Sunday, June 28, 2009

Product Review: Glutino Chicken Penne Alfredo

Being a huge fan of other Glutino products, I wanted to try a pasta dish to see if it stacked up to their other items.

Their Chicken Penne Alfredo was my first foray into their pasta dishes. To start, the chicken was good - tender and flavorful. The sauce smelled divine - just like the real deal with alfredo. But the flavor was just a little lacking - it felt like it needed the punch of fresh garlic or a touch of ground pepper. The pasta was a bit of a letdown, too. A bit more than al dente, even when cooked just a touch longer than the box advised. Very chewy and bland. It wasn't the best pasta I've had, but it wasn't the worst either.

This one does have dairy products in it - so if you have dairy sensitivities, this one is not for you.

I would eat it again, but only if I had extra money to spend and some fresh garlic and broccoli on hand to mix in.

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Product Review: Glutino Spinach & Feta Pizza



WOW!!!


Glutino was making Spinach and Feta pizza a little while ago, and it was pretty good to begin with. But now, with an improved recipe - the crust is crispier, there is more melty cheese goodness, and the taste is out of this world.


Let's start with the crust, shall we? This is where most companies fail to meet the taste test right off the bat. Usually it either it tastes like glue, or the cardboard box it came in. Glutino's new crust is light and crispy, with a hint of buttery flavor that I was missing from the old pizza places I used to go to as a kid.


Next - the CHEEEEEESE. There isn't just feta cheese here - there is also grated mozzarella and ricotta cheese - and mixed with the spinach, this is heavenly. My son, who normally can't stand spinach, loves this pizza. And he's not celiac, either.


This is ready in a quick 17 minutes from the oven. It's awesome on it's own, but I also like to add olives or chopped ham to it - you could also add sliced bell peppers, mushrooms, onions, etc to make it a "mini-supreme pizza".


Definitely a must-try - find it at Whole Foods in the frozen section or try http://www.glutino.com/ for more information.

Thursday, June 4, 2009

Product Review: French Meadow Bakery Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough

Found this one in the frozen foods section at Whole Foods...

The box looks too pretty to pass up! The picture of the cookies is so inviting and you can just imagine the smell of freshly baked cookies filling the house. Not only are these beauties gluten free, they are also casein, lactose and peanut free and are kosher.

Indeed, the smell was heavenly. I had very high hopes for these cookies, though you only get about nine per box. With a family of four, you know someone was going to fight over the last one!

These are made with potato starch instead of your typical rice flour, so that made for a much more mild flavor. They were tender to the bite and much more of a "soft-chew" cookie than a lot of others we've tried. Cookies made with fava bean flour always throw me off, so this was a pleasant change of pace. The chocolate chips TASTED like chocolate chips - not like some carob wanna-be. These were very close to the original version I'm used to - and kept well for the two days they were stored in ziploc bags. Yes, I rationed them out!

My only suggestion to the company would be this - I would love to see a version made WITH butter, so those of us who are able to have it would still get that buttery flavor of the real deal. Other than that, if you have multiple sensitivities, this is a GREAT alternative for the cookie monsters among us.