gluten-freelicious

WOW.  My friend, Catherine, at A Gluten-Free Guide is my hero.  She turned Betty Crocker’s yellow cake mix from ho-hum to oh, yum!

We have entered what, in my house, we call birthday season.  In just two short weeks, my boys will attend seven birthday parties, with more soon to follow.  Although my amazing and irreplaceable friends and family now often offer a gluten-free option for my boys, I truly would rather not burden them with our food sensitivities.  Besides, my oldest son loves to help out in the kitchen and has a blast decorating his desserts before the parties.  And so…the baking begins.

This season I had the foresight to bake cupcakes and freeze the extra to pull out as needed.  Just hours before a birthday party, I went to our pantry to get the process started.  I quickly scanned the shelves for my favorite chocolate cake mix, and, alas! (and other expletives), the cupboard was bare!  All I could find was a box of Betty Crocker yellow cake mix, tucked away at the back of a shelf, collecting dust.  I had bought it months before when I first discovered Betty Crocker’s gluten-free mixes in the grocery store; as of yet, I’d had little inspiration to try it.  We had sampled a few gluten-free yellow cakes, including some made with this mix, and not one was worth the calories.  They were dry and crumbly, and the taste was just eh.  Cat had encouraged me to try her tweaked recipe long ago, but I was hesitant.  With limited other options, however, I decided to give her modified version a try.  Thank gluten-free goodness I did!!

I’m usually an icing girl; I like it super sweet and slathered on thick.  Cake?  I could take it or leave it.  But a lack of confectioners sugar (you know, bare cupboard and all), led me to try these golden beauties without frosting, and I did not miss it at all.  These cakes are fluffy, moist, and delicious.  My husband and boys devoured several in no time at all.  That’s right…even my children ate them without the sweet, creamy topping.  That’s just unheard of!  If I hadn’t frozen the extras, I am sure they would not have lasted much past the first two birthday parties.  I am so thrilled to have a go-to yellow cake recipe that is easy and scrumptious.  Thank you, Catherine!  Well done!

Key Lime Pie Larabar

Most days of the week, most hours of the day, I would tell you that living gluten-free is not hard.  It would be a far stretch to say that it is easy, but it is not nearly as difficult as I imagined it to be.  That said, finding tasty, nutritious, minimally processed snack foods can be tough, and doing so has been my most frustrating challenge.  So, when I first discovered Larabar’s Key Lime Pie fruit and nut bars, I was in gluten-free snack heaven.

We have tried quite a few flavors of Larabar over the years, and I have liked them all well enough, but Key Lime Pie is by far my favorite.  All Larabars are made with some combination of fruit, nuts, and spices, and the list of ingredients is always pleasantly short and wholesome.  Key Lime Pie is no exception; it’s the perfect combination of dates, cashews, almonds, unsweetened coconut, and lime juice concentrate.  The smooth texture of this Larabar exceeds any other I have tried, and I love the subtle, but not overpowering, lime flavor.  No lip-puckering here.  I dare say even coconut haters will like this bar.  It’s just that good.

Larabar offers a wide variety of flavors, and there are a few I am anxious to try.  Banana Bread, Cinnamon Roll, and Ginger Snap sound especially gluten-freelicious.  What is your favorite Larabar flavor?

Enjoy Life Soft Baked Snickerdoodle Cookies

Hi.  My name is Rebecca, and I’m a sugarholic.  Enjoy Life Soft Baked Snickerdoodle Cookies?  Yum!  Pass the box!  These tasty little bombs are loaded with explosive cinnamon sugar goodness, sure to please any sweet tooth.

I have to admit, I did not have much hope for these cookies.  Enjoy Life products are free of wheat, dairy, peanuts, tree nuts, egg, soy, fish, and shellfish.  Call me crazy, but I’d think they’d also be free of taste!  In fact, we’ve tried a few of Enjoy Life’s cereals and cereal bars, and they were just eh.  Not bad for gluten-free, but nothing to write home about, either.  These snickerdoodle cookies, however, are addictive.  One is just not enough.  What gives?

It does not take a detective to figure this one out.  What Enjoy Life snickerdoodles lack in allergens, they certainly make up for in sugar!  The cookies are soft, moist, and packed with my vice in numerous forms (date paste, three fruit juice concentrates, brown sugar, and rice dextrin).  With a heavy dusting of cinnamon sugar on top and crunchy little pockets of cinnamon sugar scattered throughout, this cookie is definitely a sugar lover’s dream.

At about four bucks a box for 12 cookies in our local grocery store, my husband says, “They’re really good, but not worth it.”  Hmm, that’s questionable.  But how about $3 a box on Amazon?  I’m in.

Glutino Pretzel Sticks

Glutino Pretzels are a gluten-free favorite in our house.

When I first saw Glutino Pretzel Twists in the grocery store, not too long after making our home gluten-free, I laughed out loud.  I thought, Gluten-free pretzels?!  Yeah, right. We hadn’t tried many gluten-free snacks at that point, at least not many edible ones, so I was highly skeptical.  I’m not sure how many times I passed them by.  I’d often pick up the bag, ponder the idea of a gluten-free pretzel, and hastily put them back on the shelf.

After a while, I grew desperate.  We’d eaten our fill of popcorn and rice cakes.  Mid-morning, my youngest son would shout, “Hungy!  Hungy!” and shake his head at everything I offered.  We needed some variety.  The next time I passed Glutino Pretzels in the store, I took the plunge, and threw a bag in my grocery cart.

I opened the bag, and, Holy Moly! They look like pretzels!  I took a bite, and, Whoa! They taste like pretzels!  They are light and crisp with a subtle butter flavor and just the right amount of salt.  They are really good!

Pretzels were a missed snack in our house.  My oldest son was thrilled; he loves Glutino Pretzels and often takes a bag to preschool for snack.  His younger brother nods enthusiastically when I offer “petsils” and shoves a frightening two or three in his mouth at a time.  I love to dip them in peanut butter.

That’s the good.  Here’s the bad.  Because they are made with palm oil, they have a higher fat content than gluten-ful pretzels.  This is not an issue for my twiggy boys, but I eat them in moderation.  Now for the ugly.  Glutino Pretzels are expensive at $6-8 a bag in our grocery stores.  I paid $8 for our first bag of pretzels, but now that I know where to find them for $6, I give the $8 bag dirty looks when I pass it by.  It’s unfortunate they are so expensive, but the price of a gluten-free diet is almost always high.

Glutino Gluten-Free Pretzels taste just like the real thing.  They make the gluten-freelicious Top 10!

Bob’s Red Mill Whole Grain Bread Mix, the latest trial in my quest to find gluten-freelicious bread, might just miss the mark for me.  However, to all of you who have mourned the loss of rye bread, this bread’s for you!  Cheers!

Bob's Red Mill Whole Grain Bread

I followed the instructions on the bag for adding the ingredients to my Breadman Breadmaker (wincing a bit as I poured in the required teaspoon of Cider Vinegar), selected the gluten-free cycle with medium crust, and walked away.  A little over an hour later, we had a warm, fresh loaf of gluten-free bread.

Bob’s Red Mill Whole Grain bread bakes to a rich medium brown hue.  The texture far surpasses that of any pre-made store-bought loaf we have tried.  It is soft and moist, even days later.  A thin slice, though dense and a bit flimsy, does not crumble at the slightest touch, as gluten-free breads so often do.  It does not need to be toasted.  The mix is full of sesame and sunflower seeds, giving it a hearty, tangible crunch.  The taste bears a strong resemblance to the intense, pungent flavor of rye bread.  This final quality could be it’s greatest triumph or downfall, depending on your tastes.

Personally, I’m not a huge fan of rye bread, but I do love me a Reuben, and this bread would make a perfect Reuben sandwich…lightly toasted with corn beef, sauerkraut, Swiss cheese, and a dollop of Thousand Island dressing.  Mmmm…

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.

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.