Katz Cinnamon Rolls

 

Much smaller than I expected but oh so tasty. In fact I’d say, such big taste in a little roll. The icing was just sweet enough and the cinnamon wasn’t overpowering. 

I was confused by the directions. It states to leave frozen until ready to eat but then it states to microwave for 5 seconds if thawed. 

The first set I microwaved for 20 seconds from frozen and it thawed them ok and the second set I did for 5 seconds from thawed and I’d say they turned out the same. Next time I’ll thaw them fully regardless of directions and try them that way. 

But they still tasted great. Katz has impressed me with their offerings lately. I recommend trying their items and let me know what you think. 

Schar Panettone

 

I have been wanting to try Panettone for a while now. I could never find the brand that I would see on other gluten free blogs but then Schar announced they would be baking one. I was very excited as I enjoy Schar gluten free items. I was even more excited that I found the last 3 at Wegmans over Thanksgiving weekend!! I grabbed one and then waited until closer to Christmas to try it.

I am not a fan of raisins in baked goods but I knew they would be in this. Well, I now like raisins in Panettone :) This was delicious. Pleasantly spiced, tender and baked well. It actually felt like a lovely surprise with how much I enjoyed this. I understand now why people like to have this for their Christmas holiday. It seems like a nice savory opposite to all the sweets we have at this time of year.

I don't know if Schar is the best gluten free Panettone out there but I am grateful to them for creating it this year and my ability to find it. Yum

 

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. 

Feel Good Foods - Potato, Egg and Cheese Pockets

Not bad but not great. Definitely does not look like the photo at all. 

These cost $6.99 at Wegmans and I would not spend that again but if they were on sale, I might purchase them again.

I followed the "best" cooking option: 1 minute microwave into a preheated 450 oven for 12-16 minutes. They looked good but when we bit in to them there was not enough egg mixture inside in to offset the pastry outside. But the flavor was good.

I was more hopeful as to my overall liking of this product but again it wasn't bad at all, just not as great as I wanted it to be.

Gluten Free Bakery Girl

 

We were in Bethany Beach Delaware and one of the coffee shops 3BB Cafe had these gluten free baked goods for sale. 

We had the brownie as a dessert and the bakewell as a breakfast item. They were both delicious. I wish I had bought two of each so we didn’t have to split each one 🙂

The brownie was not overly sweet and the balance of chocolate and peanut butter was perfect. It was savory and so yummy. 

The raspberry almond bakewell was perfectly baked and the raspberry was sweet and just enough filling. The almonds on top were crunchy and tasty. 

The bakewell was $7.50 and while it was delicious, I think that is way too expensive. The brownie was $5.50 and that seems more reasonable and worth the price. For a special vacation treat and supporting a local business, I have no complaints.

You can find Gluten Free Bakery Girl online and order for shipping. I do notice the bakewell is significantly cheaper online, more than just a mark up cheaper but again I’m happy to support a local business and have vacation treats. I might consider an order in the near future and try some of her other items.

Let me know if you have ever had her treats and what are your favorites.

Trader Joe's Gluten Free Cinnamon Coffee Cake Muffins

WOW
WOW
WOW

Oh my goodness, these are sooooo good. So soft. Soooo delicious. Perfect flavor. 

Great price too at $4.99. Dangerously good. 

So glad Trader Joe's is far away and these will just be a treat and not an all the time food... although I would definitely love that.

Definitely add these to your next Trader Joe's shopping list. You will not be disappointed, at least I wasn't.

Odd Bagel - Plain

I have seen Odd Bagels reviewed many places but I never tried them. Well this time there was free shipping for 2 packs or more, so I decided to order. I ordered Plain, Sesame and Cinnamon Raisin.

They have been described as New York bagels. Now I am really a Philly bagel gal but I know what a NY bagel should be. And this is pretty darn close.

It has heft to it. It smelled divine. It looked like a NY bagel.

One bite and I was back in NY eating bagels with my family on a trip.

Slightly thick outside but chewy, airy, soft inside.

Delicious! Highly recommend.

Josie’s Best Gluten Free Crepe Mix

The last Josie’s Best mix that I had is The Crepe mix. It was actually the one I wanted to try the most but it is also the one I knew the least about making. 

I thought I followed the directions for cooking the crepes but apparently I didn’t follow something or understand something.

This is not a crepe. 

I will be honest, I got very frustrated with myself and my lack of crepe making skill and I gave up.

I did write to both Josie’s Best and Alexis Gluten Free Adventures for some tips.

Both got back to me with more information including a video of how to make the crepes from Josie.

The video was a huge help but I was still gun shy to go back and try again.

I promise I will make these, I just need a moment.

In no way is my frustration a negative for the mix as it was very easy to make and looked perfect.

I just need patience and more time to learn how to make the crepe. It was all operator error.

Josie’s Best Gluten Free Waffle Mix

It was a Josie’s Best mix weekend. Next up The Waffle mix. Simple instructions, simple ingredients and simply delicious waffles.

Except for some operator error on timing for these waffles they were very yummy and easy to make.

If you do not bake these long enough they are rubbery when you take them out of the maker but they still taste good. Will try again, making sure to cook them at least 10 minutes if not 12 minutes. At least that would be the timing in my waffle iron. But I love the ease of this mix.

Josie’s Best Gluten Free Pancake Mix

Next up from my variety pack purchase of Josie’s Best mixes is The Pancake mix.

I have a love/hate relationship with making pancakes. I usually HATE making them. There are various reasons for this but mostly the mixes I’ve tried have caused me problems. Too thick or too thin or too lumpy or too watery. Well, we have a Goldilocks winner here. This mix was juuuuust right. I mean it.

I followed the one cup directions perfectly, including the optional vanilla. It stated if you let it sit, it would get thicker ... and it really did. I feel this is the first time ever that the directions matched what I saw as the completed product.

Aren’t they beautiful. Too bad you can’t taste or smell them through the internet. Soooo good. 

I even added blueberries to the second half. 

I can’t recommend this mix enough. Simple, easy, tasty, what more could I ask for.

Thank you Josie’s Best for my Goldilocks pancake mix. Juuuust right!

Josie’s Best Gluten Free Muffins and More Mix - Dutch Baby

Again Alexis Gluten Free Adventures has posted many times about these mixes and in particular making a Dutch Baby or German Pancake. I have never heard of it before but it looked yummy and didn’t look hard to make. So I ordered the variety pack of Josie’s mixes and then made a Dutch Baby.

There is also a waffle mix, pancake mix and crepe mix.

As I use them I will post about them.

I decided to add blueberries to half of the mix as I had some to use up and I was also curious how it would taste.

It was fun to watch this bake.

Ooooo look at it all puffy!

It stayed that way for a little it once it was out.

Look how pretty.

And it was very tasty too. A little more moist than I though it would be.

It really reminded me of funnel cake minus the funneling :)

The recipe calls for powdered sugar and lemon. We had the sugar but no lemon... well not really.

The blueberries were ok in it. I much more enjoyed that we put Blueberry Lemon jam on it that we just happened to have in the pantry.

There is something about the lemon that really made the flavor different and more enjoyable.

I would make it again but I am not sure it will become a regular item.

The mix, though, was easy to use and the recipe was easy to follow.

I do highly recommend these mixes as they are minimal ingredients and allergens.

She is great to follow on Instagram as she interacts well and offers advice on options for the recipes.

The Crystal Palace Character Breakfast Walt Disney World

Our only breakfast not at Port Orleans French Quarter was the character breakfast at The Crystal Palace in Magic Kingdom.  The characters are: Winnie the Pooh, Tigger, Piglet and Eeyore. One of my best friends swears by this breakfast and neither my hubby nor I had ever done it before.

Upon check in we restated we were gluten free and we were given an allergen handout. It was very helpful and does reduce the need to see the chef ... which I didn’t realize until after we had seen the chef.

We ordered a full plate of the gluten free baked goods and then checked out the buffet. At first I thought it was s HUGE buffet until I realized it was two sides of the same. I found some things to have but overall the buffet was not worth the price for me. The baked goods were great and the buffet foods were good but there just was not enough for the price ... which was very steep.

But we did get all four characters and even Tigger twice, so that more than covered us.

It is also a beautiful place and we had a glorious sunshiny blue sky day for sitting under one of the glass domes. And I thoroughly enjoyed watching all the children react and interact with the characters. It was a highlight of our trip for sure.

Port Orleans French Quarter Walt Disney World Orlando FL

In February, we travelled to Walt Disney World to celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary. We stayed at the same hotel we stayed in for our honeymoon and 10th anniversary, Port Orleans French Quarter.

This time we got a top floor, corner room overlooking the river. It was splendid.

Even more splendid was the food court at Port Orleans French Quarter, specifically Chef Paul. He treated us like royalty and made us anything we wanted in a gluten free variety.

Our first meal and our last meal there were like nothing else I have ever had before and everything in between was also amazing.

Our first meal was dinner our first night in Disney. We met Chef Paul and asked what was available for dinner that night. He mentioned most of the menu but then added that he had two plates only of fried chicken he was testing out for the gluten free menu. We were SOLD!

Gluten Free Fried Chicken, mashed potatoes, carrots and broccoli. The best words I can use to describe it are... "are you sure it was gluten free?" It tasted better than any gluten filled fried chicken I have had in my life pre-going gluten free. Oh my goodness good. It was so juicy and sweet and perfectly seasoned. It seriously was so good and now I wish I were there so I could have more.

We ate all but one breakfast in the food court and they were all delicious. My favorite being the Gluten Free Beignets that I have never had before. Oh my goodness, yum!!

And of course Mickey waffles. And the crispiest bacon ever!!

I also loved that we could get baked tater tots for a side for breakfast!

Then our finale!
We needed food for our plane ride home.
I had a special request for Chef Paul. Could we get the beignet burger but with a piece of grilled chicken instead of the hamburger? He seemed taken aback at first but then said "I don't see why not". We asked for baked tater tots and Chef Paul didn't let us down.
The beignet chicken sandwich may be the best thing I have ever eaten of any gluten filled or gluten free sandwich.

The photo doesn't do it justice as it had to travel from the resort to the airport, where we decided to eat it in the airport and not on the plane. Yum, yum, yum.

Thank you Chef Paul and all the amazing people at Port Orleans French Quarter in Walt Disney World for feeding us the best gluten free food for our vacation.

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

Down to Earth Cafe - Perkasie PA

Yumm Yumm Yummmmm

Scrambled eggs, crispy bacon and american cheese on a delicious gluten free wrap.

Oh my goodness, so good.

I usually get a gluten free bagel for this Down Home breakfast sandwich but they were out this past weekend, so I tried the wrap. I love that they made it like a pizza and not an actual wrap.

The cheese was ooey gooey and melting everywhere and the bacon was crisp and crunchy and the egg was scrambled just right.

I wish I could go get another one right now!

King Arthur Gluten Free All Purpose Flour

Hands down the best pancakes come from this flour.

Just follow the instructions on the back - making the changes from waffles to pancakes that they mention (I do not do the vanilla) - and have the best gluten free pancakes yet!

Bisquick was my favorite previously but King Arthur slayed them ;)

They are fluffy, thick, sooo tasty (even without the vanilla - I am sure it is the sugar) and quick and easy to make. I usually fight with my pancake mixes and making them but these were so easy and it make 10 pancakes without an issue. Seriously yummy!

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.

Gluten Free in Iceland - Breakfast

Breakfast in Iceland is a very European buffet. Lots of eggs, beans, deli items, fish, breads and pastries.

And it was all delicious no matter where we ate.

Grand Hotel Reykjavík had 4-5 types of eggs available: scrambled, hard boiled, fried, sunny side up, and soft boiled in addition to them making omelettes if you wanted. There were many types of Skyr to have, some sweet some not so sweet. There was gluten free cereal and all kinds of milks: cow, almond, soy, etc. Also all kinds of juice: orange, carrot, beet and so many others I honestly can’t remember. Fresh fruits of all kinds and lots of pastries although none that were gluten free that we could find.

Hotel Dohlery had many of the same options as the Grand Hotel. Just a few less egg types and they did offer gluten free bread two of the days. The fruit here though was beyond compare. There were even items I don’t know what they were. Kiwi, bananas, oranges of three types, catawaba, watermelon and as I said more that I couldn’t even identify. It was all fresh, juicy, tasty and amazing.

I had read that gluten free bread is not common and it did appear that way. I was ok not having it for the 6 days I was there and perhaps next time I would take my own or check out a store upon arrival to pick some up.