Gluten Free Food Reviews

I know I have been quiet lately. Balancing kids on summer vacation in a new town while trying to sort through the last of our moving boxes is taking a long time. I have been so busy, in fact, that I have opted for naturally gluten free snacks ( cheese, fruit etc) and meals to get me through. Thus, no reviews.

When I write a review, it is usually about a gluten free product that looks good or seems unique or interesting to me that I find in a store or online. Up until today I found almost nothing gluten free to try in my new area, much less review. I was also having a hard time preparing meals without gluten free basics like my favorite gluten free flour or gluten free baking powder. I was starting to feel frustrated. And hungry.

That’s right, today my gluten free sister Kristina and I checked out a new store south of Salt Lake City called Against the Grain. I still think I am in shock, because EVERYTHING in the store is gluten free. No Kidding. I think I almost passed out. I just didn’t think a store like that existed! No more hours of label reading- I could shop freely and easily with no worries of hidden gluten. After loading up on some new mixes, cooking basics and fresh gluten free bread, fresh gluten free hamburger buns and fresh gluten free sugar cookies (that left my picky kids drooling over), I unloaded my goodies in the gluten free pantry section in my kitchen. What a site! I can now cook meals and bake gluten free goodies whenever I want.

Right now I am in the process of testing some gluten free products to write about, but until I am done, Kelly from Triumph Dining sent me the following email to promote their exciting offer to give away FREE Dining Cards to help raise funds to promote awareness for celiac disease.

You don’t have to buy a thing! Just sign up and pass along the news to your friends and fellow bloggers. The email reads as follows:

Hi Karen,

I’m writing you today to let you know about Triumph Dining’s new give-away that we’re doing in August to raise money for Celiac Disease awareness, called the $10k Challenge. I hope this is something you would like to share with your readers.

Triumph Dining is giving away FREE American Dining Cards until the end of August. There’s absolutely no purchase necessary. Your readers can simply visit http://www.triumphdining.com/freediningcard.aspx to participate and get a free dining card.

The purpose of this give-away is to raise money for Celiac Disease Awareness. If 15,000 people to sign up for free dining cards, Triumph Dining will make a $10,000 donation in support of a national celiac disease awareness campaign. When we hit our goal, we’ll ask you and the gluten free community to help us decide which non-profit(s) receives the donation.

We’re trying to build awareness on two fronts: With 15,000 more dining cards on the street, we’ll be educating more restaurants about the gluten free diet faster. And, with $10,000 funding behind a national campaign, we can diagnose and educate more Celiacs.

The FREE dining card offer is available at http://www.triumphdining.com/freediningcard.aspx and we’ll be posting regular progress reports on our blog at http://blog.triumphdining.com.

I hope you’ll tell your readers about this promotion. Please let me know if you have any questions!

Thanks and keep blogging,

Kelly

Kelly, I am more than happy to do so. Good luck with your goal!

I am actually embarrassed to write this review.

This gluten free pasta has been a staple at my house for over a year now. My husband and picky children really love it in a variety of recipes. However, imagine to my surprise when I was cleaning up my sidebar categories and realized I hadn’t reviewed this brand of Tinkyada gluten free pasta. You would think this would be one of the first! I can’t believe I overlooked this. Yikes.

In fact, the above photo is my favorite pasta dish Creamy Chicken and Pasta. My family slurps up and asks for seconds ( trust me, this rarely happens at my house. Too many picky eaters!). To try the recipe, stop over and check out my Dish of The Week feature on my family blog.

I usually purchase the 16 ounce bag of this gluten free penne pasta for $3.69 and it easily feeds my family of four two hearty meals.

This Tinkyada pasta is easy to prepare- simply boil the noodles for 15 minutes, and after a cold water rinse you are ready for your favorite sauce. I found these noodles be slightly larger than a traditional wheat penne noodles. These gluten free noodles also cook up soft and slightly chewy; it really doesn’t result in a firm al dente, though. The flavor is light and mild, and pairs well with any sauce. I did not experience any aftertaste or strange texture. These noodles also hold their shape well with no splitting or cracking. It’s all good!

Seriously, with these noodles, you really can’t go wrong. Tinkyada has a great reputation, and these noodles are no exception.

Pros: pleasant, mild flavor; holds shape, simple ingredients,

Cons: doesn’t cook al dente; softer density and texture

Rating: 5 stars

Want to try it for yourself? Click the link below:

Ingredients: stone ground brown rice, rice bran, water

Click HERE for my other Tinkyada reviews and HERE for my other gluten free pasta reviews!

Have you tried this pasta? What did you think?

Announcing the winners of the July gluten free product give-away!

Thank you to all who shared their favorite gluten free treats and foods! I definitely have some new ideas for products I would love to try. My children helped me randomly select our following winners by picking two numbers between 1 and 29. Drum roll please . . .

to Sara L. with her comment:

Our favorite is probably the Baked Apple Pancake recipe from “Gluten-Free Coking for Dummies” by Danna Korn and Connie Sarros. We have breakfast for dinner probably once a week, and once I was diagnosed I needed to find a recipe that incorporated apple pancakes (our family’s favorite) for our weekly meal.

AND

Rebecca Wicklund with her comment:

My favorite product is Pamela’s Chocolate Cake Mix and then topped with the crunchy, sugary, chocolate frosting. Reminds me of the cake my mom used to always make when I was a kid!

Both of you have won the Bread of Life gift basket! Please email me at glutenfreefoodreviews [at} gmail [dot] com with your mailing address. I will then forward your information to Bread of Life, and before you know it, your tasty prize will be on its way!

Disappointed you didn’t win? Have no fear! Bread of Life bakery has generously donated more tasty gift baskets for the September give-away. So mark your calendars!

Bread of Life Gift Basket, originally uploaded by Gluten Free Food Reviews.

This give-away couldn’t be more perfect!

This amazingly yummy basket reminds me of the housewarming basket my sister Kelly gave our family hours after we moved into our new home. And since moving from Pennsylvania, I already miss the quality hand made Amish products we enjoyed- my girls especially loved the handmade children’s furniture and chocolate and peanut butter whoopie pies. This basket has yummy gluten free baked goods snuggled in an Amish made basket. Perfect!

The Bread of Life dedicated gluten free bakery is located in a 100 year old barn in Missouri. They generously donated TWO gift baskets valued at $50 for my July give-away. They describe the basket as follows:

The Bread of Life gift basket includes one loaf of Country Brown Bread, one loaf of Multi Grain Bread, one bag of Cake Muffin and Brownie Mix, one Snicker Doodle Cookie, one Flax Shortbread Cookie, one Brownie, one Blueberry Muffin and one Chocolate Chip Muffin, tucked into a hand made basket, signed on the bottom by the Amish artisan who created it.  The gift basket is valued at $50.00.

Check out the links below for my reviews of their products thus far- i will also feature reviews of their bread and more sweets this month as well. So here is the details:

TWO winners this month will receive this gift basket shipped directly from Bread of Life bakery!

********************************

Here’s how to enter:

1. Reply to this post and share your favorite gluten free baked item- your favorite cookie, cake, bread, whatever!

(Email submission are OK, bit I prefer you enter via the site so I don’t miss an entry. It is also helpful to include a link to your personal website in case you win and miss the big announcement)

2. If you have not done so, subscribe to glutenfreefoodreviews.com via email.

The give-away winner will be announced via email and on this site. Also, you will receive future product reviews. To subscribe, simply enter your email address at the top right side of my homepage. That’s it! if you have subscribed in the past, you do not need to do it again.

The winner will be announced on Wednesday, July 16th!

*******************************

Now for the rules:

1. You must complete #1 and #2 to enter

2. Entries must be made by Tuesday, July 15th at 11:59 p.m.

3. I will only ship to US addresses

4. One entry, per person please

Good luck!

***************************************

In the meantime, check out my other Bread of Life product reviews. (And many more are on their way!)

It is nice to be back!

It has been a few weeks without internet access for me and my family. In some ways it enabled me to focus on getting settled in our new Utah home, but I missed writing reviews, checking out your sites/blogs, and reading your comments. I also loved reading your favorite memories and was surprised at how many of them involved pancakes! I am happy to report that we have made chocolate chip pancakes with frosty glasses of OJ three times this last week to help us feel “at home” in our new house. The move hasn’t been easy for us, and my girls ( and I!) are still adjusting, but I think it is comforting to my daughters to know they are some things that won’t change.

Now, onto the randomly selected give-away winner of a bag of Pamela’s Pancake mix, handy dandy spatula and tasty chocolate chips. Thanks to all who shared their stories!

Congratulations to Lisa Irvine with her comment of:

Isn’t it funny how many memories revolve around food? Anyway, one of my favorite memories is of my grandmother’s house. She used to keep a simple metal bowl of cheese popcorn on her wood stove in the kitchen. The heat from the top of the stove was just enough to warm the popcorn and send the smell all through the house! I can still almost smell the wonderful aroma today. She also was a great baker. She used to make a cookie called a “chocolate jumble” every Christmas. Boy, I wish I had the recipe! Of course, I’d have to reformulate it GF!!!

Lisa, please email me at glutenfreefoodreviews {at} gmail [dot] com with your shipping address.

Also dear readers, don’t forget to check back for our free product give-away for July. You’ll be glad you did!