Product Review: GoGo Quinoa's Quinoa Crunchies

Yesterday I was at Bulk Barn scoping out the gluten free section to see if there was anything new on offer, when these babies caught my eye.  I don't buy excess amounts of gluten free packaged goods, but since I do like to try new things and offer suggestions to readers of the blog, I picked up a pack. The cheap price also caught my eye- they were priced at around $3.  That's fantastic for a gluten free product.

I've been noticing GoGo Quinoa products around a lot more lately. Previously I've tried their pasta, but then last week my neighbour bought my son a bag of their chocolate chip cookies.  I wasn't sure that my son would like a chocolate chip cookie made out of quinoa, but the speed at which that bag was eaten proved me wrong!  So when I saw the Crunchies, I couldn't resist. 

The Original flavour have three ingredients: White Rice Flour, Quinoa Flour, and Cane Sugar. They are organic, vegan, gluten and dairy free. For roughly a quarter of the bag, there are only 100 calories and 0.2 grams of fat.  They're still a treat, but if you're going to snack, these are a pretty good choice.  They have a satisfying crunch, and are sweet but not too sweet. 

Best of all, my gluten free 4 year old liked them as well, which is the most important part, since he's the one who must eat gluten free. A serving size for him is far smaller than a quarter of the bag.

If you're looking for a portable snack that's reasonably priced and free from ingredients you don't recognize and can't pronounce but that doesn't taste suspiciously like cardboard, these are a good option. 

I found this product at Bulk Barn, but I know they're available in other stores too. If you can't find GoGo Quinoa products where you shop, they offer free flat rate shipping within Canada and to the US. 

Photo Source

Product Review: El Peto Pancake Mix

On Sunday, I promised my little guy a pancake dinner since he couldn't eat the pancakes at the maple syrup festival that looked delicious but were full of gluten.  Thankfully, I had a box of gluten free pancake mix in the cupboard that I had bought a while ago with the best of intentions but had never quite gotten around to making. 

The El Peto mix calls for eggs, milk and oil to be added to the mix, and then to let it stand for 15 minutes to thicken.  The instructions say to add some more milk to the mix after the 15 minutes if it's a little thick.  Each batch makes between 10 and 14 pancakes.  I used a quarter cup scoop for my pancakes and got almost 14 pancakes from a batch.  I made 2 batches, and found that I had to add quite a bit of extra milk to each batch, as they thickened up considerably.

They did, however, cook up quite nicely.  They puffed up and came out light and fluffy, with good flavour.  My son ate 8 of them.  Seriously.  That's why I had to make two batches. 

I've never made pancakes using another gluten free mix, so I have nothing to compare this to, but I have to say I was impressed with the quality of the finished product.  I've been disappointed with some of El Peto's baking mixes in the past, so this was a nice surprise!  We covered them with some real Canadian maple syrup and they were as good as any pancakes I've ever had. 

Product Review: Healthy Top Whipped Topping

Looking for a dairy-free substitute for whipped cream?  Tired of greasy substitutes that are runny or don't have the right consistency? 

Me too. 

Lucky for me (and you!), my husband stumbled upon a great product that is both dairy-free and delicious.  I sent him out to find some non-cream whipped cream to top our Thanksgiving dessert.  Our local gluten free store had this brand on sale for $3.99, so he grabbed a box to try.  It's called Healthy Top, and the box declares it to be Dairy and Lactose free, Soy free, Gluten free, Cholesterol free, Non-GMO, Vegan and Kosher.  Whew!

It is made from almonds and cashews though, so it's not suitable for people with nut allergies. 

The product is shelf stable, and doesn't need to be refrigerated until you're ready to use it.  I was a bit apprehensive when I saw the package and realized that it wasn't "instant" since it needed to be whipped.  I was worried for nothing though, because all it takes is a few minutes of whipping with a hand-blender for it to double in size and be ready to eat. 

It doesn't take three sets of hands, but...

my "helpers" were eager to lick the beaters!

After digging a little deeper, I found the company's website, MimicCreme.  The site claims that the Healthy Top is the first non-dairy, non-soy, shelf stable whipped topping.  It's also free of hydrogenated oil.

After a few minutes of blending, the product had just about doubled in size and had formed stiff peaks, just like real whipped cream.

We served it everyone at dinner, on top the apple crumble and pumpkin pie.  The consistency was a little thicker than regular whipped cream, but it looked like the real thing on top of the desserts!

Everyone agreed that the flavour was fantastic.  A subtle hint of coconut and almond added a nice depth of flavour to a product that tastes remarkably close to the real thing.  It lasted in the fridge for over a week, and kept its flavour and consistency the whole time. 

It would also make a great fruit dip, cake filling or even a light, not too sweet icing. 

Great value for the money, and good enough to eat right from the spoon!

Product Review: Food For Life Brown Rice Tortillas

This week I tried out gluten free tortillas that resemble a traditional flour tortilla to make vegetable and bean burritos.  I found them in the gluten free frozen section at my local grocery store and decided to give them a try. 

They come in packs of 6, and the instructions say to keep frozen or refrigerated until use.  I kept them frozen until the night before use, and then defrosted them in the fridge.  When I was ready to use them, I opened the resealable package and pulled a few out. 

The tortillas are separated by wax paper, keeping them from sticking together.  I was impressed by the size and look of the tortillas.  They look very much like a traditional flour tortilla, with just a slightly tougher consistency.  I followed the package directions and heated the tortilla before filling it with beans, peppers, onions, dairy free cheese, salsa and cilantro.

I piled on the ingredients to see how the tortillas would hold up under pressure (and because I like my burritos that way).  The true test came when I rolled up the burrito.  The tortillas had a flakier texture than a regular tortilla, so they were a bit tougher to wrap, but they performed well.  I would suggest perhaps heating them a bit more (I put them in the microwave for about 30 seconds), or using toothpicks to keep them together.  Here's what my burrito looked like on the first try:

You can see in the photo that the tortilla cracked at one end, but after I made a few more I was able to better manage it.  The photo below shows how it held up after being cut in half.  I didn't rearrange anything for the photo, because I wanted to show how it worked the first time.  As I mentioned before, with a toothpick to hold it together, a nice, tight burrito would be easy to achieve.

What's that?  How did they taste???? 

Pretty darn good! 

I was ready for some dry, mealy tortilla, but instead I found that they had a mildly nutty, buttery flavour with a bit of an al dente texture.  I actually found myself nibbling on a plain tortilla because I liked the flavour so much.  The only drawback is that they don't absorb liquid the same way a flour tortilla does, so the juices flowed right out.  I remedied this by wrapping a napkin around the bottom end while I was eating.  No problem! 

The Verdict:  I really like this product.  It's the closest to a regular flour tortilla I've had since my son went gluten free almost a year ago.  The texture and flavour is a bit different, but still good, and they held up well to my overflowing burrito.  These will become a staple in my house. 

Product Review: El Peto Italian Style Hamburger Buns

A few weeks ago we had homemade tuna burgers for dinner and tried out these hamburger buns.  I picked El Peto buns to try because I haven't tried too many El Peto products before and thought it would be nice to try something new, from a Canadian company.  I also liked that there are 8 buns in a package, while most other brands only contained 6 per pack, for a similar price.  Like many gluten free baked goods, they need to be kept frozen until needed for use.

The frozen bun doesn't look too appealing, but to be fair, neither do most frozen gluten free products.

Frozen hamburger bun

 

 

Although the buns can simply be thawed to eat, I liked them better toasted.  Toasting the buns gave them a nice crispy texture on the outside and a soft inside.  The texture is denser than a regular hamburger bun, but the taste was decent.  They held up well to the tuna burgers, without crumbling under the pressure of the burger and toppings.

I waited a while before writing this review for a few reasons.  The first reason is that I've never tried a gluten free hamburger bun before, so I don't have anything to compare it against.  The second reason is that I tested these with homemade tuna burgers rather than regular, commercially produced beef burgers, which are typically much larger than the little burgers I make at home. 

If you take a close look at the picture below, you'll see that the burger doesn't fill the whole diameter of the bun.  Still, I feel that the buns are a bit smaller than the average burger bun.  We still have four buns left, so the next plan is to put a bigger burger in there and see how it goes.

Overall, this is a good substitute for a regular hamburger bun.  It looks similar, if a touch smaller and much denser, but the flavour was pretty good.  My husband liked them better than I did, but I enjoyed them enough that I'm looking forward to trying them again with a burger I didn't have to make from scratch!

My son's new favourite snack: SunRype Fun Bites and Squiggles

While searching the aisles for my regular go-to fruit based snack for my son today, I stumbled upon a brand I've never tried: SunRype.  I think it's a Canadian brand, but their products are available in the United States.  I noticed this brand in particular because the front of the box boasts "100% fruit and vegetable snack".  I'm not naming names, but I know that my regular brand can't boast that, so I picked up a box and checked out the claim.

Turning it to the side with the nutritional info, the first thing that caught my eye was a sentence, in capital letters, saying "DOES NOT CONTAIN NUT OR GLUTEN INGREDIENTS".  Perfect for home and daycare too!  Reading through the ingredient list, the claim stands up- no artificial colours or flavours, no preservatives, no gelatin, no chemicals that I can't pronounce.

So, I decided to pick up a box and see how it went over.  I picked up the "squiggles" kind, which is kind of like a stick of dried fruit in a zigzag pattern.  My son of course was begging me for one, and since I had already committed to buying the box, I opened one up and let him try it.  His response?  "Mmmm....lurlypok!"  Translated into regular English, that means that he thought it tasted like a lollipop.  Success!  I turned around and grabbed a second box, this time of Fun Bites.  These are small fruit snack packs in shapes such as snails, spiders, dragonflies and caterpillars.  Just icky enough for a boy to like! 

The company sponsors a website called "What's in your fruit snack?" at www.findoutnow.ca that has an interactive point and click function of some of the more common ingredients found in some products.  A definite marketing tool for sure, but I did find it interesting and I learned something about some of those ingredients that I can't pronounce!  The company's nutrition FAQ are different on the American and Canadian sites, including two products on the American site that are produced in a facility that also produces products containing certain allergens.  Please click on the links above to see which products meet your specific nutritional restrictions and to check out their claims for yourself. 

I'm always on the look-out for products that both taste good and are good for my son.  This product works for me for a number of reasons.  It's half the calories of my previous option, has no added sugar or artificial ingredients and it's not a "specialty" product that costs three times what it's worth.  Most importantly, my son likes it enough that he equates it with candy.  All in all a good buy!