I will be visiting England, primarily in the Fulham area, but a short visit to the Midlands (Up the Wolves); does anyone have any suggestions on where I can buy food to prepare myself. In Canada, I periodically have a protein shake I make from rice protein, are such items available in England, and if so, under what name? Anything in the way of a balanced energy bar for O-Nonnies , keeping in mind that we need protein? Can you get healthy pub meals that avoid wheat products, potatoes and dairy?
Thank you in advance for any replies.

Janet might pop in w/ some suggestions in a bit.
Have you thought about getting some Unibars for your trip. They may not be as high in protein as for what you are looking, but they'd be a good snack, or get me to the next meal, source w/o all the avoids.
Have a great trip!!

Thanks for the suggestion; unfortunately, I have been unable to find Unibars in Canada. Not sure if they are sold here or not.

As far as I know, Unibars are available only thru NAP.
http://www.dadamo.com/napharm/.....Foods%20and%20Drinks

Quoted from Howard

Thanks for the suggestion; unfortunately, I have been unable to find Unibars in Canada. Not sure if they are sold here or not.

Hi Howard,

Unibars can be ordered in Canada through ABO Essentials, which is run by our very own ex-blogger Mike Staffieri.

Quoted from Whimsical

nibars can be ordered in Canada through ABO Essentials,

is this different from NAP?

same thing just distributed in Canada......

Thanks for the suggestion on Unibars, unfortunately, as my plane leaves this evening, I am afraid I left my query until too late. At least when I get back I should be able to have built up a base of knowledge of where to shop for food and eat in England. Once again, thanks for everyone's help!

Shame that Howard had to go so quickly, I emailed him, perhaps he'll see it sometime whist in England.
Happy Hols Howard!!

Caught your email Janet, hope you received my reply; you were most helpful! Here 30 hours and I can easily say that Indian and Chinese restaurants are the only way to go. Neither dairy nor wheat figures prominently in their diets, God bless 'em!

Good news Howard!! Was the health food shop of the Holland and Barrett chain?

Howard, please keep us updated on your visit, okay?  

Hi Howard

No I don't think you will find your rice protein here. I have not seen it. Yes Chinese and Indian restaurants do not generally use wheat or dairy. I am going to have a problem myself soon....in Germany where I will not have any restaurants around, so I am planning on canned fish, fruit nuts and seeds mainly though I may be overcome with temptation for the German cakes.

Try to find one of the better Indian ones as some use a lot of colours and additives that are not very good. Ask around. Fish and chips are right out I suppose. Pity. If you go to the supermarkets Lydl or Aldi, they are both German and the tinned fish is good and cheap. Germany has strict food laws.

I don't know about the balanced energy bars as I am just getting into this diet myself. Better to stick to fruit and dried nuts I think. One thing I found in Holland and Barrett were sesame seed and date syrup bars. They were very good.
Have a good time!

Brenda, re your comment on the supermarket Lydl - we have them here in southern Spain too. Today I opened a can of Tuna, purchased from Lydl's....the tuna is from Ecuador!!!

Hi Janet

Yes I remember seeing them when I was in Spain. The vegetables they sell come mainly from Holland in the UK so I suppose they just use the cheapest source, which would be Germany for fish for us but somewhere else in other countries?

[quote=brenda50]...Yes Chinese and Indian restaurants do not generally use wheat or dairy...quote]

Its the 'hidden' ingredient in virtually all of the noodles (even the majority of the Rice Noodles), also Chinese food here uses a LOT of Cornstarch for the sauces.

If you make it to Cambridge, there is a good HFS called the Daily Bread Co-Op.
http://www.dailybread.co.uk  {also in northampton, never been there}
The closest I've seen to an American HFS, and they do mailorder.

http://www.lidl.co.uk and http://www.aldi-stores.co.uk are great stores - but not much selection of organic produce, though there is usually something...

I believe http://www.hollandandbarrett.com has a regional office with priced reduced and bulk on Norwich.

My favourite is in Bury St. Edmunds: Butterworth's Health Food & Herbs

Thanks, I will look for hollandandbarrett! An alternative that works here is ordering fish (without chips) taking it home and then stripping off the bread batter, Not ideal, but any ship in a storm. I discovered Wawagama, or something like that, in Putney, it specializes in noodle dishes, but has several rice dishes as alternatives, a couple are compliant. Also, they sell carrot juice!!
I always ask for sauces on the side to dip rather than drown my food in. Most often I never use any sauce. I find though that they will often have a problem with a 'no sauce' order and get some on the food. A hearty, 'Sauce on the side.' accompanied by a piercing glare will usually get the result I need.
In one chinese restaurant I asked them to list exactly what was on the food, they did so, it was compliant, I ordered it...and it came covered in soya sauce. More glares on both sides and I compromised by having them run the food under the tap for 60 seconds.

JUST FINDING NON-SMOKING ESTABLISHMENTS IS AN ADVENTURE HERE. ONE PLACE STATED, YES WE HAVE A NON-SMOKING ROOM, BUT IT IS ONLY OPEN AFTER 5:00!
(Sorry caps lockede on accidentally.... Will bring in more reports as time allows.

Yeah...that's what I meant when I said 'the menu, is usually, the menu'.....it's a challenge!!!
Keep having fun!!

Well, how about steak and salad?  You can get that in most restaurants although you'd have to ask them to leave off the chips and substitute the salad/other veg instead...you can also get stuff like dried meat to nibble(Biltong).  Also, most supermarkets sell roast beef/chicken and also smoked fish in their deli counters...or ready cooked warm chickens...again all of these would work with a salad of some description/veg.  

I realise that none of this is organic but it is food and fairly compliant.

if you're in the North East London area or vicinity of, here is one excellent Health Shop.

Food & Fitness
43, Old Church road,
Chingford,
London E4 6SJ

0208 524 0722

http://www.foodandfitness.co.uk

They are excellent.Fantastic nutritionists.Helpful & amenable to ordering whatever you want where possible.excellent advice given.

I discovered the cooked, warm, chicken breasts in a Sainsbury in Putney. Also, chicken legs ready to eat. It was a lowered price near the end of the day. Found a good tuna steak dinner, with steamed veggies on Fulham road at the Rialto Cafe, salad included (avacadoes!) came to £7.50, quite tasty!

a lot of the larger sainsburys,tescos & morrisons do cooked chickens & pieces too.
all round London.

A fascinating site, I return home on Friday, but hope to browse the markets with my daughter this Friday! Thanks!!