Tuesday, 29 November 2011

Butterball

Here is a list of gluten free items from Butterball:

Thank you for contacting Butterball with your question. All of our products are gluten free excepting Stuffed Breast or Stuffed Turkey
But I will list by fresh or frozen

Fresh/processed found in deli or meat dept
Butterball Turkey pepperoni
Butterball Turkey bacon
Salt reduced Butterball Turkey bacon
Butterball Trio
Butterball Franks (wiener)
Butterball Biggies (wiener)

In deli counter---Butterball Cooked or Smoked Deli Breast (custom slicing)

Frozen dept

Butterball Whole Frozen Turkey
Butterball Light and Dark Turkey Roast
Butterball Bone-in Turkey roast
Butterball Boneless Turkey Roast
Butterball Turkey burgers

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Monday, 28 November 2011

Pumpkin Spice Latte

The Pumpkin Spice Latte season at Starbucks may be over but you can still enjoy delicious Pumpkin Spice Lattes all winter long. Last year I discovered a great Pumpkin Spice Latte recipe online but I quickly realized that I was wasting my money. The recipe called for a tablespoon or two of pumpkin puree and all I can find are big cans of it, so I would make a few lattes and then forget about the rest of the puree for a week or two. By the time I came across it in the fridge I am sure it was well past it's prime. So I pretty much forgot about making my own PSLs and this incredible hot chocolate became my new favorite winter drink.

Last month I came across a blog called gluten free easily and when I saw their recipe for Pumpkin Spice Lattes I knew I must subscribe to the post right away.

There are many reasons this recipe has me hooked:

  1. It's for a Pumpkin Spice Latte.
  2. It is delicious with or without espresso (kid-friendly!).
  3. It is so much healthier than the Starbucks version (actual pumpkin, natural sweetener of your choice).
  4. It is very inexpensive compared to the Starbucks version.
  5. There is no waste. This recipe has two parts to it...First you make pumpkin butter, which lasts much longer in the fridge than pumpkin puree, and then you just use it as needed. Apparently it's supposed to stay good for about 6 months in the fridge but I know that in my house it will always be used up long before then.
  6. It's multi-purpose. The pumpkin butter can be used for all sorts of things! Spread it on your biscuits, waffles, crackers, mix it in with plain yogurt.
  7. You can use whichever type of milk you prefer - regular, almond, rice, soy, lactose free...and you can customize it by the cup.
  8. It makes a great gift, and with Christmas coming up this is going to come in really handy. Fill a mason jar, tie a little ribbon around it, and attach a small card with directions. Perfect little Christmas gift idea for someone who already has everything or who is difficult to buy for.
  9. Oh yeah...it's gluten free!

I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

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Saturday, 26 November 2011

The Body Shop

I love products from The Body Shop, so I contacted them to find out if they have any gluten free products. Here is their response:

Attached is a list of products which contain a low level of Wheat, Corn, Rye, Barley or Oat and as such may possibly contain low level of Gluten. Also, is attached a list of gluten free products.

Please understand however that Gluten is not cited as an impurity in our raw materials and our vendors do not actually test for it, as such. If any of the products in our assortment which contain Wheat, Corn, Rye, Barley or Oat derivatives have Gluten as an impurity, the level would be extremely low. We are not however in a position to guarantee that the rest of our portfolio is Gluten free. It has to be stressed that this is the same for all reputable cosmetic manufacturers and brand owners.

I wanted to clarify what they meant by this so I wrote back and got a very clear answer:

Unfortunately, we cannot guarantee the products to be 100% gluten free, but the list does include products thought to be free of gluten.

We're going to keep products from The Body Shop out of our house but there are a lot of people for whom this level of security is suitable.

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Sunday, 20 November 2011

Morris National

I'm still catching up with some companies who produce Halloween candies to find out if they are gluten free or not. I recently received this response from Morris National - it's the Just For Fun candy necklaces, bracelets and watches I was really wondering about, but the rest is good for future reference as well.

Here is what they said:

Here's a list of gluten free items:
  • Marshies Pink and White marshmallows 200g bags
  • Marshies Neapolitan Twists marshmallows 200g
  • Sour Tongue Tinglers 1kg bag, 300 ct tub, 60 ct tub
  • Sour Tongue Tinglers Bombs 150ct
  • Marshies Hallow Mallow Marshmallows 300ct
  • Gummy Zone Hot Dogs 60ct
  • Gummy Zone Mini Burgers 60ct
  • Gummy Zone Sour Mini Burgers 60ct
  • Just For Fun candy necklaces, bracelets and watches
  • Tangy Zangy Cubes
All of the above are free of gluten (wheat, rye, oats and barley) and free from gluten cross-contamination.

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Thursday, 17 November 2011

Maple Leaf Foods and Schneiders

Maple Leaf Foods and Schneiders are currently owned by the same company. I phoned Maple Leaf recently regarding their labeling policy because I found the information on their website wasn't specific enough.

Here is what their website says about gluten and allergens:

Can we trust the allergen information on your labels?

We are very careful about listing known allergens. Although, we recommend that you check the list of ingredients on our labels every time you buy, just in case there’s been a change. If you require further detail, please contact our Consumer Affairs hotline at 1-800-268-3708.

Do you have a gluten free or nut free list?

No. At Maple Leaf Foods we produce our products in multiple facilities. We also are always changing and improving our products. We take allergens very seriously. We recommend you look at the label every time.

When I spoke to the representative on the phone I asked whether they considered wheat, rye, oats and barley allergens. The answer was yes, and that if there is a risk of cross-contamination it will be listed in a "May contain" statement.

Not that processed foods are good for us, but sometimes we've gotta do what we've gotta do...as long as it's gluten free...

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Wednesday, 16 November 2011

Clover Leaf

I came across the following gluten information about Clover Leaf products on their website:

Clover Leaf Spicy Peanut Satay contains wheat, as do the crackers in our Tuna Salad Kits, the Clover Leaf Tuna Steak-Mild Curry and the Clover Leaf Crab & Lobster Delectables products. All other Clover Leaf canned products are gluten free.

Thanks Clover Leaf for making this information available!

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Sunday, 13 November 2011

Burt's Bees

I contacted Burt's Bees to find out whether their products are safe for those with Celiac disease or a severe gluten intolerance and here is their response:

Thank you for contacting Burt's Bees. While we can identify products in which we do not use raw materials containing gluten, we cannot certify that our vendors did not process these ingredients on equipment where contamination could occur. For the most accurate source of information, please refer to the list of ingredients on our website or on the product. Thank you for taking the time to contact us.

This one is not so clear cut - for us extreme types we'll take a pass.

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Thursday, 10 November 2011

Blue Sky Soda

I generally don't drink soda, but someone offered me a Blue Sky Creamy Root Beer last night and I thought I'd give it a try. It has all natural ingredients, so if am going to drink soda this looks like a good choice. It was a nice treat - I'm going to have to find a way to get my hands on a few more cans :) I contacted Blue Sky Soda regarding gluten and here is their response:

All Blue Sky products are wheat, rye, oat and barley free. Blue Sky Soda is made in plants that have closed lines so there is no chance of cross contamination. So, drink up and enjoy!

I love clear-cut responses like that!

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Wednesday, 9 November 2011

E.D. Smith

I contacted E.D. Smith recently to find out whether their Pure Pumpkin is gluten free. They sent me a very nice response, along with a full list of E.D. Smith and Habitant Brand gluten free products...

Thank you for requesting information regarding E.D. Smith products. We are always pleased to hear from consumers who have enjoyed our products, and are concerned that your diet now requires special needs.

Our manufacturing facility is not gluten free, however, cross contamination between products with differing ingredients that are produced on the same line is prevented by sanitation and processing procedures such as flushing the lines to drain, a hot water rinse, or complete sanitation washups as required.

The following is the allergen information for our Pure Pumpkin.

Item Description EDS Pure Pumpkin 12-796

Allergen In Product On Line In Plant
Coconut N N N
Dairy N N N
Eggs N N N
Fish N N N
Gluten N N Y
MUSTARD N N N
Peanuts N N N
SESAME OIL N N N
Sesame Seeds N N N
Shellfish N N N

Attached, please find a listing of our E.D. Smith and Habitant Brand gluten free grocery products, which we hope you will find useful.

(See attached file: EDS Gluten Free Consumer List.xls)

We appreciate your interest in our products and thank you for your inquiry.

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Monday, 7 November 2011

Gogo Quinoa Spaghetti

After going gluten free we spent a fair bit of money trying all of the different types of gluten free pasta we could get our hands on. Spaghetti is a staple in our house and if we couldn't have great spaghetti anymore this might end up being a pretty sad place. After a lot of trial and error we finally found Gogo Quinoa Spaghetti. We were so happy to find this pasta - it is by far the closest in taste and texture to gluten pasta. We have often served it to guests without them realizing that it was gluten free.

Until we finally sorted out the terrible, the mediocre and the great gluten free foods on the market we had a lot of missing pieces in our kitchen. It was wonderful to be able to fill in one more piece when we found Gogo Quinoa! They make a number of other great products including Quinoa Chocolate Chip Cookies, Quinoa Crunchies, and Pancake Mix. I haven't been disappointed with any of their products :)

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Friday, 4 November 2011

Potato Pizza

This week PapaBee made a really interesting pizza - the crust was made out of POTATO!

I have a bit of a love affair with potatoes. I also love naturally gluten free foods much better than the gluten free wannabe versions. A pizza with a potato crust is a whole lot of goodness. PapaBee got the inspiration from Luxirare. We don't have the fancy slicer they use but grated potato worked really well. PapaBee was worried that the potato wouldn't fully cook so he fried it up in a shallow Le Creuset for a few minutes (our cast iron pan was too small) and then left it alone so that it would brown nicely on the bottom. The browning part is really important as it adds both a structural component to the pizza and a really great flavour.

Simple toppings on this pizza are ideal. A bit of mozzarella cheese, tomato sauce, basil and few slices of salami are all you need for toppings...or simply use whatever you have on hand.

I love that you don't need dough to make pizza!

We will be making this again in the near future, that's for sure. Thanks Luxirare!

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Tuesday, 1 November 2011

Old Dutch Snack Foods

Here is an excerpt from the Old Dutch Snack Foods website regarding gluten free foods:

The following Old Dutch products are Gluten-Free:

  • All Old Dutch Flat Potato Chips & Rip-L Potato Chips (includes Baked Potato Crisps)
  • All Dutch Crunch™ Kettle Cooked Potato Chips
  • All Arriba® Tortilla Chips
  • All Restaurante™ Tortilla Chips (except Multigrain)
  • Restaurante™ Salsa (Mild, Medium, Southwest Style, Salsa Con Queso)
  • Old Dutch Rip-L Dips (Spinach & Ranch)
  • Old Dutch Corn Chips (Original & Bar-B-Q)
  • Old Dutch Popcorn Twists™ (Regular & 4 Cheese)
  • Old Dutch Bac'n Puffs
  • Old Dutch Cheese Pleesers™
  • Old Dutch Crunchys™ (Nacho & Extreme Cheddar)
  • Old Dutch Popcorn (Cheese & White Cheddar)
  • Old Dutch Original Beef Jerky
  • Old Dutch Nuts & Seeds (excluding BBQ Peanuts & Olympic Mix)
  • Humpty Dumpty Sour Cream & Onion Rings
  • Humpty Dumpty Cheese Sticks
  • Humpty Dumpty Ched-A-Corn
  • Humpty Dumpty Corn Chips
  • Humpty Dumpty Cruncheez
  • Humpty Dumpty Ringolos BBQ
  • Humpty Dumpty Potato Sticks Bacon & Hickory
  • Happy snacking!

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    Dutch Winter Stew

    One of my favorite cold weather meals is Kayotic Kitchen's Dutch Winter Stew. This is such a delicious, comforting meal, and it makes even better leftovers. I simply replace the flour in the recipe with corn starch, use beef broth instead of beer, and the rest is naturally gluten free. I always add more vegetables than the recipe calls for - they turn out so well in the stew. Go ahead and give it a try!

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