Tuesday 17 June 2014

Suitcase Haul USA Eats

So I traveled to Orlando with 2 1/2 suitcases and come back with 4! Oops!
Travelling in Premium Economy works to my advantage as we are allowed two suitcases each. The last few years we've been to America we have taken one suitcase each then brought a cheap hold all type case from Walmart for around $20 to bring back. This year we decided to take the two bags we'd previously brought in our luggage so we could reuse them. 

When I go to America I not only like to eat as much freefrom stuff as I can while I'm there but I also like to bring as many of my favourites back as I can. This takes a bit of clever packing to get things back in one piece. Before I go on to what I brought back here's a few ways I transport things home. 

I make sure everything is wrapped in two carrier bags (I save these from all our shopping trips during the holiday). Things that can be packed in the suitcase that aren't too fragile I wrap in clothes or put between layers of clothes. I've successfully brought a bottle of sweet tea vodka and a carton of cashew milk back by using extra carrier bags and ensured they were in the middle of a well packed suitcase with study sides. Do this at your own risk though. I like to take with me a small insulated cool bag as I always bring back items that need to be kept cool. I fill this with my purchases and add in some freezer packs (brought from Walmart). Again I wrap all in a carrier in case of any leakages. Up to yet I've had no problems doing it this way. Anything more delicate I put in my hand luggage as long as the airline allow it (mainly crisps).


My two small cool bags and freezer packs


Suitcase Haul

So above is this years haul:

1. Chex cereal quickly became a favourite. The cinnamon ones were amazing so I brought home a few other flavours too to try. They are rice based. More GF/DF/EF cereals needed in UK!
2. Earth Balance Cheese Puffs. My all time favourite American crisps. They are just like Wotsits but gluten free and dairyfree, win!
3. Bobs Red Mill, I actually brought the pancake mix to use while there but didn't get round to it so brought it back along with a pizza base mix to try. 
4. Enjoy Life soft baked cookies. I tried the chocolate ones while I was there and loved them so brought back a pack of Choc and Ginger to try. Recently found these in Tesco on the Lifestyle Aisle if you'd like to try.
5. Lucy's Lemon cookies. I loved these so had to stock up. Lucy's are available in the UK wholefoods stores.
6. K-Toos are my favourite Oreo alternative. They are dairy, egg and gluten free and yummy.
7. Justin's Peanut Butter cups. These are the dark ones as they contain no dairy. I found these in Wholefoods. They are a great Reece's alternative. 
8. Daiya. This is my favourite dairyfree cheese but sadly it's only available in America. I actually brought back double of what's in the photo. This is what I pack in my cool bag with ice packs. It is amazing. It melts and stretches just like proper cheese and has a great taste. They also have some cream cheese spreads and a selection of frozen pizzas (I would have brought those back if I could). No trip to America is complete without a stash of Daiya. 
9. So Delicious Cashew milk. I tried this while there and I loved it. It was a fab cocktail base too with iced cake vodka and a drop of cookies & cream milkshake flavouring. 
10. I found a few other items to bring home that happen to be free from everything I have to avoid. One being a chocolate mint whipped peanut butter. It's a limited edition that I found in Walmart. I found little bottles of milkshake flavourings and ice tea flavourings to use in drinks. The token American sweets, on this occasion Laffy Taffy and grape ice cube chewing gum. Two squeezy tubs of grape jelly (jam) and some cold brew Twinnings iced teas which I found at Epcot in the British shop (unfortunately not available in Britain tho!)

I could have brought home a lot more but I didn't have the space. Boo! 
As I always say, America have an amazing selection of foods for special diets. I think they have a lot bigger range than the UK. I hope more of their brands make it over to the UK because everyone would love them. 

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