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.

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.

Mim's Kitchen

The first thing that caught my eye about this booth at the Gluten Free Living Now Expo; the advertising. I can't tell you what name brand 'gluteny' company Mim's advertising reminds me of, but it reminds me of one of those big companies. So much so that I looked at Tommie and said, "hey what is that company - I can't believe they've actually made a gluten-free cookie". He of course was picking up what I was putting down and we headed straight to the booth. Even though he and I were on the same wavelength, that thought didn't carry much weight - we were both wrong.

Mim's is not Toll House or Nestle, or any other big company. It is a mom (or a 'Mim' in this case) who wanted a better cookie for herself and her family. In pursuit for that cookie, she has made a wonderful discovery. Mim's product is a frozen preformed dough, you simply pop it in the oven and you're done!!!!

This is crazy, I never thought we'd see this day. I remember when Tommie was diagnosed (yes yes, he had to walk up hill in the snow both ways) and there wasn't anything like this. We had to mix flours and starches just to get an 'ok' loaf of bread and forget cookies - they weren't even a priority. Things have been getting better, we can eat out a lot more and grocery shopping is quick and mostly painless. And now...well now, we can simply pop in Mim's cookies and await that scent of yumminess. Did I mention they taste wonderful?? Oh yes, they're quite delicious and the texture is fabulous. I would argue that if I served these at a party, no one would know they were gluten-free.

So hats off to Mim, bravo!!! Her cookies come in six great flavors (sugar is the best, but I'm bias): chocolate chocolate chip, sugar, chocolate chip, peanut butter chocolate chip, white chocolate macadamia nut, and ginger.

Now Mim's Kitchen is located in Indiana, PA, but there are a few stores in Indiana that offer her products. Check out her website for more details.

Bittersweet Bakery

As we continue to unload the massive bag of swag we were given at the Gluten Free Living Now Expo, I was reminded that we need to start posting. So I shall begin with the Bittersweet Bakery.

Let me start off with the bad news,...they're located in Eagan, MN. However, it is my understanding that they're looking to break through the Indianapolis market. If that is true, I'm sure Nature's Pharm will be one of the first stores to offer the product.

Sidenote: Nature's Pharm has done an AMAZING job of supplying gluten-free products at reasonable prices. They make Castleton worth the drive.

Anywho...their gingersnap cookies are DEVINE!!!! Therefore I don't feel bad at all when I confess that I ate both of the gingersnaps Tommie and I were given. I know, I know, I'm a terrible wife. We did a great job of 'trick-or-treating' (you know, "I'll trade you a chocolate chip cookie for a gingersnap") and sharing the goods with each other. However, after I ate the first gingersnap, I cautiously grabbed the other one and snuck it under my pile of treats. If it makes you feel better, I couldn't handle the guilt and I told him (after I ate the second cookie).

I am very excited to see if this company starts offering mail order options or if they can break through the market here. I will be first in line to try their long list of other options (pizza crust, cupcakes, etc.). This is a product, that regardless of the gluten-free aspect, I would still buy for me. That is rare. Usually if I am hungry and want something, I eat the gluteny version (mainly because it is for me and not Tommie, the gluten-free one). That being said, this product beats out all other competitors, gluteny or not.

Curly's sauceless pulled chicken

I really enjoyed this product. I was looking forward to mixing in some Sweet Baby Ray’s BBQ sauce to see how it turned out. Unfortunately, we didn’t have any in the house. I was panicking since I’d put the chicken in the microwave already. That’s when I noticed the jar of salsa in the fridge. I mixed some in, and came out with excellent Enchilada Chicken, as I called it. It tasted like the chicken filling you get at a Mexican restaurant in their burritos or enchiladas. I would like to try this product again, only this time with BBQ sauce. Of course, if all we have is salsa, that’s OK, too.
We found this product at both Kroger and Walmart (in the meat section).

Glow

I was at Angelo's the other day and there they were, right as I entered. An entire display of glow gluten-free cookies.

glow? What is glow? I have never heard of this brand before. The two types they had were chocolate chip and gingersnap. They were only $1 a box so of course I bought one of each. I must admit that these cookies sat in the pantry for a couple of days, mainly because I had purchased a lot of GF items that day (Tommie was overwhelmed), and two probably because we were unsure of what they were going to taste like.

We first cracked open the chocolate chip. They were okay, kind of had a weird after-taste. Of course Tommie liked them and over the next week proceeded to finish off the box. Then on to the gingersnaps. Okay people, you have to LOVE ginger to enjoy these. I am sensitive to ginger and I felt like my someone had just smeared fresh ginger all over my tongue. Again, Tommie liked them and finished off the box by himself.

So there you have it, 50-50. This household is split down the middle as to whether or not the cookies taste okay. That being said, when it comes to gluten-free, Tommie is the person that matters when food is concerned. If he doesn't like it then there is no point in buying it.

This company does have some great mottoes and ethics, I would check out their page and see what else they have to offer. It is definitely worth trying.