Some of my staples

I have been meaning to write up this quick list for a while now. I find myself turning to a handful of gluten-free items again and again. These have become staples in my pantry and freezer.

• Kinnikinnik white bread (frozen) – for sandwiches and toast
• Rice Chex
• Pamela’s mix – for muffins, pancakes, etc.
• corn meal – as basis for GF cornbread
• Kind bars (fruit & nut or sesame chocolate) – for snacking on the go, much better than a candy bar or fries!
• Amy’s cheese enchiladas (frozen) – quick lunch with tortilla chips
• Amy’s rice mac’n'cheese (frozen) – ditto
• Thai-style rice noodles (Thai Kitchen and others) – my favorite basic pasta, great with sauce or butter as a side dish or excellent for stir-fry
• Schar table crackers – the BEST for crumbling in soup!
• Glutino bagels (frozen) – my favorite for breakfast
• Kinnikinnik bagels (frozen) – also good for breakfast or a quick afternoon snack (especially since they are much smaller than the Glutinos)

I have many, many other favorite GF foods, like the Little Bay Baking mixes, but these items are my basic must-haves for getting by. What are your staples?

Product Review: Glutino Harvest Corn Bread

In my freezer is a loaf of Glutino Harvest Corn Bread. This is not cornbread but a loaf of sliced bread for sandwiches, toast, etc. Halfway through the loaf and I am already a fan.

The main ingredients are corn and tapioca flours, not a speck of rice. The flavor is light, only a little corny (not heavy like bread from cornmeal). The texture is a little stiff but not tough.

It makes wonderful toast, as most GF breads do, but to my delight is also makes a wonderful sandwich bread. I’ve enjoyed both PB&J and ham & avocado on this bread.

I expect this first loaf to be joined in my freezer by many more in the future. I paid $6.49 at my local market. Online retailers have it for $5.99/loaf.

Gluten Free Grade: B+

We’re back!

We apologize for letting Gluten Free Grades languish for so long. Suffice it to say that the past months have been a whirlwind.

The good news is that I have discovered and have been enjoying many, many new (or new to me) gluten free products! I will be sharing them all with you and look forward to hearing what you think.

Product Review: Little Bay Baking Pumpkin Bread

My local store just started carrying mixes from Little Bay Baking and I picked up the Pumpkin Bread and the Sponge Cake mixes. I whipped up the pumkin bread this week and may I just say

AWESOME!

The mix was very easy to make – just basic ingredients plus a cup of canned pumpkin, baked in a standard loaf pan. The bread was delicious. Moist and firm, with excellent texture and flavor. I could not have been happier with it.

I am looking forward to trying the sponge cake and all of their other products.

Little Bay Baking is based in New Hampshire and is available in stores throughout New England. You can also order some of their products online. Check their site now for their monthly specials and to find out how you can make a gluten-free gingerbread house for the holidays!

Gluten Free Grade: A+

Trying new things

One of the things I don’t like about having celiac disease is how dang expensive the specialty foods are. Often I have hesitated to try new things for fear of wasting a fair amount of money. It can be hard to justify spending $4.99 on a bag of cookies or $7.99 on a cake mix knowing I might hate it and end up tossing the whole thing.

But having this blog and following Ruby’s more adventurous spirit in this regard has made me bolder about reaching for something new on the grocery store shelf. Today I picked up several new products that I’ll be trying and writing about here.

It is encouraging to notice how many more choices we do have than even a few years ago. Even my two small local regular markets stock enough GF staples to carry me through most weeks. Who knew they even knew what gluten-free was? When I was first diagnosed, I had to drive 45 minutes to the nearest Whole Foods to get much of anything at all to eat. And now… I haven’t been to Whole Foods in over a year. (Hmm, though I could go for some of their store-brand ginger cookies.)

Look for upcoming reviews on ready-made pizza crust, brownie mix, a New England bakery & cafe, and whatever other new goodies strike my fancy!

p.s. I will also be sprucing up our appearance around here.

Product Review: Goldbaum Ice Cream Cones

At last!

We have found and sampled, and been quite satisfied, with two other brands of ice cream cones (Barkat, Glutano) and are now adding a third delicious choice: Goldbaum’s Ice Cream Cones. These cones look and taste like the cake cones you remember, with just a twist of added sweetness. The texture is dense enough to hold up to ice cream being smooshed in but light enough to give the crisp airiness that is the hallmark of the cake cone.

Goldbaum’s are made in Israel. I found them at my local GF market, but they are also available at Glutenfreemall.com and AllergyGrocery.com. Expect to pay ~ $3.80-4.25 (USD) for a package of twelve.

Gluten Free Grade: A+

Product Review: Glad Corn

I discoverd Glad Corn snacks a couple of months ago and my delight in them continues. Imagine the half-popped kernals of corn left over at the bottom of a microwaved bag. Now imagine them larger, slightly more popped (they won’t break your teeth!), and seasoned. YUM!

Glad Corn is wickedly addictive. It’s also filling. Half of the smaller 4 oz bag is usually enough of a serving for me. Larger 12 oz bags are also available.

I’ve only tried the Original flavor but Glad Corn also comes in Jalepeno, Gourmet Cheddar, and BBQ flavors. I’ll add reviews of those flavors as I am able to find them locally.

To order a free sample and coupon, visit Gladcorn.com.

Gluten Free Grade: A

Product Review: Liz Lovely Cookies

New to the market are organic, certified vegan and gluten free cookies by Liz Lovely. They come two quite large cookies to a pack (net wt. 6.3 oz). I paid $3.99 for them at my local (Massachusetts) natural food market.

These cookies are delicious and very satisfying. I tried the ginger molasses and the chocolate fudge. They also offer a chocolate chip version. Of the two flavors, I slightly prefered the chocolate fudge, but both cookies had wonderful flavor and a soft, not grainy texture. The flavor of the ginger molasses was a bit strong for my tastes but that’s just a matter of personal preference.

I will definitely buy these again. Not only does Liz Lovely make great cookies but the Vermont-based company has an admirable practice of social responsibility as you can read on their website. They also make gluten cookies in many delicious sounding flavors that I hope will be available to us soon!

Check their website for local availability or shop online.

Gluten Free Grade: A

Product Review: Kinnikinnick Lemon Cranberry Cookies

I polished off a pack of these yesterday. Along with the vanilla Kinnitoos, these are my favorite Gf cookies. What makes them so good?

1. They are not chocolate. Most GF treats seem to be chocolate, and it is so great to have options that are not!

2. They are soft! Remember soft cookies? Well you can have them again! The texture of these cookies is, to me, just like a non GF cookie you could buy at the store.

3. The flavor. Just a light hint of lemon – nothing like the Froot Loop flavored wafers I had before – and the vanilla in the cookie is not overpowering either. And then there are the pieces of cranberry – small pieces, just enough for a little chew in each bite.

I love love love these cookies. They get an A+ from me!

Udi’s Cinnamon Rolls

Denver bakery, Udi’s Handcrafted foods, has begun offering gluten free goodies! Not only can you get a sandwich made on gluten free bread at their bakery in Denver, but you can also buy their products at several area King Soopers stores. Two weeks ago I bought myself a package of their cinnamon rolls.

These are the best GF cinnamon rolls I have ever had. The package costs $5.99 and contains four HUGE rolls. They are covered in sticky icing and are rolled with lots and lots of cinnamon sugar. The rolls are frozen, so I defrosted mine in the microwave for about two minutes. The rolls don’t have any of that weird rice-y GF taste so many products have, and they are only slightly chewy. I think chewiness is just a fact of life for us with our GF products, but these rolls are so good and are so LESS chewy than most other products you can easily overlook that fact. And they taste delicious. I really felt like I was eating a real cinnamon roll.

So far it doesn’t look like Udi’s ships, but if you live in Colorado you can get their products at King Soopers.

Read their post about their new bakery here.

If these were non GF cinnamon rolls I would give them a B+, simply because of the texture, but as far as Gf rolls go I give them a A.