GF/DF Week 3, Funny Story, Amazon, and Granola Bars

I made it through another week. This week was hard, I'm not going to lie. Chocolate is my best friend and I've been thinking about it constantly. It's a weakness. It's hard too that everywhere I look there is delicious Easter candy on sale. Of all the holidays (and yes, I do rate them based on candy selection), Easter candy is my favorite. Delicious chocolate bunnies and tiny chocolate eggs and, even better, chocolate eggs stuffed with all kinds of yummies...I love it all and I'm lusting over it in the aisles of the grocery stores. Ben was also having a bit of a rough week (I'm blaming a growth spurt) so I was feeling a bit defeated. But I stuck it out and I have decided to divert my attention to making homemade strawberry sorbet. Hooray!

While I'm talking about my adjustment to being dairy free, I have to share a funny story. Last Saturday, Brandon and I were celebrating our anniversary 2 days early and went to dinner at the same fancy restaurant we go to every year. I was concerned about navigating the menu now that I had extra precautions to take. I made sure to tell the waiter to omit the butter on my steak, and we had him hunt down a GF/DF dessert option (hence my new obsession with strawberry sorbet) and I thought, Yay! I aced my first restaurant trip! So here's the funny part -- I was really worried about my salad course. They had a wedge salad but I knew I couldn't have ranch dressing on it. I'm not much of a fan of other dressings so I chose something else...something that only had oil and vinegar on it! What was it?? Fresh Mozzarella and Sweet Tomato salad. Caprese, essentially. I ate it, enjoyed it, didn't think anything of it and neither did Brandon! HAHAHA. I was sooo concerned about avoiding the dairy in ranch dressing that I ate three slices of mozzarella cheese without so much of a second thought. But what makes this story even funnier? I didn't realize that I did this until a WEEK later. For some reason, that salad popped in my head and I stopped and thought--Waaaaiiiitttt a second...mozzarella is cheese! I told Brandon later and he had the same reaction as me! I can't believe we missed that!! Hahaha--duuuhhhhh. I've been so used to just looking for hidden gluten that it's kinda hard to switch gears and analyze all ingredients for dairy too. Oy. Well, there's always a learning curve!!

In other news, I have to say that I love love love Amazon. I buy a rediculous amount of stuff from there already, but I've just recently discovered the joys of ordering gluten free products from there as well. For example, my 6-pack of Kinnikinnick Animal Cookies just arrived today and I'm already plowing through my first box. But what's even better is that you can get a 3-pack of Udi's gluten free granola or if you don't want to commit to one flavor, you can get their sampler pack! How convenient is that?!?! I love it! What I especially love is that a 3-pack is only $14.00 which equals out to about $4.67 a pouch. I think at Sprouts I pay $5-6 each! Ouch! I love their granola so this is a major SCORE for me!! (By the way, I'm not getting paid or anything to say this, I'm just genuinely excited to find this as I can't always get to Sprouts when I'm out of these things because of the little one.)

Finding Udi's gluten free granola sold in bulk on Amazon is perfect timing because I just made the most addicting gluten free granola bars!! I use to love putting their granola in yogurt but since I can't do that anymore, I had to find a different way to get my fix. Granola bars are perfect because I can grab it quick and eat it on the go and one-handed! That is a must these days! The batch I just made last Friday barely lasted through the weekend; it was sooo addicting.

Here's the recipe in case you want to give it a try. I'm going to type it up exactly as I did it. I had to wing it a bit because I discovered that my light brown sugar was as hard as a rock. So I improvised and used granulated sugar and 2 tablespoons of molasses. My next time making it I will probably half the molasses because that flavor was very prominent to me when I first bit into it. These are also pretty sweet so make adjustments according to your preference.

Chewy Gluten Free Granola Bars

1/4 cup butter (I used dairy free Earth Balance)
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons molasses
1 package Udi's gluten free Au Naturel granola
1 cup Enjoy Life Perky's Flax cereal
1 tablespoon flax seed meal
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon xantham gum
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a medium size bowl, combine the granola, flax cereal, flax seed meal, cinnamon, xantham gum, salt, and vanilla extract. Set aside. Combine butter, honey, sugar, and molasses in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil and cook until sugar is melted. Remove from heat and add to the bowl of dry ingredients. Toss the mixture to completely combine and coat. Spread and pack firmly into a greased 13 x 9 inch pan. I let it sit for a couple of hours at room temp to harden up. You can also speed up the process by putting in the refridgerator for an hour or so.

These were so delicious I'm making a second batch today. :)

Glutenfreeda’s Frozen Burritos

I heard about these gluten free frozen burritos from Glutenfreeda a while back on Twitter. I knew they were going to be in Sprouts, but I could never find any. Finally, I found the Vegetarian Bean & Cheese and the Breakfast Burrito at the Sprouts in South Chandler, AZ. Not long after this amazing discovery, I found out they were also being carried at Gluten Free Country Store, as well as the Chicken & Cheese burrito.

The first burrito I tried, and my favorite, was the Vegetarian Bean & Cheese burrito. I’m sorry I don’t remember how much I paid for each exactly, but I think it was around $3.

Along with beans and cheese, this burrito also includes organic corn and rice, which was a lovely surprise! I really enjoyed both of those ingredients in the burrito. It helped make it a little more substantial as a meal.

The burrito itself doesn’t photograph well, but I know that I am always curious about the look of foods I haven’t tried. Texture is everything! So here it is, fresh from the microwave:

These are very simple to make: cut off one end of the package and microwave on one side for 1 minute, then flip to the other side for another minute (give or take depending on your microwave). Then fight with the package to get the burrito to slide out and on to your plate (it likes to stick). Or I guess you could probably grab some scissors and cut the package. It’s almost embarrassing that I didn’t think of that solution until now. Ha.

Texture-wise these are awesome. The tortilla is unlike any other gluten free tortilla I’ve had. It is very soft and not unlike it’s wheat-y predecessor. Flavor-wise, this burrito was good. I liked it, however, I did feel it was a little bland. Nothing a little salsa and sour cream couldn’t fix though!

I tried the Chicken and Cheese flavor and I liked it. Though the chicken wasn’t really overly noticeable. The breakfast burrito—well, I was not a fan whatsoever. I recommend skipping that one unless you’re one who needs to learn firsthand from your mistakes. :)

I love to have several of these in my freezer for something quick to grab to take for lunch or for nights where I just can bare the thought of cooking anything.

Glutenfreeda definitely accomplished something wonderful when they created these gluten free burritos!

Pamela’s Gluten Free Mini Cheesecakes

These cheesecakes are something that I had no idea even existed. So imagine my surprise and delight when I found them at Gluten Free Country Store!

Pamela’s makes these mini cheesecakes in three different flavors: Original, White Chocolate Raspberry, and Zesty Lemon. Each sell for $4.99. I am a big fan of anything lemon flavored so I decided to give it a try first.

I could barely wait to get through my dinner before I wanted to tear into this. I shared with my husband because I feel the size is a little too big for one person.

This cheesecake was fantastic. There was absolutely nothing wrong that I could find. It was rich, thick, creamy, and flavorful. The lemon was very prominent, but not overpowering. The crust is made from gingerbread, which I was slightly concerned about beforehand. I am not a gingerbread fan. However, when you are eating it, you can’t really taste it. There was probably only a few times that you could really taste the bite of the gingerbread. But for a non-gingerbread loving gal such as myself, it wasn’t terrible at all.

I really loved this cheesecake and will definitely be buying it, and the other 2 flavors, in the future!

Conte’s Gluten Free Cheese Ravioli

I have been silently pining for Conte’s gluten free cheese ravioli for a while. I found them on the internet probably close to 2 years ago. I tried to order them online, but quickly aborted that mission when I found out that shipping would be more than I make in year. I refused to EVER pay more for shipping than the actual product, and so, I lived without ravioli for 2 loooong years.

If you asked me what I missed most since being gluten free, ravioli would have be right at the top of that list. It’s one of those things that you just can’t make yourself without it being a HUGE production. Rolling my own pasta dough and stuffing it myself? No thanks. I was not interested in that at all.

That brings us the the present. The present is where I think I peed myself a little when I found Conte’s gluten free cheese ravioli in the freezer at Gluten Free Country Store. I was so excited. I think I skipped over to it, but I’ve sworn Gary to secrecy as to that embarrassing act.

…

Wait. Ah, whatever, we’re friends, right?

This pasta could not be any easier to make. You take it straight from the freezer and drop it into simmering water. Let it cook for about 8 minutes or until done.

Top with your favorite pasta sauce. We used Newman’s Own Roasted Garlic pasta sauce. Deeee-lish.

I really liked these ravioli’s. They were a little pricey ($8.99 and I think there were 12 good sized ravioli’s in the bag) but after waiting 2 years and crying over shipping prices, I was more than happy to pay the price. My only real complaint? I thought the texture of the pasta was kind of gummy. I’m not sure if I cooked it right though. I’ll have to go for round 2 to see if I get different results.

Have you tried these? What was your experience with them?

Udi’s Gluten Free Bread

Stop what you're doing. Now, go throw away all those gluten free bread mixes in your cabinet. Shred all those recipes you've printed from the internet for gluten free bread. Dig into the depth of your freezer and banish those frozen loaves to the garbage can.

I have found the end-all, be-all of gluten free bread. Udi's has created a product that will change the way you think about gluten free bread and will keep you coming back for more. Forever.

First of all, I have to give a big shout out and HUGE thank you to Gluten Free Steve for introducing me to the miracle that is Udi's gluten free bread. Thanks Steve, for spreading the word to the gluten free community about this spectacular product!

If you live in Arizona, I have fantastic news for you. Sprouts is now carrying Udi's gluten free bread in their stores!!! I have been stalking 3 different locations since the announcement was made by @udisglutenfree on Twitter on December 22nd. And today, a seemingly unassuming day, turned into the happiest day of my life. Today, I found the bread in the freezer section at Sprouts, and to top things off, it was on sale, a mere $4.49 a loaf (which is cheap for GF bread).

Udi's gluten free bread is sold frozen at Sprouts and can be thawed at room temperature. Once thawed, it is amazingly shelf stable. No refridgeration needed. You could refridgerate if you wanted to, but you won't have to. This won't last long enough in your house. But if you're skeptical about how fast you'll devour this bread, I'll ease your worries by saying you could easily leave this on your counter, fully defrosted, for 2 weeks and it'll still be soft and delicious (and not moldy) on day 14.

When your loaf first thaws, I guarantee you'll be amazed by how soft the loaf is. You'll pick up the package and squeeze--and the bread will actually give, much like those, ahem, mainstream wheaty breads. I've never known a gluten free bread to not feel like a brick. Then, you'll open the package and grab a couple of slices. The texture will blow you away! Light, airy, little holes all over!

But then, and here's the kicker. No really, you won't believe this. This is practically unheard of when it comes to gluten free bread.

You won't toast this bread. You will bypass your toaster all together. Sorry little guy, you won't be needed as much anymore.

You will go straight for the mayo and mustard, or for the peanut butter and jelly. And you know what? You'll take a bite of your finished sandwich and you will die. DIE. Because can you remember the last time you had untoasted bread? The last time you had a gluten free grilled cheese sandwich that didn't taste and feel like your Kraft cheese slices were stuck between two sponges? The last time you had just plain ol' toast with jelly in the morning? The last time you had a BLT? (*swoon*). No, you probably can't remember, and neither could I.

But Udi's has changed this gal's gluten free life. And it could change yours too!

If you're in Arizona, make it a priority to hit up a Sprouts and pick up a loaf or two. Or, if you live elsewhere, visit the Udi's website and see about ordering it online (p.s. their muffins are magnificent too). You could also talk to them on Twitter at @udisglutenfree and see if they are carried anywhere close to you. Heather at Udi's is incredibly helpful and friendly, so don't be afraid to say hello!

Oh, and WHEN you try this bread, let me know what you think! I've never been this excited about a gluten free product ever.

**** Updated to Add:

Gluten Free Country Store in Gilbert, AZ is also carrying Udi's products!!! AND they are carrying more products than Sprouts!

They have Udi's gluten free whole grain bread, blueberry muffins, lemon streusel muffins (which are amazing), and their pizza crusts (which I have heard people RAVE about)! So, if you want more selection go see the great folks at Gluten Free Country Store!

Betty Crocker Gluten Free Fruit Snack and Prize Pack Giveaway Winner!

Alright, so we have a winner! I did them in the order in which they were received and used Random.org to pick the winning number! The winning number was #3...

TRACI!!

Traci, email me your address at gfsteph@gmail.com to claim your prize!!

Thanks to those who entered!!

Betty Crocker Fruit Snacks Are Now Gluten Free! AND -- A GIVEAWAY!!

When Betty Crocker emailed me and offered to send me some of their fruit snacks, I was so excited!

No, not only to get free fruit snacks, but because I had NO idea these were gluten free! I’m not sure if these have always been gluten free, or if they are newly reformulated to be gluten free. I always avoided them just because I assumed they weren’t.

But LOOK:

Right on the front!! Labeled gluten free!

Let me tell you, Betty Crocker is single handedly changing my life. :)

The sample package included Fruit-by-the-foot, Fruit Roll Ups, and Gushers, and they also sent a box of Create-A-Bug fruit snacks. My personal favorite are the Fruit-by-the-foot…I forgot how delicious they were! Next grocery store shop is going to include a box or two of those!! :)

I love that all these major companies and getting on board and becoming Celiac-friendly. It sure is making my life a lot easier!

UPDATED TO ADD: GIVEAWAY!!!

The fantastic people at Betty Crocker have offered another prize pack for me to GIVEAWAY to you!!

Here is what the prize pack includes:

All you have to do to enter to win is:

Leave a comment on my blog -- What is your favorite Betty Crocker gluten free product?

OR

@ reply or direct message me on Twitter (@GF_Steph) and tell me your favorite Betty Crocker gluten free product!

Last day to enter will be in one week -- November 17th! I'll announce the winner afterward!

My Favorite Gluten Free Products

I've been thinking over the past few days that I've never created a list of my favorite gluten free products. There are certain brands and certain products that I will always choose because I have determined them to be the best (from my experience). I started this blog to help others to find gluten free products that actually taste good and help them determine which to spend their money on and which products to skip. So here is my list of go-to gluten free products:

Pantry Staples:

Pasta: Tinkyada. Hands down, my fave. I particularly love their spinach spaghetti noodles. I don't even bother with Debole's pasta anymore, unless I'm in a pinch. I always have spaghetti, shells, and penne in my pantry.

Bread: Gluten Free Creations Honey Oat Bread. Or their herb bagettes

Premade Flour Mix -- Whole Foods 365 brand or Gluten Free Pantry flour mix

Oats: Bobs Red Mill's Certified GF Oats

Mac N Cheese -- Annie's Rice Pasta & Cheddar

Breakfast:

Waffles: Van Gluten Free Waffles. (I LOVE the mini's!!)

Donuts: Kinnikinnick Chocolate Glazed Donuts. Me + these donuts = LUV 4-EVA! (I also love the vanilla glazed donuts and the cinnamon sugar donuts. But the chocolate are my boo. <3)

Bagels: Gluten Free Creations (plain for me but they have several flavors).

English muffins: Glutino.

Snacks:

Glutino pretzels, Kinnikinnick Kinni-toos

Crackers: Nut Thins or Glutino crackers

Baking Mixes:

Cookies: Betty Crocker GF chocolate chip cookies

Brownies: Tie between Betty Crocker GF brownies and Whole Foods 365 brownies

Cake Mix: My favorite chocolate cake is either Sof'ella or Gluten Free Pantry Decadent Chocolate Cake. My favorite yellow cake is Betty Crocker's. For a different kind of cake, I am a BIG fan of Gluten Free Pantry Coffee Cake mix.

And I remember when I first started looking into how to bake gluten free, I was overwhelmed (understatement) on the sheer quantity of flours that were needed. Well, here is what you have to have on hand:

Rice flour (white and brown)

Potato Starch

Corn Starch

Tapioca Starch

Xantham Gum

Guar gum

Start with these, they are the most common ingredients used. Odds are, you'll need at least one, or a combination of most of these in nearly everything you make. These flours are often combined to make one master blend.

Over time, you can start collecting other flours such as sorghum, teff, almond meal, garfava (mixture of garbanzo and fava), and millet. Make sure you store all of your flours in airtight containers.

Well, there you go, a basic list of my favorite gluten free products. I'll update it if I think of something else. What are your favorite products? Can you think of something I missed?

Kinnikinnick Foods to launch 4 new products!!!

First and foremost, I am sorry for my absence.

But on to this GREAT news! I am so excited for this, I can't even tell you.

Yesterday on Twitter, Kinnikinnick announced that they are going to be launching these 4 new products in the upcoming months:

Chocolate KinniKritters
Graham Style KinniKritters
Fudge KinniTOOS
Panko Style Breadcrumbs

KinniKritters are pretty much one of my absolute favorite gluten free snacks (I'm eating some right now, actually), so to say that I am looking forward to two new flavors would be an understatement! I cannot wait to try these!

The fudge KinniTOOS are available now on the Kinnikinnick website and according to Kinnikinnick's official Twitter page the other products will be available for order online in a few weeks, and will be in stores in the next 2-4 months.

Which products are you most excited about?

Kinni-Kritters Animal Cookies

I am just going to come right out and say it. I’m not going to beat around the bush or give you some long winded story about how these have been sitting in my cabinet for probably a year or more--ignored because I was convinced they would be terrible. I had no basis for expecting these to be awful other than the fact that I’ve had bad experiences with other gluten free “cookies.”

Kinni-Kitters Animal Cookies. Perhaps you’ve seen them. They look like this:

These are surprisingly FANTASTIC. They are my new favorite (way to go, Kinnikinnick, because your gluten free chocolate dipped donuts were my former favorite. Well played.)

End of story.

(By the way, I am using these as a crust for a cheese cake. I’ll let you know how that goes.)

Kinnikinnick Gluten Free Chocolate Dipped Donuts

The days of being deprived while being gluten free is O-V-E-R, folks.

I've had a running list in my head for as long as I've been gluten free of foods that I really, really miss. These are foods that I thought I'd never be able to enjoy again, mainly because I've never tried a substitution that I didn't spit out or throw out.

Within the last several months, I have found the gluten free version for ALL of them. Bread? Check. (Gluten Free Creations Honey Oat Bread.) Bagels? Check. (Gluten Free Creations. A-MA-ZING.) Cookies? Check. (Cookies From Home, and, more conveniently, Betty Crocker's new GF mix). Donuts?

I have been on the prowl for gluten free donuts. Donuts, like bagels, are something that I just refuse to make myself. Too difficult and tedious. And despite my LOVE for Gluten Free Creations (seriously love, love, LOVE them), I ordered their cinnamon sugar donuts and they were GROSS. It was like eating a churro-flavored kitchen sponge. It was nasty, and I threw them out.

I finally stumbled upon these little gems in my grocery store this weekend:



Kinnikinnick Gluten Free Chocolate Dipped Donuts. And, as you can see in the picture, they are also wheat free (obviously), dairy free, and soy free. My best friend Michelle (@ Gluten Free Gluttony) did a positive review on these a while back. Ever since then I've wanted to try them.

They were a pricey at $7.99 for the box of 6 small donuts. But I've been obsessing over donuts, so I gave in.

I made one this morning for breakfast, and for the record, they do not photograph well:

Straight from the freezer, you microwave them for less than a minute (took longer than the package stated) and then devour. They are dense, but not so bad that it ruins your donut experience. The flavor is good and the chocolated coating is very sweet! I sighed my relief and appreciation after the first bite. Finally. A good donut.

These donuts are delicious and will definitely satisfy any donut craving you might have. At the price, I probably will not keep these around all the time--just as a special treat. But you can bet that I'm not sharing the last five. :)

Betty Crocker Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookie Mix

So I had originally planned a very different review of Betty Crocker's new gluten free chocolate chip cookies.

I was going to tell you that I was disappointed by this mix. I was going to tell you that I probably would not make these cookies again. I was going to tell you that I've never had good gluten free cookies and that these were only slightly better than the dozens of cookies that have met my garbage can.

So what changed?

Well, I guess I'll start from the beginning.

Since going gluten free, I have attempted chocolate chip cookies several times, every time ending in complete FAIL. Almost everytime, my cookies tasted like I dumped sand into the batter. The flavor, texture, everything was not right. Some just fell apart. Some spread out so thin on the baking sheet, that you could even remove them without your cookies becoming nothing but crumbs. Some stayed together but were inedible. Needless to say, I gave up on cookies and resigned myself to the fact that I would never enjoy home-baked cookies again. Was I sad? Maybe a little. But I had cakes and brownies to occupy my time..

Until a few days ago. I tried the new gluten free chocolate chip cookies from a local bakery in Tempe, AZ by the name of Cookies From Home. These cookies, literally, made both my husband and I stop and say, "Wait, are we sure these are gluten free?" You could NOT tell the difference. They were soft and chewy, tasted perfect, and had no trace of the tell-tale gluten free gritty, starchy texture. They were delightful and I ate a lot (two dozen-ish) in a matter of a few days (like...two. Okay, maybe three, but does that really make it any better?)

Now I am a cookie-aholic. The Betty Crocker GF cookie mix was, by far, the mix that I was the MOST excited about trying. I eagerly baked them up this weekend.

I felt positive about the results as I was mixing it up. How could Betty Crocker be wrong? The dough seemed dry and crumbly, but the box said it would. And it wasn't nearly as bad as some other doughs I've worked with. I followed the direction perfectly--I used a cool baking sheet for every batch and let the cookies cool for at least 2 minutes before removing them from the pan.

The cookies baked out to be very thin. So thin that if you held the cookie up to the light, you could see through it in some spots. They were also very delicate; a few fell apart. But, on the flip side, some held together perfectly.

Here's why I was going to give these a so-so review: these cookies just aren't the real thing. Shocking, I know. They taste gluten free. The texture is off and despite my best efforts, I couldn't ignore at first that underlying funky taste (what was that?). When you bit into a cookie, it almost felt to your month like you were eating a bunch of crumbs that were just haphazardly stuck together--if that makes sense. To be simple--these weren't even in the same ball park of awesomeness that Cookies From Home was.

So why the change of heart, you ask? Because I ate these cookies for breakfast for two days in a row. These cookies were demolished in our house before the weekend was over. They grew on me, and frankly, they weren't bad enough not to eat. I said I wouldn't make these again, but I would. Because when it comes down to it, I LOVE cookies. Just don't expect to take these to a company picnic and have people rave over them and go back for round two or three.

Odds are, you'll like these enough as well to make in your own home. I'm just warning you beforehand, make sure your expectations aren't too high. They aren't Mom's homemade Tollhouse deliciousness. Didn't stop me from devouring them though, or from going to pick up another box....

Betty Crocker's Gluten Free Yellow Cake Mix

If there is ever a reason to eat a slice of cake before dinner, it is Betty Crocker's gluten free yellow cake.

It is no secret to the gluten free community that Betty Crocker, as of June 1st, has unleashed it's new line of gluten free mixes. There are 4 total: yellow cake, devil's food cake, chocolate chip cookies, and brownies. I have scoured the shelves for what felt like ages (what do you mean, it's only been a week??) and last night we found them at Fry's!

My local store only carried the yellow cake and brownies. So, of course, I snatched them up. They sell for $4.49 each. Today, while on my lunch break, I found the chocolate chip cookies at the Fry's across the street. Apparently Fry's does not like devil's food cake, but 3 of the 4 mixes still makes me enthusiastically happy.

Never one to have a lot of patience, I baked up the gluten free yellow cake last night.

I couldn't even wait 15 minutes after it was done before I was slathering on the frosting! We chose lemon frosting.

Here is the slice that I am eating as we speak, thus spoiling my dinner (I don't care!) :

Straight from the oven, this cake is heavenly. It is light, fluffy, and moist, with no gritty texture. The edges of the cake are slightly dry, however. But trust me, it won't stop you from devouring every last crumb. The taste is better than you can even hope for. I've had some really bad gluten free yellow cake before, so bad that I've sworn off of even trying to bake any more. But, Betty Crocker's gluten free yellow cake mix did not leave me (or my husband) disappointed.

The next day, the cake is significantly more dense. But the density doesn't ruin the cake in the slightest. The flavor is fantastic (have I mentioned that?), and exactly how I remember yellow cake to taste. This cake paired with the lemon frosting is delicious; I highly recommend it.

I am so excited to have these new Betty Crocker gluten free mixes available. I know that whenever someone in my family wants to make a gluten free dessert that I can eat at family gatherings, seeing the familiar Betty Crocker name will greatly ease their worries. I can tell you that this yellow cake will be a staple in my pantry and my first choice for birthday cakes (or even whenever cakes). :)

Can't wait to hear what everyone else thinks! I'll update on the cookies and brownies as SOON as I make them--which probably won't be long from now!

Gluten Free Creations Honey Oat Bread

For those of you who have not heard of it, Gluten Free Creations is a 100% gluten free bakery in Phoenix, AZ. I frequently complain that people on the East Coast have access to WAAAYYY more gluten free goodies than us West Coast-ers, but here I am, a gluten free bakery within driving distance that I have known existed for at least a year, and this is my first time trying ANY of their products. LOL. I finally decided that I would probably never, ever remember to find the time to drive down there, so cravings for bagels and donuts led me to their website.

Their website requires a minimum order of $30.00, but luckily shipping was not expensive at all because I live in the same state. One of my major grievances is that I can't try gluten free food from East Coast based companies because I REFUSE to pay upwards of $40.00 to ship it to me (Ahem...JOAN'S). So, I ordered up a few extra goodies to try.

I decided to try a pre-made gluten free bread (which goes against almost all of my principles...they seem to always turn out terrible) for a couple of reasons:

1. I hate spending HOURS baking gluten free bread just so I can eat a damn sandwich. I thought sandwiches are supposed to be easy?!?

2. I can never ever cut my bread slices evenly. It's so bad. The top of the slice is like an inch and a half thick, while the bottom is paper thin. Makes for a lopsided (and thus, not so tasty) sandwich.

3. I have never once finished a loaf of bread that I have slaved away making. I don't slice ahead and freeze due to my lack of slicing skills, so it goes bad in the fridge within days. And then my heart cries when I throw it in the garbage.

I ordered their honey oat bread, which for a smaller-than-average-but-average-for-gluten-free loaf cost $8.55:


Along with being gluten free, this bread also contains no dairy, nuts, or soy ingredients. It says right on the front that the oats are certified gluten free.


Here is the loaf, to show you texture, because we all know that texture is make or break for gluten free bread.

In fact, I won't even buy/make a gluten free bread if I can't see the texture of the finished product beforehand. All those nooks and crannies are key!

Oh...you wanna know how it tasted? Hmm, let me think, it was...

FREAKIN' AMAZING!!

I have every intention of ordering loaf upon loaf of this bread and freezing it so I never ever ever have to bake bread again. This is light, fluffy, doesn't crumble at all, and has a lightly sweet flavor. Once toasted, it really doesn't taste that gluten free. I say it that way because to you or I, this is wins a gold freaking star for most amazing bread ever, but you could not substitute it to a "regular" person without them knowing something's up. However, I have no doubt that my (super amazing, incredible, uber supportive) husband would willingly eat this every day for the rest of his life if I really asked him too.

Here is my panini that I made using the bread last night:

Delicious bread without all the work! It doesn't get any better than that!

Gluten Free TABASCO Products

I just wanted to share the email response I got from TABASCO regarding their products:


Thank you for your interest in our TABASCO® Brand Products. All of our products that contain vinegar as an ingredient, use high quality distilled vinegar. Distilled vinegar is produced by fermenting a grain based alcohol. The principal grains used to produce the alcohol are wheat and milo. Gluten and other proteins are completely removed during the alcohol fermentation and distillation process.

According to the definitions set forth by the Codex Alimentarius Commission, a joint standards program of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United States (FAO), the following TABASCO® Brand products are considered “Gluten Free”:

TABASCO® Brand Pepper Sauce
TABASCO® Brand Chipotle Pepper Sauce
TABASCO® Brand Habanero Pepper Sauce
TABASCO® Brand Garlic Pepper Sauce
TABASCO® Brand Green Pepper Sauce
TABASCO® Brand Garlic Basting Sauce
TABASCO® Brand New Orleans Style Sauce
TABASCO® Brand Caribbean Style Steak Sauce

These products were analyzed for Gluten by the Food Allergy Research and Resource Program (FARRP) at the University of Nebraska –Lincoln. FARRP was not able to find any detectable amounts of gluten in these products. If the McIlhenny Company can be of further assistance please do not hesitate to ask.

Sof'ella Organic Gluten Free Chocolate Cake Mix

This cake is sold at Costco in a two pack. You get two packs of cake mix and two packs of frosting mix. It is sold for $9.99. I had eyeballed this once before, but was hesistant to buy so much of a cake mix I wasn't sure I'd like. But my mom said that she tried a sample of this on Free Food Day (that's what Brandon calls it) and she said it was really good. So she bought it to try. After hearing that she thought it was good, I picked up a box the next time I was at Costco.

Now, I haven't actually made this myself yet, so I can't tell you how simple it is. But from what I remember reading on the box, it requires few ingredients and is seems easy to prepare. My mom made the cake for me over Thanksgiving weekend. I wanted to post this review even though I don't have pictures, because I don't want anyone to pass this over in the store because they haven't heard of it.

This cake mix is by the far the best gluten free chocolate cake I have EVER had. It is so moist and fudgey. The texture is absolutely amazing. I swear, gluten eaters wouldn't even know they were eating anything different. As I was eating it, I was going on and on about how my tastebuds were exploding in pleasure. I even had myself a second slice. Awesome.

The frosting included in the package sucked though. I don't like it at all. But I don't like most of those powdered sugar and cocoa frostings. I scraped it all off. But this cake is so moist and delicious that I told my mom that you could make the cake and just leave off the frosting all together and you would miss it a bit.

Here's the bottom line. You are missing out if you do not buy this cake on your next Costco run. It is to die for.

Sugarlips Cakery -- Offering Gluten Free Wedding Cake

I found a bakery here in Arizona close by that makes gluten free wedding cakes! It was not easy. The closest place I found before was 2 hours away! And I'd have to transport my own cake the day before the wedding. Umm...no.

Sugarlips Cakery.

They don't do free gluten free cake testings, so we had to buy the smallest cake they made, pictured below.


25 dollars to make sure I didn't hate their gluten free cake. 25 dollars to make sure I didn't spend hundreds of dollars on a cake I didn't like. 25 dollars to get a cake that was SUPPOSED to have strawberry filling, but did not.

I harbor a little bitternes, I know. But I searched far and wide for this cake, and I am determined to be able to eat some cake at my own wedding! So, on to the important stuff...taste...

The cake is good. You can tell by looking at the cake and its texture that it is "different." The flavor does not taste like regular cake, however, that is not to say it isn't good. On the first bite, I'm like, Hmm this is different, but then after I find I actually like this different flavor. The texture is not light, airy, and fluffy like regular cake either. It is dense, and rough almost.

I know that it sounds like I am giving this cake a bad review. I can't say that I am not a little disappointed that this gluten free cake does not miraculously taste like the real thing. My dream was to have a completely gluten free wedding cake that everyone would eat and no one would be the wiser. But I like the cake, and my fiance likes the cake. I have decided that we will have a gluten free portion of the cake, probably suspended by pillars or whatever they do, so it does not touch the rest of the cake. This will be the portion of the cake that we will eat and shove in each other's faces. Our gluten free guests (which will be a total of....one. Woohoo! Michelle!) can also eat this. Then the rest of the cake will be regular cake. This will save us 50 cents per serving on the majority of the cake. And I know it'll get eaten and people won't throw it away.

Or I could just go really simple and serve Ring Tings from Shabtai Gourmet...

Shabtai Gourmet Gluten Free Ring Tings

Every review that you have read about these little gems is true. My shipment arrived today and these are FABULOUS. I literally skipped around my house after I scarfed it down.





I was so excited to try it that I didn't take a picture until after. The flavor of these are incredible, which is surprising since it is free of so many things. In case you can't read the picture, these are gluten free, lactose free, casein free, soy free, and dairy free. And I thought the same as you are probably thinking right now, Aren't three of those essentially the same thing?

The cake part of these are admittedly a bit on the dry side, and the filling is really dense. It's like a really thick frosting, but tastes good. But it works. It's a ding dong, just as good as the ones you used to love, except now it's legal!

If you want to try a premade treat and not be disappointed, order these now. Click here for the website. Did I mention they are offering FREE SHIPPING??

Post-Thanksgiving Merriment, Pumpkin Pie disaster, and Gluten Free Cafe review!

I managed to achieve the seemly impossible! I made it through Thanksgiving without getting sick! The food was absolutely delicious, I definitely gorged myself to the maximum! The gluten free stuffing (anyone ever wonder why some people call it "dressing"?) that Brandon's mom's friend Nancy made was absolutely phenomenal. I brought the leftovers home with me. :) One person tried it unknowningly, and said afterward that they couldn't even tell it was gluten free. Some of the close-minded comments that were flying kinda irked me a bit, but I got over it quickly. If they want to shut themselves off to trying new and fantastic food just because it's "gluten free," then that's their problem. That's why I always get a kick out of cooking everything gluten free, and no one evens knows! That's how my wedding is going to be....muahaha.

I had my fair share of pumpkin pie depression yesterday. I normally bake a gluten free pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving, but this year I did not. I took pie last year, and there turned out to be, like, 10 pies there. So I didn't bother this year. I had to pain-stakingly listen as everyone talked about how good the pumpkin pie was. Ugh, it was torture. Pumpkin pie is very close to the top of my Favorite Things EVER list. So today, I defrosted my pre-made Gluten Free Bakehouse pie crust, and decided to make myself a pie!

I was sooo excited. I could already see myself slicing myself a very generous portion of this delicious pie. Then, as I took the pie out of the oven to test for doneness, I thought, "You know, they sure don't give you a lot of edge space to hold this sucker..." and then BAM! My beautiful, delightful, pumpkin pie slipped out of my oven mit covered hands right onto the open door of my oven! I started crying. Seriously. I was so desperate for my pie, I felt my Thanksgiving just wasn't complete without it. This is what it looks like:


I appreciate your tears of empathy for me. Brandon, of course, saved the day by telling me the pie would be just as delicious mangled as it would be in perfect form. So I resisted the urge to throw the damn pie against the wall in anger. I will eat the pie. It still sucks though.

For lunch today, I tried a new frozen meal I found at Whole Foods the other day (coincidentally when I was buying my gluten free pie crust).

Gluten Free Cafe Fettuccini Alfredo.

I have never heard of, nor seen, this brand in the store before. I LOVE fettuccini alfredo, so I decided to give it a whirl. It's simple enough, poke some holes in the plastic, cook for 3 minutes, remove plastic and stir, then cook for another 2 minutes.

I thought it was pretty good. The noodles seemed a little mushy, they sort of lost their definition during cooking. They were very soft, but tasted good. I thought the whole meal tasted sort of buttery. And even though you all know my love for Glutino brand products, I have to say this was much, much, MUCH better than their penne alfredo or whatever it was. That was just gross. So while I can't report that this frozen meal was life-altering, I can say that it is good enough in a pinch, and I would buy it again. They also have other flavors, so you might wanna check those out too.

Now I must get back to writing my research paper on Celiac disease. :)

Enjoy Life Cinnamon Crunch Granola

I had been eyeing this gluten free granola in the grocery store for a long while now. I just couldn't bring myself to pay the 5 bucks for it though, so I patiently waited for it to go on sale. FINALLY! They were on sale for like 20% off, so I scooped it up and internally did a happy dance.

I couldn't wait to try it! I've been waiting some granola something fierce. I took out one of the delicious looking clusters and popped it in my mouth.

Yuck, yuck, yuckity yuck. This tasted like dirt. Worse than dirt. Like STALE dirt. How does dirt become stale? I don't know, ask Enjoy Life! They mastered it!

It's really unfortunate that this didn't turn out to be as incredible as I anticipated. I had visions of me adding some of this to my yogurt, or just snacking right out of the package. This may or may not be an itty bit better if you eat it in milk as cereal. Maybe it would help wash away that sawdust taste and texture. If you try it, let me know. But as for right now, this product is getting shoved to the "disgraceful" part of my gluten free cabinet. The only good thing about this product was that I saved 20% of my hard-earned money on it.