One plus side for the Ener-G breads is that you don't have to freeze them and that they are shelf stable. Although I bought a six pack that came with one covered in all kinds of furry green-ness, they do keep quite well for a long time.
Their big problem is their taste. They taste ... weird.
When it came to the light tapioca loaf, I wasn't too repulsed. It was a weird flavor, but thus far I had had nothing but weird flavors from gluten-free breads. The Gluten Free Pantry mix tasted weird, the mix I got in Japan tasted weird, and this bread tasted weird. Hey, it's bread without gluten. It's going to taste weird.
The light tapioca bread reminded me of rye. It had a light sourness to it that wasn't unpleasant. You could usually overpower it with whatever you were putting on the bread. Butter and jam on a toasted slice would cut the sourness easily. Grill it in butter with some ham and cheese and you would barely taste it at all.
I thought the brown rice loaf would be similar. Yeah, I need to stop thinking things.
At first I didn't mind it. But then as I tried to finish off the loaf, the extreme sour flavor of it kind of got to me. I just couldn't hide it the way I had with the light tapioca. I tried butter and other sweet toppings, but only putting a BUTTLOAD of stuff between two slices could make it edible.
Fortunately for me, I've tried another brand and found something better. Not just edible, but legitimately GOOD. But if you're stuck with the Ener-G, I would suggest the light tapioca, at the very least. I haven't tried all their breads, but after slogging through the loaf of brown rice, I don't think I'll be trying much more. I hope those hot dog buns in my cabinet aren't as bad.
Friday, December 31, 2010
Food For Life Rubber Tortillas
I mean, brown rice. That's what I meant. Brown rice tortillas.
I love Mexican food (as you may have noticed in some other posts) and one thing I really missed was tortillas. Not only are tortillas good for making Mexican fare, but they're also good for those times when you want to make a sandwich but not use bread. My local convenience store had these roll-ups with vegetables, roast beef, potato salad, and sweet chili sauce. They were really, really good. Too bad I couldn't eat them anymore ...
So not only did I want to make Mexican-ish stuff, but I wanted food wraps. When I finally found these tortillas and remembered to buy them (found at Whole Foods; forgot to buy), I had every intention of making some kind of turkey sandwich.
The tortillas were frozen when I first got them, so I put them in the fridge. I did not have real access to cooking/heating implements apart from the microwave, so I didn't heat them up any. I just took out a tortilla, assembled my stuff, and went on with my life.
The first one, which was the freshest, I suppose, wasn't so bad. It was a bit chewy, but it was flexible enough and wrapped fairly well. It was the subsequent attempts at rolling up the now rubbery and extra-chewy tortillas that resulted in breakage and much gnawing. I felt kind of like a dog with its chew toy, only a chew toy that's actually edible at some point. It was, in a word, unpleasant.
And then I got my cooking implement. Well, I thought, I can give these another shot and see if they cook up very well. If they do, then at least it's not a total waste (since I had another package in the freezer).
Actually, for quesadilla purposes, these turn out quite nicely. Very crispy and they have a pleasant flavor. I'm considering giving up on bread all together and just using these instead (okay, we still need bread for peanut butter purposes. I cannot eat pb&j on a hot, crispy tortilla. That's just wrong.
But anyway, I think they are very good when grilled, either with oil or without. They just aren't very good raw. They might be good if you heated it and then used it to make your roll-up sandwich, but I haven't tested that theory and probably won't. Hopefully this next bread I'm going to try will be good enough and I'll forget all about rolly sandwiches.
(More on bread later.)
I love Mexican food (as you may have noticed in some other posts) and one thing I really missed was tortillas. Not only are tortillas good for making Mexican fare, but they're also good for those times when you want to make a sandwich but not use bread. My local convenience store had these roll-ups with vegetables, roast beef, potato salad, and sweet chili sauce. They were really, really good. Too bad I couldn't eat them anymore ...
So not only did I want to make Mexican-ish stuff, but I wanted food wraps. When I finally found these tortillas and remembered to buy them (found at Whole Foods; forgot to buy), I had every intention of making some kind of turkey sandwich.
The tortillas were frozen when I first got them, so I put them in the fridge. I did not have real access to cooking/heating implements apart from the microwave, so I didn't heat them up any. I just took out a tortilla, assembled my stuff, and went on with my life.
The first one, which was the freshest, I suppose, wasn't so bad. It was a bit chewy, but it was flexible enough and wrapped fairly well. It was the subsequent attempts at rolling up the now rubbery and extra-chewy tortillas that resulted in breakage and much gnawing. I felt kind of like a dog with its chew toy, only a chew toy that's actually edible at some point. It was, in a word, unpleasant.
And then I got my cooking implement. Well, I thought, I can give these another shot and see if they cook up very well. If they do, then at least it's not a total waste (since I had another package in the freezer).
Actually, for quesadilla purposes, these turn out quite nicely. Very crispy and they have a pleasant flavor. I'm considering giving up on bread all together and just using these instead (okay, we still need bread for peanut butter purposes. I cannot eat pb&j on a hot, crispy tortilla. That's just wrong.
But anyway, I think they are very good when grilled, either with oil or without. They just aren't very good raw. They might be good if you heated it and then used it to make your roll-up sandwich, but I haven't tested that theory and probably won't. Hopefully this next bread I'm going to try will be good enough and I'll forget all about rolly sandwiches.
(More on bread later.)
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Taco Bell Chicken Quesadilla ... OR IS IT??
I had an idea yesterday with that tasty, tasty hummus.
It involved:
Two slices colby-jack cheese
One Food For Life brown rice tortilla
Hormel grilled chicken strips
... and that organic hummus.
I spread the hummus on half of the tortilla and put the tortilla in my skillet. Then I placed cheese so that it covered the surface of the skillet. I waited for the cheese to get melty, and placed chicken on one half of the tortilla, so it was almost covered. Then I folded in half and heated on both sides for a bit.
The result was not just tasty, but it also reminded me of those Taco Bell quesadillas with their jalapeno sauce. I always found those incredibly tasty, but of course they are now forbidden as per my intestines.
And really, this is probably a lot healthier. Not sure if it's cheaper (survey says: Probably Not), since Taco Bell is the cheapest of cheap. What's a quesadilla, $2.50? Let's see, six tortillas for $4.50, ten slices of cheese for $5, six servings of chicken for $6 if we buy two packets and hummus was $4 ... so we'll call it $20 for six servings if we're conservative with the cheese ... yeah, not cheaper.
Healthier. And no gluten.
I wasn't crazy about the Food For Life tortillas at first, but now that I'm using them for quesadillas I find them much more appetizing. I had wanted to make cold wraps, but after the first one they were pretty unappetizing. Just dry and rubbery. They do crisp up nicely.
It involved:
Two slices colby-jack cheese
One Food For Life brown rice tortilla
Hormel grilled chicken strips
... and that organic hummus.
I spread the hummus on half of the tortilla and put the tortilla in my skillet. Then I placed cheese so that it covered the surface of the skillet. I waited for the cheese to get melty, and placed chicken on one half of the tortilla, so it was almost covered. Then I folded in half and heated on both sides for a bit.
The result was not just tasty, but it also reminded me of those Taco Bell quesadillas with their jalapeno sauce. I always found those incredibly tasty, but of course they are now forbidden as per my intestines.
And really, this is probably a lot healthier. Not sure if it's cheaper (survey says: Probably Not), since Taco Bell is the cheapest of cheap. What's a quesadilla, $2.50? Let's see, six tortillas for $4.50, ten slices of cheese for $5, six servings of chicken for $6 if we buy two packets and hummus was $4 ... so we'll call it $20 for six servings if we're conservative with the cheese ... yeah, not cheaper.
Healthier. And no gluten.
I wasn't crazy about the Food For Life tortillas at first, but now that I'm using them for quesadillas I find them much more appetizing. I had wanted to make cold wraps, but after the first one they were pretty unappetizing. Just dry and rubbery. They do crisp up nicely.
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
I Love Hormel
I suppose this means I am cheating on Amy and Annie and ... someone else? Crap.
I always loved Hormel's chili. See, I never knew good chili for the longest time. My mom's chili was a tomato-overload, full of ketchup, tomato paste, diced tomatoes, canned halved tomatoes, and probably some actual raw tomato thrown in for good measure (I don't really like tomatoes). She also used kidney beans. So it was all kind of sour an tomato-like, with undercooked and giant red beans in it.
It was not delicious.
I tried chili at school and found it pretty good. I could not figure out why school chili (school food! supposed to be bad! usually wasn't!) was good, but home chili (home! home-made! good for you!) was not.
I tried Hormel after years of chili-trauma at home, and was surprised that it was like school chili. I liked school chili. So I basically just used Hormel as my go-to for chili from then on. Frito chili pie, yum yum yum.
Now that I and gluten have parted ways, I have been glad to find that my beloved Hormel chili and I can continue to be friends. This is super. But what's even more super is that most Hormel products seem to be clearly labeled as being gluten-free if they are.
One thing I was aching for on coming back to America was deli meat. This included the sliced, squishy kind, but also the "hey it's real meat" kind, like chicken breast strips or whatever. And when it comes to Hormel, it's all labeled. If it's gluten-free, the package says so. Pepperoni by other guys? I have to guess. Pepperoni by Hormel? Right on the label. Go ahead and eat it.
It's a nice, meaty slice of peace of mind. With Oscar Mayer I realize they will tell you if there are wheat-derived ingredients in the meat, but I really hate scanning the labels. I hate going, "Well, I THINK it's okay." I haven't memorized the big list of gluteny ingredients, so I always find myself popping on the internet in the supermarket (and getting glared at by customers) to see what might or might not contain gluten. But with Hormel, you know where you stand. And that's excellent.
KUDOS TO YOU, HORMEL! BIG THUMBS-UP! HAPPY GRIN! GOLD STAR STICKER ON YOUR HOMEWORK!
I always loved Hormel's chili. See, I never knew good chili for the longest time. My mom's chili was a tomato-overload, full of ketchup, tomato paste, diced tomatoes, canned halved tomatoes, and probably some actual raw tomato thrown in for good measure (I don't really like tomatoes). She also used kidney beans. So it was all kind of sour an tomato-like, with undercooked and giant red beans in it.
It was not delicious.
I tried chili at school and found it pretty good. I could not figure out why school chili (school food! supposed to be bad! usually wasn't!) was good, but home chili (home! home-made! good for you!) was not.
I tried Hormel after years of chili-trauma at home, and was surprised that it was like school chili. I liked school chili. So I basically just used Hormel as my go-to for chili from then on. Frito chili pie, yum yum yum.
Now that I and gluten have parted ways, I have been glad to find that my beloved Hormel chili and I can continue to be friends. This is super. But what's even more super is that most Hormel products seem to be clearly labeled as being gluten-free if they are.
One thing I was aching for on coming back to America was deli meat. This included the sliced, squishy kind, but also the "hey it's real meat" kind, like chicken breast strips or whatever. And when it comes to Hormel, it's all labeled. If it's gluten-free, the package says so. Pepperoni by other guys? I have to guess. Pepperoni by Hormel? Right on the label. Go ahead and eat it.
It's a nice, meaty slice of peace of mind. With Oscar Mayer I realize they will tell you if there are wheat-derived ingredients in the meat, but I really hate scanning the labels. I hate going, "Well, I THINK it's okay." I haven't memorized the big list of gluteny ingredients, so I always find myself popping on the internet in the supermarket (and getting glared at by customers) to see what might or might not contain gluten. But with Hormel, you know where you stand. And that's excellent.
KUDOS TO YOU, HORMEL! BIG THUMBS-UP! HAPPY GRIN! GOLD STAR STICKER ON YOUR HOMEWORK!
Monterey Gourmet Foods Hummus
I don't often talk about foods that aren't specifically gluten-free. Usually it's boring stuff like turkey or cheese (either you like turkey or cheese or you don't, right?) But sometimes there is something that is technically or labeled GF that is so good (or so mediocre) it's worth mentioning.
I went to Down to Earth today on my way back from a very uneventful trip to Waikiki (I saw a beach!). I guess I was under the impression that Ruffage Natural Foods would have more of a grocery selection than the few sad shelves of flours that they had. Maybe I was missing something.
Down to Earth is a vegetarian superstore (well, superstore if you're stocking it with only veg/vegan products) full of vegetarian, vegan, and organic foods (there's a Venn diagram to be made here, but you get the picture--no meat). I am a meat-eater, but they don't exactly card you at the door or kick you out if you come direct from Burger King (kind of across the street) with Whopper on your breath. They have an exciting variety of gluten-free foods. I spend too much money there.
I was in there today just hoping to buy some bits and pieces to eat. I have a rule right now that I don't buy anything that isn't an accessory to another food, because I have too much food right now and need to eat it all. I get food-bored easily and need a variety of things around me, you see. So I have a tendency to just buy and buy and buy, and I need to stop.
Anyway, at home I have crackers that just weren't very good with cheese. But they're onion crackers, so they aren't good with peanut butter either (in theory). I needed to eat them with SOMETHING. I spotted a variety of flavors of hummus in the fridge section (with the cheeses and soy cheese products and tofurkey and so on). They all sounded pretty good, but given my love of Mexican food, I went with the smoked jalapeno and garlic flavor.
I took it home and tried it with my weird crackers. Wowwww. It was like a magical Mexican bean dip with the cheese already in it. It's kind of amazing, since there is nothing cheese-like even in the hummus, but it somehow tastes as though there is. The texture is very smooth (like whipped frosting? That's a bad comparison) and the jalapeno is mild enough to leave a very slight burn on the back of your tongue that you didn't notice while eating.
The price wasn't so bad. I think it was around $4. And the top of the tub labels it as gluten-free. I don't know if I just enjoy this flavor too much to want to try another flavor, but it may happen in the future.
I went to Down to Earth today on my way back from a very uneventful trip to Waikiki (I saw a beach!). I guess I was under the impression that Ruffage Natural Foods would have more of a grocery selection than the few sad shelves of flours that they had. Maybe I was missing something.
Down to Earth is a vegetarian superstore (well, superstore if you're stocking it with only veg/vegan products) full of vegetarian, vegan, and organic foods (there's a Venn diagram to be made here, but you get the picture--no meat). I am a meat-eater, but they don't exactly card you at the door or kick you out if you come direct from Burger King (kind of across the street) with Whopper on your breath. They have an exciting variety of gluten-free foods. I spend too much money there.
I was in there today just hoping to buy some bits and pieces to eat. I have a rule right now that I don't buy anything that isn't an accessory to another food, because I have too much food right now and need to eat it all. I get food-bored easily and need a variety of things around me, you see. So I have a tendency to just buy and buy and buy, and I need to stop.
Anyway, at home I have crackers that just weren't very good with cheese. But they're onion crackers, so they aren't good with peanut butter either (in theory). I needed to eat them with SOMETHING. I spotted a variety of flavors of hummus in the fridge section (with the cheeses and soy cheese products and tofurkey and so on). They all sounded pretty good, but given my love of Mexican food, I went with the smoked jalapeno and garlic flavor.
I took it home and tried it with my weird crackers. Wowwww. It was like a magical Mexican bean dip with the cheese already in it. It's kind of amazing, since there is nothing cheese-like even in the hummus, but it somehow tastes as though there is. The texture is very smooth (like whipped frosting? That's a bad comparison) and the jalapeno is mild enough to leave a very slight burn on the back of your tongue that you didn't notice while eating.
The price wasn't so bad. I think it was around $4. And the top of the tub labels it as gluten-free. I don't know if I just enjoy this flavor too much to want to try another flavor, but it may happen in the future.
Friday, December 24, 2010
Ian's Gluten Free Chicken Tenders
I was in the middle of my Whole Foods stupor when I saw something big and yellow. The amazing yellowness drew me out of my stupor long enough for me to see things like "fish fingers" and "chicken tenders" and "french bread pizza" and "gluten free."
Ian's appears to be made to appeal to smaller kids who can't eat those yummy things that their peers would be eating in kids meals. They have all sorts of healthy and allergen-free foods that appeal to kids, like mac and cheese, chicken nuggets, and corn dog bites.
Of course, we adults also enjoy those things ...
At Whole Foods I paid about $8 for a (small, small, small) package of chicken tenders. When I opened the package I found three relatively thick tenders (still small) and two skinnier ones that were mating. Unfortunately, they had not given birth, otherwise I might have gotten a serving of tenders worthy of eating half the package.
See, five tenders is a serving as far as I'm concerned. If it were six, I might be able to split it 3/3. Three is almost a reasonable serving, and then I could eat some kind of side dish. =meal. But five ... see, two would be a very pathetic serving. So I just baked all five. $8 lunch at home.
Okay, so hopefully they would taste good.
After some struggling with the oven, I managed to bake my tenders and get them into my room. I took out some salad dressing for dipping (honey dijon) and set out to test my tenders.
I have to say that they are pretty good. My attempts at cooking tenders in the past had resulted in the breading just falling right off. So I was glad when the breading stayed on these. The chicken was cooked all the way through despite my oven issues, and the breading was crispy except where oil had kind of seeped out of it, as happens when you bake things.
The only real issue I had was that they were decidedly unsalted. I'm one of those people who has blood pressure not affected by salt (in fact, my bp is lowwww), so I don't mind a heavy dose of salt. These are very, very unsalted. The salad dressing helped balance that out, so it wasn't so bad. Just, a little bit of seasoning of some sort might have been nice.
All in all, after over a year of missing out on chicken nuggets and tenders and patties, I was very pleased. I would definitely buy these againif I won the lottery and try the other varieties of foods available.
Ian's appears to be made to appeal to smaller kids who can't eat those yummy things that their peers would be eating in kids meals. They have all sorts of healthy and allergen-free foods that appeal to kids, like mac and cheese, chicken nuggets, and corn dog bites.
Of course, we adults also enjoy those things ...
At Whole Foods I paid about $8 for a (small, small, small) package of chicken tenders. When I opened the package I found three relatively thick tenders (still small) and two skinnier ones that were mating. Unfortunately, they had not given birth, otherwise I might have gotten a serving of tenders worthy of eating half the package.
See, five tenders is a serving as far as I'm concerned. If it were six, I might be able to split it 3/3. Three is almost a reasonable serving, and then I could eat some kind of side dish. =meal. But five ... see, two would be a very pathetic serving. So I just baked all five. $8 lunch at home.
Okay, so hopefully they would taste good.
After some struggling with the oven, I managed to bake my tenders and get them into my room. I took out some salad dressing for dipping (honey dijon) and set out to test my tenders.
I have to say that they are pretty good. My attempts at cooking tenders in the past had resulted in the breading just falling right off. So I was glad when the breading stayed on these. The chicken was cooked all the way through despite my oven issues, and the breading was crispy except where oil had kind of seeped out of it, as happens when you bake things.
The only real issue I had was that they were decidedly unsalted. I'm one of those people who has blood pressure not affected by salt (in fact, my bp is lowwww), so I don't mind a heavy dose of salt. These are very, very unsalted. The salad dressing helped balance that out, so it wasn't so bad. Just, a little bit of seasoning of some sort might have been nice.
All in all, after over a year of missing out on chicken nuggets and tenders and patties, I was very pleased. I would definitely buy these again
Thursday, December 23, 2010
Oatios
One thing I really miss is Cheerio's. Plain, ordinary Cheerio's. I'm not a huge fan of sugary cereal, and I wish that Cheerio's didn't contain that pesky wheat starch. I'd bought a giant box of the stuff before having to go GF and ate one bowl of it just to see what happened. The result was not good.
Oatios are not GF per se. They contain no wheat, and if you can tolerate oats they are supposedly fine for you to eat. The jury is still out on oats, and these are just oats.
I thought that since they looked like Cheerio's and were oats ... well ... they would be like Cheerio's. Right?
I opened the box to see what they were like dry. They were puffy, very porous, and very light to crunch. Not like Cheerio's. More like a hybrid cheerio-fruit loop. Also, very bitter. I thought maybe milk would change this, so I poured some into a bowl and put some milk on it.
Basically, it was a bowl of bitter, soggy oat rounds that I had to force myself to finish and which my stomach went, "WHAT ... IS ... THIS???" to. I saw another brand of wheat-free oat circles, and I'm kind of clinging to a hope that those will be any good. This box, which I just bought today, will be going into the trash. Blecch.
Oatios are not GF per se. They contain no wheat, and if you can tolerate oats they are supposedly fine for you to eat. The jury is still out on oats, and these are just oats.
I thought that since they looked like Cheerio's and were oats ... well ... they would be like Cheerio's. Right?
I opened the box to see what they were like dry. They were puffy, very porous, and very light to crunch. Not like Cheerio's. More like a hybrid cheerio-fruit loop. Also, very bitter. I thought maybe milk would change this, so I poured some into a bowl and put some milk on it.
Basically, it was a bowl of bitter, soggy oat rounds that I had to force myself to finish and which my stomach went, "WHAT ... IS ... THIS???" to. I saw another brand of wheat-free oat circles, and I'm kind of clinging to a hope that those will be any good. This box, which I just bought today, will be going into the trash. Blecch.
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