February favorites

It's weird sitting here on one of the last days of the month, trying to figure out what I enjoyed most the past twenty-something days. I'm going to go with the hope that this will get easier as I do more of them (someone from the future, tell me how December's looks).

Top of my list has to be the trios gluten free girl scout cookies. They're pitched as "chocolate chips nestled in a gluten free peanut butter oatmeal cookie". They live up to their name. I really enjoy them with a cup of tea. They do get a little crumbly, so eat over a plate (or stuff the whole cookie in your mouth) and have something to drink with them.

Next up, but not loved any less, would be the glutino gluten free wafer bites. I'm particularly fond of both the hazelnut (pictured) and the chocolate covered flavors (the other option is lemon, and I haven't tried it, but I would bet it's good as well). They're cute little cookies and I enjoy eating a zillion of them at a time. That's a teacup saucer they're sitting in, by the way.

I've fallen in love with the Peach Pleasure Smoothie from Jamba Juice. I'm a little late to the Jamba party here, but Meagan wanted a smoothie and I figured I'd try one... mine's on the left (in case you didn't get that by the whole PEACH thing :p). Guys, it's good. They have gluten free information on their website, so that's cool!

The next one is a longtime favorite - Pamela's Pancake & Baking mix. I LOVE these pancakes. They're so dang good and easy to make, and just remind me of childhood weekends. I've tried other brands and sure, there are other good ones, but I always come back to Pamela's.

Last, but certainly not least, for this month is the new gluten free Special K cereal. I have NEVER been a big cereal eater. You take the fun kid cereals away from a five year old, and they're not too thrilled with crispy rice or slightly tasty peanut butter cereal (okay, the peanut butter puffs one I DID like, but not for long periods of time and always without milk). Cut to now, with Chex having gluten free options, Fruity Pebbles being labeled (shhhh they're good), and now Special K... I'm starting to enjoy cold breakfasts again. ALSO, Cheerios are slated to be gluten free this summer, so I'm SUPER pumped about that.

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That's it for this month's favorites! One of these days, I'll get around to including things that aren't food :p Happy March!

product review: Udi's Gluten Free Rich & Creamy Penne & Cheese

I'm a huge fan of mac 'n cheese. For years, I ate gluten free pasta with the Kraft cheese packet out of the regular mac 'n cheese. We went through the process of wiping off the packet before opening it to avoid getting gluten in the cheese when we opened it... and it was always wonderful. A couple years ago, however, I started feeling really kind of sluggish after eating mac 'n cheese. It was like the cheese was so rich and just made me feel overly full. It wasn't worth it - and I didn't know if I was reacting to the cheese itself or accidental gluten. I stopped eating it. 

Then I tried Annie's gluten free mac 'n cheese (the one in the blue box). It was great - so much better than I remembered it. I made the switch and yummy cheese coated pasta was back in my life. (The Deluxe version, I'm still not a fan of.) 

When I was pretty young - 8-12ish - I tried Amy's Frozen Mac 'N Cheese. I DID NOT like it. Years later, I tried it again, and fell in love. 

All of that brings me to the topic of this post. Udi's Gluten Free Rich & Creamy Penne & Cheese was a product I'd seen for a while but never tried. I'm always a little wary of new mac n cheese products... but like I said in my shopping cart post, I figured it was time to give it a try. Well, I did. 

I didn't take a picture of it right out of the box, but I was not impressed. Looks aren't everything, so I did as the directions said and cut a slit in the overwrap and stuck it in the microwave for two minutes. Remove overwrap. Stir. Still not impressed. Back in the microwave for two minutes and forty five seconds. Let it sit for a couple minutes (so I might have cheated a little on this one... I didn't want it to get cold...). 

The result? 

The pictures are a little dark but they get my point across. My compliments to the package photographer... no idea how they heated it up and transferred it to a plate with the noodles intact. It's not that big of a deal, but it's a little tiny bit unappetizing to feel like you're eating mush when you planned on pasta.

I've definitely gotten used to Amy's frozen mac 'n cheese, because this seemed small. I feel full enough after eating just this, but I'm also 5 foot tall and under 100 pounds... so most people would probably need a little something extra.

The pasta is made from rice and corn flours, which is evident in the taste. I'm personally not a huge fan of corn pasta, and this one tasted overly starchy to me. The cheese sauce is ABSOLUTELY more of an adult taste - closer to the homemade mac 'n cheese that my grandma gave me a recipe for, as opposed to the kind from the Kraft box. 

To be fair, this one doesn't technically claim to be mac 'n cheese... so maybe it's unfair to compare it to products that do. I did anyway. You don't have to. 

Overall, I'd give it probably three stars. I don't plan on buying it again, and I wouldn't pick it to eat, but I wouldn't turn it down if that's what was offered. 

What do you think? Have you tried it? Should I do something differently and give it another shot? Let me know! 

what's in my grocery basket: Sprouts and HEB

I might have gone a little crazy at the store last week... 

 (There's actually one thing missing from this shot, so I'll include it by itself at the bottom. It's worth including!)
So, above, we have:
*Pillsbury Gluten Free Funfetti cake and cupcake mix
*Pillsbury Gluten Free Funfetti sugar cookie mix
*Pamela's Gluten Free Baking & Pancake mix
*Udi's Gluten Free Rich & Creamy Penne & Cheese
*Glutino Hazelnut Gluten Free Wafer Bites
*Smart Flour Gluten Free Uncured Pepperoni Pizza
*Andes Creme de Menthe Thins
*Betty Lou's Blueberry Fruit Bar
*Betty Lou's Peanut Butter & Blueberry PB&J Bar
*4U! Gluten Free Thin Crust Uncured Pepperoni Pizza
(and at the bottom)
*Venice Bakery Gluten-Free Vegan 8" Pizza crust (2 pack)

I got super excited over these mixes. They're new, which is always fun, and they're FUNFETTI. Come on. That's just awesome. I'll post a review of both after I make them. [Found at HEB]

Pamela's pancake mix has long been my favorite. I've tried Bisquick (great), other box mixes (not so great), and from scratch (blech), and always go back to Pamela's. Always. They're so easy to make and so tasty. [HEB]

The Glutino wafer bites are pretty good. I was honestly thinking of the Schar hazelnut wafers when I bought these - I personally like the Schar wafers better, but these are so cute and fun to eat... I'll buy them again. [HEB] 

I haven't yet tried the Udi's penne & cheese, but I figured it was time to give it a chance. I love Amy's frozen Mac & Cheese, so it has pretty big shoes to fill, but I'll let you know what I think. [both HEB and Sprouts]

So, last year, Miranda and I went to a gluten free food and allergy fair in Austin, TX, and we tried Smart Flour pizza there. It was SO GOOD, so of course I bought it as soon as I found it here in Corpus. We'll see if it's as good when I make it as it was when the pros did it. [Sprouts]

One of my best friends works at HEB, and her and I wandered down the candy aisle. She pointed out that the Andes mints were gluten free - something I'd never known (or never paid attention to maybe). It says it right on the package, but not on the individual mint. [HEB]

The PB&J bar and the Fruit bar were right next to each other at Sprouts, and since I've recently gotten into various kinds of snack bars, I figured I'd give these a try. Both had other flavors, but blueberry wins every time in my book. These will be featured in an upcoming post about all different kinds of snack bars. [Sprouts]

More pizza? Always. I haven't tried this one. I haven't heard about it before. However, it's gluten free pizza and that alone gives me enough reason to try it. I should do an entire post on pizza. That would be fun. And really, really yummy. [Sprouts]

I don't want to hear it on how much pizza I bought. These crusts are my favorite so far and Sprouts didn't have them last time I went... so even though I had two other pizzas in my basket, I had to pick up a two-pack. I really like these because they're small enough where I COULD eat the whole thing but generally only eat half. They reheat well and taste great. They're not overly doughy or hard to deal with. [Sprouts]

dinnertime: grilled lemon chicken

Yesterday, Bruce made me dinner. It was low-key and really nice. He'd offered last week, but I had dinner plans with my parents. He planned on making it gluten free when he went to the store, and bought gluten free soy sauce. (:
This recipe is super easy, super tasty, and super low-maintenance. I'll talk a little bit more about the potential here at the end, but first... recipe.

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Grilled Lemon Chicken
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup gluten free soy sauce
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
4 (6 ounce) boneless, skinless chicken breast halves

Take the first four ingredients and mix them together (you can use a small bowl for this). Pour the mix into a large ziplock baggie. Rinse the chicken, pat dry, and add it to the bag. Close the bag and massage the liquid mixture into the chicken. Put the bag into the refrigerator to marinate for at least 20 minutes (we did about 30, but you can leave it for up to 24 hours).

You can make this on an outdoor grill or on the stovetop. We used the stovetop, and I would suggest using a flat skillet instead of a pan. Heat the skillet up to medium-high heat. Place the chicken on the skillet and discard the excess marinade. Cook until the chicken is no longer pink - about 6-8 minutes on each side. We also butterflied the chicken and grilled the middle for a couple minutes.

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Bruce says that the chicken is good as leftovers as well. You can absolutely make and marinate the chicken the night before or morning of, let it sit, and then take fifteen or so minutes to fry it up.
Pair the chicken with sides like green beans and mashed potatoes, or cut it up and add it to a salad.

(The original recipe can be found here. Bruce modified it slightly.)