Product Source Information
Before you can cook, you need to know where to shop for the best ingredients.
Currently, there are hundreds of gluten-free items available online. You merely have to enter a search for gluten-free food and you will find everything that you could ever want. But if you are like most of us, and you are shopping on a budget, you want to make sure that you are getting the best product for your money. I find that I can get most of what I need in one place; the gluten free mall. The bulk of my orders come from either Bette Hagman or Authentic Foods. I also like "The Gluten-free Pantry" and the "Cause You're Special" Food company. Although there are many other options, those are the online products that I generally order because I find them to be the best for my baking needs and I am willing to pay a small fortune for the best ingredients. But in a perfect world, we could just go to our local grocery store and buy what we need for the same price as the "regular" items with no shipping charges. We are not there yet, but every year we get closer and closer to that dream.
1. Trader Joe's
Thank goodness for Trader Joe's! If you have a Trader Joe's near you, you are truly blessed. They have a lot of gluten-free foods available at very reasonable prices and they usually lable the foods "gluten-free" so that you can find them. My daughter loves Annie's frozen rice Macaroni and Cheese but we could pay off our morgage with what it costs to continually buy that item. So when we discovered TJ's GF mac and cheese in a box for about 1/2 the price, I was thrilled! Especially since she likes it better. They also carry brown rice pasta for a reasonable price. I buy it because it is convenient and less expensive but if you want the best pasta, I have still not found anything that beats Tinkyada Pasta which I can get at "Lowes" grocery store. I am also willing to occasionally spring for some "kids" pasta by ordering "Mrs. Leepers" or "Barkat" online. Depending on where you live,Trader Joe's also carries a GF English muffin and some GF rolls that aren't too bad when toasted but be sure to keep them in the freezer as they will get moldy if they are not all eaten within a day or so. They also carry some very good frozen GF pancakes and waffles, and a GF brownie mix. If you don't feel like cooking, they have a number of frozen meals that are labeled "gluten-free" and easy to find. Their chicken gorgonzola is delicious!
2. Mainstream Groceries:
Kraft and General Mills are very Gluten-Free friendly. They are happy to tell you about the ingredients in their products. General Mills also has a policy that they will always list the gluten ingredient. If their starch does contain gluten, then it will state the gluten source. It will also list gluten as and allergen at the end of the ingredient list. The other great thing about General Mills is that their Betty Crocker division is now making Gluten-Free baking mixes. You can buy Brownie mix, cake mix and cookie mix. Again, not cheap, but more convenient than making a separate trip to Whole Foods or paying shipping charges and they are pretty good. I also use McCormick spices because according to a report from 2007, all of their single ingredient spices and extracts are gluten-free and if there is any gluten in the product, it will be clearly listed in the ingredients.
Here are some other sites that will list gluten as wheat, rye, barley or oats: Libby's • Lipton • Baskin Robbins •Ben & Jerry • Nabisco •Nestle • Blue Bunny • Old El Paso • Breyers • Ortega • Campbells • Pillsbury • Cascadian Farms • Popsicle • Celestial Seasonings • Post • Country Crock • Progresso • Edy's • Russell Stover • General Mills • Seneca Foods • Good Humor • Smucker • Green Giant • Stokely's • Haagen Daz • Sunny Delight • Hellman's • T Marzetti • Hershey • Tyson • Hormel • Unilever • Hungry Jack • Wishbone • Jiffy • Yoplait • Knorr • Zatarain's • Kozy Shack • Kraft - makes Oscar Mayer, Jello, Breyers and many other brands.
But since this kind of information is constantly changing, it is important to periodically call the companies to confirm their gluten-free status.
3. Whole Foods:
The mecca of healthy and unusual foods. They have almost anything that you could possibly need if you live with Celiac Desease or food allergies. Unfortunately, the quality of GF flours that they carry is not the best and the cost is very high. On the upside, Whole Foods has started making some very good GF mixes under their store brand "365". We particularly like the cornbread mix and the price of these mixes is usually better than the other brands that they carry.
4. Earth Fare
I have never had the opportunity to shop at an Earth Fare but if you have, you are probably already familiar with their Gluten-Free offerings. If so, please post your experience and thoughts about Earth Fare on the blog page.
Currently, there are hundreds of gluten-free items available online. You merely have to enter a search for gluten-free food and you will find everything that you could ever want. But if you are like most of us, and you are shopping on a budget, you want to make sure that you are getting the best product for your money. I find that I can get most of what I need in one place; the gluten free mall. The bulk of my orders come from either Bette Hagman or Authentic Foods. I also like "The Gluten-free Pantry" and the "Cause You're Special" Food company. Although there are many other options, those are the online products that I generally order because I find them to be the best for my baking needs and I am willing to pay a small fortune for the best ingredients. But in a perfect world, we could just go to our local grocery store and buy what we need for the same price as the "regular" items with no shipping charges. We are not there yet, but every year we get closer and closer to that dream.
1. Trader Joe's
Thank goodness for Trader Joe's! If you have a Trader Joe's near you, you are truly blessed. They have a lot of gluten-free foods available at very reasonable prices and they usually lable the foods "gluten-free" so that you can find them. My daughter loves Annie's frozen rice Macaroni and Cheese but we could pay off our morgage with what it costs to continually buy that item. So when we discovered TJ's GF mac and cheese in a box for about 1/2 the price, I was thrilled! Especially since she likes it better. They also carry brown rice pasta for a reasonable price. I buy it because it is convenient and less expensive but if you want the best pasta, I have still not found anything that beats Tinkyada Pasta which I can get at "Lowes" grocery store. I am also willing to occasionally spring for some "kids" pasta by ordering "Mrs. Leepers" or "Barkat" online. Depending on where you live,Trader Joe's also carries a GF English muffin and some GF rolls that aren't too bad when toasted but be sure to keep them in the freezer as they will get moldy if they are not all eaten within a day or so. They also carry some very good frozen GF pancakes and waffles, and a GF brownie mix. If you don't feel like cooking, they have a number of frozen meals that are labeled "gluten-free" and easy to find. Their chicken gorgonzola is delicious!
2. Mainstream Groceries:
Kraft and General Mills are very Gluten-Free friendly. They are happy to tell you about the ingredients in their products. General Mills also has a policy that they will always list the gluten ingredient. If their starch does contain gluten, then it will state the gluten source. It will also list gluten as and allergen at the end of the ingredient list. The other great thing about General Mills is that their Betty Crocker division is now making Gluten-Free baking mixes. You can buy Brownie mix, cake mix and cookie mix. Again, not cheap, but more convenient than making a separate trip to Whole Foods or paying shipping charges and they are pretty good. I also use McCormick spices because according to a report from 2007, all of their single ingredient spices and extracts are gluten-free and if there is any gluten in the product, it will be clearly listed in the ingredients.
Here are some other sites that will list gluten as wheat, rye, barley or oats: Libby's • Lipton • Baskin Robbins •Ben & Jerry • Nabisco •Nestle • Blue Bunny • Old El Paso • Breyers • Ortega • Campbells • Pillsbury • Cascadian Farms • Popsicle • Celestial Seasonings • Post • Country Crock • Progresso • Edy's • Russell Stover • General Mills • Seneca Foods • Good Humor • Smucker • Green Giant • Stokely's • Haagen Daz • Sunny Delight • Hellman's • T Marzetti • Hershey • Tyson • Hormel • Unilever • Hungry Jack • Wishbone • Jiffy • Yoplait • Knorr • Zatarain's • Kozy Shack • Kraft - makes Oscar Mayer, Jello, Breyers and many other brands.
But since this kind of information is constantly changing, it is important to periodically call the companies to confirm their gluten-free status.
3. Whole Foods:
The mecca of healthy and unusual foods. They have almost anything that you could possibly need if you live with Celiac Desease or food allergies. Unfortunately, the quality of GF flours that they carry is not the best and the cost is very high. On the upside, Whole Foods has started making some very good GF mixes under their store brand "365". We particularly like the cornbread mix and the price of these mixes is usually better than the other brands that they carry.
4. Earth Fare
I have never had the opportunity to shop at an Earth Fare but if you have, you are probably already familiar with their Gluten-Free offerings. If so, please post your experience and thoughts about Earth Fare on the blog page.