Schar Gluten Free Pizza Crusts

Pizza is one of the staples of American life, at least in my house. One of the most disappointing things about being gluten free has been the lack of great pizza. Schar Gluten Free Pizza Crusts make for a great gluten free product review for just this reason. The box advertises that Schar is Europe's #1 in gluten free products. Find out why.

Ease of Use

Schar Gluten Free Pizza Crusts are easy to use, but hard to open. They seal those puppies in tight so have a pair of scissors handy. Once you get them open they are easy to top and bake.

Appearance

There are two crusts in each box of Schar Gluten Free Pizza Crusts. I topped one with sauce, pepperoni and cheese and the other with sauce, cheese, herbs and red pepper. Both looked delicious! The cheese was hot and bubbly and the crust was golden brown.

They were baked directly on the oven rack. There was no curling of the crust and the edges did not fall over the edges of the rack.

Taste and Texture

Schar Gluten Free Pizza Crusts are the best gluten free pizza crusts I've had so far. They are light and crisp on the edges and just soft enough in the middle. The sauce did not soak in and make the crust soggy. It stayed right on top where it's supposed to.

There was no bad taste to these crusts at all. They have a hint of sweetness and a pleasant aftertaste. My daughter and I both had them and there were no crusts left behind when we finished eating.

Versatility

The taste and texture of Schar Gluten Free Pizza Crusts make them perfect to top with anything! They would make a great dessert pizza as well as being dinner pizza. They are light enough in flavor to be topped with olive oil, garlic and herbs and served as a dinner bread. You could even use them as a topper for a casserole or pot pie.

Overall Value

Here is the only problem with this gluten free product. One box (2 crusts) of Schar Gluten Free Pizza Crusts runs almost ten dollars. That is a pretty high price point.

Rating

I love this product, but the price compared to my budget makes this a sometime treat rather than a pantry staple. They are absolutely recommended for a great pizza fix.

DeBoles Corn Spaghetti

Ahhh, pasta. One of the things most missed by people new to a gluten free diet. There are so many options available, and some are not so great. Some, however pass the test. DeBoles Corn Spaghetti did, read on to find out why.

Ease of Use

Cooking gluten free pasta can be a bit of a challenge, and DeBoles Corn Spaghetti is no exception. Bring the water to a full boil. Add the pasta and then stir and separate the strands until the water boils again. If you don't, the pasta will clump up.

The instructions say cook 8-10 minutes, but I recommend you begin checking for doneness at 6 minutes. This will ensure that you don't overcook, giving you a pot of mush.

Appearance

DeBoles Corn Spaghetti has strands that are a light yellow-orange color. It looks like spaghetti.

Taste and Texture

DeBoles Corn Spaghetti has the closest taste I've found to regular spaghetti. It works well with any sauce, including olive oil, and has no unpleasant aftertaste.

If cooked right, the texture of this gluten free pasta is perfect. It has a nice bite to it and has no problem winding around a fork.

Versatility

Top it, mix it, anything goes! I've even used it as a crust for a spaghetti pie.

Overall Value

You can buy DeBoles Corn Spaghetti for about $2.39 a box. Not too shabby!

Rating

This has become one of my favorite gluten free products, and a must have pantry staple.

Betty Crocker Gluten Free Brownie Mix

When I first heard that put out a gluten free brownie mix, I was amazed! I honestly thought I had heard wrong. Well, what is there to do but subject this new product to the Gluten Free Product Review Criteria.

Ease of Use

Betty Crocker Gluten Free Brownie Mix is super easy. Mix 1/2 stick of melted butter and two eggs into the mix. They are not kidding when they say the batter is thick, you can practically mold the stuff (not that I recommend doing that). Then just put the batter in a pan and bake it.

Appearance

These brownies do not rise a whole lot, most gluten free products don't. The size of the pan you use will determine the look of your brownies. Brownies made in an 8x8 pan will be thicker than brownies made in a larger pan. Other than that, they look mighty tasty!

Taste and Texture

Betty Crocker Gluten Free Brownie Mix produces brownies that are warm, dense and fudgy. They are moist and absolutely delicious!

Versatility

The great thing about anything made from batter is that you can easily add to it. Chocolate chips, caramel sauce, marshmallows, nuts or anything else that strikes your fancy. The Betty Crocker website is full of recipe ideas for the gluten free brownie mix. It seems the possibilities are endless.

Overall Value

A whole pan of scrumptious brownies for around $5! Now who can argue with that.

Rating

Delicious! Everyone should buy these.

RiceWorks Gourmet Brown Rice Crisps

Looking for a new gluten free product review, I came across RiceWorks Gourmet Brown Rice Crisps. A gluten free whole grain snack?! Sign me up. There are several flavors available, including:

• Sweet Chili
• Sea Salt
• Salsa Fresca
• Parmesan and Sundried Tomato
• Wasabi
• Baked Cinnamon

I've only had the opportunity to try the Parmesan and Sundried Tomato and Salsa Fresca flavors. This review will cover both.

Ease of Use

Be careful not to break your chips while opening the bag!

Appearance

RiceWorks Gourmet Brown Rice Crisps look healthy. You can see the whole grains spread through every inch of these crispy triangles. You also get a good veiw of the flavor powder, which appears generous.

Taste and Texture

Yum! RiceWorks Gourmet Brown Rice Crisps crunch well without the teeth jarring effect that is common with brown rice husks. That, right there, is a bonus. I would eat these crisps for the texture alone.

The flavoring used is just the right amount. The flavor of the crisps blend very well with the flavorings added. There is no irritating aftertaste either, which is fantastic.

Versatility

RiceWorks Gourmet Brown Rice Crisps are fairly versatile. Munch 'em, dip 'em or crunch 'em up for a great salad topper. Who needs croutons?

Overall Value

I don't have an exact price to offer, but I can tell you that RiceWorks Gourmet Brown Rice Crisps are a bit pricier than a regular bag of potato chips, and worth every penny.

Rating

I'm hooked. I can't wait to try the other flavors! I think everyone should buy RiceWorks Gourmet Brown Rice Crisps just to keep them on the market.

Side Note

I always check the website of the products I review to make sure my facts are accurate. The RiceWorks website is fun! It is very user friendly and includes recipes and ideas for girls night parties. Along with producing a great product, they get an extra thumbs up for customer service!

Soft Baked Snickerdoodle Cookies from Enjoy Life

Gluten free cookies and milk anyone? How about a soft baked Snickerdoodle cookie from Enjoy Life? This bright and colorful box promises that the product contained within is free of just about every allergen known to man. I say that's great! Bring it on!

It did make me wonder, though, with all that's being left out, what's left to make cookies out of? Not chemicals, apparently. There was not one ingredient on the list that I couldn't pronounce. That, in itself, rates pretty high with me.

Ease of Use

Open mouth, insert cookie.

Appearance

These gluten free cookies are pretty small. Some would call them bite sized, though I prefer smaller bites. They are the delicious brown color of cinnamon.

Some of the cookies were a bit squished, though not reduced to crumbles. Initial impression: These smell pretty darn good!

Taste and Texture

Gluten free Snickerdoodle cookies from Enjoy Life taste pretty darn good too. They have a cinnamon sugar goodness spread throughout, not just an outer coating. The warm cinnamon taste is well balanced, not too much of anything.

They really are soft! Not the kind of soft where they crumble in your hand, the kind that holds together well and is nice to bite into. There are chewier bits spread through these gluten free cookies that have a texture like crystallized honey. It didn't detract from the taste at all and left me wondering whether the texture came from the date paste or the brown sugar.

Versatility

You can make these cookies as versatile as you want. Snack food, pie crust, ice cream topping- cookies are cool like that.

Overall Value

Soft Baked Snickerdoodle Cookies from Enjoy Life sell for $3.65 for a box of one dozen cookies. They are more of a sometime indulgence rather than an every week buy.

Rating

I recommend these gluten free cookies. I will definitely buy them again.

DeBoles Rice Lasagna

I love pasta! That being said, I had a very hard time beginning my gluten free diet due to what I was giving up. When exploring gluten free pastas, I found that I really did not like the flavor of rice pasta (except for Asian varieties). Therefore, I was very skeptical when I came across DeBoles Rice Lasagna. This Gluten Free Product Review is for all of you who are as skeptical as I am when exploring the grocery store.

Ease of Use

DeBoles Rice Lasagna is incredibly easy to use! You don't need to boil them. Just layer the dry noodles with sauce and topping, then bake. Like any lasagna, baking time is pretty long (about an hour) But if you plan ahead a little you can still easily have lasagna on a weeknight.

Appearance

The appearance of DeBoles Rice Lasagna will vary greatly by the kind of lasagna made. The noodles themselves thicken a bit while cooking and look very appetizing.

Taste and Texture

Here is where I must admit my shocked pleasure over this product. As previously mentioned, I am not fond of rice pasta. DeBoles Rice Lasagna has become the exception to that rule.

I made a Spinach Chicken Lasagna and a traditional Beef Lasagna, both turned out great! They taste wonderful, with no weird aftertaste and the texture is amazing.

I will caution you to use plenty of sauce, however, otherwise the top layer of your lasagna will be a little too al dente.

Overall Value

For $2.79 a box (plus the cost of your other ingredients) DeBoles Rice Lasagna can make a lasagna big enough for 4-6 people. If you stretch portions with salad and gluten free bread you could feed up to 8 people. That's pretty good value!

Rating

I love this product. It does exactly what it claims with no unpleasant surprises.

Nature's Path Organic WholeO's

In keeping with the importance of breakfast, the Gluten Free Product Review for today is Nature's Path Organic WholeO's. This is a new whole grain gluten free cold cereal that is made from corn and rice. The box tells me it is "sweetened with just the right amount of pomegranate juice".

Ease of Use

As far as gluten free cold cereals go, the use of Nature's Path Organic WholeO's is, well, exactly like all the others. Pour in bowl, add milk, enjoy. Though adding the extra step of drizzling a little bit of honey is not a bad idea either.

Appearance

This may be the only time in my life that this has ever happened, but Nature's Path Organic WholeO's really do look exactly like the picture on the box. They are golden O's with a bubbled texture. They even look crispy, and have a slight sheen that promises good things to come.

Taste and Texture

Nature's Path Organic WholeO's are light and crispy. Their texture is much more like Cap'n Crunch (without the sugar coating) than Cheerios. They have a light texture and are fun to eat. They even hold up well in the milk bath.

Versatility

Gluten free cold cereal is not the most versatile thing in the world. You can cover it with milk, snack on it dry or crunch it up as a topping. Either way, this stuff is pretty good.

Overall Value

Nature's Path Organic WholeO's cost $4.59 a box. This is still more pricey than most regular cereals, but pretty comparable to other gluten free cold cereals. It is very nutricious and more "grown up" than a lot of the choices available. I would call it a pretty good value.

Rating

This cereal is tasty and healthy, a great combination. If you are a fan of cereal, this one definitely deserves checking out.

Now Gluten Free Baking Mix

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. As such, it's really important to choose the right foods to make this meal worth waking up early for. Today's Gluten Free Product Review is Now Gluten Free Baking Mix. Now, I realize that a good baking mix can be used for lots of things, but in my house it generally goes to the all important cause of pancakes and waffles.

Ease of Use

Now Gluten Free Baking Mix comes in a bag without a resealable top. The bag has a large panel describing the nutritional benefits of the mix (which are numerous) but no instructions for its use. There is a small suggestion that consumers visit the website for recipes using this mix.

Upon visiting the website, I found more information about nutritional benefits, but had to look around a bit to find the recipes I needed. It was a little more involved than I had hoped for, but workable.

Appearance

I made pancakes and waffles from the Now Gluten Free Baking Mix (it was a BIG breakfast). Both rose up nicely and had an appetizing golden brown appearance.

Taste and Texture

The finished product had a smooth and soft texture. The taste was a bit strange to me, almost minty. My family didn't identify the taste as minty, necessarily, but agreed that there was definitely an odd flavor.

Versatility

Now Gluten Free Baking Mix is extremely versatile. On their site you can find recipes for all sorts of baked goods, from cakes and muffins to pancakes. It is also very good for you. It's made from brown rice flour and has the benefits of flax seed. It would be an asset to a healthy diet.

Overall Value

I found Now Gluten Free Baking Mix online for $4.99 a bag. This is a pretty good price! The bag is fairly large by gluten free standards and claims to contain 17 servings.

Rating

I was not fond of the flavor of this mix, or the lack of instructions for its use. Because no amount of value, versatility or even nutrition can outweigh taste, I cannot (regretfully) recommend this product.

Ener-G Gourmet Crackers

Ener-G Gourmet Crackers are the subject for this Gluten Free Product Review. As an avid snacker and dipper, I am always on the lookout for great gluten free crackers. This little box boasts gluten free, egg free, wheat free, milk free, lactose free, low saturated fat and no cholesterol. Seems like they've covered most allergies and nutritional needs, but how much room does that leave for taste?

Ease of Use

I would feel bad skipping this category completely, seeing as how I'm the one that came up with the criteria in the first place, but it seems unnecessary. These crackers can be enjoyed in three easy steps:

1. Open the box.
2. Open the cellophane packet.
3. Eat

Appearance

Ener-G Gourmet Crackers are large and golden brown. You can tell by looking at them that they are layered and possibly flakey. They have a good thickness and the uneven bubbled texture that all the best baked goods carry.

Taste and Texture

These crackers are really good! I was a bit surprised at how satisfying they were. They have the flakey, buttery texture of a Ritz with more of a Saltine flavor. They remind me of the "gourmet" crackers I used to buy before I went gluten free.

Versatility

Ener-G Gourmet Crackers are as versatile as any good crackers should be. They are perfect for quick blood sugar boosts and easy lunches. They're great soup dippers and munch well with salads.

Overall Value

Ener-G Gourmet Crackers sell for $4.65 a box on their website, but I've found them much cheaper in stores. There are approximately 18 large crackers per box, which lasts longer than you may think. They are well worth the money to keep them on hand.

Rating

These gluten free crackers are tasty, versatile and fun to munch. I love them!

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.