May is Celiac Awareness month, so this month I will try to post information to let let people know what it means to be Celiac or gluten intolerant. I also like to give a little bit more information about being gluten free and being aware of what gluten is and foods that contain it, you can take a look at some more information here and here.
On my gluten free journey I have found many great products to make it easier on me and my daughter during this adventure.
When we started our journey five years ago, there were a few products out there, but a lot of them didn’t taste so great. As years have gone by, more and more products are available and they taste better. Although as with any food [whether gluten free or not], whole all natural vs prepacked is always better. We started to do a lot of our own baking again and of course, eating all natural whole food is gluten-free, and the best kind you can have.
There are a few brands that are very good and quite well known for their gluten free products Glutino, Enjoy life , Bob’s Red Mill Udi’s as well as Rudi’s gluten-free products to name a few. Some have been around for quite a while and they are some of our favorite products. The very first gluten-free product I purchased was actually the Enjoy life granola, which was amazing and was a great start to our gluten-free journey.
There are so many great products out there now, I will be doing a series of posts with my some of our favourite brands. As with anything, it is a matter of personal taste, so even if I like them you may not. A lot of the things I try out I also like to test out on my husband, as he doesn’t have to eat gluten-free [he is my guinea pig] so if he likes it and will eat it, then that’s good thing. 🙂
Some store chains are now carrying their own brand of gluten-free products as well, they are worth trying out as they are generally a little bit less expensive -here in Canada, Loblaw’s has their own brand of gluten-free products as does Sobey’s and Metro. I personally like the natural brand of Irresistible products from Metro; they have an all-purpose flour blend that I really like to use, especially for pizzas. Otherwise, I generally use different flours on their own like coconut flour, almond flour or rice flour.
This is by no means an extensive list, as I mentioned there are a lot of products out there these are just some of the ones that have enjoyed.
First I want to mention some of the Glutino products that we like to enjoy at our house. One of our favorites, and I am told in other homes[ that are not gluten-free] are the Glutino brand pretzels, they are very very addictive! And that’s just the regular ones, they also have yogurt covered, chocolate covered and a honey mustard which is really good. So be prepared to open up the bag and have it gone very quickly!
Glutino makes so many more products, another favorite are the bagel chips, I prefer the Parmesan garlic but the plain are very good too.
They have just recently changed some of the packaging of the the breads and some other products, so it is nice to see the consistency throughout. My daughter has always really enjoyed their multigrain and the seeded bread as well as their cheese bread [what can I say, she is a cheese addict as well!] . What I like about the Glutino bread is that it is a little bit larger in size so it really does look like a regular sandwich and not like most gluten free breads.
Glutino also makes various crackers which are all quite good, my favourites are the table crackers.
If you are looking for baking mixes they make various; you will find mixes for muffins, cookies, pancakes, brownies [the brownie mix is really good and they come out very moist!] They also have mixes for making bread. Their chocolate chip cookie mix is one of my daughter’s favourite to make.
As I mentioned, they have many great products, but it is again, personal preference. They make a great pizza crust mix if you don’t have one you can make better – I personally like my homemade pizza better. 🙂
Starting on a gluten free journey can be a little daunting, many people don’t know where to start. It is great to have brands like Glutino that you can go to, that have a wide variety of great products and can make you feel like you are not struggling to find ‘old’ favourite foods to eat.
*Disclosure : I am part of the Glutino VIP bloggers program; although I receive products monthly for review, all opinions are my own.
Bob’s Red Mill is one of my favorite brands! I can usually find anything I might need to make a gluten free meal from that brand! Thanks for sharing.
Bob’s makes some great products. Thanks for stopping by! 🙂
You are absolutely right! The prices have remained steep, but the quality and variety has gone thru the roof!
I love Glutino bread, and Bob’s cereals are also a staple in my house.
Thanks for the info. There is getting to be more and more products on the market that are gluten free. so much easier on the tummy.