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 Pretzel Sticks

So I first must point out that I haven't eaten any pretzels in over 1.5 years. When I decided to lose weight I knew the number one thing I had to give up was pretzels and really the only thing I had to give up. They are my kryptonite and guess what? They still are.

The crunch, the salt, the stick form, all of it. I LOVE pretzels and these are pretty good, if a little generic. I don't like saying that because it sounds really bad and to some it might be. But I like a generic pretzel. My favorite pretzel doesn't exist anymore once they changed their recipe - as they said to make them healthier. It's a pretzel, it is not supposed to be healthy.

Anyway, for $2.99 and I had a $1 off coupon, these are a great buy. However, I can never buy them again, as the bag didn't even make it a week. There is no way I can eat just 33 pretzels as a serving. Sad but true. At least I know my kryptonite and can choose to avoid it.

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 🙂

 

Wegmans Gluten Free Chocolate Cake Mix

So anyone who knows me knows I love Wegmans. I am a loyal shopper and appreciate all that they do for people who need to live a gluten free life. I especially love when I get digital coupons for their gluten free items. I am always up for trying new gluten free mixes and items.

One of the coupons recently was $1 off their $3.99 gluten free mixes. The options were: Pancake and Waffle Mix, Honey Cornbread Mix, Cookie Mix, Chocolate Brownie Mix, Biscuit & Scone Mix, Muffin & Quick Bread Mix, Golden Cake Mix and Chocolate Cake Mix.

You can see I chose the Chocolate Cake Mix. Note, I did have a second coupon that I used to get the Pancake and Waffle Mix and I will write that up when I get a chance to prepare it :)

I made the Chocolate Cake as cupcakes this past weekend. I pulled together all the very simple ingredients and started mixing it up as I usually do when I make a mix. Whoops!! If I had actually read the instructions before I started, I would have seen that I was doing it wrong. I am not sure if it affected the end product but I do think I will get the mix again sometime in the future and follow the instructions correctly to see if it is different. I will follow up on it on the blog when I try it again.

The chocolate was very good, not overwhelming. It definitely was not too sweet and it was just a touch dry but I didn't mind that. I wonder if any of these things would be different if I had made it the correct way. Regardless of how I made these cupcakes, I would buy this mix again. I did like it better than the Betty Crocker version, as this was more like traditional cake and seemed further along in the gluten free world. Meaning it seems like lots of testing went into this Wegmans mix to make it as close to what I remember for chocolate cake. Of course it has been over 20 years since I have had gluten filled chocolate cake so perhaps my memory is skewed :)

For $2.99 with a coupon, I definitely recommend this mix. I can't wait to try the others over time and I will write them up as I try them. Enjoy!

California Pizza Kitchen frozen pizza

Waaaay better than I thought it would be. It was on sale and I wanted to try it. Turns out it’s the first frozen pizza in awhile that had a crisp crust and you could hold a piece of pizza without it flopping over. 

It wasn’t too spicy and all of the flavors worked well together. The cheese was perfect. Nothing overwhelmed and the cauliflower taste was very mild if I even tasted it at times. 

The directions were spot on for my oven. I loved that it only needed 375 degrees to bake. All other pizzas I get are 400 plus. This was extra welcome for our 90 degree day.

 I really enjoyed this pizza. I will definitely buy it again.

Partake Chocolate Chip Cookies

I had heard about Partake cookies from a few online people and they were a Facebook ad more times that I would like to see.

So when I was placing an order at Vitacost and had a great percent deal off my order, I decided to add the chocolate chip cookie from Partake, as I like to try different chocolate chip cookies.

Let's just start with, I am glad they were inexpensive with my Vitacost deal. I personally do not think they are worth the price even when I got them so much less. 

For one I expected a larger cookie, they are more like nuggets or like the mound of dough you place on the cookie sheet to make a full sized cookie. I did get momentarily excited, after the shock of the cookie size wore off, that it would taste like cookie dough... it does not. Actually it doesn't really taste like anything.

It is very hard, crumbly, dry and dense. Also one of the cookies out of the three I ate only had a small piece of chocolate in it, so that was definitely not good for a chocolate chip cookie.

I am really sad. I don't like to not like things but these cookies seem like a step back in the gluten free world. Although I have to say since they are free of so much, they are hopefully perfect for someone who needs to have a cookie without all the other things in them. 

I am 100% aware that everyone has different tastes and likes and I am sure this is someone's favorite cookie but it unfortunately is not mine.

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 :)