Gluten Free Food Reviews

Yes, my blog has a different look- again! I am hoping this will be my temporary look until I can get a designer to help me tweak it just the way I want. I know it is a little, well, boring, but at least I can post reviews again.

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Amy’s gluten free pizza is found in the frozen foods section, and I wanted to compare it to Glutino’s spinach and feta pizza that I just LOVE ( as soon as I can find it locally, a review will definitely be posted!). This medium sized pizza could feed about two hungry people and cost $6.19. Kind of pricey, but I hoped it was worth it.

Well, right away I was disappointed. the actual pizza fresh from the box seemed to lack cheese in a huge way- much less coverage than I expected. But really, I guess I shouldn’t bee too surprised, since most packaging tried to make the product look good enough to buy it. I guess I was a sucker it his regard.

After i baked the pizza for 13 minutes, I noticed a strong garlic scent. Hmm, maybe this wouldn’t be so bad after all . . .

. . .or, maybe it was.

The crust on this Amy’s gluten free pizza tasted mealy and coarse, although it baked very soft, comparable to a warm slice of rice bread with a touch of crispness on the outer edges thanks to a touch of olive oil.

The toppings boasted an overpowering fresh spinach flavor with tangy tomato sauce. So-so- flavor -not super yummy, but definitely edible. The soy based mozzarella and ricotta cheeses were just “OK” as well, si nce i am used to the flavor of dairy based cheeses. The pizza could definitely use more cheese since it seemed more like a garnish than an actual topping. The cheese also requires broiling for it to really melt and cook. The funny thing is, I thought this pizza tasted better cold than fresh from the oven.

Overall, this pizza was average for a gluten free pizza. I would eat it if I were really hungry, but I wouldn’t consider it a staple in my freezer for a quick meal option. I guess I am just really picky.

PROS: fresh topping flavors, 8 grams of protein per serving, 4 grams of fiber

CONS: crust is too soft and coarse, high in fat- 20 grams per serving

Rating: 3 stars

Since the ingredient list so sooo long, click HERE to view it and see the packaging as well!

To purchase this pizza, your best bet is to check your local grocery store’s natural foods section or a local natural foods store.
Read what PaperGirl, Lisa B. from Vegsource.com, Ken from Vgean Lunchcast, Roseann from Supervegan, Jenny from LivingVegan, and Jim from EZ GFCF have to say about this gluten free pizza product!

Also, feel free to check out my review on Amy’s Rice Crust Cheese pizza!

I have tried Namaste’s brownie mix, and since I loved it so much I was really excited to see if this mix was just as good. I purchased the mix at Nature’s Pantry for $5.99 (gulp!). At this price, I really hoped it would be worth it. This mix makes 2 dozen medium sized cookies.

Mixing the cookie dough was downright disastrous. Upon adding the oil, water and eggs, I found the dough to be very thick and oily, and hard to handle. I ended up using my hands to rolls small balls of dough since the drop cookie method was not an option. Ugghhh, what a mess! I had to keep washing my hands because the oil felt disgusting on my hands. I ventured a taste of the dough ( as always), and instantly regretted it. It tasted AWFUL- very gritty with a bitter aftertaste, like it had too much baking powder in it.

Ok, time for the ultimate test- baking. Initially I baked 6 cookies plain, with no added ingredients; and another 6 cookies with added bittersweet chocolate chips and walnuts.

Fresh from the oven, the plain cookies had a strange grainy texture and crumbled when I took a bite. The cookie seemed to be dry with a bitter aftertaste; the same taste as when I sampled the dough, only it was not as strong. The cookies with added chocolate and wlanuts were only slightly better in flavor, since the added ingredients masked the bitter aftertaste a bit.

Overall, I was dissappointed, and felt like I had wasted $6. I hope that others out there had a better expereince, because I really do like this company and many of their other products.

Pros: free from many common allergens

Cons: bad aftertaste, dough is messy to work with, higher price

Rating: 1 1/2 stars

Hoping you’ll have a better outcome?

Here is where you can buy this cookie mix:

Ingredients:Evaporated Cane Juice, Sweet Rice Flour, Tapioca Flour, Rice Milk Powder, Cream of Tartar, Baking Soda, Salt, Xanthan Gum and Vanilla.

This Namaste gluten free pizza crust mix is packaged in an unassuming brown and maroon paper bag. Each brown bag makes two 14 inch pizza crusts,and sells for $6.69 at my local health food store. A while back, Natalie, the Gluten Free Mommy, asked if I knew of a good pizza crust mix. At the time, I didn’t, but this is one of two contenders that may satisfy our gluten-free pizza cravings.

I made the two pizza crusts at the same time, and froze the second one for use later in the week. I wanted to see how the taste compared. However, the nice thing about this mix is that there are instructions on the bag if you only want to make one crust at a time.

When you open the bag, you are immediately overwhelmed by a heavenly italian aroma- yes, the italian seasoning is already premixed into the crust for extra flavor. Perfect!Preparing the mix is failry simple, just add oil, water and mix for 3 minutes with a mixer. I would suggest using a stand mixer. The dough was easy to shape and I used my fingers to pat out the 14 inch crusts. I did use a bit of oil on my fingertips to prevent sticking. With this crust, you bake it for 10 minutes, add your toppings ( For the yummy spinach feta pizza recipe pictured above, click HERE), then bake an additional 8 -12 minutes. I found with my recipe, 11 additional minutes was perfect; anything less than that produced a soggier crust.

The result was simply Wonderful. Simply heavenly. Simply flavorful. The crust was perfectly crispy on the bottom and nice and chewy in the center. It didn’t have the typical rice flour taste and graininess. In fact, my gluten-consuming husband remarked on how good it was and how good the crust turned out.

When I tried my second pizza ( the one that I froze), I found the results were just “Ok.” I didn’t get the same fresh, crispy/chewy experience. I would suggest making a fresh crust each time for best results. Overall, this was a great crust that I am happy to buy again.

Pros: Perfect thin crust experience- crispy and chewy with a wonderful aroma and flavor, food allergy friendly

Cons: Probably not the best mix for a thicker crust

Rating: 4 1/2 stars

Where Can I Buy This Pizza Crust?

Namaste - Pizza Crust
From: glutenfree.com

Ingredients:Brown Rice Flour, Tapioca Flour, Arrowroot Flour, Italian Seasoning, Xanthan Gum, Cream of Tartar, Baking Soda, Salt, and Ascorbic Acid.