allergies

Self catering with allergies in Lanzarote

~ Laurna ~ 4 Comments

Just back from a week of winter sun in Lanzarote. December is a lovely time to visit as it’s warm and sunny but not dreadfully so. This was our second visit, last year the weather was very pleasant but windy and you needed a sweatshirt, this year it was glorious! Of course I’d packed for pleasant so I ended up rocking my husband’s swim shorts by the pool #stylish.

We flew with Jet2 which is my airline of choice for flying with a nut allergy. Lots of airlines have reasonable allergy policies but Jet2 have been consistently good. If you inform them prior to your flight that you have a severe nut allergy they don’t load nuts onto the plane which means they can’t make an announcement regarding not serving nuts then forget and still serve them (I’m looking at you EasyJet). It’s over 4 hours flight from Edinburgh to Lanzarote so I packed breakfast (muffins) to eat after check in (9.15am flight), lunch (filled rolls, crisps & fruit) to eat on the plane and plenty snacks as my kids eat about nine times what you would think they might need when travelling. I didn’t look into buying food on board as my son has multiple allergies and I think crisps are about all he can have from the in flight menu. I take lollipops for the kids for take off and landing.

We stayed in Puerto del Carmen which is only a short transfer from Arrecife airport. You could get a taxi to your accommodation but we hired a car so we could do a proper supermarket shop rather rely on the smaller resort supermarkets. You could probably manage shopping in town but it’s pricier and there is less choice.

There is a large Mercadona and a Hiperdino supermarket in Playa Honda near the airport.  I like Mercadona, I’ve shopped there in the Costa del sol as well and they’ve lovely fresh produce and a reasonable selection of dairy free milk. They also sell the nicest gluten free pasta I’ve eaten, I was convinced I’d bought wheat pasta by mistake it was so good.

They don’t have a free from section as such, just bits and pieces in with the regular products.

I bought gorgeous dairy free choc ices there last year but my son wasn’t that taken with them.

They have a selection of dairy free fruit yoghurts but they are all soya based so if you are milk and soya free your choices would be very limited (almost non existent). They also sell chocolate desserts and rather excitingly had chocolate mousse this visit (I’m easy excited by free from food).

A lot of the dairy free milks in Mercadona do not contain added calcium so check the label!

The Hiperdino has a fabulous free from section! I could have done all my shopping there apart from soya chocolate desserts as they only had a very small selection of soya fruit yoghurts. To my delight they had Gullon sharkie biscuits which my son loves and are free from gluten, milk, egg and nuts! (Contain soya lecithin). I stocked up on boxes to take home!

The free from aisle is just as you walk in the store.

They also have a large frozen section

There are a few options for dairy free spread.

I haven’t seen any dairy free cheese, I took some in a cool bag in my suitcase along with egg free mayo, chorizo sausage and pepperoni as the only cold meat I’ve been able to find that doesn’t contain milk is plain ham. I also packed some safe bread & rolls to freeze on arrival (handy to keep a packet for making a packed lunch for the journey home!), home baked biscuits and safe chocolate.

We did a big shop day one in the Hiperdino then I sent my husband back to the Mercadona day two for chocolate desserts. Our hire car was not very big so we dropped our suitcases at our villa and had a snack before going to the supermarket. There was a small spar near our villa which was handy for buying water and fresh bread for the wheat eaters among us.

We didn’t eat out. My son is allergic to milk, eggs, wheat, peanuts, treenuts, peas and lentils and it’s less stressful if we just feed ourselves. My husband cooked to give me a break. We keep it simple, baked potatoes, pasta, grilled meat. I packed some spice packets to liven meals up a bit. I took my own chopping board, grater, a frying pan and two cooking utensils. I also took lots of plastic clips for closing packets, you cannot take too many.

Restaurants are required to provide you with allergen information if you request it and this was clearly stated on menus outside them.

The Highlander too near where we were staying offered a full gluten free cooked breakfast (I discovered at the end of our holiday 🤦🏻‍♀️).

http://www.highlandertoo.co.uk/

Allergy action is a super resource for translations if you do wish to eat out.

https://allergyaction.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Translation-Spanish-a.pdf

We used their Portuguese translations to eat out one night last summer in Albufeira. I wrote out my son’s allergies and a list of questions and handed it to the waiter and my son had a super steak, chips & sliced cucumber which he really enjoyed. I however was so uptight I didn’t enjoy my meal at all and then cried and hugged the waiter when it all went well so my family aren’t best keen to eat out with me in public again.

We stayed in a villa with our own pool, I prefer a villa as you get a kitchen and full size fridge freezer as well as a dishwasher and a washing machine. I booked through Villa plus, we’ve used them several times.

Travelling home can be a challenge to cater for with a later flight. I don’t fancy an evening flight! We had to be out of the villa at 10am and the flight home was at 2.45pm. I made a double packed lunch and used a cool bag and ice packs which kept our food cool enough. No one complained about rolls & crisps for lunch at the airport then rolls & crisps for tea on the plane! I had plenty biscuits & sweets to keep us going as well.

I’d definitely go back, just perhaps not at New Year, they like a firework at New Year in Lanzarote which is probably fabulous if you are out celebrating but feels a bit like Armageddon in the back garden if you fell asleep at 9.30pm after a day of sunshine and a couple of glasses of fizz.

Short break at Ribby Hall Village in Lancashire

~ Laurna ~ 2 Comments

Our last couple of holidays have been abroad so you can imagine my delight last week packing for our stay at Ribby Hall with no baggage limits beyond what I couldn’t fit in the car. Ok delight is a strong word, packing is never much fun but it was certainly less of a challenge. 

We’ve stayed at Ribby Hall once before in October 2013 in a cottage at Fishermans reach which was lovely accommodation but we decided to treat ourselves to a 3 bed pine lodge this stay as the lodges have hot tubs which meant I could wear my bikini without having to board an airplane. 

  
Our lodge slept 6 and was very spacious and comfortable, well stocked (high chair, ironing board, toiletries) with tons of storage and 3 bathrooms. It was tucked away with 5 other lodges in amongst the privately owned holiday homes. 

  
The site looks big on the map but although peak season did not feel too busy and our lodge was in a quiet scenic corner. Our rowdiest neighbours were the ducks who tried to join us for meals several times and were quite put out I wouldn’t let them hang out in the lodge with us (this could be tricky in warmer weather if you had any doors left open!). 

  
I was particularly thrilled with the kitchen. As any allergy Mum knows you still do a lot of catering on holiday and having a good space to do it in makes such a difference! We had a full size fridge & freezer, lots of cupboard space (some holiday kitchens are so crammed with equipment there is no where to store groceries!) and clean modern looking kitchen equipment. 

  
Basic cleaning supplies, tea towels, teabags & coffee were supplied which was a lovely touch and a bonus as I hadn’t packed teabags! I brought a chopping board, sharp knife and cutlery & plates for the boy. I was actually ok to use the lodges crockery once it had been through the dish washer but I’m happier knowing I have safe stuff for him and I wouldn’t use an unknown chopping board!

  

We stayed four nights and ate out two at the Bar & Grill. I rang and spoke to the team leader there a few days before our visit and she was super helpful. I listed my son’s allergies – milk, eggs, wheat, peanuts, treenuts, peas & lentils and she went and spoke to the chef about catering for him. I could overhear the tone of their conversation if not the content and was gladdened by the positive upbeat voices. She came back to me to say they’d be happy to cook for him and if there was anything he particularly liked to eat they would order it in for him. This offer was reiterated to me during our stay. It was a very useful conversation and one my husband was delighted to listen in on as he knew if they were not confident and helpful we would not be eating out!

While the choice on the menu is limited, particularly for gluten free they will order safe pasta, pizza, fish fingers and chips for you. The regular chips are not safe as they are fried with other food but I have to say the oven chips they got in for us looked much nicer! My son ate an adult portion gammon steak both nights. There were other options (grilled chicken or steak) but gammon is his absolute favourite and I can vouch for it being tasty as I ordered the same meal the first night. I brought safe treats for pud. 

  
The sachets of ketchup looked OK ingredients wise but both my kids skin reacts to cheap tomato sauce so we brought our own with us. Classy I know. 

Top tips

  • The kids entertainment is held in the bar & grill. If you book a table for 7pm you can keep it for the evening. If you have tiny tots and this is late there are meal deals between 5 and 6pm. 
  • Do not wait till you get there to discuss your dietary requirements. While they go out of their way to be helpful it is LOUD and an almighty challenge to talk to your waiter/waitress beyond yelling your order. 

While very loud and busy eating later the kids were kept occupied and entertained while we waited for our food and during our meal. There is also a small shop selling flashing tat which was a big draw and there was a face painting/ fake tattoo stand. 

  
On the two nights we ate at the lodge we kept it simple. I’m not keen cooking away from my kitchen and only make stuff that can be cooked on lots of foil! Luckily my kids see baked potatoes and beans as a treat!

  
The weather was kind to us despite the grim forecast and we managed two days out without getting rained on. We used our Tesco club card vouchers to pay for both. 

Blackpool pleasure beach – I took safe snacks and a gluten free roll with dairy free cheese and we had lunch at Burger King. We just order a beef patty on its own and fries. 

  
If you have a child that would freak at wearing a wristband the nice ladies on the Pleasure beach tills will stick one on a piece of paper for you. You just need to write your child’s age and general description on the back. 

  

Our second day out was to Blackpool zoo and we took a simple picnic & snacks. The kids enjoyed the zoo, they loved the sea lion display and the play park and I enjoyed the wee bit of sunshine we had and the fact it’s built on the flat. Our nearest zoo at home is Edinburgh zoo which is famously steep! 

We had one full day on site and while there are plenty of activities available we took it easy with a stroll round the woodland trail (wellies absolutely essential!) a play at the park and shot on the amusements. I like that the amusements are separate from other areas so you don’t have to walk through them to get to the pool/entertainment. 

   
 
So all in all a lovely stay. Comfortable accomadation and safe options for eating makes for a happy mum. The hot tub helped! Absolutely gorgeous to sink into the heat on a rather cool April afternoon. Packing dressing gowns would have been a good plan though as it was freeeezing climbing back out! 

I didn’t visit the Spa hotel this holiday but I can recommend it from our previous stay. Heading up for a meander round the thermal journey and a treatment while the family unpack and make dinner is how every holiday should start.