Enjoy Life Foods: Crunchy Cookies

August 23, 2011 By 2 Comments

Enjoy Life Foods is still one of my most favorite brands. Their products are so good, you would never know you were eating something completely gluten and allergen free. I also love that they keep coming out with new items to try. I once thought my days of enjoying delicious treats was over… now it’s hard to decide between all the yummy choices that Enjoy Life Foods offers.

I was overjoyed when Enjoy Life Foods contacted me again to try out some more of their brand new products… crunchy cookies! I had seen them talking about their new cookies on their Facebook page and seen them on their website, but they hadn’t shown up in my local nutrition store yet. They sent me all four of the fantastic new flavors: sugar crisp, vanilla honey graham, chocolate chip, and double chocolate!

Cookies

Before trying them for the first time, I examined the ingredients label carefully (as I always do now) and found a few ingredients and flavorings that I was unsure about because I hadn’t tried them before. One flavoring I was initially concerned about was the vanilla since it’s difficult to find it without added corn syrup. However, I found a very helpful ingredients page on the Enjoy Life Foods website that confirmed that their vanilla and other flavorings were corn free and safe for me.

As you can imagine, I had a rather difficult time picking which box to open first. I finally landed on the sugar crisp first, mostly because many of the products I usually choose are chocolate-y and I wanted something different. I brought them to game night at my parents’ house to test them out on my family. We all thought they were great! They have the perfect sugary-sweet taste without being too much.

Sugar crisp cookies

Next I tried the chocolate chip. Who doesn’t love a chocolate chip cookie? These did not disappoint! I could have eaten the entire box if I wanted to.

Chocolate chip cookies

Then I went for the vanilla honey graham. What can I say? Also great! They really reminded me of graham crackers. As kids we would use leftover frosting between two graham crackers to make frosting sandwiches. I decided I’d try the same thing here. It was so yummy, I couldn’t resist making myself a second one. You have to try these this way.

Vanilla honey grahamFrosting sandwich

Last, but certainly not least, I dove into the double chocolate. When the entire cookie is chocolate with more chocolate in inside, it’s hard not to love it. I really expected these to be my favorite, but I have to say I’m not sure I can choose a favorite. They were all so good!

Double chocolate cookiesMe eating cookies

These cookies are so similar to cookies I would have eaten before food allergies. I really like the soft baked cookies that Enjoy Life Foods makes, but honestly these even more yummy. Just writing this post makes me think I should go give some of these cookies another taste. I will definitely buy these again in the future. Many thanks to Enjoy Life Foods for all of their fabulous products for people with food allergies… especially the great, new crunchy cookies!!

Filed Under: Allergies, Food Reviews Tagged With: , , , ,

Millet

July 8, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Bulk milletMillet is another one of my new allergy friendly snacks. I never would have thought to try it if a friend hadn’t recommended it to me. According to my limited (Wikipedia) research, millet has very similar nutritional value to wheat and is a much more common food in other parts of the world. Since it’s gluten free it’s a regular ingredient in many of new my new snack foods, but I like to eat it plain as well.

I buy millet at my favorite health food store, Nutrition S’Mart. It comes packaged or we like to buy it in bulk since it’s much cheaper that way.

Preparation is very similar to the way you would make oatmeal. The millet first has to be rinsed and then boiled in water. I measure out one cup of water and 1/3 cup of dry millet. The millet is brought to a boil and then cooked at a lower temperature until all the water has been absorbed.

Rinsed millet

I’ve found that the best way to eat it is with lots of brown sugar sprinkled on top. It’s a filling snack and is super satisfying when you are in need of something sweet.

Millet cereal

Yummy!

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Pile It On

June 16, 2011 By 2 Comments

When I first went on my food allergy elimination diet I found it very difficult to make recipes because there is always ingredients that I can’t have. As a result we went quite a while with pretty plain meals. We always had grilled or baked steak, pork, chicken or fish with a steamed vegetable. It wasn’t bad but it sure did get a little boring. Jesse told me that he really missed having his food served in a pile, meaning a casserole type dish like lasagna or chicken pot pie. So I worked on making more interesting dinners with more flavors mixed together. I picked out several different leftovers we had in the fridge to make him a pile. When he asked what it was I called it “leftover surprise.” He loved it, so now I make it on purpose even when there isn’t leftovers to use up. The best part is that it never turns out wrong because I just make it up as I go.

I start by sauteing garlic, onion, and carrots until the onions are soft.

Chopped carrots and onions

The one thing the pile always has is tomatoes. Right now I’m using tomatoes that I picked myself and froze, but canned is fine too. Everything turns out better when it cooks in tomato juice.

Tomatoes

You never know exactly what will end up in leftover surprise, thus the name. Often there is chicken or ground beef. Sometimes there is ham. This time I used black beans.

Black beans

Then I like to pick something green to make it more colorful. Peas and green beans work well. This time I used broccoli. I also add lots of spices, sprinkling and tasting until I like it. Then it simmers for a couple minutes so that all the flavors mix together.

Pile mixture

Finally I serve with/over either rice or quinoa.

Finished meal

I love this yummy way to use up leftovers, or as a quick meal when I don’t feel like cooking a whole dinner. It’s kinda like making homemade Chinese takeout. Plus it doesn’t get any cheaper than eating rice and beans every now and then.

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