Cookbook Review: Pampered Chef Favorites Made Gluten Free

  
    I am super excited to have the opportunity to bring you a review of a new cookbook. I'm a huge Pampered Chef fan to begin with. I have tons of their products and love them. However, I always hate going to the parties people throw because the food made is NEVER gluten free. So you just have to sit there drooling and wishing you could have some. Until now.....Pampered Chef has finally come out with a gluten free cookbook!! YEAH THEM!!
     To say I was excited about this book was an understatement. I couldn't wait to get my copy to see what they had come up with for us. They did not disappoint!! The book itself is smaller than expected, which initially shocked me, but now I love it's size. It's the perfect size to sit on the counter while you cook and it doesn't take up ALL the space. It is 8 in. by 6 in. and is spiral bound. I love the binding because you can lay it out flat and not have to sit a sugar bag or rolling pin on it to keep it open.
     Each recipe has a picture of what you are making. The food photography is amazing. Each picture makes your stomach growl and your mouth drool. I love a cookbook with pictures!
     Oh, and let's talk price. According to the pampered chef website this book is only $8!! It is well worth $8. I have spent far more on lesser cookbooks in my gluten free time.
      I decided that I of course had to TEST a recipe to see if there was any merit beyond pretty pictures and yummy titles. I tested Jalapeno Popper Pizzas and Taffy Apple Pizza. I tried to stick as closely as I could to the instructions. However, I don't own every pampered chef accoutrement that is mentioned to use in the recipes so I had to improvise some. No big deal though.
     The recipes use mostly Bob's Red Mill and Betty Crocker's gluten free line of mixes. So it is nice that the ingredients are easy to find, and use some short cuts. We all need short cuts once in a while!
     The Jalapeno Popper Pizzas were a hit. They were easy to make and turned out great. The only difference from my recipe to theirs was that mine made 15 pizzas and theirs said it would make 24. I guess I made mine bigger. OOPS! The flavor was good and they were loved even by non gluten free folks. I would call them a success.

Jalapeno Popper Pizzas

     I also made Taffy Apple Pizza which is a dessert pizza. It was easy to put together. It used a Betty Crocker gluten free yellow cake mix for the base (not mixed according to the box). The taste of this recipe was good, but the base was very crumbly and didn't hold together as much as I would have liked it to. This recipe doesn't really make great leftovers, so it would have to be made for an occasion where you knew it would all be eaten. That all being said, it tasted good, looked pretty, and was enjoyed. I would make it again, but with a few tweaks.

Taffy Apple Pizza

     There are several other recipes that I can't wait to try out in this new book. One that I see being used for multiple uses is a recipe for Crescent dough (crescent rolls) that is used in their recipe for Chicken and Broccoli Braid. I can't wait to try that out! Their picture looks amazing for that. The book has recipes for Appetizers, Main Dishes and Desserts. Lots of yummy ideas.
      So if you are looking for a new gluten free cookbook, or maybe even a gift for a gluten free loved one, this cookbook is well worth your $8. I hope this is just the first of many gluten free cookbooks put out by Pampered Chef.
     If you are interested in getting your gluten free hands on this book you will either need to order it through a Pampered Chef consultant, or you can order it online at PamperedChef.com . Just FYI.... I have not been compensated for my review, other than receiving the book to review. So this is just my opinion on the book. I hope my review was informative for you and maybe even helped you to decide if you need a new cookbook in your kitchen.

-Jessica
    

Product Review: Crunchmaster Cheezy Crisps & Grammy Crisps

     Without further adieu.....my product review for the New Crunchmaster products!!! I have been trying to find a free moment to sit down and write the review for these. I have FINALLY found a chunk of time to do it....so I had better get this posted before someone decides I need to be doing something else! ha

     Crunchmaster was kind enough to send me a review box that contained their two new products. Cheezy Crisps and Grammy Crisps. I was more excited than a kid at Christmas when the UPS man brought the box. Some of you may have caught my picture of the box on the USASillyYaks facebook page. I have been looking forward to these products for MONTHS now!! I have been so excited. I used to LOVE cheesey crackers back in my gluten filled days (Cheez-its, goldfish, etc). So I could not wait to tear into the boxes and get started. Here is what I thought........

 

     I think that these are an OK product. I think they could be better. I was envisioning a cheese cracker more like a cheez-it or a goldfish....puffy, crunchy, with baked in cheese. Cheezy Crisps are ok, but they are more of a rice cracker with cheese dusted on the outside. That product can already be found in the gluten free market, granted it isn't in a triangle shape...but it's mostly the same taste. I was really hoping for a bolder cheese tasted that was baked into the cracker.

     To sum it up...these are ok. I may buy them but I probably won't crave them.

Now on to the Grammy Crisps...............

 



     Again, I was super excited about this product. I used to LOVE the cinnamon and sugar graham crackers. So I was very excited to give this a try. I'm also a HUGE fan of the Cinnamon Chex. However, again, I really think that the Crunchmaster product fell through with the flavor. It seems like the flavor is just sort of dusted on the outside, so it was like a rice cracker with a small amount of cinnamon and sugar on the outside. The flavor wasn't strong enough for me.
     I didn't hate it. I probably won't crave it either though.....

I really hope that Crunchmaster goes back and amps up the flavors on these two products. They have great potential and would really fill a needed niche. Those are just MY thoughts on the product....if you have tried them leave me a note and let me know what YOU thought.

-Jessica

Country Manor Mixes: Product Review

     I was recently introduced to Country Manor Mixes. A friend had brought three packages of dip mix back from her vacation in Minnesota. I was excited that they were gluten free. I decided to contact Country Manor and see if they would like to send out some product for me to review. They were more than happy to do that.
     Country Manor carries a variety of Dippin' products. They have dessert mixes, spreads for bagels or dessert, dipping oil mixes, fruit dips, and veggie/chip dip mixes. They have a great variety. I would say that just about everybody could find a flavor that they would like to try.
     I have chosen two of the products that I was sent to talk about today. I have chosen the BLT Mix and the English Toffee Cheesecake Mix. The BLT retails for $4 and the English Toffee for $6 on their website.

BLT Dip Mix from Country Manor Mixes

     Alright, let's talk BLT Dip Mix.....

     The BLT Dip Mix required 1 C. Sour Cream and 1 C. Mayo added to the package of Dip Mix. All I had to do was stir that all together and chill for a few hours or over night. I loved that the dip was simple to make. I was a little leery of how the mayo would taste in the dip, but it was great. I would definitely make this dip again. I dipped gluten free bagel chips into it, tortilla chips, and even pieces of lettuce. It was very yummy.



     The second mix was the English Toffee Cheesecake Mix. The package says that the mix can be made into a cheesecake, cheese ball, or dip. I decided to make mine into a cheese ball. However, after mixing the ingredients, it was far too soft and fluffy to form into a cheese ball....soooo it ended up being a dip. I had no problem with it just being a dip.

To make this mix it required a package of cream cheese and a container of cool whip. Easy Peasy.

I mixed the cream cheese with the dip mix first. Then I folded in the cool-whip.

My dip is a little too fluffy to make a cheese ball....oh well :) Still tastes yummy!

I dished up a little of the English Toffee Cheesecake Dip and topped it with some crushed English Toffee Candy Bar pieces. I used Mi-Del Arrowroot Animal Cookies for my dippers.

The result was YUMMYNESS!

I would love to make this again sometime. It was very good. I would love to try it in a pie shell next time. I would also like to figure out how to make it thick enough for the cheese ball, because that would be AMAZING rolled in the English Toffee Candy Bar pieces (my original plan for using the mix ha).

     Country Manor sells their mixes online and they can also be found in some stores. Look for them and check them out. They are yummy!!

-Jessica



Healthy Licorice???

    I had stopped at Target today to pick up a couple of things. While waiting in a gargantuan checkout line I spotted an endcap that had fruit rollups and these things called Simply Fruit Twists (Made by General Mills). They look just like licorice in the picture on the box. I picked up the box to read while I waited in the looooong line. Right on the front of the box it says "Gluten Free". Ummmm throw these bad boys in my cart!! I don't care if it puts me over the limit for the express lane!! I'll risk it.
     I got home and decided I needed to try out the fruit twists. They are amazingly good!! They are larger around than traditional licorice. I bought strawberry flavor, not sure if any other flavors exist. I would for sure buy these again.
     Oh and I almost forgot to say, they contain a serving of fruit. If you can't get your kiddo to eat fruit, I bet they would happily eat these. You can trick them into thinking they are candy!! ha I love sneaky foods like that.
    I just thought I would share my cool find with you. I hope you can find them and give them a try. Enjoy.

-Jessica

Are you sitting down? I found gluten free Froot Loops!!!

     I have something to share with you, but I need you to promise that you will keep calm. Are you sitting down? Ok good...... I received a sample in the mail today. It came from Freedom Foods . Inside of this package was the gluten free version of Froot Loops!!! (hey now, you promised to stay calm!! Stop jumping on the couch!!)
     I had entered a contest to try to win a supply of this amazing cereal. However I wasn't the big winner. BUT the company was super generous and decided to send out samples to people who "liked" their Facebook page during the contest time. You just had to request the sample via email. I would say that was super nice of them. Most companies don't care if you didn't win.
    Today I was graced with this box of samples. I love the mailman on days when he brings me packages. Inside the box were samples of Freedom Foods rice puffs, corn flakes and......(insert drum roll) TropicO's.
    I felt a little like a kid again when I saw the TropicO's. They were colorful (not the creepy, neon, processed color of their gluten filled brother). They smelled fruity. I couldn't get a container fast enough so I could douse them in some milk.
    I popped a few dry ones in my mouth and poured the rest into a little cup with milk. The dry cereal was yummy!! The cereal with milk was yummy!! It did soak up the milk pretty quickly, but I did take a couple of pictures of it before I ate (the sacrifices I make for you guys).
   Freedom foods is actually an Australian company. However they are awesome enough to figure out a way to give us a fruity O fix. They are selling through Amazon. I looked and a case (5 boxes) of the TropicO's goes for $20.54 ($4.10 a box) Hopefully we will be seeing these TropicO's in a grocery store near us soon. I would be much more likely to buy them by the box instead of by the case. I just don't eat enough cereal to buy a whole case by myself.
     So that's my new find. I hope you enjoyed hearing about it. If you spot TropicO's anywhere let me know!! I can't wait until they hit grocery stores.

-Jessica

Spoiled myself with NEW gluten free products

     I completely spoiled myself yesterday. I took a trip to the city to find a book that I had asked for as a Christmas gift. I had two books on my wish list. I ended up with two copies of one of the books. The other book was no where to be found locally. So I took one of the books back that I got a double of and set out on my adventure to find this tricky book.
     I ended up finding the book that was on my wish list at the big Barnes and Noble in the mall. The bonus is that it was 50% off!! Love that!! Now I have both of the books I have been wanting to read. Of course I found several more at B & N that I will be adding to my wish list.
    I figured that since I had my mission accomplished so early on in my day I would take a trip to Whole Foods. I just love shopping at Whole Foods. However, I don't get to very often because of the LOOOONG drive that it requires to get there.
    I found lots of NEW gluten free products on my trip. I'm always excited to find new things. It means that companies find it worthwhile to invest money into new products for us. Love that! Some of you may say "Oh I've seen that before." Well I haven't seen it yet! ha So they are new to me and I am excited about them. I had to take pictures of their boxes and share with you what I picked out to bring home.
     I haven't tried everything yet so I can't really do reviews, but I just wanted to show you some new things.

So I ate some of these as I was typing the blog.....YUM!! I didn't use any syrup though....the chocolate and the pancake were enough. So very yummy.

Snicker doodle flavored bunny cookies. The girl that checked me out at whole foods said: "Oh these are SO good, I can eat a whole box in one setting".

Gingersnap bunny cookies.

Gluten Free Gingerbread Men!! Adorable!!

I LOVE their Peanut Butter Panda Puffs, so I figured that adding chocolate can only make it better. I can't wait to try them.

     So those are the products that I spoiled myself with yesterday. I can't wait to try them all. I guess you can tell by my purchases that I'm pretty much just a kid in an adult body ha Chocolate chip pancakes, three kinds of cookies, and some kid cereal.

     I also spoiled myself by taking home some take out from Pei-Wei. I had a buy-one-get-one-free coupon that was set to expire soon. So I took home some Pei Wei Spicy and an order of Sweet and Sour Chicken. I absolutely love that they have a gluten free menu. The food was excellent and I have TONS of leftovers.

     I should totally have more of these days where I spoil myself rotten. It was super fun!!

-Jessica