The best thing I tried (oddly enough on the recommendation of someone in the comments section of Udi's Facebook page) has been aloe juice, made by Alo. Despite the guy at Mustard Seed Market telling me last week that they didn't sell aloe juice, I was able to find it there on my own today (Side note - Mustard Seed is hands down my favorite place to shop so far. Not only do they have 2.5 aisles of gluten free foods, they also have 3 freezer cases. And everyone there is amazingly nice). So far I've only had the mangosteen and mango, but it was phenomenal. If you don't like pulp, or are weirded out by chunks of things in your drinks, you'll want to stay away from this. I like it, but I'm also bizzare. The only other person I know who will even drink pulpy orange juice is my husband. Chunks of aloe plant are in a whole new category.
My other favorite is Plentils chips, also found at Mustard Seed. The margherita pizza flavor was so good that I'll readily admit I at the whole (albeit relatively small) bag in one sitting. I could not put them down. Oddly enough, these are made by Enjoy Life. You may remember them as the makers of the caramel apple bars that made me want to burn off my taste buds. The garlic parmesan flavor is also super tasty. I even shared them with the hubby.
Pictured: a vortex of deliciousness that will suck out your will power.
The next thing I tried disappointed me more than just about anything. I am madly in love with Ancient Quinoa Harvest corn and quinoa pasta. Madly. Toss it with tomato sauce and tukey sausage, and I will eat more than a toddler in a Scrooge McDuck like bin full of Cheerios. So when I saw that they made mac & cheese, I was thrilled. I wasn't 100% satisfied with Annie's, so I was happy to have an alternative. I made up a batch, stirred in some turkey bacon, and sat down to something that tasted like a rejected science experiment that was attempted to make cheese bounce. Rubbery, chemically, and with a burn type undertone that reminds me of the smell if you try to heat up butter substitute (not margerine - the fat free squeeze bottle stuff. Don't ask.). I didn't want to waste the bacon, so I ate it. But I had to shake on a lot of minced onion to mask the taste (yes, I love minced onion in my mac & cheese. Please see above re: I'm bizzare). I'm going to stick to their pasta from now on. My brother-in-law's aunt said that the Kraft cheese packets are gluten free. So maybe that's the direction I'll go. Because really - I'd rather eat the brimstone-filled caramel apple bars.
But we'll end on a happy note. Two of them, even. Mike suggested we do a date night - watch movies, and eat appetizers for dinner. We used to do this at least once a month, but I wasn't sure how it would work with the GF requirement. Now, I'll preface this by saying I've been craving corn dogs for WEEKS. Mini corndogs are my kid food for when I'm happy, much like mac & cheese is my kid food for when I'm sad. Imagine my uncontained glee (literally - I couldn't contain it. I was grinning like an idiot in the aisle) when I found GF turkey corn-dogs (also good because I can't eat regular hot dogs) in Mustard Seed's freezer section. And they were phenomenal. I'm shocked that I managed to put some away for another time.
While I was at Mustard Seed, I of course had to see what else they had in the freezer section. In addition to the wildberry waffles (also delicious), I bought a Bold brand deluxe pizza. This one I wasn't really sure about. I didn't really have a lot of choice - it was the only one I saw made in a dedicated facility. But it was also egg free, and dairy free, and was topped with a vegan cheese alternative. Now, I'm not a big cheese person. But I'll take a gooey pile of mozzerella on my pizza, thank you. To my surprise, it was really good. I might throw some real cheese on next time for texture, but my pizza craving was definitely satisfied.
Smile and say "Vegan Soy Product!"
Anyway, the point is, aside from the awful mac & cheese, it's been a good couple of weeks. There is absolutely a ton of delicious GF food out there. And I fully intend to find as much of it as possible. I'll keep you posted.
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