Gluten Free Grits: Albers Enriched Hominy Quick Grits

PRODUCT NAME:                   Quick Grits         

BRAND:                                  Albers                  

COST:                                    $4.99    

SIZE:                                      40oz      

COST PER OZ:                       $0.12/oz                           

CERTIFIED GLUTEN FREE:     NO      

CERTIFICATION AGENCY:      NA

ORGANIC:                              NO

CERTIFICATION AGENCY:      NA

VEGAN:                                 YES                                  

GLUTEN FREE FACILITY:       NO

LOCATION OF FACILITY:       Portland, OR    

SHELF LIFE:                          2 years                                         

*These statements are based on the information printed on the product packaging.  We cannot verify the accuracy of this information.  For verification of the statements above, please contact the manufacturer.

REVIEW:

This week I reviewed Albers Quick Grits.  Other than always making me think of the movie “My Cousin Vinny,” grits are a wonderful and easy thing to add to any meal.  We often think of them associated with hearty breakfasts consisting of eggs, bacon and strong coffee on a Sunday brunch for example.  While that’s a tradition I don’t deny, grits are a great thing to have in the kitchen for a variety of dishes that use them as a base to build on.  By their nature, grits are very versatile and can take on many flavors, becoming either sweet or savory easily.  Somewhat of a Cinderella food, grits by themselves are bland and characterless, but with a little imagination and some creativity, they can be really amazing and unique to each person that prepares them. 

If you’re new to grits and wondering what direction to take them in, there are several recipes on the box as well as a few more on the Albers website that I’ve listed below.  They recommend fried grits or a grits and sausage bake for example.  You can follow the recipe or add in healthier or vegetarian options depending on your diet.

When I prepare grits, I follow the simple recipe on the back of the box for the most part.  I prefer creamier grits to thinner ones and I often add some of my soy free daily balance butter, a bit of salt and a dash of pepper to it while it’s cooking to get a more buttery texture and flavor.  I also cook them longer and on low heat then it recommends on the box.  This creates more traditional, slow-cooked grits that are creamier and softer than when cooked quickly.  The grits themselves are mild in flavor, with a hint of sweetness in the aftertaste.  They are very basic in texture and taste.  It’s really in what you add to them that makes them special.

There’s something very familiar and comforting about grits.  They have that good old stick-to-your-ribs sensibility while being nutritious and good for you.  A quarter cup is only 140 calories and Albers enriched their grits with several essential vitamins and nutrients.  This is a perfect dish to prepare now that the weather is getting colder and we all want to feel a little more cozy and secure against the elements.  Quick grits are also very affordable and they last awhile where a little goes a long way making this a good economically savvy choice as well.     

For more information, recipes and suggested preparations you can check out the Albers website at www.alberscorn.com

Taste: mild, slightly roasted and slightly sweet

Labeling: bright recognizable box, does not say gluten free  

Packaging: cardboard box with pour spout

Reader’s Reviews: Please share with us your review of this company’s other products + where you purchased the product + how long you have been using this product. Please no review from the family + friends of the company producing the product…

RATING:

Texture:     4                           

Taste:         4                             

Value:        4             

OVERALL:  4         

Reviewed by Krisztina L

Gluten Free Candy: Ting Ting Jahe Ginger Candy

PRODUCT NAME:                  Ginger Candy – Ting Ting Jahe   

BRAND:                                   PT. Sindu Amritha                           

COST:                                       $3.99                                    

SIZE:                                         5 oz                                       

COST PER OZ:                         $ .60

CERTIFIED GLUTEN FREE:      NO    

CERTIFICATION AGENCY:     NA

ORGANIC:                               NO         

CERTIFICATION AGENCY:     NA

VEGAN:                                   YES                                  

GLUTEN FREE FACILITY:        NO

LOCATION OF FACILITY:      Indonesia          

SHELF LIFE:                             18 months                                              

*These statements are based on the information printed on the product packaging.  We cannot verify the accuracy of this information.  For verification of the statements above, please contact the manufacturer.            

REVIEW:
Ginger is amazing.  It’s a remedy for pretty much everything that ails you.  From the flu to a cold, cramps to nausea, and especially as a detoxifying agent, ginger is something that most everyone should incorporate in their lives on a regular basis.  The tough thing, unless you’re pretty hard core about it and use the ginger root directly, is finding products that deliver the healing ginger punch without being too filled with all sorts of other ingredients you don’t want like sugars and additives.  Many candies have more sugar in them than ginger and sometimes you need a bit more of a kick than simply a ginger tea can provide.  But then again, not all ginger products are created equal and the one I sampled for this week’s review is a tried and true staple in the ginger candy world.

Ting Ting Jahe Ginger Candy is made in Indonesia following a simple and proven recipe.  All it has in it is sugar, ginger and tapioca starch.  There are no preservatives or additives and it is made from all natural ingredients.  They are chewy and wonderfully potent in their ginger flavor.  I really love the taste of ginger and I know that it is a flavor that many people find really spicy and strong.  While this is certainly a ginger lover’s candy, I think that it had enough sweetness to balance the strong ginger that it can appeal to a wider palette as well.  The candies themselves are a great wake-me-up when you need something a little sweet and very zingy and with only 25 calories each, you can certainly snack on these as opposed to other candies.  I was surprised to read this on their website but you can also make tea out of the chews by just adding boiling water to them.  They dissolve and create a full-bodied strong ginger tea that is really delicious! 

The fact that these Ginger Candies are gluten free isn’t to be taken for granted anymore.  So often candy companies put wheat or malt in their products as thickening agents or flavor enhancers and really you can’t be sure if something doesn’t have gluten in it unless you look at the ingredients yourself.  It’s nice to know that this product has been made the same way for 60 years with simple natural ingredients that don’t cut corners.

The Roxy Trading Company imports these candies from Indonesia and their website is really informative about all of the healing properties of ginger.  They also have several great links on there as well to other websites that have information about health and wellness so it’s a nice resource to find some interesting information on.  You can find these delicious Ginger Candies at the Gluten Free Grocery. 

Taste: powerful zingy ginger flavor

Labeling: English and Indonesian text but still easily readable

Packaging: plastic see-through package with individually wrapped candies inside

Reader’s Reviews: Please share with us your review of this company’s other products + where you purchased the product + how long you have been using this product. Please no review from the family + friends of the company producing the product…

RATING:

Texture:     4                           

Taste:          5                             

Value:         4             

OVERALL:   4.3     

Gluten Free Pho: Star Anise Zesty Ginger Happy Pho

PRODUCT NAME:                    Zesty Ginger Happy Pho

COMPANY NAME:                   Star Anise Foods

COST:                                     $4.39

SIZE:                                       4.5 oz

COST PER OZ:                        $0.98/oz

CERTIFIED GLUTEN FREE:      NO

CERTIFICATION AGENCY:       NA

ORGANIC:                               Yes

CERTIFICATION AGENCY:       USDA Organic

VEGAN:                                   Yes

GLUTEN FREE FACILITY:        Unknown

LOCATION OF FACILITY:        San Francisco, CA

SHELF LIFE:                           1 year +

*These statements are based on the information printed on the product packaging.  We cannot verify the accuracy of this information.  For verification of the statements above, please contact the manufacturer.   

REVIEW:

Pho is absolutely one of my favorite foods. What is it, you ask? Well let me tell you!

Pho (pronounced “fuh”) is a Vietnamese noodle soup that is packed in with noodles, spices, and fresh herbs. Traditionally, it is most often a beef based soup but there are vegan/vegetarian, chicken, and seafood versions floating about as well. The soup is basic in it’s ingredients (you may be thinking “hey! That sounds just like the old chicken noodle that is so very American!”) but there are a few twists. First and foremost, the noodles are rice noodles, which is very good news for us gluten free folks. Secondly, the spices used to flavor the broth are star anise, cinnamon, and ginger. This unique blend offers up a distinctly exotic flavor. The soup is often garnished with fresh basil, bean sprouts, lime, and raw jalapeno and served in a gigantic steaming bowl. Eating Pho is like diving in to instant comfort.

Taste:

Star Anise Foods has brought us a ginger accented to-go version of this lovely soup (which they call Happy Pho) and I could not be more pleased. As a woman who spends much of her time sequestered in an art studio, I often find myself needing quick, warm, and satisfying nourishment that doesn’t make me need to leave my space. As a gluten free, sugar sensitive, non processed food preferring vegan I often find myself toting tupperware full of whole grains and greens and noticing that my bag is heavier with food then art supplies. I was quite thrilled to find the light convenience of Star Anise’s product and to know that the amazing warmth of a soup awaited me come dinner.

The time finally came and I was incredibly pleased to find that these noodles were quick, simple to make and tasted fantastic! I just threw in some shredded carrots and a few hand fulls of spinach and cilantro, squeezed some lime in and my soup came out tasting fantastic. The process was simple- I added the spice packet to my pot, added the spice packet, brought it all to a boil, added a noodle square and BOOM.  I had a really healthy, warm, nutritious meal in about five minutes flat.

I'm really happy I found these soups on a number of levels. The rice noodles included are BROWN rice noodles, which I much prefer and have found to be a rarity. There is a little zing in the flavor of these noodles, I think because there happens to be green tea powder in the ingredients list. The spice packet scared me at first (have you SEEN how many disgusting things can be contained within a spice packet?!) but I was very pleasantly surprised to see the ingredient list was short and succinct- star anise , cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, and green onion. NO sugar. NO salt. and NO gluten containing soy sauce. This stuff is heavenly.

Calorically, an entire box is two servings (It really is, too. There is no way I could eat the whole thing in one sitting) and contains 222 calories per serving. It is low fat, low sodium, and has four grams of protein. I have no complaints whatsoever about these stats!

Star Anise’s Happy Pho may very well save my studio life. Although to-go products may be a bit pricey I am quite pleased to know that now I can just keep a few boxes of Happy Pho in my desk for a quick healthy meal any time, especially on nights when I don’t want to leave my work post.

Labeling:

Labelling of this product was clear and concise. The nutrition facts, info about the company, and serving suggestions are all clearly marked on the box.

Packaging:

Packaging for this product is a recyclable cardboard box, which I deem to be quite sufficient.

Reader’s Reviews:

Please share with us your review of this company’s other products + where you purchased the product + how long you have been using this product. Please no review from the family + friends of the company producing the product…

RATING:

Texture:        5

Taste:            5

Value:           3

OVERALL:     4.3

Reviewed  by Lacy D.

Gluten Free Granola: Go Raw Original Live Granola

PRODUCT NAME:                  Original Granola

COMPANY NAME:                 Go Raw

COST:                                   $11.99

SIZE:                                     16 oz

COST PER OZ:                      $0.75

CERTIFIED GLUTEN FREE:    Yes

CERTIFICATION AGENCY:     GF Gluten Free

ORGANIC:                             Yes

CERTIFICATION AGENCY:     USDA Organic

VEGAN:                                 Yes

GLUTEN FREE FACILITY:      Unknown

LOCATION OF FACILITY:      Mountain View, CA

SHELF LIFE:                         1 year +

*These statements are based on the information printed on the product packaging. We cannot verify the accuracy of this information. For verification of the statements above, please contact the manufacturer.

REVIEW:

Traditionally, Granola is full of things that the vegan, health conscious and gluten-free cannot partake in. Oats are generally dusted with a fine wheat spray due to factory equipment, milk products are often swimming about, and last but not least, sugars and fats tend to permeate. Despite the bad reputation granola tends to have for these reasons, I simply love it. I miss those fatty, sugary, crunchy little clusters! When I was presented with the Original flavor of Go Raw’s granola I was super pumped to give it a shot. Breakfast delight, here I come!

Go Raw’s Ingredients list is short, sweet, and super body friendly. This product eschews oats all together, and instead replaces them with buckwheat groats. Added to the mix as sweeteners are organic dates and organic raisins. Lastly, flax seeds pepper each individual cluster. There is a distinct lack of sugar and oil present.

Taste:

Despite my enthusiasm, I quickly discovered that the taste of this granola was nothing to write home about. I am totally that vegan and gluten free girl shouting to the masses that healthy products can be tasty without compromising ethics or our body’s vitality and unfortunately, it is products like this granola that I think give health food the reputation for being tasteless. While the texture of the granola was dry and crunchy there was a chew at the end that made it taste a bit stale. Additionally, the fruit pieces were quite hard and took quite an effort to chew through. While buckwheat groats can be deliciously crunchy in the right context, the stickiness of the fruit dulled the impact of the bites exponentially.

Now I am not saying this product is terrible. It is simply exactly what the ingredient list would imply- incredibly simple to the point of blandness. While I admire the attempt to make a granola that is dietary restriction friendly, I think we can inject a bit more enthusiasm into this product- both with the taste and with the texture.

Calorically I was shocked to see that this granola was not really any different from the standard varieties. ⅓ cup packed in 220 calories and 13 grams of sugar! While there was a good amount of fiber (6 grams) and protein (5 grams) in each serving, I still wouldn’t consider the product to be worth the calories. I also found the product to be quite pricey!

Labeling:

Labeling of this product was clear and concise. The nutrition facts, info about the company, certification emblems, and serving suggestions are all clearly marked on the bag.

Packaging:

Packaging for this product was a large zip-loc style thick plastic bag, which seemed appropriate for keeping the product fresh. Despite the appropriate nature of the bag, I found myself wondering why such a seemingly environmentally invested company would not make a compostable or recyclable container.


Reader’s Reviews:

Please share with us your review of this company’s other products + where you purchased the product + how long you have been using this product. Please no review from the family + friends of the company producing the product…

RATING:

Texture:       3
Taste:           2
Value:          2
OVERALL:    2.3

Reviewed by Lacy D.