Product Review: Kettle Cuisine Chicken Noodle Soup

WOW! I can honestly say that after trying this soup, I was inspired to make my own Chicken Noodle. Especially because this one is made with Tinkyada brand noodles, my all-time favorite.

I was so happy to be able to eat this soup. As previously noted, the story is that soup maker Jerry has a daughter, Kate, who was gluten free. She wanted to be able to eat the same delicious soups her father was making for everyone else, and requested he try to make a gluten free line. This soup is one of the results of that successful undertaking.

Big chunks of chicken (no sissy shredded chicken here), tender carrots, celery, onions and sea salt make up the base of this hearty soup. The broth is clear and earthy, with just a hint of saltiness. Because Kettle Cuisine soups are all natural, with no artificial ingredients and are minimally processed, the true flavor of the ingredients comes through. The noodles are fantastic, too. Not gummy or gloppy as they tend to be if they are overcooked.

Out of the entire gluten free line, this soup truly shines. If you are missing Chicken Noodle soup, you simply must try this one. WELL WORTH your gluten free dollars!

Product Review: Kettle Cuisine New England Clam Chowder

Once upon a time, Clam Chowder meant flour. Now, with Kettle Cuisine, it means gluten-free folks can indulge again in thick, delicious, soupy goodness that had been lost to us for a long time.

The story goes that the creator of the soups has a daughter who is gluten free and could not eat the delicious soups her father was making for restaurants. Thanks to daughter Kate, we now have Clam Chowder (and Chicken Noodle!) soup to enjoy.

I was impressed with the flavor of this chowder immediately - the flavor hinted at the classic soup with sherry - except that there is no sherry in this version. The clams are bigger than you might expect, with a deep salty sea flavor. Chunks of potatoes, onions and celery are firm but tender, and the pepper sauce and fish sauce impart a savory, mouthwatering flavor that has you just wishing for a crusty gluten free roll or piece of cornbread to sop up the leftover soup.

This soup was fantastic. I would love it even more with a hint of sherry. But this is definitely worth a try if you have been missing Clam Chowder!

Allergen warning: Milk/Dairy, Clams, Fish ingredients.

Product Review: Kettle Cuisine Grilled Chicken & Corn Chowder

While shopping a few weeks ago, a new product in the gluten free frozen foods area caught my eye. This soup, along with several others, were new arrivals to the store and were on sale. I miss having good soup, as most canned varieties have some sort of gluten in them - not to mention the ridiculous amount of sodium.

These soups promised to be more of the "homemade variety" - all natural, no artificial ingredients, minimally processed, and gluten free! There is a large selection of soups from Kettle Cuisine, but I only grabbed two to try first.

With it's garlic chili pepper sauce, Grilled Chicken and Corn Chowder can be summed up in one word: SPICY. But damn good spicy! I was in heaven with this chowder, with it's meaty chunks of chicken, rich milky broth, and chunky potatoes. If you are not a fan of spicy soups, there are some milder soups available from this line, as well as three different chilis. Easy to prepare in the microwave, or warm them up on the stove.

I added a tiny bit of Himalayan Pink Sea Salt to this one for a touch of extra flavor, but even without the added salt, this packs one flavorful punch. These soups are definitely worth a try and I will happily return to the store to grab a few more varieties!

Allergen alert: milk/dairy products.

Recipe: Gluten Free Down Home Banana Bread

This is one of my family's favorite recipes. I adapted one I found on YumYum.com (author unknown) and made a few tweaks to the instructions. It is by far one of the best recipes I've found, and the top comes out nice and crispy thanks to the sugar, and the inside is moist and delicious. Keeps for a week in the fridge if it lasts that long!



Gluten Free Down Home Banana Bread



1/2 cup butter

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

4 medium bananas, ripe, mashed well

1 tsp lemon juice

1 1/2 cup Jules Nearly Normal Gluten Free Flour (or Pamela's Pancake & Baking Mix)

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla

3/4 cup chocolate chips



Preheat oven to 350. Put all ingredients except chocolate chips into a large bowl and mix thoroughly with a hand mixer. It's ok if bananas are still slightly chunky. Add chocolate chips and mix by hand to incorporate. Pour into greased loaf pan or greased 9 x 13 pan. Bake for 60 minutes if using loaf pan, 50 minutes if using 9 x 13 pan. Top should be slightly crisp and golden brown. Allow to cool before serving.



**Jules Gluten Free flour can be bought online at http://www.julesglutenfree.com/ and she is always running specials! By far one of the best flours we've ever tried!**

Product Review: Betty Crocker Gluten Free Brownie Mix

This is part II of the Betty Crocker mixes that I started a few days ago. The previous devil's food cupcakes were practically inhaled by my family, so I found myself making the brownies a bit sooner than I had anticipated!

The instructions for the brownies are exceedingly simple - melt some butter, add two eggs and the brownie mix, and stir it up. It was really thick, but then, the box said it would be. I had to spread it into a larger pan than I originally wanted, so I cut the cooking time back a bit to avoid overcooking.

These smelled AWESOME while baking. Always a good sign! They looked great when I took them out of the oven - the tops were crackly, the edges looked crisp.

And then there's the taste... HOLY COW THESE ARE GOOD! The Gluten Free Gods are smiling over Betty Crocker right now. I thought it impossible to make these just like my grandmother's, but somehow, they've done it. These are chewy, RICH, brownies. The chocolate chips add a little extra richness, but not to the point of being overdone. I imagine I can now recreate the "Chocolate Thunder from Down Under" dessert that The Outback restaurant is famous for - with a product that tastes like the real thing.

I will most definitely be buying some more of these products. I sincerely hope this isn't a "fad" to the folks at General Mills and that they continue to expand this line for the gluten free community. I personally would love to see muffin and bread mixes come next - I've been dying for a good blueberry muffin! GM - are you listening?

Allergen warning - dairy and eggs.

Product Review: Betty Crocker Gluten Free Devil's Food Cake Mix

It was only a matter of time before a mainstream brand jumped in to the Gluten Free world with a product offering of their own. In this case, Betty Crocker, and with four different products: Devil's Food Cake Mix, Yellow Cake Mix, Brownies and Chocolate Chip Cookies. I am pleased to note that these mixes are made in a dedicated gluten free facility, and the box states that two employees of the company who were wheat free inspired the product line.

In the interest of testing these items individually, and so my waistline doesn't expand exponentially (hardy har har), I will post the Devil's Food Cake Mix trial today and the Brownies at a later date.

First things first - the ingredient list is in fact pretty basic. Not a lot of chemicals and preservatives as I had expected when I first heard about this product. There are a few, but here's the ingredient list: sugar, rice flour, potato starch, cocoa processed with alkali, tapioca starch, salt and guar gum. It does have a allergen notation for possible soy ingredients - and be warned - it calls for eggs and softened butter.

Simple instructions - ingredients need only to be thrown all together in a bowl and mixed up with two varying mixing speeds. There are multiple cake pan measurements and cooking times, as well as a cupcake cooking time. It also instructs you to set your oven temperature based on what you are using to cook it in - a first for me.

After mixing, I tasted the batter (couldn't help myself) and was pleasantly suprised that it tasted similar to Gluten Free Pantry, which I already know to be a quality product. Excellent. While baking, the scent is that of an unmistakable chocolate cake. I've had some bad experiences in the past where the product didn't come close to smelling like it should, and admittedly for me, that's a big part of feeling good about what I'm eating.

Cooling time - the cupcakes are spongy and firm. Another excellent sign.

Waiting to try one is soooo hard - but I waited patiently and was finally rewarded. WOW. These are WONDERFUL! If you have had Betty Crocker cakes in the past before going gluten free, you know what a light, airy texture the original imparts. The gluten free variety is no exception. It is moist and delicious, with a deep chocolate taste and satisfying "cake" texture. No joke - as good as the real thing. My guess is that the texture benefits from the mixing instructions - follow carefully and your results should be mind blowing. Two very enthusiastic thumbs up for this cake!

*I tried one without frosting so that I could fairly gauge the taste and texture of the product itself, but I admit, I will be frosting the rest with a buttercream frosting. ;o)

**I found these at my local Von's (Safeway) store in the baking aisle. Visit www.BettyCrocker.com for recipe ideas using these products, as well as a product locator to find them in a store near you.

Product Review: Glutino Chicken Pizza with BBQ Sauce

This was a new arrival at Whole Foods recently, and being the pizza fanatic that I am, I had to try it. It is made with a brown rice crust, and has 30g of whole grain. This product does have eggs and milk, so those with additional allergies need to take care.

After cooking it to make sure the edges got browned and crispy, I noticed that the center of the pizza did something strange. This may just have been a one-off, but the center of the pizza "bubbled up", so the bottom of the crust ended up being soft (with the appearance of being "undercooked") instead of crispy. Odd for sure, but I hope this was just my experience. The edges were crisp and delicious, and I would have loved the whole crust to be!

The cheese was sparse in comparison to the BBQ sauce. The pizza was doused in a sweet, tangy sauce (a bit too much for me), with a bit of cheese and 3 chunks of chicken. Yes, I counted! :o)
This pizza, overall, was very tasty. I would love to see more cheese, less sauce, and more chicken. Definitely a step forward for pizza lovers! Worth a try if you like BBQ chicken!