Saturday, February 21, 2015

Schar gluten free shortbread cookies

Well, If you are anything like me, it's hard to have a craving for cookies and not be able to consume them because of the flour and gluten in most cookies. While shopping for some gluten free food one day, my hubby spotted these cookies. Being the daring person I am decided to purchase these and try them out. 
When I opened them, I immediately noticed the horrible smell inside of the bag, it smelt like a horrible chemical, I then put one of the cookies into my mouth. The cookie was very hard, very powdery & very dry.   The cookies was more on the bitter side. For all of you bakers out there, you know that the main ingredient in short bread cookies is BUTTER, well, when I looked on the ingredient label on the side of the bag, I was shocked to find that this recipe doesn't use any butter. The cookies give a very unpleasant after taste, which makes me wonder what exactly they added to these cookies. Over all, the cookie isn't that fantastic at all and in my opinion, I will not be purchasing this again. Everyone has different likes, some people may like this cookie and some may agree with me that these are horrible, but the fact that these short bread cookies do not have any butter, should tell ya right there what kind of quality these cookies really are.  

I give these cookies 1 out of 5 stars




-I would love to hear from you, let me know what you think about these cookies, Leave a comment below. 

Pamela's lemon short bread cookies

While my sweet husband was getting some boxes, so we could start packing for our move, he bought these wonderful cookies for me. What a thoughtful and sweet husband I have. Since my last shortbread cookie incident, I was a little hesitant to try these. I looked on the back of them, to see if these cookies actually had butter in them, and they do!!! Yay, finally a gluten free short bread cookie, that actually uses butter. I put the cookie in my mouth and was instantly wowed by the sourness of the lemon. The lemon in these cookies are extremely strong, but very addicting for those lemon lovers out there. (I happen to be one of them). 
These short bread cookies are soft and just crumble in your mouth, I definitely recommend these cookies. 
My man said that they have plain ones too, so next time I go shopping, I am going to go pick me up some. 

KUDOS TO MY MAN!! 


I give these cookies a 4 out of 5 star







Tried these before?- Let me hear from you by commenting below. 

Glutino's gluten free crackers

These crackers don't really have a very good cheddar taste to them, if anything, they have that FAKE CHEESE taste to them, which gives a little bit of an icky after taste. These almost have a taste like stale cheezits only a lot more mild (in the cheese department). Overall, these crackers would do in a pinch, if you needed crackers to go with your meat and cheese, just make sure you use a strong flavored cheese, so it over powers the taste of the cracker. 


I give these crackers a 2 out of 5 score. 



Have you tried these before?, let me know what you think of them by commenting below. 


Pamela's chunky chocolate chip cookies

Just grabbed a box of these when I was out and about getting some groceries and couldn't wait to open them up when I got home. These are a little harder then Pamela's Lemon Short Bread Cookies, so they tend to bread a little easier. When you bite into these cookies, the first taste you notice is a powder similar to cocoa you use in hot cocoa and it tastes a lot like it too. The chocolate chips are just like any other chocolate chip and there really isn't an after taste of bitterness when you are done consuming this cookie. 
For those of you who are a chocolate chip cookie connoisseur
 or used to the rich gluten chocolate chip cookies, you will most likely see the difference but it's very tolerable. 

I gave some to my children and they absolutely loved it.
I might consider purchasing these cookies again in the near future. 


I give these cookies a 3 out of 5 rating. 





Had these before?- Let me know about it by commenting below.  


UPDATE AS OF 11/1/12: 
Just had one of these cookies with milk and boy was it good, gotta try it! 


Betty Crocker gluten free brownies

My husband and I found out we are pregnant with our 4th baby about 5 months ago and I never used to like chocolate cake only because I thought the chocolate was bitter in the cake and in the frosting but for about 4 weeks now, I have had a bad craving for it. 

While shopping at Walmart, I decided to check out the gluten free section and to my surprise I found this on the shelf, there was only 1 left and it was as if it was calling my name, I just had to get it. 

I was anxious to bake these puppies but quickly realized we did not have a small cake pan. I then just decided to put it in a larger pan and just bake thinner brownies. The box did not make that much brownies and they did turn out rather thin, but the texture and taste was exactly like gluten filled brownies and if I wouldn't have told everyone in the family that they were, they probably wouldn't have known the difference. However when I was stirring all the ingredients together, I found it a little difficult because the batter was so thick that it was like stirring tar. The only ingredients you have to supply for these brownies are  2 eggs & half a stick of butter per box.
 (Took me about 5 minuets to prepare the brownies before putting them into the oven, which for a mommy on the go, is very ideal.)

If you purchase these brownies at the store, you may want to buy at least 2 boxes or more since mix is rather small and doesn't make a huge amount. Please make sure and purchase or have on hand a smaller cake pan as well, that is unless you are fine with thinner brownies like I had.

I am definitely buying these amazing tasting brownies again!!

I give these brownies a 5 out of 5 score

A BIG THANK YOU GOES OUT TO BETTY CROCKER FOR MAKING GLUTEN FREE PRODUCTS!!!

KinniToo cookies

The first thing I noticed about these cookies are that they smell kind of disgusting but I am not sure if it is because of the bag or because they are gluten free. When you bite into these cookies, they tend to crumble in your mouth like powder. The cookie part and the filling tastes a lot like your regular Oreo cookie. 

Overall, these cookies are pretty tasty. 

I give these cookies a 4 out of 5 score. 


Let me know what you think by commenting below. 

Cinnamon grammy crisps

Now days going Gluten Free is a huge challenge & finding items that are fun to snack on that aren't to pricey is very rare. I don't make it a habit of going out and about and getting myself treats all of the time because quite frankly, I cannot afford it. However, this one time I decided I need to splurge a bit on myself and found these on the shelf along with all of the other gluten containing items.

The box says "Grammy Crisps" and that starts your mind thinking..... "Wow, is this going to taste like Graham Crackers?".  Well, I hate to break your little bubble but IT DOESN'T. The cinnamon is great tasting but once you get to the crisp, it tends to be on the bitter side and taste more like a chip then a cracker. After consuming two boxes, I came to the conclusion that these crisps are tolerable for a yummy snack but not a huge favorite of mine. For 25 crips, you are looking at a full meal of carbs or almost 30 Grams of Total Carbs & these puppies are packed with sugar too. 

This is a snack that is worth trying out, but please don't get your hopes up if you are looking for something that will supply that graham cracker craving because this doesn't completely do the trick. 

I would give these crisps a 3 out of 5 star rating. 

HAVE YOU TRIED THESE CRISPS BEFORE, I'D LOVE TO HEAR WHAT YOU THOUGHT OF THEM, PLEASE COMMENT BELOW.

Kinni Kritters graham style animal crackers


 My Mother in law came over for an open house my husband and I had and she brought these with her. She had intially got these for the grand kids but had me try them. I instantly fell in love with them and got horribly addicted. These graham crackers don't really have a taste like graham crackers but they are crispy and baked similar to that of graham crackers. These crackers taste more like short bread cookies with a hint of sugar and the best past is they are not only gluten free, dairy free but nut free as well. 

Now I wish my grocery stores around here would carry them, but unfortunately they do not. I would honestly buy these on a regular basis. 

I give these cookies a 5 out of 5 star rating!! 

Have you tried these cookies before too, leave a comment below and tell me about what you like or dislike about them. 

Van's natural food crackers

I have to be honest, I was a little hesitant to try these because for some reason, in my mind all Gluten free crackers taste so plain. I was very surprised when the flavors popped in my mouth. 
The first thing I noticed was the onion taste and then the dash of salt and garlic. 
I seriously whipped through this box in no time at all. 

My mother & Hubby tried these and thought they tasted amazing as well. 
Van's have amazing GLUTEN FREE products that are certified as GLUTEN FREE, meaning they have to abide by strict rules which mean there cannot be any more then 5 PPM (parts per million) of Gluten in their products. 

Overall, I am thuroughly impressed and have to give this product a 5 out of 5 star rating. 

CRAVING SOME CRACKERS?- LOOK NO FURTHER, THESE ARE TRULY AMAZING!

Check out their website below for some more yummy gluten free products. 



I'd love to hear from you, comment below with your opinion of these crackers.

Trader Joe's cranberry maple nut granola

My sweet husband brought home an assortment of gluten free goodies from TRADER JOE'S yesterday and I was beyond thrilled. 

This is one of the things he purchased for me to try. 
I broke it open and was excited to eat it. The first thing you taste is: A nutty almost honey taste, then if you have a little cranberry in there, of course you taste the cranberry too. 

This is actually not as potent when eating it without milk but when I tried it with milk (Like a cereal) this morning I was shocked at how strong of a taste it had.  

When the milk was added, the nut & maple taste came out pretty strong & the cranberries kinda got lost in all the nut/maple flavor. 
Overall, I think it might be a little to rich when eaten with milk but as a dry snack, it seems to be pretty tasty and more mild. 

Would I purchase this again?........ probably not, only because it's not my favorite taste. 
Some of you may like that nutty/maple taste but for me, it's just a little to over powering. 

To me this is: A GRANOLA WANNA BE. 


I give this product a 2 out of 5 star rating only because it's just {okay}. 



HAVE YOU HAD THIS BEFORE & DO YOU LIKE IT?
PLEASE COMMENT BELOW AND LET ME KNOW. 

Van's pb&j gluten free sandwich bars

I am a mom of 4 wonderful children, but this means I am on the go all the time & need a little something when I am out and about and don't have any gluten free options. 
I was excited to find out that Van's also made pb&j sandwiches. 

The outside coating of these bars are are moist and soft as that of gluten fig nuggets only more oat tasting. The inside is filled with more peanut butter then the strawberry which is kind of a bummer. 
The peanut butter in itself tastes okay but it tastes more like Jiffy then Skippy. 
For all you skippy fans out there, this peanut butter is a little disappointing but it will do in a pinch. 

In just 1 bar, there is enough calories for 1 meal. 
For all of you on a strict calorie watching diet, this might be a bit depressing because the bars are pretty small leaving you still a bit hungry afterwards. 

Overall, these bars are pretty tasty and a must try for anyone who loves their pb&js. 

I give these bars a 4 out of 5 star rating. 




Had these before?, I'd love to hear from you. 
Please leave a comment below. Thank you. 

J.R. Watkins pumpkin spice eggnog




My hubby found this at the store and brought it home for me to try. 
As always I asked if it was gluten free and sure enough IT IS. 

Talk about AMAZING. This eggnog is full of flavor. 
It seriously tastes like liquefied pumpkin pie. Not to gross anyone out but it is seriously the most amazing tasting eggnog I've ever had the privilege of drinking. 

The amount of spice and cream is completely perfect and it is so festive for the fall. 

This is a must try for anyone who likes the taste of pumpkin because honestly, It tastes GREAT. 


I give this product a 5 out of 5 star rating because it's that good. 




Tried this before?. 
I'd love to hear from you, please leave a comment below. 

Udi's dark chocolate brownie bites


Wow, these are pretty awesome. If it didn't read dark chocolate on the label, I probably wouldn't have imagined it was dark chocolate. I have to be honest with you guys, I am not a huge fan of dark chocolate.
So as you can imagine, I was a little skeptical about these but I gave them a try anyways.

To my surprise I actually liked them. They were moist like little mini cupcakes and even looked like little mini cup cakes with their individual liners. It had that dark chocolate after taste but it wasn't super overpowering or bitter like you'd expect from dark chocolate. I had a really hard time leaving these alone, I probably could have consumed this whole container in one sitting. I think the only thing I do not like about these brownie bites is that they don't give you enough of them in the container. :)


Looking for a nice brownie snack, look no further, these are great!

I give this product a 5 out of 5 star rating. 



Had these before?. 
Please leave me a comment and let me know about it. 

Simply Tostitos yellow corn tortilla chips




Corn is naturally gluten free, so I wanted to find some corn chips that would work great for a little crunch in my salads. While searching the natural product isle in Cub Foods, I found Tostitos Simply Natural Yellow Corn Tortilla Chips. The first time I used it in my salad, I fell in love. These chips are great with guacamole dip as well. These chips have a very strong taste of corn but are delicious and safe for us to eat. 

I give these chips 5 out of 5 stars




Let me know what you think by commenting on my post below. 

Yoplait original yogurt


Is this yogurt gluten free?............................................... IT IS!!!! 
My husband and I buy it in bulk at Costco, but you can pretty much get this yogurt at any grocery store. The three flavors the box at Costco offers are: Strawberry, Blueberry & Peach. With this yogurt, you don't get that artificial fruit flavoring that some yogurts have, instead, it tastes so fresh and delicious. 

Hungry for yogurt, grab some yoplait today and worry not, it's wont make you sick! 


I give these yogurts a 5 out of 5 score for deliciousness. 








Have you tried these before, what do you think?, I'd love to hear from you! 

Blue Diamond almond nut thins, cheddar cheese flavored


We finally found crackers that taste AMAZING. You would think that since it says "Almond Nut Thins" that it would have an almond taste to it but in all reality, you can't even taste it. The crackers are nice and crispy with an amazing cheese powder all over them. The cheese powder tastes like real cheese and it is actually a little salty. These crackers do have a nutty after taste but they are very addicting. 

Needless to say, I will be buying more real soon. 

Kudos go to my Mother in law for introducing me to these wonderful crackers, YOU ROCK! 

I give these crackers a 5 out of 5 score. 




What do you think of these crackers, let me know below. 

Van's cranberry almond snack bars




Since I will be delivering our first son in about a little over a week, I decided I should probably look into purchasing some snacks to take with me to the hospital, just in case they didn't really have much to choose from in the middle of the night in their snack area. I thought these looked pretty tasty and gave them a try.
First of all I was a bit disappointed that there was only 5 bars in this box and that they are half the size of your original granola bar. When I took one out, I was shocked at it's size, they look like little mini teasers or snack bars that would be passed out at some gluten free fair, just to try it before you buy it type of thing.
In total, I could probably consume the whole bar within 4 to 5 bites, NOT KIDDING.

The taste however was pretty delicious, you can really taste the oats and the raspberries but the texture is very sticky and thick. There are a lot of carbs in one of these bars and it's once again close to a full meal, but over all, these bars are worth getting again.

I give these bars a 4 out of 5 star rating! 

Do you like these bars too?, leave me a comment below and tell me all about it.

Snyder's gluten free pretzel sticks (honey mustard & onion)


I was very excited to find out that our local grocery store carried this amazing snack. 
The first time I tried it my mouth was watering and screaming in pleasure. It is heavy on the Mustard side but I don't personally mind. 

The bag is decent in size and lasts quite a while unless you are like me and cannot stop eating them. 

At our grocery store this bag is about roughly $6.00 but worth every penny. 

If you are craving gluten free pretzels, look no further, Snyder's Honey Mustard & Onion pretzels a MUST TRY. 

Snyder's also makes a hot buffalo wing flavored pretzels. 


I have yet to try the buffalo wing one but I can safely say if my grocery store starts carrying it, I will be purchasing it. 


I give this product a 5 out of 5 star rating. 



Have you tried this product before? 
Comment below and tell me about it, I'd love to hear from you. 

MI-DEL gluten free ginger snap cookies



It was around the Holidays that my husband purchased these cookies for me and I was so excited I dove right in. These were pretty good but very, very bitter and very, very hard. 

It wasn't until I almost hit the bottom of the bag when I started becoming sick, I read on the side of the bag:    "Also made in a facility that processes wheat". 

So, with this said, This may be gluten free but not suggested for those of us who have Celiacs Disease as it may have trace amounts of gluten in there and may make some of us sick. 

I give this product an over all 2 out of 5 star rating. 


Have you had this product before?- Did it make you sick? 
Please leave a comment below and let me know what you think, I'd love to hear from you. 


Wow chocolate chip cookies



WOW, GLUTEN FREE CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES THAT TASTE GREAT??? 
Let's talk about that. 

So, I made mention on my facebook account that I was getting fed up of all the news feed temptations that I was getting. See, some of the pages I decided to like on facebook submit delicious looking recipes and treats and one of them was gluten chocolate chip cookies. 
I made a status message expressing my frustration/craving and my wonderful husband decided to come home with these beauties. 

I was very surprised when I took my first bite, to me it tastes a lot like cookie dough cookies with just a small hint of chocolate. The chocolate is very sweet and sometimes gets over powered by the rest of the cookie.  

These cookies are about golf size but taste just amazing. 

All I can say is.................................WOW! 

I give this product a 5 out of 5 star rating because it tastes that good. 

This company also provides other flavors of cookies like: Snickerdoodle, lemon etc. 
Check out their website below. 

Have you tried these cookies out before?, did you like them?. 
Please share with us your experience via- the comment section below. 



Johnny's gluten free chocolate chip brownie mix




My hubby bought these gluten free brownies for me from COSTCO. 
First of all, I want to to give a shout out to COSTCO and thank them for getting in so many gluten free options now, specially their UDI'S bread. 

It was the day after my Son's Birthday that I wanted to make regular brownies for him and for myself, so I knew it was time to break open this puppy and try it. 

The recipe was extremely simple and only required (eggs, water and oil). 
It mixed extremely well and I had no problems what so ever. 

When they were done baking I was left with REALLY MOIST and quite good brownies. 
The only thing I didn't like about these brownies is that they were really light tasting in the area of chocolate  for me. I like that DARK BROWNIE TASTE and Johnny's gluten free brownies tasted more like a chocolate cake. This meant that it really didn't have much structure to it, it fell apart easily and was more fluffy then brownies normally are. If you like that sort of thing, then these brownies are for you, but personally, I am not a huge fan of the fluffy cake taste of these brownies. They were good, they just weren't great, if you know what I mean. 


Overall, I give this product a 3 out of 5 star rating. 



HAVE YOU HAD THESE BROWNIES BEFORE?. 
LET US KNOW HOW YOU LIKE THEM BY COMMENTING BELOW. 


Good Foods Cranberry Almost Chicken Salad



The last time I visited a Costco, I was thrilled to see that they have increased their selection of gluten free foods and made sure to note everything they have to offer now, so I could have my husband buy some for me the next time he shopped there. 

One of the things on the list were these cranberry almond chicken salad cups. 
They looked quite delicious, so I requested that my husband purchase me some. 

When he got home, I immediately opened one up and expected your usual very mayo based and chicken taste right off the bat but instead I was sorely mistaken. 
I was bombarded with an assortment of flavors all at once and the one that stuck out the most was the base they used. It didn't really taste like a mayo but instead a really sour, powdery, skim milk or better yet, it tasted rather curdled

I was sure it was because I had to put them in the fridge and that when I took another out, it would taste a lot better. Unfortunately, it tasted the same only cold now. 
The cranberry is very strong in here and I really didn't get to taste much almond. 
The celery in here is pretty big but it's the sour base that I couldn't swallow down. 
I never got a taste of  the chicken because if I would have, I wouldn't have been able to tell if I am eating the cranberry or something else. All the flavors put together just doesn't work well. 

I had my kids try this and they couldn't really get past the 3rd bite without leaving them on the table and walking away. 

I can officially tell you that we will NOT be purchasing these cups ever again. 

My advise to you is: Use caution when purchasing these cups from Costco or where ever this product is sold and don't go all crazy when purchasing it because you just may not like it. 


I give this product a 1 out of 5 star rating. 



Let's here from you, comment below. 


Udi's Snickerdoodle cookies


OH MY GOODNESS, all I can say is, these are down right amazing.
When I first heard of snickerdoodle cookies, I thought "oh, they must taste like my favorite candy bar which happens to be snickers", yeah, not so much.

It turns out snickerdoodles tend to be sugary & cinnamon flavored.
These particular cookies are super soft, bite sized, & with a cinnamon sugar/molasses taste to them.

I myself hate crispy cookies, so these cookies bring me to a happy place.
They are moist & filled with flavor.

I give this product a 5 out of 5 star rating (because they are that good!) 


P.s. If you do not have an ALDI'S near you, fear not because Walmart Carries this line of snickerdoodle cookies that taste the same. 






Have you tried these amazing cookies before?. 
what did you think of them?. 
Please share with us your opinion by commenting below.

Udi's Gluten Free Blueberry Cashew Granola Clusters


My mother won a giveaway from Udi's and had it sent to me. I got super excited about their Udi's blueberry cashew granolas since I love blueberries. One morning I poured a good amount into a bowl and added some milk, thinking it would taste like the other Udi's Granola that has cranberries in it (will be making a review of that soon). Unfortunately, It didn't really work well as a cereal.

I was shocked when I took my first bite as it was very sugary with kind of a maple/nutty taste.
Once I got to one of the blueberries, It tasted very dried and sweet as well.
You know the taste of dried fruit, the after taste you get?, well, that was what I experienced each and every time I bite into a blueberry. The fact that it was dried almost overwhelmed the blueberry making it taste like a blueberry only slightly. The other nuts in the bag were tasty but once again sweet.

I did attempt to eat these without the milk and it was much more enjoyable.
I would give this a 5 star if it wasn't so sweet. You could probably take less then a hand full of this and it would be enough sugar to last you all day.

I give this product a 3 out of 5 star rating.


Have you had this before?. 
Let me know what you thought of it by commenting below. 

Heartland Gourmet Gluten Free Red Velvet Cupcake Mix

(Please excuse the tare on the top of the box)

Got the privilege to try our Heartland Gourmet Gluten Free Red Velvet Cupcake mix
 for the first time last year.
Red velvet has to be one of my favorite cupcake/cake flavors up there with lemon,
so as you can imagine I had high hopes for this. 

I mixed all the ingredients just like It said to do on the box, put it in the oven & after they were done, they looked pretty good. 


The creative side of me came out and these plain red velvet cup cakes quickly turned into these lovely little beauties. 


So far, the baking of the cupcakes went without a hitch but I still had to taste these yummy looking things thing. 

With the first bite, I quickly realized my hopes were maybe just a little to high. 
They tasted almost like chocolate and didn't really have that original red velvet taste. 
The texture was extremely grainy and literally tasted like you were eating a cup cake that was mixed with ground up rice. I then looked on the box and to my dismay, they did include rice flour in the ingredients. 

Overall, these cupcakes aren't super bad and they hit the spot in a pinch but when it comes to being close to red velvet in taste and in texture, I would have to say it kinda missed the mark. 
Now if they would have used tapioca flour or some other flour other then rice, it might have turned out better. 

I give this product a 4 out of 5 star rating. 

What do you think of these cupcakes?. 
I'd love to hear from you-comment below. 


LiveGFree gluten free chocolate chip cookie mix




The other day I felt like doing a little baking, so I went into the pantry and pulled this mix out.
I was very eager to try it out because so far, most of all the Ald's G.F. products seem to taste pretty good.
I did exactly what the directions told me to do which meant I needed to make sure 1 stick of butter and 1 egg were at room temperature before even thinking about mixing this together and proceeding.

After my stick of butter and egg were at room temp, I was ready to mix it all together.
Let me tell you that on the directions, they made a mistake by saying that you need to add more water if need be but never tell you how much to put in there in the first place. They also mention that you should and I quote, "cream the ingredients". Wasn't sure what that meant exactly but I was guessing that they meant blend it together?.

They were not exaggerating when they said the dough will look clumpy. I'd say, it looked more dry and crumbly. Once you squish it in your hands to make a ball, it holds together pretty well though.
I then placed it in the oven and waited for it to bake. After supper I grabbed a cookie and took my first bite.
The texture was harder, grainy and it tasted more like a sugar cookie then a chocolate chip cookie.
I wasn't exactly impressed to say the least. However, I give myself a pat on the back for trying it anyways.

I give this product a 2 out of 5 star rating. 
It was edible but not a favorite. 


Have you baked these cookies before?, 
I'd love to hear what you thought of them by commenting below.