Udi's displaying their NEW gluten free muffin tops

I had already been registered for a yoga workshop all weekend, but was able to walk over in between yoga sessions with my friend Nicky and we spent an hour and a half sampling yummy cakes, cookies, beer, pizza, soups, sandwiches, chips, crackers, muffins from over 50 vendors. There were also lots of coupons and great information being handed out. It was HEAVEN (even if I did end up with a stuffed tummy by the end!). The event also had some sessions and presentations from health professionals, but I wasn’t able to attend those.

There were plenty of local businesses from the Asheville, NC area displaying their products, as well as national businesses. Highlights as follows…

I was pleased to see Moon Rabbit Foods at the expo (who also happened to have plenty of samples of their most delicious snacks). I have meant to blog about Moon Rabbit by now, but unfortunately haven’t gotten around to it. They have THE BEST gluten free cake, cookie, scone and focaccia/pizza mixes I’ve EVER tasted. Last Fall I made scones from their mix and they turned out SO GOOD. There is never a xanthum gum aftertaste like many other gluten free products (even though they use xanthum gum in their mixes). And they are always generous with their samples when I see them at the Farmers markets! If you’re not local, you can always purchase their gluten free mixes online.

Gluten Free Display of Moon Rabbit Foods

Moon Rabbit Foods had so many samples (corn bread, scones, cakes, flatbread, focaccia (which is to DIE for!) and so many others – I forget them all, but I know I tried them all

I believe that all of the vendors sell products inside Ingles grocers, which is great and convenient for me!

Next up was My Gluten-Free Bread Company, a bakery based in Hendersonville, NC (and a social enterprise). I didn’t manage to get a picture of their baked goods, but go to their website if you want to make your mouth water. On their menu they have banana bread listed, as well as multi-grain bread, sandwich bread, mock rye bread, and hamburger buns, in addition to cookies, vegan brownies, and coffee cake. I’m looking forward to trying more of their products!!

Yet another delicious baked goods company from the Asheville area was World’s Best Carrot Cake, who sells a pretty mean gluten free carrot cake on their website, even if it is a bit pricey. It tied with Moon Rabbit Foods for being one of my favorites at the expo.

And my day wouldn’t have been complete without tasting a few beers and ciders! Redbridge gluten free beer was there and they were also handing out samples of a new cider by Michelob, which was fairly tasty. However, my favorite cider to taste was from Woodchuck, their ‘Dark and Dry’ was not too sweet like most ciders.

And in other gluten free beer news, a commenter on the blog recently told us about a Swedish study on gluten free beers that gives the count of gluten in a range of beers. Some gems, such as Carlsberg, Corona Extra, and Pilsner-Urquell are listed as having very low gluten counts (less than 20 ppm).

What goes great with beer? Pretzels!! And Snyder’s of Hanover has recently come out with gluten free pretzel sticks! And they are actually very good pretzels.

So great to see so many options for being gluten free!

If you missed the expo, there will be another one in Greenville, SC on September 8, 2012. The cost is $5 and will be held at Kroc Center, 424 Westfield Street, Greenville, 29601 off Academy Street from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm.

Let us know of any other gluten free events in your area!!

And it’s not just me. My sister attempted to eat one with me and she had the same repulsive reaction. We were actually driving in a car at the time, heading out for a hike. I warmed up the buns briefly, squeezed the icing on top and we were on our way. Unfortunately, we were on our way to the coffee shop and I didn’t have anything to wash down the nasty taste. I was gagging and screaming, “Ugh! Yuck! Get this nasty taste out of my mouth! I can’t stand it!”.

It’s true. Ask my sister.

I was very disappointed, needless to say. They looked so good. But I have to mention, not only were the gluten free cinnamon buns gross tasting, but the icing was not very pleasant tasting either. I was hoping for more of a cream cheese sort of taste, but it was more of a maple, icky taste. I don’t know whether my warming the buns up also made them too hard, but either way the taste was the biggest factor for me.

And it’s unfortunate because these four cinnamon buns cost about $6.79 a pack in my local organic food store. (But I’ll admit, I didn’t pay for them, as Udi’s sent them to me to review, free of charge.) Surely with all their other delicious products, Udi’s can come up with something better for what should taste like a cinnamon bun?

Hmph. After writing this I’m now hungry for cinnamon buns. Have any of you (my readers) tried making them from scratch or discovered other good options? I’d LOVE to have a recipe!! Maybe I’ll attempt making them someday…I imagine it’s not easy.

Also, I would post a picture of these gluten free cinnamon buns, but it was a while back that I tried eating them and since then lost my iPhone and with it, the pictures I took. In lieu, here are some real cinnamon buns:

It tasted good, and actually I couldn’t really tell that the gluten free tortilla wasn’t gluten free, so that’s a very good start. If my only complaint was that it is too small, that’s a good thing, but the other thing that bothered me is that it didn’t have much in the way of vegetables inside either — just mostly rice and beans and a few strands of onion and some tiny pieces of squash. I wish this company would make gluten free tortillas and sell them so I could make my own burritos…maybe they do??? The company claims that they have “the largest collection of gluten free recipes in the world”, so I’m headed to their site now to check it out.

I put a banana on this plate to give you some perspective. That’s a small plate, not a really large banana…

Anyway, if you’re hungry for a burrito and on the go, this will satisfy – but grab two, if you can afford the $3.79 price tag!

I decided that I was a little more “mature” for hot dogs these days, and decided to fill my buns with some nice italian sausages at Earth Fare, also claiming to be gluten free. Win win.

What an easy meal! I dazzled up my sausage with a little hot mustard, and it made for a very tasty dinner. It was a while ago that I made these, and I’m craving them again. So that’s a good sign!

About the hot dog buns:

Since I was making these sausage dogs for myself only, I had a few opportunities to warm up the hot dog buns. Please note: if not done properly, they can get very hard. For instance, don’t put them in the microwave for too long. The best thing to do to warm them is to put them in a toaster over for a short length of time. If they get too soft, they will be difficult to get your hot dog/sausage in, and they will get very had as they cool.

But if made properly, they have a great taste and flavor. I wouldn’t have been able to tell they were gluten free. They weren’t soggy, had a great texture, and didn’t leave any kind of nasty after taste, often associated with gluten free foods. I’m looking forward to trying the hamburger buns I stuffed in my freezer this weekend! I’m headed to the Bywater in Asheville, NC for a little family cook out and to hear some good music. Can’t wait!

A few weeks back, while I was in Washington, DC craving gluten free blueberry muffins, I couldn’t find any!! I checked a bunch of places for Udi’s gluten free blueberry muffins, but they didn’t sell them in the Whole Foods or the Trader Joe’s there. Bummer!!

So, when I arrived in Asheville, NC, I really didn’t expect to find anything better than what they have in The Nation’s Capital. Oh, geez, was I wrong.

Asheville, which boasts itself as the world’s first Foodtopian Society, is the BEST town I have ever discovered for celiacs and gluten free sensitive eaters.

First, I went to the French Broad Co-op, which I heard wonderful things about. Seeing a tray full of muffins, I asked if they carried Udi’s blueberry muffins. The gentleman at the register said, no, they did not and offered up some other gluten free options. But either they were out that day, or they took a cue from my request, because the VERY NEXT WEEK, they DID have Udi’s gluten free blueberry muffins.

See:

Were the muffins good you ask? YES. They were very good. I especially liked the sprinkles of granulated sugar on top

HOWEVER, there is a big difference in having fresh baked muffins and frozen muffins. And I was lucky enough to find the former the week before I finally found the Udi’s blueberry muffins.

My new home away from home, the West End Bakery in West Asheville, NC carries several gluten free options, as well as muffins made from spelt, vegan muffins, and regular muffins and other baked goods. They also have gluten free bread, which means I can eat sandwiches here for lunch!! I love this place.

And here is what their muffin looks like:

So far, these are the only two gluten free blueberry muffins I’ve tried — how about you? I’d be interested in finding more muffins…or the gluten free muffin man.

Rudi’s sent me some gluten free num nums in the mail. I had been craving PIZZA, as usual, and so was pleased to find their gluten free pizza crust in the package (among other gluten free yummies, I’ll be blogging about soon).

So I made a pizza! First, I went to the French Broad Co-op to find some local pizza sauce. That didn’t happen, but I did find some Rising Moon Organics Garlic & Chanerelle Mushroom Pasta Sauce, which worked out quite well. Toppings included green peppers, yellow peppers, mushrooms, scallions, and chicken breast strips. Also, a mixture of Mozzerella and Long Horn Cheeses was melted on top.

I should note here that the French Broad Co-op in Asheville, NC has a very good selection of gluten free eats, including Udi’s gluten free blueberry muffins. YUM.

But, back to Rudi’s. I very much enjoyed the pizza. The crust was not soggy or mushy, it did not crumble and it held its ground. I’ve had some pretty bad gluten free pizza in my day, and Rudi’s is in a different class. I will not say, however, that it was better than Mandy’s, but until Mandy’s is widely available, Rudi’s is a good option. Rudi’s is also a very good option for hot dog buns, which I’ll be posting about soon!

Yay, Pizza!!

Tell us about your favorite gluten free pizza crust and/or recipes! What have you had that’s good?

A few months ago, my health conscience sister popped by with some gluten free ginger snaps from Trader Joe’s grocery store. This is my sister who will lecture me on eating healthy, all the while she is subconsciously stuffing handfuls of potato chips in her mouth, while I nod “Yes, Shari, I will eat my vegetables”. So I don’t know why she bought the gluten free ginger snaps, which have about 6 grams of fat in 5 cookies [read: not healthy]. “They’re really good”, she said, “try some”. So I did, and she was right, they were pretty good. And I like ginger snaps. I don’t really have cravings for them, like I do for French toast and Reuben sandwiches, but I like ginger snaps.

The gluten free ginger snaps are alright; nothing to write home about (or even blog about, apparently).

However, while in the process of moving out of my house, I was trying not to make any more trips to the grocery store and instead be innovative with what I already had in my cupboards. I ducked down into my bottom cupboard, shuffling around in my mix of packaged and canned food, and this is what I popped back up with:

*Disclaimer: I do not know if Jif peanut butter is entirely gluten free. It does not say that it is on the label.

Before I knew it, a half a jar of peanut butter was gone, because this is what I was doing with them:

Yum, yum, yum. That’s all I have to say. Don’t blame me if you gain a few pounds; I gave you fair warning!

And I know that good gluten free options exist (at least they do in the grocery store and in my kitchen). I know this because last Thanksgiving I made TWO pies, with gluten free pie crust, of course. I don’t know why it’s taken me this long to blog about these pies (they were SCRUMPTIOUS, after all).

Anyway, the pie crust I used was from Gluten Free Pantry, which claims “perfect pie crust” right on the box. (By the way, you can buy their gluten free pie crust online, or find it at many organic grocers.)

As this was my first attempt at making the pie crust, and I’m not a very proficient pie-maker anyway, I will say it was a little tricky to roll out the dough. However, once you get a feel for the texture and what it can do, it’s not bad to work with, or just as difficult as regular flour, if you ask me!

I also didn’t do the best job of making the little indents around the pan, (see the pre-cooked pumpkin pie above) but once it came out of the oven, it didn’t look too bad. It was a little flaky, but the taste was indiscernible from that of regular pie crust. I served it to my gluten-loving family, and they all liked it and couldn’t tell the difference!

Also, for the cherry pie, I tried putting the little crisscrosses over top, but that wasn’t working too well for me. I think it has more to do with lack of experience (and patience!) so we won’t blame it on the pie crust.

To the left are my finished products. Anyone else have any crusts they’ve tried or made from scratch? Would love to hear about it and get this pie fad started!

Most foods I love and used to eat have been forgotten because I know my tummy can no longer tolerate them, but there are a couple that come to mind — French toast and Reuben sandwiches — that I get sudden cravings for, cravings that I am now able to fully satisfy, thanks to Udi’s gluten free bread.

I’m not a fancy cook, so maybe it’s ironic that I have a food blog and put some recipes on here from time to time, but I assume that you can Google how to make French Toast and Reubens, so I won’t go into detail about how I prepared them. I just want you to be aware of the options available and to know that this is the best gluten free bread widely available (and I’m not being paid to write this!) I have had some really good fresh gluten free bread at a gluten free bakery, but Udi’s is available in many locations, including Whole Foods, Giant, Ingles, and Trader Joes. And you can order it directly from their website, if you don’t live near a store that carries their products.

For the French toast I used Udi’s gluten free white sandwich bread and for the Reuben, their whole grain gluten free bread. (They also have some recipes on their website if you’re interested, including one for gluten free French toast.)

I am also excited to see the BLUEBERRY MUFFINS on their website!! I don’t think I’ve had a good blueberry muffin in AGES, and am dying for one right now. I’ll keep you posted as soon as I can get my grubby little hands on ‘em

Have you had any recent cravings for the ol’ comfort food? Have you been able to find options to satisfy your cravings? Let us know if so or if not — would love to read your comments.