Beyond gluten free… a few of my must have items
I am trying to branch out from the gluten free world and post more articles that are not just about desserts or food. I seem to get caught up writing articles all about desserts, as so many companies that send me product, are dessert companies. Not that I am complaining in the least bit, especially because one of my most favorite gluten free and dessert experts is Pamela and her staff from Pamela’s Products. 
However, it is time I reach a larger audience if I ever want to grow this entrepreneurial endeavor and reach a larger market, including all my mommy friends and sister who is an amazing mother to my two nephews. (hence up and coming reviews for all things baby, toddler, and child).
I have finally left the world of ‘gluten free desserts only,’ and moved beyond to hearty foods, along with other goods. I am trying to bring the experiences from the Natural Products Expo West to my readers and the experience I had there was certainly one to contact the press about.
As I mentioned I hope to be doing more reviews on all things involving children, since I do love children so very much. I worked a fun event outside of the gluten free food world and met some really cool people with amazing products for children and their mamas. A few of those items I will share with you in my next blog, but for now I will keep it simple and list a few of my absolute favorite gluten free products, beyond the delectable tasting sweet treat(s).
Favorite products include; Naked Nuggets (gluten free and dairy free), Pacific foods ( gluten free and dairy free soups), So Delicious ( dairy free and gluten free coconut milk), black kale ( no specific company, found at your local grocer), Vitamin brands, (Yummy Vites for kids and adults), Adult vitamins (Pure Essence Labs- One in ‘Only’-for Women) are gluten, casein, dairy free), Bragg’s Olive Oil,( see Mrs. Bragg and I above), Pamela’s Products gluten and dairy free pizza dough mix (hits stores later summer, early fall 2012), Xing tea( All natural, gluten/dairy free, green tea with very low sugar content-100 calories per can), Glutino (gluten free pretzels sticks and pretzel rings and their bread makes nice sandwiches, other than when it falls apart-they need to work on that a bit), Crave Foods (gluten free chicken pot pie) and lastly I do not leave the house without my one and only ‘Life Factory,’ glass water bottle (child and adult sizes and these are sold at Wholefoods stores nationwide-, who needs to worry about plastic anymore when they can have a bottle encased to prevent breakage. Great way to help the environment too!
These are just a ‘few’ of the many products and name brands that you will find in my fridge and on my counter top. Not to mention, I rarely add salt to my food, but I am a tiny bit addicted to Hepp’s Salt Barrel, truffle salt. So addicted to Hepp’s that I have already run out even though I bought some a few months ago. I know I know, the heart doctor says lay off the salt, but don’t worry it is only a dash to add on top of anything that needs that extra pinch. Everything in moderation is the important thing to remember.
Pamela’s Products debuts gluten free pizza at Natural Products Expo West 2012
Are you wondering what happened to this gluten free gal since the Natural Products Expo West 2012? Well, here I am and bringing you the very best information and products from the Expo. It has been more than a few busy days since the Expo, but I am glad to say I am finally able to get on over to my favorite place, this website!
The Natural Products Expo, hands down one of the best events I have ever been to for networking and meeting amazing people, it truly never disappoints. Not only did I have the ‘honor’, of working with the most amazing woman, Ms. Pamela Giusto-Sorrells, and her incredible staff at Pamela’s Products, but I was able to try the most A-M-A-Z-I-N-G new gluten free pizza dough mix. This pizza dough mix is new ( not yet released, sorry kids, you will have to wait until the end of summer 2012) from her line of already incredible mixes. The pizza dough was surely a winner with children and adults alike, including Miss Marilu Henner. (who will also be releasing her ‘Total Memory Makeover,’ book in 2012)
There is no exaggeration here either when I talk about Pamela from Pamela’s Products. Pamela’s Products will also have a couple other new products being launched at the end of summer, but I will spare you the details until I can get my hands on them, so you can be surprised just as much as I was.
Pamela is not only a stellar woman, but an entrepreneur that I truly admire. She started off as a youngster in the family business, where her grandfather owned a health food store. The health food store is where Pamela first learned the craft of the family business. Fast forward, a few years and three generations later, Pamela went onto create what I would call a baking enterprise for gluten free goods. I say enterprise with a little dash of salt because Pamela surely knows what a good tasting gluten free product is versus a great tasting product. See the secret here (no longer a secret) is that she does not have celiac disease, nor an intolerance to gluten, like this gluten free gal does. This is where her affinity for tasting gluten free products is a bit different from those of us forced into eating them due to the intolerance and havoc gluten creates on our stomachs.
In a sense I think I am thankful Pamela started taste testing gluten free products at a young age. Pamela realized and learned from many years in the family business what ‘bad’ tasting gluten free products tasted like, especially since the inception of ‘Pamela’s Products,’ in 1988. Becoming an entrepreneur is no easy task, see for yourself in the interview I conducted with Pamela before I even met her nearly two years ago. ( See archives)
So, if you are now wondering why I talk so much about how awesome Pamela’s Products ( gluten free products) are, is because I have also have a minor infatuation with the single serve brownie mixes, especially because they are microwaveable! Delicious! You can find them for about $1.49 in your local grocer that carries Pamela’s Products.
In addition to the many other products Pamela’s creates, a lot of their products are not only gluten free, but dairy free. This is important to this gluten free gal as many of you know having a love for dairy and all things cheese, is no fun when you have lactose intolerance. So, when purchasing Pamela’s Products, be sure to read the labels as there are some products that are gluten free, but not dairy free.
I could go on and on how amazing Pamela’s Products is, but it could turn into a book. For more information please visit Pamela’s Products online. You can buy Pamela’s Products on Amazon.com as well as in local health food retailers locally in a city near you.
Contest for Rudi’s, who wants gluten ‘FREE’ goodies?
This photo is not necessarily what the winner will receive, see Rudi's facebook page for details
Rudi’s launched a contest on February 7, 2012 so please visit my friends on their Rudi’s Gluten-Free Facebook page, “Like” the brand and receive a $2 off coupon. They let me know by visiting the Giveaway tab on the Facebook page, consumers can enter weekly to win prizes given away each day, like Rudi’s Gluten-Free breads and baked goods, a Cuisinart toaster, Crofter’s Organic jams, a Kodak digital camera, and gluten-free cookbooks.”
According to Rudi’s unlike many gluten-free breads and baked goods on the market, Rudi’s Gluten-Free products are free of artificial ingredients, preservatives and genetically modified organisms (GMOs). Plus, Rudi’s Gluten-Free’s products are soft and delicious, making life a little brighter for families that suffer from a gluten intolerance.
I had a chance to spend an evening with two Rudi’s employees last year at an event by the Celiac and Sprue Association and they are really supportive of their gluten free community, so much they contacted me to do ANOTHER, yes another giveaway.
In order to be entered in the giveaway, go to my twitter page and follow me. Also, please send me a tweet with your Name and why you are tweeting me. Tell me the reason why you think you should win the contest. I will then select a winner at random based on your responses once the contest ends. The prize pack will be sent directly from Rudi’s corporate in Colorodo and is the sole responsibility of their company to provide the prizes. The prize has an undetermined monetary value as it is a promotional pack of Rudi’s goodies. So, enter to win the contest now.
Rudi’s Gluten-Free products produces many types of gluten free foods to include Original, Multigrain and Cinnamon Raisin Breads, Pizza Crust, Hamburger Buns and Hot Dog Rolls. They can be found nationally at natural foods stores and mainstream supermarkets. For more information and to find local availability, visit www.rudisglutenfree.com.
About Rudi’s Organic Bakery, Inc.
Rudi’s Organic Bakery, Inc., founded and headquartered in Boulder, Colo., is the nation’s largest brand of USDA certified organic breads. Rudi’s Organic Bakery has a long history of baking bread a better and brighter way, by using simple organic ingredients that contain no artificial ingredients, preservatives, high fructose corn syrup or trans-fat. Founded in 1976, Rudi’s offers small batch organic artisan breads, sliced sandwich breads, wide pan sandwich breads, English muffins, bagels, hamburger and hot dog buns, and wraps as well as a popular line of organic spelt breads, buns and tortillas. For more information, visit www.rudisbakery.com or follow Rudi’s Organic Bakery on Facebook and Twitter.
Sprinkles cupcakes Gluten free red velvet recipe
Hello gluten free world. I know it has been a few months since I posted an article, but I have been keeping busy meeting people and finding more great products to review. First things first. These cupcakes are A-M-A-Z-I-N-G. If you have always wanted to know how to make Sprinkles red velvet cupcakes and have the gluten free recipe, well don’t stop here. See below for the amazing recipe, that this gluten free gal altered just a tad.
GF red velvet batter
These cupcakes are not dairy free, but next batch will be to work on making them dairy free and then I can call them my own. More dairy and gluten free recipes and articles coming up in 2012~! Hope everyone is having a great New Year!
Sprinkles (altered) gluten free red velvet cupcake recipe
2 1/2 cups gluten-free flour blend ( Pamela’s Products gf flour blend works)
4 T cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 1/4 cup milk ( this gluten free gal used rice milk to cut out more dairy)
2 tsp vanilla extract
*1 tsp white wine vinegar/ *(instead of white wine you can substitute Bragg Organic Raw Apple Cider Vinegar)
2 T red food coloring
1 cup butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature
- Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
- Stir the first 4 ingredients together and set aside.
- Mix milk, vinegar, vanilla and food coloring in a separate bowl and set aside.
- Cream the butter and sugar and add in eggs one at a time. Beat until creamy and light.
- Alternately add in the wet and dry ingredients you mixed earlier and beat until smooth.
- Bake at 18-22 minutes until the tops are just barely dry.
Lastly, it is best to ensure you let the cupcakes cool until they are ready to be frosted. This gluten free gal made a regular buttercream frosting, but there is an option to make a cream cheese frosting as well.
Gluten free pumpkin spice muffins
Pamela’s Products is an amazing company and creates great gluten free and dairy free products.
This recipe is one of my own that I have edited to my liking. The most recent making of these muffins I cut 1/4 of the butter out.
You may edit this recipe to fit your liking.
Recipe: GF Pumpkin Spiced muffins/bread
1 cup of raw cane sugar
1/2 cup of butter (soft)
1 can of organic pumpkin puree
2 eggs
2 cups of Pamela’s products gluten free flour ( bread & flour baking mix)
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp gf vanilla
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp of baking powder
1 tsp of guar gum ( stabilizer)
Cream sugar and butter in one bowl. Add eggs, vanilla and cinnamon. In a separate bowl mix flour, salt and baking power. Slowly add this flour mixture to the first bowl of ingredients. Pour batter into muffin tins or bread tin for baking. Set oven to 325 and bake for about 18-24 minutes. Check muffins and once toothpick comes out dry, the muffins are complete.
Rudi’s Giveway
To all my avid readers that are always wanting to know what is going on in this gluten free gal’s world.
One of my favorite companies in Colorodo contacted me for my very first giveway!
To enter you need to add me on twitter at www.twitter.com/glutenfree18 and you will automatically be entered to win a coupon for free gluten free bread from Rudi’s as well as a free sandwich box from them.
Once you add glutenfree18 on twitter, please private message or tweet your first name and email address.
Contest ends October 3, 2011. One entry per person is allowed and a winner will be chosen at random. The value of this prize is unknown at this time.
All prizes are being awarded by Rudi’s gluten free bakery.
Recipe: GF and DF red curry chicken stirfry
Have you been wanting to experiment with a gluten free and dairy free recipe? Well, I have the perfect recipe for you, that is not only gluten free, but dairy free as well and tastes wonderful.
Ingredients:
Organic chicken breast
1 can of light coconut milk (Trader Joe’s)
1 can of water chestnuts
1 can of bamboo shoots
Mushrooms from your local grocer or farmer’s market
‘Thai Kithen’ Red curry paste (gluten free)
Red hot chili flakes (to taste and to add a little kick)
Brown or white rice
Directions:
Cook chicken thoroughly until fully cooked. Add coconut cream, bamboo shoots, water chestnuts, mushrooms and any other ingredients you want to add.
Simmer on low until chicken is fully cooked and vegetables are cooked to your liking. Add some red pepper flakes, and a dash of salt.
Enjoy! 
Udi’s vs Rudi’s
What is your favorite gluten free bread? This gluten free gal loves both Udis’ and Rudi’s.
Seeing as Udi’s had me as their guest gluten free writer and blogger at the Natural food’s products Expo West, then I definitely have some love for them. I also love the way their breads taste. They have perfected their hamburger rolls so they are great for sandwiches whilst on the road and fill you up.
Rudi’s on the other hand has great fluffy bread that is great for your child’s lunch sack for this school year. Just in time for a peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.
This gluten free gal finds it best to freeze any of the breads that you buy from either Udi’s or Rudi’s. I am starting to think the two could be related, or is the gluten free all in the name? You are to be the judge and tell me is it Udi’s or Rudi’s in the bread ring?
Is it the gluten free pizza or the Kardashians?
The one thing that D’Amores and the Kardashian’s have in common, is that the Kardashians do like D’amore’s pizza. As you enter D’Amore’s pizza on third street on the West side in Los Angeles, you will see a wall full of celebrities and their ties to D’Amores, including the infamous Kardashian photo.
Not to mention that you will be greeted by Christie D’Amore who works tirelessy to ensure you are satisfied with the food as well as the service.
You are wondering why D’Amores pizza and the Kardashians are being compared? No, this has nothing to do with the ‘American fairytale,’ wedding that occurred, but more about how amazing D’Amore’s pizza is.
What is even more amazing is that D’Amores has a great gluten free pizza that will make any gluten free eater’s mouth water. To top the pizza off, those sensitive to dairy can order soy cheese or rice cheese, which are both free of dairy.
In between greeting guests and getting a gluten free pizza ready; Cristie was more than happy to discuss the family business. She spoke very highly of her father who started the family business. Since then, Joe D’Amore has incorporated the entire family into this dough making enterprise. With more pizza shops in the works, Los Angeles isn’t the only place that the D’Amores are stopping to make the dough.
Joe D’amore also took a moment to sit down with this gluten free gal to talk about what started as a recipe and turned into reality. Never losing his thick Boston accent Joe D’Amore happily discussed the family business and how it all got started. Twenty-five years ago, Joe’s grandmother handed over the only pizza recipe in the family. Nearly six months later Joe’s grandmother passed away and D’Amore’s pizza was born. To keep her memory alive, D’Amores continues to impress with their pizza, including the gluten free option.
Knowing that the water in California wasn’t helping to shape the dough, Joe began to import glass bottles of water from Napoli to help shape D’Amores dough. This special water and recipe creation is what turned his business into what many would consider a pizza empire. That is how D’Amores pizza began it’s run of the pizza business.
D’Amores pizza was voted the nation’s healthiest pizza by dietfacts.com as well as the #1 tasting pizza by Citysearch.
You will see from the D’Amores menu that their pizza does come in for #1 on calorie count, comparing D’Amores pizza at 166 calories to a slice of Costco pizza landing a whopping 804.16 calories. Keep in mind this is their regular cheese pizza-thin crust. This does not take into account their gluten free pizza. This gluten free gal didn’t ask for how many calories were in the gluten free pizza, but even if it was 500 it was well worth every morsel.
Not only does D’Amores whip up pizza dough, as well as gluten free pizza but you can stop by for a meatball sub or a healthy and hearty salad. Their baked ziti sounds great too, but being the gluten free gal, the ziti won’t be an option on this gluten free gal’s menu.
This gluten free gal would like to sincerely thank Cristie and her father Joe for being so kind and providing a complimentary gluten free pizza for this review. Not only did they provide a wonderful gluten free pizza, but they provided hospitality and service that is very difficult to find in Los Angeles.
If you haven’t been to D’Amores, know they are open until 4am most nights in West Los Angeles. They also do delivery and catering, so stop delaying and go grab some of the D’Amores dough.
As well as the West 3rd street location, D’Amores has locations in Malibu, Tarzana, Westwood Village, Thousand Oaks, Canoga Park and Camarillo, California. A location in Las Vegas, Nevada will be opening very soon. You can find D’Amores pizza on facebook and twitter, so get on over and give D’Amores your dough.
For anyone with Celiac disease, D’Amores pizza shops are not dedicated gluten free facilities, so please be aware they are not responsible for cross contamination.
You want gluten free pizza in LA? Here it is...
Gluten free beer is here
In this gluten free gal’s mind, gluten free beer is not necessarily the new fad nor will it take over the world, but it surely is on the rise amongst beer connoisseurs.
So far this gluten free gal only has had a chance to try two companies products whom are producing gluten free beer.
One of the companies producing gluten free beer is Bard’s beers whilst at a function with the Celiac Disease Foundation last month.
Bard’s beer was the only gluten free beer being served. Up until two months ago, this gluten free gal didn’t realize that the planet was going to be taken over by another beer being introduced to the gluten free world.
New Planet’s gluten free beer has brought beer back into this gluten free gal’s life. It’s almost like bringing sexy back, but not exactly in the same way. Well, for some men and women out there, beer is certainly a staple in their daily diet.
By way of Colorodo New Planet Beer is moving up the ranks in gluten free beverages. On a hot summer day New Planet Beer, surely goes great after a long day at the office. How can this be? A long day at the office in the scorching sun is what makes New Planet Beer worth trying. Well, regardless of being in the sun or at the office, New Planet beer is definitely worth quenching your thirst.
For those of you beer drinkers reading this, you think, how can a beer taste as good that isn’t made with wheat? Now that you are reading this article, you will learn something new and read this to learn that beer can be produced without the wheat or barley contents. Gluten free beer lists sorghum as one of the main ingredients.
For those of you wondering about these ingredients and flavors and what new flavors New Planet Beer is offering, then you will happy to uncover there are three refreshing flavors and tastes to try.
The three flavors being sold are: 3R Raspberry Ale, Tread Lightly Ale and Off Grid Pale Ale.
This gluten free gal placed these contestants by favorites and truly enjoyed the Tread Lightly Ale, coming in first place, Raspberry Ale in second place and lastly the Off Grid Pale Ale. Each ale had its own unique combination of flavors, but knowing each and every one of you readers has a pallet for different flavors, then you must see for yourself. Get on over to a local Wholefoods and find out for yourself what this new gluten free beer craze is all about.
New Planet Beer is offered in various cities nationwide, but has not reached all 50 contingenous states just yet. This gluten free gal is excited to say that California is one of the states offering this crispy and refreshing beer.
If your company produces any alcoholic products that are gluten free, as a writer and reviewer and food and drink connoisseur then this gluten free gal would love to sample and review your product. Please email for more information.
