Aleia's Almond Horn Cookies

One of my favorite things to do is to slowly browse my local health food store Natural Health in Blackwood, NJ. The place looks smallish but it is packed and its easy to miss new products. I scanned the cookie/snack aisle and my eyes landed on these simple brown bags. I looked at the ingredients - almond paste, sugar, almonds & egg whites - there is no way these won't be insanely tasty. Plus I loved that they were about $4 - got to love that!

At a few holiday parties this season I saw lots of classic Italian cookies and was feeling deeply devastated that I couldn't indulge in almond horns & pignoli cookies - two cookies that were my favorites PCD. Seeing these lovely almond horns made me feel super excited. I was looking forward to making a lovely cup of tea and enjoying my cookies. 

These are truly insanely tasty. I think they taste better then the almond horn cookies locked in my memory. The flavor is intensely almond-y and they are the richest tasting almond cookie I've ever had in my life. They are flaky like a croissant yet have a good density. They are perfection in a horn. 

Anyone who is missing traditional Italian cookies need look no further than Aleia's. They also make a pignoli cookie which I'll have to ask the health food store to order.

Verdict? YUMMY

Happy New Year

Hi Everyone!

Sorry for the delay in writing....one of my resolutions is to do at least one review a week look for my newest review later tonight.

xoxox GF Yummy

Kettle Cuisine Roasted Vegetable Soup

I love the flavor of roasted vegetables. I guess who doesn't, right? I've seen many roasted veggie soups for sale but they are usually puree soups. Puree soups really gross me out. The only puree I can handle is tomato soup and that's it. It always seems to me when they puree a ton of veggies together the consistency is always a little off and too thick but still somehow too thin - it just never feels like it works,

This is why I was excited to see that Kettle Cuisine partially purees this roasted vegetable soup. You still get lots of chunks of delicious roasted veggies and get a nice thick soup that tastes smooth and yummy. The base is thickened with potatoes and seasoning is tasty and I could really taste the olive oil (which I loved), I almost feel like this could be good cold and used as a dip for tortilla chips or a toasted gluten free baguette.

Verdict? Yummy!

Kettle Cuisine Southwestern Chicken and Corn Chowder

Chicken Corn Chowder has somehow evaded me nearly my entire adult life. It was just never a soup that I had. It wasn't until I was in my mid-late 20's that I had it for the first time. I was working at a hedge fund and we would get this amazing catered lunches everyday. One of the places we ordered from would send chicken corn chowder during the winter months. It was the most delicious soup I ever had. It was rich and creamy and full of chicken and veggies but never felt heavy in my tummy. 

When I saw that Kettle Cuisine made one I knew I had to try it. Kettle Cuisine was awesome enough to send a box my way. I am happy to say I was not disappointed. This is a soup that requires some serious cornbread on the side. You will want to soak up every drop of the luscious broth. It is full flavored with the taste of sweet corn and has a little bit of kick from cayenne pepper. 

Verdict? YUMMY

Main Line Baking Co Snickerdoodle Cupcakes

Well hello there new friend. 

I was on the hunt today for a pre-made gluten free dessert that I could bring to Thanksgiving. I checked out all of Whole Foods offerings and settled on a pecan pie. While rounding the corner I noticed packs of cupcakes and muffins from a vendor I've never heard of before. I stopped to look. 

Chai Tea Cupcakes?

SNICKERDOODLE CUPCAKES?

Who says all desserts have to end up at Thanksgiving dinner, amiright?

I picked these bad boys up and brought them home. I tore open the package and pulled out one cupcake. The cupcake felt light and the cake was very moist - no dry, heavy, crumbly crumb here! The flavor is ridiculous. It is so cinnamon-y and tastes just like a snickerdoodle! The icing was a little sweet for me but the cake more than made up for it. The cake was the right balance and not too sweet. 

I'm now going to have to pick up some Chai Tea cupcakes and maybe trek out to the bakery itself to pick up the Margarita flavor (!!!!)

These are not available at all Whole Foods locations. However you can visit their website and order directly. 

Verdict? YUMMY!

Kettle Cuisine Tomato Vegetable Soup

As I have mentioned before, I am extremely obsessed with Kettle Cuisine soups. I was having a hard time finding this one and Kettle Cuisine SENT IT TO ME! I was so ridiculously excited. Sure, I love getting free stuff but its even better when its this soup!

I love tomato soup. Always have. There is something so comforting about it. I think that almost everyone can recall warm childhood memories of having tomato soup and a grilled cheese sandwich on a cold winter day. Tomato soup doesn't just warm your belly, it warms your soul.

I usually like smooth and creamy tomato soups. If a tomato soup is going to have chunky tomatoes it better deliver big time. This soup from Kettle Cuisine has big chunks of tomatoes, squash, celery, carrots and green beans. The vegetables taste garden fresh and the soup is amazingly delicious. I also thought it would be amazing tossed with pasta and would be a nice pasta primavera.

OH! I almost forgot there is also little tiny tube gluten free pasta in the soup. At first I wasn't sure what it was and when I realized it was pasta I was even more thrilled with this soup.

I seriously do not understand how this soup tastes so fresh. Kettle Cuisine peeps are geniuses because whatever they are doing is working 100%.

Verdict? YUMMY

FDA's New Dietary Ingredient Guidance

If you are anything like me, you take a boat load of supplements. Most celiacs have to even if they really, really, really hate swallowing pills. Most (if not all) of us have damaged intestinal tracts which means that our bodies don't always absorb all the nutrients from the foods we eat leaving us vulnerable to malnutrition. Which makes supplements mandatory to our daily regimes.

Like a lot of celiacs I also have other medical issues that I choose to treat holistically - I'm just am not a big fan of big pharma. So needless to say I take A LOT of supplements which is why this new I'm very concerned about the FDA's New Dietary Ingredient Guidance.

Basically what this thing say is that all supplements will require pre-approval of any supplement that contains a new ingredient added after 1994.  Yes, you read that right - if any supplement you take changed its formulation in the past 17 years it will be subject to this new hoop jumping  - even if the product has been proven to be 100% safe.

The NDI will:

-Require notification and de-facto pre-approval for all products with even a minor ingredient change
-Reduces or eliminates product choices and suspends research and new product development
-Ignores the proven safety record of dietary supplements and vitamins
-Increases prices due to unnecessary testing and paperwork

Other possible implications:
-Some products becoming available through prescription only at a much higher cost
-Questions the additions of non-active ingredients in products that have no other product changes
-The closing of your favorite health food stores and nutri-product manufacturing companies triggering the loss of thousands of health product industry jobs.

So what can you do?

- Call the Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121 and tell your Senators and Representatives that you oppose the FDA's New Dietary Ingredient Guidelines
- Ask for Congressional Oversight on the FDA's attempt to circumvent the law
-Send an action alert to your Congressman www.anh-us.org