Dr. McDougall's All Natural Soups

Hey fellow GF'ers, Mel here with a soup review of Dr. Mcdougalls'. I was given three soups to try by my friend Terri and I was kind of skeptical about it at first. Soup in a box? Hmm....  I looked through her selection and picked out the following three soups.  Tortilla, Low Sodium Vegetable and a third regular Vegetable soup which my kids devoured.  So the third soup I will have to comment from a kid's point of view.  These soups can be purchased from the following stores and locations:  Trader Joe's, Walnut Acres, Westbrae Natural Foods, Health Valley Foods, Muir Glen, West Valley Foods and numerous other natural food vendors!  Each box will either serve two adults or two kids and a small adult portion.

 Dr. McDougall's Vegetable soup was by far my favorite.  I added rice.  Rice in its NATURAL form is GLUTEN FREE!  When you go to a restaurant they usually use chicken stock to cook it in for extra flavor.  I buy my rice at our local Korean foods market and read each package (thats in English) and look for NATURAL UNPROCESSED rice.  By adding just a few tablespoons to the soup and cooking it on the stove it was the perfect balance.  The flavor was great!  Not overpowering and salty like you experience with most canned soups.  I give this Vegetable Soup 4.5 out of 5.

The Tortilla soup was the first soup I tried.  I love tortilla soup but was expecting to much with this one.  The liquid portion is a bit viscous more than I like so I added some water to thin it out a bit.  The overall flavor was good but I was not impressed with the red beans. They had a bit of a chalky taste but the corn had a nice bite to it and was overall a good "quickie soup".  I rate this soup a 3.5 out of 5.

 

My daughters ate this one (ages 9 and 10) and then asked for more!  The vegetables were aplenty in this one!  Filling and satisfying and made "happy bellies".  My youngest is a very picky eater and I even gave her a 1/2 bowl as a second helping!  I was quite impressed with the willingness and ease I could incorporate GF into my children's diet!  They stayed full and even after 4 days of eating the soup our Campbells chicken noodle still sits in the cabinet (their previous favorite) and are pining for more!  I rate this a 5 out of 5 for its kid friendly flavor and vegetable intake!  KUDOS!

Hey Terri here if you would like a chance to win 2 boxes of Dr McDougall's soup leave a comment on this post by Thursday January 19 2012. I will randomly select a winner on Friday.

welcome Mel and follow her journey as a new Gluten Free-er

Alrighty I am going to post two photos for you. The first photo (below) was taken on March 3rd 2011. I had not started a gluten free diet. I have been on Amatiza (a medication to assist in going to the bathroom) due to digestive problems for two years at this point. I started messing around on GF in the summer and haven’t stopped since. Here is my before photo. I hated taking full body shots of myself because I was not happy with my body image. Pictured with me is my wonderful husband of 12 years Leon.

This is me now down from the picture below weighing in at 228lbs and now down to 176. I am not a marathon runner, I am a housewife. I don’t exercise much nor do I leave my home much. I am not proud to say so lol but it’s the honest truth. If I did imagine how much more drastic this picture would look! The only thing I changed in my lifestyle is knocking gluten out of my diet. I slip now and then and have a roll somewhere, or maybe some rice or whatnot and I notice a big difference in the way I feel. I do not have an allergy perse' but even someone who is not a gluten-intolerant person such as myself can reap benefits from living gluten free!

noticed my clothing beginning to get looser especially getting closer to Thanksgiving. I really didn’t take it seriously and just went about my day. I stepped on the scale in early December because I noticed I didn’t "swell" after Thanksgiving which really set off a light in my head. So I ventured to the bathroom and I stepped on the scale. Remember last time I weighed myself was maaaaaaaaaaaybe mid-September and it was 225ish. I was surprised to see the following image!I immediately went bezerk!

I posted this image on Facebook at the beginning of December and really started buckling down on GF! I kept pushing and pushing and minding what I ate. This picture was taken after Christmas, the holiday where we ALL belly up!

I
I don’t plan on stopping. I can fully see the benefits of being gluten free. I feel better, I am in much better spirits and I poop every day! Yes I know that sounds horrid but trust me. Not being able to poop is a very disturbing thing, especially when your normal movements were once maybe twice a week if you were lucky. I have not taken Amatiza in over two weeks now and have still maintained a regular DAILY bathroom break! I am proof guys. I am not with a fitness trainer, I do not have a dietician, I am just a regular housewife here in NC and have dabbled in the GF lifestyle and am now proud to say I am living GLUTEN FREE!!!!!!!

On November 15, 2011 at 6pm MST, Kinnikinnick Foods, North America’s leading gluten-free baked goods manufacturer, will host a Stress-Free Holiday Appetizers and Desserts cooking class live on UStream. Cooking-class-Viewers will learn how to whip up allergy-friendly, elegant appetizers and desserts for the holiday season from the comfort of their own home. An online chat will also be available to viewers so that they may ask the chefs questions during the cooking class. All recipes will feature Kinnikinnick products, including some new additions to their offerings that are sure to delight. Below is a menu of dishes that will be covered. The cooking class will be available on Kinnikinnick’s UStream channel and on their Facebook page

Pumpkin Spiced Cupcakes

Well I have had a can of pumpkin in my pantry forever so I decided some super yummy cupcakes were in order.

2 1/4 cups Gf baking mix
1 tablespoon baking powder
2 teaspoon xanthan gum
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 cup oil
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 cup mashed cooked or canned pumpkin
1 cup milk


Preheat oven to 350* and line 24 cupcake cups. Beat eggs and sugar until smooth, then add oil pumpkin and milk. In separate bowl combine remaining ingredients and mix thoroughly. Slowly add flour mixture to egg mixture scraping sides as needed. Fill cups 3/4 full and bake for 20 mins or until tooth pick inserted comes out clean.


I filled these cupcakes with a simple chocolate ganache and topped with cream cheese icing and edged with finely minced pecans. They were ooey-gooey and gone fast. My only note is the candy corn may not be safe I left it off the ones I made for me so you should double check if you plan on putting candies on top. I can put them on for my family as I am the only Celiac in the house.

Kinnikinnick S'moreables Review

Ok I have off the grid for awhile I know. The hubby came home for a visit and it always takes time to recover my kitchen after he leaves. It is nice to get a break from cooking but i never know where he puts things afterward but i am back now and my first post is a review of Kinnikinnick S'moreables. I received 2 boxes of these to try and i wish i would have know about them sooner. They would have made awesome sand on the beach cupcakes i made in July for my mom and dad's wedding.

I of course had to make oven s'mores with them first and they were a big hit. For any that dont know i am the only gluten free eater in my clan but my family happily tries my food to show support. That being said they thought they s'mores were great and a definite eat again.

Then I decide to try the other recipe on the box for Almond Crunch Bars except I didnt have almonds so I used chopped pecans. Also being the girl I am after they came out of the oven I decided to sprinkle them with chocolate chips.

Needless to say these did not make through the night and almost didnt make it to dinner time. They were also added to our Christmas cookie list. All this being said I would definitely buy Kinnikinnck S'moreables again. They are not completely like their gluten filled counterpart but were quite tasty and satisfied my craving.







If you have a gluten free product, cookbook, restaurant, bakery, or food you would like me to review, please email me at bboop2177 [at] yahoo[dot] com for more information and a shipping address.
Most reviews on http://fakingitgfstyle.blogspot.com feature photographs and a detailed, honest description of my experience with the gluten free foods and products. I do not accept compensation for reviews. If you opt to provide complimentary samples, please know that does not guarantee a favorable review, or a prompt publication on my site

Adopt a Gluten Free Blogger July 2001

Adopt a Gluten Free Blogger is a fun event where you pick a GF blogger and try out a recipe by them. This event is run by Book of Yum.
This month was my first one back for a long time and I was super excited. I chose Straight to Bed Cakefree and Dried and she had so many recipes it was hard for me to choose.


In the end I chose Revueltos - Brunch Spanish Style I am allergic to pork so I also loosely followed her recipe for Chorizo using turkey. This was amazing meal I ate it for dinner. This will also be showing up at many breakfasts I can also see it being the filling in some breakfast burritos.
I encourage you to try this recipe and check out the Adopt a Gluten Free Blogger Round Up.

Cleaning Out the Fridge

I love summer time for the fresh produce and farmers markets everywhere you go, but what happens when you over buy or just need to make room for this weeks haul. Fridge cleaning out meals and we all have our favorite go to ones so I thought I would share my 2 favorites. One is good for veggies that need to be cooked and it can also use up any meats leftover from the week: Chicken Fried Rice

My second favorite fridge cleaning meal utilizes those veggies that dont need to be cooked or don't cook up as well. It is also good for vegetarian dinners. Gazpacho is a dish I make a lot in the hundred degree days in the south.

Katz Gluten Free sample Pack

I ordered the free sample pack from Katz the other day. I was curious about their product and figured for less then 9 dollars shipping i would get to try a variety of their products at once. I actually loved this idea as their are so many lines out there now where I like 1 or 2 things they make and not other things. I was very excited to receive my package a few days ago but have not tried anything yet.

The package came loaded with items and the location of a store near me that carried their line so I could avoid shipping costs.




Of course I can not write a true review without try the products and in the time it has taken me to upload photos and write i have eaten the chocolate rugelech which was totally delish, but I love chocolate so maybe I need try something else to bias.



So I am now on the cinnamon one which tastes just like cinnamon roll without icing but it doesnt really need it. It was soft and crunchy and even better than the chocolate one. I can not wait to try other goodies from my package.