Gluten Free Review: Whisk Bliss creamy cooking base

I recently had the opportunity to try out the gluten-free version of Whisk Bliss.

Whisk Bliss is a product from the Utah-based cooking solutions company called Shirley J (yay for a Utah company!). Simply put, Whisk Bliss is a just-add-water cream sauce. You can use it as the base for hundreds of creamy recipes. Think of all those recipes that call for a can of cream-of-something soup or the soup recipes that want flour for thickening. Now you can easily make them gluten free (even easier than making up my gluten free cream soup mix recipe)!

They’ve got recipes if you need ideas on how to use it, but you can also just use it in any recipe needing a yummy, creamy base.

I made an alfredo sauce with it and it was so easy!

I didn’t have any of the Shirley J Chicken Boullion, so I just used the gluten free kind I already had on hand.

Ta Da! It really was as simple as the pictures make it look!
I love that companies are recognizing the need for gluten free. Their gluten-free products make my life easier .

Shirley J also has another exciting gluten-free product that I’ll be reviewing soon and that one will come with a giveaway, so watch for it.

If you’d like some Gluten-Free Whisk Bliss you can go to the Shirley J website and order some for yourself. Or you can check to see if there’s a store near you (if you’re in Utah, they’re all over, but they’re also in stores in 14 other states, so be sure to check if there’s one near you even if you’re outside of Utah) and go pick it up. Yay for yummy and simple!

A Baby, Hospital Food, Gluten Free Expo, and a GIVEAWAY! (CLOSED)

GIVEAWAY CLOSED. 

CONGRATULATIONS TO COMMENTER #6, JACLYN! 

(Winner picked using random.org.)

As I mentioned in my previous post, I just had my 3rd baby! She's an absolute sweetheart!

I've got to tell you about the food they had at the hospital where I had her. There was a menu that I could order from anytime of day and there were tons of gluten free options! I had grilled ham and cheese sandwiches, tortilla wraps, cupcakes, cinnamon rolls, and french toast. All gluten free and delicious! It was seriously heaven. In fact, we were anxious to go home, but we stayed a few extra hours because I wanted to have my lunch there so I could get some more yummy treats.

The tortilla wrap was especially yummy and made me want to get some gluten free tortillas so I could make it on my own. I'm trying to remember exactly what was in it. I think it was a California something or other wrap. It had chicken, bacon, avocado, lettuce, and other stuff. Yeah, I really don't remember, I guess (I did just give birth ;) ). Basically, make sure you have the bacon, avocado and chicken and then add whatever else sounds good to you.

But what about the gluten free tortillas? Well, Rudi's Gluten-Free Bakery now sells them, so you can get some from them! Here's some more info:

Rudi’s Gluten Free’s new tortillas come in three varieties including Plain, Spinach and Fiesta flavors. The new tortillas offer a soft, pliable base for a yummy sandwich wrap or burrito. As with all of Rudi’s Gluten-Free products, the tortillas are made with only the highest quality, wholesome ingredients, and are certified gluten-free and carry the Gluten-Free Certification Organization (GFCO) seal.

Sounds good, right? I'm especially excited for the spinach wraps.

And guess what?! One of you can win some awesome Rudi's products in honor of the Gluten Free Expo coming up. Here's what you'll get:

• Samples of Rudi’s Gluten-Free Bakery’s new tasty Gluten-Free Tortillas
• A Rudi’s Gluten-Free T-shirt and magnet
• A tortilla warmer
• A cookbook filled with delicious gluten-free recipes

 Pretty cool, right? And all you have to do to enter is comment and tell me whether or not you're going to the Gluten Free Expo this Saturday, Oct. 13 (don't worry, even if you're not going you're still entered to win just the same ;) ).  Trust me when I say you don't want to miss the expo. Rudi's will be there, so if you don't win the giveaway you'll still have a chance to sample their delicious products. 

The giveaway will end Friday, October 12, at midnight (Utah time). You don't have to live in Utah to enter.

So... will you be at the expo?

Guten Free Expo is Coming!

If you live in Utah, be sure to check this out! I helped out with it last year and let me tell you, it's awesome!

Go hungry because there are tons of samples! And be prepared to take lots of goodies home too.

There will be a free pancake breakfast for the first 1000 people through the door featuring Grandpa's Kitchen pancakes (my favorite!).

See you there! (I'll be the one walking around with my adorable new baby girl, Emma - born Sept. 27.)

Gluten Free Pizza: Pizza Pie Cafe Deal!

Any Utah or Idaho readers with a Pizza Pie Cafe near them (Rexburg, Ammon, Pocatello, Provo, Highland, Logan, and now Bountiful) will want to head there sometime today through Sept. 13!

In celebration of their Bountiful location opening their buffet at all locations is only $5.99 Sept. 11-13! That will make it $7.99 for gluten free (add $2 to any buffet for gluten free). If some in your family don't need gluten free and some do, this is perfect. Plus, kids are super cheap! 3-4 year olds are only $2.25!

You'll need to mention the facebook post to get the discount.

Here's their site for more info: http://www.pizzapiecafe.co/#!

And their facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/iloveppc

I'm trying to figure out how in the world I can work it out to go for dinner one of these days, but our evenings are packed each of those days :(. It might just have to be me and the kids getting this deal. Sounds so good!

Exciting Stuff in UT for Celiac Awareness Month

If you didn't already know, May is National Celiac Awareness Month. (For those of you who are wondering, it used to be in October, but has been changed to May.)

In honor of this, there are tons of events and sales going on throughout the country and Utah is no exception. Be on the lookout for exciting events. 

Two things I'm especially loving are the Gluten Free Food Fair coming up this Saturday in Orem. It's only $2 to get in, so seriously go! They'll have tons of delicious samples and gluten free information. $2 is an awesome price for lunch ;). Here's more info:

The other exciting thing is that Grandpa’s Kitchen Gluten Free Mixes (my absolute favorite GF flour blend and mixes) is 30% off at Harmon’s grocery stores this month. So go stock up!

Gluten Free Food Fair in Orem

This is coming up next month. Awesome price! Be sure to mark it on your calendar.

I'm in the Deseret News!

Fun stuff! I was contacted by a super cute girl to be interviewed for an article she was writing and now I'm quoted in the Deseret News!

Check out the article: No Pity Needed for Gluten-Free Eaters

The author, Crystalee Beck, and I have very similar gluten free journey stories. In fact, I'll be posting hers in the future for the "My Gluten Free Journey" series.

Be sure to check out the article! And I'd love to hear your opinion on it. Have you gotten to the point of being okay with being gluten free?


(I'm a little late on posting this article. I'm feeling better as far as morning sickness goes, but then I had the flu for a week. Hopefully I'm going to feel well for a long long time now!)

Hot Ham and Cheese Pockets with Goodness Gluten Free on Good Things Utah

Whew! That title is a mouthful, but I didn’t want to leave anything out. I met Carol King, the owner of Goodness Gluten Free, a few months ago and she is super nice! She makes frozen gluten free dough; how awesome is that?! Gluten free dough that you can pull out of the freezer, let rise, and bake! Very cool. She makes the dough healthy too, by using whole grains and ingredients to up the fiber content.
I was excited to turn on my TV Thursday and see Carol on Good Things Utah. Good for her! And the recipe she makes looks so easy and yummy! I used to love the ham and cheese Hotpockets and am excited to give these a try in their place.
Check out the video and her recipe here: Hot Ham and Cheese Pockets
And her website (to see where to buy her products) here: Goodness Gluten Free
It’s so great to support Utah gluten free companies!

Gluten Free Copycat Chili’s Green Chili and Chicken Soup

There’s not a ton of gluten free options at Chili’s, but at least you’re not trying to guess what does and what doesn’t have gluten in it when you go there. I would have guessed that their chips were gluten free, but I would have been wrong. Chili’s has a gluten free menu that they update often. Pretty cool. I really really wish their chips were gluten free, but oh well. At least they have their delicious Green Chili and Chicken Soup.

I had a bunch of avocados this week and was wanting to make this. Luckily the Picky Palate had a copycat recipe for me.This was perfect for me because it’s gluten free, dairy free, and sugar free. Unfortunately, I used chicken bouillon cubes for my chicken broth and they have MSG. At least I now know that MSG for sure makes me nauseous and fuzzy-headed. Figuring out what makes me sick is half the battle. 

I left the cheese out of mine and just garnished with cilantro and avocado. DELICIOUS! I think it’s now time for me to learn to make my own chicken broth, so I can make this often.

Go here to get the recipe.

Enjoy!

Homemade Gluten Free Larabars

Have you tried Larabars yet? I just did for the first time last month. Boy, have I been missing out! These bars are made with whole foods, no sugar, no gluten, no dairy, yet they’re still good! Some have as little as 3 ingredients (that’s a good thing).

My sister has been telling me about them forever, but I couldn’t bring myself to buy them because they’re pricey. I can no longer eat dairy or sugar and I was struggling to find good breakfast options, so I broke down and bought a box from Costco and have bought a second one since. The Costco box definitely makes them cheaper (I think around $.80/bar instead of more than $1), but it’s still a lot to me.

So when I saw that I could make my own Larabars, I jumped at the chance! They’re cheaper, plus I can make whatever flavors I want. The Costco box has peanut butter, cherry pie, and apple pie. All are delicious, but it’s fun to have other options. So you know, I still intend to always have a box of Larabars in my house. They don’t need to be refrigerated and they last longer than my homemade ones, and it’s definitely easier to not have to make them myself, but these homemade ones are really tasty and I’ll try to have them on hand when I can. The real Larabars will be backup.

This site has a list of a bunch of different Larabar recipe links. I went through them, copied and pasted the recipes that I wanted to try (and could find ingredients for) and made some of my own.

I made some cashew cookie and almond cookie ones from this blog (I added unsweeted coconut to them both) and some peanut butter chocolate ones that I made up. Each recipe only made about 3 bars and a couple balls (I wanted some small ones for my kids), which is perfect for me while I figure out what I like best. Some of the recipes make a whole cookie sheet of bars at a time.

I went to Winco and bought a bag of pitted dates. This was the first time I’ve ever bought dates and I now love them! They’re the key to making these bars good. They’re the reason you don’t need to add sugar. They’re sweet and delicious and they hold the bars together. Then you basically pick a nut to add and then anything else you might want (coconut, cocoa, fruit, cinnamon, etc) and you have a Larabar!

You can make a lot with dried fruit too, but I couldn’t find any at Winco that didn’t have added sugar. I’ll have to go to a health food store for those. A bunch of the recipes call for chocolate chips, but I can’t do those either. The cocoa made them plenty chocolaty for me (I love dark chocolate). You can also make these healthier by adding things like ground flax seeds or chia seeds.

I made mine in my “fake” Magic Bullet (Bella). I had to do about half of a recipe at a time. And the dates were surprisingly hard to blend. Most people do these in a food processor, but I don’t have one. The Bella worked well enough. After I blended them I put them in a bowl and then shaped them into bars or balls.

My favorites were the almond cookie ones

• 1/3 cup dates
• 1/2 cup almonds
• dash of salt
• 1/4 tsp vanilla
• as much unsweeted coconut as I felt like
• And about 2 Tbs cocoa

And then I rolled them in coconut.

YUMMY!

Have you had Larabars before? What’s your favorite? Do you think you’ll make some homemade Larabars? What kinds do you want to try?

Amazing Gluten Free Cream Cheese Cupcakes

Are you ready for the most delicious and simple cupcake recipe ever?! It’s so simple because you just use a gluten free cake mix (I used Betty Crocker), add the filling, and you get the most amazing cupcakes! I will warn you, they’re extremely addicting. Extremely.
These are the cupcakes I make when I need a bunch for a big party. They’re easy enough to make a large amount and they’re so good that they’re always the star of the dessert. I also make a strawberry version and take them too. (The directions for those are at the very bottom of this post.)
Of course, you can use your own chocolate cake recipe if you prefer. It works with any chocolate cake batter (as long as it’s yummy). The star of these is the cream cheese chocolate filling. Here’s how I make them.

First, mix up some batter using this:

Then use this recipe from allrecipes for the filling (my recipe and notes are below):
Fill the cups with chocolate batter then cream cheese mixture.
Bake.
Enjoy either with our without frosting (I prefer without).
Maybe I should call them gluten free marble cupcakes. Thoughts?
I actually prefer the mini cupcakes for this recipe. They’re perfect for popping in your mouth and they have a lot of the cream cheese filling. Yum!
Seriously AMAZING!!!
Here’s the recipe all ready to be copied, pasted, and printed (if anyone knows how I can make these printable by clicking it, let me know and I’ll do it):
Gluten Free Self-Filled Cream Cheese Cupcakes
Gluten Free in Utah
Ingredients:

• 1 (8 oz) package cream cheese, softened
  
• 1/2 cup white sugar
  
• 1 egg
  
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips (I use mini chips)
  
• 1 package gluten free chocolate cake mix
  • Ingredients cake mix calls for

Directions for cupcakes:

1. Preheat oven to temperature on cake mix and line cupcake pan with cupcake papers.
   
2. Prepare chocolate cake mix batter how it says on box, but do not bake.
   
3. In separate bowl cream together cream cheese and sugar until smooth.
   
4. Beat in the egg until well blended, then stir in chocolate chips.
   
5. Fill 1/3 full with chocolate cake batter.
   
6. Add cream cheese mixture to the center. *I do at least 1 Tbs (usually much more), but it’s up to you how much you use. Total the cup should be about 2/3 full.
   
7. Bake according to cake package directions.
   
8. Cool and frost. If you want to. They’re so delicious, I like them without frosting.
   
9. Enjoy!

*(The original recipe calls for just 1 tsp of mixture and then to put more chocolate batter on top. I do much more filling and don’t add batter to the top.)

Also, you should try a strawberry and white chocolate version of this recipe. Do everything the same except for these changes:

• white gluten free cake mix instead of chocolate
  
• strawberry cream cheese instead of white
  
• white chocolate chips instead of regular

I haven’t tried the strawberry version yet, but I’ve made a gluten-filled version for multiple parties and they’re always a favorite. YUMMY!!!

Enjoy!

Gluten Free Samples at Gluten Free Foods in Layton- definitely go!

Newsletter from the Gluten Free store in Layton:

Thanksgiving Day is next week.  We won't be able to guarantee you a Thanksgiving Pie, Dinner Rolls, Stuffing Mix or Pie Shells unless you preorder them.  The Pies come in 5 flavors.  Apple, Cherry, Key Lime, Pecan and Pumpkin.  The pies/pie shells are frozen and you will need to bake them yourself.  Key Lime Pie just has to be thawed. The stuffing mix is similar to Stove Top. Just boil water with some butter.  It is that easy!   Most of the dinner rolls are prebaked and you can just warm up for a few seconds in the microwave.  But if you are adventerous we do have some dinner rolls that are dough balls.  Let thaw, rise and bake and you will have fresh hot rolls! 

Preorders need to be placed ASAP!  Call us today at 801-776-1330 to place your orders!

Thanksgiving orders can be picked up on Tuesday November 22nd between 1 PM and 7 PM OR Wednesday November 23rd between 11 AM and 7 PM. *Please note pickup on Tuesday will be 1PM and later.  We get most of our deliveries that morning so we need time to receive them and prepare the orders for pickup.  Thank you for your understanding.    

This Saturday is our sample day from 11 AM - 3 PM.  Cheese Bread Mania will be here serving up some of their yummy cheese bread!  *Goodness Gluten Free Bakery will also be here.  They make dinner rolls/cinnamon roll dough.  Just thaw, rise and bake for hot delicious dinner rolls or cinnamon rolls. Please join us!   

Thanks,

Jenny

Gluten Free Foods

1596 N Hill Field Rd #B

Layton UT 84041

801-776-1330

www.ieatglutenfree.com

*(Bold added by me) I just met Carol, the owner of Goodness Gluten Free, last night and she is awesome! Be sure to visit the store tomorrow to meet her and sample her delicious rolls!
(How awesome is it that she has delicious gluten free frozen rolls?!)

Grandpa's Kitchen: new stores and demo

Grandpa's Kitchen gluten free mixes (my favorite GF mixes) are now in Dick's Market in both Bountiful and Centerville. Click here for a list of the other stores you can find them.


Also, this Saturday (Nov. 12) Grandpa's Kitchen will be doing a demo in the Bountiful Dicks. There will be samples of pizza, pumpkin squares and their bread. Yum!

Be sure to check it out and let me know what you think!

Gluten Free Fair Saturday Nov. 12

Eleanor's Bakeshop Halloween Party

Here's a great gluten free event coming up (again, courtesy of the Gluten Free in Utah County Facebook page):

Rodney Fife

On Oct. 29th Eleanor's Bakeshop and The Gluten Free Consumer are throwing a Gluten Free Halloween Party. It will be from 12 -4. There will be Games, Activities and Prizes. Feel free to call 801 903 8113 for more info.

Gluten Free Sandwiches and Cookies at Gandolfo's!

Yum!!!  I knew it was only a matter of time!
This was on the Gluten Free in Utah County Facebook page:

Jeffrey C Brown

Hello. I own a Gandolfo's deli franchise in Provo. I recently received approval from my franchisor to be a pilot store for GF sandwiches. 3230 N University Ave, Provo, UT 84604. Come by, try us out, and please let me know what you think. I've got GF cookies too! My in-laws (who all have Celiacs) love it.

Gluten Free Blog You MUST Check Out!

I've talked about my friend, Gabby, in the past.  She's the one who first helped me figure out I might have a gluten intolerance, and the one who helped me figure out how to do gluten free from the start, and she's the one who taught me how to make gluten free corn dogs (which happens to be the second most popular post on this blog).  Pretty much, going gluten free without her in my life would have been a million times harder.  She's one of the reasons I started this blog.  I was blessed to have her in my life to help me out, but I know a lot of people are starting their gluten free journey on their own and I wanted to try to help them.

The thing is, even though I've been gluten free for 5 years now, I still learn a ton from Gabby.  She's been doing it at least 15 years longer than I have.  And here's some exciting news... she's posting on her blog again!  Wahoo!!!  So now you can all benefit from her knowledge as well!

Be sure to check out her blog!  Especially this post (which is about my wedding... so funny!) and this one about buying gluten free products from Amazon.  She's figured out what the best deals are and shared them.  Yay!  I'm not very good at doing that, so thank you, Gabby! 

Go check it out and make sure you comment.  Bloggers love comments (plus, I'm really hoping it'll motivate her to continue with her posts... I love them!)!

Gluten Free Expo

The Gluten Free Expo was awesome!

The combination of being able to help out at a booth, try lots of yummy samples, learn about new companies, and meet new people made it wonderful!  And having a reader, Elsa, say hi to me made my day :).

It was so nice to be at this big event where everyone there was either living gluten free or knew someone who was.  I will definitely be going every year from here on out. 

Over the next few weeks I hope to highlight some of the different companies that were there.  Also, since I helped out at Udi's booth I learned a ton about their products and plan to do a post sharing that info with you.  In the meantime, you can check out Traci's review of the expo (and be sure to watch for her coupon match up).

Gluten Free Expo Tomorrow! You should come!

The Gluten Free Expo is tomorrow!!!  I'm so excited for it! 

Sadly, I decided not to do a booth for Gluten Free in Utah.  With not feeling well it was just an added stress I didn't want right now.  BUT I will be helping out at the Udi's table, so when you stop there, say hi!  I'll be there the first half of the day and my cute sister will be there the second half. 

Obviously, I think you should hit up all the booths, but especially be sure to check out Udi's (my favorite pre-made GF brand), Grandpa's Kitchen (my favorite GF mixes and flour blend), and Eleanor's Bakeshop (a favorite GF cafe/bakery).  I'm sure all will have amazing samples!  

Traci from HealthyDealsNSteals.com and BurntApple.com left this comment about the Gluten Free Expo.  I think it's helpful, so I'm sharing it.

I will be going to this again this year. I suggest going as early as possible to get the best coupons and samples as they ran out last year early. Run, RUN to this event! It is fantastic!

Hope I get to run into you while you are there. I'm so excited for this! My kids have looked forward to it all year. It would be good to see you again! :)

I will be posting the coupon matchups after the event on my site again, so look for those. They had quite a few free products with coupons.

Traci
HealthyDealsNSteals.com
BurntApple.com

Her site Healthy Deals N Steals is wonderful!  She posts deals on health foods, which often means gluten free.  There's a link to her site on my "Utah Gluten Free Links" page for your future reference.  Be sure to watch it the week after the Expo for the coupon matchups (GF coupons from the Expo matched up with store sales, so the products are at the lowest price you can find!). 

As you can tell from the Expo schedule on the poster (9am pancakes, 10am Dr. Karnam speaking) and from what Traci said, it's best to get there early.  If you can't make it till later, still come!  It'll be worth it.

They'll also have a play area with bouncy houses for kids, so bring them.  My kids love Costco samples, so I'm sure this will be like heaven to them. 

Hopefully I'll see you there!

Gluten Free Restaurant Review: Bella's in Ogden

I had a date night last Thursday with my husband.  It was fun and very much needed.  For dinner we went to a restaurant that was recommended to us and I'm glad we did.

Before we even went I was feeling good about it because of what I saw on the first page on their website.  See if you can guess what that was:  http://www.ilovebellas.com/
Hint:  it's on the left-hand side under "Bella's Menus"

Yep, "Gluten Free Menu" right there on the front page!  Plus it's a full page of delicious gluten free options.  Yay!

Then as a perused more around their site I liked it even more.  The history of this restaurant is just sweet.  Bella's is a family operated restaurant and it was renamed Bella's after their little sister who passed away in 2005.  I especially loved reading how they ran the place when their kids were little.  Really sweet.

So with all of that I was already liking the place and then we went and I was even more impressed.  The atmosphere is awesome!  There are beautiful koi ponds and waterfalls all over.  I loved it!  We ate inside, but apparently the outdoor patio is really neat as well.

Our server was really nice and good at his job.  If you go there and Jason is your server, you'll know you're in good hands.  He kept our chips, salsa, and drinks full.  And even better than that (and I guess the most relevant part for this blog) he knew what he was talking about when it came to gluten free!!! 

I asked him if I could get a gluten free menu and he immediately brought one out for me and then let me know that the chips were gluten free, but that they were fried in the same oil as gluten-filled items, so he could get me some fully gluten free chips that weren't fried.  And he knew all of this immediately without having to go ask a supervisor!  You know you're in good hands at a restaurant when the servers have been trained about gluten free and cross-contamination. 

I got the carnita fajitas and it was yummy, as was the salsa.  We were told later (by my father-in-law) that the other options of salsa are fantastic, so next time we go we're going to be sure to order them (we were offered them, but decided to just go with the regular).

It was a very pleasant dinner.  And to finish it off, our receipt specifically said "gluten free fajita" on it.  I loved that.  It made me feel like they really know what they're doing and they weren't going to mess up and cross-contaminate the gluten free items because they categorized them separately. 

I highly recommend Bella's for a gluten free dining option (and for non-gluten free dining ;) ).  It's a great family business that supports the community. 

Let me know if you go or if you've been before!