Gluten Free Corn Dogs

Worth the $5.00! That is all I need to say.

Gluten Free Discount Hunt

Every now and then I hit up the grocery outlet, but mainly before a road trip. Since Mike and I are heading out of town for New Year's it seems only appropriate to see what I could find for cheap.

I've had these crackers before and really liked them.  Just $1.49 a box.

Gluten free, corn free pasta for $1.79, although I'm not familiar with the brand.  On a side-note I also found Schar brand pasta 50% off at my local Safeway.

Corn-thins, a good staple. Just $0.99.

Love these- Aidell sausage. $3.99

Nut thins, nacho flavor $0.99.

Plus a case of water for $3.00, coconut water for $0.89 and chocolate almond breeze for $1.25 and I was on my merry way.

San Diego Gluten Free Expo

This past weekend I went to San Diego for the Gluten Free Expo. I was the representative from my work, and I actually volunteered because I love the beach and have family in that area.  The expo was well publicized and organized.  I'm told roughly 3,000 people attended and other exhibitors like myself weren't anticipating that many folks and ran out of samples early.

I was hoping to be able to leave my table and socialize with some of the other vendors,  and check out some of the local bakeries in that area, but my time was very limited as the attendees just kept coming.  Overall it was a great day of meeting new people and sampling lots of treats.

Thai Thursday

I've been branching out and trying various flavor pallets.  This week we had spicy peanut bake, which is like Asian shake 'n bake, and peanut sauce on rice.  I found the flavor practically addicting. If you haven't tried anything like this, you really should.

Soy Taquitos

I haven't had taquitos in years.  Not something I would normally buy, but it's nice to have options. The ones I tried from Starlite were vegan, but I couldn't really tell the difference between chicken and tofu. They were very crunchy on the outside, and nice and soft on the inside, at least when you put them in the oven. You can put them in the microwave, but I'm not sure what they would be like. In any case,  I think I'll be buying these again.

Ingredients: Corn Tortilla (White Corn, Water, Lime), Water, Texturized Soy Flour, Onion, Mushroom, Corn, Beans, Soy Flour, Cornstarch, Yeast Extract, Salt, Celery Seed, White Pepper, Natural Spices, Garlic Powder, Onion Powder, Expeller Pressed Canola or Soybean Oil. WHEAT FREE, GLUTEN FREE

Peanut Butter & Co.

 I grew up on Skippy peanut butter and never realized the world of nut butters that was out there until I was exposed to it a few years ago. I've made my own peanut butter and it truly does not taste anything like the stuff that comes out of the jar.  The real thing, without corn syrup, without all that extra junk that gets added in, is seriously one of the best things I've ever tasted. Without making it from scratch, the Peanut Butter & Co. is hands down, the next best thing!

All Natural Peanut Butter & Co. are based out of New York and actually have a sandwich shop of cool different PB&J varieties, but they also sell several varieties of peanut butter, jams, and nuts.  The peanut butters are all gluten free and come in some awesome flavors, including cinnamon raisin, dark chocolate dream, and my favorite, white chocolate wonderful. White Chocolate Wonderful is smooth, it's sweet, plus it's actually dairy free, and makes incredible fudge!

Cashew Cheese

I think it is high praise for someone who can consume regular dairy-containing cheese to say a non dairy cheese is awesome, and that's how I feel about the Cultured Kitchen Cashew Cheese! The Cultured Kitchen is a small, local Sacramento company that is only in a few of the local health food stores. They offer veggie burgers a.k.a. "famous burgers,"raw crackers, minestrone soup, salad dressings, and among things, cashew cheese. She makes a creamy variety and a herb variety (no bell peppers), and my curiosity won.  For $5.50 I bought a container, I think it's 8 oz and had it with some crackers. It's not the type of cheese you can easily put on a sandwich, but it's great as a dipping cheese with crackers, bread, or veggies. It also combines with some shredded cheese: "daiya," to make a quesadilla. I still love a big cube of Gouda or cheddar, but I will be buying another container of this specialty item when I have a hankering.

Udi's Cookies!

I am a fan of Udi's and recently they expanded beyond breads and into the world of cookies.  Watch out though, the cookies contain dairy.  Check out all three varieties: Chocolate Chip, Oatmeal Raisin, and Snickerdoodle. Which cookie will reign supreme? Also, stay tuned till the end, as we get opinions on these things from more real live celiacs!

Toonie Moonie

"The focus of Toonie Moonie is not just to produce another line of organic foods, but rather to provide delicious, nostalgic confections that taste wickedly good AND are certified organic."

 

I used the caramel Toonie Moonie to make rice crispy treats they were very tasty.  Now I want to try their strawberry creme because I think it would make some great fudge!

Salame Time

So whenever I go to Costco I like to buy a large package of basic salami from Columbus. Little did I know the company offers over forty varieties of Salame, and have been in the business since 1917.  Those are just two little facts that I learned when I was recently sent a salami party kit.

Tomato Soup

If you haven't heard me say it before, well I'm shocked, but I HATE soup. I don't find it satisfying, and always makes me think of when I was young and ill, all I was allowed to eat was soup. Recently I found myself in the hospital and I had it noted that I was on a gluten free diet and what did they serve me for lunch- soup! Something I both personally dislike, and something that would make any gluten intolerant or Celiac person worried. No clue where the soup came from I was nervous. Gluten in my system would be a quite unpleasant addition to my already injured and delicate state. I wasn't that hungry anyway so I had a few spoonfuls but ate my cottage cheese and fruit.

When I came home from the hospital I still didn't have much of an appetite but knew I needed to eat.  I also didn't have the energy to make much for myself, so I went to the back of my pantry and pulled out a thing of...

Microwavable Brownie

Recently Pamela's Products introduced mini brownie packets: a single serving brownie packet that you mix up in a bowl and pop in the microwave. I normally have some sort of sweet snack on the ready: cake, cookie, or chocolate bars, but with still being in recovery mood, I haven't been as active in the kitchen.  I made a cake last week, but I'm all out, so I was eating candy, but that disappeared, so I finally pulled the brownie pack out of the cupboard.  You add some oil and some water, mix it up, and put in the microwave for about a minute.

For a single serving it was kind of large, it really is more like two servings, but for a super quick option, and great for kids, it was decent. In terms of consistency it turned out somewhere between a cakey brownie and a fudgey brownie, although I imagine you can control that a little bit more the amount of time you put it in the microwave. Not sure how much these single packets retail for because mine was a sample pack, but certainly a cool, quick option.

Inherently Good? I Don't Think So

I was given a sample of Jovial Cookies to try and the packaging and prospect excited me.  I set a goal of finishing a project before I would eat one, and man was that a let down.  The company offers both gluten free and not gluten free lines, and within those categories pasta and cookies.  Their motto is "inherently good," but oh were they bad.  They have "filled" (creme or fruit) cookies, and I tried one of the vanilla cremes.

Pamela's Cheesecake

I'm not one to typically buy a cheesecake, and it's not something I make on a somewhat regular basis either. I do love a good cheesecake, but they're just so dang high in calories. Pamela's Products offers both mini and small cheesecakes, and the mini ones are perfect as a treat or a dessert for one if you're having a dinner at a non gluten-free friendly place. They offer multiple flavors, like raspberry, hazelnut, plain, agave sweetened, and my favorite: lemon! For $5.00 a piece they sure are a nice, decedent treat.  And you can't tell the difference.  Only bummer for some of you, is that they all contain dairy.

Gluten Free Fish Nuggets

People on a gluten free diet no longer have to be deprived of fish and chips, and for me "chips" usually translates to mac and cheese. There's one little place in Oregon that I ate traditional fish and chips, gluten free style, but other than that I can't think of a time I've run across fish sticks or nuggets that were safe until recently.... but are they worth the cost?

Crepes!

My husband was a chef in another life, I swear. When we wants to cook/bake he can! We used up the end of a box of Gluten Free Pantry (GFP) Pancake/All Purpose mix and he made crepes with it. The GFP, in my opinion, just does not make good pancakes (separate review here), they come out thin, and limp, even after adding in more flour, but using the mix for crepes is the best idea ever!
He used this recipe as a spring board, focusing on the filling portion-AMAZING! For once a non-chocolate related dessert hit the spot and was completely satisfactory. Sometimes even after eating a cookie I still feel an urge, a yearning for a chocolaty end, but these strawberry crepes were heavenly.

If you haven't had gluten free crepes yet, or haven't found the right mix, look no further, this is it.

Rudi's Gluten Free Bread

Rudi's Original and Multi-Grain sampled in this episode of GFree TV. We put this bread through our garlic bread recipe to see how it stacked up against our favorite bread. All in all, it earned a respectable 3.5 stars. Although it has its shortcomings, it's great to see another good competitor in the bread section.

Gourmet Cheese Crackers

In the old days, we used to sprinkle shredded cheese onto a pan, fry it up until most of the grease separated from the cheese solids, and we had cheese crackers. Nowadays, we have Parmesan Crisps from Kitchen Table Bakers. They even got fancy schmancy on us and gave us several different flavors to try including Aged Parmesan, Italian Herb, Garlic, Rosemary, Jalepeno and more. So, given that these are crackers made out of cheese, what will all that cheese flavor do to the accent flavors this product is trying to convey to its customers taste buds? Guess you'll just have to watch and find out.

Gluten Free, Vegan Cheese that Melts

So I've been told that Daiya cheese is the vegan cheese of all vegan cheese! It's supposed to simulate cheese the best, and actually melt like regular cheese. While I love my dairy-containing cheese, I had to know for myself what the buzz was all about. The company offers three cheese options: mozzarella, cheddar, and Italian, but currently Italian is only offered in 5Lb bags, while the other two flavors come in both 5 lbs and 8 Oz packages. I picked up one mozzarella and one cheddar so I could try both out.

Immediately I can tell you this is not cheese. It does not smell cheese, look like cheese, or really taste like cheese, but it's a good solid alternative. Once I cut the packages open, the first thing that hit me was the smell. It reminded me of taking a whiff from the inside of a box of cheese it's: salty, and floury. It makes sense because this cheese alternative is not soy based, but who's base is tapioca and arrowroot.

And yes, it does indeed melt, but it takes longer than regular cheese. It's also not as stringy as hot cheese can get. Despite that, I give this brand of cheese a 7.5 out of 10, 10 being real cow's milk cheese. If you've had cheese, and was given Daiya without being told, you would most likely notice, but you wouldn't be put off. In other words, I now understand the positive buzz that's going around about Daiya.

Amy's Kitchen has GF DF Options

Amy's Kitchen sent us an entire meal: a personal cheese-free pizza, a dairy-free mac & cheese, and even dessert! We had our doubts about the pizza but to our surprise a cheeseless pizza doesn't have to be all that bad. The mac & cheese was a little floury/ricey, but once you add a little salt & pepper, we got over that. And the chocolate cake? Let's just say we haven't seen a chocolate cake like this come by in a long time. Ratings (out of 5 stars): Pizza [3.5], Mac & Cheese [3-3.5], Chocolate Cake [5+].