The only gluten free specialty products you need to be normal

It's been suggested that I should lay out my favorite gluten free products so any new gluten free folks won't have to mess around with brands and just get the good stuff right away.  I spent years eating nasty stuff so you don't have to.  Plus, gluten free products have come a long way.  There's a sale at amazon.com for all gluten free goodies right now if you're up for ordering in bulk, possibly due to Celiac Awareness Day last week.  Warning that each of these items is probably 300% the price you'd pay for regular items, so you might as well try to get them on sale.  Beyond these few items, I guess I eat whole foods, so this is the processed junk and it pains me to have an entire blog post with no veggies in it. 

Here are the things I buy regularly.

Udi's Sandwich Bread, which also comes in whole grain.  Face it, folks, you'll never eat real bread again.  This keeps your sandwich together without crumbling into a million pieces.  Flavor?  Whatever, it does the job.

Jules Gluten Free Flour:  Substitute this for regular flour in any recipe and you'll usually be successful.  I've made pies, cupcakes, muffins, banana and zucchini breads, gravy, and much more with it.  Expensive, order online only.  This is the only thing on this page my grocery store doesn't carry. 

 

Chebe Bread Sticks:  just add eggs, milk, and olive oil, then cook for 30 minutes.  These are insanely good and I dunk them in a mix of Parmesan, olive oil, and balsamic vinegar whenever I make soup or stir fry for dinner.

Pamela's Chocolate cake mix:  I have fooled many a gluten-eater with this cake.  Add some easy frosting (dash of milk, gobs of coco powder, a little melted butter, and 2 cups of powder sugar) and this thing can work for any special occasion.

Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free Oats:  Regular oats are not gluten free due to their processing, so I buy these to use in my monster cookies.  Some celiacs avoid oats all together, so it's a little controversial that I eat them.  They don't seem to bother me.  Let me know if you can't find my monster cookie recipe in the archives.  Yum!

Pamela's pancake mix:  great for pancakes, crepes, waffles, and other easy baking escapades.  Dave made me pancakes from this mix this morning.  So amazing!  One thing it failed at was muffins.  No idea why.

Udi's Pizza Crust:  These are not good tasting, but they are the most affordable and easy of the pizza crusts.  Two come in a pack, I probably go through a pack every two weeks.  Not for sharing, it will only be enough for one person.  They come pre-cooked and usually frozen, so I just load up my toppings and bake for 10 minutes.

Namaste Pizza Crust:  this crust actually tastes good, but you have to mix it and bake it yourself.  Be careful, the bag makes two, so only use half the mix when following the recipe!  It's flavorful, crunchy, and an all around good crust for the nights you have more time on your hands.  It will have the consistency of cookie dough, not bread dough when you mix it up. 

Quinoa Pasta:  Hands down, this is the only pasta worth eating whether you are gluten free or not.  The texture is perfect, it's better for you than any other white pasta, and it just tastes normal.  Only issue is leftovers, they can taste grainy, so just eat it all in one sitting.  They also have shells (which don't cook as well) and spaghetti style noodles.

Conte's Cheese Ravioli:  $7 for two servings, but worth every penny.  I threw a fit in King Soopers a few weeks ago when they stopped carrying this.  Now that I know the brand name, I'll be filing a formal complaint to get them back.  Thanks a lot, Soopers, don' you know it's pesto season?  Gosh! 

Kind bars are expensive, but some of them are pretty tasty.  They'll get me through lunch or a brutal hike.   There's other good bars though, I have yet to really fall in love with any of them, including these. 

Woodchuck Cider:  Who needs beer when you can have cider?