Gluten Free Living...

Many of my friends have been asking about my gluten free diet so instead of sending all this info in E mails I thought I'd just post it here for the world to see... By the way~For the most part I eat proteins, fruits, and veggies BUT every once in a while a girl needs her baked goods!

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I'm the type of person that really likes "GOOD" food. If I take a bite of something and it's not super tasty I don't eat it. Thus said, I lost a lot of weight my first year of going gluten free.
I tried so many different gluten free brands and most tasted like cardboard, the texture was terrible and everything had some sort of "aftertaste." I wanted baked goods and breads that I could make and my family would love and in return have no idea they were gluten free.

Here are the brands I found that I am 100% thrilled with...

For quick cakes, brownies and waffles I LOVE the NAMASTE products- (all of them)
The funny thing about Namaste is they are not only gluten free but also potato, soy, corn, dairy, tree nuts, peanuts and casein free. My daughter is allergic to casein (dairy proteins) so this brand is perfect for both of us! There are no preservatives or MSG's. I don't eat MSG's therefore I "rarely" eat out anymore.

This Namaste chocolate cake is the BEST chocolate cake I have ever had IN MY LIFE-It's better then chocolate cake made with real flour. I make a bunch of cupcakes and freeze them in a big glass cake pan -They are so good !!!I will pull one out of the freezer and not even bother frosting it. They freeze unbelievably well! I bake Nameste brownies and chocolate cupcakes and I can't keep my kids or the neighborhood kids away from them!

~Namaste chocolate cake~

~Namaste Waffles~

Click HERE to go to enter the Namaste Website~

To find a store near you that has Namaste products click HERE.

A few other staples I missed were crackers , pasta & breakfast foods~ Not anymore...Here are my favorites:

I like all the Tinkyada brands of pastas-But most gluten free pasta is decent. My family actually likes it better then regular pasta. Click HERE to enter Tinkyada's website.

The best crackers are:

Glutino (all flavors) -Glutino's website is HERE.

The best gluten free oatmeal is:

Bob's Red Mill gluten free rolled oats-WARNING: Many people that eat gluten free (celiacs) cannot eat oats...Talk to your doctor before adding oatmeal to your diet!!!

Click HERE to find all of Bob's Red Mills WONDERFUL Gluten free products~

I found that I didn't like the gluten free cereals you can buy at local stores in the health food section. They are quite bad...BUT then General Mills made their RICE CHEX cereal GLUTEN FREE!!! Thanks GM!

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When it actually came to baking with gluten free flours I found it to be a BIG hassle. I had to buy every kind of gluten free flour and really didn't like any of them. I tried every kind of rice flours (brown, sweet brown, white etc.etc.) I tried flours made from potato, corn, blah blah blah... I mixed them the way the gluten free sites said to mix them... Yet they all STILL didn't work for me...

UNTIL I FOUND THIS BLESSING!

This Christian lady from Montana and her friend came up with this WONDERFUL gluten free flour mixture that has forever changed my life! It smells like real flour, feels like real flour and the bake goods I make with it taste like they have real flour in them! So much so I tossed our real flour out of our house and only use their gluten free flours!

Here are the two gluten free flours they produce:

~Almond and Coconut~

They also have a cookbook that is a MUST buy! It has every kind of baked good known to man in it for you to try! Can you say YUMMY!?!

Here is a photo of a few baked goods made with "Gluten Free Mama's" flour blends. If you go to her website she will even convert your favorite recipes to gluten free recipes!

To visit Gluten Free Mama's Website click HERE.

Click HERE to find a store near you that sells Mama's flours.

To buy the almond, coconut flour AND the cookbook online click HERE

AND last but not least Rachel "aka" The Gluten Free Mama herself has a blog... Click HERE to visit her, tell her "Robin" sent you~♥~

REMEMBER: You must be very careful because gluten is hidden in many many products on your grocery store shelves... Read the labels and GOGGLE different products so see if they are gluten free...If all else fails get a hold of the company that makes the foods and ask!

With Love,

Robin

~The gluten free girl~