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 

Enjoy Life Foods Crunchy Cookies New Look!

Enjoy Life's crunchy cookies have a new look. The recipe hasn't changed, but the boxes have and I have been asked to help spread the word! (for my original crunchy cookies review click here)

I've reviewed many products from Enjoy Life and I always love the care that goes into their packaging. These cookies came arranged in an adorable box with confetti; even the paper was tied up with a ribbon. How cute is that. 

Here is a closer look at the new and improved boxes for the cookies:

Brown Sugar Shortbread and Chocolate Chip

Vanilla Honey Graham and Double Chocolate

They also sent me the small cookie packages. These come 2 to a package and are great for on the go. I've seen them sold at the bulk barn for 99 cents.

I used the Vanilla Honey Graham to make some indoor s'mores! A little package like this would be great to take camping if you were the only one needing gluten free crackers for s'mores.

I put down 1 cookie, some chocolate and a marshmallow. Then I put it on the top rack of the oven and turned on the broiler for a minute or two. Then squish it with the second cookie. Easy as that!

For other recipes using these cookies and other Enjoy Life Products, visit their website!

Enjoy Life Foods New and Improved Chewy Bars Review

ELF new and improved chewy bars

I have been given the chance to do a review on the new and improved chewy bars from Enjoy Life Foods! To see my review of the original chewy bars, click here. I believe they have greatly improved the product in all areas including appearance, texture, taste and ingredients.

The first thing I noticed was the new packaging. The box and bars are a light beige colour rather than the original white, which gives the product a more "natural" feel. The new bars have a bit more colour on them too. In my opinion, the new packaging is more attractive (and appetising) than the original. What do you think?

new and improved bars

 

old chewy bars

 

The biggest improvement for me is the texture. The old bars had hard crunchy bits in them that hurt my teeth, but that has been removed in the new product. The new bars also have a lighter, more cookie like texture. This is probably the greatest improvement because I found the old bars to be a little bit too chewy and dense for my liking. I think the improved texture has a lot to do with the improved taste, because it is easier to taste the bar when it isn't sticking to the inside of your mouth.

Mixed berry (formerly very berry) was my least favourite in the old bars, but I found I could taste the berry pieces better in the new bars and actually really enjoyed this flavour. The sunbutter crunch and caramel apple were mainly improved through texture. I didn't notice too much of a difference in the cocoa loco flavour, but it was my favourite to begin with so I'm happy with that.

The box says that the bars now feature ancient grains. I'm not sure what they have added (or if they've just increased the amounts) but some of the grains on the ingredient list include: quinoa flakes, puffed amaranth, buckwheat flour and millet flour.

Overall I am very happy with the changes Enjoy Life Foods has made to their chewy bars.



Thanks Enjoy Life Foods for providing these free samples for me to review. All opinions are my own

Enjoy Life Soft Baked Bars Review

Gluten Free ELF Soft Baked Bars

I recently received the new soft baked bars from Enjoy Life Foods to review. They sent me one box of every flavour, including: cinnamon bun, chocolate sunbutter, cherry cobbler and s'mores.
The first thing I noticed was the great look of the boxes. They are bright and colourful, and would definitely make the product stand out on the shelf.

Overall I really enjoyed these bars. They were chewy, moist and flavourful. The price per box on the Enjoy Life Website is $5.29, making them one of their most expensive snack products. I would buy these bars again, but I would probably wait for a sale (they sell them at Superstore) because over a dollar per bar seems a little steep.

Cinnamon Bun

If I had to name this bar I would call it apple cinnamon. This name does not sound as appetising as cinnamon bun, but I think it better describes the flavours. There are chunks of dried apple, cinnamon, and orange peel inside the bar. Even though the product didn't taste the way I had expected, I really enjoyed the flavours and soft chewy texture. My gluten-eating husband commented that these bars don't have that weird grainy/powdery texture that some gluten free foods have. The cinnamon bun was my second favourite out of the 4 flavours I reviewed.
Each bar contains 1 gram of fibre, 11g of sugar and 130 calories. In other words, they make a delicious snack but do not qualify as a health bar.

Health       3 stars
Cost          3 stars
Taste         4.5 stars
Texture     4.5 stars

Overall Rating: 3.75 stars


Chocolate Sunbutter

This flavour was by far my favourite. It tasted so much like an Eatmore chocolate bar. The texture was soft and fudgey with little chocolate chips and chunks of sunflower seeds inside. I think I would actually make a trip to the store to just to buy these.
Each bar contains 140 calories, 1 gram of fibre and 9 grams of sugar.

Health 3 stars
Cost 3 stars
Taste 5 stars
Texture 5 stars

Overall Rating: 4 stars

Cherry Cobbler

These bars had a really soft and moist texture. The flavour was quite sour (probably because it contains dried tart cherries). Based on taste alone, I would probably call these bars berry spice or apple berry. The bars contained chunks of dried apples, small pieces of dried tart cherry, cinnamon and cloves. This flavour was alright, but probably my least favourite.
Each bar contains 140 calories, 1 gram of fibre and 12 grams of sugar.

Health       3 stars
Cost          3 stars
Taste         4 stars
Texture     5 stars

Overall Rating: 3.75 stars

S'mores

The texture in this bar was a little different than the rest. It was less soft and chewy and more like a dense rice crispie square (not necessarily in a bad way). The bars contain marshmallow, lots of chocolate and even GF graham cookie pieces. I whole-heartedly agree on the naming of this flavour, unlike some of the other ones. It was my third favourite of the 4.
Each bar contains 140 calories, 1 gram of fibre and 10 grams of sugar.

Health      3 stars
Cost         3 stars
Taste        4.5 stars
Texture    4.5 stars

Overall Rating: 3.75 stars

Thanks Enjoy Life Foods for providing these free samples for me to review. All opinions are my own

Enjoy Life Foods Plentils Review

A couple weeks ago I was asked to review the new Plentils (crunchy lentil chips) from Enjoy Life Foods. They sounded really interesting and I was excited to try them. After I agreed to review them I kind of forgot about them. Then one evening, my husband and I were sitting in the living room watching TV and the doorbell rang. My husband answered the door and brought back a package, declaring that he had been brought a gift. He had no idea what it was yet, but had been complaining all night that he needed some snacks (he is a sucker for crackers and chips). Before I could take the box away from him, he had it open and was starting to snoop. All of the sudden his face lit up and he shouted "Snaaaaaacks! From Santaaaa! I prayed to Santa and he sent me snaaaaaacks!". He started running around the house celebrating and inspecting his 4 flavours of snacks including Light Sea Salt, Dill and Sour Cream, Garlic and Parmesan, and Margherita Pizza. Of course they were my snacks, but he gave me no choice but to share. It was all I could do to keep him from eating every bag right then and there. We opened the garlic and Parmesan flavour that night and tried the next 3 flavours over the next 3 nights.


The texture wasn't what I expected. They were more puffed up than chips and felt very light and airy. I liked that they weren't too crunchy. The closest texture comparison I can make is to those new pop chips. The flavours were fairly mild but good. My favourite was the margherita pizza and my husband liked all of them about the same (so long as they're crunchy and salty). I also appreciated that they contained less fat and more protein than potato chips.


This product is a great alternative to the regular snack chips and crackers. At just under $4 a bag they cost more than potato/corn chips, but are not outrageously expensive. They would make a good snack for individuals with multiple allergies.

Cost        3 stars

Taste      4  stars

Health    4  stars
Texture  4   stars

Overall Rating: 3.75 Stars

Thanks Enjoy Life Foods for providing these free samples for me to review. All opinions are my own

Cranberry Apple Coffee Cake

Gluten Free Cranberry Apple Coffee Cake

It is so satisfying to make a successful gluten free cake. Anyone who's experimented with GF baking knows that. I can't even count how many times I've optimistically slid a seemingly perfect GF cake into the oven, only to pull out a rubbery, half burnt/half raw cake with a 6 inch crater in the centre 45 minutes later. How Annoying! Nowadays, there's all kinds of GF cake mixes on the market, and if you're willing to pay $6 for a mix, you can probably expect decent results (although I haven't tried most of those mixes, I'm assuming they don't suck... otherwise they wouldn't sell, right?). For those of you who'd rather not buy the processed, and rather expensive, mixes, try this recipe. Yes, it's coffee cake... but it's cake and it's gluten free, so no complaining!

This version is actually pretty healthy with apples and cranberry sauce. I sometimes even eat it for breakfast (my husband is horrified... cake for breakfast!). You could easily add extra sugar, chocolate chips, cocoa powder, or icing to make it more of a traditional cake. Or instead of apples and cranberry sauce, add your favourite fruit (blueberries, raspberries, pear slices, etc). Feel free to try another one of my versions: Ginger Peach Coffee Cake.

Make sure to bake this cake until the centre feels firm. The edges will be dark, but not burnt. Otherwise your cake will have a rubbery 6 inch crater in the middle...

(makes 9x9 baking dish)
Ingredients

1 1/3 cup Light Flour Blend (see flour blends)
3/4 cup Sugar (or less if you prefer)
2 Tbsp Baking Powder
1/4 tsp Salt
1/4 cup Oil
2 Eggs
1/2 cup Milk
1 tsp Vanilla (optional)
3/4 tsp Cinnamon
2  Peeled and Sliced Apples (med sized)
1/2 cup Cranberry Sauce (I make homemade sauce when cranberries are cheap and freeze it... it's really easy)
2 Tbsp Brown Sugar
1/2 tsp Cinnamon

Directions

Stir together all dry ingredients.
Beat eggs with milk and add, along with the rest of the wet ingredients, to the dry ingredients.
Pour into greased 9x9 baking dish.
Press slices of apples into batter (about 1/2 inch apart).
Spread cranberry sauce over the top (Doesn't need to cover the entire cake. It will sink in somewhat)
Sprinkle brown sugar and cinnamon on top.
Bake at 350 F for 45-50 mins (until very brown but not burning). The centre should be firm to the touch.
Let cool and cut into 9 square pieces.

Press apple slices into batter

Spread cranberry sauce over the top (you don't need quite this much... I just used all of my leftovers)

Bake at 350 for 45-50 minutes

Serve with coffee for breakfast, dessert, or an afternoon snack!

Granola Bars

Gluten Free Granola Bars

I love granola bars, but not many are gluten free, and the ones that are cost way too much! I love the idea of making your own. You can customise the add ins to suit your tastes or allergies. It's also much easier to avoid the added preservatives that are in most store bought granola bars. As always, make sure your oats are wheat free!

This recipe is adapted from the Looneyspoons cookbook by Janet and Greta Podleski.

makes 15-20 bars
Ingredients

2 1/2 cups GF Quick Cooking Oats
1/2 cup Coconut Flakes (sweetened or unsweetened)
1/2 cup Chopped Nuts or Seeds (Almonds, Pecans, Cashews, Pumpkin Seeds, Sunflower Seeds, etc)
1/2 cup Dried Fruit (Craisins, Apricots, Raisins, Blueberries, etc)
1/3 cup Oat Flour (grind GF oats in coffee grinder)
1/4 cup Ground Flax Seed
1 tsp Cinnamon or Pumpkin Pie Spice
1/2 tsp Salt
3/4 cup Pumpkin Puree (canned or home made) (or 3/4 cup mashed bananas)
1/2 cup Liquid Honey
1/4 cup Canola Oil, Melted Butter/Margarine, or Melted Coconut Oil
1 tsp Vanilla Extract


Directions

Stir together dry ingredients.
In a smaller bowl, mix together pumpkin puree (or banana), honey, oil and vanilla.
Add wet ingredients to dry and mix well.
Line 9x13 baking dish (or baking pan) with parchment paper and pour in mixture. Press evenly into pan.
Bake at 350 for about 25 mins (until top begins to brown).
Let cool in pan, then transfer to cutting board and cut into granola bar shapes.
Wrap individually in plastic wrap and freeze.

Note: For nut free (and school friendly) granola bars, use sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds only. For the granola bars pictured, I used 1 bag of Enjoy Life Not Nuts seed and fruit mix in place of the nuts and dried fruit.

Dry ingredients

Granola Bar Mixture

Press mixture into baking pan

Bake until golden brown 

Let cool and cut into granola bar shapes

Mmmm...

Great for snacks or lunch on the go!

Breadsticks



Gluten Free Breadsticks

My mom used to make me these breadsticks for school lunches. I would take a bag of breadsticks with a little container of tomato sauce and maybe a pepperoni stick or some cheese slices and fruit. They are nice and easy to transport and they also freeze well. My gluten-eating husband has been requesting breadsticks a lot lately and I was starting to get a little jealous, so I decided to make some of my own. I'm planning to whip up a big batch for the upcoming Superbowl!

Go Pats!

I use my white buns recipe for these breadsticks. I usually make the whole recipe so I have enough to make some buns too. Why not make the most of the mess! It's a little tricky to make 1/3 of the recipe anyway. I did my best to give you the alternate measurements.

I use about a third of the dough for an 8x8 pan or roughly 2/3 of the dough for a 9x13 pan. If you want to make all breadsticks, use an 8x8 pan and a 9x13 pan. Otherwise, just make buns out of what's left over using the directions from this recipe.


(for 1/3 of this recipe use the measurements in the square brackets)

Ingredients

1/2 cup warm water                                       [2 Tbsp + 2 tsp]
2 tsp sugar                                                     [just under 1 tsp]
4 tsp dry yeast granules                                  [1 1/3 tsp]

2 cups white rice flour                                    [2/3 cup]
2 cups tapioca flour                                        [2/3 cup]
1/4 cup sugar                                                 [1 Tbsp + 1 tsp]
4 tsp guar gum (replaces the gluten)                [1 1/3 tsp]
1 1/2 tsp salt                                                  [1/2 tsp]

1 -1 1/4 cups milk (usually 1 cup is enough)    [1/3 cup]
4 tablespoons oil                                            [1 Tbps + 1 tsp]
1 teaspoon vinegar                                         [ 1/3 tsp - just estimate]
3 eggs                                                            [1 egg]
1/4 cup ground flax (optional)                         [1 Tbsp]


 Directions

Combine warm water, sugar, and yeast in a small bowl and let it proof.
Combine rice flour, tapioca flour, sugar, guar gum, and salt together in largest mixing bowl.
Combine milk, oil, vinegar, and eggs in a smaller bowl.
Add wet mixture, flax, and yeast mixture to the dry ingredients and mix on high for 4 minutes.Spread into greased 8x8 pan and let rise 20 minutes.
Brush italian or greek dressing on the breadsticks
Bake at 350 for 15- 20 minutes or until edges begin to brown.

Let cool and slice into sticks. Serve with tomato sauce.

 

spread dough in greases pan and let rise

brush with italian dressing



bake and let cool



serve with tomato sauce

Caramel Corn

caramel corn (gluten free)

As promised, here is my caramel corn recipe. It's nothing particularly special since caramel corn is naturally gluten free, but it's one of my favourites so I'm going to share it anyway. I tend to associate caramel corn with Christmas time, but it's a great treat any time of year. This Christmas I tied little bags of caramel corn to some homemade cards I gave to friends and family. Yes, I have too much time on my hands:) I probably ate half the caramel corn while making the cards... oops.

This recipe takes time, but it's really easy to make and fairly inexpensive too. Just be careful with the hot caramel, it burns like a mother. You can fancy up the corn by mixing in some peanuts or other nuts. Just add them to the corn when you pour in the caramel.

(makes about 24 cups of caramel corn)
Ingredients

24 cups popped corn (6 quarts)
1 cup Margarine (or butter)
2 cups Brown Sugar
1/2 cup Corn Syrup
1/2 tsp Salt
1 tsp Vanilla
1/2 tsp Baking Soda

1-1 1/2 cups Nuts - optional

Directions

Pop corn and place in two large shallow pans (I use the lid and the base of a roaster). Remove any unpopped kernels.

pop corn

place in two pans

Mix margarine, sugar, salt and corn syrup in large pot.
Stir mixture occasionally until it boils.
Boil without stirring for 5 minutes.
Remove from heat and add baking soda and vanilla.
Stir until mixture is fluffy.
Pour caramel over 2 pans of popped corn (add nuts here if desired) and stir until evenly mixed.
Bake at 250 for 1 hour. Stirring every 15 minutes until caramel has evenly coated the corn and starts to harden a bit.
Let cool, stirring occasionally so the corn stays separate.
Enjoy!

mix in large sauce pan

boil for 5 mins without stirring

add baking soda and vanilla and stir until fluffy

pour caramel over corn

stir caramel in to corn

bake at 250 for 1 hr, stirring every 15 mins

store in large airtight bucket or in bags

This stuff should keep for at least a month.