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The Basket - A collection of posts from the Basket

The Basket is a collection of Gluten Free product reviews and reviews of predominant grocery stores from the main Glutastic.com web site. If you are interested in having a product reviewed on Glutastic, feel free to send any suggestions to caitlin@glutastic.com. P.S. I will never say no to free product samples.

Oreo Shmoreo
November 30th, 2009 | caitlin | Categories: The Basket No Comments »

Who needs Oreos? Well, I thought I did. I thought I needed them to survive.

And then, after diagnosis I learned that Oreos were not a necessity of life – but they sure were important to living a happy life.

Oh well, I adjusted.

And now I don’t need to adjust. All I need to do is make sure that there is enough Soy Milk in the fridge at all times.

KinniToos Rock! Made by Knnikinnick Foods, we found these wonderful cookies at Superstore. Initially, we only bought them so that I had something new to blog about. Now we buy them because we love them. Even Fiance will dig in with a glass of milk and call it awesome.

Try them, maybe even leave a few for Santa! (I have a feeling that our Main Man might be a Celiac too!)

No Spoons Allowed
November 20th, 2009 | caitlin | Categories: The Basket, Uncategorized No Comments »

Hi My People.

I’m back. You’re so happy right?!

Sorry it’s taken me a whole week to post. In all honestly, I just didn’t have anything to post about. But now I do.

I want to talk about spoons and the role they play in the act of eating chili. I don’t think that they should have a role at all. Don’t get me wrong, I think spoons make wonderful tools for getting the chili into your bowl, but the job stops there. Chili needs to be eaten with bread. Not bread on the side, I mean replace the spoon with a great piece of bread.

Yes, there are clearly some obvious issues with this method. If the bread bends how do you get the chili to your mouth. If the bread gets soggy, how do you avoid dripping everything down the front of your shirt? Normally, I would say lightly toast the bread so that it’s firm but not crumbly. Well, nothing about life is normal for me anymore. So there had to be a Plan B.

Meet Plan B.

Lakeview Bakery’s Brown Rice Red is the perfect solution. It’s firm so no bending under the weight of the good stuff. It’s dense so no soggy mess down the front of your shirt. And it doesn’t really have any sort of distinct taste, so it won’t interfere with the awesomeness that is your chili. And just think – that’s one less dish you need to wash.

Now, I will say this: I wouldn’t say that it makes the best sandwich bread – for all the reasons it makes a great chili bread. In the grand scheme of things, I don’t really think this is a case of needing to have your cake and eat it to.

One Step Closer
September 17th, 2009 | caitlin | Categories: The Basket, Uncategorized 4 Comments »

They’re getting there people.

O’Doughs is getting much closer to making frozen GF Bread taste like homemade.

Fiance and I picked this up as our “Just In Case” bread. You all know what I’m talking about: “Just in case you run out of GF Patisserie bread and NEED a sandwich like a fat kid needs M&M’s”. We picked this loaf for two reasons, 1) it was a half loaf so if it went bad we weren’t wasting money, and 2) We haven’t tried it yet, so I could blog about it.

To our pleasant surprise it actually tastes better than every other frozen GF Bread we’ve tried. It’s lighter, moister, less crumbly and all around tastier than the others. Good Job O’Doughs, you’re making great strides in the frozen GF bread world and we appreciate it.

Fiance and I found this at Superstore (Deerfoot Meadows, Calgary). If you see it elsewhere please let us know. Some of our readers don’t have such wonderful Superstores in their area.

Waffle Wonderful.
September 10th, 2009 | caitlin | Categories: The Basket, Uncategorized 2 Comments »

Waffles, love waffles. Hate making waffles from scratch. Now I just heat them in the oven and eat them. Love waffles.

We recently picked up a box of Nature’s Path Organic Home Style GF Waffles and were pleasantly surprised. They were much better than I thought they might be. I was initially turned off by the organic part – although my free range organic wheat products idea would have fit this product wonderfully. I shy away from some things labeled organic, it’s a thing and I won’t get into it, but I also have to realize that a lot of GF products are also ‘organic’ so I get over it. This was one of those moments. And in the end they were good enough to ignore that they are organic and just be happy that I can have an easy and good tasting breakfast alternative.

We found these at Superstore, but have seen them at Safeway and Co-Op.

Cheers to Breakfast.

Rethinking The Dough Boy
September 8th, 2009 | caitlin | Categories: The Basket, Uncategorized 3 Comments »

I’m not afraid to admit it – the Pilsbury Dough Boy used to be on my Freebie Five. He’s damn close to being the perfect man. He cooks, he is always in a good mood, and he’s not obsessed with his looks. And really, any man who makes baking that easy is tops in my world.

For obvious reasons, the Dough Boy is no longer Freebie Five. I miss him, but can’t justify having him on the list.

But, today I’m proud to tell you all, that there is something out there that can make the yearning for the Dough Boy a little less painful. It’s Glutenfreeda Foods, Inc line of ‘Real Cookies’.

Much like the Dough Boy, these cookies come pre-made and can be baked straight from the freezer. I was hesitant at first about how these would turn out – I’ve grown skeptical about pre-made GF products. But in the spirit of Glutastic, I cleared my preconceptions and sent Fiance to the kitchen to bake them.

The first thing I noticed was the smell. Our kitchen and living room smelled of freshly baked cookies, they smelt like the kind of cookie that is normally packed with gluten. I knew these had potential! Then came the taste test, any premade dough has to pass the freezer test. Frozen cookie dough should taste just as good as it does cooked. And these tasted great frozen. That was two checks in the pro column. And then, before I knew it, they were ready. It was time to try the final product – and to thank Fiance for slaving over a hot stove all night to make me cookies.

The Verdict: Damn Tasty.

These cookies were insanely normal. There was not a hint of GF’ness about them. Yes, GF’ness is a term, just like anything ending in ‘ish’. We hoovered them and have already added the next container to the grocery list. We found these at Superstore, I heart Superstore more and more everyday!

Try them, love them, thank me later!

Apple Delight
August 28th, 2009 | caitlin | Categories: The Basket, The Dish, Uncategorized No Comments »

I’ve posted about Simple Simon before, click here for a refresher. Simon and I are friends – even if he doesn’t know about it! Simon makes my life easy, and anything that makes life a little easier is a good thing in my world.

One of the ways Simon makes my life easier is that he makes little GF desserts. They come perfectly portioned, and easy to heat up – open lid, microwave, eat. Three simple steps.

Recently I tried the Apple Delight. I can say that it was a delight to eat. (Wow, the grumbles that just reverberated through the internet world at my horrible humor – I heard you!) Anyhow, it was like eating a store bought apple pie in a cup. I say that because it had that perfect level of apples, Cinnamon, and sugar that store bought pies have. There is something about it that you don’t get from home made. That being said, I am NOT knocking home made pie, that stuff is awesome, it’s also completely out of my league. So for the rest of us, there is Simple Simon.

I will say this, Simon skimps on the crumble topping. MORE TOPPING PLEASE! Maybe if I yell at him on the internet with my threatening caps lock he will make some with more topping. Is this considered cyber bullying? If it is, well then it’s worth it for MORE CRUMBLE TOPPING.

My New Friend
August 19th, 2009 | caitlin | Categories: The Basket, The Dish, Uncategorized 2 Comments »

I have a new friend. And I think he’s kind of nifty.

My new friends name is Simon and he’s a simple man. A simple man that makes some damn good pies! And now some damn good meals.

Simple Simon Pies operates out of the Calgary Farmers Market. Simple Simon Pie’s are well known for their myriad of pies – everything from chicken and steak to taco pie and tourtiere. And now I hope they will become well known for their variety of GF meals. Looking through their menu I have noticed a few things that will soon be on the dinner table. In particular,  Moroccan Chick Pea Stew, “Mock Chicken” in Teriyaki Sauce and Spicy Sicilian Chicken.

Is your mouth watering?

There’s more…

They also make GF desserts!

I recently tried the Lemon Delight. The tiny little dish packed a big punch. It was like a lemon bomb for your taste buds. Served chilled or warm, the Lemon Delight is a great treat for any night of the week. There is one thing I need to caution you on – the Lemon Delight is very sweet; close to being overly sweet.

Side Note: Since changing over to a GF diet, I have lost my sweet tooth. I guess it’s just another thing that has been taken away from me. First it was squishy white bread, and now it’s my can of frosting and a spoon. Feel bad for me please, it’s rough!

Please stay tuned as there are more Simple Simon Meals that need to be tested. I’ll let you know what I think of them as they come up in the dinner rotation.

Party Cakes
August 17th, 2009 | caitlin | Categories: The Basket, Uncategorized 1 Comment »

Today I’m talking cake – birthday cakes!

Recently we celebrated two great events, my birthday and my nieces birthday. Birthday’s require a few things: great people, good food and CAKE. LOTS OF CAKE.

I took this opportunity to discover the world of GF cake. My job is so hard, eating cake for three days straight. This is all for you, my beloved readers. You can thank me later!

Let’s start with the first cake – my birthday cake. I’m the only celiac in our household. Because of this, I’m the one that normally does all the baking. It’s not that Fiance doesn’t want to, it’s simply that he is terrified of getting it wrong. Because of Fiance’s fear, he sought out help. Help from our friends at GF Patisserie. Between you and me, I’m so happy he did! The cake was awesome. It was a chocolate cake with butter cream icing. It was heaven. The cake was moist, full of flavour but not full of sugar. It traveled well and it was decorated with really pretty flowers. I was a happy birthday girl! Even my non-celiac partners in crime loved it. In fact, they were trying to eat off of each others plates. I think that is the ultimate test – will the gluten eaters enjoy it. I’d love to show you a photo of the cake because it was so pretty…but we ate it before I could even think about getting out the camera. So instead of a picture of the cake, I’m going to share with you a picture of the A-Team!

Fast forward a few days to Ellie’s 3rd Birthday. Being an Aunt is the best job I’ve ever had. Some people were meant to be parents, and some people were meant to be Aunt’s/Uncle’s. I’m sure you have figured out where we fall on that spectrum! As the world’s greatest Aunt and Uncle, we decided that it would be great to make Ellie her birthday cake – Ellie’s GF birthday cake. Enter Bob. Bob’s Red Mill Vanilla Cake Mix.

Bob does not fail at GF. This cake mix was a godsend. Easy to make is understatement. Making a bowl of cereal for dinner takes more effort than this cake mix. The instructions were just as easy to follow and it baked like a dream. The flavour was a touch bland. I thought bland was great. I can use this mix as a base for all types of cakes. Add your favourite flavour extracts and toppings to make it whatever you want it to be. It is the canvas of your master piece! My only criticism is that it is a touch on the grainy side. I’ve discovered that almost all boxed GF baked goods have a slight grainy texture. I’m not sure why this is. But, it’s not a deal breaker because its not over powering. Keep your eyes peeled for this cake mix. You won’t be disappointed.

Butter Butter Chicken Y’All
July 24th, 2009 | caitlin | Categories: The Basket, Uncategorized 2 Comments »

Yummy yummy butter chicken.

So, no surprise – I’m a lazy cook. I figure that it’s a good thing. If I decided to learn how to cook, and started making more elaborate meals – Fiance might get use to it. And we wouldn’t want that. I’ve got it worked out so that he thinks taco’s are gourmet. Totally NOT giving that up.

One of my favourite ways to keep up the laziness is to use Sharwood’s Sauces. This week, we tried the Butter Chicken. And can I just say that it was damn tasty. And damn easy. Grill some chicken, add the sauce and pour over rice.  It does not get any easier than that! So far we are batting 100% on the Sharwood’s products. We have found them at Safeway, Co-Op and Superstore.

Please make sure you read the label. Not all sauces are gluten free. Oh and for those of you that are lactose intolerant – this one is full of cream. So I recommend either taking your Lactaid pills or always stand down wind, you’re choice!

Fresh Creations
July 15th, 2009 | caitlin | Categories: The Basket, Uncategorized 3 Comments »

I found something.  Something you would probably pass by, but should take my advice and stop, pick it up, and love it!

What did I find: Fresh Creations Turkey & Chicken Texas BBQ Style Sausage. (Gluten Free and Lactose Free)

Yes, that’s a mouth full to say, but you’ll get used to it. Once you take your first bite, you’re mouth will be full until the entire pack is gone!

These are not just another ordinary sausage. They have a unique, sweet BBQ taste – I found it kind of refreshing. I also thought that when compared to other packaged sausage, they were less fatty. Everyone can be happy about that!

Fiance would like me to tell you all that he LOVES these.  He loves these as if they were full of gluten and cheese. I think that says a lot!

We found these at Costco. Definately worth buying.