Product Review: Edward & Sons Exotic Rice Toast

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While checking out our local wine and cheese shop for the first time the other day (for some reason, we always go to one that is further away), I happily noticed a few gluten free products among all of the wonderful-looking gifts and cheese accompaniments. Among them were Edward & Sons Exotic Rice Toasts. I hadn't seen them before, so naturally I scooped them up to try with our yummy cheese purchases. I loved them, so I wanted to share my thoughts with you. I also loved the Edward & Sons website, which has an easy-to-us allergen chart!!! Check out my review on The Examiner.

PS - I purchased these for my own individual use. No compensation of any kind was received in exchange for this review.

Happy Monday!

Little Bay Baking Co.'s Doughuts

When Helen Sanders, owner of the dedicated gluten free Little Bay Baking Co. in Dover, NH told me that her Waffle & Donut Hole mix is sugar free, in addition to gluten, wheat, soy, casein, and dairy free, I knew I had to try it. The day finally came...I took out my mix, decided to make the donut hole recipe, and got ready for what I thought was going to be quite a production. Frying always is, in my opinion. But I was wrong! The directions were so easy - I made the doughnuts in less than 15 minutes!

I followed the directions on the back of the mix, save one little change for my sugar issue: "Mix together 1 C of the mix, 1 egg, 2 T oil, 3 T sugar (here's my change - I used honey), 1/4 C milk (whichever you can tolerate), and 1/4 t nutmeg (optional - I used cinnamon) until blended. Drop rounded teaspoonfuls of dough into 3-4 inches of oil pre-heated to 375 degrees. Cook until golden brown..."

The result? They were AMAZING! So delicious! A bit crispy on the outside and nice and fluffy on the inside. It was so fun to eat a munchkin - after all, it has been over 9 years since I've had one! The temptation is to make them bigger than you really need to - I found that they puffed up a bit once in the frying oil. Next time, I will remember to drop them by smaller spoonfuls! Oh right - keep in mind that I did not roll mine in cinnamon & sugar or powdered sugar as suggested - I bet they would look and taste even better with a yummy coating!

Helen's goal is to make treats that "taste like you remember" and she certainly hit the nail on the head with this one! You can use the store locator to find Little Bay products near you, or order from the website.

Pizza Bases - A Journey

My thinking about food and health has evolved quite a bit from when I was first diagnosed with celiac disease about 9 years ago...and I keep learning each and every day. I'm a pizza-lover, so one of my main searches during this time has been for yummy pizza bases and crusts. My journey to find a pizza crust based on current thinking about health and what I needed to avoid for a period of time has lead me to have a variety of ideas on the subject. I thought it would be fun to share my favorites with you...

Post Diagnosis Desperation, 2002:Bette Hagman's Seasoned Pizza Crust.
I stumbled upon this recipe in my blind search for all things GF that taste like the original. By far, this is the tastiest homemade pizza crust I have ever had. It produces a thicker crust that crisps on the outside but remains soft on the inside. The flavor and texture are incredible! Non-GFers in my circle have enjoyed this immensely. The downside: it takes a good amount of time, a lot of ingredients, and it contains yeast and rice flour - two things I'm trying not to have too much of these days...which explains why I haven't made it in, oh, probably 2 years. Looking over the recipe now makes me yearn for it, though - it is sooooo yummy!

Wanting a Quick Version, 2003: Foods By George English Muffins.
Not often having time to devote to making Bette's recipe, I reached for a quick version. Foods By George makes a wonderful english muffin. It is light, tasty, and has a nice pillowy texture. I would toast them up, then top them with my favorite stuff, and broil until the cheese melted. A quick, satisfying pizza fix!

Going Raw, Summer '06: Alissa Cohen
Starting to realize that just substituting GF foods for our old non-GF favorites isn't exactly the healthiest thing to do, my sister got trained as a raw foods teacher by Alissa Cohen, so she got me to try it out. I'll never forget it - it was the summer that my condo got taken over by mold following what we New Englanders call "The Mother's Day Storm." I had to move in with my parents for several weeks. It was unsettling, and I decided to try out raw foods in an effort to give me something to focus on and to eat more simply. I still take a lot of my diet cues from the raw foods revolution - you can't ignore the benefit of eating foods in their natural state with maximum potential enzymes for absorption. Alissa has three versions of raw pizza bases (all dairy, egg, soy, and nut free) - gourmet, easy, and easier. The gourmet version calls for sprouted barley (I substituted buckwheat) and spouted wild rice. The easy one uses buckwheat and flax seeds, and the easiest uses mostly flax seeds. To make them truly raw, a dehydrator is recommended. All of these are very yummy and very good for you!

Learning to Incorporate More Veggies, 2007: Portobello Mushrooms.
So I wasn't going to drag out the dehydrator on a weekly basis (hey, I said I love pizza!). My solution to incorporating more veggies was to use a grilled portobello mushroom cap as a pizza base. Top with your favorite things. You can also cut eggplant into 1 inch thick pieces and grill on both sides for another pizza base option.

Trying Out Improved Store-Bought Options, 2008: Against the Grain.
Having opted out of the GF substitution game for quite some time, I hadn't tried any store bought options. Against the Grain's pizza crust was recommended to me, so I picked one up. It's made in a dedicated GF facility by some folks in Vermont that have celiac disease and want to make some convenient options that taste like their non-GF counterparts. The products also do not contain yeast, corn, soy, rice, or sugar, but they do contain dairy and eggs. I have to say, the crust was quite tasty, though it is a thinner type, which tends not to be my favorite. I really enjoyed it.

Today, Reducing Grains: Shirley's Flourless Pizza.
After embarking on another elimination diet for the past several months and discovering that I can tolerate some dairy (cheese and yogurt), but overall feel much better when I stay away from rice, potatoes, and other starches on the Specific Carbohydrate Diet's no-no list, I had basically resigned myself to the fact that it would be only mushroom or eggplant pizza bases for me...that is, until I became acquainted with Shirley at Gluten Free Easily through the "Go Ahead Honey, It's Gluten Free" recipe roundup. While perusing her blog, I happened upon her flourless pizza crust recipe. I promptly ran out and got what I needed to give it a try...and oh my goodness! I loved it! Very satisfying and very close to the real thing! You've got to try it for yourself!

Pizza is back, baby!

Product review: Cassava Chips

While at the Healthy Villi spring meeting a few weeks ago, I tried Cassava Chips (original flavor) from Arico Foods. They are marketed as having 40% less fat and twice the fiber as potato chips. I had never heard of cassava before - from the Arico Foods website:

"The cassava plant grows much like a potato and originated in South America thousands of years ago. Its cultivation has spread to other parts of Latin America, Asia, and Africa. Today, cassava is consumed by millions around the world and is relatively unknown in North America. Nearly 500 million people around the world depend on cassava as a staple crop. It is a resilient root and grows well in dry or drought-ridden soil."

As far as allergen information, the site does not say that they are a dedicated gluten or dairy free facility (looks like they are not peanut free, as they make a peanut butter cookie). I have sent a request for them to clarify this, and will update you when I hear from them. For easy ingredient reference, they do provide a handy matrix of common allergens. They claim that their products have

• No refined sugars or artificial sweeteners
• No trans-fat
• No cholesterol
• No artificial flavors
• No artificial preservatives
• No colorings
• No yeast
• All-natural seasonings
• Gluten-free, Wheat-Free
• Dairy-free, Casein-Free

So, how do they taste? Pretty much like a thicker potato chip, with a slight aftertaste. I did enjoy the crunch, but I think I might like the BBQ Bliss or Ginger On Fire flavors better. Overall, I think this is a great snack if you are looking for a healthier chip or if you need to avoid potatoes. I've seen Cassava Chips in a few stores, usually retailing for about $3.50 for a 5 oz. bag.

6/8/09 update from Arico Foods: "Kim, In response to your question, Arico products are free of gluten, wheat, casein, dairy, trans fat, refined sugars, preservatives and colorings. Our products are made with natural ingredients from suppliers who have submitted written allergen statements that their products are free of gluten and dairy. To ensure the safety of our products, we randomly test for the presence of gluten and dairy in each batch of finished product. We find none detectable. Our tests ensure that gluten presence is less than 10 parts per million (ppm) and less than 5 ppm for dairy. Prior to production, our shared manufacturing facility undertakes an extensive sanitation process to remove any traces of allergen-containing proteins (e.g. gluten, dairy). The line is then tested for protein residue. The production week begins with designated gluten-free days."