Pasta Dishes at Noodles & Company

                  For a limited time, Noodles & Company is serving Garden Pesto Sauté, a dish made with gluten free noodles.  It’s fusilli pasta with vegetables and feta cheese.  But that isn’t the only gluten free noodle dish.  You can substitute wheat noodles for rice noodles in six other dishes.  My daughter tried the rice noodles and she said she couldn’t taste the difference.

                View the nutritional information on the Noodles & Company website.  It includes not only gluten free information but other allergies and diet restrictions as well.  www.noodles.com

Lemon Cookies at Cermak Fresh Market

                  There is something about cookies.  I do not know anyone who does not like one kind or another.  With so many cookies on the store shelves, it can be hard to choose which one to pick up and try.  This is especially true when it comes to gluten free cookies.  Some have an odd taste or a gritty texture which can lead one to think there are not any good gluten free cookies on the market.

                The truth is there are good gluten free cookies in the world.  One of my favorites is the Lemon Sugar Cookies made by Schroeter’s Gluten Free Bakeshop.  They are really good.  Made with just the right amount of lemon, I could not even tell these cookies were gluten free when I ate them.  What makes them even better is they are made in Milwaukee.  The travel to the store is very short which leads me to believe they are quite fresh when I buy them.  I have found these lemon cookies at both Cermak Fresh Market and Outpost Natural Foods.    

Puffins Cereal at Outpost Natural Foods

            Breakfast is the most important meal of the day.  So try Barbara’s Puffins Multigrain Cereal.  These tasty squares are great for breakfast but can be eaten as a snack.  I bought the cereal at Outpost Natural Foods but I have also found it at Whole Foods.

Bunny Cookies at Whole Foods

           Whenever I am feeling down, just the sight of the Annie’s Graham Friends box makes me smile.  There is something about the tie-dyed family size box and the cute bunny shaped cookies that give me the feeling not everything is so bad.  All this has happened without eating a single cookie.  When I do finally begin to eat them, I enjoy every moment.  A mix of three different cookie flavors; honey, chocolate chip, and chocolate; I do not need to eat many to be satisfied.                 
              Unfortunately, the Graham Friends do not come in a gluten free option. Annie’s does, however, have other bunny cookies that are gluten free. There are three different flavors: Chocolate and Vanilla, Ginger Snap, and SnickerDoodle. I have it on good authority that the Chocolate and Vanilla are quite good. Ginger Snap and SnickerDoodle I have not heard about, but I am sure they are worth a try. I have never been disappointed by an Annie’s product. All three types of gluten free bunny cookies can be found at Whole Foods.

Nut Crackers at Balistreri Sendik’s Food Markets

              It’s time for parties, tailgating, and the Final Four.  This means out come the snacks.  With your sausage and cheese spreads you need a good gluten free cracker.  I recommend Blue Diamond Natural Nut-Thins.  They come in a variety of flavors including Pecan, Cheddar Cheese, and Country Ranch.  Almond is the favorite flavor for our gluten free person.  I have purchased the Nut-Thins at my nearby Balistreri Sendik’s Food Market, but they can also be found at Pick ‘N Save, Outpost Natural Foods, and A Gluten Free Frenzy.

Toaster Pastries at A Gluten Free Frenzy

                 For a long time my mom and I looked everywhere for gluten free toaster pastries.  It appears to be the most missed food for those who live gluten free lives.  I do not know how often my mother and I have heard them talked about.  They were even mentioned during a gluten free dinner at a local restaurant.  One of the presenters brought the subject up.  That is how popular toaster pastries are.

                After an extensive search, and attempts at making our own, we finally found gluten free toaster pastries.  We walked into A Gluten Free Frenzy, located on Bluemound Road in Brookfield, and there they were.  Made by Eco-Planet, their Gluten Free Frosted Toaster Pastries come in three flavors: Brown Sugar & Cinnamon, Blueberry, and Strawberry.  The first day we saw them, at least one flavor was sold out.  It may have actually been two.  That is how happy people were to have toaster pastries back in their lives.  They did not even stay on the shelves.

                As I have never eaten one myself, I cannot tell you how the toaster pastries taste. But if you, or someone you know, have missed toaster pastries, I suggest going to A Gluten Free Frenzy and giving them a try.

Soy Sauce at Outpost Natural Foods

                   So many recipes these days include soy sauce as one of the ingredients.  In my search to find a low sodium soy sauce for my sensitivity to sodium, I came upon San-J Organic Tamari Reduced Sodium Soy Sauce (Platinum Label).  This takes care of two dietary restrictions in one product.  I purchase mine at Outpost Natural Foods.