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Review: Barilla Gluten-Free Pasta

Last Updated on by the Celiac-Disease.com Staff 6 Comments

There are many different brands and varieties of gluten-free pasta on the market these days. Some of the pasta is made from rice, some from corn and some are a combination of gluten-free grains. Having such a variety helps drive down the price, which is great for us consumers. Barilla introduced gluten-free pasta to their line-up recently and it is priced very reasonably at $2.19/package (Meijer).

Barilla Gluten-Free Pasta is made from non-GMO rice and corn, made in a dedicated gluten-free facility, certified gluten-free (GFCO), and tastes like real (not gluten-free) pasta.

IMG 3868I decided to make a simple pasta dish with the Barilla gluten-free Spaghetti variety and Prego Three Cheese sauce.

This pasta really does taste “real” and very much like what I remember pasta tasting like. It isn’t sticky or gummy and even tastes good cold the next day! I love that there are four different shapes of Barilla gluten-free Pasta:

  • Elbows
  • Penne
  • Rotini
  • Spaghetti

Look for Barilla gluten-free Pasta in the pasta aisle of your favorite local grocery store. Have you tried the new gluten-free pasta from Barilla? What did you think? 

Review: Great Value Gluten-Free Cookies

Last Updated on by the Celiac-Disease.com Staff Leave a Comment

Just a little over a week ago I purchased several of the new Walmart brand, Great Value, gluten-free products. We have been working our way through them and today’s review will focus on the cookies. There are three different varieties of gluten-free cookies in the Great Value line-up:

  • Shortbread Cookies
  • Vanilla Sandwich Cookies
  • Cocoa Sandwich Cookies

IMG 2758The sandwich cookies are just like their non-gluten-free counterparts…they taste great, have a wonderful texture, and are great to dip in milk (especially vanilla almond milk!). The Shortbread Cookies are very good, however, 2/3 of the package was crumbled or broken. I am not sure if that was an isolated incident or a problem with that cookie. If it turns out to be an ongoing problem, they would still be good as ice cream toppers or used as a crust for a pie or cheesecake.

All products are certified gluten-free by the National Foundation for Celiac Awareness gluten-free Certification Program. Walmart has locations across the US – check here for the location closest to you.

Have you tried any of the Walmart branded gluten-free products? 

Review: Rudi’s Gluten-Free Cherry Almond Bars

Last Updated on by the Celiac-Disease.com Staff Leave a Comment

I finally got a chance to try the new Cherry Almond Bars made by Rudi’s Gluten-Free. The wonderful people at Rudi’s kindly sent me some samples to try and asked me to share my thoughts with you guys.

The Cherry Almond Bars are dairy and GMO free in addition to being certified gluten-free. Each bar contains 120 calories, 3g protein and 2g fiber.

Ingredients: Rolled oats, almond butter, honey, gluten-free flour blend (cornstarch, sorghum flour, sweetrice flour, potato starch, potato flour), almonds, canola oil, brown rice syrup, dried cranberries, dried cherries, puffed brown rice, ground flaxseed, vanilla extract, sea salt, natural almond flavor, cinnamon, ground nutmeg.

IMG 2256The most important thing, though, is how they taste. I loved both the flavor and texture of these bars. I love cherries and almonds, so putting them together makes me very happy! I loved the chunks of ingredients, as opposed to everything being ground up into tiny, unrecognizable pieces. The only negative comment I have about the bars is some of them had broken into pieces, which made it a little tough to figure out how big one bar actually was.

Look for Rudi’s gluten-free products in your local health food or grocery store. There is a nifty $1.00 off coupon right on the Rudi’s gluten-free website, so make sure to print that puppy out before you head to the store.

*The samples reviewed in this post were sent to me free of charge for review purposes. The thoughts and opinions shared here are mine and have not been influenced by anyone or anything.

Costco Gluten-Free Options

Last Updated on by the Celiac-Disease.com Staff Leave a Comment

There are a few gluten-free items that I have recently discovered are considerably cheaper at Costco. My membership expired a year or so ago, so I signed up again and headed out to explore the store. One of the items I knew would be a steal is Udi’s Gluten-Free Whole Grain Bread. The commercial-size loaf is sold for $11.99/loaf at Jason’s Deli. The same exact thing is only $6.79/loaf at Costco.

I started in the pharmacy area. There are a few over-the-counter medications we keep on hand in our house. One of those happens to be generic for Zyrtec for Jon’s allergies. The bottle of 365 pills (a whole year’s supply) cost $14.99 and is labeled “gluten-free”. I was paying $19-$22/month for another generic from my grocery store, meaning I saved roughly $200 right there.

As I moved onto the snacks and dry goods sections, I ran across many gluten-free items, including these:

  • Coconut Macaroons (certified GF)
  • Namaste Spice Cake Mix
  • GF All-purpose GF flour (contains xanthan gum)
  • Corn pasta
  • 180 Snacks
  • Pancake mix

Of course, there is so much more, but these are the specialty items that really stood out. I especially enjoyed the samples of Udi’s gluten-free bread with gluten-free deli ham and the employee serving them who really understood what “gluten-free” means. In fact, she follows a gluten-free diet herself! The non-food items, paper products, etc are also a great deal compared with the prices at our local grocery stores.

Do you have a Costco membership? What are your Costco staples?

Gluten-Free Meal Plan – Simplify Weekly Meal Planning

Last Updated on by the Celiac-Disease.com Staff Leave a Comment

Do you struggle with gluten-free meal planning? If you are just starting out on a gluten-free diet, planning meals may be a challenge for you. Even though I have been following the diet for years, I still have weeks where I draw a blank when it comes to meal planning. Finding something that everyone likes is my biggest challenge.

GF Meal Plan is a service that takes all of the stress and guesswork out of planning your meals for the week. Imagine just having to shop for the ingredients and throw them together instead of planning every last detail. GF Meal Plan has several different plan options:

  • Gluten-Free Dinner Plan
  • Gluten-Free and Dairy-Free Dinner Plan
  • Gluten-Free Breakfast Plan
  • Gluten-Free Lunch Plan
  • Gluten-Free Dessert Plan

The plans range in price from the Standard Plan $5/month (yearly membership) or $9/month (3-month membership) or the VIP All-Access Plan $12/month (yearly membership) or $9/month (3-month membership). The plans can be printed or accessed from your phone or tablet. There is a 90-day satisfaction guarantee and you can cancel anytime. Samples of the meal plans can be viewed here.

Do you plan your meals in advance? Do you do weekly shopping or do you go several times a week?