Rudi's Gluten Free Tortillas

Rudi's has gotten into the gluten free tortilla game, and they obviously know how to play. There are three different flavors, and each one is pretty special. D.D. and I attacked these like a couple of vultures and made sure to thoroughly test them... for you, of course.

Katz Gluten Free Vanilla Rugelech

Katz Gluten Free has released a new flavor of Rugelech! As I'm sure you guessed from the title to this post, the new flavor is vanilla :) I'm sure I must have mentioned how vanilla obsessed I am in past posts so you can imagine my excitement over this new snacking option.

Katz is doing a Winter Grand Prize Giveaway to help roll out this new product. The Grand Prize is a huge box filled with one each of the Katz goodies. To enter the drawing (winner will be chosen on Jan. 3, 2011) follow this link to the Katz Page :)

One more thing before we move on to the review stuff: Katz has also supplied GFPR with a free sample pack to give to one lucky winner! To enter, just read this post and leave a comment. A winner will be chosen at random from all available entries on Monday, January 10, 2011. Now on to the review!

Gluten Free Bisquick

I'm sure that I'm not the only person on a gluten free diet that did backflips of excitement when I first heard that gluten free Bisquick was coming our way. (Figurative backflips, of course, I am not nearly that athletic.)After all, I am one of the newly gluten free, only two years. I remember vividly how easy meals used to be. I could eat anything, anywhere. For some reason Bisquick seemed like a return of this freedom and normalcy.

It took awhile to reach my local stores after being released. I was worried that it would be hard to find, or that I might not be able to find it at all. Thank goodness for MyBlogSpark! They offered to send me some to try and I was backflipping once again. Not only did they send me the gluten free Bisquick, but an entire prize pack to go with it. You may have guessed, Bisquick and MyBlogSpark have also provided one to give away! Look for details at the bottom of this post :) For now, on to the review!

Gluten Free Cookbook Review: Cooking for Isaiah by Silvana Nardone

I’m so excited right now! This is the first cookbook I have reviewed for GFPR, and it is fantastic! I had to create a whole new criteria and format for this, so let me know what you think. Are there any categories I have left out?

Cooking for Isaiah was  inspired by pure love. This is the first thing I noticed when I opened the book. The second thing I noticed was that Silvana Nardone knows what she is talking about. I learned so many new tips just by reading the first few pages that the recipes became secondary (for about five minutes...)

Katz Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies

I think I have eaten enough gluten free chocolate chip cookies to be considered a connoisseur (who hasn’t. right?). That didn’t mean that I was any less happy to pull the chocolate chip cookies out of the Katz Gluten Free goody box :)

Katz Gluten Free Marble Cake

Ease of Use

It should be super easy to eat Katz Gluten Free Marble Cake, and after the first serving it is :) When you first open the package, though, you ought to have a hammer and chisel, an exacto knife and some scissors handy. Okay, I am over-dramatizing, but this is some good packaging. The cake is baked in a paper liner (like muffins). Then it is wrapped in plastic and placed in a plastic snap-lid box, which is then wrapped in more plastic. This product does not get my green award, but it sure is air tight and fresh!

Deli International Gluten Free Pizza

It’s frozen pizza time again. D.D. can’t get enough of the stuff. She actually picked this one from the store herself and was very excited to bring it home to me. I think part of the excitement was due to the fact that frozen pizza in our house has become synonymous with family movie night. Whatever her motivation, I heard little else from the moment she got home from the grocery store but how excited she was about her “real gluten free boxed pizza”. (So cute!)

Excitement is contagious, I suppose. I was even more excited when I saw that the Deli International Gluten Free Pizza she had picked came with the CSA (Celiac Sprue Association) Seal of Recognition. I got glutened a little while ago, so it was nice to have that extra bit of security in the gluten free status of dinner. As for the pizza itself, well, read on...

Dinty Moore Beef Stew

Mr. Man has picked a great gluten free product to review today. Dinty Moore Beef Stew (made by Hormel) has been a staple in my house for as long as I can remember. I love soups and stews and always stock my pantry with a few cans for my lazy nights. In the gluten eating days I had two favorites, but one of them didn’t survive the gluten free purge. I can’t even tell you how excited I was when I saw that Dinty Moore Beef Stew had gone gluten free before I did! Even better, it is labeled gluten free right on the can! In fact, on a perusal of their website, I found that this scrumptious meal contains none of the major allergens. You can find this beef stew in the soup isle of just about any grocery store. Read on to find out why you should.

Contes Cheese Ravioli

I ate gluten free cheese ravioli this week! This is exciting for me because I've been ravioli-less for over two years. I didn't even know they made gluten free ravioli until Poj surprised me with it this week. As a longtime fan of stuffed pasta, I cannot tell you how happy it made me that he found Contes Cheese Ravioli. It is frozen, so you will find it in the freezer case where you buy your gluten free goodies.

Caramel Apple On-the-Go Bars from Enjoy Life

Caramel Apple On-the-Go Bars from Enjoy Life are up for review today. Back in the gluten eating days we loved cereal bars and Newton bars, but I didn't see many of those options when we started our gluten free adventure. D.D. and I were excited last time we went to the store and really looked to see how many gluten free snack bar options there are now. As official snack addicts, we take this stuff seriously (well, as seriously as we take anything...)

Glutino Penne Alfredo

This week, when my husband brought home a new gluten free product to try, D.D. and I were both stoked. This new product moment just may be our favorite time of the week. When Poj says, "Oh yeah, I picked up something new for you to try." D.D. and I both rush to read the box and exclaim over the contents and wonder what new experience is in store. (I have mentioned that we're total food geeks, right?)

This time the product was Glutino Penne Alfredo. It was a gluten free frozen T.V. dinner that boasted alfredo sauce on brown rice penne. We LOVE alfredo! And, it was from Glutino, a gluten free company that has provided many hours of food happiness in the past. Which is why I'm a little sad about today's review of Glutino Penne Alfredo. To be honest, I considered not writing it, but I started GFPR to do honest reviews- So here goes...

Katz Gluten Free Hamantaschen

Katz Gluten Free made my daughter very happy this week when they sent a box full of goodies. Our favorite product, and the first up for review is the Katz Gluten Free Hamantaschen in raspberry and apricot flavors.

This gluten free, nut free, dairy free and kosher bakery has introduced a new addiction to my household that will not be leaving any time soon. On to the review!

Ease of Use

Katz Gluten Free Hamantaschen are incredibly difficult to eat. I had to open a box and lift one all the way to my mouth... Okay, sarcasm aside, they were really hard to share. From the first bite I wanted to hide the box in my "private stash" and keep them all for myself.

Appearance

I have decided that, fun though my descriptions are, a picture is worth a thousand words. Starting today, I will provide them whenever possible. One added note, this review covers both the raspberry (above) and apricot flavors. The main difference is that the apricot flavor has a golden filling. They look tasty, don't they?

Taste and Texture

Yummy yum yum! The soft cookie exterior has a soft texture that melts in your mouth. There is just the right amount of filling inside to make the flavors pop and roll in your mouth. The filling is pretty solid, which means there is no drippage on your favorite shirt.

The overall effect of Katz Gluten Free Hamantaschen is fantastic! There is no strange aftertaste or gluten free funk here, only sweet cookie goodness. My daughter, upon her first bite exclaimed, "You know what we have here? Gluten free Newtons!" From her that is high praise indeed.

Versatility

Eat them in the morning, eat them at night, for a snack, dessert... I really can't think of anything they could be used for besides the deliciousness that they are, but that's really all they need to be to make me happy.

Overall Value
Katz Gluten Free Hamantaschen goes for $5.99 a box. With eight in a box that comes out to 75 cents per cookie, they are well worth every penny.

Rating

I love it!

Mrs. Leeper’s Creamy Tuna

The gluten free product review for today is Mrs. Leeper’s Creamy Tuna. In the grand tradition of boxed dinners, Mrs. Leeper’s has produced a gluten free tuna casserole made with corn pasta. It’s recognizable orange box can be easily found in most stores. The box is labeled “Mrs. Leeper’s Since 1927” which made me curious what this company started out as, since there was no such thing as gluten free boxed dinners in 1927. I moved on from my curiosity pretty quickly, though, and just made the dinner. How did it stack up? Find out below.

Ease Of Use

This gluten free tuna casserole is really no different to make than any other boxed dinner. I was pleasantly surprised to find that aside from the pasta and seasonings included in the box, all I needed to add was water, butter, tuna and milk.

There was absolutely no rocket science necessary here, I just threw everything in a pan, cooked it and ate it. As a fan of super quick and easy meals for busy nights this made me very happy. I had dinner on the table in 20 minutes, which is almost unheard of for a gluten free diet.

Appearance

Gluten free tuna casserole looks exactly the same as regular tuna casserole, whether it is a gluten free boxed dinner or not. It’s true, I’ve tested this theory. Mrs. Leeper’s Creamy Tuna is no exception to the rule. It looks like noodles completely submerged in a creamy sauce. This being one of my favorite food combinations, it looked good to me.

Taste and Texture

I was very surprised when I bit into Mrs. Leeper’s Creamy Tuna for the first time. Sitting down to do a gluten free product review is always a bit dangerous because some products carry what my husband refers to as “that gluten free funk”. Not so with Mrs. Leeper’s Creamy Tuna. It really was just yummy, creamy, noodly goodness.

No product is perfect, however, so I do have to say that I found the sauce to be a touch too salty. Not so much that I wouldn’t eat it again, just enough to notice. Also, corn pasta is a picky creature. If you overcook it, you’ll have creamy tuna mush (which is about as appetizing as it sounds).

Versatility

I almost blew past this category thinking, “how versatile can a gluten free boxed dinner be?” Well, if you’re thinking that, then you’re making the same mistake I almost did. When taken down to it’s basics, Mrs. Leeper’s Creamy Tuna is just noodles and cream sauce. That leaves a lot of room for creativity.

You can add any kind of meat, poultry, fish or cheese to completely change the flavor profile. Frozen vegetables can stretch the portions of this gluten free boxed dinner to make room for one more. You can even put a buttery crumb topping on it and bake it for something a little more fancy. My favorite: Add frozen peas and shredded carrot while cooking and top with shredded Colby Jack cheese.

Overall Value

Mrs. Leeper’s Creamy Tuna sells in most stores for about $2.79. It is enough to feed my whole family and even the gluten eating members of my household like it.

Considering the small amount of time it takes to prepare and the equally small price tag, I would say this product has a fantastic overall value.

Rating

I give this product my highest rating, which is rare since I’m kind of picky. It scored well in all five categories of my rating criteria and has become a staple in my house for those nights when I’m exhausted but still need to eat.