Fresh and local with American Gra-Frutti

I've written about AMERICAN GRA-FRUTTI a lot here on my blog and on Ging Recommends, and most people know it's my favorite local GF purveyor.  Now that they're also in Blackbird Coffee in Milledgeville, I can get a fix with a short amount of time.

From their newsletter.  Love you, Mia!

And so, Marilyn Santulli and her team at American Gra-frutti have had a great, busy summer, which includes the introduction of two FRESH BREAD STANDS at Whole Foods Markets at Merchant's Walk and Buckhead. To quote the press release:

All of these items are available for sale at our Marietta Bake House, which is a dedicated gluten free bakery. The foods included are featured at three local Whole Foods Markets (Buckhead, Merchants Walk, and Sandy Springs). The Buckhead and Merchants Walk stores house our hand-crafted, free-standing bread racks in the bakery departments. The Sandy Springs store highlights these foods as part of their gluten free bakery section.

The items on the fresh rack include these wonderful new items, plus some great favorites.  I adore the new crackers -- Graham, Sesame Seed and Almond, Artisan Flatbread, and Cheese.  I think they're really the top of the line in crackers, and the fact that they're made locally AND are made in a dedicated facility makes it even better. I honestly can't decide which one I like the most, but I DO know I have served them to gluten eaters with no problems!

from their Newsletter

And the bread, available fresh?  I feel like almost normal when I pick up a fresh loaf and can have a sandwich on FRESH bread.  YUM.

Here's what they have with all the price points and ingredient lists. 

Muffins:

Sold in four packs of 2.5 ounce muffins

 Apple Cinnamon Muffin

Blueberry Muffin

Cranberry Orange Walnut Muffins

Crackers:

Sold in 5 oz bags:

Cheesestraw Crackers

Graham Crackers

Savory Sesame Almond Crackers

Sold in 7 ounce bags:

Artisan Flatbread Crackers

Breads:

10 oz Dinner Sized loaf of Multi-Grain Daily Bread

22 oz loaf of Multi-Grain Daily Bread

22 oz loaf of Flax & Nut Bread

Ingredients for the foods that do not have labels attached:

Apple Cinnamon Muffins:

INGREDIENTS: Flour (Rice, Tapioca), Potato Starch, Organic Evaporated Cane Juice, Honey, Rice Bran, Apples, Purified Water, Eggs, Grapeseed Oil, Almonds, Salt, Brown Sugar, Carrageenan, Sunflower Lecithin, GF Vitamins and Natural Flavors, GF Baking Powder, Cornstarch, Cinnamon,

Xanthan Gum, and Salt

CONTAINS: Almonds, Eggs

Blueberry Muffins:

INGREDIENTS: Flour (Rice, Tapioca), Potato Starch, Evaporated Cane Juice, Honey, Rice Bran, Blueberries, Purified Water, Eggs, Grapeseed Oil, Almonds, Salt, Brown Sugar, Carrageenan, Sunflower Lecithin, GF Vitamins & Natural Flavors, GF Baking Powder, Cinnamon, Xanthan Gum, and Salt

CONTAINS: Almonds, Eggs

Cranberry Orange Walnut Muffins:

INGREDIENTS: Flours (Rice, Tapioca), Potato Starch, Organic Evaporated Cane Juice, Honey, Rice Bran, Eggs, Cranberries, Canola Oil, Walnuts, Purified Water, Almond Milk, Sunflower Lecithin Orange Juice, Orange Rind, GF Vanilla, Xanthan Gum, GF Natural Flavors, Vitamins and Spices, GF Baking Powder and Sea Salt

CONTAINS: Almonds, Eggs, Walnut

Flax and Nut Bread:

INGREDIENTS: Purified Water, Flours (Rice, Tapioca, Sorghum, GF Oat) Potato Starch, Honey, Rice Bran, Ascorbic Acid, Cage Free Eggs, Walnuts, Seeds (Sunflower, Pumpkin, Sesame, Poppy, Chia, and Flax), Canola Oil, Sugar, Yeast, GF Baking Powder, Apple Cider Vinegar, Xanthan Gum,

and Sea Salt

CONTAINS: Eggs, Walnuts

Congrats and continued growth and success to American Gra-Frutti.

Much love, 

Ging

Gluten Free Chick walks in with a bar....

This short post is about the wonderful new GLUTEN-FREE snack bars available on the market for us.

For the first year I was gluten free, I ate A LOT of bars.  Then I got burned out on them because they are often high in Weight Watchers Points.

That has sure changed.

There are three* I really want to give a shout out to today.  I am enjoying them all as part of my balanced meals on Weight Watchers. I received samples of all of these from the producers of the product, but I assure you I've bought several of them since myself.  All of these bars have different uses for me personally, and each one has a defined personality.  I really can't choose among them, so I keep them all handy!

1.  Pamela's Products Whenever Bars are really pretty amazing to eat.  I especially love the Oat Raisin Walnut Spice bar, which tastes like a great big oatmeal cookie!  It has 180 calories, 24 carbs and is fairly low in sugar.  It's not high in Weight Watcher points at 5 -- but it is fairly low in protein; however, paired with some lowfat cheese, it makes a really delicious breakfast choice.  I tried these after the GIG conference when Marion shared them with me.  They come is several different flavors, too.  Like all of Pamela's Products, they're gluten and wheat free and have the utmost integrity!  The fact that they're a nice chunky bar means they're also filling.



2.  The new TrueBar from Bakery on Main.  Now, I admit I have been a fan of Bakery on Main since day 12 on the gluten-free lifestyle program.  It was the first granola I found.  They have great GF Granola Bars (which I like a lot, and they're GF) that are new on the market. *OK, they have two I'm counting as one.  But they're both great.

Ah, but the TrueBar.  There's something really delish about those bars. I love the titles:  "I'm a coconut cashew bar with nothing to hide."  Yum  (OK, I haven't devoured that one yet.  But I did ear the apricot one and was in heaven...)  They're a little higher in Weight Watchers points (around 7 each) and are higher in carbs, but there are some days you want a higher carb/protein balance.  And they're just darned cute.  At $2 each (with a lower price at some places) they're a good snack bar for an airplane ride or car trip.

3.  I got three samples of the Luna Protein Bar, and I really like them for a lot of reasons.  For 5 Weight Watchers Points, I end up with a protein-packed bar with a little carb boost.  That really seems the most optimal for my blood sugar.

There was a long discussion on Twitter if these bars tasted good -- I have to say I especially enjoyed the Chocolate Peanut Butter Bar and the Cookie Dough.  I know.  Cookie Dough?  Seriously, they're all gluten free and I do love them.  I bought two boxes on sale at Target the other day (I need coupons, hint hint). I also caught them on sale at Big Lots, in date, marked Gluten Free, for 70 cents each. 

• 
  Serving Size 1 bar (45g)
• Calories 190
• Calories from fat 80

*Percent Daily Values (DV) are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.

• Amount/Serving%DV*
• Total Fat 9g14%
• Sat. Fat 3.5g18%
• Trans Fat 0gNone
• Cholesterol 0mg0%
• Sodium 220mg9%
• Potassium 125mg4%

• Amount/Serving%DV*
• Total Carb. 20g7%
• Dietary Fiber 3g12%
• Insoluble Fiber 1gNone
• Sugars 12gNone
• Other Carb. 5gNone
• Protein 12g24%

Vit A 10%* Vit C 20%* Calcium 25%* Iron 15%* Vit D 15%* Vit E 30%* Thiamin (B1 )10%* Riboflavin(B2) 10%* Niacin (B3) 10%* Vit B6 20%* Folate (B9) 30%* Vit B12 20

These bars really cut off a blood sugar drop while filling me up.  With a cold or hot drink, I can actually have one of these as a meal.  They're really good for those chemo-shot reaction days (for me, at least). 

I hope you'll consider one or all of these products.  They're tasty and good.

Much love,

Ging 

New and recent from Katz Gluten Free

As a gluten-free individual, there are days that I find myself daydreaming about certain gluten-free convenience goods.  You know, like pie.

Homemade pie.  Homemade pie with a top crust and a real fruit filling.  Mmmmm pie.

Or sometimes I want a cake.  I love a good Bundt cake, especially after My Big Fat Greek Wedding.

My friends at Katz Gluten Free have once again added some cool items to their line that make this possible.  Last month I tried a wonderful apple pie, a coffee-drizzled Bundt cake, and some Snack Poppers.

First, the pie.  SOOOO good.  I really love Cherry Pie, so I hope to buy one soon.  But I tasted apple, and it is very good.  It's perfect for three people.  Or two.  Or you.  The crust is flaky when warmed, but good out of the package.  And it is also filled with apple slices.  I really don't like apple pies with too-sweet filling.  This is very modersate in sweetness.  I was thrilled.  (and by the way, I ate it over three days in about a week.  It held up well under refrigeration after I cut it.)

Through the end of the month, there's also a pie sale.  This is from their website:

Summer Savings on our Gluten Free Pies!!       Thru the end of the summer, Katz Gluten Free invites you to use our special coupons to save $4 on our delicious gluten free pies! SummerPie1 - Apple Pie  SummerPie2 - Cherry Pie  SummerPie3 - Blueberry Pie  1 each per customer, limit to 1 per order. Enter the code on the checkout page.

As for the Bundt Cake with coffee-flavored drizzle.  I am pretty sure you're supposed to drizzle the icing on it, but I just ate it with a spoon.  And then I ate a piece of the cake.  Both were delicious.  We're especially fond of the flavor of coffee.  So this was a hit with us.

Here's what it's supposed to look like -- I do not follow instructions well.  It is a generous size and can be a lovely centerpiece of a dessert or brunch.

Now, on to the Snack Poppers.  They are based on a Jewish pastry called Kichel (according to Shmully the Katz Man, who directed me to the above-mentioned Wikipedia site).  He said people generally either love them or hate them.  I am afraid I just didn't know what to DO with them.

But as we discussed it, I thought, "these would be great in a Tiramisu."  I would use the following recipe from All Recipes, but I'd use a package of Snack Popperss (which are pretty hefty in size) to make it. 

Tiramisu, adapted from ALLRECIPES.COM

Ingredients

• 4 egg yolks
• 3/4 cup and 1 tablespoon and 1 teaspoon white sugar
• 3/4 cup and 1 tablespoon and 1 teaspoon mascarpone cheese (you could use cream cheese here)
• 1 cup and 3 tablespoons heavy whipping cream (you could use Cool Whip if you wanted to...)
• 1 package Katz Gluten-Free Snack Poppers
• 3 tablespoons and 1-3/4 teaspoons coffee flavored liqueur (or strong coffee if you don't use liquor)
•  
• 3/4 teaspoon unsweetened cocoa powder, for dusting
• 5/8 (1 ounce) square semisweet chocolate

Directions

1. Combine egg yolks and sugar in the top of a double boiler, over boiling water. Reduce heat to low, and cook for about 10 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and whip yolks until thick and lemon colored.
2. Add mascarpone to whipped yolks. Beat until combined. In a separate bowl, whip cream to stiff peaks. Gently fold into yolk mixture and set aside.
3. Split the Kichel in half, and line the bottom and sides of a large glass bowl. (They are round, but they should fit well in a bowl). Brush with coffee liqueur. Spoon half of the cream filling over the lady fingers. Repeat ladyfingers, coffee liqueur and filling layers. Garnish with cocoa and chocolate curls. Refrigerate several hours or overnight.
4. To make the chocolate curls, use a vegetable peeler and run it down the edge of the chocolate bar.

These are among the latest items and news from Katz Gluten Free.  You should also know their sample packs are also available now.   They are also offering a chance to win prizes if you refer your favorite store.  And yes, there is free ground shipping for orders over $30.


Much love, and thanks to my friends at Katz Gluten Free.  You continue to be one of my favorite GF product producers.

Ging