Barilla Chickpea Rotini

 

I like chickpeas. I like pasta. I liked this chickpea pasta. It wasn't amazing but it certainly wasn't horrible. I like the consistency but there wasn't any taste to it that I could tell. 

 

I also liked that this wasn't sticky at all, in fact I was shocked that it wasn't sticky. I almost assume gluten free pasta will be sticky and just clump as leftovers. This did not and that is a pleasant surprise. 

 

I definitely recommend you try this pasta and if you do let me know your thoughts on it.

 

Gluten Free Mint Oreos

Stop the presses!!! I found the elusive gluten free mint Oreos!!! And they are incredible!!! 

Mind you I LOVE mint and I already loved the regular gluten free Oreos. This is cookie heaven to me. 

Someone mentioned that these taste like Girl Scout Thin Mints and I agree for the most part. Although I like the chocolate covering on Thin Mints and that is obviously missing here but the flavor is there. 

I also love that these have more filling than regular Oreos but less than the double stuff. I think they are perfectly filled and I wish the regular Oreos would use this same filling amount. 

These will become a regular in my house for sure. I happened to get these on sale for $3.33 at Giant Food Stores but I’d be willing to pay full price. I seriously love these cookies.

Katz - Gingerbread Donuts

 

Not as good as the pumpkin spice donuts but these were quite yummy. 

I expected the ginger pieces on the donuts to be overly gingery and possibly burny as ginger can be but they weren’t at all. In fact I wondered if they were ginger after all. 

I would rather the pumpkin spice donuts but I wouldn’t turn these down if I found them again. 

Lucky Spoon - Lovely Lemon Cupcakes

 

Soooooooo much better than the strawberry ones we had. Seriously, it was like a whole different company made these. Perhaps something was wrong with the pack of strawberry ones I had. These lemon ones were even on clearance and were so much better.

The lemon cake was soft, light and delicious. The icing was a little stiff but I assume that might be due to the clearance situation... I bought them on their expiration day date at Giant. Even still, these were so good. I would completely buy them full price without question. I even thing there was a little lemon icing between the top icing and the cake. 

Writing this right now, makes me want to go back and eat the other ones. Yummmm

O’Doughs Wild Blueberry Muffins

 

First things first, 

NEEDS.MORE.BLUEBERRIES!!!

Delicious but no where near enough blueberries. 

Soft, sweet, large, yummy. 

I’d buy them again but I hope there will be more blueberries. 

Maybe they are called wild blueberry muffins because the blueberries are so wild they don’t stick around to be in the muffins. They are out somewhere being wild. LOL 😆 

Tattooed Chef Cauliflower Crust Cheese Pizza

 

I decided to try this pizza when I needed to spend a certain amount of money in frozen foods at Giant. I believe it was $9.99 at the time. 

It was not bad but it wasn't great either. I wouldn't turn it down if it were offered to me but I don't think I will buy it again myself unless I need to spend the money and there is nothing else to try.

I think I'd rather gluten free "traditional" crust instead of cauliflower crust. I just seem to prefer the taste of "flour" crust than cauliflower. But again the pizza was good, just not great. It was crunchy which I like and it was a good size for two people to eat in one sitting.

It is worth a try if you are seeking different pizzas to try but if you have something you love, I am not sure this will beat it BUT everyone has different tastes.

Rummo spaghetti

Tastes like pasta of my gluten filled days. 

I have seen several of my gluten free people I follow online mention this pasta. I had not been able to find it in my stores until just recently. It was on sale, thankfully, so I bought it.

It was delicious and easy to make. It didn’t stick except for the leftovers somewhat. But the leftovers did reheat nicely in the microwave which did surprise me and they unstuck there too. 

It was definitely more expensive than the gluten filled variety ($3.99 on sale at Giant Food Stores) but I will gladly pay that as it really reminded me of pasta from my past. The right consistency and texture. Not gummy and no aftertaste. I recommend trying it out to see if you like it too. Next up the Rummo Penne as I just saw that Giant started carrying it in addition to the spaghetti.

Enjoy Life Apple Cider Donut Cookies

Yum yum yum

These definitely taste like an apple cider donut made into a cookie. Sooooo good. 

Oreo’s

 Oh my goodness!! 

My favorite cookie as a child is now available gluten free!! 

It has been over 20 years since I’ve had an Oreo. I won’t lie I am not sure I remember if they taste the same or not but I think so. They seem thinner and crispier but overall they taste great as they are regardless if they taste the same or not. 

I’ve tried many different gluten free chocolate sandwich cookies in the past 20 years but none were Oreos. Most were more like Hydrox or just had their own taste. So I guess that does answer my conflict. If someone gave me this cookie with no markings or forethought, I am 99% sure I would say this was an Oreo. 

Oddly, they cost the same as gluten filled Oreos and that was unexpected but appreciated. I found them at my local Giant after seeing an online friend had them and she found them at her local grocery. 

I definitely recommend them if you are missing Oreos or if you just want a good gluten free chocolate sandwich cookie :)

Nomad Lounge Walt Disney World

Top of my list for this Disney visit was getting the gluten free churros as Nomad Lounge in Animal Kingdom. Every time I saw someone else post about them, I was determined I would have them too.

We stopped in and tried to find an outside table. Nothing.
We went inside. Nothing.
I was sticking it out though and after standing at the front of the patio finally a table for two opened up. We were so excited because it was outside and it was near the railing so we have a beautiful view.

We ordered the churros and hubby got their press coffee.

It took a little while to get our food but we didn’t mind. It was nice to sit in the comfy chairs where it was somewhat quiet for Disney.

The churros came out and they were warm and perfect. Plain or with the vanilla sauce, I could have eaten them all day. I guarantee next time, we won’t share. We will each get our own order. Absolutely delicious and just a great setting.

O’Doughs Thins Sandwich bread

Gluten free and by chance Vegan and best of all... tastes amazing.

I had heard about this brand but hadn’t ever seen it in any of my stores I frequent. Then one day at my Mom’s Giant Food Store, there they sat in their bakery area. Only $4.99 for 6 “rolls”. I bought them right up!

Followed the directions to have them toasted and oh my I am in love. No crumbly, not grainy, a little sweet and a good size. I just can not believe this is vegan bread much less gluten free bread. I then found their thin bagels and while I am not a fan of the sweet part for the bagel, it is also very good.

I won’t lie I am also impressed and happy with the price. I hope people keep buying them so they can keep that price. I highly recommend these.

Giant’s Nature Promise Bagels

Funny another favorite bagel of mine is Glutino and they are no longer made. I am realizing that there are many Glutino products I had when I first had to go gluten free 18 years ago that are no longer around. That makes me a little sad.

So I like a good thick bagel. I don’t like airy bagels and I don’t like cake bagels. I think this bagel is closest to what I like but it does have an odd taste/after taste to it that I can not describe.

I eat my bagels many ways.

Toasted with butter

Pizza Bagels

Toasted/heated plain with ham and cheese

These bagels would be best as pizza bagels I think. I did not eat them that way yet so time will tell. I had one toasted with butter and I did like that it toasted up nicely and the butter melted and pooled in some crannies. But it was a little too soft and not chewy as I would have preferred but it is better than no bagel in my opinion.

*update* I tried this as a pizza bagel. It tasted ok but it was waaaay too soft for me.

I do not think I would like this bagel heated with ham and cheese. It is too “weak” to support the meat and cheese flavors and texture. But I will give it a fair shake and try it that way soon.

There is never any price on these at Giant but I bought them anyway. They were a little expensive for only 4 BUT I LOVE that they are individually wrapped in the bag. So it was worth a little more for that bonus.

I am still in search of a great bagel so if anyone has suggestions I would love to try them. Even if they are at a local bakery in your town. I can travel :)