New Mainstream Gluten Free Bread

Does this look like an illusion?  I thought so when I first saw it, but apparently, it is not!

Want to know more?  Check out Tiffany Janes article over at Celiac-Disease.com!

Tiffany brought up some very good points in her article about how the bread *might* be displayed in grocery stores, especially the concern about potential cross-contamination if the Gluten-Free Nature’s Own bread is placed in the regular bread aisle (I usually try to avoid that aisle myself, it makes me itch just thinking about it! 😉 ).

What do you think? Be sure to leave Tiffany a comment!

Glutino Chocolate and Yogurt Covered Pretzels

Yesterday, my shipment of Glutino Chocolate and Yogurt Covered Pretzels arrived!  There has been quite a bit of buzz around this new product since the announcement was made in March on Food Biz Daily, so the second I heard they were available for sale on GlutenFree.com, I had to order some.  Sam used to love the Pretzel Flipz back in his gluten days so I decided to wait and let him be the one to open the package and be the first sampler.

Now, Sam is only 6 so his taste-testing and critiquing skills are still rather limited, as is his database of descriptive words, so keep that in mind with his review (it’s a short one, LOL!).

Sam: GLUUUU-TEN, yeah, yeah, gluten!

Translation: The Glutino Chocolate and Yogurt covered pretzels taste just as good as the Pretzel Flipz in Sam’s memory!

Click the following links for ingredient and nutritional information: Glutino Chocolate Covered Pretzels and Glutino Yogurt Covered Pretzels.

My review: the Glutino Chocolate and Yogurt covered pretzels ARE good, however, they are kind of pricey after you add in the shipping costs.  I ordered one 5.5-ounce package of each flavor from GlutenFree.com, each retailing for $5.99.  After adding in the $12.00 shipping cost, each package essentially cost $12.00.  I cannot wrap my brain around that, no matter how good they are.  I would definitely buy these again, but I will wait until they are available in local stores.  Until then, I will just keep making my own (with Glutino’s GF pretzels of course!).  There is an added benefit to making my own too…  I have to make them in order to eat them, so there is a built in “self-control” mechanism going on.  When the Glutino Chocolate and Yogurt Covered Pretzels hit my local store shelves, I might be in trouble in the waistline department! 🙂

These are my homemade version of Glutino Chocolate Covered Pretzels... they are certainly not as pretty and I do not have a Yogurt version! I do have white chocolate though, hmm... 😉

Tribe All-Natural Hummus

On a recent trip to Costco, I found a package of Tribe Hummus Snacker Packs and I thought they would be great for tossing into the boy’s Easy Lunchboxes (a great “prepackaged” 100-calorie pack! Just toss in some carrots or other raw veggies and there you have it! 😉 ).  A box of 16 individual snack packs cost just under $6.00!  I read the ingredient label and could noticed that there were no gluten containing ingredients but the gluten-free label that used to be on packages of Tribe Hummus had vanished from the package.  I went ahead and bought it but decided to contact the company to inquire about the GF status before I presumed it was okay.  The simple removal of a gluten-free label that was once on a package can easily make one believe that the product is no longer safe to consume.

I emailed Tribe and received the following reply:

March 30, 2010

Hello Heidi,

Thank you for your interest in Tribe products.
Just wanted to let you know regarding your question,
“all” our hummus flavors are “Gluten Free.” Hope this
eases your mind.

I am sending you some money saving coupons toward your
next purchase. Enjoy!

Sincerely,

Peg Volpe

Consumer Affairs Specialist
p.volpe@tribehummus.com
TRIBE MEDITERRANEAN FOODS, INC.
774-961-0000

A week or so after I received the email confirming that Tribe Hummus is still gluten-free, I received a letter and coupons (thank you Tribe!) further explaining why the gluten-free label is no longer on their packaging:

In case you have trouble reading the letter:

June 5th, 2009

To Our Valued Customers,

We recently removed the phrase “gluten free” from our packaging.” Our marketing department continually revises the claims and information on our packaging to keep with current trends and to provide our customers with the information we feel is most pertinent.

Nothing has changed in Tribes process or ingredients; hummus is inherently a gluten-free food, and Tribe will continue testing to ensure such.

Please feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns.

Sincerely,

Jesse Norris, Quality Control Manager

Tribe Mediterranean Food Inc.

774-961-0000 x 117

j.norris@tribehummus.com

They must not have known that gluten-free foods would be one of the hottest trends of 2010! In fact, it was rated as #3 back in January by The Daily Beast.

Is it just me (assuming you have been at this for awhile too), or did we just become part of the “cool kids?” 😀

Canyon Bakehouse Giveaway Winner!

WOW!!! I am blown away by everyone’s participation in this giveaway! I have such empathy for everyone who REALLY has to travel to find a store with a decent selection of GF foods, I didn’t realize just how lucky I am to live in a city with a Whole Foods, Sunflower Market, Trader Joe’s, Vitamin Cottage and Toys R’ Us. Yes, you heard me right, Toys R’ Us! While they don’t carry “real” food, my local store has a great selection of GF snacks for kids, it’s where I buy the Snikiddy Snacks and a few others, you might want to check it out! 😀

Anyway, I loved reading all of your comments and that is precisely why I have to use the Random Number Generator to select the winner, I could never choose one of you over the other. That being said…

With all the Following, Tweeting, Fanning (which apparently, is now “Liking”), I came up with 98 qualified entries, WOO-HOO!

And the winner is…

Alta Mantsch!!

Congratulations Alta, I will email you for your shipping information. 😀

For everyone else, thank you so very much for entering this giveaway! Canyon Bakehouse has updated their website with a Store Locator and you can buy their products online here.

I hope you all have a GREAT Gluten-Free day!

Cascadian Farm “Live Green Together” Giveaway Winner

Thanks to everyone who entered this giveaway!

I used the Random Number Generator to select the winner and the winner is…

Cindy Winther!

Congratulations Cindy! I will email you for your shipping information.

Cindy, please remember that these are not gluten-free products! 😀

Cascadian Farm “Live Green Together” Pledge and Giveaway!

The simple act of unplugging electronics when you aren’t using them not only reduces energy, but could save you as much as 10 percent on your electric bill.

With Earth Day’s 40th anniversary on April 22nd (Thursday) fast approaching, Cascadian Farm wants you to join the celebration by pledging to follow a few eco-friendly tips on Facebook. Choose from eight different pledges, ranging from reusing clothes to reducing your speed while driving on the highway, and find the one that fits your lifestyle. For each person that signs a pledge now through May 31, 2010, Cascadian Farm will donate $1, up to $40,000, to the Organic Farming Research Foundation, which fosters the improvement and widespread adoption of organic farming systems.

As the Organic Farming Research Foundation continues to sow seeds to transform agriculture, you can do your part to initiate a positive change for healthier foods and a healthier earth by visiting http://www.facebook.com/cascadianfarm and signing the pledge that’s right for you.

Dedicated to organic goodness since 1972, Cascadian Farm products are grown without the use of synthetic pesticides, chemical fertilizers or genetically engineered ingredients. With your help, we can all live greener together.

Visit CascadianFarm.com to learn more and download a $1.00 coupon today!

The kind folks at Cascadian Farms through MyBlogSpark, have provided me with a prize pack to giveaway to one of my readers in honor of Earth Day’s 40th Anniversary and Cascadian Farm’s Earth Day Pledge on Facebook!

An Important Note for my Reader’s: these are NOT GLUTEN-FREE products! I wanted to participate in this giveaway to help spread awareness of Cascadian Farm’s Earth Day Pledge and encourage everyone to get involved, even if in one small way. I obviously cannot review the products for you because, well, you know, that whole gluten “thing” kinda gets in the way! 😀 When my prize pack arrives in the mail, I am going to donate it to my local food bank. You could do the same or give it to a friend or loved one who can eat gluten!

The “Live Green Together” prize pack includes Cascadian Farm Cereals and Granola Bars, including: Fruitful O’s Cereal, Cinnamon Crunch Cereal, Chocolate Chip Chewy Granola Bars, Dark Chocolate Almond Granola, Dark Chocolate Almond Granola Bars, Oats & Honey Granola and an Eco-Friendly Grocery Bag.

To enter this Giveaway, simply answer this question in the comment reply box:

What changes have your family made (or plan to make) in an effort to live “greener?”

I started my own journey of “greener” living just over a year ago, when I all but quit using paper towels. I was a paper towel-aholic! In place of paper towels, I found some great shop towels at Costco and Sam’s Club, a 30-pack of towels costs less than $20 (which is still less than a club pack of paper towels!). I bought 3 packs and I now use those instead of paper towels and just throw them in the washing machine at the end of the day. It is better on the environment and MUCH BETTER on my pocketbook!

I also started to recycle, unplug most of the electronics in our house when not in use, and just recently, we planted 4 fruit trees in our backyard and I started making my own non-toxic cleaning supplies. These are just a few of the very simple things that we can all do to reduce our carbon footprint and take better care of our planet for future generations. They are also very helpful, especially in today’s economy, to add money back into your wallet to spend on products that really matter… like organic whole foods (*most* of which are naturally gluten-free (I’m talking Fruits and Vegetables here)! See where I am going with this?). 😀

I will use a Random Number Generator to pick the winner on Friday, April 23, 2010.

Good Luck! 😀

Canyon Bakehouse Review and Giveaway!

Recently, I was the lucky recipient of some complimentary gluten-free bread products from Canyon Bakehouse, a dedicated gluten-free facility in Loveland, Colorado. All I can say is… YUM!

Funny story; the day the Canyon Bakehouse products arrived, I placed them on the counter and waited patiently until Mike and the boys got home from work/school before I tore into them. The very second Sam saw the loaves of bread, he said, “MOM! Why is there “gluten” here?” Taken aback, I asked what he was talking about (because we have a dedicated GF house). He pointed to the Canyon Bakehouse packaging and I got it, they DO look like packages of “real wheat bread,” LOL!  If you have been reading my blog for long, then you know how packaging and appearance are a VERY BIG DEAL to Sam right now, so score 1 for Canyon Bakehouse!

A little information on Canyon Bakehouse:

At Canyon Bakehouse, we believe making healthy choices shouldn’t mean compromising on the quality of the foods we love. More and more people are deciding to go “gluten free.” For people with celiac disease, avoiding gluten is a medical necessity. For others, it is simply a choice for their health and well-being. Canyon Bakehouse gluten-free breads have been specifically created to bring back the joy of real bread to those following a gluten-free diet. We think you’ll find Canyon Bakehouse Gluten Free Bread has all the texture and taste of normal bread!

I received a letter with my package of samples that goes into further detail about how Canyon Bakehouse came to be, and here are a few highlights:

Canyon Bakehouse is owned by husband and wife, Josh and Christi Skow and Master Baker, Ed Miknevicius.

Christi was diagnosed with celiac disease 3 years ago through a routine physical. She had been anemic, tired and had skin issues for years for unknown reasons. After being diagnosed, she had a difficult time transitioning to a 100% gluten-free diet. There were few choices for gluten-free bread on the market and what was available was very expensive and did not taste good.

Christi’s husband, Josh and Master Baker, Ed came up with the idea for their products in 2009 as they were sitting in a small Colorado Cafe near the Flat Top Wilderness area discussing the lack of good tasting and healthy gluten-free breads. At that point, Ed set out to create gluten-free bakery products that tasted good, were healthy and had the same texture as regular bread. The mission of Canyon Bakehouse was born, to “create delicious and nutritious gluten-free products the whole family can enjoy.”

All three of the sliced breads are great, but there was something in particular about the San Juan 7-Grain bread that really stood out to me… it looks and smells like whole wheat bread! I couldn’t help but just sit there with my nose in the bag, taking in an aroma that I had long forgot. It was a beautiful moment indeed. The bread also has that deep caramel color reminiscent of wheat bread and I was excited to try something that I had been wanting to try but never had a dark enough GF bread to do it with… Sandwich Puzzles!

Sam has really enjoyed these, just use a cookie cutter (that is supposed to be a baseball and bat in the above photo), to cut the same shape out of contrasting colored bread and switch! I made up a bunch one afternoon and filled with PB & J, bagged them up in a freezer bag and packing Sam's lunchbox was easy peasy! Score 2 for Canyon Bakehouse!

Can't you just smell it?? 😉

1 slice of the San Juan 7-Grain bread has only 90 calories, 1 gram of fat, 2 grams of Fiber and just 2 grams of Sugar!! So a sandwich with 2 slices of bread has 4 grams of fiber... score 3!

Click here for more detailed information on the San Juan 7-Grain bread.

Mountain White Bread

Click here for more detailed info on the Mountain White bread.

I recently cracked on my store-bought tomato boycott.... the good thing though, they are really not all that great, so I can definitely wait until the local tomatoes are in season! 🙂

Cinnamon Raisin Bread.

Click here for more detailed info on the Cinnamon Raisin bread.

The Cinnamon Raisin Bread was another favorite around here. You do not need to toast any of the Canyon Bakehouse gluten-free breads but I like Cinnamon Raisin Toast for breakfast on occasion. I did notice that the Canyon Bakehouse breads toast up differently from the crispy toast I am accustomed to, it toasts up well on the outside, but stays soft on the inside. An interesting contrast of textures, but yummy nonetheless!

Rosemary & Thyme Focaccia

The Focaccia was incredibly moist with a pronounced Rosemary flavor and I absolutely love Rosemary! The Focaccia bread is thicker than what I am used to, so a little goes a long way! I do wish I had put mine in the freezer right away though (it’s a lot of bread for 2.5 people), because the moist Focaccia did succumb to decay rather quickly (which technically speaking is a GOOD thing, because it means NO CHEMICAL PRESERVATIVES!), just keep that in mind and learn from my mistake. 😉

Click here for more detailed info on the Rosemary & Thyme Focaccia bread.

Now for my personal favorite of all the products we sampled (and this was surprising to me), the Cranberry Crunch Muffins!

I cannot recall having ever seen a more beautiful muffin in my life! It was almost too pretty to eat (but boy did I eat them)! The Cranberry Crunch Muffins were honestly the product I was least excited to try because I do not like baked goods with nuts, seeds, etc., it’s a texture thing carried over from childhood.

The Cranberry Crunch Muffins have Cranberries, Pumpkin Seeds, Whole Grain Millet and Poppy Seeds in them, see why I was worried? Well, those worries were completely unfounded because I loved, loved, LOVED the muffins!! The crunch was a delightful surprise and not “too much,” if you know what I mean. Either my taste buds are really evolving as I have been trying new foods or the folks at Canyon Bakehouse have found the perfect ratio of crunch to fluffy muffin… not too much, not too little! Another score for Canyon Bakehouse!

Click here for more detailed info on the Cranberry Crunch Muffins.

Sigh… I miss these.

Would you like to try a sampling of the Canyon Bakehouse gluten-free baked goods?? Well, here is your chance to do so for free! The kind folks at Canyon Bakehouse have offered up the exact same package that they sent to me; to giveaway to one of my lucky readers!

The winner will receive one of each: Mountain White, San Juan 7-Grain, and Cinnamon Raisin sliced bread, a package of the Focaccia and a package of the Cranberry Crunch Muffins!

To enter this giveaway, please leave a comment in the reply box about:

“In which stores do you prefer to buy your gluten-free products?”

I personally shop all over the place, Online, Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s, Sunflower Market, R. Down Nutrition Center, my local Co-Op and Smith’s. Wow… that is a lot of driving! 🙂 I dream of a day when there is a Healthy Gluten-Free Super Center! 😉

How about you? Do you stick with one place or shop at several stores?

For Bonus entries:

• For 1 bonus entry: Sign up to Follow @gfbakehouse on Twitter.

• For 2 bonus entries: Tweet about this giveaway and include a link back to this post. Be sure to also include @adventuresgfmom in your tweet so I know that you have done this.

• For 1 bonus entry: Become a “Fan” of Canyon Gluten Free Bakehouse on Facebook.

I will use a Random Number Generator to pick the winner on Friday, April 23, 2010.

Good Luck! 😀

Yoplait Greek Yogurt “Nourish Your Inner Goddess” Winner

Thanks everyone for entering the “Nourish Your Inner Goddess” Giveaway, courtesy of Yoplait and MyBlogSpark!

Total Number of Entries: 8

Random Generated Number: 7

So the winner is… Kathleen Schmitz!

Congratulations Kathleen, I will email you for your shipping information.

I have another review and giveaway that I will be posting later today, so be sure to check back! 😀

Easy Gluten-Free Baking and Cookbook Author Elizabeth Barbone

Elizabeth Barbone is one of my favorite gluten-free cookbook authors, I love my Easy Gluten-Free Baking cookbook.  I remember when I first got the cookbook, I soaked up her recipes, especially the “Tastes Like” chapter at the back of the book.  Elizabeth has recipes for gluten-free “Oreos,” “Twinkies,” “Devil Dogs,” and more.  I do believe I actually cried while I was reading them, because this was not long after Sam was diagnosed with celiac disease and I had had my own final “day of reckoning,” when I realized I could deny my disease no longer.

The “Tastes Like” chapter reminded me of the foods I grew up on and that Sam would never be able to have, at least from a package.  Isn’t it funny how we like to re-live our childhood memories through our children?  I remember when my dad would try to re-live his childhood memories through me, I thought he was a dork. Now I’m the dork. 😀

Elizabeth also has a resourceful website, called GlutenFreeBaking.com that I encourage you to check out and sign up for her monthly newsletter.  In last month’s newsletter, Elizabeth shared her favorite pasta recipe, just be careful before you click the link though, it may screw up your current dinner plans this evening!  If you want to learn more in depth cooking and baking techniques, you can join her website for as little as $2.49/month with an annual membership.  A small investment for learning baking skills that you will have for a lifetime (and MUCH cheaper than going back to school!).

A little background info on Elizabeth Barbone:

Elizabeth Barbone is the founder of GlutenFreeBaking.com Elizabeth is an alumna of the Culinary Institute of America, Hyde Park NY and Mount Mary College, Milwaukee, WI. With her solid professional baking background, Elizabeth is known for creating gluten-free recipes that taste “just like” their wheat counterparts.

Her first cookbook, Easy Gluten-Free Baking, features easy to prepare gluten-free recipes. The recipes, from breads to cakes to cookies, have won acclaim from gluten-free bakers all over the globe.

The recipes in the Easy Gluten-Free Baking cookbook are just that, easy.  You will not find the more exotic, hard-to-find (and usually much more expensive) gluten-free flours in her creations.  Elizabeth uses a variety of Rice flours, Cornstarch, Potato Starch and other easy to find ingredients.  This is especially useful if you are just beginning your gluten-free journey.  She also has a great tutorial on how to set up a Zojirushi Bread machine for baking gluten-free bread!  I found that tutorial alone to be worth the price of the cookbook!  It prompted me to actually use my Zojirushi that had been sitting in it’s unopened box for a couple of years… ya know, just in case my Dr. called one day to say he had made a horrible mistake! 😉

There is so much to learn when one begins living a gluten-free life (it is so much more than a “diet!”), and it can be utterly overwhelming at first (but TRUST ME, it does get easier, I am living proof of that). Elizabeth is a great teacher and I am so appreciative of the skills I have learned through her.

So I thought I would tie up this post with some “Friday Fun,” and direct you to Elizabeth’s recipe for Gluten-Free Tie Dye Cupcakes!  The picture you see is Elizabeth’s (not mine), but the cupcakes are too cool looking not post here as a teaser for some of the fun recipes over at GlutenFreeBaking.com!  The Tie-Dye Cupcakes would be great for a child’s birthday party or for a gluten-free child to take to another party and feel super cool! 😀  I’m wondering how they would work with all-natural food colorings? Hmmm…

Yoplait Greek Yogurt “Nourish Your Inner Goddess” Giveaway

I recently had the opportunity to sample the new Yoplait Greek Yogurt when the folks at Yoplait and MyBlogSpark offered to send me coupons for two free cups of Greek yogurt and a “Nourish Your Inner Goddess” gift pack.  Naturally, I was all over that one!  They have even offered to give one of my lucky readers the same gift pack, so read on! 😀

First, more on Yoplait’s Greek Yogurt (and yes, it’s gluten-free!):

With 12 grams of protein — twice that found in leading yogurts– new Yoplait Greek nourishes from the inside out. Available in four delicious flavors, Strawberry, Blueberry, Honey Vanilla and Plain, the brand´s newest offering has a unique thick and creamy texture with the unmatched taste expected of Yoplait.

To celebrate its new Greek yogurt and to encourage women to nourish their inner goddess, Yoplait has teamed up with actress Izabella Miko, who plays Greek Goddess Athena in the epic adventure new Warner Bros. Pictures´ and Legendary Pictures´ film “Clash of the Titans,” in theatres April 2 in 3D.

I love Greek Yogurt and it’s all I eat. Chobani is my personal favorite so keep that in mind (if you’re a Chobani fan, you know what I mean).  I’ve only tried the strawberry flavor of the Yoplait Greek Yogurt thus far, and I thought it was okay.  It is thick and creamy, just not as “velvety smooth” as the Chobani (if that makes sense).

The Yoplait Greek Yogurt is not a “fruit on the bottom” style of yogurt, so there are no fruit pieces in it.  My kids have not taken to “textured” yogurt yet, so this was right up their alley.  The sugar content of the strawberry flavor was a little high for me though, at 18 grams (which is why I usually just eat plain Greek yogurt and my own add fresh or frozen fruit and a fiber supplement to it).  I haven’t been able to find the plain variety of Yoplait’s Greek Yogurt yet, but will try it as soon as I do!

“Nourish Your Inner Goddess” Giveaway

Yoplait and MyBlogSpark have given me a “Nourish Your Inner Goddess Giftpack” to giveaway to one of my readers!

I love the bath wrap and it is perfect for those days when my guys are gone doing “boy things” and I actually have time to relax with a hot cup of my favorite Pomegranate White Tea and give myself a pedicure!

How do you like to “Nourish Your Inner Goddess?”

To enter this giveaway, simply leave your reply in a comment box!

I will pick a winner using a Random Number Generator on Monday, April 19th, 2010.

Good Luck! 😀

If you are interested in trying Yoplait’s Greek Yogurt today, you can click here for a downloadable coupon to save 30¢ on one cup of the new Yoplait Greek Yogurt.