Panne Rizo's Rewards Program

I've talked about Panne Rizo on this blog before, and I'm still a huge fan. It's so nice to have a bakery dedicated to gluten-free eating, but one that offers egg-free and dairy-free products as well. My favourite products are still their bread crumbs, Vegan Chia Loaf, and Bird's Nest Cookies, but I will continue to explore and update you on my findings!

Panne Rizo is also fantastic at providing it's customers with new products for the holidays. Last Christmas they had a delicious assortment of traditional Christmas cakes and cookies, of which I ate plenty!

I noticed that they've also got special offerings for this Thanksgiving! Drop by and pick yourself up a pumpkin pie (or try the recipe on my blog!) or some pumpkin loaf. Or save yourself a ton of time by ordering some gluten-free turkey stuffing! This is fantastic for those who will be serving someone with a gluten-free diet and is overwhelmed by the idea of making their own!

A new feature for Panne Rizo is their free Customer Rewards Program. Gain points by spending money (1 point for each dollar spent), and gain extra points by bringing in your own reusable bags!
Panne Rizo will also register you into the Celiac Registry where you can get your Celiac receipts at the end of the year for tax purposes.

If you are diagnosed Celiac- here is the link to the Canadian Revenue Agency's page on Gluten-Free write-offs:
http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/tx/ndvdls/tpcs/ncm-tx/rtrn/cmpltng/ddctns/lns300-350/330/clc-eng.html

Here is the link to the page of Panne Rizo's new Customer Rewards Program:
http://www.pannerizo.com/rewards-celiac-registry/

Homemade Taco Seasoning

I love tacos. For a long time, I bought those "taco kits" by Old El Paso. They come with the taco shells, some mystery taco spice, and some extra mysterious "taco sauce" (what is that!?). I always threw out the taco sauce...why is it not refrigerated? Something freaky going on there.

In doing some research about the ingredients of taco spice, I learned:

1. One serving size (1/6 of the package), gives you 23% of your daily sodium intake. (woah)
2. Maltodexrin is the number one ingredient. (huh?!)
3. In addition to maltodexrin, there are some extra special ingredients such as: monosodium glutamate, partially hydrogenated soybean oil, silicon dioxide, ethoxyquin (developed by Monsanto, and labelled as 'moderately toxic'), and the ambiguous "natural flavour"

SCARY!

What's all that doing in my spice mix?!!?!

Now, catch your breath...I know that was horrifying. I have the solution

.

Homemade Taco Seasoning. It works the same, it looks the same, it smells the same, but it's MUCH BETTER FOR YOU! (and this version is garlic free)

This recipe will make a lot. Keep it stocked in a jar and add it to your beef, chicken, pork...whatever! It's multi-purpose!

In a large jar, mix together:
1/2 cup chili powder
6 tbsp paprika
1/8 cup onion powder
2 tsp sea salt
2 tbsp ground cumin
2 tbsp oregano
1 tbsp freshly ground black pepper
4 tsp red pepper flakes

Ta-da! Easy peasy.

Mentos...

This is a sad post.

To be honest, I don't know anyone other than me that buys Mentos, but they are one of my favourite candies to indulge in.

Until now.

Mentos have gluten, guys.
"Wheat glucose syrup"

What the heck, Mentos? Why do you need wheat? Change this! It can't be that difficult.

Betty Crocker's Gluten Free Devil's Food Cupcakes.

OH
MY
GOD.


I made these cupcakes for a celebration I'm attending tomorrow, and I don't know if they will make it.
I bought a Betty Crocker Gluten Free Devil's Food Cake Mix a while back and never ended up using it for its intended purpose. Tonight I pulled it out, hesitantly (as I always am with new GF products). Wow

These cupcakes make me cheat a little on other allergies--it requires 3 eggs to bake---but since my egg reactions are so minor, I cheated on this one. Make your own decisions on whether or not you can do this. You know your body!

I followed the recipe on the back, with the following exception:

Instead of 1 cup WATER- I used unsweetened almond milk!

That's the only difference I made! I baked them at 325F(+) for 23 minutes exactly.

I topped them with a classic buttercream icing- again substituting almond milk for milk/cream. Delish!

I'm not kidding when I say this mix is amazing. Pretty sure I (unintentially) closed my eyes the entire time I ate my cupcake. I was that happy.

PS. I'm sorry I didn't take a picture of my completed work for you all to see. I decorated the cupcakes with a tiffany blue icing and they were beautiful AND delicious. I served them to people at this celebration, and one woman came up to me and said "Is this ACTUALLY gluten-free? Because, gluten-free stuff is not this good".

Others, who had no idea the cupcake was gluten-free, complimented me on how delicious they were.

Thank you Campbell's!

I discovered today, while opening a can of my body-tested gluten-free soup, that Campbell's has now changed their labeling to identify gluten-free!

This is so exciting because it seems that more companies are taking charge with informing customers about what is in their product. Gluten-free can be a dietary choice, or a dietary necessity, and proper labeling helps all people understand better what they are putting in their bodies.

I believe this is new, so it may not apply to all soups, yet. Take a look next time you're in the grocery store!

 

 

Check it out! Top right corner in the red box!