...

Oh, blessed day! Marks & Spencer has begun manufacturing its own version of Pringles (aka 'Stackers'). And, guess what? The Lightly Sea Salted variety are anti-Candida diet okay!

Two more fruit bars and a rant

Was delighted to find a couple of new (well, new to me) brands of fruit-based bars at my local independent health food store. Larabar Cherry Pie (very tasty) made entirely of cherries, dates and almonds and Go Natural Fruit Medley, which comprises dried peach, apricot, apple, pear, mango and pineapple with some rice flour and non-scary preservatives.

American and Australian manufacturers lead in this area. Off the top of my head I can only recall one manufacturer, Village Bakery, that produces candida-friendly (although, it should be pointed out that these - and those referred to above - aren't specifically marketed as suitable for the diet) in the UK. And the resultant food miles really bothers me. Come on all you snack and cake bar producers - get your acts together!!!

Snacks that'll blow your head off! Seriously!

I was in Holland & Barrett the other day, and starving hungry. I didn't want to go down the fruit snack route (I'm trying to curb my consumption - I think they may be responsible for my recent flare-up). Eventually, after scouring the shelves, I found Wakama Seasoned Snacks - a kind of Japanese-style potato crisp. And they seem to be anti-Candida diet friendly and they were on sale!

Ingredients:

potato starch
tamari (jury's out on this one - I'm allowed soy sauce, so I'm guessing a bit of tamari isn't too bad)
rice bran oil
carrot
cabbage
spinach
green pepper
wasabi powder (ouch!)
parsley
lettuce
sea salt
onion
barley malt (ooh, hang on, is that okay?)
job's tear (hatomugi)
wheat germ

They're pretty tasty and moreish too. But watch out for the wasabi, several of the crackers brought tears to my eyes!

STOP PRESS - barley malt is used as a sweetener. Oh, bugger!

Sweet things continued

In my continuing quest for sweet, but anti-Candida diet friendly, things to eat, I've come across Fruit 4U bars, made by Lyme Regis Foods and purchased at Waitrose, as individual bars or in boxes of five. There are three flavours: Apple, which is okay; raspberry, the best in my opinion, and black cherry, which I haven't tried as it doesn't appeal. They're kind of similar to the Frutina Fruit Snacks I bought at Holland & Barrett, but more cakey and less leathery. Not bad, anyway.

The raspberry version (which is what I have to hand at the moment) is comprised of 94% fruit (apple and raspberry juice concentrate - 10%), non-hydrogenated palm oil, pectin, soya lecithan and natural flavours (whatever those may be).

Here's a photy from the Lyme Regis Food website so you'll know what to look out for.

Anti-candida friendly products at Sainsburys

I've made a couple of really useful discoveries at Sainsburys recently. The first is an organic seed bar, manufactured by 'The Village Bakery' and sold in packs of four. It's similar to the Wallaby Bar I've already written about, but less sticky and more crunchy, a bit like a Jordan's Crunch Bar (or at least, how they used to be - haven't tried one for years!). The ingredients are:

Rice-syrup 38%
Oats 14%
Puffed Rice 12%
Coconut
Concentrated Apple Juice
Pumpkin Seeds 4.8%
Sunflower Seeds 4.6%
Linseeds 4.4%
Sesame Seeds 4.4%
Low sodium sea salt

Okay, to be fair, there are a couple of things in there to regard with some caution, the puffed rice is probably not brown and the concentrated apple juice is a no-no if you're just starting out on the diet (though the bars really aren't very sweet), and I'm still not certain about the status of rice syrup, but as an occasional treat I can't see how they could do too much harm. The manufactuers also make a nut bar which looks okay; will try them next! As an added bonus (especially to me as I currently attempting to single-handedly save the planet!), they are - according to the label - baked using renewable energy sources.

The other new find is a liquid vegetable stock produced by Knorr. Unlike so many other ready-made stocks it doesn't contain yeast extract, or monosodium glutamate (assuming you can trust the ingredients list!):

Water
Vegetables (Leek, Mushroom, Celeriac, Carrot)
Salt
Garlic Puree
Spices
Herbs

Damn those mushrooms though! If it wasn't for them it would be perfect. But as mushrooms are hotly contested (with regards to whether or not they are allowed on the anti-Candida diet), I think their inclusion here can be excused. The only real disadvantage I can see with this stock over the cubes produced by Kallo, is that the whole packet has to be consumed within three days (450 ml). That's a lot of soup, especially if - like me - you only cook for one. Still, it's a useful store cupboard standby.

By the way, I've started to get my food delivered by Sainsburys. One big advantage they have over Tescos is that the complete ingredients lists for many products, including home brand ready meals, can be consulted online.

Snacks!

At long last I've found a range of snack bars (which are actually quite delicious) and suitable for an anti-Candida diet! They're made by Wallaby Australia and are available from 'Holland and Barrett'. I've tried the yoghurt fruit and nut bar (see picture) and the macadamia and cashew bar. Both really, really good :)

They probably wouldn't be suitable for someone just starting out on the diet (because of the nuts and fruit), but for those maintaining, like me, they should be fine.