Category: Products

Product: Rudi’s Gluten-Free Cinnamon Raisin Bread – $4.99+

I have a local gluten-free tasting fair to thank for introducing me to quite a few products that I will eventually be reviewing.  But, more than anything, I thank my natural food store for giving me the opportunity to try things that I normally would pass on due to my financial situation and the high cost for most products that I can eat.

That being said, while I have had a successful run with products made by Rudi’s Gluten-Free Bakery, I hadn’t tried their Gluten-Free Cinnamon Raisin Bread…until a plate was handed to me at the tasting fair.  And, quite honestly, my life changed.

I know that sounds pretty facetious to say, but it’s the truth.  But I don’t just spend my money on any gluten-free product.  Rudi’s Cinnamon Raisin bread is not only affordable…but epically delicious.  So, I bought a loaf and brought it home.  Just a couple bites was all it took for me to snatch this product up and take it home.  That already speaks volumes.

But the food is what should do the talking, and what I’ve discovered with Rudi’s is that they make high quality, delicious, and affordable gluten-free products from basic, natural ingredients.  You won’t find a thing on the list of ingredients that you don’t recognize.  That is amazing reassuring.  No chemicals, mixed with care and love, and winning over the gluten-free (and even non-gluten-free) hearts and stomachs nationwide.

This bread is fantastic on its own.  Fresh from the bag.  It’s soft and rich.  But toast it up in the oven or the toaster and you really set your senses on fire.  This bread smells amazing as it toasts.  It reminds me a lot of the holidays, when the scent of cinnamon hangs in the air as cinnamon rolls are baked fresh in the oven.  Except…I can’t eat just any cinnamon rolls anymore…but this bread gives that burst of cinnamon flavor with an added kick of the sweet raisins.  And Rudi’s doesn’t skimp on the raisins either.  We’re talking plump, big raisins throughout the bread.  I didn’t expect that…but I’ve come to learn that Rudi’s puts a lot of care and consideration into their products and that is one of many reasons I continue to buy their line of food.

Rudi’s Cinnamon Raisin bread is great on its own, but I’ve found on race days, smearing it with a tablespoon of almond butter or peanut butter does amazing things for my energy levels pre-race and throughout.  It’s become a tradition now.  It pairs well with apple butter, or just plain butter.  It’s fun to dress up for Halloween (see my recipe section for Ghost Toast) with confectioners sugar and bits of candy.  It is so full of flavor that it mixes well with anything you put on it.

And…the best part is the size of the slices of bread.  While not quite at regular bread size, Rudi’s comes close.  I feel like I’m eating an entire piece of bread, because it looks like a full-size piece of bread.  It’s a bit of a comfort.

Rudi’s Cinnamon Raisin bread is substantial in size, in flavor, in spice.  The cinnamon is prevalent throughout each bite.  The raisins compliment the natural flavors of the bread.  And, overall, this product is one of my favorite things to buy when I’m treating myself to something gluten-free.  I mean, it now powers my runs on race days.  When you have to run on gluten-free carbs, do yourself right with the ones you choose.  For me, I will always be fueled by Rudi’s.

Love cinnamon and raisins?  Then you’ll love to give this bread a try.  Dress it up or keep it simple.  It doesn’t matter.  It’s delicious any way you slice it.

Product: Udi’s Gluten-Free Whole Grain Bread – $5.99+

Udi’s Whole Grain Bread has the distinct honor of being the first gluten-free bread I ever tried.  Seriously.  I had gone gluten-free a couple months before I actually tried it, but had avoided buying any bread (basically, I had cut it out of my diet completely) due to the high cost of the shrunken loaves offered in grocery stores.  Let’s face it…the gluten-free bread loaves contain about half the bread of a normal loaf, and the size of the slices…about half that of normal bread.  It’s frustrating from a budget standpoint…so I just wasn’t going to have it.

And then…I made my annual trip out to Denver, Colorado for a convention.  And in order to stay in a budget, my roommate and I shop the local grocery store for food, allowing one meal out a day.  So, as we were shopping, we spotted a display of Udi’s bread at a very reasonable price.  This shouldn’t be a shock, as we were in Denver – where Udi’s is based out of.  So, we picked up a loaf, grabbed a jar of peanut butter, and called it a mission successful.

But we didn’t get to try the bread right away.  We had other plans the following morning, including a drive to Boulder, Colorado to tour the Celestial Seasonings factory and then…brunch at The Buff.  It just so happened that at The Buff, the menu includes the option for your toast to be gluten-free.  And what kind of gluten-free bread does The Buff use?  Udi’s.

So, my first taste of Udi’s bread was in an plain toast form…served up with my giant (and delicious) omelet.  And, it was good.  REALLY good.  This meant the stuff back at the hotel room wasn’t as scary as I was making it in my head, right?  Absolutely right!

The following day our breakfast consisted of a peanut butter sandwich, with said peanut butter smeared and smooshed between two slices of Udi’s Gluten-Free Whole Grain Bread.  It was so full of flavor, so soft, and it reminded me of what real bread tasted like.  I was so worried that the gluten-free products would lack texture, or flavor…but not Udi’s.  The texture was spot-on for bread – soft, but sturdy.  You know, able to at least contain what gets sandwiched in between without going soggy and falling apart.  The flavor was amazing.  If I didn’t know I was eating gluten-free bread, I’d never suspect it.  Fantastic flavor.  It won over my bread-loving heart.  In fact, I vowed that the high price was now worth it when it came to gluten-free bread…as long as it was Udi’s.  Bread was back in my diet again.

And so…the gluten-free bread snob in me was born.  I admit it.  Nothing else would do.  I couldn’t buy any other type of gluten-free bread.  Udi’s was it.  When something is done so well, why risk your budget on something that may not be as satisfying.  Stick with what you know and what you love.

Yes, the slices of bread are rather small, but they still fill you up.  I promise.  My only complaint is that in more loaves than not, the slices have large holes in them.  I can work around that when eating a peanut butter sandwich, but when I do up my grilled cheese, holy bread isn’t really an option.  So, be mindful that your loaf may not be as “whole” as you like.  But the taste will amaze you and you’ll fall madly in love with the Udi’s brand…just as I did.  When it comes to choosing gluten-free products, I have yet to be let down by Udi’s.  And while I have blogged about other products, this type of bread still remains the reason I fell in love with Udi’s in the first place.

Toast it.  Grill it.  Eat it straight out of the bag.  Brush it with olive oil and some seasonings and make garlic toast (yes…I’ve done this!) to have with gluten-free pasta.  Whatever your wish.  Whatever suits your fancy…this bread holds up to anything you can do to it.  However you enjoy your gluten-free bread, enjoy it with Udi’s.

Fall in love with bread again.  Fall in love with Udi’s.

Product: Snyder’s of Hanover Gluten-Free Pretzel Sticks – $5.99+

Pretzels are awesome snacks.  Honestly, since I was a kid, they’ve been one of my favorite things to crunch on.  And when I went gluten-free…they had to be eliminated from my diet.  Not that there weren’t gluten-free options out there.  My local grocery store had bags of Glutino’s pretzels on the shelves…but for that price, it was hard to convince me to shell out the funds for it.

But then I won a contest during a month of gluten-free giveaways on Gluten Free Works.  How exciting.  My prize…a bag of the new Snyder’s of Hanover Gluten-Free Pretzel Sticks.  When they arrived in the mail…I was so excited to give them a try.  Pretzels were back on my snack plate and that made me stupid-happy!

My afternoon snack at work is very important to me.  It falls between lunch and dinner, and must sustain me through dinner prep and the cooking time each day.  I packed a serving of these pretzel sticks and found that they did do the trick.

Snyder’s of Hanover do offer up a great product here.  These pretzels are light as air, so they don’t even feel like real pretzels however.  One bite…and the crunchiness of them is apparent.  Love a crunchy pretzel.  But I find these to be a bit too loud at times.  Especially when I’m sitting in my cubical at work, and I disturb the office silence with a loud CRUNCH.  Ah well…one of the perils of the office, I suppose.  But, these are good.  I found the lightness of them to be a bit offsetting, but once I got beyond that, I found the magic of these pretzel sticks.  They are also a low-calorie snack that is relatively low in sodium (for pretzels) and pack a crunch with each bite (even I don’t want pretzels that don’t have a bit of a snap to them!).

They taste good, but I found them to lack when I compared them to the pretzel twists I tried from Glutino.  When I ate the Glutino pretzels, I wanted to share them with everyone at the office.  I didn’t get that same rush with these.  They lightness of them didn’t make them feel like real pretzels, unlike Glutino which matched the feel, texture, and flavor of regular pretzels bite-for-bite.  If I’m craving pretzels and these are all I can find, however, I wouldn’t turn my nose up at them.  They really do taste great…they just didn’t wow me like I hoped.

I had also hoped that Snyder’s of Hanover (being a well-known and trusted pretzel brand) would have their gluten-free bags at a more affordable price than, say, gluten-free companies such as Glutino.  However…the few stores I have spotted these in, they have been just as expensive if not more expensive than Glutino’s brand.  YIKES!  And I wouldn’t mind shelling out almost $6 for pretzels if the bags were of equal value to the regular pretzels.  But hold up a bag of Snyder’s of Hanover Gluten-Free Pretzel Sticks to one of their bags of regular pretzels, and it is much smaller.  I see that trend a lot in companies that begin a gluten-free line…and with gluten-free companies in general.  More cost…less product.  It’s a sad reality to me these days…but one I have to give if I feel the need to splurge on a snack.

So, while Synder’s of Hanover didn’t really wow me with their pretzels, if they were on sale, I’d pick them up again.  Might even dip them in some (gluten-free) melted chocolate and change things up a little.  If you are craving a lot of crunch and a little salt in your day…and if you can find these…go ahead and try them.  They do make a great gluten-free snack.  They just aren’t my first choice for gluten-free pretzels for the moment.

Product: Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free Pancake Mix – $4.99+

Fluffy  pancakes are my favorite kind of pancakes.  So, when my friend Jenn told me about Big Lots carrying Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-Free mixes for a great price ($2.50+), I bought up the lot of them as soon as I could.  And, since I had such great luck with Pamela’s Products when it came to gluten-free pancakes, I was really excited to mix up a batch of Bob’s…considering his is a gluten-free name that is trusted years over.

While these pancakes cooked up thick and fluffy, they still seemed quite dense when sliced into.  I’ve mixed it quite a few times now, and the batter seems so heavy when I lay it into my pan.  It’s strange, because while I do like thick and fluffy pancakes…this just seems the wrong kind of fluffy.

Now, don’t get me wrong…these are good in their own right, but I much preferred the lighter version I whipped up with Pamela’s Products Pancake and Baking Mix.  Because, while filling, they really were light and airy.  These are quite heavy…so I feel full and then remain feeling full.  That’s not how I want to spend the morning, because then I just want to crawl back into bed.

Pancakes are a tricky food, mind you.  Everyone likes to eat them a little differently.  But I like to have something that will fill me up without making me feel like I just consumed the entire plate.  While I stuck with the serving of Bob’s Red Mill pancakes (two 4-inch pancakes), these thick little breakfast cakes were heavier than I am used to when it comes to mixing up pancakes for the morning.

Still, quite good in its own right.  Perhaps next time I’ll add a splash more of almond milk and break up the batter a bit more.  But I love the way these cook up and fluff up on in the pan.  Beautiful pancakes to be sure.  But…just not right for me.

I do love that Bob’s Red Mill is such a trusted brand when it comes to gluten-free eating.  And I do look forward to trying other mixes and enjoying them.  So, while these pancakes didn’t cook up to my standard, I still enjoy eating them.  And I’ll mess with the recipe some and see if I can still achieve the fluffiness…but with a lighter texture all around.