Mac & Cheese to Go

Do I like convenience? Yes

Do I like Mac & Chesse? Yes

Was I excited about instant gluten free mac & cheese? YES

Is this product from Pastariso any good? Debatable.

Schar Pasta

I've been branching out within the world of gluten free pasta. Most stores don't have a very large selection, but I happen to have the benefit of a gluten free store really close to home, that has a nice spread of pasta brands, shapes, and sizes. Schar pasta is primarily made from corn and rice, so not my first choice, because I like to limit my corn intake, but I gave it a try, and it resembles regular pasta fairly well. It did not fall apart from too much stirring, it did not turn to mush after reheating leftovers, and my husband approved. I would probably buy this one again; I think it might be a good fit for pasta salad.

Biaglut Pasta

So I tried out this new brand of pasta, Biglut.  What can I say, it's first ingredient is corn, and here I am trying to limit my corn intake.  Sure corn holds up, and it's great for pasta salad, but am I more impressed with it than others? No. There is no need to pay close to $7.00 a bag for this pasta.  I would be even more happy with Bionature for $4.00 or $5.00 a bag, and that's made out of rice, potato, and soy. 

Miracle Noodles

Last fall I discovered a pasta alternative that was only 40 calories, (Tofu Shirataki Noodles), and then I stumbled upon miracle noodles: a soy free pasta substitute that has ZERO calories. Now the point is not that they are calorie free, but my pure astonishment with this product. They do not contain any nutritional value what so ever, as they only contain water, glucomannan (a soluble fiber), and a calcium additive. They are marketed 100% as a weight loss tool, and they just happen to be allergen friendly. It is products like these that, while offering an alternative to people who have multiple serve allergies, they also may aid in dysfunctional eating habits. Instead of forcing the consumer to be proactive in their food choices, we've giving them an out--you can keep eating... so what if they don't help my body function?

Simply Shari's Pasta Dish Meal

Simply Shari's offers both sweet and savory.  Their cookies are pretty tasty. I enjoyed their lemon shortbread cookies and my husband actually loves their fudge brownie cookies. I am not sure however they should have broken out and ventured into the pasta meal family.  After being pleased with their cookies my  expectations of the pasta were quite unrealistic.

Fresh Gluten Free Ravioli

 I heard rumors within the gluten free community about a gluten free ravioli that made an appearance at Costco. So during a regular trip to Costco I investigated and indeed found them in the refigeterated section. They are GIG certified and made by a California based company, Pasta Prima. They only offer an all cheese gluten free option, so sorry dairy allergic people, but these were amazingly good.  To have a fresh "homestyle" ravioli was amazing! They truly boiled up in 3-4 minutes just as the packaging said, which when a gluten free item says that on the packaging, I just chuckle, because it's not usually try.  I'll let the video tell you the rest, but overall these get the Debbie seal of approval.

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De Boles Pasta

Pasta seems to be one of the biggest struggles for people new to the gluten free diet. I typically buy either Tinkyada or Bionaturae. However, back in May I was sent some De Boles pasta and I finally made a pasta dish with it. De Boles is a cheaper pasta option, and for that reason I had always kind of stayed away from it, thinking that it would fall apart faster and not taste as good. I still feel that way about the basic rice option that comes in the blue box, but I recently tried the multigrain (quinoa and amaranth) option and found it very tasty. Hardy would be the word that best describes it. I like quinoa, but if you don't, or don't know if you do, the taste might be a little strong or off-putting for you. Would I buy this product again- maybe, although I really like the Bionaturae for my pasta salad.

Mrs. Leepers Pasta Dissapoints

Once I found a pasta that worked for me, I stuck with it. However for the good of the blog, and my readers, I thought it would be a good idea to try something new. Their were lots of options for me at my local store, and in the end I settled on Mrs. Leepers rice veggie twists, and I was very disappointed. I ended up throwing the entire bag away, 1/2 at a time, all within twenty minutes. Mrs. Leepers also has a line of corn pasta, which I may try in the future.

I tried the pasta twice, half a bag per time. The first time I was waiting for the water to reboil, I turned around after 5 minutes- supposed to cook for 7-9 minutes, and it was already mush. Ok, maybe too much heat, I think to myself, so I tried again. I didn't let the water come to a full boil, kept at medium heat the entire time, and after 5 minutes, the pasta was definitely done and still together. I drained it, rinsed it with cold water, and started mixing it into a bowl with other ingredients and it started falling apart. My pasta quickly became a gooey mess. Needless to say, I won't be using this pasta again.

Thai Kitchen's Remodeled Noodle Cart

Over the weekend I tried out the newly remodeled Thai Kitchen meal: The Sweet Citrus Ginger Noodle Cart. The name of this product is deceiving, as my husband I both concurred it was really spicy, and thus should be called Spicy Citrus Ginger instead. In fact, it was so spicy my tongue was on fire, and it actually upset my stomach a little, and normally spice and I don't disagree.

Besides for the spice issue, these new style meals have lots of noodles, but without any added protein it's not completely satisfying. I threw in some chicken and that made the meal more complete, but alas it was so spicy I couldn't finish it even though I wanted to. I didn't feel like there was an overwhelming amount of sauce, and thus by cutting back I could cut back the heat; I actually thought it was accompanied by just the right amount of sauce.

In the end, with wide rice noodles, and 460 calories without any added protein, I'd almost rather stick with my tofu miracle noodles. Not as convenient as you have to provide your own sauce, but those noodles are only 40 calories.

Low Carb Pasta Alternative: Tofu Shirataki

Chicken is a staple of us in my house, but I like to experiment with alternative, low calorie, low carb, and high protein options. I've slowly been exploring the world of vegetarian dishes, and tofu can be a big part of that way of eating. So a couple weeks ago I made a tofu soup, and then last week I stumbled upon a new product: Tofu Noodles from House Foods. They come in an 8 oz package found in the refrigerator section, and only have 40 calories in the entire package! If you're attempting to consume less carbs, but still want that bowl of pasta, this is a great option.

The noodle package suggested draining and intense rinsing before consuming them. They do have an interesting, slightly fishy smell that might be off putting, but work past it, rinse them, and it will disappear. Then I heated them up for about 30 seconds in the microwave, add whatever sauce you want, I just used butter the first time, and Alfredo the second time, and enjoyed it like pasta. They come in three pasta shapes: spaghetti, fettuccine, and angle hair. I will say the spaghetti is probably the one to start with, as the wider noodle of fettuccine did taste less like pasta and more like tofu, but the spaghetti, I could hardly notice. The noodles are somewhat elastic like pasta, and just slightly more chewy the regular pasta. With all that said, give these a try.

Gluten Free Egg Noodles

When I was a kid my mom make a pasta dish with egg noodles and cottage cheese, and I hadn't been able to closely replicate it until now. Around Christmas time I found gluten free egg noodles sitting on the shelf, and surprise, they aren't made of, or contain any eggs; they're corn based. Do they behave like egg noodles and taste like egg noodles? I want to say yes. The pasta does cook down quite a bit, so I used the whole bag for two people, but there were left overs. I also noticed this pasta needed a really good rinse after cooking to remove a slick residue, but I enjoyed the taste and texture.

After a little trial with the pasta I picked up another bag, and made a simple and tasty pasta dish. Cottage cheese, when heated acts and melts similarly to ricotta, but it's a lot cheaper. I sauteed some spinach, added the cottage cheese, some salt, pepper, and garlic, and whala.

Orgran High Fiber Pasta

I'm sure we have all found gluten free sweets that we all like, there doesn't seem to be a probably satisfying those sweet cravings when gluten free, but finding the right pastas or breads can be a little trickier. There are pastas made out of rice, corn, potato, quinoa, etc, but not many that have a really decent to high level of fiber until now.

Recently added on the shelf at my local health food store I found the Orgran essential fibre pasta. Orgran caters to those who are gluten free, wheat free, dairy free, egg free, yeast free, soy free, nut free, vegan, and for this product...high fiber! One serving of this pasta has 40% of your daily intake of dietary fiber, which is like...wow! That's awesome, but is it tasty?

My husband and I tried out the penne and it has a great taste and texture. He referred to it as "normal for gluten free," meaning it was one of the closest pastas to resemble regular, wheat-containing pasta. I feel like it was a sturdier pasta; one that can handle a lot of stirring, unlike some other pastas. After I added some sauce, and served it up, I left the extra on the burner on super low, "1" and came back to it in 10 minutes the pasta did start to break down a little, but I know with one more stir other brands would have been completely mush. As for cost, it is slightly on the more expensive end, at about $5.50/bag, but then it seems the more healthy options tend to cost more, negating fruits and vegetables. Overall, we'll be having this again. :-)

Conte’s Stuffed Shells

We liked Conte’s raviolis when we last reviewed them, but have you ever wondered if those stuffed shells you’ve seen are worth a try? Well, they are! But they’re not without their misgivings: the cheese never sticks to the shells, causing a one-after-the-other eating experience. On the bright side, you get to decide which to eat first: the ricotta cheese or the shell. Add your favorite pasta sauce to complete the meal.

Conte's Pasta Microwave Meals

A while back I received a generous delivery from Conte's Pasta. Their raviloi are fantastic, their pizzas could use some serious work, so how did their microwave meals fare? Well we were sent at least 1 of each of their microwave meal options which come in the following meal options: Cheese Lasagna, Meat Lasagna, Vegetable Lasagna, Cheese Stuffed Shells, Cheese Manicotti, Cheese Raviloi
and Spaghetti & Meatballs.

So 1 container has 2 servings and retails for about $10. Do I think it's worth it? Well yes and no. During the heating process the meals got pretty liquidy, and with a few of the meals we actually had to drain the liquid into the sink. And due to the extra liquid the pasta really broke down and pretty much feel apart. Specifically the lasagna became more like a cheesy tomato soup, and did not retain any resemblance to lasagna.

The cheese ravioli and the shells on the other hand were better, maybe because I got smart, and half way through the heating process I removed the shells from the plastic container with the liquid and put them on a plate. I think this prohibited them from falling apart, and made the meal much more enjoyable. They had a great cheesy flavor. And we actually ran out of freezer space, so we gave a few of the meals to our gluten-consuming friends to see what they thought, and they were all generally happy with them. Those who tried the Spaghetti and Meatballs thought the meatballs were better than expected for a frozen meal, and said it slightly resembled spaghetti O's in both taste and texture.

The final verdict: A little too saucy, but the flavor is right now. With a little tweaking I think these meals could be a really good to great product option for gluten free folks.

GFree Tv Episode 23: Gluten Free Ravioli

Have you had any decent gluten free ravioli? Well now there is a frozen option! I reslly liked the spinach and cheese, even though a few popped while they were boiling.

Stuffed Shells

I finally saw large gluten free pasta shells at the health food store a few weeks ago and was super excited. When I was younger my mom made some delicious stuffed shells, which is pretty much a variation of lasagna, but slightly less involved. For some recipes I like to make enough so that I can freeze a portion for later, thus this recipe yields two 8 X 8 pans, so you may want to cut it in half. The only criticism I got on this entree was that it could have used more cheese.
Ingredients
1 box gluten free pasta shells
1 lb ground turkey
1/4 yellow onion, finely chopped
12 oz pasta sauce
12 oz cottage cheese
1/8 teaspoon minced garlic
2 teaspoons dried oregano
1/4 tablespoon dried basil
Salt to taste
Black pepper to taste
16 ounces shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions
1. Cook shell pasta in a large pot with boiling salted water until al dente. Drain well.
2. In a large skillet brown the ground turkey and onions. Remove from heat and drain grease.
3. To the meat add pasta sauce, cottage cheese, and 8 oz mozzarella; stir well.
4. Add basil, oregano, garlic, salt, and pepper to taste. Stir until well blended.
5. In the bottom of a baking dish, cover with a 1/4 cup of pasta sauce.
6. Stuff shells with turkey mixture and place side by side in dish.
7. Cover stuffed shells with mozzarella cheese.
8. Cover with aluminum foil.
9. Bake at 350 degrees F for 1 hour.

Glutino Frozen Dinners

Glutino came out with a line of frozen meals earlier this year. They introduced Chicken Pomodoro, Chicken Pad Thai, Chicken Ranchero and Chicken Penne Alfredo, and I'm trying the Penne Alfredo for dinner tonight. The flavor is decent, and the sauce seems to be the right consistency; not too runny. The chicken's good; has a nice taste as if grilled or broiled, not tough or chewy like some prepacked chicken. There were 3 larger pieces of chicken in the dish, probably so it all heats evenly, but it would be nice to already have smaller pieces.

The price point was a smidge high, as these meals are $6 a pop, and for that cost I'd prefer a frozen pizza. Overall I give this frozen dinner a solid B, as if I had the time I could certainly whip a similar dish up that tastes just as good or better, but if I was in a rush, this is certainly something I wouldn't mind having in my freezer.