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.

 

Stouffer’s Gluten Free Macaroni & Cheese

Many of my online gluten free “friends” were very excited for this new offering in the gluten free world.

I am not a huge macaroni & cheese fan but since going gluten free, I have actually eaten more of it than when I was still eating gluten. So when I found this at Wegmans I decided to pick it up and try it.

Well it wasn’t bad but it wasn’t great as I was hoping it would be. I would say the number one thing I didn’t like was its gritty texture. I was surprised too since most gluten free foods have figured out how to not be gritty but this felt that way to me. I did do the microwave method to make it so perhaps the oven method would turn out differently.

I know that photos on the boxes for food are never what the food will look like when you make it at home and this was true here too. There was sooooo much cheese. I feel like I shouldn’t complain about that :) but a little more pasta would be nice so it was a little more filling. Mind you we did divide the supposed single serving into two. I guarantee I could never eat one of these on my own and not just because that would be 450 calories but it would just be too much cheese.

I am curious if anyone else has tried this and how they liked it or not. 

Wegmans Gluten Free Cheese Tortellini

Yum yum yum

So good. The pasta is a good amount and the cheesy inside is delicious and savory. I really enjoyed these. It also make a lot!! Like two meals worth for two people. I was surprised. In the package it looked like one meal for two people but when I went to dish it out that way, it was way too much. 

$4.99 for two meals for two! I am on board with this. 

Follow the instructions exactly and you will be happy. Overcooking is definitely not good for the pasta but the inside stays tasty. The second servings I had, I left in the pot because we were ready to eat and I didn’t have time to pull the rest out. Well, they were no longer perfect and the pasta was pretty mushy but again the insides tasted good and it didn’t stop me from eating the leftovers 🙂

 

Mama Melrose's Walt Disney World

I really wanted to eat at Mama Melrose's in Hollywood Studios but for some reason the day we chose to go, we could not do a walk in. The place looked empty but the girl swore there was no room. She advised us to try for a reservation same day as something might open up. So we stepped outside and after fighting with the app, we had a reservation for an hour later. We were starving so we went and got popcorn to hold us over.

It was worth the aggravation to eat here though and I would eat here again in a second! Excellent service, lots of options, great setting and wonderful food.

I got the strawberry lemonade and we had gluten free rolls to start, along with the Margherita Flatbread. We tried not to stuff ourselves but it was all so delicious.

Then we split the Wood-grilled Chicken and Penne Pasta with four cheese sauce. Soooo delicious. My mouth is watering just thinking about it now. It was a huge serving which I think they did because we were splitting it but if you were one person eating the serving we got you would be stuffed! Just the right amount of chicken and the cheese sauce was gooey and warm and cheeeeesy.

I have to say though the place never filled up, so I was still stumped as to why there were no walk ins being taken but it worked out for us and I was so happy and stuffed.

We didn't get dessert here because we were headed to Epcot for something special.

Skipper's Canteen Walt Disney World

Another place that is mentioned many times for gluten free eating is Skipper's Canteen in Magic Kingdom. 

I'll be honest I would never choose here without hearing all the rave reviews from others. Nothing against the place, it is just not a well known place to me and it is pretty nondescript even walking past it. But it was walking past it and seeing no one waiting that made us decide to definitely try it out this trip. Our wait was 5 minutes! And we got a window table.

Our server was awesome. She basically said "whatever you want, we can do, what do you want?"

We started with two non-alcoholic drinks:
Punch Line Punch and Schweitzer Slush
I loved the punch and was just ok on the slush. The slush was too bitter for me but the punch was nice and sweet. They were both cold and it was a warmer day, so they hit the spot.

Then hubby got the soup of the day and I will be darned that I can not remember the name or ingredients. I do know it was too spicy for me but he really enjoyed it.

Then we took awhile to decide on our main course. It was something we would split so it had to appeal to both of us. We went with the easy "Hardy Har Char" Siu Pork. Yummy!! Basically it is pork chops flavored like Chinese food with Jasmine rice and a vegetable that I can't remember even with the photo. It was delicious. The pork was tender and we received three pieces so we had a piece and a half each. It looks less on the plate but it was a lot of food.

Then the real reason we stopped in... dessert. I had heard so many things about these two desserts that I had those picked before we even entered the place.
Monkey Bites
Quick Sand!!!

Monkey Bites are chocolate covered bananas with candied chocolate sunflower seeds, pistachio cake and fresh whipped cream. I have decided I really like pistachio. This was a dessert I would come back for every trip. I loved it. Different and so very tasty.
And the Quick Sand is a jasmine rice pudding with mango sauce, lemon curd, hibiscus meringue and pineapple. So refreshing and delicious. I have never had anything like this before and I would definitely have it again... but Monkey Bites first :)

Overall I am really happy we stopped in here and it is now on my list of places to check out for our next trip to see if there will be any new items on the gluten free menu.

Pinocchio Village Haus Walt Disney World

Alexis of Alexis Gluten Free Adventures raved so often about the chicken nuggets and fries at Pinocchio Village Haus at the Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World that it was my mission to be sure I tried them on our trip this time.

As we were riding the carousel, I saw the Haus off to the one side. I watched the crowd to see how it might be and then I told the hubby that we were going to have lunch there. He was all in.

We walked up to the ordering area and mentioned needing a gluten free menu and food and we were directed to a specific line and order taker/cashier. We waited a little longer due to the change in lines but it was going to be worth it.

We ordered just one order of chicken nuggets and fries to share because we did have a big breakfast and we would have a big dinner. We found a great table and waited for our food.

What seemed liked hours but was only 10 minutes, we had our food.

It looked crunchy, warm and good and oh my goodness they were. No idea why these nuggets and fries are so extra special but they are. The flavoring of the nuggets is perfect and the ratio of coating to chicken is just right and the fries, oh my goodness the fries... crunchy outside and potatoey goodness inside.

I would eat these every day of our trip if I could and if there wasn't so many other foods for us to try for the rest of the trip. But this definitely goes on the list of foods to get when we come back again on another trip.

Nourish - Sequim Washington

We stopped here 4 years ago and loved it, so when we had the opportunity again this year to stop in we did.

They are a 100% gluten free establishment! They also use as much local organic items that they can. Their menu is very eclectic and they can adjust if you ask. We were there for brunch and we couldn’t decide what to get. We finally decided to share the buckwheat pumpkin waffle special.

If Fall had a taste, I believe it would be this special. Oh my goodness it was soooo good. We also added thick bacon and it added even more to the dish. I am so glad we shared it as it was a huge meal.

I also added their Cheese Bread because it is soooo delicious.

I also checked out the dessert case and immediately ordered the one slice of Boston Cream Pie. I haven’t had that in 20 years. I was so excited to try it that I forgot to take a photo. Trust me, it was perfection.

This is one of my favorite places to eat and I hope we can stop in again next time.

I highly recommend a stop a Nourish and it couldn’t be easier to get to, it is right off the highway and the grounds are beautiful. Enjoy

New Day Eatery - Port Angeles Washington

I have known about New Day Eatery for a few years now but have not been able to get there on my travels from Seattle to Forks. This year, though, the construction was on hold for the week I was there and so I made the easy decision to travel the 101 North and stop in Port Angeles.

New Day Eatery was bigger than I expected and very nice inside. The service was very good and everyone was very nice.

I mentioned I was gluten free and the server started to tell me that the menu was marked with GF for certain items but there were no markings in the menu and she realized that they must have printed new menus. That saddened me as those designations reduce the amount of questions you need to ask.
But I managed to only ask two questions: Was the grilled cheese able to be made gluten free? Could they put chicken on the cheese pizza?

Both answers were yes.

I ordered the grilled cheese with homemade potato chips for lunch and a cheese pizza with chicken to  go.

The grilled cheese was perfection. Hot, cheesy, buttery, the perfect amount of cheese and bread with some almost burnt parts and it was really oh so good. The potato chips were like kettle chips and they were still a little warm when they came out. I am so glad I ordered the grilled cheese and I would do so again in a heartbeat.

I was very excited for the pizza but it didn’t live up to my expectations. I am not sure if it was because I had to reheat it... and it definitely was not good cold at all.... or what the issue was. It was very dry, almost like there wasn’t enough sauce or the crust was too thick. I probably would not order it again or I would talk to them about it is made to see if there is a difference from other pizzas.

I hope I will get the chance to stop here again in my future travels to this area. I would like to try more of their menu... or just order the grilled cheese again :)

The Henry in Cosmopolitan Las Vegas - lunch

My second chance for gluten free food at The Henry was for lunch.

I went with the Grilled Chicken Club with the dressing on the side.

This was also very delicious. The only problem ... it was too big and eventually it all fell apart but I didn’t really care because it was so tasty. Please note I would not blame the gluten free bread for this falling apart, it truly was that the sandwich itself was just too big.

We ordered the tots and fries baked but they did not seem to know how to bake the fries as they came out both burnt and undercooked, the tots were yummy though. I probably would just order baked tots next time.

Please note, that baking them takes more time and IF the place is too busy they may not be able to offer this option. And there is no dedicated fryer, so it is baked or not at all for fries and tots. They offer fruit. I was too hungry to just have fruit, so I was happy it wasn’t busy and they could bake my options.

I would easily order this club again and not even get the dressing on the side - it was too “spicy” or something for my tastes. The price was comparable and even a little less that some other places and I would pay $18 for this again without question.

SergeantsviIle Inn NJ

Sergeantsville Inn is gorgeous!

I went there as a half way point to meet friends from NJ.

They can modify their meals to be gluten free if they are not already naturally gluten free.

The server stated that all their sauces were made gluten free.

I ordered Tomato Bisque, Icelandic Cod (yes to compare it to Iceland of course) with vegetable risotto and creme brûlée for desert.

The Bisque was absolutely delicious. Thick, perfectly salted, not “spicy” and the perfect temperature. I missed a photo but it was a perfect start.

Then the Icelandic Cod with vegetable risotto came out and I couldn’t believe how much food there was on my plate.

It was nowhere near the cod I had in Iceland but for NJ it was pretty darn good. I have no idea what most of the vegetables were in the risotto but I ate them and enjoyed it overall. I was not able to finish though, so hubby got the rest of the risotto.

The creme brûlée was excellent if too small and not deep in the dish like I am used to. But it was delicious and the blueberries were perfection!

I hope I get to come back here and try some of their other meals. The BBQ pork chop sounds very good as some other items. I recommend checking out this beautiful place.