Gluten Free Country Store in Gilbert, AZ

You guys, I am so excited for this, I couldn’t even wait to tell you!

On November 6th, Gluten Free Country Store is opening in Gilbert, AZ!!

For those of you that live in AZ or will be passing through, their information is:

Gluten Free Country Store

3345 S Val Vista Dr, Suite 101 (202 Santan Freeway and Val Vista)

Gilbert, AZ 85297

480.889.9932

You can contact them by email at glutenfreecountrystore@yahoo.com.

The are going to be carrying gluten free products as well as sugar free and low calorie products! You’ll be able to find all your favorite brands (Glutino, Pamela’s, Mrs. Leeper’s, etc) all in ONE PLACE!! This is going to make my life (and YOUR life) so much easier! Once thing I HATE about living gluten free is that I have to not only order my favorite products online, but I always have to drive between Whole Foods or Sprouts just to find what I want/need.

My husband and I plan on going for their grand opening so I will let you know more after that!!

I’m so excited, I love when our gluten free options expand!! :)

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.)

Hidden Valley Ranch Crunchy Cheddar Chicken

I first found this recipe on the Hidden Valley Ranch website (see recipe here) and drooled on my keyboard. This is a favorite recipe in our house, and is very easily converted to gluten free. It is also a no-fail, which is an big win in my book!

Here is what I changed from the original recipe:

First off, I use chicken breast tenders instead of chicken breasts. Personal preference. I like the flavor balance (flavor balance? Look at me getting all food blogger on you, lol) better with the tenders. The chicken doesn’t over power all the yummy goodness you put on it. Major plus side. It is also guaranteed to be cooked all the way through. I hate it when you get those chicken breasts that came from chickens that drank too much Muscle Milk and spent to much time at the Birdie Gym because I can never get them to cook all the way through! (I ALWAYS forget to pound them out, always. Never fails.)

Secondly, I obviously substitute gluten free corn flakes (mainstream corn flakes contain barley malt thus, not gluten free). These are what I used:

 

Thirdly (is that a word?), I don’t mess with all the measuring nonsense. I like to taste the cheese so I put lots of it. I like them a little spicy so I add about half of my grinder of pepper. I make it all look proportioned to the other ingredients on a plate. Looks good:

Lastly, and the hubbo would say most importantly, I like to use “the good Ranch.” AKA not the store bought, pre-prepared Ranch in a bottle, but the Ranch you make with the seasoning packet. We’re Ranch snobs and that’s just the way we like it. This still tastes fantastic if you use the Ranch from the bottle.

So here’s how simple this all is. Combine crushed gluten free corn flakes, shredded white cheddar cheese, and salt & pepper (to taste) on a plate. On another plate, create a little Ranch swimming pool for all your chicken tender friends. Dunk the tenders in the Ranch, then put one side down in your crumb mixture, covering only one side. Place the tender crumb side up in a baking pan. After I have all the tenders coated and in the pan, I take whatever is left of the corn flake mixture and sprinkle over top, because I like mine crun-chay! It almost looks like an odd casserole when it’s done…

They are individual tenders in there, swears. I had to cram them in there because I accidentally grabbed the smallest of my baking pans. But after I had half of the tenders in there I was committed to using it.

Resist the urge to lick your fingers when you have all those cheesy corn flake crumbs all over your fingertips. You’ll have to trust me on this.

Put in in the oven at 350 degrees. Since the tenders are smaller than the breasts, I start checking them around 20 minutes for doneness. They typically take around 25 minutes.

Sorry, but I don’t have a picture of the finished product…it’s in my belly. :)

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!