What Lines the Shelves

Of Our Gluten Free Pantry?

The following is a list of our favorite gluten free and

mainstream items that are also gluten free.   It is by no means exhaustive, but merely the best of the best to us. 

Baking Items and Gluten Free Flour:

• Jules All Purpose Flour - Great gluten free flour that you can use as a 1 to 1 replacement in most of your "wheat" flour recipes.  Try these sugar cookies made with Jules All Purpose Flour.  You won't be disappointed. 
• Bavaria Mills Another all purpose flour that can be used as a 1 to 1 substitution in recipes that use baking soda or powder to rise.  May need to add more xanthum gum if using it in recipes that use yeast to rise.
• Authentic Foods They make a wonderful super fine brown rice flour and also sell pre-mixed packages of some of the most basic gluten free flour mix recipes. 

• Bob's Red Mill One of the most popular makers of gluten free flour.  Be sure and check for the crossed out wheat on the label to confirm it is gluten free as Bob also makes whole wheat flour. I am not crazy about their mixes but use their bags of flour regularly.

For a longer discussion on flours go to Gluten Free Flour Mixes.

• Enjoy Life Semisweet Chocolate Chips - Casein free and certified GF.
• Nielsen Massey Vanillas - Madagascar Bourbon Pure Vanilla is the perfect choice for refrigerated doughs, batters and dry mixes.

Birthday Cake Mixes: The following are our favorite cake mixes, in order of preference.  Top with home made frosting.

• Dowd and Rogers Cake Mixes We have tried them all and love them all. 

• 123 Gluten Free Yummy Yellow Cake Mix  Prefect birthday cake mix.

• ‘Cause you’re Special Cake Mixes You can not go wrong with this mix either.

 Bread, Bagels, Hot Dog Buns, tortillas etc.

• The Gluten-Free Pantry Favorite Sandwich Bread Mix   Just that, our favorite sandwich bread mix.  We have made it both in the bread machine and the oven.  It is just as easy to prepare either way.  My gluten free teen has been making this herself since she was ten.  The favored bread machine in the gluten free community is the Zojirushi BBCCX20 Home Bakery Supreme Bread Machine.   The main benefit of this bread machine is that you can program the cycles so it will work with a vast array of gluten free mixes and recipes.  

• Udi's White Sandwich and Whole Grain Bread Upon tasting this bread you will not even be able to tell that it is gluten free.  Few gluten free products have excited us as much as Udi's bread.  The first gluten free bread that you can leave on the counter top and eat without toasting.  Looks, smells and has the texture of traditional wheat bread.  Really it is that good.   Udi's Gluten Free White Sandwich Bread now available by the case from Amazon.com.

• Udi Bagels, Hot Dog Buns and Hamburger Buns Simply the best. 

Breakfast Items

Cereal: 

• EnviroKidz Organic Koala Crisp Cereal, 11.5-Ounce Boxes - tasty and certified GF.
• Nature's Path Organic Honey'd Corn Flakes Cereal, 26.4-Ounce Eco-Pac Bags - Certified GF
• General Mills Honey Nut Chex General Mills now makes six gluten free cereals that you cannot beat if you are looking for mainstream everyday cereal.  

Donuts:

• Celiac Specialties powdered sugar donuts and donut holes.   These are absolutely the best gluten free donuts around.  Order on their website.
• Kinnikinncik Maple Dipped Donuts  These travel well so they are great to throw in the suit case when traveling.  If a microwave is handy, we like to warm them up.  Very good and more filling than traditional donuts.  For my complete Kinnikinnick shopping list go to My Kinnikinnick Shopping List

Muffins:

• Udi's Lemon Streusel Muffins Once again bring on the Udi's!  I am not sure that this dedicated gluten free bakery makes anything bad, but these are moist, flavorful, an absolute family favorite.
• Kinnikinnick Chocolate Chip Muffins   for special treats or great to throw in the suit case when traveling.

Frozen Waffles:

• Lifestream Buckwheat Wild berry Waffles by Natures Path    We eat these more like bread than waffles.  Toast and then smear with almond butter for a satisfying breakfast.  They are not certified GF, but the website says they randomly test to ensure there is no contamination of gluten from other sources.

Hot Cereals:

• Pocono Cream of Buckwheat  Top with a little sugar and cinnamon.  Make an extra batch to refrigerate for the next morning then simply rewarm in the microwave. 
• Certified Gluten Free Oats by Bob's Red Mill or Gifts of Nature.

Candy

Candy is one thing that is fairly easy to find gluten free.  Check our blog around Halloween and Easter for your most up to date information.

Cookies

• Glutino Lemon Wafer, Glutino Vanilla Creme Dream Cookies, 10.6-Ounce Units and Chocolate Vanilla Cream Your answer for gluten free oreo's!
• Lucy Sugar, Cinnamon Thin, Chocolate Chip and Oatmeal Cookies I have yet to find someone who has not loved these cookies!  They are crisp and crunchy with great flavor and oh so sweet.  We love them all but the Cinnamon Thin are my favorite. You can buy these with confidence that you will love them. 
•   WOW Wheat and Gluten Free Cookies and Brownies These are the best of the best.  Large, soft and delicious.  Much like you would find at the local bakery.   At $2.50 a piece they are a special treat, but great to keep in the freezer for that birthday party at school that did not make your calendar.  The price reflects the quality of the ingredients - organic ingredients, high quality butter, and cane juice.  Made by WOW.
• Pamela's Dark Chocolate, Chocolate Chunk Cookies These are melt in your mouth dark chocolate cookies that are sure to please.

Crackers  In order of preference:

• Glutino Gluten Free Original Crackers    Our favorite everyday crackers.  They taste great!   But buyer beware, a lot of times we find that 1/3 of box has broken cracker crumbs in it.

• Zero Grano  Straight from Italy these are saltine-like crackers but actually much better!  Light and crunchy with a hint of rosemary.  Great with soup. 
• Schar Table Crackers Another saltine-like cracker.  And I remember the day when you could not find one good gluten free cracker. 
• Cheddar Crackers by Outside the Breadbox Craving a gluten free cheesy cracker that will remind you of a Chez-it?  Look no further we have found them!  
• Ener-G Foods Wheat-Free Crackers, 7-Ounce Boxes These are pretty similar to saltines but a little harder and not as salty.
• Crunchmaster Multi-Grain Crackers A lighter cracker that works well with a dip or spread. 

• Edward & Sons Brown Rice Snaps  Our favorite flavor is cheddar.  The kids like these with sliced cheddar cheese and Boar's Head Salome.

Many of these items are available from

Frozen Items

• Amy's Frozen Cheese Pizza and Spinach Pizza  My kids love this ready made pizza.  Find it in the freezer section of your grocery store.
• Conte's Pasta Co. All of these frozen pasta products will not disappoint!  We particularly like the Cheese Ravioli and Stuffed Shells.  So good you will not believe they are gluten free!
• Bell and Evans Gluten Free Chicken Products Recommended without doubt, these are the best gluten free chicken breast nuggets and tenders.  Healthier when baked, but absolutely delicious when fried.  No one would ever guess they are gluten free.  Their processing plant is monitored sensitive to less than 10 parts per million which is below the proposed FDA standard!
• Ian's Chicken Nuggets Free of gluten, casein, eggs, nuts and soy.  Great for a quick lunch or date night out for the parents.  Ian’s states that it "secures independent laboratory testing to ensure that our wheat-free, gluten-free products fall well below this World Health Organization requirement" of less than 20 ppm.

Gluten Free Mixes

• 123 Gluten FreeSweet Goodness Pan Bars   We make these with pumpkin and top with cream cheese frosting. 
• 123 Gluten Free Devilishly Decadent Brownie  As good as the name. 
• Betty Crocker Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies, Brownies, and Yellow and Devil's Food Cake MixOne of the latest mainstream food manufacturers to enter the world of gluten free living.  These are reliable, readily available and easy to make gluten free mixes. Try Streusel Cake with the Betty Crocker Yellow Cake mix. 
• The Cravings PlaceChocolate Chunk Cookie Mix This mix makes great cookies that are both gluten and casein free.  These also work great as a pan cookie.  I think it is the huge chunks of chocolate that make these so good. 
• Pamela's Baking and Pancake Mix A go-to mix for great baking results. 
• Namaste FoodsSpice Cake We make muffins out of this mix.  They are crunchy on the top and soft and yummy on the inside. 

Pasta, Rice and other Alternative Grains

• Bi-Aglut Our favorite pasta with a great texture that is not starchy.  Order it fromQuattrobimbi or orderFusilli from Amazon.com.
• Schar and Bionaturae Gluten Free Pasta We can only say good things about Schar and Bionaturae and both are easy to find at the grocery store.

• Quinoa Ancient Harvest Pasta  Great as well and has the added benefit of being a high quality protein grain.
• Quinoa Ancient Harvest Traditional Quinoa  A staple in our diet.  Cook it like rice in a rice maker, but it is much more nutritious. Try it with green apples.
• Lundberg Risotto, Organic Alfredo Great for lunch or as a quick dinner side item. 
• Thai Kitchen Instant Rice Noodle Soup  Just add water and microwave for 3 minutes.  We only use about 1/3 of the included spices.  Available at most grocery stores.  Serve with San J Organic Tamari Wheat Free Soy Sauce.

• Annie's Homegrown Gluten-Free Rice Pasta & Cheddar Mac & Cheese This receives thumbs up from all of our kids.  Tip - to make it thicker and creamier, after cooking and draining the pasta, add a spoonful of butter and the cheese packet.  Do not add milk.  You will have to stir it longer, but makes much cheesier pasta. 

Pizza

Dry Mixes:

• Chebe Pizza MixTakes a little bit of work, but is well worth the effort.

• Whole Foods Pizza Mix  A great thick crust pizza mix.  It is fairly easy to make.  Here is a tip for helping any baked good rise. Preheat your oven to 200 degrees while you are mixing the dough together. Spread it on the pizza pans, do not cover it, turn the oven off and put the pans in the oven to let the dough rise.  Wait about 30 minutes and you will have a great pizza crust.   We like to flavor this crust with some dried rosemary, garlic salt and oregano.

Ready Made Crusts:

It is very easy to make a homemade pizza when the crusts is pre-made. Just top with Contadina Pizza Squeeze or Muir Glen Pizza Sauce, Cheese and Hormel Canadian Style Bacon or Pepperoni.  Bake at 375 degrees for ten minutes. Here are our favorite readymade crusts:

• Udi's Pizza Crust
• Kinnikinnick Pizza Shells Ready made pizza shells that also come in a smaller size that is perfect to take to sleep overs.   For my complete Kinnikinnick shopping list go to  My Kinnikinnick Shopping List.

 Snack Items

• Amy's Organic Salsa  A regular snack for us.  Serve with Tostitos.
•  Cracker Jacks
• Snyder's of Hanover or Glutinogluten free pretzels.
• Jo-Sef - Graham Crackers  Yes, graham crackers that actually taste like graham crackers.  These disappear in a hurry at our house. 
•  Frito lays has an extensive list of gluten free chips.
• Food Should Taste Good chips are certified Gluten Free and processed on equipment that does not process any gluten ingredients, and they taste wonderful.  Really a cross between a cracker and a chip.  We love the the Sweet Potato chip dipped in hummus. 
• Hail Merry Lemon Blue Agave Grawnola  A healthier snack that my Gluten Free Teen Loves.  I love the fact it is healthy!
• Lesser Evil Kettle Corn What is better than the taste of sweet chocolate and salty popcorn?  No trans fatty acids and low fat as well.  Best of all, my kids love it.  Order from GlutenFree.com.  See My Gluten Free Pantry Shopping List.

Gluten Free Bars

• PureFit Nutrition Bar, Almond Crunch Flavor, 2-Ounce Bar My kids are not as crazy about these but they are my favorite bars.  What I like best is that they are very filling for those days when you don't have time to sit down for a complete lunch. 
• KIND Bar Fruit & Nut Delight Great for quick snack on your way to soccer practice.
• Zing Bar Surprisingly tasty gluten and soy free bars. I really like the chocolate and peanut butter flavored bar.

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WHERE TO SHOP:

Shopping for gluten free food has gotten much easier.  Local grocery and health food stores carry more and more gluten and casein free items.  However, we still have some favorites that we order over the web. 

Web sites:

• Amazon.com is a great resource for gluten free items.  They come in bulk, usually six to an order, so it is best to order items you know you like.  We tend to go through food pretty rapidly and I like to keep extra stashes of food on hand in case of an emergency (such as Mom gets sick), so I like ordering the bulk items.  As an extra bonus, you can usually receive free shipping. Go to My Amazon.com Shopping List

•  123 Gluten Free   Products manufactured in a dedicated gluten-free (and peanut-free and nut-free) kosher facility utilizing only gluten-free ingredients.  We have liked every 123 Gluten Free mix that we have tried.  Our favorites are the  Devilishly Delicious Brownies and Sweet Goodness Pan Bar.
• Chebe makes our favorite pizza mix and bread sticks.  We order by the case so we always have some on hand.

• is also a great source for gluten and casein free products. Go to my GlutenFree.com shopping List.

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