Spaghetti

Recommendation: Ancient Harvest Quinoa Gluten Free Spaghetti Pasta

Review: I went to a fabulous dinner party this past weekend. Grilled shrimp and scallops, marinated beef, chicken picatta, and penne vodka! A mouth-watering feast. And the best part? The hosts called me in advance to discuss how to make everything gluten free. What a thoughtful gesture to a person who's used to eating whatever small part of a feast is GF. To my surprise, I was introduced to a fabulous GF spaghetti - Ancient Harvest Quinoa Gluten Free Spaghetti Pasta. It was served al dente, smothered in a special gf vodka sauce. You won't find a better GF spaghetti!

Where to buy: http://www.celiac.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=73

Cereal

Recommendation: Cinnamon Chex Cereal

Review: I love crunchy food. When I first started eating GF, it was a craving I had often but had nothing that would fill the void. But thanks to the Chex line of GF cereals, I got a little pep back in my GF step. Chex makes a few varieties of GF cereals now (rice, corn, honey nut, chocolate, and cinnamon). I mix the rice or corn with nuts and dried fruit for an on the go snack. And I like the cinnamon on top of my morning yogurt for a little sweet touch and added crunch. The best part? You can find GF Chex in your local food store. Thank you General Mills!

Where to buy: Your local food store in the regular cereal aisle

Pancakes

Recommendation: Pamela's Ultimate Baking and Pancake Mix

Review: Good grief, there are a lot of awful tasting GF pancakes out there. When you have a craving for a stack of pancakes, you don't want cardboard cakes. Pamela's Ultimate Baking and Pancake Mix is the best of the best.  Tip: I make a double batch each time and freeze them. A few seconds in the microwave to defrost and they taste fresh and fluffy!

Where to buy: http://www.drugstore.com/products/prod.asp?pid=94770&catid=74921&aid=337953&aparam=pamela_s_products_ultima&CAWELAID=61287568

Snack Bar

Recommendation: KIND Bar Walnut and Date

Review: I used to love eating granola bars. A substantial snack that I could pack in my bag and eat when my arms were too full at the mall to stop for a snack or when I had back to back meetings and no time for lunch. Finding a GF snack bar that was up to my high expectations was not easy. Most of the bars taste like cardboard or dirt. Yes, dirt. I actually tried a GF chocolate bar once that tasted like dirt. I'm not here to bash any brands, but don't you think this might have come up in consumer testing..."hey, this tastes more like dirt than chocolate." Anyway, if you're looking for a mix of sweet, healthy, and filling, try out the delicious KIND Bar Walnut and Date. Don't be turned off by the word "date." These are sweet and yummy bars. Really. I love them so much, I have an account set-up with KIND where they send me a shipment every 3 months automatically!

Where to buy: http://www.kindsnacks.com/buy-products

Brownies

Recommendation: Pamela's GF Irresistible Chocolate Brownie Mix

Review: There are two things I immediately missed once I stopped eating gluten. Brownies and bread. While I applaud Betty Crocker for coming out with a convenient and cost-friendly brownie mix, my hat goes off to Pamela's Chocolate Brownie Mix. These brownies are not only my absolute favorite because they are so rich and gooey, but my husband and card playing neighbors request them too. You know it's good when people who can eat gluten ask for these brownies!

Where to buy: http://www.amazon.com/Pamelas-Chocolate-Brownie-16-Ounce-Packages/dp/B000DZKKK2

Where's the GOOD gluten free food?

After years of issues with food, I started keeping a food log of what I ate and what symptoms followed. It didn't take long to realize I was lactose intolerant and had a sensitivity to gluten. After months of living gluten free, I decided to see a specialist to get a real diagnosis. I was hoping this was the last of many doctors I'd need to see to diagnose my stomach issues.

Well, his conclusion was that he could not detect Celiac Disease or any gluten allergy because I had stopped eating gluten for so long already. He told me to start eating gluten again and come back in a few months to be retested. I politely said no thanks. It took me years to figure out how to feel better and, diagnosis or not, I was never going back to eating gluten.

So, I've continued to eat gluten free for several years now and I know how challenging it can be when you first start out. At first, the two most frustrating things were trying to figure out which ingredients contained gluten (required reading all labels) and finding gluten free packaged foods that actually taste good!

I searched online and talked to people, but I couldn't find a list of good tasting gluten free food anywhere.

Recently, at my local health food store (where I get most of my gluten free goodies these days), I ran into a women who was overwhelmed by all the GF choices and and asked me for my advice. Having tried many of the products already (and finding most of them terrible), I was over-joyed to walk her through the store and point out the all the wonderful tasting gluten free food. The kind of food that doesn't TASTE gluten free!

To all you gluten free eaters out there, this blog's for you.