Manufactured gluten-free Products

[MallysMama]

This topic might better belong in the food section...but it kind of goes with coping. I'm not coping well with the manufactured products available! I'm having issues with how nasty tasting most of them turn out to be! I spend way too much money to try something new and 9 times out of 10 I gag on it. (I'm probably just too picky and my tastebuds too sensitive.) Out of $40 spent today on new gluten-free foods - I've liked $4.00 of it so far! I bought this box fettucini alfredo dinner where you just add your own chicken. It looked SO good on the box. Yeah - the noodles in the picture were probably regular pasta...NOT the crap that happened to be in the box! After one bite I wanted to send it all down the garbage disposal... but I figured maybe if I keep eating it, I'll get used to it. So, I ate a small portion....nope, still didn't like it! I found one thing I liked today - a box of chocolate cookies that weren't too bad - okay, actually good! I don't often make homemade stuff because of how long it takes....so I tend to cheat more often when it comes to snacking... so I hoped that buying some manufactured gluten-free stuff might help me. It didn't so far.

Please tell me some of the ready-made foods (or even mixes if you REALLY liked them) that you eat because you want to, not because you're starving and have no other options!

[CMCM]

I'm new to this, but I've been trying a lot of the Kinnikinnick things, and they're surprisingly GOOD. Here's what I've tried and liked so far:

Animal cookies (fabulous, crispy, perhaps better than the "real" ones!)

K-toos cookies (oreo clones...extremely good)

English muffins (not really like an English muffin, but GOOD toasted--I'd like them if if not gluten-free)

Bagels (pretty good toasted)

Italian white tapioca bread (good!)

Brownies

Donuts, both maple and chocolate dipped ones...very good!

Gluten free pantry makes a great angel food cake and also a fabulous spice cake mix that everyone in my family loves.

I just tried a Trader Joe's gluten free Pad Thai mix which was GREAT.

Pamela's spicy ginger cookies are soft and taste like the real thing (but a soft cookie, not a snap type)

Van's gluten free waffles, the blueberry ones are great, also the apple cinnamon ones. You'd never know they were gluten free. Some regular markets have them!

[darlindeb25]

I don't know if you are dairy free too, but Mac and Cheese made with Tinkyada macaroni is pretty good, even my daughter liked it. I am sure if you like spaghetti, you would like the Tinkayada brand of spaghetti too. Otherwise, I tend to stick to the things I know are gluten free. If I need some junk food, I get some regular Lay's Potato Chips, I buy Dole fruit, I eat yogurt often, always checking for modified corn starch--I eat cottage cheese with fruit stirred in it or maybe some tuna--salads, I make myself. I never starve and along with gluten free, I also can't have soy, corn, or tomatoes. I never eat beef anymore, very rarely pork--I eat lots of chicken breast and once a week or so I have some fish, cod, talapia, and sometimes flounder. On occasion, I eat a baked potato, but they generally cause a little tummy upset. I, like you have not found much in the packaged gluten-free products that I like. If I want cookies, I make them myself with my old favorite recipes, using gluten-free all purpose flour. Of course, I still can have real ice cream, always reading the labels. It can be done, just keep at it hun. Deb

[Guest cassidy]

I agree with you, it is frustrating to try something new and have it taste terrible. Stay away from DeBoles Mac & Cheese in a box and Annies Mac & Cheese in a box, I made my husband take a bite and he said they taste like playdoh. I have that alfredo pasta that you add chicken to in my pantry now. I was hoping it would be good, but now I'm afraid it won't be.

I like the Tinkyada pasta. I truely would eat it even if I didn't have to. I found the Kraft Mac & Cheese powdered cheese - it says "Shake on Popcorn" and is in a little blue canister near the parmesan cheese. Add a little milk and butter and you have some great mac and cheese. I found the cheese at Walmart, someone here recommended it.

I love white cheddar rice crackers from Back to Nature. I can find those at my regular grocery store. I also love Kozy Shack pudding - the chocolate and tapioca are great.

I eat egg beaters for breakfast with spinach, cheese and salsa - I have eaten that for years.

I buy pre-cut apples that come in a bag and eat those for snacks. Kraft string cheese is also good.

I eat a lot of Uncle Ben's rice with a chicken herb ox bouillon cube (one cup rice per cube).

I love the eden organic rice and beans in a can - some of them are spicy, some not, just read the ingredients. I add cheese and it is really good.

Simply potatoes garlic mashed potatoes. They are near the eggs, pre-made mashed potatoes. The sweet potatoes are also good.

I like Swiss Miss hot chocolate and Cadbury mini eggs (better get them before easter) if I need a chocolate fix.

French fries - Publix brand is really good - they are a good snack.

For bars, I love the Gertrude and Bronners Alpsnacks - pineapple & mango flavor. They aren't too sweet and they are very healthy.

The one thing I eat even thought it is produced in a facility that contains wheat is Baked Lays Potato Chips. I have no will power for these. I end up eating the whole bag in two days. I try not to get them that often, but I totally love them.

I haven't tried any bread, cookies or things like that. I tried low carb before this and it helped a little, probably because I was eating less gluten, but that bread, etc was terrible.

[GlutenFreeAl]

I second that Pamela's cookies are AWESOME. I also made cookies from a mix yesterday, which I NEVER would have done in my pre-gluten free days. They were gluten free chocolate chip cookies from Arrowhead Mills and surprisingly they were really really good.

My snacks are often rice cakes (Lundberg, not Quaker) with peanut butter. I eat my turkey sandwiches on Real Foods corn thins.

I also eat corn chips (I like Bearitos brand) with either salsa or mashed up avocado.

I've found that Amy's organic soups are pretty good (the closest I've found to homemade in a can) and many say gluten free right on them.

I also eat a lot of Stonyfield yogurt. And gluten free cereals. All of the Nature's Path/Envirokids cereals are pretty good.

I've been frustrated at the prepackaged gluten free stuff too and have been really angry when I've had to throw food out because my budget is pretty limited and does not leave much room for throwing away $5 loaves of bread.

Check the forum for gluten free foods and you'll find that many mainstream foods are actually gluten free and your diet doesn't really have to change all that much.

Pretty much the common consensus around here is that the more whole natural foods you eat, the better of you are. Prepackaged gluten free foods can be cross contaminated and tend to not be the best.

It's hard to live without cookies though...

[teankerbell]

I can't eat Pamela's cookies - they hurt my stomach. I am casein intolerant - I think there is dairy in those. But they are GOOD. And I have had problems with Amy's products.

I use Lindeburg's risotto, rice, rice cakes and rice chips, Barbara's cereals and Imagine soups, gluten-free Bagels from the health food store. Jelly Bellies and Cheetos are good junk food! :-)

[kevsmom]

I agree about the Tinkyada pasta. It really is good.

I like to use the Gluten-Free Pantry Chicken Flavor Broth Mix. It is a powder that comes in a shaker bottle, and is a great seasoning for chicken, rice and veggies.

I buy the Asian Gourmet Rice Crackers at my grocery store. They are very tasty. You can serve them with cheese (I use Kraft - they will list allergents) when you have company, or bring them as an appetizer to a party, and know that you have something that you can eat.

I have also checked out some mainstream food sites. Sometimes this makes things a lot easier and less expensive. If you go to Open Original Shared Link - click on FAQS - Search, you will get a whole list of gluten free food.

If you get a craving for french fries go to Open Original Shared Link and search for gluten free, there are lots of choices. Be careful, because some of their things are not gluten free.

It's a good idea to still check the ingredients in case they "improved" the product.

Good Luck - Cindy

[angielackner]

i agree with the pamela's cookies...yum! but even better are the whole foods gluten free bakehouse cookies...they're pricy, so i only get them once in awhile as a treat...but they rock!

i also have been on a potato chips and dip kick, and a beef jerky kick (i'm 8 months pregnant)

i do lay's potato chips and dean's ranch dip. and then for beef jerky i like the bridgeford kind (just no teriaki or turkey jerky)

man i remember how frustrating easy snack foods were when i first started out too. it'll get better...honest.

plus there is a whole plethera of mainstream candy you can have...we usually have snickers and reese's peanut butter cups in the house.

angie

[4getgluten]

Cindy - Thanks for the Oreida link! That's great. I've been avoiding their fries because I just never got around to checking.

I also love Pamela's cookies - Yummy. And, it has it's own thread going right now, Kozy Shack puddings are really good.

[TCA]

My son is sooooo picky, but I've found a lot of really good stuff that he likes

Mixes:

Authentic foods blueberry muffins

Cause you're Special biscuits, bread, and yellow cake mix

Kinnikinik pancakes

The cravings place Brownies

Cookies:

Pamela's pecan shortbread

Foods for life Snickerdoodles

I just went to a Wild Oats in Nashville and got a wide assortment of bars to try. I haven't been overly impressed, but the Larabars are pretty good.

I've been getting the Amy's microwave bowls and enchiladas. I haven't had any problems and they're really good.

Van's Waffles

I make grilled cheese sandwiches with Kinninkink white sandwich bread. They're really good.

We eat a lot of Ore Ida tots and fries and delimex taquitos too.

[Guest nini]

Tinkyada Pasta

Kinnikinick Cookies,Italian White Tapioca Rice Sandwich Bread, Blueberry Muffins, Cinnamon Buns, Pizza Crust, Bagels, Donuts

1-2-3 Gluten Free mixes! OMG! I think I've gone to gluten-free heaven when I make and eat these mixes... Aaron's Rolls, Southern Glory Biscuits, Muffin and Quickbread mix, Buckwheat Pancake mix

EnerG Crackers and Pretzels

[jerseyangel]

Because I'm off grains at least for now, I'm not using these at the moment , but some good things I discovered--Tinkyada Pasta, Gluten free Pantry Products-especially the pie crust mix, turtle brownies and the cake and cookie mix. Also Whole Foods Gluten Free Bakeshop breads and pecan pie, Envirokidz snack bars and peanut butter cereal. Enjoy Life Snickerdoodles and Gingerbread Spice Cookies are good, too.

I still eat and enjoy Lay's Natural Chips, and Fisher's Roasted and salted almonds.

[Rachel--24]

Mi-Del animal cookies...really good.

Lifestream waffles

Pamelas cookies

[wolfie]

Here are some of my favorites....I am a huge texture person, so I know what you mean about some of the gross gluten-free stuff out there! LOL!

Tinkyada pasta with Kraft cheese mix (tastes just like Kraft Mac & Cheese)

Kinnikinnick bagels and doughnuts

Gluten Free Pantry Favorite Sandwich Bread mix....LOVE this stuff!!

Van's gluten-free waffles...all flavors are great

Pamela's cookies...never tasted a bad one, but my fav is the Pecan Shortbread...tastes just like Pecan Sandies

Gluten Free Pantry Chocolate Truffle Brownie Mix....even my kids who don't have to eat gluten-free LOVE this!

Foods By George Cheese Pizza....LOVE this!!

Ener-g pretzels

That is all I can think of now...I try to eat mostly whole foods...fruits, veggies, meats, but use these others to supplement and sometimes use as comfort foods! LOL!

[Pegster]

Namaste makes a wonderful BLONDIE mix which I take to pot lucks with chocolate chips added. It's expensive, but tastes so good!

Kinnickinnick has their own website and I order donuts, biscotti, pizza crusts, bagels, these little rolls called "tray buns" and muffins (carrot raisin, cranberry, chocolate chip) directly from them in Canada. It's a ten dollar shipping charge, but totally worth it! I especially love their maple donuts.

[Mango04]

Lundberg Farms Rice Chips are great.

I've like all of the Cause Your Special mixes I've tried.

Chebe is awesome as well.

[elonwy]

I'm going to have to stick up for Annie's rice mac and cheese in a box. The Deboles stuff is horrid but the Annies stuff is alot like kraft mac and cheese and the noodles are pretty good. (Don't overcook them). I fed some to my non-celiac BF last night and he really liked it. Next I'm going to experiment with adding the kraft cheese to make it even cheesier.

Glutino breakfast bars are yummy. Kinda like Nutri-grain bars, but not as sweet.

Kinnikinnick and glutino make some of the best snacky stuff, but very little can be found in a store. Beware the cracker flax though, that was NOT what I thought it was.

Elonwy

[prinsessa]

I have just recently started eating gluten free foods. One brand I like is Thai Kitchen...I pretty sure it is gluten free since it says so in bold letters on the box. They make stuff like Pad Thai which is pretty good and pretty easy to make. I like to spice mine up a little bit though . My kids really like it too. I can usually find it at regular stores where it is cheaper than the health food ones.

[Felidae]

Lundberg rice cakes, Kinnikinnick frozen pizza crusts, EnerG crackers and Think Organic fruit and nut bars.

[key]

Obviously everyone's taste buds are so different! Annies Mac and cheese isn't very good to me, but I do buy it and use the cheese mix and use the noodles from Tinkyada pasta! It works great! THe pasta in the box just isn't very good to me and my son wouldn't eat it either.

These are the things that others like in my family that don't have to be gluten-free.

Pamela's pancake mix-We eat these almost everyday.

Tinkyada pasta's

Kinnikinnick's mini pizza crusts and Love their english muffins, but I do cut them in thirds and toast them or they can be a bit dry when just cut in half.

Gluten free pantry bread mix is very good when it first comes out of the bread maker-I freeze it after we eat some and have it pre-sliced, you can defrost it and make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich to take somewhere or toast it. It is good, but I don't believe as good as the real thing.

Nature's Path-Fruit sweetened corn flakes

Pamela's cookies are pretty good, but my son won't eat them and he is two years old. I don't crave them like a whole made chocolate chip cookie. I prefer to stick to mainstream sweets and treats, like Breyers icecream, M&M's, Snicker's bars, chocolate pudding and of course other chocolate that is gluten-free.

So I guess my only two things that are just as good to me as the original thing is

Pamela's pancakes

Tinkyada pasta

At least that is all I can think of. I am being "picky" for you! Sticking to fresh stuff is the best idea, but some of the other stuff people have mentioned are good, but just not things I have to have.

Monica

[MallysMama]

Oh my goodness! You people are amazing! I never expected such a quick and overwhelmingly helpful reply! After reading every single word - there's some I agree with and other's I don't. Like I said, I'm really really picky! Almost all of you liked Pamela's cookies. Well, I happened to buy a box of those (lemon shortbread or something like that)...and took one bite and gagged. I couldn't handle the texture! It was so grainy and gritty and fell apart if you looked at it wrong! Are all Pamela's cookies like that?! I don't have much faith in buying that brand again. The cookies I did find that I liked were Country Choice soft baked Gluten-free chocolate fudge brownie cookies. You could actually bend the cookie and get a piece instead of crumbling the whole thing.

Tinkyada pasta is something I've been eating for quite a while - but I only like the white rice spaghetti. I emailed them and asked if they made the white rice in other types...but they don't, unfortunately. I don't care about the nutritional value of the Gluten-free things I eat (that's where veggies and fruit come in handy).

I'm not new to Celiac ....just new to manufactured Gluten-free products. So, I know that there are many other mainstream goodies to eat... I was just hoping for something new and different that I could eat - and not worry about cheating. (Read my post in "mad at the producers".... I'm looking for help in listing all the things we are allergic to - wheat, barley, rye are what I know... what else?)

Oh - I tried the Vans waffles (apple cinnamon). I don't know if I didn't toast it long enough or what - but Gag Me!!! After being out of the toaster only 1 minute it was like it turned to mush! And when I tried to butter it - it started to fall apart. I haven't thrown the rest of them away - so if you all say you like them, I guess I'll try them again.

I bought some kinnikinnick mixes... but haven't tried them yet (takes time). But it sounds like you all have eaten that brand of ready-made goodies? Where'd you find them? I guess this health food store didn't carry that much of their brand. There is a Whole Foods store here...but it would take me at least a half an hour of Vegas traffic to get to. Not that desperate yet! There is another one a little closer that will be opening in April. I guess I'll have to wait till then. You mentioned a website... anyone have the address?

Key - you said something about other chocolate not being gluten free?!!?!? Heaven help me! What kind of chocolate isn't Gluten-free!? I'm such a chocoholic! I joke that I can live without flour - just don't take away the sugar/chocolate from me! haha! Please explain! (On second thought - maybe I'm better off not knowing. Ignorance is bliss!)

Well, anyway! Thanks for all your replies. I think I just need to print off these two pages and highlight all the new things to try and then go shopping! (I should have done this first before wasting so much money!) If you have any more favorites - keep 'em coming!

[CMCM]

The only Pamela's cookies I liked were the Spicy Ginger...something about having real ginger in it on the label. Not snaps, though...these are soft. I've found that not all items within a brand line are good, sometimes only this or that is good. You have to try things and figure out what you like. As for Van's waffles, I keep mine frozen and pop them right in the toaster. They're great, they don't fall apart, and my husband and son thought they were regular ones. I can't imagine why yours fell apart, that hasn't been my experience with them. As for health food stores etc., they all carry a few things but I don't know of one that has a lot of things and I'm tired to trying to go to lots of places to find stuff. In particular, I think stores avoid carrying all the frozen baked goods because of frerezer space considerations and expiration issues...perhaps they think the demand is too low for them to sell quickly enough. So I just order online. So far I've just tried www.kinnikinnick.com, but I know there are other places to try. Kinnikinnick seems very efficient and quick to deliver, and they also carry some other stuff besides their own....I got some EnerG wheat free crackers from them which I thought were pretty good with soup, and also w/peanut butter on them. Right now I'm just trying to find all the good sources online.

[gabrielle]

I wasn't crazy about Pamela's products either. I know a lot of people swear by them, but it's a texture thing with me too. I love Kinnikinnick's prepackaged cookies. The Ginger Snaps and Montanas Chocolate Chip cookies taste like "normal" cookies. I agree with the Glutino breakfast bars, I personally like the apple ones. I also love rice cakes, and I use them for everything... if you put a little tomato sauce and mozzerella cheese it's like a make shift pizza. They're also good with cream cheese and tomato or just a slice of american cheese melted and they make a good soup dipper. It's really difficult to find good gluten-free food, especially if you're used to eating whatever you want. I've only been gluten-free for a year and it is still a little difficult- but it gets easier and you learn to invent new things!

[key]

I think I have read that Godiva won't list whether there are gluten or not in their stuff, so most people won't eat their chocolate. I really haven't checked many of them. Other's can help more. Chocolate is the only good thing I haven't given up yet, so I know what you are saying about not wanting to know!

I don't know which waffles I tried, but I swear I tried Van's. I will have to try again, but the one's I tried fell into a million pieces. I felt sorry for my son eating them and throuh it out. I couldn't eat them.

My mom kept buying stuff for us to try and I felt bad when we wouldn't like some of it. Most of it! She did find the Pamela's pancake mix for us though and a few others.

GOodluck,

MOnica

[prinsessa]

I bought the Van's and yes they did fall apart more than normal waffles. I tried to do what I did with normal waffles....put butter and jelly on them. They tasted so gross that I could hardly eat them (they were really dry). Next time I tried them with lots of syrup and they were pretty good. I know the syrup isn't as healthy as jelly, but since I am giving up so much other things I figure I could treat myself with maple syrup . My DD tried them and she didn't even notice they were gluten-free. I'm going to try the other flavors next time....I tried the flax seed ones this time.