Gluten-free Donuts!!!????

Do you hear the celestial choir singing? No? Well, that is probably because you haven't tried Kinnikinnick Foods Gluten Free, Wheat free, Dairy free, Soy free Donuts yet?

I had heard rumors of these but had never spotted them in my local grocery store until today. Shea happened to be with me so I made the case to him.

Me: Hey look, Shea! Donuts! Do you want to try them?

Shea: Yeah!!! Donuts!!!

Me: Ok then.

He insisted on carrying the box around during the rest of our shopping and kept say, "I love donuts." So, I figured we might as well try these babies out right away.

Sure enough. They are something else! In a very good way.

We got the Cinnamon Sugar today but they had vanilla glazed as well. I have heard additional rumors of a chocolate glazed but they did not have those today.

They come frozen, 6 to a box. Simply pop one into the microwave for about 20 seconds and eat. I always try the Gluten Free products myself just so I have an idea of what I am dishing up for Shea. And, I have got to tell you these donuts are serious yum. They are light with good texture and excellent taste. I would give them a solid "A".

Shea polished off two, boom -boom, in one sitting. They do have eggs in them so we will have to see how that effects Shea.

I am always delighted when I find a new food Shea can eat, that he wants to eat.

Kinnikinnick Donuts, welcome home.

What is Shea eating?

Dinner time is tough. Shea really isn't interested in much meat and has always been a carbo-boy. Well, all that went south with the gluten free diet. One of the hardest things is bread and pasta.

Most gluten free bread is just plain weird but we found a pretty good one. Food for Life Rice Almond Bread. The texture is pretty darn close, is fruit juice sweetened and does taste pretty darn good. Give it a little toasting which improves the texture greatly and then try smearing it with a little Kettle Almond Butter. Pretty yummy and you got yourself a pretty "normal" snack. Kettle has a whole line of nut butters; Cashew, Hazelnut, Almond and, of course, Peanut.

Ok, now the pasta. This has been somewhat of an epic adventure as I have tried every single rice pasta available in hopes of finding one Shea will eat. Basically, I think many of them would be just fine for an adult who likes red sauce and can rationalize the texture difference. But, that just doesn't work as well for a kid especially one who will only eat noodles with butter and a little Parmesan. You know, pretty naked, which leaves the texture difference too glaring to ignore.

Our best luck has been with Corn pasta. A company in Seattle called Ritrovo imports it from Italy and it is quite delicious. The kind we tried was the Riccioli although I see that they have a penne and fusilli as well. The texture holds up very well and the bright yellow color seems to help when it only has butter and parm on it. They also do a Rice Gigli which when cooked looks like little jelly fish or something equally disgusting. They taste good but just look a little too odd for a kid to get excited about.

Last week at the PCC, I found a Quinoa & Corn spaghetti that I am really looking forward to trying. It is made by Ancient Harvest Quinoa. I have high hopes, will try it out and report back. If we could find a spaghetti noodle that got the thumbs up from Shea that would be big help for dinner.

Once again I am greatly impressed and amazed at all the terrific gluten-free products out there or quite recently hitting the market. I have not done any real market research on this but I would bet that Gluten-free products have to be one the real growth markets in the packaged food industry. One way to keep these good products coming is for us consumers to try them, and if you like them, by all means buy them and chat them up. If you find something you like, share the information. And, as always, just send me an e-mail, I would love to welcome any guest bloggers with their own product reviews or interesting recipes to share.

Bon appetite!

Hello Zucchini Bread!

We hit pay-dirt today!

On our usual Friday trip to the big city for speech therapy, Shea and I almost always stop off in my old stomping ground and hit my favorite grocery store, West Seattle PCC (Puget Consumer's Coop) on California Ave.

I do love and sadly miss this grocery store. They have wonderful organic, local produce, in-house butchers, excellent selection of everything and nice cashiers. But I really love their in-house deli and bakery. I always get a grilled panini sandwich and a whole juice for lunch while I do some of our normal shopping. Plus, since we have identified Shea's food allergies I always comb through the entire store for new interesting Gluten Free products to try.

Well, the gold star this time goes to the PCC in-house kitchen! They have started making gluten-free/wheat-free mini-loaves of Zucchini Bread that is really more like cake. We tried it today and it is a home run. Both kids gobbled it up for dessert and begged for more. It is very moist and fluffy and quite sweet; this is definitely a dessert.

It is always a gamble to try some of these gluten-free products. If Shea won't eat it then it is wasted. No problem with this one though; the loaf is gone already. Wish I bought two. They also were offering a Pound Cake that we did not try but I certainly will next time. They also had a Pumpkin bread but it wasn't Wheat/Gluten free.

I was impressed. I will look for and buy it again. Good on you, PCC! Way to make the trip to the city worth it every week!

Gluten-Free Product Review: Nana's Cookie Bars

I want to thank Dave G. for submitting this excellent Gluten-Free Product Review! Sounds good! How did I miss these? Thanks, Dave XOX

Nana’s Cookie Bars

A gluten free snack

This is a preliminary assessment of the snack product, Nana’s Cookie Bars, which this author has studied extensively in a laboratory that also doubles as a kitchen. The reason for this research it that Nana’s Cookie Bars would seem to be as nearly addictive as a non-addictive snack product could possibly be. What follows is an in-depth analysis of the precise nature of this addictive quality. Why exactly are Nana’s Cookie Bars so good?

Preliminary conclusions: beats me.

As of this writing, Nana’s Cookie Bars have become something far more than a mere staple of my gluten-free diet. They are a food group unto themselves. They are as essential to my continued happiness as loud music and women with tattoos in the smalls of their backs. They are as indispensable to my existence as the air I breathe and the water I occasionally bathe in, and I anticipate that soon they may have their own place in the periodic table of elements.

The technicians behind Nana’s Cookie Bars have created three flavors, Berry Vanilla, Chocolate Munch, and the irresistible Nana Banana--the specific item this author is sadly dependent upon. Nana’s Cookie Bars are soft and crumbly, and may end up on the floor if placed in small hands. This author would recommend unwrapping the bars and rolling bite-sized balls to be stored in sandwich bags for toddler consumption.

Negative remarks, addendums, and caveats:

To date, Nana’s Cookie Bars have advertised no merchandise or special offers that might allow the buyer to achieve some small savings by including with a purchase a sufficient number of box tops or “proof of purchase seals.” Nevertheless, in anticipation of such an offer I am currently bagging, boxing, and storing all Nana’s Cookie Bar boxes I acquire as a result of my addiction.