Riceworks Chips Take Two

So after being mailed a coupon to try a free bag of Riceworks to see if there was a flavor I would like better than the first ones I tried, I landed on Sweet Chili.

Although I still found these chips to be considerably dry, I did like the spice factor which boosted the flavor and made them more tolerable.

However, I still do not prefer this brand.

Stay Tuned for My Gluten Free Life's First Ever Blog Giveaway

More details will follow after I have a chance to work out some of the logistics, but as it stands now, there may even be a possibility for not just one, but TWO giveaways! See, part of the background on that is because Rudi's had a little bit of a technical glitch and instead of one set of coupons for me to get some free Rudi's gluten free bread loaves for blog reviews, I ended up with two sets. Now I have the media packet with my coupons and an additional set which will be the first giveaway. But I will take TWO winners and TWO alternates, and proceed to also contact Rudi's for the second prize winner.

Here are the preliminary rules: Winner MUST reside in the United States. Winner must be at least the age of majority in their state of residence (which is 19 in Alabama). All entrants will need to be following my blog via Google Friend Connect or Networked Blogs or subscribe. All entrants will be required to leave an e-mail address in their comments. Friend request or request to follow me on Twitter if you would like. My blog syndicates with both, and this will be optional. Sharing on Facebook or Twitter will earn extra entries as well. All entrants will be asked to go to the Rudi's website and answer one question based on something from their website. I haven't decided yet what it will be.

The giveaway will be announced as soon as the first product review of my first loaf of bread has been published and will be open for two or three weeks depending on what day of the week the review is posted. The giveaway will close on a Friday to allow the entire weekend to try to determine the winners from all entries. The winner will be announced by the following Wednesday and have one whole week to reply before an alternate will be chosen.

The approximate retail value of the three coupons that the winner(s) will receive varies according to sales, stores and other factors, but is estimated around 15 dollars.

Just keep your eyes open for more announcements as the big giveaway approaches in the next few weeks (it may be after Labor Day). Please consider sharing with any and all friends and family you know that would benefit from this giveaway. It will be more fun than it sounds so far, but these are just the preliminary logistics.

Katz Gluten Free

I contacted Katz Gluten Free recently about opportunities for samples for blog review and agreed to coordinate efforts to try to spearhead getting the local area Whole Foods to carry their products.

Katz Gluten Free is another company that is not only gluten free and wheat free, but also nut free and dairy free. Beyond these, the other ingredients that the products are free of vary from product to product.

They sent out boxes consisting of rugelech, cookies, bundt cake and two apple pies. Pies are their newest addition to their product line. They also make challah, muffins, breads and rolls.

Since we received two apple pies, I thought I would try one and give it a review. I was surprised that it contains high fructose corn syrup. Most gluten free products do not have HFCS because most of the time, gluten free is all natural or organic and HFCS is anything but all natural or organic. But, other than that flaw, I found that the small piece that I tried reminded me of my grandmother's homemade apple pies. It was only minimally dry, but it was perfect.

MI-DEL Arrowroot Cookies - Are They Really Gluten-Free?

The front of the bag says gluten-free in nice bold letters. Whoo-hoo! Look at the allergy warning where it says they are processed in a facility that also processes or handles wheat, peanuts, and tree nuts and then scream in horror and disgust.

There are far too many companies proudly claiming to be gluten free but how gluten free are they if their facility or equipment also processes or handles wheat?

This company is now joining the ranks of many that have to be placed on my unsafe or high risk foods list. Which of course means that my list of safe companies is becoming all the more narrow every day. Literally.

I'm not thrilled about this as the cute animal-shaped cookies are tasty, but the fact they are processed with the only two ingredients that can cause me to have an asthma attack bothers me greatly. Well, so does the fact that they are claiming to be gluten free yet are processed in the same facility that also processes or handles wheat. Bummer.

Butternut Squash

Okay, confession. Butternut squash is one of my newest and most favorite vegetables EVER! I've never cared for any squash because usually when I've had cooked squash, it's been extremely slimy and tasteless. But let me tell you, I was exposed to butternut squash at a TACA event at Organic Harvest in Hoover a few months ago when the presenter snuck it into some gluten free macaroni. I couldn't even taste it! Which is a good thing because I am probably one of the world's most finicky eaters. But I loved it so much that I wanted to try it again. So we bake the squash in the oven and we usually butter it using a vegetable spread. I've had this habit of dumping loads of sugar on it as well. I find it tastes similar to the yam, a.k.a. sweet potato, and it is similar in color and texture. Today, I reheated the meat of one we cooked over the weekend in the microwave. But used a honey vegetable spread instead of dumping sugar all over it. And it is the best thing EVER! Like it or leave it, but in my personal opinion, butternut squash is the greatest vegetable ever and worth the introduction in any diet.

The End of the Nut Thins Era in My House

Blue Diamond Nut Thins. They support the Celiac Disease Foundation and the National Foundation for Celiac Awareness. They tout gluten free logos quite prominently. But they are manufactured in a facility that processes wheat. This is the sad reality that has ended the Nut Thins era in my house.

A few weeks ago I ate my last Nut Thin ever. All because it made my tongue itch. Because that is what only two of my food allergies - peanuts and wheat - do.

So alas, it is the end of the Nut Thin era in my house.

Enjoy Life Foods Double Chocolate Crunch Granola

As some of you may know, I often get a lot of samples. And as many of you have probably figured out by now, I will often write very honestly about my opinions about samples and other products, particularly gluten free foods. I'm not afraid to say that I like something and I'm not afraid to say that I hate something either.

So when I decided to get more into my blogging and start heading toward getting more blogging experience which will keep up my journalism skills and help me find paid opportunities eventually, I started to contact a few companies.

I started with a company that I really love and inquired if they had media kits that I could utilize in my blogging. Often media kits provide more information about a company and for bloggers, they can include buttons that link back to the company website.

The company Enjoy Life Foods actually did something better than I expected and offered to send me two of their newest full size products to try out and review. One of those is the Double Chocolate Crunch Granola.

I hesitated about the granola. I've never really been a big fan of granola. It tends to be dry. And the idea of chocolate granola kind of freaked me out a little bit. The first thing I noticed about the packaging was the statement: "Handful of chocolate in every bite!"

My first impression agreed that this granola does pack a lot of chocolate in every bite. But alas, my disdain for granola was still at play. So, I decided to try it as a cereal with some vanilla almond milk. After all, they do make granola cereal, right? And I LOVED it!

Another thing about the packaging of this granola is that it claims to be in a stay fresh package. Sure enough, the package got moved and I left it alone for a couple of days. I came back to it and it was still as good as the day I opened it!

Now, about Enjoy Life Foods. I choose Enjoy Life Foods because with my recent wheat allergy, I have gone on a predominantly gluten free diet. Wheat makes my food allergy count somewhere around ten. I'm allergic to strawberries, raspberries, onions, plums, mushrooms, peanuts, chickpeas, dairy, wheat, and chicken. I'm lactose intolerant, high fructose corn syrup sensitive, and allergic to something called sodium lauryl/laureth sulfate. I have to cut back on soy due to an underactive thyroid. And foods that have any cross-reactivity with grass, birch or latex (like avocados) could potentially cause an allergic reaction.

So with all of my food allergies and intolerances imagine how hard it is to find food I can not only eat but actually enjoy and like!

There are only three companies I know of so far that meets most of my special needs dietary restrictions. Enjoy Life Foods is one of those companies. The most familiar food item they have is their line of these super soft and chewy cookies. So when they offered to send me a package of the granola, I was excited to try it out!

How does Enjoy Life Foods meet my dietary needs? All of their products are free of gluten and the top eight allergies. The top eight allergies are those that the Food and Drug Administration deemed as the most frequent allergens: wheat, dairy, peanuts, tree nuts, egg, soy, fish and shellfish. Most of their products are also free of potatoes, sesame, sulfites and casein.

Founded in 2001, Enjoy Life Foods has been gluten-free certified, kosher-certified and halal-certified. As with many other companies that make gluten free foods, they are free of artificial ingredients, trans fats, and genetically modified organisms (GMOs). They have been featured on Food Network's Unwrapped, Plant Green's Emeril Green with celebrity chef Emeril Lagasse and ABC 7 Chicago's segment of Healthy Summer Snacks for Kids.

They can be found in many grocery stores and natural food stores in the United States and Canada and in over 15 online retailers. In the Birmingham, Ala. area, the Pelham Wal-Mart Supercenter, Whole Foods, Publix, Organic Harvest and Winn-Dixie have some of their products and they have been found in the commissary at Ft. Rucker in south Alabama.

My final verdict of this granola is that it takes a little bit of getting used to, but in the final analysis, I would definitely buy more of it once every other month as an instant snack and a quick bite.