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Starting something new can be very overwhelming. Learning to eat and shop gluten free has been a learning process for me that started over two years ago. I am a very determined soul, and was able to overcome most obstacles, especially when it came to the cries and complaints of my family. They have since learned to be selective about what they complain about, and I have since learned to not take their complaints personally. It is a good compromise.
It is so frustrating for me to listen to stories of people and their health history and not scream….”do some research…try a gluten free diet, it will not kill you.” But I really try to keep my mouth shut and wait for people to come around. It is their body and their life.
That being said, for those of you that have or are thinking about or have started to “come around”, I like to make things easy for you. So I wanted to go through a list of specific gluten-free brands that you will find at your local grocery store or health food store that have been tested, tried and true in the Velick household. I know it always helps me to get a recommendation from someone who knows.
So unlike my article on April 6th, where I take you through the grocery store and find naturally-occurring gluten-free foods, these are foods and brands that are specifically gluten-free. Please feel free to add your own comments or foods to my list. I will tell you that due to our soy and chocolate allergies as well, this list is customized to our dietary restrictions.
My Top 20 Gluten-Free Foods and Brands
1. Chebe’s products (6)
2. Pamala’s Classic Vanilla Cake Mix
3. Multiseed Rice Bread by Food for Life
4. Rice Tortillas by Food for Life
5. Pamela’s Simplebites Cookies or Peanut Butter Traditional Cookies
6. Tinkyada Pastas
7. Quinoa Pastas
8. Outside of the Breadbox Chedder crackers (sold at Vitamin Cottage)
9. Outside of the Breadbox Graham crackers
10. Cereals by EnviroKidz
11. Eco-planet Organics packaged Instant Oatmeal
12. Udi’s Cinnamin Rolls
13. Kinnickinnick Vanilla Glazed Donuts
14. Ener G Foods Wylde Pretzels
15. Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free Oats
16. Glutino Vanilla Cupcakes
17. Glutino Original Crackers
18. Mrs. Leepers Gluten Free Cheeseburger Mac and Beef Stroganoff
19. Southern Homestyle Tortilla Crumbs
20. Glutino Pizza crusts
Pamela’s Classic Vanilla Cake
Ingredients
1 package Pamela’s Classic Vanilla Cake Mix
1/3 cup olive oil
3 eggs (no substituting)
2/3 cup water
Directions
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Mix all ingredients together on medium/low for two minutes. Batter will thicken. Pour batter into lightly greased baking pans. Use pans and bake times listed on the package. Cake is baked when it springs back to light touch or toothpick comes out clean. Do not over bake.
Frosting: Use frosting from Valentine’s Day Sugar Cookie recipe (See Article on February 2nd, 2010)
I love comparing GF foods choices with others. You've left the best gluten-free bread I've ever tasted off your list: Udi's Whole Grain Bread! I get it at Whole Foods, but I think you can it at other stores. It looks like and toasts like regular bread, has a great flavor, and isn't dense like some of the other GF breads I've tried. It's soy free, too, so if it meets your other restriction needs, try it, you'll like it!
Hi Malkah:
Thank you so much for your comment. I really try not to make a big deal about this in my articles, because I try to make it 'simple' for my readers, but we also do not eat canola oil because to this day….I do not know what 'a canola' is. So we do not buy any 'Udi's' products. If we are desperate, or in a restaurant that fries the french fries in canola oil, we will 'splurge' or make an exception.