Review: Orgran Tomato & Basil Corn Pasta

I have to admit that I was really hesitant to even purchase this product.  Orgran has not been kind to me in the past, as long time readers know.  My previous trial of corn pasta left a bad taste in my mouth, it was very crumbly and not very pasta-like.  It went immediately from dried to WAAAAYYYY beyond al dente.

The Orgran pasta, though, did really well and I was shocked.  I almost peed myself.   After a mere 8 minutes in the pot, the noodles were firm without being crumbly, yet they still had some give.  They were about as al dente as GF Pastas have been, in my experience.  They also did a cool trick that Tinkyada Fusillis doesn’t generally do well: They held on to a heavy sauce.

So, WOO!  These are now my favorite noodle for boiling.  Not sure how they do overnight in the fridge, etc., but at least we’re started.   They also didn’t leave that rice-y aftertaste that Tinkyada does.

I am pleased.

Review: Pamela’s Products — Gluten Free Chocolate Brownie Mix

Here at Ye Olde Gluten Free Blogge, I’ve been sick for weeks with my stomach.  In an incredibly self-destructive move, I’ve decided that the only cure (besides a quick and painless death) is brownies.  Digging through my cabinets in an intense search for cocoa powder yielded this find.  Mmmm… brownies…..

I’ve chosen to go with the Butter option listed on the back of the mix bag, since the only thing better than brownies is brownies made with butter… we’re going to have these smothered in cherry pie filling and with a scoop of ice cream on top (sorta Black Forest style)… so yum I might forget being sick.

Just killing a few minutes as I wait for them to finish in the oven.  They went together like a breeze and looked a lot like Bob’s Red Mill brownie mix (which we love!) when they went in to the pan.  But, like all GF mixes, the dough is somewhere between sticky and dry, with no elasticity and they aren’t cooking up in the time the package says they should.

These were totally worth the extra 10 minutes.  Man, oh man, soft, fluffy and chocolately… no grit here.  Thanks, Pamela.  I think I’m in love.  (And here I thought it couldn’t get better than Bob’s).  Of course, the cherry pie filling and vanilla bean ice cream probably don’t hurt…

Review: Kinnikinnick Gluten Free Chocolate Dipped Donuts

First off, let me say that for pre-made baked goods, Kinnikinnick is quickly becoming my first line of defense.  From bread to donuts(!!), they bake it better.

Now, to the donuts at hand.  These are really good.  They are cakey with a sweet chocolate frosting and they have the consistancy of… wait for it…. cake donuts(!!).  I used to really like glazed type donuts, but clearly, we can’t do that anymore… but this is a pretty good donut none the less.  Consistancy and mouth-feel are about on with a day old cake donut (you know, not the gross kind, but just enough stale that they are a little tough) or a dense coffee cake.  

The box suggests microwaving for 15-20 seconds before eating, which I did after taking the first bite.  The microwave definately makes a difference.  The biggest difference I see between these and “real” cake donuts is that they don’t have that heavy fatty aftertaste.  It’s just a clean cakey sort of love.

These little gems come 6 to a box, each has about 212 calories and they cost somewhere around $6.  If you need a donut, really *NEED* a donut, eat these!  Calorie wise, they are online with a Krispy Kreme, excepting that they have a little calcium and iron.  And did I mention, no trans fats?

YUM.

Beware the warning on the package, though: Icing may be hot after heating.  OMG!  Microwaves make things hot?  I had no idea…

Review: Gluten-Free Pantry Muffin and Scone Mix

I was at the health food store yesterday, crying over my angry colon… (if you have diverticulosis, DO NOT eat the Kinnikinnick bread with the seeds in it, it’s so good, but it will tear up your inside-y parts) and I wanted to get some muffins and other soft sorts of things to eat until my colon stopped screaming.  As I wandered the isles of Akin’s in Springfield, Missouri, I came across this baking mix.

“Hmm…” I thought to myself, “I can have these two muffins for almost $6.00 or I can have a dozen muffins for something like $4.50.”  So I ditched the frozen muffins and took the mix home.

If you’ve ever used the GF Pantry mixes, you know they are top shelf.  The box tells the story of a chef who developed Celiac and then went on to develop her own line of baking stuff.  Her mixes almost always rise, which, frankly, freaks the hell out of me.  I am still trying to wrap my head around GF Baking (I was a pretty successful gluten baker at one point in my life), and I have the toughest time getting things to rise, even from mixes.  It’s a whole different ball game with rules that I can’t seem to completely comprehend. 

Anyway, GF Pantry’s one downfall is that she sometimes assumes that you know more about GF baking than you do (or you wouldn’t be using a mix!) and it seems like she leaves things out of the steps.  For example, with the GF French Bread/Pizza mix, to make the pizza crust (which I didn’t write about because it was largely a disaster), it’s easier if you chill the dough before you attempt to do anything with it…. however, it doesn’t say that on the box and it lead to much heartache before I dropped pan and all in the freezer for half an hour.

However, this mix is different.  It’s fool proof, it’s idiot insured, it’s super fantabulous!  I split the batch, making 6 blueberry and 6 chocolate/peanut butter chip muffins (the chips were on sale at the grocery, what can I say?).  The muffins came out fluffy and frighteningly enough, they rose.  Now I have little muffins with domed heads… scary.   These are great muffins, and though I haven’t had a real one in a great while, I reckon they would give the real deal a run for their money.

Here’s the best part!  If you make 12 muffins, they only have about 200 calories each.  Heck, that’s about the same as the bread on a GF sandwich.  I have mine sitting in the fridge since it’s almost 80 degrees F here already, but would imagine that with this texture, they would freeze well or keep well on the counter in a cooler place for a few days.

I am completely and overwhelmingly happy with this mix and I will buy it over and over and over again.  Feh to the perrils of gluten free baking!

Oh, yeah, one last thing.  She says on the box to use dried fruit (which kind of ran contrary to my grandmother’s teachings), so I did… and the process apparently sort of rehydrates the dried up fruits, so chop up anything big you might want to use, like pineapples or apricots or what have you.

Review: Glutino GF Crackers

Yum.  Not a Ritz, but not far from it.  Holds on good to both dip and peanut butter (my favorite way to do it!).  Yum.

Sorry that I don’t have more to say.

Review: Bread of Life GF Blueberry Muffin

I was cleaning out the freezer today and look what I found!  A MUFFIN!   My colon has been angry lately, so I figured a muffin couldn’t hurt.  Before I even opened this muffin, I knew it had to be good when I caught my cat running off with the muffin still in its bag.  And, BTW, Gaius has good taste; these are great!!

They are very muffin-y in texture, light and airy.  They’re a little overly sweet, but in all respects, fairly muffin-like.  What else can I say?  It’s a muffin, but it’s a GF muffin.  If they weren’t so expensive, I’d have a dozen in my fridge at all times.

Review: Kinnikinnick Foods GF Sunflour Flax Rice Bread

If you’re like me, you still sometimes have wet dreams about bread… sweet, delicious, savory, squishy, crunchy, special bread… and if you’re like me, you’ll be glad to know that Kinnikinnick Foods has created a very lovely and beautifully sexy bread.  Great for sandwiches and toast, probably pretty good in meatloafs and maybe as croutons… the possibilities are endless with this durable and forgiving bread.  Weighing in at only 90 calories per slice, it is more in line with traditional white breads.  It’s light, not dense, and did I mention it makes good toast?

I’ve actually been back to the store since my first loaf and am now working on eating my SECOND loaf.  Delish.  Unlike Food for Life breads, this one isn’t like eating a brick and it lacks the social guilt of Bread of Life’s breads.  Glutino makes so so bread, great for meatloafs and meatballs, but not so flavorful as to be able to stand alone.  This bread is a work of art, I have never had a packaged GF bread better than this.