ENJOY LIFE: COCOA LOCO SNACK BARS

"Have you heard of a belly laugh? At Enjoy Life our business is making smile-good foods that keep your insides happy too." Hum...that little diddy is on the back of the Enjoy Life Cocoa Loco Snack Bars...read more to find out if my insides were happy eating these snack bars!

The Review:
I have previously mentioned my son's love of cereal bars and my adoration of the Envirokidz Bars but could the Enjoy Life bars be yummy too? Could they really make me enjoy life? OK, so food shouldn't make you enjoy life, bad frame of thought, but you know, if you are gluten free you tend to think about food a lot. Thoughts always are can I eat this, can I eat that, and should I pack a snack? So, is this Enjoy Life Cocoa Snack Bar one of the snacks I should be packing? Hum, it had this crunchy oddness to it that slightly reminded me of Nana's Cookie Bars and I didn't like those very much. I noticed that odd crunch in bite one. OK, I told myself that bite two wouldn't have the crunch factor, it must have been a mistake. I told myself that they were an Enjoy Life product. I am not very familiar with them but the name sounds like a lot to live up to. Bite two...yup, still there and not very yummy. I am NOT ENJOYING LIFE WITH THIS IN MY MOUTH. Bite three, forced. I forced myself to finish this with milk. I did it for the blog. I wanted to give it a review that I could feel good about and if I didn't finish the bar I didn't feel that I could give it a good fighting chance. I was hoping to change my mind on the product that sounded like it should be so promising.But, the rest of the box was chucked.

The Verdict:


The Stats:
Serving Size: 1 Bar
Calories: 120
Total Fat: 3.5 grams
Carbs:22 grams
Protein: 2 grams

Simply Organic French Onion Dip Review

Do you have any idea how hard it is to find a dip that is free from MSG? Well...it is not easy.

I took this dip to Stephanie's (GF Steph) Bridal Shower....

The Review:

The guest ate the dip. I ate the dip. We ate it and it was yummy, however...since I am giving this a frank review...it leaves you with some kicking breath. So, eat, enjoy and then brush your teeth or at the minimum chew some gum! Regardless, I love it and I even went back to the store and bought a few more packs to have in my cupboard because like I wrote above MSG is in almost every dip I find at the supermarkets. I also love this dip because all you need to add to it is 2 cups of sour cream!

The Verdict:


The Stats:
Serving Size: 2 tsp prepared
Calories: 70 prepared mix
Total Fat: 0
Carbs: 1g
Fiber: 0
Protein:0

Thank You Baskin Robins!

I had a midterm today for my science class. I hate science. I am not a science minded person. Well, now I am ranting. Back to my point...after I finished my midterm, we went to lunch and then we went to Baskin Robins. I was very pleased with Baskin Robins because I noticed on the side of each flavor label was listed allergen information! Very cool!

Obviously, when I go out for ice cream or gellato I am careful not to order flavors like Brownie and Oreo, but sometimes wheat and gluten are found in strange places! So, it made me feel safer seeing allergen information listed! Now, I didn't see the gluten allergen specifically listed but I did see wheat listed, so that was comforting.

I just thought I would share my findings! I wanted to take a picture of it but the place was pretty busy and I didn't want to hold up the line.

Mission:The Phoenix Zoo: Gluten Free

Today my son and I went to the Phoenix Zoo with my longtime friend Alica and her sons! I knew this outing would be fun but that mealtimes/snacks would be tricky due to my obvious gluten intolerance. So, my mission was to have a great time at the zoo with out getting sick! Would it be a mission impossible?

Lunch:

The food areas sent small shrieks of panic with in me! Not many options. The very safe but boring option was yogurt and applesauce. Pass! No way, I eat that daily. That was my last resort food. I saw french fries on the menu. OK, let the questions begin! I asked the dude, and I say dude because the lad was young and he seemed very uninformed if the fries were fried in a dedicated fryer. He quickly said yes but I asked him to make sure by asking a manager. SCORE! He came back with a confirmation of yes! So, I ordered fries. Next question: Were the nachos on the menu 100% corn tortilla chips and were processed in a plant that were free from cross contamination?

Dude looked at me and said that he knew that they were 100% corn chips and that they were not cross contaminated. I think he was humoring me. I asked to look at them. They were the multicolored corn chips. I thought they looked OK, so I told him to put them on the tab. I ordered my son a gluten filled lunch and off we went to find a seat.

So this was my lunch:
These were the items that came with my Jacob's lunch that a someone may think is OK to eat but would get them sick if they didn't know too much about celiac disease:
Hunt's Ketchup is not Gluten Free! GFSteph has a great post about why. Click here to find out why! Heinz is gluten free though. So, I ate my fries with out ketchup. I was happy to be able to eat fries out though! It was a treat at the moment. And one would assume that a RICE crispy treat is gluten free but it is not, it is wheat free, but not gluten free.

So, during lunch Jacob kept trying to touch my nachos. I would tell him not to and explain why to him. I know that he doesn't understand cross-contamination at two but I want him to be accustomed to this from an early age. His hands were covered in chicken nuggets and ketchup. He would touch an area and then I would take that area of my chips and throw it away in hopes that it would make it safe to eat the rest of my food.

Later On:

I was wearing shorts and I noticed bumps all over my upper legs. I also had a slight head ache but I didn't mention that part to my friend ( I didn't want to be a drag). I tried to take a picture of the bumps for the blog but it didn't photograph well. I have no clue if the dude from the food stand was mistaken about the food or if Jacob accidentally cross contaminated me. Next time, I will stick to the boring yogurt and I will pack some food.

Zoo Snacks:

I saw kettle corn. I have no clue if it was safe because I didn't ask. I am assuming it was but I didn't eat it. The one thing I did eat was:
Lugi's Real Italian Ice! Jacob had some too!

It was a great trip. Glutening and all. I will have to wait and see if the symptoms get any more severe but the experience was still amazing!

For more pics from the zoo, check out the Endless Possibilities Blog!

Pamela's Product's: Dark Chocolate Chocolate Chunk Cookies

The review:
I tried these a few weeks ago and I finally finished them off yesterday. If they tasted better, I would have eaten them much faster than I did! Good cookies don't last long in my cupboard! They are OK, but not phenomenal. I saw that Pamela's Product's had other gluten free cookies available in other flavors so maybe I will try those but I found these to be chalky and not very appealing to the taste buds. They are decent in a pinch or if you don't want to bake gluten free cookies from scratch. Yet, they weren't so awful that I had to throw them out, like I have done with other brands.

The verdict:
The Stats:
Serving Size: 2 cookies
Calories: 170
Total Fat: 9
Total Carbs: 21 grams
Protein: 1 grams

A Review & Recipe! Woo hoo! Pasta & Breadstick

I have been eying the Glutino brand Gluten Free Breadsticks every time I go to the supermarket but I couldn't justify paying over five dollars for it. I had mentioned it to my boyfriend one of the last times we were at the store together and he told me I should just go for it because I don't get to eat food like this anymore.

I was taking my son to the park and on the way there I went to the store and picked up a box. I decided to make Italian for dinner so I would have an excuse to eat them!

The Review:
I served them with brown rice penne, meat balls and tomato sauce. The breadsticks are pizza flavored and very crunchy. They are a great addition to a meal. I will say though that they are small, the serving size is 9 sticks...I didn't eat the serving size because I was full fast. I ate about 5.
The verdict on the Glutino Gluten Free Breadsticks:
The Stats:
Serving Size: 9 sticks
Calories: 60
Total Fat: 1
Total Carbs: 12 grams
Fiber:0
Protein:0


Meatballs were made from a recipe from Gluten-Free Quick & Easy by Carol Fenster, Ph.D.

However, I didn't use the gluten free breadcrumbs because I was trying to reduce the calorie count but the recipe from the book sounds amazing!

Mother Meatballs:

Ingredients:

• 1 pound raw lean ground beef, or use half ground beef and half ground pork
• 1 tablespoon dried minced onion
• 1/2 cup gluten free breadcrumbs (I didn't use)
• 1 large egg, beaten
• 2 tablespoons dried parsley
• 1/2 teaspoon table salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

For Italian-Flavored meatballs, add(which I did):

• 1 1/2 dried basil
  
• 1/2 dried oregano
  
• 2 tablespoons grated Romano cheese (didn't have, so I didn't use)

Tasty Bite: Madras Lentils

Hum, what to make for dinner? I rummaged the cupboards and stumbled upon this gluten free box that I forgot about! I love those moments, it is almost like you found a dollar in an old purse when you really needed it!

The Review:

I love lentils. They are super healthy and the fact the the box promises that you can heat and eat these in 90 seconds was a big plus! A quick dinner is always a winner. I thought lentils alone would be boring so I served it over brown rice. My mother and son thoroughly enjoyed this meal. My thoughts? Hum...
The Stats:
Vegetarian, no preservatives, and Kosher.

Serving size: 1/2 pack
Calories: 120
Total Fat: 5 grams
Carbs:14 grams
Protein: 6 grams

Indonesian Nasi Goreng Rice Mix by Baji's

By the way, that picture was taken on the day of Stephanie's shower, I don't wear the same clothes every day! I took a bunch of pictures with the food I knew I would shortly be trying, so you will be seeing that shirt a lot...I am a mommy and that usually means sweat pants and unkempt hair! Not blog worthy I promise!

Anyway...back to my review....

I have no idea where my mom found this rice mix but when she brought it home I was eager to try it, it sounded interesting. I made it for lunch a few days ago.

The Review:

It was actually a little spicy but I don't handle spicy well. I gather that Indonesian food is meant to be spicy? I don't really know, I don't eat it very much. As you can see, I served it with a small fresh salad and chicken. Normally, I don't allow my rice to overpower my plate but since I was reviewing it I wanted to make sure that my mouth really understood what it was eating.

I did serve the same lunch to my son and he ate the rice. The spice factor was not an issue for him. We came to the same consensus:


This side makes the perfect addition to a meal. It can really liven up a chicken dinner or since the item is vegetarian, if enough vegetables and tofu are added it would be perfect on its own.

The Stats:

Serving size: 1/2 package
Calories: 230
Total Fat: 5 grams
Total Carbs: 42 grams
Fiber: 3 grams
Protein: 5 grams

Gluttonous Gluten Free Cake Review & My Aunt's Birthday Party GF Survial Mode...

Today was my Aunt Grace's 65th birthday! I like my Aunt Grace a lot, she is full of spunk. We went to my GG's house (she acquired new nickname today, Gross Grandma...maybe I will share that story on Endless Possibilities)

Anyway, I knew there would be some gluten free options for me to eat there. My cousin would be bringing a salad and she left off the dressing (smart!) but my Grandma is really starting to bug me. On Gluten Free Steve's blog there is a rant session and I should really utilize it because I could fill it up based on her alone. I am not trying to be disrespectful and I do love my Grandma but she does not understand what glutenings do to me (anal explosions, rectal bleeding {does this happen to anyone else?}, vomiting, rashes, bad moods, headaches, and not to mention the long term affects). I have told her 20 times what a gluten intolerance is. She doesn't get it. She doesn't get cross-contamination.

I am vigilant about reading labels. I could have a degree in it. If I eat it, I read it. Any way, there were many dishes I turned down because of items in them, she purchased chicken and told me I could eat it. I asked what kind and she told me it was from BBQ and Lemon. I got nervous and asked to see the package. Turns out that it was those chickens that you buy from the deli. I looked at the ingredients and there was barley in the BBQ chicken but the lemon was OK. Oh, and every time I tell her I cant eat something, she sighs like it is my fault. Sorry, I don't mean to be allergic, I wish I weren't! They shared the same plate but they were not touching and there was not juice flowing. No one could tell which was the BBQ chicken and which was the lemon. So, I said I was not going to risk it, plus the fact that it was already on the same plate was making me nervous. So, I said I was going to pass. My grandma then takes a piece of chicken and plops it on my plate. I get up and say to her, that she doesn't get it. I cant eat it! She took it off my plate but I still needed a new plate, it had already contaminated my plate! URRG!

Then I spent hours baking that cake yesterday and she took candles out of a cake she was about to serve and put it in one side of my GF cake. I freaked out! I was like, "You contaminated my cake!" Luckily, I feel ok and I didn't eat any of the cake where the candles were but still. " If you know something is going to make someone sick, why do it? I am losing my patience. OK, my rant is over, I hope I don't sound overly mad, I have had these issues with her before and she glutened me twice now.

Ok, Now on to the cake review!

Gluttonous Gluten Free Cake Review

Tension was high, I had a crowd of non-celiacs to please, could I pass their taste tests?

The Review:
I am not being biased because I made this cake at all. I was going to be hard on myself because I made the cake. But I really liked it.

Want proof?
By the way, I didn't actually eat all that cake! Yes, I know, I am the GF Gluten but I am not capable of eating that much cake! That piece was my non-contaminated cake! The rest was tainted cake :)

Jacob liked the cake too:
Actually, everyone liked the cake. The non gf cake that my Grandma wanted to serve remained intact and uneaten.

I don't have any nutritional info to post, I have no clue how many calories are in this cake...don't even want to think about it!

The verdict:
(Because my sister said this was the best part of the blog!)

Gluttonous Gluten Free Cake!

I worked on this cake all day. Mainly because the first two cakes did this:


So, here is how you make this Gluttonous Gluten Free Cake, crafted of course by the Gluten Free Gluten herself...me!


Ingredients For Cake & Cake Fillers :

-2 boxes Sof'ella Organic Gluten Free Chocolate Cake & Frosting Mix & ingredients to make 2 cakes!
-1/2 cup white chocolate chips
-1/2 cup chocolate chips
-2 tbs vegetable shortening
-Prepared frosting mix from the So'fella box (they come together with cake box)

Making The Cake:

Follow the cake instructions for baking on the Sof'ella box, the only difference is that you will mix in 1/2 of chocolate chips in the mix! Use the cooking times on the cakes as well. My cake took longer to bake but all ovens seem to be different. Once the cakes are baked and cooled then you will take the first cake and cut it in half. You will take the frosting mix and prepare it. You will place this on top of the top of the cake you just cut and spread it around the cake, make sure you only use half of the frosting mix:


Then place the other layer of the cake back on top of it so the cake looks whole again. Then take a small sauce pan and put it on low heat. Take the white chocolate and the vegetable shortening and place it in the pan. Stir until the chocolate is melted. Take the other cake and cut that in half. Take the white chocolate and pour it over the top of the cake!
Then take the half of the cake and place it over the white chocolate. Then take the remainder of the frosting and cover the cake with it. Finally, place top of the cake where it belongs and frost the cake with either a tub of frosting or homemade frosting!

Decorating the Cake:
I got lazy and used tub frosting for the outside but I made frosting to pipe and make flowers. Here is the recipe for the frosting:

Wilton's Stiff Consistency Buttercream (Because it is for flowers):
-1 cup solid white vegetable shortening
-1 teaspoon Flavor (Vanilla, Almond, or Butter) {I used Butter}
-2 tablespoons or milk or water {I always use milk, it makes it creamier}
-1 lb. pure cane confectioners sugar (approximately 4 cups)
-1 tablespoon Meringue Powder

Cream shortening, flavoring and water. Add dry ingredients and mix on medium speed until all ingredients are thoroughly mixed together. Blend for an additional minute or so, until creamy.

I know, my cake is slanted! Long day but hey, it is ok. I hope it tastes good. I worked hard on it. Well, I will find out soon. I will review it and I hope it lives up to its name.

More cake decorating pictures are on my other blog, Endless Possibilities.

Trader Joe's Gluten Free Rice Pasta & Cheddar

"This is totally the most amazing rice mac & cheese I've ever had. It's soooo good. U have no idea. Really. I love it. I love it so much I want to marry it."


That is on the back of the box. That is a lot to live up to. Did it?


The Review:
Pretty good! The box was pretty extreme! I wouldn't marry the mac and cheese, I personally prefer a cheesier mac but hey, I will take it! I served this for lunch today with some hot dogs.

Here is my son chowing down:




So, this is my final decision on the Mac:



The Stats:

Serving size: 1 cup prepared
Calories: prepared 280
Total Fat: 3.5 grams
Carbs: 52 grams
Fiber: 1 gram
Sugar: 3 grams
Protein: 6 grams

Are these like Cheetos? Um...

I was scouring the isles of Fry's with my boyfriend after our dinner and a movie date for some gluten free snack food to eat back at his place. I came across these:

(pic taken from http://www.thenibble.com/REVIEWS/MAIN/snacks/images/curls-puffs-bags-250.jpg)

Score!

The Review:

Are these like Cheetos? My boyfriend (a non-gluten free lad) said these tasted like cheese but I wanted a cheetos like option dammit! I needed one! I am allergic to them! I cant eat MSG! I cant eat Cheetos! So, when I saw these Baked Cheese Curls I got excited! Well, they are good but not Cheetos good. I left the bag at my boyfriends! I am not sure if I will get to eat any more the next time I am there and I dont really care...I just had higher hopes...maybe I am just remembering my old friend, my Cheetos!


The Verdict:


The Stats:

No preservatives, No MSG, Nothing Artificial At all!


Serving Size: 1 Cup
Calories: 130
Total Fat: 4.5 grams
Carbs:20 grams
Protien: 2grams
Fiber: 2 grams

EnviroKidz Organic Crispy Rice Bar!

My son has a serious cereal bar addiction and it sucks for me because I watch him devour bar after bar with a bit of jealousy. The other day while we were at the store purchasing his bars, I saw these and I had to pick myself up a box for myself! He now has his bars and I have my bars! I don't care that they are aimed towards children!

The Review:

There are no pesticides, herbicides, additives or anything artificial about these bars. They are low in fat, low in sodium, certified organic and one percent of sales help conservation groups! I found these bars pretty tasty. They are more cost efficient than Luna bars and they are a great on the go snack which is hard for a gluten free girl. I will be buying these again. Yesterday afternoon my son and I had a cereal bar and milk snack and it was pretty cute! Thanks EnviroKidz for helping us share a moment!

The Verdict:





The Stats:
Serving Size: 1 bar
Calories:110
Total Fat:2.5 grams
Carbs:20 grams
Protein: 1 grams
Fiber: 1 gram

Stephanie's Gluten Free Bridal Shower !

Stephanie (GFSteph),or the Bride-To-Be, as I would like to so lovingly call her had a gluten free BRIDAL SHOWER! Her wedding is now officially less than a month away and as her maid of honor I am stoked!


The food was Uno's Pizza but I failed to take a picture of it :( I was too busy...sorry, I had duties to tend to!




Dessert was cupcakes from SugarLips Cakery:






These cupcakes were beautiful and delicious. Seriously the best gluten free cupcakes I have ever eaten!

There was also a fruit arraignment from Edible Arraignments...I don't have a better picture of it, maybe Steph will post one when she blogs it!


The Bride-To-Be with her soon to be HUSBAND!!!


For more pictures, check out the Endless Possibilities Blog