gluten-freelicious

Bell and Evans Chicken Nuggets

Three cheers for Bell & Evans’ satisfying, delicious, and healthy chicken nuggets!  Hip, hip hooray!

When I decided to make our home gluten-free, this is one food I thought we’d never serve again.  We’d tried a few different brands of chicken nuggets, and they were all spit-it-out-in-the-trash disgusting.  I mourned the loss for my boys, especially my four-year-old, who shed big, fat crocodile tears on our first gluten-free outing to McDonald’s.  How can you have a proper childhood without chicken nuggets?!

Bell & Evans to the rescue!  The light breading of rice and corn flour crisps and turns a perfect golden hue when baked.  And get this…do you know what you see when you bite into a Bell & Evans chicken nugget?  CHICKEN!!  Wonder of wonders!  These nuggets are made with real, tender, juicy, chunky pieces of white breast meat.  You don’t have to squint or hold it mere inches from your eyeball to find the traces of rib meat wedged between nutritionless batter.  If I make these nuggets for my kids’ lunch more than once a week, I don’t feel the slightest trace of guilt.  Bell & Evans chicken nuggets are made with all natural ingredients (no chemical additives or preservatives), and one serving has significantly less fat and more protein than the typical gluten-containing variety.

In fact, when I first made them, I thought, There is no way my kids are going to eat these.  They’re too healthy! Surprise!  My boys gobbled them up and asked for more.  They are gluten-freelicious.  My husband and I agree; Bell & Evans chicken nuggets make a tasty lunch at any age.

Because they are made with whole pieces of uncooked chicken, the nuggets take 25-30 minutes to cook, so plan ahead.  They are not exactly a “fast” food.

Can I get a WHOOP WHOOP?!

Note: The Bell & Evans Chicken Nuggets pictured above are paired with Glutino Pretzel Sticks, another fave in our house.

Trader Joe's

After my so-so review of Trader Joe’s Flourless Chocolate Cake, I feel compelled to share my more concrete feelings on the store itself.  It is an awesome place to shop!  I highly recommend it.

It is a good 20-30 minute drive to our nearest Trader Joe’s (Reston, VA), and I pass uncountable grocery stores along the way.  For those reasons, I don’t make the trip often, but, each time I do, I am reminded what a wonderful experience it can be.  The staff is friendly, courteous, helpful, and everywhere!  As you wander any given aisle, you are likely to pass at least one staff member, restocking shelves or assisting a customer.

On my last visit, I asked if they had any gluten-free beer.  As it turns out, they do not (the three or four brands they used to carry did not receive positive reviews), but, in asking the question, I was given a packet listing the foods and beverages Trader Joe’s does carry in which no gluten ingredients are used.  An entire packet!  It lists everything from bakery items to dairy to salad dressings.  Hallelujah!  Gluten-free shopping made easy.  It doesn’t get much better than that…or does it?

The foods, whether organic or not, are minimally processed and offer much shorter ingredients lists than you will typically see on most packaging in your average grocery store.  The pricing is generally more reasonable.  And, to top it off, not only does Trader Joe’s offer numerous gluten-free options, quite a bit of what we’ve sampled is delicious!  In fact, Trader Joe’s brownies make our Top 1o list.  (More on that to come.)

Find out if you have a Trader Joe’s in your area.  If you do, take a gander!  I predict it will be worth the trip.

UPDATE: Our latest batch of Trader Joe’s gluten-free brownies was not at all yummy as we remembered.  We’ll try again soon, but, for now, I’ve updated our favorites list with Pamela’s brownie mix, a tried and true goodie.

Trader Joe's Flourless Chocolate Cake

With a drizzle of chocolate syrup, this Trader Joe’s Flourless Chocolate Cake is incredibly photogenic, but is it as scrumptious as it appears?  Is it the mouthwatering, “Get in my belly!” treat it so convincingly portrays?  Hmmm…it’s definitely good.  I’m just not sure it’s that good.

I think I’m waffling because flourless chocolate cake is not really cake, as it lacks, um…flour.  So, the “cake” really tastes more like fudge.  But, because it has eggs, it’s not really fudge either.  It’s not soft and moist as you would expect good cake to be or smooth and creamy as you would expect good fudge to be.  The texture and consistency fall somewhere in between.  My taste buds are confused.

Okay, enough semantics.  Trader Joe’s Flourless Chocolate cake is a dense, fudge-like cake topped with rich, dark, creamy icing.  The icing is delicious, but the cake is a bit thick and dry.  A cold slice straight out of the fridge is a bit difficult to get down, but it moistens up nicely with a quick stint in the microwave, and it is a sweet companion to a cold glass of milk or a scoop of mint chocolate chip ice cream.

Yes, I suppose this is a pretty tasty gluten-free dessert.  I’ve eaten almost a quarter of the cake trying to decide how I feel about it; it must be good.  I think I’ll have another small piece…just to be sure.

NOTE: This cake is listed in Trader Joe’s “No Gluten Ingredients” packet.  It is, however, made on equipment shared with wheat.  The packet states, “Our suppliers follow Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP’s) to segregate ingredients on shared euipment and/or in the facility.”

Uno Chicago Grill Pepperoni Pizza

First, kudos to Uno Chicago Grill for offering a gluten-free menu.  They even serve Redbridge gluten-free beer!  Woot!  Woot!

That said, what a disappointment!  I love Uno’s deep dish pizza, and I squealed, literally squealed, when I learned they now serve gluten-free pizza.  I thought, This is going to be so gooood!! Surely a restaurant built on the foundation of delicious Chicago-style deep dish pizza will bring some gluten-freelicious Pizza Genius to the table!  My expectations were high…so very high.

And, oh, how they fell.

The crust is bland, and not at all crisp as you would expect a thin crust pizza to be.  In fact, it was so doughy, I wasn’t sure it was cooked all the way through.  If, like my husband, you think the crust is just a vehicle for the sauce and cheese, you, too, would be unmoved.  “Not enough sauce, not enough cheese.”

Our two boys enjoyed the night out and happily ate two or three pieces of pizza each without complaint.  So, we’ll go back.  Next time, however, we grownups will explore the rest of the gluten-free options.

What a bummer.

UPDATE: Uno’s gluten-free pizzas are made in a dedicated gluten-free facility and shipped frozen to Uno restaurants.

This Sweet Potato Bread, courtesy of Pamela’s Products Ultimate Baking & Pancake Mix, may be my favorite gluten-free food to date.  It’s not just gluten-free, it’s gluten-freekin’licious!  The amazing blend of flavors and textures leaves your mouth watering for more.  The bread is soft and moist with a wonderful blend of sweet and spice, and the brown sugar and walnut topping adds the perfect crunch.  So.  Very.  Yummy.

Sweet Potato Bread

I intended to make Pamela’s Pumpkin Bread, but pumpkin, apparently, even canned pumpkin, is a seasonal fruit.  I could not find it anywhere!  (Okay, so maybe I only looked in two grocery stores, but isn’t that enough?)  Actually, after searching the second store high and low, I finally found and bought what I thought to be a ginormous can of pumpkin and eagerly started to mix ingredients as soon as I got home.  I even doubled everything so as not to waste any of the precious fruit.  Only after I’d melted the butter, cracked the eggs, poured in the sugar, and opened the can did the sweet smell hit my nose, and I realized it was pumpkin pie mix!  Err.  If I wanted pumpkin bread before, I really wanted it now.

I don’t substitute.  I don’t experiment.  I don’t toy with recipes and ingredients.  I leave that to the experts.  But I wanted pumpkin bread!  I decided to take a big step.  Wait for it…I popped two sweet potatoes in the oven!  Craaazy! When they had baked to perfection, I slit the skin, slipped the sweet, mushy pulp into the bowl, and continued with the recipe.

The savory smells flooded the house as the bread baked.  When it was done, we waited mere minutes for it to cool before slicing in.  It was heavenly.  The first loaf lasted less than two days.  I froze the second loaf, and we took it to my mother-in-law’s house for a quick weekend visit; it was gone within a few hours.

I imagine the sweet potato adds a bit more sweetness, but I’m sure Pamela’s Pumpkin Bread is just as good.  If nothing else, it’s faster to open a can of pumpkin (if you can find it) than it is to bake sweet potatoes.  Still, this was one mistake I was happy to make.

Pamela’s Pumpkin (or Sweet Potato) Bread with Crumble Nut Topping

4 tablespoons butter, melted
1/2 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 cup of canned pumpkin (or the pulp of one baked sweet potato)
1-1/3 cups Pamela’s Baking & Pancake Mix
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/4 teaspoon cloves

Topping: (optional)
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup of nuts (sliced almonds, walnuts, pecans)

Batter: Beat together butter, sugar, egg, and pumpkin (or sweet potato). Add remaining bread ingredients and mix together. Pour into a greased loaf pan (8 x 4). Mix nut topping ingredients and smooth evenly over batter to the edges. Bake in a preheated 350° oven for 50 to 60 minutes, or when toothpick inserted comes out almost clean.

It’s perfect, right?  I have my breakfast strategically placed on the table so I can take some quick shots for my post today, when a hand slips in to grab a few tasty morsels, proving just how irresistible they are.

Cinnamon Chex Cereal

Alright, maybe irresistible is a bit of a stretch, but they are downright tasty.  Cinnamon Chex is a nice blend of sinfully sweet and wholesome goodness.  The flavor is reminiscent of one of my all-time favorites, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, but with less fat, sodium, and sugar, and more protein…oh, and no gluten!

The cereal combines the now gluten-free Rice Chex and Corn Chex.  Some pieces are coated with cinnamon, while others are plain, and the ratio is just about perfect.  Beware, the gratifying crunch does not last long when milk is added.  That, however, is seldom a problem here, as bowls of Cinnamon Chex seem to empty as rapidly as they are filled.

A box of Cinnamon Chex lasts only moments in our house, because it is satisfying at any time of day.  Whether you crave a bowl of sweet cereal with milk in the morning, a dry handful or two to snack on in the afternoon, or a guiltless dessert at night, Cinnamon Chex is there.

Note: Chex now has six gluten-free cereals and a plethora of gluten-free Chex recipes.  I can’t wait to try them!

Not everyone is meant to make a difference. But for me, the choice to lead an ordinary life is no longer an option. -Peter Parker

Spider-Man Chocolate Cupcake

These, my friends, are no ordinary cupcakes.  They were baked with love…and Pamela’s Products Luscious Chocolate Cake Mix.  Oh.  My.  God.  Pamela’s not kidding.  They are moist, fudgy, and, indeed, luscious.

We made our very first batch of Pamela’s gluten-free chocolate cupcakes for my son’s fourth birthday celebration with my husband’s family.  My son mixed and baked the cupcakes with his Gigi, and I decorated them with red and blue butter cream frosting.  I maxed out my artistic talent to appease my son’s love for Spider-Man.  They looked pretty cool, or at least my son thought so.  But how would they taste?  With just one bite, we all agreed; we were in cupcake heaven.  My brother-in-law and his girlfriend did not hesitate to take a few home.

Still, I was nervous.  My son’s fourth birthday party was rapidly approaching.  It was one thing to receive affirmation from a few close family members; it was another thing entirely to satisfy the gluten-craving tastes of a crowd of preschoolers and their parents.  Too intimidated to attempt the Wolverine cake my son hoped for, I decided, to his delight, to have the kids decorate their own cupcakes.  When the big day arrived, I brought out the tray of naked cupcakes and triumphantly passed them out willy-nilly to my son and his friends.  One mom quickly questioned, “Are these all gluten-free?”  The look on her face pleaded, “Please say no.”

“Yep.  They’re good!” I promised, with fingers tightly crossed.

The kids had a blast slathering on icing, sprinkles, and M&Ms and eagerly devoured their masterpieces the instant my son blew out his candles.  If smiling, cupcake smeared faces are a sign of success, then I was victorious.

I encouraged parents to help themselves to the separate tray of cupcakes I’d already frosted.  It may have been my imagination, but they seemed hesitant; word had spread that the cupcakes were gluten-free.  Slowly, cupcake after cupcake disappeared, probably more out of curiosity and politeness than desire, but, soon, the praise began to roll in.  I was pleased to hear the shocked, “This is really good!” and “It doesn’t even taste gluten-free!”  My best friend exclaimed, “These are gluten-free?  Seriously?!  They might be the best cupcakes I’ve ever had!”

Yes.  Yes, they just might be.

Apple Cinnamon Pancakes

Every morning, I ask my son what he’d like for breakfast.  I really don’t know why I bother, because the reply is nearly always the same.  “Umm…waffles.”  Occasionally I’ll try to mix it up a bit and ask, “How about pancakes?”  I’m amused when his face lights up, and he exclaims, “Pancakes!  Yeah!”

I shudder to think what we would do without Pamela’s Products Ultimate Baking & Pancake Mix.

When I made my first batch of waffles with Pamela’s mix, oh, so many months ago, I followed the directions on the back of the bag.  They were pretty good…for gluten-free waffles.  They were light and fluffy, and, thankfully, we didn’t detect any unpleasant aftertastes.  I’d read several reviews claiming Pamela’s mix to be the best out there, gluten-free or no.  We weren’t quite there yet.  They were likely the best gluten-free waffles we’d had.  They sure beat the cardboard frozen kind that require half a bottle of syrup to mask the taste and ease the passageway towards digestion.  But the best waffles ever?  Not yet.

With the next batch, I tried a trick we’ve found to improve just about any pancake mix out there, especially those of the gluten-free variety.  I used Aunt Jamima proportions with Pamela’s mix (see below), the main difference being the substitution of milk for water.  The result was absolutely gluten-freelicious.  Yum.  Now that’s what I’m talking about.

With this minor adjustment, Pamela’s mix makes amazing pancakes and waffles.  I’m not sure what makes them so good; perhaps it’s the almond meal.  What I do know is this: I would serve a hot, steamy batch of Pamela’s waffles to all my gluten-consuming friends and family without hesitation, and I would tout them as the best waffles ever.  Yes, they are that good.

Note: I paid $20 for our first 4 lb bag of Pamela’s goodness at our local health food store.  I like to support the locals, but…seriously?  I now have six 24 oz bags automatically delivered to our door once every two months through Amazon’s Subscribe and Save program for $28.77.  Sweet.

Gluten-freelicious Pancakes and Waffles (Pamela’s Mix, Aunt Jamima’s Proportions):

1 cup Pamela’s Products Ultimate Baking & Pancake Mix
1 egg
3/4 cup milk
1 TBSP oil (2 TBSP for waffles)