Rudi's Gluten Free Multigrain Sandwich Bread Review and Giveaway

When I asked Rudi's if they work with bloggers who want to write reviews on their products, the response was greater than I imagined! They not only offered to send coupons for me to get the bread that I choose to review, but they even offered to work with me on doing a giveaway on the blog!

Due to a computer glitch, I ended up with two sets of three coupons sent to me, so this round of the giveaway, the winner will receive the coupons directly from me.

But before I dive into a run through of the rules which were stated in a prior post and post the trivia question, I want to tell you that the reception to this particular bread is tremendous!

I chose for the first review to try the Multigrain Gluten-Free Sandwich Bread. I am a skeptic with multigrain and I have had other brands of gluten free bread that have not been very impressive to me, so I was hesitant. But I decided to try this bread out with homemade egg salad.

From the first bite, I was in heaven! Every bite was just as good as the first bite. The bread is moist. It has texture, and not a grainy one like one might expect with traditional multigrain bread. It even brought out the flavors in the egg salad! My second sandwich with this bread was yet another egg salad sandwich. I have a confession. I usually throw the heels of a loaf out because they tend to be dry and crusty. But I tried the heel of this loaf and I LOVED it! It tasted no different than the main loaf. I still have enough of this loaf to make a few more sandwiches or slices of toast, but I am so excited about the prospect that Rudi's has created that I want to make sure to go ahead and give one lucky reader a chance to also try it out.

When I contacted Rudi's about the extra set of coupons they had sent, they told me that it might be possible that I might be able to have another giveaway and with that one, a winner would receive the coupons directly from Rudi's. But I will post more about that should that come up.

For this first giveaway, I wanted things to be as easy as possible. So this giveaway will be quite basic.

Here's the first request, but as I have no way to verify age, I will ask you to just be honest. I would prefer that the winner be of the age of majority in his/her state of residence.

The first requirement is that you live in the United States. All 50 states are eligible.

The second is that you leave a valid e-mail address. I have posted a form that is supposed to accept e-mail addresses, but not knowing for sure how it will work, this is what I suggest to deter someone from just copying it without some work involved. You may leave it in this format: susanelizabeth31 [at] gmail [dot] com.

The third and final requirement is that you correctly answer one question that can be found if you read the Rudi's Gluten Free site. The question is:

How many formulas did Rudi's test before landing on a recipe?

If you go to the Rudi's web site, you have an opportunity to download a coupon for $1 off.

Here are some things you can do for EXTRA entries:

1. Follow my blog via Google Friend Connect or NetworkedBlogs.

2. Follow Rudi's via Twitter.

3. Like Rudi's on Facebook.

4. Like this blog on Facebook.

5. Blog, tweet, or share about this giveaway, and leave a link for each thing you do to spread the word.

The required entry may be one comment. Please leave separate comments for each additional entry.

The giveaway goes live as soon as the post is live and will run through midnight September 30, 2011. The winner will be announced after going through random.org by October 7, 2011 and will have one week to confirm after receiving his/her e-mail.

Let's keep it clean and keep it fun!

Udi's Snickerdoodle Cookies

Udi's very graciously sent me some food items to try out for reviews when I inquired if they work with bloggers. One of the items and the first one that I tried was the newest Snickerdoodle Cookies. These are gluten free, soy free and nut free. They do contain egg and milk ingredients.

I had to look up information about snickerdoodles because I had a misconception about the name. Basically they are just a cinnamon sugar cookie that used to have a snail shape.

I have had other gluten free snickerdoodles. They are very soft and chewy and quite cinnamony. The Udi's snickerdoodles are larger than most, but still just as good.

With the exception of the egg and the milk which can cause some allergy sufferers issues, I highly recommend giving these a try.

Enjoy Life Foods Semi-Sweet Chocolate Mega Chunks

Enjoy Life Foods sent me a package of their newer Semi-Sweet Chocolate Mega Chunks to review. As hesitant as I was about trying them, I decided to give them a blind taste test next to another brand that was not allergen free. And, I was impressed. I could not tell the difference in the blind taste test.

So, I tried them in my first ever batch of gluten free chocolate chunk pancakes. I was impressed.

In a side-by-side comparison, the Enjoy Life chunks do not look much different and they do not taste like they are allergen free, but they are free of dairy, nut and soy as well as gluten and wheat free.

Enjoy Life Foods is a brand I strongly recommend anyone with multiple food allergies to try.

Upcoming Rudi's Gluten Free Coupon Giveaway

Here are the basics:

1. You should be of the age of majority for your state of residence and must reside in the United States to be eligible. Please be honest on this one and use your best judgment.

2. There will be one question posted that I think will make a great trivia question that can be found on Rudi's website. Answering this correctly will let me know that you have been to their site before entering.

3. I don't know how the comment form actually works in terms of allowing me to see your e-mail address in order to contact the winner, so if you can leave it in the following format (I am providing my e-mail address so you can contact with me with questions): susanelizabeth31 [at] gmail [dot] com in order to make it more difficult to copy, that would be a great backup plan.

4. For extra entries, you may choose to like the blog on Facebook; follow the blog via Google Friend Connect; follow the blog via NetworkedBlogs; subscribe to the blog; like Rudi's on Facebook; follow Rudi's on Twitter; Tweet about the giveaway; Share the giveaway; or even tell about it in a blog post on your own blog (if you write one). These will be optional.

5. I will use a random number generator in order to choose the first winner who will have one week to confirm before an alternate will be chosen. There will be a maximum of two winners.

6. The giveaway will run as soon as the post goes lives on Monday, September 12, 2011 until the end of the day on Friday, September 30, 2011. All necessary links will go live at that time as well.

7. A winner will be announced sometime on or before (if possible) October 7, 2011.

8. Most importantly, I want this to be fun and exciting, and hopefully helpful as well.

Rudi's Gluten Free Multigrain Hot Dog Rolls

Rudi's has a line of gluten free breads and buns that so far is to die for. I have tried other varieties of gluten free hot dog buns but was nowhere near as pleased with them as with the Rudi's multigrain hot dog rolls. These were just the right amount of bread for the dog and usually I have cheese with my hot dogs, but I did not feel the need to do so when I used these. They had the right amount of moistness.

All this to say that I am looking forward to trying my first loaf of Rudi's gluten free bread and reviewing it for anyone out there who will read the post which will also gear this blogger and any of its readers up for My Gluten Free Life's first ever blog giveaway.

It is my intent with the upcoming giveaway to have two winners. One will receive their coupons directly from me and the other directly from Rudi's. I am exploring Rafflecopter as an option and will definitely utilize a random number generator site to choose the winner(s) and alternate(s). As we get closer to the big date of opening the giveaway, all the details will be provided. The only four requirements I have is that the winner/alternate must reside in the 50 continental United States and be of the age of majority within their state, they must either subscribe to or follow this blog, they must leave their e-mail address so I can notify them should they be chosen, and I will encourage extra entries via following on Twitter, liking this blog's Facebook page, Tweeting about the giveaway, Sharing the giveaway on Facebook, liking Rudi's Facebook page, and posting about the giveaway on their own blog (if they write a blog). I want to make this upcoming giveaway as seamless and fun as possible and since it is my first time that I will be running one, I want it to be as easy as possible.

I ask anyone reading this that has experience running blog giveaways to consider providing their input on how best to conduct this one.

The Republic of Tea

I sent an inquiry to The Republic of Tea asking if they offered samples for bloggers to review. The response was tremendous. I received a large envelope of 30 teas - two each of 15 flavors! All of them are certified gluten free.

These are the flavors they sent: Pomegranate Vanilla Red Tea (Caffeine-free), Chamomile Lemon Herb, Organic Mint Fields Herb, Blackberry Sage (tea for wisdom), Acai Green Tea, Hibiscus Superflower Tea (Caffeine-free), Strawberry Vanilla (Caffeine-free), Pomegranate Green Tea, Ginger Peach Black Tea, British Breakfast Black Tea, Good Hope Vanilla Red Tea, Caramel Apple Red Tea, Blueberry Green Tea, The People's Green Tea, and Honey Ginseng Green Tea.

Let me be honest. I live in the South. But even before living in the South, I always thought tea came in six varities: sweet, unsweet, hot, cold, caffinated and decaffinated. So tea having all kinds of different varieties and flavors baffles me and maybe even scares me a little bit.

But The Republic of Tea has been met head on with great success so far. The pomegranate vanilla red tea was not overpowering but just perfect with flavor, and being caffeine-free I was allowed to drink this before having to go to the mitral valve specialist. The chamomile lemon herb tea helped to soothe a very sore throat and a cough. It was also a gentle flavor. The organic mint fields herb tea smelled more overwhelming than it tasted as the flavor was just right and had the added bonus of breaking up nasal congestion. The ginger peach black tea has the right balance of ginger and peach. None of the flavors overwhelm the other. And ginger helps with stomach upset.

I cannot wait to dive into the other flavors, but this is just a start.

In terms of buying the tea, I am a little hesitant because of the cost. Maybe if it was able to be found in a local store, I would be more willing to do so, but shipping costs are a deterrence. However, if you are not bothered by the shipping, I strongly encourage you to consider this company for your fine tea purchases.

Annie's Homegrown Gluten Free

If you have never heard of Annie's Homegrown, go to the aisle of your local grocery store or to Whole Foods and take a look at what they have. Fruit snacks (which are awesome) and other all natural products like cookies and crackers and macaroni.

Before now, a lot of their products were not allowed for the gluten free diet, but Annie's is going gluten free with a lot of the products they offer.

Other than the fruit snacks, my most recent exposure to Annie's and my first exposure to their gluten free line was a box of bunny cookies. I went to Organic Harvest a couple of weeks ago and they had samples of a ginger variety and a snickerdoodle variety, but I wanted to try the cocoa & vanilla on the shelf. I had a bad experience with another brand's animal cookies and I have already had the bunny fruit snacks that Annie's makes, so I figured it wouldn't hurt.

Made with rice flour, brown rice flour and corn flour, the gluten free cocoa & vanilla bunny cookies are a nice snack to reach for when you want something sweet but not sweet like candy. And even better, for me, they are made in a peanut and tree nut free facility!

I give this product one of my highest ratings yet because they do meet the challenge of being allowable in a diet that is free of the majority of the top eight allergens. They do contain soy, so they are not entirely allergen free, but they are an excellent choice.