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Review: Udi’s Gluten-Free Plain Bagels

Last Updated on by the Celiac-Disease.com Staff 10 Comments

I have tried many gluten-free bagels over the past 4 years of being on the gluten-free diet. Kinnikinnick, Glutino, Trader Joe’s, Joan’s Gluten-Free Great Bakes, and I have made my own from Pamela’s Gluten-free Bread Mix. All of the bagels have been good, but only Joan’s came close to a replica of that chewy crust and doughy center that I remember from my pre-gluten-free days. Enter Udi’s Gluten-free Plain Bagels.

The outside of the bag of Udi’s Bagels says “soft, chewy, yummy”. They did not lie. These bagels are edible straight out of the package at room temperature, something I haven’t found with any other gluten-free bagel. Joan’s bagels are excellent, don’t get me wrong, but have to be toasted.

The outside of the bagel has a chewy factor; the inside is soft and doughy & reminiscent of the gluten-filled version. Perfect to spread a nice layer of cream cheese over for breakfast or a snack.

I couldn’t let this opportunity get away without toasting & adding my signature tuna melt toppings.

If you made me choose my favorite gluten-free bagel, it would be close, but I have to say that I believe that Udi’s comes out on top. I love the versatility! Not having to toast the bagel is a wonderful option. The bagels can be stored in the freezer or on the counter (if they will be consumed quickly, they will be in my house). I have many other toppings that I want to try on my new-found love – almond butter & jelly, hummus, avocado & tomato, fried eggs, and maybe even a Sunshine burger.

Udi’s products can be purchased online here. They are also carried in many stores around the country, including Whole Foods. Some Einstein Brothers Bagels in Denver are even carrying these! I hope that becomes a nationwide thing! Udi’s bagels cost $6 per pack of 4 bagels. Joan’s bagels are $8 per pack of 5. The nutritionals are comparable at 280 calories & 270 calories respectively. Have you tried Udi’s bagels yet?

Review: Gluten-Free Ice Cream Cones

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

Sometimes I dream of owning a summer home – where it’s not hot in the summer. Last year, we had a nice break from scorching temperatures in the Metro Atlanta area. It was nice in so many ways. Not feeling like you stepped into a warm tub when you went outside was nice, but saving $100 a month on the power bill was even nicer! It doesn’t look like we’re going to be that lucky again this year. Summer arrived quite early and it seems like it’s here to stay.

The only time I like ice cream (or any related cold treats) is during hot summer months. For whatever reason, we really didn’t have a spring season this year. We skipped right to summer even though it’s only April. Last year, I went on the search for the best gluten-free ice cream cones. Sadly for me, the only ones I found edible are not sold in a store here. The gluten-free cake style cones from “Let’s do Organic” are is sold at many health food stores here and at Whole Foods. That cone tastes very much like styrofoam to me. However, I never liked cake cones when I ate gluten either and think those taste only slightly better than the gluten-free version.

The only gluten-free cones I’ve had that I like are the waffle cones from Barkat. They are available from the gluten-free Mall. The gluten-free Trading Company sells three different brands of cones, including one I plan to try, Cerrone waffle cones. According to the description of those cones, they are large. Therefore, I hope they are at least normal sized. The delicious waffle cones from Barkat are like a toy cone – resembling something you might serve a doll. My husband who loves ice cream any time of year broke into boisterous laughter when I showed him the size of the Barkat cones last year. He actually felt bad for me. I didn’t mind the size that much, but people who want a normal serving of ice cream might feel ripped off to find the tiny cones inside the package.

Most of the time being gluten-free doesn’t bother me. It can be inconveniencing at times, of course. I’m a planner and that trait comes in super handy when you have to follow a special diet. But when I drive by the Brewter’s ice cream shop around the corner from our house and see a line of people waiting to order an ice cream cone, it reminds me that we really can’t do everything others can do. Something as simple as ordering ice cream – even without a cone isn’t that easy either. Most ice cream parlors don’t claim that any of their products are gluten-free due to cross contamination issues. I’ve had good luck sticking to frozen yogurt in a cup at Brewster’s, but the company does not claim anything they serve is gluten-free. Also, I’ve not had issues with soft serve vanilla ice cream drizzled with chocolate sauce at Dairy Queen.

As an adult who doesn’t really love ice cream in the first place, my life isn’t affected by not being able to order an ice cream cone at a parlor. However, when I think of the children with celiac or food allergies who can’t do what other kids can, I realize why so many parents avoid having their kids tested for celiac. They want their kids to be normal and don’t think that’s possible if they are on any type of restricted diet. Wouldn’t it be nice if at least one major chain offered a gluten-free ice cream cone and a certified gluten-free ice cream? Even if they offer something that tastes like styrofoam to some of us, most kids would absolutely love them. Kids just want to be kids, after all.

Delicious Gluten-Free Gelato and Sorbet

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Last year, I reviewed a coconut gelato by Talenti, a Texas based company that makes gelato reminiscent of what you’ll find in Italy. The only place I’ve seen the product line is Publix. The products I’ve tried so far are exceptional and also frightfully expensive. One pint is $4.99 at Publix and more than that online. In my opinion, you definitely get what you pay for when it comes to sorbet and gelato. The gelatos from Talenti are the only versions I’ve found in the U.S. that taste like they came from Italy. I’ve not tried all brands of gelato sold here,  of course.

Talenti products are not made with high fructose corn syrup and don’t contain artificial ingredients. The gelatos are blended with hormone free milk. The chocolate flavors are made with chocolate from Belgium – not chocolate flavored syrup. When I first started reading labels, I was shocked to see how much fake food was in many well known ice cream brands. Finally, I found a couple of options that only contained cream, sugar and vanilla bean but those are still few and far between today.

Talenti products are made with quality ingredients from around the world. The taste is simply incredible and the flavors are very intense. The Caribbean Coconut gelato is excellent, but Lisbon Lemon is my new favorite sorbet. It’s also the best lemon version I’ve had to date. The next time I feel like treating myself, I’ll pick up the Roman Raspberry sorbet – or rather sorbetto.

From the Talenti website –

We are dedicated to the strict principle of authenticity by committing ourselves to the 500 year old tradition of handcrafted gelato e sorbetto created with unparalleled artisanship.  We make everything from scratch using the finest ingredients available regardless of cost.  We combine these ingredients by hand in small batches using classical Italian gelato making equipment.  To this we add our innovative spirit and passion in order to offer our customers a myriad of flavors from which to choose.  This wonderful gelato e sorbetto selection is available either by the pint or by the scoop.  The end result is an amazingly tasty treat to be enjoyed as one of life’s greatest “simple pleasures”.

Products made with pure, real ingredients really do taste best – no matter what the food is. If there is an upside to having to constantly read food labels, it’s the fact that those of us that do it are much more educated about what we’re eating than the average consumer is. Talenti uses a symbol system to indicate what items are gluten-free. The website still does not seem to have a list of the gluten-free varieties, but the containers generally have several symbols on the back. The symbols indicate if the item is gluten-free, dairy-free, fat free, etc.  Most of the products are in fact, gluten-free except for the obvious flavors with “cookie” or “crunch” in the name.

It’s already air conditioner season in much of the South. We usually get a month long break when the heat or a/c isn’t need to make the house comfortable.  This year that break never came. It went from being quite chilly to flat out hot in a flash. With what is expected to be an unseasonably warm summer in “Hotlanta” on the way, Talenti gelatos and sorbets are the perfect gluten-free treat to cool things down!

Mellow Mushroom Gluten-Free Pizza Menu

Last Updated on by the Celiac-Disease.com Staff 18 Comments

The news about the Atlanta-based pizza joint chain, Mellow Mushroom, possibly offering gluten-free pizza has floated around online for well over a year. When I was finally able to get some details about this new venture, I was thrilled to find out they were going to use a proprietary recipe made with the mix from Domata Living Flour. The ready-made gluten-free crusts from that company are quite tasty, but the crusts my own pizza joint made from flour (when he ran out of crusts) were extraordinarily exceptional tasting. Therefore, I figured Mellow Mushroom’s version would take the gluten-free pizza wars to a whole new level.

Official Website Menu Information: Mellow Mushroom Gluten-Free Menu
Location Finder: Find a Mellow Mushroom Location Near You

Skip to earlier this year, when Mellow Mushroom announced that they were now going to use a crust from Still Riding Pizza, of Pizza Fusion fame.  Taste is relative and people tend to love that crust or not like it at all. I’m in the latter group, but most people do like the crust. I had only that crust at the now-closed Atlanta location of Pizza Fusion. The good news is that the pizza crust we had in Conyers, GA was better than any we’d previously had at Pizza Fusion. The bad news was that the pizza wasn’t good enough for us to go back – to any location. It’s likely that most gluten-free diners will enjoy the Mellow Mushroom crust, especially those who like what Pizza Fusion serves. Zack over at gluten-free Raleigh has not had the gluten-free crust at Pizza Fusion yet but gave the gluten-free crust at his Mellow Mushroom location a rave review.

Many people have contacted me complaining about the locations chosen for the Mellow Mushroom gluten-free pizza test market. I certainly had nothing to do with the locations chosen, but think the locations chosen are understandable. Gluten-free service is something that some large national chains have not been able to get a handle on, including some that have offered gluten-free menus for over five years. Mellow Mushroom has no interest in having this project fail and likely chose locations where there might not be that many gluten-free patrons. This allows them some room for growing pains.

We arrived during a very busy time and could barely find a place to sit at the  Conyers, GA location of Mellow Mushroom. It was a quirky, fun place – just like all the locations we’ve been to before have been. There is a gluten-free menu of sorts. It’s actually a guide to what is gluten-free. You still have to look at a regular menu for menu choices and pricing. This is the same annoying situation we run into at almost every place we visit with a gluten-free menu so we don’t count that against them.

When we finally decided which salad and pizza to order, we were taken aback when our enthusiastic server told us that the feta cheese on both the salad and pizza we’d chosen was in fact, not gluten-free. That was certainly a new one for me. I assumed she was mistaken and asked her to double-check that. She went to speak to the manager and reported back that the feta cheese is not gluten-free. So we choose another salad but stuck with the gourmet white pizza – sans the feta cheese. There were to be many other kinds of cheese on it, after all.

Our small Chef Salad was a good value at $3.95 and was large enough to share.   I’d ordered no croutons or bread because this location had started gluten-free service only a week ago. I did not think to ask for no crackers so they came on the plate. Luckily, they were wrapped in cellophane so they did not have to throw out the salad and start over. The salad was fresh and the house dressing was very good – just like I remember from my gluten-eating days.

The pizza arrived quite a while after we’d finished our salad,  but Mellow  Mushroom is known for taking its sweet time to make its gluten pizzas. I’d rather them take the extra time that might be needed to make gluten-free pizza safely than have them mess it up. The crust looked like the crust we’d had at Pizza Fusion, but was definitely better tasting. Both my husband and I agreed on that. He thought the toppings were good, and I did not. I think we should have ordered a different pizza because the feta cheese really makes the gourmet white pizza there. So, I take responsibility for ordering the wrong pizza, but would not have been in love with the crust regardless.

Without question, the 14″ gluten-free pie Mellow Mushroom offers are the best value for gluten-free pizza in the Metro Atlanta area. We paid only $16.25 for the gourmet white pizza even though we added grilled chicken. We didn’t want onions (and could not have the feta cheese) so the server didn’t seem to upcharge us for the chicken. They were out of Redbridge but had Amber Woodchuck Cider on Tap. It was wonderful and only $2.95. When in stock, Redbridge is only $3.25 at the Conyers Mellow Mushroom location. There was not an upcharge for the gluten-free crust either, which was not an oversight.

The same amount of food and drinks at other places that serve gluten-free pizza here would run us $10-$15 more – easily. I hope the test market program is successful, even though I won’t be a regular customer unless they change the crust – again. The staff at the Conyers location of Mellow Mushroom knew more about gluten than 90% of the servers that work at national chains that offer gluten-free menus in this area.

Check out the Mellow Mushroom gluten-free menu.

All of our pizzas may be ordered on our 10” Signature Gluten-Free crust. Four of our Specialty Pies can be made using our Certified Gluten-Free Safe Procedures: Kosmic Karma, Veg Out, Mighty Meaty, and House Special.

Additional Certified GF ingredients vary by location. Ask your server for details.

Made with our signature 10″ gluten-free crust. Build your own by choosing from our curated selection of ingredients that can be prepared with allergy-safe procedures

Mellow takes veggies to the max. This pie starts Gluten-free crust (available only in size small) and Mellow red sauce layered with mozzarella, spinach, green peppers, sliced mushrooms, sweet onions, black olives and Roma tomatoes.

A carnivorous mix, this pie starts with Gluten-free crust (available only in size small) and Mellow Red Sauce covered with mozzarella, pepperoni, Italian sausage,
ground beef, honey ham and applewood-smoked bacon.

Filled with goodness, this pie starts with Gluten-free (available only in size small) and Mellow red sauce covered with spinach, roasted tomatoes, mozzarella, fresh Roma tomatoes and authentic sheep’s milk feta cheese. A hypnotic pesto swirl adds the finishing touch.

The Ultimate Mellow: this pie starts with Gluten-free crust (available only in size small) and Mellow red sauce, mozzarella, topped with pepperoni, Italian sausage, ground beef, honey ham, applewood-smoked bacon, black olives, sliced mushrooms, Roma tomatoes, green peppers, sweet onions and the finishing touch…more mozzarella.

Individually wrapped brownie, baked with cage-free eggs, a blend of gluten-free flour, sustainable chocolate and ingredients free of GMOs and artificial additives. (cal 360)

As always, when dining out gluten-free, do your due diligence and make sure the staff understands your needs. There are very few restaurants that are 100% gluten-free, so cross-contamination is always a risk. If you don’t feel comfortable with what you are hearing from the staff, perhaps it is best to dine elsewhere.

For information about other gluten-free restaurants menus, check out our gluten-free restaurants page.

Review: King Arthur Gluten-Free Pancake Mix

Last Updated on by the Celiac-Disease.com Staff 5 Comments

When someone representing King Arthur Flour contacted me via e-mail about the new gluten-free mixes from the company, I could hardly believe the words I was reading. King Arthur Flour has long been a premier gluten product manufacturer so finding out that they decided to get into the gluten-free market was pretty exciting news. More products in any given industry usually bring more competitive prices which is something we are all looking for these days.

The gluten-free mixes from King Arthur Flour include pizza crust, cookies, bread, brownie, muffins, cake, pancakes, and a flour blend. The boxes for the mixes indicate that the products are gluten, wheat, soy, and nut free. However, as noted on side of the boxes, the gluten-free products are produced in a gluten-free, allergen-free (8 most common food allergens) manufacturing facility. The mixes are also Kosher and have GIG’s esteemed GFCO stamp of approval.

When asked what items I’d be interested in reviewing, I told the representative that anything except the bread mix would be welcome. The company sent me the flour blend and the pancake mix to review. The ingredients in the pancake mix are brown rice flour, potato starch, tapioca starch, more rice flour, sugar, cornstarch, salt, xanthan gum, natural flavors, and some stabilizers. The instructions call for whisking 2 eggs, butter (or oil), and milk together and then stirring the mixture into the pancake mix. We opted for the oil recipe version and used skim milk.

Right away I noticed that the pancake batter was much thinner than I was used to. I could not add more mix since all of it was already in the bowl. The box said the yield was 16 4” pancakes. I got 24 (some larger than 4”) out of it, making it clear that using skim milk might have affected the thickness of the batter quite a bit. We’re not going to buy regular or even 2% milk to make pancakes but would cut back on the amount of milk to thicken the batter up in the future. If you added a little more milk than called for, the batter should make perfect gluten-free crepes.

Since the batter was thin, the pancakes were also. However, the taste of the pancakes was absolutely delicious. You could serve them to the pickiest gluten eater and they’d never know they were gluten-free. In fact, my husband ate 11 of them at one sitting. We had to freeze a lot of pancakes to thaw, reheat and enjoy at a later date. With limited freezer space, this is not an optimal pancake mix for the two of us to use. If the company offered alternative instructions – for instance, to make a half batch – that would be excellent. I can figure out how to half two eggs, two cups of milk, and four T. of oil, but don’t know exactly how many cups of the mix are in the bag. For a family of four or more, using the whole mix at once would work fine, of course. For two people (at our house anyway) exactly half a batch of pancakes is perfect.

After reading a rave review of someone who found the mixes outside my area and these reviews for the chocolate cake mix, now I’m anxious to try that – and other – gluten-free mixes from the line soon! I’ve not been able to find the new King Arthur Flour gluten-free mixes in my area yet. The products can be purchased online, but I hope that at least Whole Foods locations here will soon have them. They carry several gluten products from King Arthur Flour so hopefully, they can make room for the new gluten-free mixes on store shelves. After all, the 365 gluten-free Bakehouse mixes were discontinued a couple of months ago.