Gluten Free Food Reviews

In the News: General Mills’ Gluten Free Mixes Article in the Wall Street Journal

Karen — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 05:48:56 +0000

I thought this article in the Wall Street Journal was interesting- it added insight on how the General Mills decided to pursue a gluten free line of products. I loved how one of the deciding factors was the inquiries the company received from consumers asking about which products have gluten, as well as consumers expressing thanks for making Rice Chex gluten free.

Keep those emails and calls coming to companies- Every person can make a difference! I just wish I could find a local store that carries them . . . I am dying to see if they are as good as I hope they are!

Product Reviews: Erewhon Organic Corn Flakes cereal & Strawberry Crisp cereal (gluten free)

Karen — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 20:00:14 +0000

Mmmm, gluten free cereal- one of my favorite snacks.

Erewhon sent me a box full of their gluten free cereals- some I loved, and some not-so-much. I initially tried the corn flake varieties, and here is what I found:

Organic Corn Flakes: No Added Sweeteners

Up front I was a little nervous about trying these, because I had heard their old formulation with this cereal made them taste pretty bad. Thankfully, I found these to be a good, solid, product for a gluten free, sugar free cereal.

On the box of the gluten free cereal, it reads ” We’ve gone back to basics to being you the natural, great taste of Erewhon Corn Flakes.” I actually found this statement right on target. These corn flakes only have two ingredients- organic milled corn and sea salt. There are no sweeteners of any kind added. Honestly- think that was what Erewhon was shooting for -a pure, natural cereal. Because of this, the flavor is very mild and slightly bland. If you are used to sweet and sugary breakfast cereals, this may take a bit to get used to. Because there isn’t any sweetener added, I found that adding sliced strawberries and other fresh fruit complimented the cereal nicely.

The flakes are light, textured and crispy and soften in milk, just like regular corn flakes. I actually think if you crush them up, these corn flakes would make an excellent coating for chicken. Rating: 4 stars

Ingredients: organic milled corn, sea salt

Strawberry Crisp: Brown Rice & Corn Cereal with Real Strawberries

Ok, so I am huge sucker for strawberries, if it has strawberries in it, chances are I will like it. This cereal was no exception and was delicious.

This cereal is a combination of crunchy corn and brown rice flakes with freeze dried strawberries. The cereal is mildly sweet thanks to the evaporated cane juice, but doesn’t taste sugary at all - a huge bonus that I loved. The strawberries are plentiful, quite flavorful, and leave a light strawberry dust on the flakes. This cereal does soften in milk a little, but because I ate it so fast, it really didn’t have a chance to get soggy. Loved it! Rating: 5 stars

Ingredients: organic brown rice, organic corn meal, organic evaporated cane juice, freeze dried strawberries, sea salt, natural flavor

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If you want to try these cereals, check your local grocery store, natural foods store, or these online retailers:

Gluten Free in Philadelphia

Karen — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 04:21:31 +0000

Next week my family and I are headed to Philly and State College PA ( Go PSU!) for vacation. I am so excited! We will be visiting friends and our old neighborhood, and I am so excited to see some lush green trees again.

I would love to review some restaurants while I am there. Have any yummy suggestions? I really don’t want to be stuck with Glutino pretzels and string cheese all week.

In the meantime, I should have some yummy cereal and pizza reviews up soon, as well as my July give-away announcement coming early next week.

Product Review: Vega Complete Whole Food Health Optimizer: Berry flavor

Karen — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 23:19:11 +0000

This must be an acquired taste. That, or something is seriously wrong with my taste buds.

Vega, otherwise known as Sequel Naturals, sent me this sample pack of this all-in-one, plant based formula that offers an:

“excellent source of protein, fiber and antioxidants. provides 50% recommended daily intake of vitamins and minerals. Contains Omega 3 % 6 EFA’s, enzymes, probiotics & phytonutrients. Free from common allergens, alkaline formula and easy to digest”

( taken from the packaging; Click here for the nutritional info from their website.)

Sounds pretty great, huh?

I mixed up this optimizer according to the package directions. I emptied the thick, green powder into an 8 ounce glass and stirred. I could smell a hint of berries and marveled that there was so much powder to mix in. I used a whisk, but it still seemed a bit thick and grainy and looked like split pea soup. I let it sit for a few minutes while I snapped a photo, and then took a sip.

I immediately spit it back out and rushed for my husband’s Mountain Dew stash to get the taste out of my mouth. It was absolutely unpalatable. I honestly can’t tell you what the flavor is that I found so awful, and I can’t tell you if the drink helped my energy because it was never digested. Shocked at how bad I thought it tasted, I perused some vegan reviews on a few other websites, and all but one person raved over it, claiming it tasted so good. Seriously? Are my taste buds that “off?”

If I were try this again, I would probably mix small amounts into a glass of juice or in a smoothie to dampen the strong scent and flavor and still get some of the health benefits.

Readers, if you have tried this, will you please share your experience? If you like it, how do you prepare it? If you don’t, please share why.

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Ingredients: organic hemp protein, yellow pea protein, organic brown rice protein, whole flax seed, chicory root, organic gelatinized maca root, high CGF cracked cell chlorella, omega 3 & 6 essential fatty acids, protease 1 & 11, amalyse, lipase, cellulase, wild blueberry, blueberry, black raspberry, cherry, marion berry, blackberry, L. acidophilius, B. Bifidum, natural berry flavor, xanthan gum, stevia leaf.

Product Review: Applegate Farms Gluten Free Chicken Nuggets - GFCF

Karen — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 03:55:00 +0000

June has been busy- in a good way- with the end of school and hosting my family for a reunion. July seems to be even more busy with vacations and summer activities for my family. I will continue to post reviews and give-away info, but please be patient with me if it takes a while to get a review up or answer emails.

So on to the review . . . Applegate Farms sent me their gluten free chicken nuggets to try a while back and to be honest, I wasn’t expecting much. The only other chicken nuggets I tried was Ian’s gluten free chicken nuggets, and I thought their cornmeal & chicken filling was pretty gross . . and cheap. Is it too much to ask to have a chicken nugget with all chicken in the middle?

Thank goodness Applegate Frams didn’t let me down! If you read the Ian’s review, you might remember what fans my children are of Tyson’s chicken nuggets in the big, red, glossy bag. Well, their new favorite is Applegate Farms, hands down. I asked what they thought, and this is what they said:

” I like the breading ’cause it lets me taste the chicken better”

“They are perfect for kids because they aren’t too big”

“The breading is just a little spicy and tastes super good”

These ready to heat/ fully cooked gluten free chicken nuggets come in an eight ounce box and are smaller than your tradition chicken nuggets ( think Chick-fil-A chicken nuggets- they are close to that size). The chicken is minimally processed and has a slightly crunchy coating that has a hint of spice to it. The amount of breading is just right- not too thick, not too sparse, although a few of my nuggets were “bald” in a few spots.

My family and I could not tell they were gluten free, and now my children beg for these instead of their usual Tyson’s nuggets. Overall, we are a big fan of these mighty tasty chicken nuggets and enjoyed them both prepared in the microwave and the oven.

**Please be careful to only purchase the nuggets that have GLUTEN FREE on the front of the package. Applegate Farms also makes a wheat based chicken nuggets, and the packaging is almost identical.

Pros: flavor, texture, minimally processed, addicting :), product is consistently tested and verified to be gluten free in processing

Cons: nuggets are on the small size, box serves 2-3

Rating: 5 stars

Ingredients: chicken, water, cornstarch, salt, extract of oregano, battered and breaded with: water, rice flour, tapioca, dextrin, cornstarch, salt, spices and spice extractives including extractive of paprika and tumeric, garlic powder, onion powder, ground celery, breading set in vegetable oil

*To purchase, check the frozen food section of your local grocery or natural foods store.

The June winner is . . .

Karen — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 04:03:24 +0000

Thanks for all the great entries!

I used random.org to select this month’s winner, and it is SUE- with her comment:

Sue Jun 3

My 12 yo daughter is the big ice cream lover in our family. She loves chocolate and vanilla. She is having a slightly hard time being gluten free. She misses some foods. I am sure these cones would be a pleasant surprise for her.

Congratulations Sue! Please email me you shipping address to glutenfreefoodreviews {at} gmail [dot] com to receive your box of Goldbaum’s gluten free ice cream cones ( shipped from Gluten free Plaza.com). You’ll have to let me know what your daughter thinks about them.

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Bummed you didn’t win? Check back on July 1st for the next give-away! Next reviews coming up . . . Applegate Farms Gluten Free Chicken Nuggets and Vega smoothie mixes .

Product Review: Bella Monica Flatbread Company: Spinach & Tomato, Mushroom & Herbs, and Margherita gluten free pizzas

Karen — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 21:52:50 +0000

I really love trying new gluten free pizzas, and when the Bella Monica Flatbread Company asked if I would try their flatbread pizzas, I was more than happy to oblige.

These pizzas are purchased frozen and are semi-cooked- the cheese even looks melted. Therefore, It seems like I had the simple job of completing the baking process. Also, I noticed that these gluten free pizzas are overflowing with toppings- no skimping going on here! Each frozen pizza is enough to serve two hungry adults.

Every Friday night at our house is pizza night, so my husband and I experimented with their three varieties of pizza for the past two Fridays. Thanks to the cooking suggestions on the package, we tried both grilling the pizzas and baking them conventionally in our oven.

By a landslide, these pizzas are excellent on the grill. If the packaging directions are followed, the grilled result is a crunchy crust with a bit of chewiness in the center. Because this is a flatbread, this pizza doesn’t try to imitate a gluten pizza ( which I like) and is in a class all it’s own.

When baked in the oven, these gluten free pizzas were OK and still good, but the crust didn’t crisp up quite as much and results in a softer and chewier crust that I didn’t think was all that great. Therefore, please note that my ratings are based on the grill cooking method.

As for the toppings, all three pizzas feature a flavorful combination of two cheeses: mozzarella and asiago, or mozzarella and feta. The cheese combinations do not result in a cheesy, stringy, gooey cheese experience. Instead, the cheese is rich and creamy. It tastes good, and there is plenty of it. I really don’t have much to say about the sauce- it is light on the pizzas and I really couldn’t taste it much.

Mushroom & Herbs: Overall my favorite! Lots of flavor thanks to the mushroom and plentiful herbs. The packaging shows diced roma tomatoes on top, but to be honest, I didn’t remember tasting them. Tastes like a gourmet, artisan pizza. Rating: 5 stars

Ingredients: rice flour ( corn starch, tapioca dextrin, non-fat dry milk, whole egg, sugar, salt, xanthan gum, baking powder & soy oil), mozzarella cheese ) pasteurized milk, salt, cheese cultures, eznymes),fresh tomatoes, fresh mushrooms, water, asiago cheese (pasteurized milk, salt ,cheese cultures, enzymes), roasted garlic, expeller pressed extra virgin olive oil, garlic, salt, yeast, parsley, oregano, rosemary, sage, chives, black pepper.

Spinach & Tomato: Fresh flavors on a chewy crust helped make this gluten free pizza my runner up. The whole, fresh baby spinach is tasty and flavorful and pairs well with the feta cheese that dots the surface. The tomatoes looked a tad orange and overcooked, and I did not notice a strong flavor from them. Overall, a good, flavorful pizza I would love to have in my freezer for last minute gluten free meal ideas. Rating: 5 stars

Ingredients: rice flour ( corn starch, tapioca dextrin, non-fat dry milk, whole egg, sugar, salt, xanthan gum, baking powder & soy oil), mozerella cheese ) pasteurized milk, salt, cheese cultures, eznymes), diced tomatoes (ripe tomatoes, tomato juice, salt, calcium chloride, naturally derived citric acid), fresh baby leaf spinach, water, feta cheese (pasturized milk, non fat dry milk, salt ,cheese cultures, enzymes), roasted garlic, expeller pressed extra virgin olive oil, salt, yeast, black pepper.

Margherita: I was a little less impressed with this gluten free pizza. For me, I wished there was more sauce and less cheese. I was really hoping for a stronger tomato and basil flavor. It was still very tasty, and at times the plentiful cheese topping was a bit too much ( I can’t believe I just typed that - too much cheese?! I must be crazy). Overall, a solid, and tasty cheese pizza. Rating: 4 1/2 stars

Ingredients: rice flour ( corn starch, tapioca dextrin, non-fat dry milk, whole egg, sugar, salt, xanthan gum, baking powder & soy oil), mozzarella cheese ) pasteurized milk, salt, cheese cultures, enzymes), crushed tomatoes (whole ripe tomatoes, salt) fresh basil, water, asiago cheese (pasteurized milk, salt ,cheese cultures, enzymes), roasted garlic, expeller pressed extra virgin cold press olive oil, garlic, oregano, basil, yeast, black pepper.

These pizzas are definitely going on my “favorites” list. Great job Bella Monica!

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To purchase these frozen gluten free pizzas, please check your local Whole Foods, or local natural foods store.

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For more of my gluten free pizza reviews, click HERE to check them out

June’s GF Product Give-away! Goldbaum’s Gluten Free Ice Cream Cones

Karen — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 03:53:08 +0000

Get ready for summer!

To celebrate summertime, what better give-away could there be than gluten free ice cream cones? Whether you are a kid, or kid at heart, these ice cream cones will help cool you down on a hot summer day. They do not taste gluten free AT ALL, and my family loves them!

The winner will receive one box of gluten free ice cream cones and will be shipped directly from the Gluten Free Plaza.com - the online store that sells many of the tasty Goldbaum products I have reviewed.

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How to enter:

1) Leave a comment and tell me your favorite flavor of ice cream, or your favorite ice cream dessert. ( Click the word “comment” under the title of this post- it is a little hard to see. Feel free to link back to a gluten free ice cream recipe or gluten free blog if you wish)

2) Enter by midnight on Monday, June 8, 2009.

3) The winner will be randomly selected and posted on this site, and emailed to my subscribers.

(Want to subscribe? Look to your right)

4) One, entry, per person please

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Good Luck!

Product Review: Starfish Gluten Free Crispy Battered Halibut, Cod & Haddock ( all natural, dairy, egg & soy free)

Karen — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 03:23:46 +0000

*This product is peanut free, gluten free, soy free, wheat free, and egg free

Fish and chips, anyone?

Starfish brings us crispy, battered gluten free fish that tastes great! These are great alone, or sliced in fish tacos. These battered fish tenders really look appetizing and do NOT gluten free at all. Even my six year old tried them and exclaimed ” Hey mom! These actually look good!” I have to agree. If you or your children used to love Van de Kamps or Mrs. Paul’s frozen fish products, then you will definitely like this product. In fact, I think you will probably like them better!

Their fish products come in three frozen varieties: halibut ( pictured above), haddock, and cod- three fairly mild white fish varieties that are battered in a substantial corn flour and rice flour batter that adheres fairly well to the fish after baking for 14 minutes in the oven. The flavor is light and the consistency is just a little chewy with a flaky, crisp crust. One aspect I really like about these fish portions is the fact that they are not too greasy - I was shocked to discover hardly any residue on my baking pan after they came out of the oven!

The fish cooks perfectly, with the halibut coming out the flakiest of the three. The cod and haddock are also somewhat flaky but tend to be more dense, and all three varieties are very moist and tender. Likewise, the cod seemed the toughest of the three and the texture seemed a little off.

Bravo Starfish! I think we have a winner here for all the battered fish lovers out there.

Pros: Great gluten free frozen fish option- halibut definitely the best of the three!

Cons: batter on the fish is slightly chewy, cod & haddock seem thicker/ more dense

Ratings:

Halibut: 5 stars

Haddock: 4 stars

Cod: 3 1/2 stars

Ingredients: Fish ( halibut, haddock, or cod), water, yellow corn flour, rice flour, modified corn starch, salt, leavening ( sodium bicarbonate, sodium acid pyrophosphate), garlic powder, onion powder, xanthan gum, guar gum, canola oil

Starfish frozen fish products are available at Whole Foods nationwide. For a location near you, please visit their website HERE

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Yummy reviews coming up this week: flatbread pizza, smoothie mixes, gluten free chicken nuggets and vegan snack bars!

GF News: Betty Crocker Gluten Free dessert mixes - coming June 2009

Karen — Tue, 26 May 2009 06:49:25 +0000

Yes, it is true- this summer good ‘ole Betty Crocker will feature new gluten free dessert mixes made in a dedicated facility - brownies, chocolate chip cookies, devil’s food and and yellow cake mixes . And this fall they will also label their prepared frosting gluten free as well!

Hurray for Betty Crocker- the latest set of main stream products to join the gluten free bandwagon! When I get my hands on these mixes, reviews will definitely be up on this site.

Click HERE to visit the Betty Crocker website’s FAQ’s about their gluten free products and labeling.