Category: Product Reviews

Posted in Product Reviews, Snacks

Wellaby’s Crackers – Classic Cheese

Posted on by Nicole :)

Wellaby’s Web site

I am rating this product ♥♥ with a score of 14 out of 20.

Appearance:  These hexagonal shaped crackers are large, measuring almost 2 ½ inches at the widest point.  Good size for appetizers.  They come in a plastic tray with two sections, surrounded by a silver sleeve in a cardboard box.  Despite all this packing, there were still quite a few broken crackers.

Flavor:  This cracker has a very mild cheese flavor.  My first thought when I tasted this was – Cheese-its, which were one of my favorites before going gluten-free.  These crackers have a similar flavor, but not nearly as intense.  Much like my beloved and missed Cheese-its, these also leave an after taste if you are eating them by themselves. 😉

Texture:  Thin, crisp, lightly salted and crunchy.  This cracker is sturdy, it would easily hold up to your favorite dip.  These also do not crumble into small pieces after taking a bite.  Being large and crunchy makes it perfect to top with spreads, meats, cheeses etc.

Price:  Average for a gluten-free product.  I bought these at my local Jewel store.  They were $3.59 for a 3.9 oz box, but I caught a sale and got them for $2.99.  If you were buying these for party appetizers you would certainly need two boxes.  In quantity comparison, a box of Carr’s® Table Water® Crackers is 4.25 oz.

My thoughts:  I was surprised by the flavor of this cracker.  It was subtle, cheesy but not over done.  I checked the label and it indicates Edam cheese.  On their Web site, I see that they have mini-crackers which I would imagine would be a great substitute for my Cheese-its!  A very nice selection of flavors to choose from as well – Feta, oregano & olive oil, parmesan & sun-dried tomato and rosemary & onion.

The cost of this product would prevent me from keeping my pantry full of these; however, I would most definitely buy them for appetizer dishes when having company.  Overall, a really good cracker, I look forward to trying the other flavors and products.

Great facts:  Family run company.  No risk of cross-contamination with these as all their products are made in a dedicated facility that solely produces and develops gluten free products.

Live and LOVE gluten-free!

My disclaimer in case you are wondering:  I do not receive any money from the manufacturers for my product reviews.  Some of these products I’ve received a sample direct from them to try them out and give my opinion. Others I’ve purchased myself in local stores to satisfy my curiosity in finding good and tasty gluten-free foods.  I will try to remain neutral, informative and will always be truthful, although you may notice I tend to get a little carried away when I really like something……..

Posted in Candy, Product Reviews

Black Ace Red Licorice

Posted on by Nicole :)

Since going gluten-free one of the biggest things I miss is LICORICE, specifically Twizzlers – sorry all you Red Vine fans, Twizzlers was where it was at!  Sadly since the very first ingredient is wheat, I can have them no more.  😦

Gluten-free licorice is not easy to find in stores and I have been on the hunt for a GOOD replacement.

I am rating it ♥♥ with a score of 13 out of 20.  In all fairness, the price significantly reduced its overall rating.

Appearance/size:  The small, bite-sized drops (about the size of a dime) make them very easy to eat.  They are in a bag, inside a cute little box.  It would be nice if the bag was resealable so if you were being strong, you could seal them up without worrying about them getting stale.

Flavor:  Wonderful flavor that gets stronger and fruitier as you chew!  Taste comparison – a little nugget of Hawaiian punch in your mouth.  Yummmmm!  🙂

Texture: Extremely chewy, sticking to every possible crevice in my teeth.  Uggh!  Think taffy or worse.  I suppose you can look at it this way – it kept me from eating a whole box in one sitting, so good for my diet!

Price:  I bought this 5 oz box at a local candy store for $6.50.  Expensive!

Overall, this would not be my choice for a licorice fix.  Flavor was great; texture just didn’t work for me.   I’ve had this box for about 3 weeks now and there are still a few left……..this is unheard of for a sweet-tooth like me!

The hunt continues………..in the mean time Live and LOVE gluten-free!

Posted in Product Reviews, Snacks

Dazzles – Gourmet Oven Baked Corn

Posted on by Nicole :)

So the other day I received a package with two different flavor Dazzles – Butter and Caramel Corn.  Here is my review:

I am rating this product ♥♥♥♥ with a score of 18 out of 20.

http://buydazzles.com/index.html

Appearance:  Bite size pieces without all the cracks and crumbs you often see with chips.  While I doubt it there will be leftovers, the packaging has a zip top so that you can store them without worrying about them getting stale.

Flavor:  The butter flavored ones are very tasty, with a hint of salt (not too much like some of the store-bought puffed corn) followed by a nice buttery wallop.  The caramel corn was smooth with a buttery, sweetness that made you want more.

Texture:  The butter flavor corn melts in your mouth.  You don’t even need to chew if you don’t want to.  The caramel corn first has a crunch then a burst of sweet followed by melt in your mouth.  No hulls to get stuck between your teeth either.

Price:  This was the only bummer.  It is $5.00 for a 12″ bag of these treats (plus shipping).  However, it is understandable that having gourmet flavor choices with premium ingredients (which you can taste in every bite, especially the caramel), it is expected to be higher in price than some other snacks.

Above are all the facts I found to be true.  Now here are my thoughts – I feel this snack is worth the $5 a bag.  When I tasted the caramel corn, it actually made me close my eyes for a second!  🙂  True story.  It tasted like something that my mom might have made in her kitchen.

I checked their website to see what other flavors they offered and almost fell off my chair.  I figured that there must be some mistake in the gluten-free listing.  I actually CALLED them to verify that ALL of the flavors were gluten-free.  I spoke to a woman, who for the life of me I can’t remember her name, but she was super nice and very patient with me.  I am sure she thought I was a nut because I asked her repeatedly about gluten in different flavors and she assured me that everything they make is gluten-free.   Check out some of these flavors – Garlic, Nacho Cheddar, Three Chili White Cheddar, Jalapeño Cheddar, White Cheddar, BBQ, Ranch, Cinnamon Krunch, S’mores, Moose Krunch (chocolate, caramel and butter) Yesss!!  Seasonal flavors (not in season now but I will have to keep an eye out for them):  White Chocolate Raspberry  and White Chocolate Irish Cream – ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!  Hecky yeah!!

If you’ve been gluten-free for any length of time, you know how hard it is to find FLAVORED snacks that are not laced with gluten.  This is a great find for us!

Here are a couple more awesome facts that I REALLY appreciate about this product:  This corn is NON GMO!  There is NO MSG!  There are several no sugar added flavors so this is a great snack of diabetics too.  

Go check out this site right now and get yourself some and enjoy a snack with me!!

Live and LOVE gluten-free!

My disclaimer in case you are wondering:  I do not receive any money from the manufacturers for my product reviews.  Some of these products I’ve received a sample direct from them to try them out and give my opinion. Others I’ve purchased myself in local stores to satisfy my curiosity in finding good and tasty gluten-free foods.  I will try to remain neutral, informative and will always be truthful, although you may notice I tend to get a little carried away when I really like something…….. 😀

Posted in Gluten Free Recipes, Snacks

Coconut Flour POWER COOKIES!

Posted on by Nicole :)

These cookies are NO SUGAR ADDED, GLUTEN FREE, DAIRY FREE, & packed with POWER, duh!

Wet Ingredients:
2 Whole Eggs
2 Egg Whites
2 TB Melted Coconut Oil
1 medium sized mashed banana
2 tsp of Vanilla Extract
Liquid Stevia   (optional: but I used about 10 drops)

Dry Ingredients:
1/2 cup coconut flour
1/4 cup ground Flax
1/4 cup Protein Powder of choice (I used sunwarrior)
2 tsp Baking Soda
Sprinkle of Cinnamon

Optional Add-ins: Dark Chocolate Chips, Raisins,
Dried fruit, coconut, etc…

Easy Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Mix wet ingredients together

Add in Dry Ingredients

Mix in your optional add-ins

Form into cookie shapes onto a parchment lined cookie sheet

Bake @ 350 Degrees for about 13-15 minutes

Let cool, if you’re patient enough & ENJOY!

I found this awesome recipe at:  http://powercakes.net/   which is a blog from Kasey Arena who among other things happens to be gluten free.  Thank you Kasey!

Posted in Product Reviews

NoOodle (The NO calorie Noodle)

Posted on by Nicole :)

Allrighty!  I decided to try this for a number of reasons.  First of all, it seems WAY too good to be true.  It has no calories, no fat, no net carbs, no soy and no gluten.  That sums up about everything I take into consideration when eating!

http://www.nooodle.com/

I am rating this product ♥♥♥ with a score of 14 out of 20.

Appearance:  At first glance this product looks like clear ramen noodles!  After rinsing, it did not appear to be sticky or slimy.

Flavor:  This product has no flavor at all.  None.  When the package was first opened it had a little odor…..I can’t describe it…..it was not unpleasant or spoiled smelling, but different and not what I expected.  The odor disappeared when it was rinsed.

Texture:  Firm.  It was very moist and did not hold the sauce very well.

Price:  Reasonable.  I purchased this at my local Jewel store, which is usually a bit higher than other stores, and it was just under $3.00 for this 8 oz bag.

This was my first experience with a shirataki noodle.  Overall it was not bad, I would purchase and use it again.

The directions on the package say drain and rinse.  In checking their website, they recommend placing the noodles in a dry skillet and “dry fry” them to evaporate the liquid after you have rinsed and drained them.  This would have been good information to have BEFORE I actually tried the product.  It would have helped the sauce stick.  I’m not sure why they don’t have this on the package!!   I will try this next time.

This noodle would be wonderful in soups and casseroles or with some stir fried veggies.  I also think this noodle would be great in any type of dish because it has absolutely NO flavor and would take on the flavors of whatever you are cooking.  If you try this, check their website.  There are all sorts of recipes including desserts…….

A fair warning to you.  This product is fiber……don’t be alarmed when you see it later….. 😉

Live and LOVE gluten-free!

 

 

Posted in Product Reviews, Snacks

Glutino – Gluten-free Pretzel Twists

Posted on by Nicole :)

http://www.glutino.com/our-products/snacks/pretzels/pretzels-twists-8oz-us/

This brand was the first brand of gluten-free pretzel that I found.  Because I was a huge pretzel fan I was really happy to have an alternative but there were several unusual things about this pretzel that I wish I could change.  My product review is for their plain pretzels.  Recently these have come in flavors – sesame,  chocolate covered and yogurt covered – I have not tried these.

I am rating it ♥♥ with a score of 12 out of 20.  In all fairness, if I could take the price scores out of this, it would end up being 3 hearts but because this product is so expensive, it reduced its overall rating.

Appearance/size:  These pretzels come in two different sizes, sticks and mini-twists.  They look good although the mini-twists seems to be smaller in size than a regular mini-twist pretzel.  They also look a bit lighter and at a glance appear to be soft.

Flavor:  These pretzels have an odd flavor at first with a definite aftertaste.  They took me quite a while to get used to.  I was never able to pass these pretzels off at a gathering as “regular” pretzels.  A year and a half ago, there was only one other pretzel option that I could find by me (Ener-G)  so instead of going without I “got used to” the flavor of these.

Texture: While they are firm, they are not really crunchy or crisp.  They hold up very well to any dip you wanted to use them for.  But tended to be a bit chewy.   Again for me, something I got used to because I did not have options.

Price:  These pretzels are EXPENSIVE.  For the longest time the only size that was available (in my area) was the family size (about 14 oz I think) and I paid between $6.99 and $8.99 for them.  Wowsa.  Cut back on my pretzel addiction really quick!

Over all, this would be my second choice in pretzels.  The taste will take some getting used to and in my opinion do not look or taste like the ones I was “used to”.  For the price, for me, I often chose chips instead of these particular pretzels.  😦  My suggestion to you would be to check out my review for my favorite pretzel – Snyders of Hanover – Gluten Free Pretzels and see if you can find them instead.

Live and LOVE gluten-free!

 

 

 

Posted in Product Reviews, Snacks

Snyders of Hanover – Gluten-Free Pretzels

Posted on by Nicole :)

http://www.snydersofhanover.com/Products/Cid/1/Prid/331/

Pretzels………..something near and dear to my heart that I REALLY missed!  I have tried several different kinds of gluten-free pretzels and will post my ratings on the others later, but wanted to start with what I feel to be the best gluten-free pretzel I have found.

These pretzels are so good, that my family asked that I continue to buy these pretzels for them instead of the others I used to buy.

I am giving this product my highest rating ♥♥♥♥  with a scoring of 18 out of 20 possible points.

Appearance/size:  These pretzels come in two shapes, sticks and mini-pretzel.  They are the same size as their gluten filled counterparts.  I have been able to serve these at many a party with NO one noticing any difference.

Flavor:  At first taste, its hard to pick out the subtle difference in this pretzel.  Trying to put into words is even more difficult.  It is as if it is a “cleaner/clear” version of a pretzel?!  I hope that makes sense. LOL!  Several different flavors followed by that salty punch.  They do not seem to have an aftertaste or a chemical taste like some gluten-free snacks do.

Texture:  This pretzel is EXACTLY what you expect a pretzel to be.  Crispy, crunchy – exactly like their other Snyder’s brand that I had enjoyed for so many years prior.  It stands up to any dip I’ve used it in and are great snacking by themselves.  I have even chocolate dipped them and YUMMMOoo!

Price:  The price is right!!  At my local Woodman’s store ( 100% Employee Owned Independent Grocer) I paid $3.19 for this 8 oz bag.  While more expensive than the cheap wheat filled brands, it is MUCH less than the other popular brands of gluten-free pretzels like Glutino….AND 10 times better in flavor and texture.

Trust me on this one – IF you love pretzels – check these out.  You WILL NOT be disappointed!

Live and Love gluten-free!!