Thursday, November 3, 2011

Continue the blog?

After much thought Tommie and I are trying to decide whether or not to continue the blog. I am not sure how much people this is actually reaching and with all of the information out there nowadays, this may be a little out dated. We will make our final decision within about a week.

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Georgetown Market: Gluten-Free Friday

November 11th


GLUTEN-FREE FRIDAY



4375 Georgetown Road
Indianapolis, IN 46254
317-293-9525


STORE HOURS
Mon-Sat
9am to 8pm
Sun
11am to 5pm

Gluten Free Dreams Chocolate Chip Mini Cookies

This product is brought to you by the folks at Cherrybrook Kitchen. I found these on clearance and decided to buy them (a - they were on clearance, and b- we had never tried them before). I haven't tried too many Cherrybrook products. I'm not sure why, just haven't. They're readily available, you can buy them at most places (Target stands out in my mind).

These little guys were quite good; little crunchy bites of heaven. They make for a great snack, thrown into a lunch box or on the go. I'm not sure I would recommend them, mainly because I don't know what the going price is for them off of clearance.

Check out their website, this company offers many gluten-free products.

BeeFree Gluten-Free Bakery

About a month ago I was checking out at Georgetown Market and I noticed a gluten-free cookie for sale up at the register. I always stop by the deli on the way out to pick up cookies (if you're not gluten-free, then they're vegan oatmeal chocolate chip cookie is yummy), especially since Tommie is addicted to their GF snickerdoodle cookies.

Anywho, at the register was one cookie left, a BeeFree GF Cowboy Cookie. I asked the cashiers if they had eaten any and they responded with a no, apparently the cookies were selling so fast, the employees hadn't had a chance to try them. I then had to make a decision, leave the cookie, knowing the cashiers were going to eat it or buy it and let Tommie eat it. Well, I figured that since those wonderful ladies are always at the store, they could get their own. :)

When Tommie got home that night I explained I bought him a cookie and that I wasn't sure what was in it but that I was positive there was no peanut butter or coconut (two ingredients you won't find in his vocabulary). He looked at me, one eyebrow about to explode off of his forehead, "this is vegan...you expect me to eat a vegan cookie?" In Tommie's head, he equates vegan with cardboard and tasteless. I just smiled, "if you don't eat it, I will". He cautiously took a bite and then smiled. "Dang, that's a good cookie." The questions then followed: who is BeeFree, are they local, did they have other cookies? I had no answers for him. Therefore when we saw them at the Gluten Free Living Now Expo we were ecstatic.

Come to find out, they are local and not only do they have other cookies, they have breads and pizza dough. Their booth was eye catching and they had samples of everything to try: Let it Be...John Lemon cake, Vegan Cowboy cookies, snickerdoodles, and even chocolate crinkle cookies. By this time I was absolutely stuffed, but Tommie is a food soldier - I believe he ate one of everything at the booth. We were sold, these products are amazing. I even mustered up enough gastric space to try the Let it Be...John Lemon cake and I am glad I did. It was delicious!

So where can you buy these products? Well I've already mentioned that Georgetown Market offers their goods. Here are some other places you can purchase their yummies:
-Green BEAN Delivery
-BluMoon Cafe
-Chuck and Birds
-Goose the Market
-Pogue's Run Grocer
-Natural Born Juicers
-Indy Winter Farmer's Market

I want to say that they're also going to be selling through Nature's Pharm, but I'm not 100% sure on that so call before you go.

Enjoy!

Mrs. Glee's Gluten Free Foods



I had not heard of Mrs. Glee's before the Gluten Free Living Now Expo. They were at the opposite end of the exhibit hall than we start on so naturally we were stuffed and a little less focused on the products. However, the nice gentleman at the booth did a great job of educating us about the company and their products.


This is another company located in Michigan, but you can purchase their products on line.


These products are decently priced and they are delicious. Using their rigatoni, they created a pasta salad that was wonderful. Also, they had brownies and oatmeal scotties to try. Now these samples got lost at the bottom of our bag and were not found for at least three days. I was saddened when we did find them because I just knew they were going to be dry and tasteless. Boy was I wrong! The brownie was moist and gooey. And the oatmeal scotty, well...I was ready to get in the car and drive to Michigan to pick up more. That is when I remembered that you could order on line!!!!


Check out their website, they've got a great thing going. These were absolutely the best oatmeal scotties I've ever had.


Side note: I wanted to express my delight (again) about the Gluten Free Living Now Expo. This event was above and beyond anything we had hoped. The organizers did an absolutely tremendous job in arranging fabulous companies and groups. Indianapolis has one of the best gluten-free communities I've seen, if not the best. Companies like Mrs. Glee's, and the others we have mentioned are just testament to the high quality of work put into the expo.

Bob's Red Mill

Another company that had a great showing at the expo this year was Bob's Red Mill. I was particularly amazed at how many gluten-free products they offered:


79


That is AWESOME!!!!


I also found their information very useful. They offered a flyer that explained how much xantham gum should be used for gluten-free baking:


cookies: 1/4 tsp per cup of flour

cakes and pancakes: 1/2 tsp per cup of flour

muffins and quick breads: 3/4 tsp per cup of flour

breads: 1 to 1 1/2 tsp per cup of flour

pizza dough: 2 tsp per cup of flour


They were also handing out samples of their GF Mighty Tasty Hot Cereal. I will let you know what Tommie thinks. I really enjoy Bob's products; they're tasty, easy to work with, and reasonably priced. Bob has been a staple of the gluten-free baker's pantry for years and we always keep their products around.


You can find Bob's Red Mill at almost all grocery stores so pick some up, you'll be glad you did.