Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Udi's frozen GF French baguette review

As my regular readers know, I don't eat a lot of GF bread, mostly because it disappoints me.

I did love a little brushetta back in the day, so when I saw these baguettes, visions of antipasto danced in my head. 


This bag was at Safeway for $5.99 and each bag has 2 baguettes. They are about 12" long and 2" in diameter. Just to let you know, they are dairy, soy and nut free also.


I cooked 1 baguette as directed. From frozen, 400° for 10-15 minutes. I cooked mine approx 14 minutes. It was crispy, but in a good, crusty sort of way. 


Tonight I picked up some creamy garlic & herb goat cheese and vine ripened hothouse tomatoes. We usually grow our own tomatoes, but it is November...you take what you can get. 

I sliced my baguette in 1/2" slices, smothered them with goat cheese, topped with tomato and I was in heaven. I shared the baguette with my son. Ok....he had 3 pieces and I ate the rest. 


I think this was good enough to serve to my gluten loving friends and family. Next time I am picturing olive oil, mozzarella, fresh basil and tomato. I will post updated photos. I have only seen these once at Safeway, so I am going to buy a few if they still have them.

**update**
I cooked it a little less, approx 11 minutes and I liked the texture better. Then I topped them with a generous helping of pesto and goat cheese. 






Monday, November 18, 2013

Udi's frozen Gluten Free Uncured Pepperoni Pizza review

I have only tried 2 gluten free pizza crusts in the last 8 months, and both left me underwhelmed.

I saw this frozen Udi's pepperoni pizza on sale at Safeway, so I figured I would get one and save it for a rainy day. 
Last night was a rainy day (literally, I live in Oregon), so I thought I would give it a try. 

It is a small pizza and, well, it looked like a frozen pizza. I cooked it exactly as directed. 400°, directly on the rack, 6" from the bottom, for 12 minutes. This is what came out. 


Not too shabby. I picked up a piece to snap this photo to show the thickness and the pizza was limp, however the instructions say to let it sit for 5 minutes and it firmed up. 


Let me remind you, this is a frozen pizza. I did not have the expectation that it would be some amazing, life altering meal, but you know what? It was pretty darn good. 

My husband and I have an inside joke. Once we were starving and all we had to eat was a package of very stale Ritz crackers. When we ate them, it was the best damn Ritz cracker we had ever had. So, the joke it, it can be a crappy meal, but if you are deprived, it will be the best thing in the world. 

So I was unsure, was the pizza really good, or was this the best damn Ritz cracker situation? I had my gluten loving husband take a bite & he agreed, for a frozen pizza, it was pretty good!

I cook almost every night and try to limit my processed food, but I will be buying this pizza again for another rainy day. 



Friday, November 8, 2013

I OAT mind if I do...

needed breadcrumbs, but I was in too big of a hurry to make them, so I decided to improvise. I got out some of my GF oats, threw them in a small food processor with granulated garlic, Italian seasoning and a pinch of salt. Then I chopped it into  the consistency of fine bread crumbs


I dipped chicken breasts in egg, then my oat breadcrumbs and they looked pretty good!


I baked them & guess what?? They tasted great and no one in my family could tell any difference. 

So, yes, you can deem me a genius if you must. I will humbly accept. 

(Yes, I realize I am probably not the first person to ever think of this, but I am still taking credit)