Love with Food Holiday Boxes

Love with Food is partnering with MasterChef winner Christine Ha to bring you a healthy, delicious box of hand picked snacks delivered right to your door, all while fighting childhood hunger. The gluten free version of these boxes are packed with healthy gluten free goodies. You can buy the box as a 1 time order or get a subscription that is delivered monthly. They would make a great Christmas gift for your gluten free loved ones, or a little something healthy for yourself after all the indulgence of the holidays! For each gluten free December box purchased, 2 meals will be donated to a child in need (through a food bank).

I recieved a box to sample and share on this blog. It contained a surprising amount of goodies and lots of them I have never tried before or even seen in stores. The box was so packed full it could barely close. I love trying new things so I was really excited to dive in and start taste testing. Some things I really enjoyed, while others were interesting but not something I'd buy in the future. Either way, it was so fun to open it up and see what kinds of goodies I had. There were 13 items total including savoury snacks, energy bars, fruit snacks and granola.

It really would make a great gift for the person in your life who likes to try new things. It's so fun to get a surprise box of snacks delivered right to your house! You can choose a box full of gluten free treats or there's also a tasting box and a deluxe box if you don't need it to be gluten free. 

The deluxe and gluten free boxes can be shipped worldwide for a fee of $3.99 per month. Shipping is free for boxes delivered in the US. If you would like to purchase a box or a subscription go to lovewithfood.com 

Qualifirst Review: Chestnut Purée, Maple Sugar

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Qualifirst Foods

Part 3, and final, part of my Qualifirst review is for their Chestnut Purée from France and Crystallized Maple Syrup from Quebec. I had never worked with either of these ingredients, but I love trying new foods and recipes so I was excited to test them out!

Qualifirst Maple Sugar and Chestnut Purée 

Maple Sugar 

Of course I had to taste the little maple nuggets right away. I love maple syrup, and these tasted just like that, only in solid form. I tried them with walnuts on my morning oatmeal (delish!) but I wasn't exactly sure how to incorporate them into a recipe. I thought they would be great sprinkled on my GF shortbread cookies just before baking or used in a crumble for a coffee cake. In the end I decided to use them in my Maple Chestnut Cheesecake Mousse. They added a delicious sweet crunch and balanced out the earthiness of the chestnut purée. 

Maple sugar and walnuts on oatmeal 

Maple Chestnut Cheesecake Mousse

Chestnut Purée 

This is something I really haven't worked with or even tried before. I expected the purée to be kind of pumpkin like in consistency but it was way more dense. Almost the texture of smooth mashed potatoes that have been sitting in the fridge over night. The flavour is nutty and earthy, but not too intense. I found that it had to be whisked pretty vigorously to break it up and mix it with other ingredients. I used it to make a Maple Chestnut Cheesecake Mousse and it was amazing. The textures and flavours of chestnut were perfectly balanced by the creamy cream cheese, sweet maple and airy whipped cream. I only used 2/3 cup of the purée for a mousse that fed 6 people, so I need to think of some more ways to use it up! Pinterest, here I come. 

For the rest of my Qualifirst Review check out Part 1 and Part 2.

Disclaimer: Samples were provided to me free of charge. All opinions are my own. 

Qualifirst Review: Sun-dried Blueberries, Sun-dried Cranberries,Lavender Honey

Qualifirst Products 

The second part of my Qualifirst review includes 2 more sun-dried fruits and a beautiful French lavender blossom honey. All of these ingredients are amazing on their own, so I didn't do anything too complex with them. I simply paired them with foods I thought would compliment their flavours.

Sun-dried Blueberries and Cranberries

Lavender Blossom Honey

Lavender Blossom Honey

I am not a honey connoisseur in any way. I usually buy the cheapest stuff and spread it on toast or use it to sweeten tea. I was amazed at how different this lavender honey tasted compared to my regular store brand. There is a distinct, yet delicate, floral after-note that imparts a kind of tea-party-in-the-garden sentiment. I felt that these flavours would be lost in any kind of baking, so I simply used it as a topping for my cornbread muffins. It would also be amazing on scones or any other tea party appropriate treat. I find myself going back over and over again for just one more taste of that charming flowery nectar.

Lavender Honey on GF Cornbread Muffins 

Sun-dried Blueberries

There is an amazing amount of flavour packed into these tiny nuggets. They are deeply sweet and bursting with blueberry flavour. I added them to a maple walnut granola and they provided the perfect compliment; sweet and chewy, nutty and crunchy. Of course they are also delicious eaten straight up. My 2 year old discovered them and now calls them bucket raisins. He is no longer interested in regular raisins. Haha!

Maple Walnut Granola with Sun-dried Blueberries 

Sun-dried Cranberries

These are not your every day craisins. They are whole and plump and tart. I baked them into my lemon poppyseed muffins, in place of craisins. It's almost tastes like I added sweet fresh cranberries, not dried. The burst of fruity flavour is a welcome addition to my afternoon coffee treat! 

Lemon Poppyseed Muffins with Sun-dried Cranberries 

Disclaimer: I was provided these samples free of charge. All opinions are my own. 

Qualifirst Review: Cocoa Powder, Cocoa Nibs, Dried Cherries, HazlenutPaste

I'm really excited to be doing a review for the Canadian gourmet food company, Qualifirst! They provide ingredients to many professional chefs and carry a great selection of gourmet ingredients from around the world. Check out the Qualifirst website for more info.

I recieved sun-dried cherries, sun-dried blueberries, sun-dried cranberries, hazlenut paste, organic cocoa nibs, crystallized maple syrup, extra bold amber cocoa powder, chestnut purée and lavender blossom honey. Sounds amazing right? But way too much to handle in one post, so I will split it up into a few different posts. Many of these ingredients are new to my kitchen so it has been a bit of a learning opportunity for me too! I'm really excited to taste the lavender honey and maybe try my hand at a chestnut pavlova cake! 

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins with Cocoa Powder and Hazlenut Paste

I started by testing out the cocoa powder and hazlenut paste. I decided to use them both in my GF banana chocolate chip muffins. I added 3 Tbsp cocoa powder and 2 1/2 Tbsp hazlenut paste, hoping to create a kind of Nutella flavour. It turned out amazing! I've been having one with warm milk for a bedtime snack every night since I made them :D

Hazlenut Paste

I have never had the opportunity to use this Italian ingredient, and after doing a quick taste test, I considered eating the jar by the spoonful. It tastes just like the inside of those hedgehog chocolates, except not really sweet. Really, really good. I knew it would pair great with a chocolate flavour... and would probably be delicious spread over some GF toast. I think it would also make an amazing in a GF chocolate hazlenut biscotti. That is definitely on my to do list now. It's very rich and smooth, so a little goes a long way. I would love to get my hands on more of this stuff! 

Extra Bold Amber Cocoa Powder

As the name implies, it is a very rich, flavourful cocoa powder. The colour is a deep reddish-brown and the flavour is smooth, dark and bitter. A little went a long way in my banana chocolate chip muffins, and the dark colour and taste was amazing in Dark Chocolate Cherry Energy Bites. Definitely a high quality cocoa powder. 

I created a new recipe to incorporate the cocoa powder, cocoa nibs, and sun-dried cherries. I've made energy bites before, but for some reason these Dark Chocolate Cherry Energy Bites were disappearing in a fraction of the time. I used mini chocolate chips along with the cocoa nibs to balance out some of the bitterness. I have enough leftover ingredients to make this recipe again, and I will! 

Dark Chocolate Cherry Energy Bites

Sun-Dried Cherries

I've had dried cherries in the past, but to my knowledge, never sun-dried cherries. They are so much better! I was expecting them to be sour and firm, but they were flavourful, soft and sweet. Another ingredient that I could eat as is. They would be great in trail mix, granola, or baked into scones or muffins. I used them in my Dark Chocolate Cherry Energy Bites. 

Organic Coco Nibs

Again, I've never worked with this ingredient in baking. I've tasted cocoa nibs in store bought products, but never purchased them on their own. I usually see them in granola bars or chocolate, so I tried to use them in a similar way (in the Dark Chocolate Cherry Energy Bites). I only used a tablespoon because the flavour is intense and they are very crunchy. A little goes a long way, a truth I am repeatedly discovering in all of the gourmet Qualifirst ingredients. 

Cocoa nibs are made from cocoa beans that have been dried and roasted. They contain magnesium, fibre, iron and antioxidants - basically all the health benefits that are attributed to dark chocolate, and more. And as an added bonus, these ones are also organic!

I'm loving everything I've tried so far! My Qualifirst review will continue in another post :)

Disclaimer: The products were sent to me free of charge. All opinions are my own. 

Inside Out Bakery in Saskatoon

I'm excited to do my first post on a local business! Lucille from Inside Out Bakery here in Saskatoon contacted me and told me about some of the things she has going on with her bakery. I had never heard of it, so was glad she reached out. I got to drop by the bakery on Avenue C and taste some of the goodies!

Inside Out Bakery is a facility free from gluten, dairy, peanuts, tree nuts, refined sugars, yeast, xanthan gum and MSG. They also carry a range of products that are--or can be altered to be--paleo, vegan or diabetic friendly. Many ingredients used are organic, so there's an option for everyone! 

In the bakery on Ave C

They use whole foods and healthy ingredients, swapping white sugar for date paste and other natural sweeteners. Lucille told me they like to use a lot of coconut flour and bean flour for fiber and nutrition. Instead of white rice flour they use brown, and when starches are necessary, arrowroot and tapioca are used instead of more refined corn or potato starch. They even make their own chick pea paste from scratch by roasting and grinding the peas right on site.

in the bakery on Ave C

Products are baked fresh to order or can be bought off the shelf at the bakery or at Herb N Health on Broadway and 9th. They have an amazing selection of products including cookies, cakes, cinnamon buns, breads, muffins, and even soups. Orders can be picked up at various locations around the city (see their website for more details) and they will also deliver for a fee. Lucille told me she is working on getting her products in another location downtown as well. 

Muffins (banana chocolate chip, pumpkin, carrot cake), cinnamon buns, chocolate chip shortbread, lemon shortbread, lemon and chocolate cupcakes and biscuits

pumpkin, banana and carrot cake muffins

I had the chance to taste a few of their products and was impressed. My husband said their carrot cake is comperable to any carrot cake he's had and I have to agree. All mine needed was a little cream cheese icing! (I believe they offer their carrot cake with a coconut cream frosting). My favourite would have to be the cinnamon buns. They are chewy and goey and sweet, even though they're made with date paste and whole grain flours! I froze a few and am eating the last one right now. Microwaved from frozen, these cinnamon buns are just as good as they were fresh. Mmmm... I also really enjoyed the chocolate icing that was on the chocolate cupcake. The cupcake was good, but the icing was to die for: rich, dark, and delicious! The biscuits were soft and mild in flavour but were yummy with butter and jam and are designed to go alongside a soup or stew.

goey cinnamon buns

They really infuse a lot of flavour into their baking. There are lot of spices (cinnamon, ginger, etc.) in their muffins and the flavour comes through very strong. I really like spices so this was a plus for me. The lemon flavour in the lemon shortbread and cupcakes was strong too. They use the whole lemon, including the zest, so the flavour is very bright, tart, and citrusy. To see all the products they offer, check out their website.

mini cupcakes 

Because they use fiber rich, nutrient packed whole grains and foods, their products tend to be more dense than their wheat flour counterparts, but I think (and my gluten-eating husband agrees) the texture is still great and the flavour is definitely there. You can really taste the coconut flour flavour in the muffins. 

some natural products they have for sale at the bakery

Support a local business! You can order a cake for a birthday party, cinnamon buns and muffins for a morning business meeting, go sit down in their Broadway location for soup and dessert, or Ave C bakery for a cold drink and warm scone. I think it would be great for restaurants, coffee shops or hotels to have some treats from Inside out Bakery on hand for guests with dietary restrictions. Most products can be kept frozen and microwave beautifully. Lucille also mentioned they are hoping to open up a location in Lloydminster in the near future!

a nice place to sit and taste some goodies or just wait for your order to be ready

Have you tried anything from the Inside Out Bakery? What did you think?

Enjoy Life Pizza Crust Mix Review

My family really enjoyed this pizza crust. I felt like I could have cooked it a few minutes longer before adding the toppings, but it was still fine. My husband actually said that this was the best gluten free pizza he's tasted! I think I still like my pizza crust recipe a little better, but this one was a close second, and wayyyy easier to make!

The mix is enough to make 2 pizzas but I cut it in half to make one. I think it was about 1 2/3 cup of the mix. I spread my mix pretty thin so the pizza crust was dense and a little chewy in the middle with crispy edges. We added peppers, onions, italian sausage and mozzarella and served with a caesar salad. Yum!

The cost for the mix is $8.49. A little bit expensive, but like their other mixes, this mix contains lots of whole grain and high fiber ingredients, so you get what you pay for. This was probably our favourite mix out of the bunch!

Taste                         5 stars

Texture                      4 stars

Quality Ingredients     4.5 stars

Cost                         3 stars

Overall Rating            4 stars

dough for 1 pizza 

pressed thinly

after baking 9 mins 

toppings on and back in the oven for 10 mins or so

Enjoy Life All Purpose Flour Review

I used this flour in my recipe for chocolate zucchini muffins and they turned out great! I've made these muffins many times using my own flour blend, and while they were a little different in texture this time, they were still really good.

My favourite part of this flour is the multiple healthy grains used. They make the mix higher in fiber and nutrients than a lot of gluten free flour blends you will find. The flour blend costs $8.49 per box, which seems a bit more expensive than most gluten free flours on the market. 

Texture                       4.5 stars

Taste                          4.5 stars

Quality Ingredients      5 stars

Cost                           2.5 stars

Overall Rating             4  stars

Enjoy Life Pancake and Waffle Mix Review

I tried this mix as pancakes first and found them a little too thin and the batter too runny. On my second attempt with pancakes I added a little less water than was recommended and they turned out much better. They were great with blueberries mixed in and topped with greek yogurt and maple syrup. I found the texture to be a little more moist in the centre than I would have liked, but overall the taste was good and they were super easy to make. 

Although the mix worked great as pancakes, it didn't work at all as waffles for me. They just fell apart; I couldn't get them to come out of my waffle iron without crumbling, no matter how much I oiled it. Sad day. 

The instructions for the box say to use 2 cups of mix at a time, but I just did 1 or 1/2 cup at a time and adjusted all the other ingredients accordingly. I've made 3 meals out of the mix and still have some left. This mix costs $8.49, which is an okay price for how much you get.

I also love that they've included ancient grains for more fiber and protein, making these pancakes much healthier than most that come from a mix, gluten free or not. 

Texture                       2 stars

Taste                          4 stars

Quality Ingredients      5 stars

Cost                           4 stars

Overall rating              3.75 stars 

Enjoy Life Brownies Mix Review

I decided to share this mix with my dad (who is also Celiac), mom and sister. It was great how quick and easy it was to go from box to oven. The only ingredients you need to add are water and oil. We threw a quick batch in the oven and started a movie. Halfway through we stopped for a warm brownie... Mmm. It was pretty great to have a freshly baked brownie with such little effort. 

Everyone enjoyed the brownies (including the gluten eaters). The texture was a little chewy and fudgey with crispy edges. It was sweet and chocolatey, thanks to the tiny chocolate chips that were scattered throughout the batter. You could top the brownie with icing or ganache, but it's great on its own too. We had it with ice cream for an especially decadent dessert. 

Even though this is a dessert, it contains fiber, ancient grains and added protein, which is a nice touch. It's not common to see sprouted brown rice protein and algal protein in a boxed mix. One box makes an 8x8 pan of brownies.  At $8.49 per box it's a little more than I would want to pay on a regular basis, but would be a nice treat, especially for someone who doesn't do much baking. 

Overall, it's a pretty yummy mix! 

Cost                         3 stars 

Quality Ingredients    5 stars

Texture                      4 stars

Taste                        5 stars 

Overall Rating:   4.25 stars