Category: Sweet Stuff

Product: Envirokidz Organic Koala Crisp Cereal – $3.99+

Who says that adult cereals have to actually be for adults?  I find that, especially in the gluten-free cereal market, those marketed to children are actually tastier.  No joke.  If I have to prove it, I would point to the Envirokidz line from Nature’s Path.

Already having been pleasantly surprised by the Gorilla Munch cereal, I broke into my new box this morning before I headed to the gym to get my run in.  I am powered on cereal on gym mornings, until I’m done and can fill up on a little something more substantial.  The key is, the cereal has to not only taste good, but be filling enough to get me through a run, some weights, and whatever else I decide to take on that morning.

I was already feeling good about my cereal choice.  Envirokidz Organic Koala Crisp Cereal.  What is it, you ask?  Think of chocolate Rice Krispies…but with ingredients you recognize.  In fact, as compared to Cocoa Krispies (made from artificial flavorings), Koala Crisp is made from all natural ingredients…all of which I recognize.  You do not understand (or perhaps you do) how important that is to me.  I don’t want to eat chemicals.  I want to eat actual nutrients and vitamins.  I want to be able to look at the ingredients in a pre-packaged product and not have to guess at what it is I will be ingesting.  I like to know what I’m eating because it’s just better for our bodies overall.  Food snob or not…I know what goes into natural chocolate flavor…but artificial flavor…that’s a black hole of guesswork.

I poured a bowl of this cereal this morning, topped it off with a splash of almond milk, stood in the kitchen, leaning against the counter, and dug in.  At first, I wasn’t too sure what to think of it.  While I am a natural chocoholic, I wasn’t sold immediately on the chocolate rice crisps idea.  But, by the next spoonful and the one following, I was hooked.  It really is a wonderful treat, chocolate in the morning.  And the thing I do love about these is that the chocolate isn’t too much.  I can’t handle too much sweetness in the morning, so this was at the perfect level.  And once my taste buds woke up, I was enjoying every spoonful I ladled up to my lips.  Before I knew it…my bowl was empty.  Yes, the remnant chocolate almond milk was slurped up as well.  These things happen…

As mentioned previously, one additional advantage to purchasing Envirokidz products is that 1% of the purchase proceeds goes to species and habitat conservation or education programs for kids.  Beyond that, you get a fantastic product, which is not just good for kids, but also adults (we’re young at heart too!).  And with ingredients that are naturally occurring in nature and not created in a lab, I feel better about putting this in my body in the mornings than other options out there.  Big bonus for me…these cereals are gluten-free.  Fantastic flavor, great texture, and natural ingredients.  Yeah…breakfast just got better.

Look for the Envirokidz cereals in your grocery store.  Pick them up.  Try them.  I haven’t been disappointed yet.

Envirokidz Organic Koala Crisp Cereal was the perfect chocolate hit in the morning.  Enough to get me going and keep me going.  While most chocolate cereals are little more than sugar, which a body burns through quickly, this definitely kept me going through my workout.

This cereal does everything right.  Seriously.  It’s naturally good.  Naturally gluten-free.  Naturally…delicious!

Product: Enjoy Life Soft Baked Snickerdoodle Cookies – $3.99+

Snickerdoodles.

From my mom’s homemade variety to the gluten-free versions I have tried since having to take on a new dietary lifestyle, these cookies remain my absolute favorite kind.  And it’s no surprise to me that when it comes to companies that take on cookies, when snickerdoodles are offered, they are often the favorite variety…yes, even beating out chocolate chip!

Never fails.

While out at the grocery after a stressful day at the office, my roommate decided to treat me to a gluten-free goodie of my choice.  This is one of the most epic statements you can ever hear because there are so many products out there that I want to try…the trick is finding them and being able to afford them.

That day, since it was stressful, I was seeking comfort food.  And to me comfort = cookies.  Basic math, my friends.  So, with the limited selection at the store, I did spot the Enjoy Life Soft Baked Snickerdoodle Cookies.  Instant win.  I snatched them off the shelf and they came home with me.

Now, I’ve had some hits and some misses with the Enjoy Life brand.  I loved their crunchy chocolate chip cookies, but their bagels left me unsatisfied and unhappy.  Their snack bars…well…some are better than others.  But since their cookies rocked my world the first time I had them, I figured these were worth the try.  Besides…they were snickerdoodles.  They were made for me.

Tonight was the big unveiling.  I was out of dessert options, but these cookies were sitting in my pantry just beckoning to me.  So…after dinner and clean-up, it was time to settle in with a touch of dessert.  And that was when I tore into these cookies.  They are small, but most gluten-free, prepackaged cookies are.  No surprise.  What I loved about them was the obvious dusting of cinnamon and sugar on the top.  Settling in with one (the serving size is two, but they last longer if you do it one at a time.  Frugal thinking in this gluten-free girl’s life), I anticipated my first bite.

These were really good.  The flavor didn’t stand up and wallop me in the  , but they were very pleasing to eat.  Very soft, like a fresh brownie right out of the oven.  They were like biting into the dough, but in an actual baked form.  Soft cookies are sinfully good.  And these, while not as full as flavor as I hoped, were still good in their own right.  It is perhaps unfair to try to compare them to the Snickerdoodles that have come before them, as these were distinctively softer, chewier, and just flavored differently.  I wouldn’t flinch to pick up another box of these somewhere down the line, as they seem easier to find than my favorite brand so far (Udi’s).

Enjoy Life Soft Baked Snickerdoodle Cookies are a delicious dessert or midday treat.  Honestly.  They have great texture, and I love how soft they are and how easy they are to eat.  No annoying crunches from your desk in the  middle of the day.  Just a savory, sinfully good treat that bring two-bite goodness to your gluten-free life.

Enjoy Life’s products are also free of the 8 most common food allergies, including dairy, soy, wheat, nuts, and eggs.  So, if you have a food allergy, this is often a good brand to look to.

I’m sold.  So enjoy cookies again…and pick up some Enjoy Life Soft Baked Snickerdoodles today.  Because a little sugar and spice really is nice.  And trust me…it is honestly difficult to eat just one.

Sans Sucre Mocha Cappuccino Mousse Mix – $3.99+

Sometimes my local grocery stores make my life a little less expensive by putting gluten-free items on manager’s special.  If the moon and the stars aline and the diet gods are smiling upon me that day, I wander in at the right moment and am able to benefit from these specials before someone else scarfs them off the table.  This takes a huge burden off my food budget and allows me to try new products I normally wouldn’t either because of price or because I can honestly go without them.

This happened recently with products I had been ogling for a long time now…

Sans Sucre produces a line of gluten-free, sugar-free mousse mixes that look absolutely fantastic.  I spotted them on the shelves months ago and often stop to stare at them before continuing on my way while I’m out grocery shopping.  With a small sigh, I bypass them week after week after week, telling myself that when I get some wiggle room in the budget, I will pick them up and try them.  It had yet to happen.

And then…the gluten-free food gods found me worthy, because sitting on the manager’s special table the other day was one box of Sans Sucre’s Mocha Cappuccino Mousse.  You better believe I scarfed that up off the table immediately.  One box…and now it was mine.

This little dessert treat couldn’t be easier to make.  Each box contains two envelopes of mix to make the mousse.  One pack will make four 1/2 cup servings.  Simply grab your mixer and blend the contents of one packet with 3/4 cup of milk (I used unsweetened almond milk in mine).  Start off on the lowest setting and work your way up to the highest, allowing the mixture to blend and thicken in texture.  Do this for about five minutes.  Put into dessert dishes and pop in the refrigerator for at least two hours.  Then it’s ready to serve.

Now, this is where you can just grab a spoon and dig in or dress it up some.  I decided to melt some dark chocolate Ghirardelli over mine and serve it up that way.  Either way, you won’t be disappointed.

The mousse is smooth, rich and creamy.  You wouldn’t believe that this is sugar free.  By using almond milk, I reduced the calories even more.  And this delicious dessert had it been made with skim milk would only have clocked in at 70 calories prior to that.  So, it really is a sinfully delicious sinless dessert.  They do exist!   The cappuccino flavor really ties in well with the chocolate.  But espresso/coffee and chocolate are best mates anyway.  They just work together!  This is delicious on its own, but could be served up as a filling in a pie, tart, parfait, torte, etc.  Possibilities are endless.  I’m already coming up with ways to dress it up some more in my head.  This creamy, delicious mousse was light and didn’t feel heavy like some desserts can.  It’s the perfect compliment to a big dinner.  Especially for all you coffee-loving people out there.  It’s a café-infused dreamy dessert, delicious spoonful after spoonful.  Without the sugar, gluten, and with it being so low in fat, you can definitely afford to indulge a little.

So whip up Sans Sucre’s Mocha Cappuccino Mousse the next time you’re looking for a light dessert.  It compliments any meal and is sure to please everyone out there.  Enjoy.  And eat up.

Product: Liz Lovely Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies – $3.99

So…this is the fourth variety of Liz Lovely’s vegan and gluten-free cookie line that I have managed to snag and try while out at the natural food store.  The other varieties have had the chocolate base…so this time, I went for a little more variety…but keeping with the chocolate theme.  Liz Lovely’s Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookie was my vegan, gluten-free cookie of choice this past visit.  And since I was working on a box of Glenny’s cookies at the time, this had to wait.

But…damn…these were worth the wait.

If cookies were rockstars, this one would win the Grammy.  You wouldn’t even believe what you were eating was gluten-free, let alone contained no dairy or animal products.  It’s like biting into a cookie pre-baking process.  So, if you LOVE cookie dough, that’s what this is.  But it is baked.  Yet that fresh, straight-from-the-bowl flavor lingers and plays across your palate.  Honestly…it’s cookie dough in cookie form.  Which, is an odd way of putting it, but that’s what these taste like.  Like I said…rockstar.

These cookies have that first initial stiffness to them, but they are chewy and soft.  It’s the perfect storm of cookies.  I mean, you honestly can’t a cookie composed of rice flour, dark chocolate, and other binders and sweeteners (of which are all recognizable and natural), that is not only certified vegan (YAY!) but also safe for those of us who have to be careful of the cookies we indulge in.  Not every cookie is created equal, but thanks to Liz Lovely…those of us who need a special tweak to our cookies get ones that are far and away better than what any bakery, any café, or any weekend warrior baker could produce.  These are perfection wrapped up in a plastic bag.

If you’re a lover of cookie dough and if chocolate chip cookies are one of your favorite temptations…get tempted by Liz Lovely’s Vegan and Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies.  But remember, your serving is only half of a cookie…so indulge, but savor.  The longer it takes you to get through it, the more days you get to enjoy it.  So tempt yourself, treat yourself, and do it with the best flavor and ingredients around.  Let Liz Lovely treat you to her rockstar-worthy gluten-free chocolate chip cookies.

Because if cookies won Grammy’s…I’d be handing over the trophy now.