A Crunchy Standoff

Because living gluten free has not taken away my hankering for the taste of a yummy, crunchy snack every now and again (read: pretty much every day), I am always on the lookout for items to add to my list of acceptable snackage. 

While this post is not inherently about beauty, I am sure there is something beautiful to be found in a great snack!

  I tried two different new-to-me items over the past couple of days and had very different reactions to them--both a surprise of some sort.

First up on the blog today is the LiveGFree Brand Cracklebread in Sun-Dried Tomato and Oregano from Aldi.

Let me preface this review by saying this: just about everything we've tried from Aldi's liveGfree line has been delicious. We have enjoyed products ranging from rice pasta to crackers to pizza crust mix to pancake/baking mix (you can read my daughter's take on that particular item here), not to mention the delicious bread offered by this line.

So, imagine my surprise when I got home today with a box of the cracklebread to sample and found it to be like a rectangular-shaped styrofoam plate. I gave it a hearty try and then smeared it with cream cheese in an attempt to redeem its foamy texture and very mild sun-dried tomato/oregano flavor.

It didn't work. The taste is bland and not well-seasoned The texture is not crispy crunchy. It is crisp upon first contact, but immediately upon connecting with saliva it disintegrates and becomes sticky on and in the teeth. Not fun or enjoyable. At $2.99/box for 21 pieces, it would seem like a really good deal. Considering the taste is less than delicious, I will not be buying this item again.

Next up is the sweet side of things. We picked up these cute, little crackers in the snack aisle at our local Ingle's. Grammy Crisps are a crispy crunchy offering in every sense of the word. Crunchmaster is a brand I have tried before, so I was anticipating a positive experience. These crackers are actually listed on the kid product line at Crunchmaster, but don't you dare let these tasty treats be just for kids. At Ingle's these were available for $3.15, but I did find them online for less than that. However, pricing aside, Grammy Crisps are well worth a purchase. Find out more about these here.

You get 25 crisps per serving according to the box inforomation. But I don't know how I would eat so many at one sitting, making the total servings go much further and the value increasing. 

I was expecting a strong Graham taste, but I was pleasantly surprised to find these favored more of a Cinnamon Toast Crunch flavor. And while the crisps are delicious on their own, I found them incredible topped with a light shmear of cream cheese. 

So, overall, the Crunchmaster Grammy Crisps were a hit. Taste and texture is excellent. Good value for the price, though I may be tempted to wait until I can find a coupon next time around. I will definitely be purchasing these little gems again. 

What are some of your favorite gluten free go-to snacks? Let me know, and I will feature them here so we can all benefit from your experience. Have a great day, and check back for more reviews soon.  Also, don't forget to head on over to Write 31 Days for more fantastic posts!

On His Adventure ~

Pam

We've Come A Long Way

When I began eating gluten free about five years ago, I was living in a smaller town with few specialty groceries, no gluten free sections at our main grocery store, and a budget completely incapable of sustaining any kind of regular orders from the few companies I had stumbled upon online with gluten free offerings.



Fast forward to today. I have thousands of options. My online choices have exploded and with them are opportunities for free shipping, monthly orders stocked with my favorites and new items to try on a regular basis. Not to mention the local bounty now available at my fingertips!



In the past 18 months or so I have gone from eating a diet rich in plain corn tortillas stuffed with every sort of filling to substitute for bread, to a varied menu filled with tasty stuff I wouldn't have thought possible when I began this journey.



I am only going to discuss one item today, but check back often for recipes, item reviews and "a ha" discoveries that actually have turned what started out as a burdensome trail into a literal trail of beauty in my life and that of others I have met along the way.



So let's get down to the ingredients of that yummy-looking sandwich in the photo! Thanks to the wonderful folks at Udi's, I was able to leave behind my lettuce wrapped or corn tortilla juggled burger in favor of a delicious sandwich bun that has a distinctly similar flavor when grilled with butter on it to a King's Hawaiian roll. I am not kidding.



Now these buns are available at my local Kroger, Publix and even at good old Walmart. I watch for them to go on sale, so I think I got these for $4.00 for four. They are definitely worth the splurge occasionally, but I will share more in another post about some of the more frugal and yummy finds I have discovered recently at my local Aldi USA grocery.



I'm pleased to report though in stacking a bunch of fresh ingredients on this Udi's bun that it held up really well and didn't fall apart under the strain of so much yumminess. Those of you who eat gluten free know from experience how often our bread offerings can disappoint and collapse under the pressure of the fillings we try to load onto them. I've learned to keep several napkins handy when trying a new "bread" product intended to perform like its glutenous counterparts. Udi's sandwich/hamburger buns do not disappoint, so I will be adding them to all future picnic/grilling I do.



What products have you discovered that have been a pleasant surprise? What would you tell friends to steer clear of? I am finding the gluten free community to be far larger than I ever anticipated, so I am eager to link arms with others who have travelled this path ahead of me and glean their wisdom along the way. In the words of those High School Musical "philosophers", "We're all in this together." So let's have each other's backs and help the relative newbies navigate the gluten free market a little easier.



Now that I have you singing with your best Zac Efron falsetto, have a great day and check back soon for more on gluten free products, reviews and tips.

On His Adventure~
Pam

Autumn and Gluten Free Treats

Just hanging around today enjoying the autumn breezes flowing through my open windows. Can anybody say "free weather"? Love that kind of day!

Afternoon crept up on me, but it clearly whispered "tea time" in my ear, especially when it totally coincided with my girl baking Gluten Free shortbread cookies to complete my heart's desire for Pumpkin spice and something sweet.

Now I have mentioned eating Gluten Free, and my 18-year-old daughter has ventured into blogging to share all she's learned in her time of eating that way as well.

I've been eating gluten free for about five years now. I don't have an official celiac disease diagnosis, but my gluten intolerance is quite high. So I operate my life and eating habits very much as if I were celiac. It actually makes choosing what to eat easier rather than more difficult for me personally.

Though eating gluten free has not always been a walk in the park, I have found the benefits far outweigh any challenges I face. Add to that the number of new players who have joined the game, so to speak, and my life of eating gluten free has taken on a new beauty its not seen before. Olivia mentioned Aldi USA here, and I will be giving my take on that wonderful grocery in a future post.

Until then, I am going to go make a second cup of this fabulous and perfectly appropriate tea for the first day of Autumn from these fine folks.

Leave your own trail of beauty!

On His Adventure~
Pam