If you have a friend, coworker or loved one who has Celiac
Disease or gluten intolerance then you know how hard their lives may be. They
have to be diligent in looking at labels and watch the restaurant staff with a
microscope. Then there is the price tag that comes from these gifts. We are
listing below the top ten Gifts to get your loved ones. By the way all these
items come with the seal of approval from The Gluten Free Consumer, The Only
Nationwide Review Magazine.
http://www.thegfconsumer.com.
Crunchmaster has recently sent me a package of their current
line. I was amazed at the amount of flavor they were able to fit in their small
crackers and crisps. My favorite is
their Rosemary and Olive Oil Crackers. It tasted as I was in a herb garden. The
cracker had a refreshing feeling. What I found to amazing was the low sugar and
salt. They did not use sugar or salt to enhance the flavor of their crackers. I
would highly recommend these crackers to my friends.
Canyon Bakehouse produces great quality bread. We were
impressed by the quality and texture. It had the feel of normal bread. The
taste was great. They have a great range of flavors. The cinnamon raisin bread
made great toast for breakfast. Our team
ranks this company and their products with five out of five stars. The comment
was made this was the best gluten free bread we have tasted.
Our team loved the samples from Cool Juice. They had a great
blend of flavors in each of their drinks. Each serving brought 2 daily servings
of fruit. The juice had a smooth velvety feel. The children who were sampling
the drinks where begging for more. The
favorite flavor was Tropical Blue. The nice thing about Cool Juice was that it
did not have any high fructose corn syrup or artificial flavors and colors. In fact
there was no added sugar. This was of particular interest to a mother with an
Autistic child. We rate Cool Juice with 5 of 5 stars.
It is a difficult thing for a gluten free eater to find
uncontaminated, purely gluten free grains, especially when it comes to oats.
Many grains that are naturally gluten free, such as oats, are processed on the
same machinery as gluten containing grains, causing the grains and the
resulting flour to not be gluten free. Our team tried GF Harvest products, and
we were pleased with what we saw. GF Harvest is a great source of gluten free
oat products that are versatile and safe for those eating gluten free. Our team
tried their Old Fashioned Rolled Oats, and the oatmeal cookies we made with
these were heavenly! (Some of our tasting team had been really missing a good
oatmeal cookie.) We used GF Harvest Whole Grain Oat Flour in many of our own
recipes, substituting some oat flour for part of the flour blends in pancakes
and muffins. The results were great. The oat flour tasted more naturally sweet
than the other flours we were using in the blend, so it was a tasty addition to
the food we made with it. GF Harvest Oat Groats were a completely new thing to
many of us on the tasting team. We followed the slow cooker directions and
cooked them overnight on low in order to make our cereal for the next morning.
The taste was much like the regular oats, but the texture was different and
very pleasing. Cooking the oat groats overnight in cinnamon, like the recipe
suggested, made the cereal a cinnamon-infused morning treat. We served it up in
a bowl with some applesauce stirred in. What a great way to start the day! If
you love and have been missing oats, give GF Harvest a try. We have not met a
product of theirs that we did not like.
Chebe has a great line up of baking mixes. These mixes are
great for those who have multiple food allergies. Chebe mixes are made of
Manioc flour or Tapioca. Our staff loved the texture and flavor of their
products. There is never a foul aftertaste with any of their products. We loved their pizza and breadstick mixes.
They make a friendly dinner for children. The Cinnamon roll mix made great
cinnamon rolls. The flavor is wonderful. The convenience is second to none. It
is easy to cook for groups who have more than one food allergies with these
mixes. We would highly recommend these mixes to those who have little time to
make items from scratch.
Snikiddy has a great variety of fries that are baked. These
fries are amazing. They have a crisp and great crunch. Snikiddy products are
all made of all natural ingredients. The
Cheese Fries are the favorite amongst our review staff. What we like is that these fries have 50%
less fat than potato chips. The crunch and taste is very addicting. We suggest
you get a second bag at the store.
Snikiddy also have baked cheese puffs. The staff loved the Mac N Cheese
puffs. We were amused at the shape. They truly looked like Mac N’ Cheese
noodles. We would recommend this company and their great products. You can find Snikiddy at major grocery stores
nationwide.
Another exciting
company is Gopicnic. They provide box lunches that are gluten free. They have
the feel of lunchables. You will be surprised at how nutritious they are. You can find them here in Salt Lake City at
Costco. Their website is http://www.gopicnic.com/ . If you have a child who
needs gluten free diet this is a great choice.
I met Debora Hammond at the Saturday Farmer’s Market where
she introduced my team to her wonderful products. Debora’s oven emits wonderful
aromas. The aroma lasts a lot longer than the bread does. It is impossible to
stop at one or two with these amazing cheese breads. She uses an authentic
Brazilian recipe handed down from her Great Grandmother. Her family uses this
recipe to make the cheese bread the traditional Brazilian way, using manioc
starch, a flour-like substance made from the yucca plant. This leads to the
wonderful qualities of the bread, which resembles a cheese infused roll or
dumpling, and is naturally gluten free. Debora’s products can be found in 25
stores around Utah. More information can be found at www.cheesebreadmania.com.
We would rate her products 6 out of 5 stars if that where possible. The taste
is over the top and can become very addictive.
Safekeepers are a wonderful concept and product. They
comprise of plastic food containers. They are labeled either with a big stop
sign or a large green safe sign. This allows parents to bring safety to their
children. If this system is used appropriately it removes all chance of having
cross-contamination. This is a big benefit to school children because the
plastic protects them in two ways. First those supervising will know the child
has some type of food allergy. Additionally, this product prevents any chance
of mix up in lunch pails. You can also use this system at home to prevent
cross-contamination. This product is a valuable tool in living a Gluten Free
Lifestyle. We rate the product with 5 of 5 stars.
It was a pleasure in sampling and testing
the various products from El’s. Zesty Mix Melodies was our favorite. The flavor
really punched out my taste buds. There was a sweetness brought by the brown
sugar and heat from the cumin and paprika. The crunch was crisp.
My only complaint was the bag seem to empty
too fast. We would rate the Zesty Mix Melody with 5 of 5 stars. This is the
best snack mix that we have come across in today’s market. This mix even kept
the attention of our Non Celiac staff.
