Archive for January, 2010

Product Review: Sam Mills Gluten Free Conchiliette Pasta

Jan 18th, 2010 Posted in Gluten Free Food, Product Reviews, Recommended, celiac shopping, gluten free diet | Comments Off

Recently we noticed a new brand of gluten free pasta showing up in online searches, Sam Mills. One thing that sets this brand apart is very low price. We decided to take a chance and buy a 12 pack of Sam Mills Gluten Free Conchiliette from Amazon to see what it was like.

Sam Mills pasta is made from corn in Romania. Like most gluten free pasta it is dairy free and vegan. Their pasta is made in a gluten free facility and is packaged for the USA in 16oz bags. We've had Sam Mills pasta three times now and I'm ready to say that I do like it.

Unlike most gluten free pasta the Sam Mills seems especially resilient to overcooking. The package suggests 8 to 11 minutes cooking time but we have found it requires 15 minutes unless you want it so al dente as to be nearly crunchy. Four Star Rating The shell shape naturally holds pasta sauce, the flavor is nice, and the price per serving is phenomenal. This pasta might be a very good choice for families with young children on a gluten free diet.

I'll give it 4 stars.

Sam Mills Gluten Free Conchiliette, 16-Ounce Bags (Pack of 12) Sam Mills Gluten Free Conchiliette, 16-Ounce Bags (Pack of 12)
List Price: $22.68
Sale Price: $19.57
Average Rating:

Buy Gluten Free Rice Stick and Save Money

Jan 15th, 2010 Posted in Gluten Free Food, Recommended, celiac shopping | one comment »

Have you ever noticed that once the two words "gluten free" go onto a package it suddenly costs a whole lot more? Many types of gluten free pasta noodles are made from rice, but why not sidestep the gluten free food industry by finding foods that inherently contain no gluten, without being labeled as such?

In Asian cuisine there is a type of noodle called rice stick. In our experience it is gluten free, but of course you must always read the ingredients. Having once lived in an area where there were many Asian people I was lucky enough to learn a bit about Asian cooking, and using rice stick instead of gluten free spaghetti is fast, easy and less expensive.

Usually rice stick is prepared by soaking the noodles in hot water. Boiling is definitely not indicated for most varieties of rice stick. While you are reading the ingredients be sure to check the instructions for preparing your rice stick.

We quite enjoy having rice stick at our house, it comes in varying widths, but the very thin variety used in making Pad Thai is most common. Below is a list of rice stick offerings from Amazon.

Dynasty Mai-Fan Rice Stick, 6.75-Ounce Bags (Pack of 12) Dynasty Mai-Fan Rice Stick, 6.75-Ounce Bags (Pack of 12)
List Price: $25.20
Sale Price: $18.64
Average Rating:
Ka-Me Rice Sticks, 8-Ounce Units (Pack of 12) Ka-Me Rice Sticks, 8-Ounce Units (Pack of 12)
List Price: $33.36
Sale Price: $25.66
Average Rating:
Thai Wide Rice Stick Noodle -14 oz pack Thai Wide Rice Stick Noodle -14 oz pack
Sale Price: $3.69
Pad Thai Chantaboon rice stick noodles - 14 oz Pad Thai Chantaboon rice stick noodles - 14 oz
Sale Price: $3.69
Ty Ling Py Mai Fun Rice Sticks, 8-Ounce Packages (Pack of 24) Ty Ling Py Mai Fun Rice Sticks, 8-Ounce Packages (Pack of 24)
List Price: $57.60
Sale Price: $44.31
Royal Elephant Brand - Rice Stick Noodles (Net Wt. 16 Oz) Royal Elephant Brand - Rice Stick Noodles (Net Wt. 16 Oz)
Sale Price: $1.89
Roland Pad Thai Rice Stick Noodles, 14-Ounce Package (Pack of 30) Roland Pad Thai Rice Stick Noodles, 14-Ounce Package (Pack of 30)
Sale Price: $77.44
Royal Blossom - Chantaboon Rice Stick (3MM) 16 Oz. Royal Blossom - Chantaboon Rice Stick (3MM) 16 Oz.
Sale Price: $3.49
Average Rating:
Rice Stick - Medium Rice Stick - Medium
Sale Price: $2.49
Filchoice Rice Sticks Sauce, 1.4-Ounce Units (Pack of 24) Filchoice Rice Sticks Sauce, 1.4-Ounce Units (Pack of 24)
List Price: $22.15
Sale Price: $22.15

Still More New Sites for GF Shoppers

Jan 14th, 2010 Posted in Gluten Free Food, celiac shopping, gluten free diet | one comment »

We are in the business of creating websites, so we do. Many of our websites are designed to provide support for people affected by celiac disease, this includes our two latest additions.

   Gluten Free Finds
Gluten Free Finds: gluten free items we have found
Gluten Free Finds is a gluten free food shopping site organized according to different types of gluten free food, like pasta, bread mix, etc. We think it is attractive and easy to use. In creating Gluten Free Finds we looked at which products in each category of gluten free food are most popular, and we have configured this site to show you the top selling gluten free items in each category first. We hope you will find it useful and pleasant to look at too.

    Gluten Free Brands
Gluten Free Brands: shop gluten free by brand name
Gluten Free Brands has been designed to show you lists of gluten free food items sorted by brand name, it lists a number of well known and popular brands of gluten free food, then lets you see the most popular products for each brand. There are some similarities in the software used for these two new websites, each is based on the widely used Wordpress blogging platform, and each is heavily customized for gluten free food shopping.

Please feel free to comment here about either or both of these two new gluten free food shopping sites, we appreciate all feedback. We'll keep building new sites if you'll keep stopping by.

Thanks
Steve

Gluten Free, Vegan Mayo Substitute: Mayola

Jan 13th, 2010 Posted in Gluten Free Food, Product Reviews, gluten free diet | one comment »

Recently I discovered a gluten-free, vegan imitation mayonnaise product that comes in a handy squeeze bottle designed to be stored upside down like those cool Heinz ketchup squeeze bottles. This idea appealed to me because it involves inherent protection against cross contamination that might be caused by people using a knife to spread mayo on a slice of ordinary wheat-bearing danger bread.

I like the flavor and consistency quite a bit. It is very similar to Vegenaise, but perhaps slightly sweeter. We discovered Mayola for sale on Amazon. It is made in the UK and prominently labeled as gluten free. Below are some photos of the product and a tomato sandwich I made using Ener-G rice bread.


Mayola Photos

Photos of Mayola gluten-free vegan mayo substitute

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I quite like Mayola and will be buying more once this 6-pack runs out. I even use a little bit of it in a sauces for a stir fry sometimes. I'd give it 4 or 5 stars.