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Review: Pamela’s Gluten-Free Oatmeal Cookie Mix

Last Updated on by the Celiac-Disease.com Staff 2 Comments

I had the opportunity to sample a new cookie mix from Pamela’s Products recently and I am thrilled to share my thoughts about it. Pamela’s recently debuted an Oatmeal Cookie Mix that is not only certified gluten-free, but dairy-free, too.

Ingredients:
Gluten-free Oats, Evaporated Cane Sugar, Brown Rice Flour, Brown Sugar, Tapioca Starch, Potato Starch, Sorghum Flour, White Rice Flour, Sweet Rice Flour, Spices, Grainless & Aluminum-Free Baking Powder (Sodium Bicarbonate, Sodium Acid Pyrophosphate, Potato Starch), Sea Salt, Baking Soda, Natural Vanilla Flavor, Guar Gum.

I followed the directions on the back for the cookie bars, as opposed to cookies.  I chose to add peanut butter baking chips, as I knew that was a sure fire way to get Jon to eat the bars, though I would have preferred raisins.  The mix was simple to put together by softening the butter with the mixer and then adding the mix, egg and mix-ins.  Mix-ins can be anything from dried fruit to nuts, coconut or baking chips.  After the ingredients were well blended, I pressed the batter into an 8 x 8 parchment lined pan.

IMG_5992I baked the bars for 28 minutes in a 350 degree oven, let them cool for a while and then cut them while they were still warm.

The mix produced a wonderfully moist and flavorful Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookie bar!  I love the combination of flavors and can’t wait to share them with a few gluten-free friends tomorrow.  While the mix is free of dairy, the bars as I prepared them are not, though they could be made that way by using dairy-free margarine and baking chips or subbing dried fruit for the chips.

Pamela’s Products mixes can be purchased online or in select stores across the US.  Have you tried Pamela’s new Oatmeal Cookie Mix?  What is your favorite Pamela’s product?

Schwan’s Gluten-Free Options and Recipes

Last Updated on by the Celiac-Disease.com Staff 1 Comment

There are gluten-free options all over the place these days, even with online food ordering and delivery companies like Schwan’s. I have to admit that I was skeptical, but once I was reassured that all of their unbreaded meats and veggies are gluten-free, I felt a lot better. I received a couple of samples of the Boneless Skinless Grilled Chicken Breast and Alaskan Salmon to try out.

Both products arrived in boxes with individually wrapped servings on the inside and instructions on how to prepare the chicken/salmon on the outside. Both can be prepared from frozen, making them viable options when you forget to defrost dinner!  The chicken and salmon both tasted great! Make sure to read below for recipes to prepare using the chicken and salmon.

 

schickenGRILLED CHICKEN BREAST WITH AVOCADO LIME SALSA

Prep Time: 10 min | Total Time: 25 min | Serves 4

Ingredients:

  • 1 pkg Guacamole (Schwan’s or homemade)
  • 2 Tbsp cilantro, chopped
  • 4 Unbreaded Chicken Breast Filets (502), thawed

Directions:

· Preheat grill to medium high heat.

· Dice avocado halves and toss with lime juice, tomatoes and cilantro.

· Grill chicken 16 to 18 minutes, turning over halfway through cooking time.

· Serve avocado salsa over chicken breast.

 

ssalmonGRILLED SALMON & PORTABELLA WITH VINAIGRETTE

Prep Time: 20 min | Total Time: 30 min | Serves 8

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup extra-virgin olive oil
  • 2 tsp. salt
  • 1 tsp. ground ginger
  • 1/2 cup rice vinegar
  • 4 5″ diameter caps portabella mushrooms, cleaned
  • 6-8 pieces Alaskan Salmon (559), thawed
  • Salt & pepper to taste

Directions:

· In a medium bowl, whisk together oil, rice vinegar, sugar, salt and ground ginger until blended and oil is well-incorporated and emulsified.

· Reserve 1 cup of dressing; cover and refrigerate.

· Drizzle 1/4 cup of dressing on mushrooms. Grill mushrooms directly over medium heat 10 to 15 minutes, turning several times.

· Season salmon with salt and pepper. Lightly brush salmon with remaining 1/4 cup of dressing to avoid sticking to grill grates. Grill salmon directly over medium heat 8 to 10 minutes, turning once halfway through cooking time.

· Slice portabella mushrooms into strips and place on serving plates as a bed for salmon. Top mushrooms with grilled salmon. Drizzle refrigerated dressing generously over salmon and mushrooms.

Have you tried any gluten-free food options from Schwan’s?  If so, please share your thoughts.

Review: Udi’s Soft and Chewy Granola Bars

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

One thing I have really missed since starting the gluten-free diet is a good granola bar. In the past year or so there have been some great strides made and there are some decent options on the market to choose from. Udi’s Gluten-Free has joined the list of companies making gluten-free granola bars with one of their newest products.

The new granola bars are available in three different varieties:

Cranberry Almond with Omega-3 – INGREDIENTS: gluten-free OATS, HONEY, BROWN RICE SYRUP, RICE CRISP (BROWN RICE MEAL, WATER), ALMONDS, DRIED CRANBERRIES (CRANBERRIES, SUGAR, SUNFLOWER OIL), EVAPORATED CANE SYRUP, NON-GMO CANOLA OIL, INULIN, TAPIOCA MALTODEXTRIN, MILLED FLAXSEED, PALM OIL, WATER, VEGETABLE GLYCERINE, NATURAL FLAVOR. CONTAINS: ALMONDS WARNING: May contain nut shell fragments. Made in a facility that processes tree nuts and peanuts.

Chocolate Chip with Antioxidants – INGREDIENTS: gluten-free OATS, HONEY, BROWN RICE SYRUP, RICE CRISP (BROWN RICE MEAL, WATER), ALMONDS, RAISINS, EVAPORATED CANE SYRUP, NON-GMO CANOLA OIL, INULIN, TAPIOCA MALTODEXTRIN, MILLED FLAXSEED, PALM OIL, AMARANTH, QUINOA, WATER, VEGETABLE GLYCERINE, Bacillus coagulans GBI-30 6086, NATURAL FLAVOR. CONTAINS: ALMONDS

Ancient Grain with Probiotics – INGREDIENTS: gluten-free OATS, HONEY, BROWN RICE SYRUP, RICE CRISP (BROWN RICE MEAL, WATER), ALMONDS, RAISINS, EVAPORATED CANE SYRUP, NON-GMO CANOLA OIL, INULIN, TAPIOCA MALTODEXTRIN, MILLED FLAXSEED, PALM OIL, AMARANTH, QUINOA, WATER, VEGETABLE GLYCERINE, Bacillus coagulans GBI-30 6086, NATURAL FLAVOR. CONTAINS: ALMONDS

IMG_6163In addition to being certified gluten-free and non-GMO verified, each variety has additional ingredients that are good for you, such as Omega-3, Probiotics and Antioxidants.

I found a single box of the Ancient Grain variety when I was shopping at my local health food store, Raisin Rack, the other day.  I was unaware that they had begun to carry the granola bars and immediately picked up the lone box so I could try them out.  I sampled my first bar after a tough morning BodyPump workout.  I enjoyed the taste and the texture and felt satisfied after eating the bar, which held me over until I was able to eat breakfast a little later on.  The texture of these bars is a little tougher than a Larabar, but not as hard as a crispy rice type bar, if that makes sense.  I would like to keep these on hand and try the other varieties if I can find them.

Each box contains 5 bars and was priced at over $5/box, which is high, in my opinion. They are priced at $.6.39/box on the Udi’s website for a single box, or $17.16 for six boxes.  As I began to think about the pricing, I thought that the bulk price was actually a really good price, so I went to purchase some.  After adding the bars to my cart, the total said “$32.00”, so I am currently waiting on a response to see what the accurate pricing is.  I will update here once I find out.

Have you spotted or tried the new granola bars from Udi’s gluten-free?  If so, please share your thoughts with us.

Review: Katz Gluten-Free Vanilla Cake Mix

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

Katz gluten-free has been making wonderful gluten-free products for many years.  We have been fans of their Rugelach, pies, cupcakes and donuts, so when they debuted their cake mixes, I made it a point to order both the Chocolate and Vanilla so that I could try them.  I made the Chocolate Cake Mix a few weeks back into cupcakes for Easter, but had some difficulties.  Since I couldn’t figure out what went wrong with the cupcakes, I decided to make cakes from the Vanilla cake mix, despite not having the right size pans.

The Vanilla cake mix calls for 4 eggs, 1/3 cup of oil and 1/2 cup of orange juice.  After I preheated the oven, I mixed the eggs and oil in my mixer.  While the eggs and oil were mixing, I sprayed my 8-inch cake pans with Pam and set them aside.  I added the cake mix and orange juice and continued to mix until the batter was smooth.  I split the batter between the two cake pans and placed into my oven to bake.  The package recommends baking for 25 – 30 minutes or until the toothpick comes out clean.  The cakes were far from done at 25 minutes, but perfect at 30 minutes!  I let the cakes cool on the counter for several hours before frosting.

IMG_6078I used Betty Crocker’s Triple Chocolate Fudge Chip Frosting, marked “gluten-free” right on the package, to frost the cake.

Since it was Jon’s 17th birthday, we gave him the first piece of cake.  He dug in and thoroughly enjoyed the cake!  Even my picky, non-gluten-free child loved this cake!  I was a little concerned that using orange juice in the cake mix would not pair well with the chocolate frosting, but that wasn’t the case at all!  The cake has a wonderful, moist texture and subtle vanilla flavor.  I was pleased to see this cake mix turned out much better than the chocolate mix.  I plan on trying the chocolate cake mix again, but as cake, not cupcakes, to see if that may have been the problem.

Katz gluten-free products can be purchased directly from their website or in many stores across the US.  I am not sure if the cake mixes have made their way to store shelves yet or if they are only available online.  Have you tried either of the new Katz gluten-free Cake mixes?  How did they work for you?

How Do You Prefer to Grocery Shop Gluten-Free?

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

With more and more gluten-free specialty products showing up on the shelves of grocery stores these days, it can be a challenge to shop at different stores.  Some stores choose to organize all of the gluten-free specialty products into a “gluten-free” section of the store, while other stores either have a “Health Food” section or place the products on the shelves right along with other like items… bread, baking mixes, pasta, cookies, etc.

There are pros and cons for each method.

“gluten-free” section – Pros – Most specialty items are grouped together making products easier to locate. Cons – Store employees may incorrectly place items that are not gluten-free in this area as seen above.

“Health Food” section – Pros – Again, most specialty items will be grouped in this section, though it probably will be a larger area than a strictly “gluten-free” section.  Cons – Not all “Health Food” products are necessarily gluten-free and it may take a bit longer to find what you are shopping for.

No separation – Pros – If you know the store, things are grouped with other like items and can be found by aisle signs hanging from ceiling.  Cons – A larger store area to cover to find what you are shopping for.  This may also lead to confusion among store employees and communication between them and customers.

Do you have a preferred method?  Do you avoid certain grocery stores because of the way they stock their gluten-free specialty foods?