LiveGlutenFreely $5,000 recipe contest

Have you played with either the new gluten free Bisquick baking mix or any of the Betty Crocker dessert mixes yet? If you've come up with some fun new recipes using these mixes, and would like to share them, now's the time to do so - you could win a sweet five grand to do so!

Betty Crocker and MyBlogSpark are hosting a contest for holiday recipes using their new gluten free mixes. Interested? The full rules are at www.glutenfreely.com/bakerschallenge. The contest is open today (June 1st) through the 30th, so it's time to start baking!


In the meantime, Betty Crocker and MyBlogSpark are giving away five boxes of goodies - one box of gluten free Bisquick and all four of their gluten free dessert mixes - to one lucky reader of this blog to get you started baking for this challenge. Interested? I'd say so!

As for me? I've already posted my entry. :)

To enter, post a comment to this blog indicating what kind of recipe you're planning to enter into this contest - or, if you're not into entering, what type of recipes would you like to see?

As usual, there are some rules to the contest:

• Blog comments must answer the question above. 
• Blog comments must contain an e-mail address or easy way to contact you, e.g. Twitter. If I have to do more than 30 seconds' research to find out how to contact the winner, I'll move to the next winner. 
• Multiple blog comments from the same person will be disqualified. 
• EXCEPT - You can gain an additional entry by becoming a fan of Kat's GF Kitchen on FB. (Already a fan? Just post on here that you're already a fan). Make sure I know who you are! 
• Contest ends COB Friday June 10th. 

 Ready, set, bake!!! Good luck to everyone!!!

Progresso Giveaway Winner

From Random.org, the winner was commenter #9, tristatecruisers.

Congratulations! I've emailed you RE: your prize.

Thanks for reading my blog!

Giveaway: Progresso Souper You 2011 Pack

So, who's still keeping their New Year's Resolutions? Anyone?

My goal every year seems to be to lose about a zillion pounds. This year, the stakes are even higher because I have the honor of being one of my cousin's attendants in her wedding this summer... which means I want to look good in my bridesmaid dress! Since we went on vacation for the New Year - and have a social calendar filled with fattening food - it's been hard to get back on track.

That's going to change.

I'm trying to work out more and eat healthier, and that's starting with the lunches I bring into the office. MyBlogSpark and Progresso offered to send me a health-and-fitness-themed pack and I thought it would be perfect for the theme of the New Year.

Warning: Not everything I'm writing about/in this prize pack is gluten free. Please read the label and, if you're not comfortable eating it, don't.

I am not celiac, my husband is, and I can eat gluten. However, I wasn't able to share this prize pack with him to hear his thoughts, which was disappointing. :(

They gave me five cans of Progresso Soup to try. The Weight Watchers soups that are 0 or 1 points per serving. They also sent a yoga mat and some other workout-friendly equipment.

I typically like Progresso soups... they're tasty, many of them are low-calorie, and they're very portable - I can stash a few away in a desk drawer for a lunch emergency. They're also clearly labelled gluten free when applicable, which I love (and I tend to spend more money on companies who label their goods better). However... I am not sure what to think about Progresso's Weight Watchers-approved soups.

Here are my thoughts:

• Progresso, you're usually wonderful about clearly labelling all of your soups that are gluten free. That's one of the things I love about your company. On top of that, I love General Mills' overall policy of not hiding gluten within their labels. However, some of these Weight Watchers soups seem like they'd be gluten free -- why aren't they labelled as such?
• One more note on gluten -- Just sayin' here, but celiacs want to lose weight too. I bet there'd be a decent market for Weight Watchers-approved, gluten free soups. Try chicken and rice, and label/modify that New England Clam Chowder to be gluten free!
• I love the fact that these soups are low calorie, but if you're following Weight Watchers please take note. There are two servings of soup in a can. I don't know anyone who eats just half a can of soup for lunch - if I bring it to work, I'm eating the whole can. A 0-point soup can turn into 2 points or so if you eat both servings. No funny accounting and cheating on points now!
  
• I think that with some of the soups (particularly the beef pot roast), they replaced fat and calories with salt. I am a saltaholic (To me, the only point of eating macaroni and cheese is liberal amounts of salt and pepper - mix it all up, then add more), and even I took pause.
  
• Since they're lower calorie, I find myself hungrier sooner with these soups than other soups. Probably not a huge surprise. I definitely had to supplement my lunch with an afternoon snack of a couple pieces of fruit (say, orange and banana), and even then I was starving by 5 PM.
  
• The Weight Watchers soups can't replace my favorite Progresso soups - I particularly like the Manhattan Clam Chowder, the Garden Vegetable and the Creamy Mushroom soups - all of which happen to be labelled gluten free.
  

Overall, when you're talking healthier work lunches that don't go straight to your waistline, non-cream soups are a no-brainer. It's certainly better than running out to a fast food restaurant and scarfing down a thousand calories in a sitting. And Progresso has some great options, both gluten free and non-gluten free, that are quick and portable. Let's be honest, I'm not going to be making homemade chicken stock on a Wednesday evening before work the next day, I'm going to be grabbing something I can tote in my purse.

So - want to try it for yourself?

Remember - Not all of these soups - if any - are gluten free.

I have a prize pack to giveaway including five Progresso soups, a yoga mat, and some other workout stuff (water bottle, aerobic bands, etc.). Want to win? Here are the rules :

• Contest closes at Friday, 1/28/2011, at 11:59:59 (The next minute, incidentally, my birth day begins!)
  
• I don't have time to hunt people down. Duplicate entries from the same person will be disqualified, and if you win but it takes me more than 30 seconds to find out how to contact you, I'll pick another winner. Your best bet is leaving your e-mail address in the comment.
  
• To gain one entry - Leave a comment on this blog post, saying either what your favorite gluten free Progresso soup is, or what soup you'd like to see be converted to gluten free.
  
• To gain a second entry - Become a fan of my Facebook page. Leave a comment here saying that you're a fan. If you're already a fan, great! Just leave the comment saying that.

Good luck - with both the contest and New Y ears resolutions!

LiveGlutenFreely Review and Giveaway

MyBlogSpark recently contacted me to gauge my interest in participating in a LiveGlutenFreely giveaway. LiveGlutenFreely is a (much lauded) initiative from General Mills/Betty Crocker to extend gluten free product information from their brands, and they sent me one of their product boxes with some stuff to try, all gluten free.

Well, I've written about some of the stuff in the box before: Gluten Free Bisquick, Yellow cake mix (and again here), Betty Crocker Fruit Snacks, and Chex. However, I have not yet had the pleasure to talk about Betty Crocker's gluten free brownie mix or frostings, so let's focus on that.

As timing and luck would have it, yesterday was my sister-in-law's birthday. The family went to Outback Steakhouse then came back to our house for dessert. I figured this was the perfect chance to try the gluten free brownie mix with chocolate frosting, and I also decided to make yellow cupcakes (I picked up funfetti icing, yay!) for my chocolate-hating hubby.

I was a little leery about making the brownie mix out-of-the-box since the mixes tend to be a bit gritty with no doctoring at all. So I picked up a package of chocolate fudge instant pudding (Jello brand) and added that and a teaspoon of vanilla extract to the mix. This made the mix clumpy and not wet at all, so I added another egg and a bit of water to moisten the mix before baking it. I baked it in a nonstick 9x9 pan, and it took in the ballpark of 30 minutes at 325. I think I cooked it a little too long, because the edges were crunchy (or just the right amount of time, depending on how you look at it).

For the icing, I mixed chocolate icing with a bit of Nutella, and spread it over the top of the brownies with some sprinkles for color.

The consistency of the brownies was denser than I would have liked - a lot more like fudge than an actual brownie. I think that was mostly due to the pudding mix that I added. They tasted incredible though - chocolate on chocolate, decadent and very, very rich.

The real test came, however, when my sister in law brought some of the brownies and cupcakes over to her non-gluten free friend. He tried them, loved them and didn't know the difference (and wasn't told) they were gluten free.

So, here's the fun part. MyBlogSpark and LiveGlutenFreely are offering a LiveGlutenFreely pack, valued on their site at 24.99, to one of my readers. The LiveGlutenFreely pack includes the following:

• Betty Crocker GF Brownie Mix
• Betty Crocker GF Yellow Cake Mix
• Betty Crocker Rich and Creamy Chocolate Frosting
• Honey Nut Chex cereal
• Bisquick GF Baking Mix
• Betty Crocker Fruit Snack variety pack
• Peanut Butter Cookie Larabar
• Betty Crocker Potato Buds Mashed Potatoes
• Betty Crocker Red Serving Spoon
• Coupons and information about the Gluten Free diet.

How to enter:

• One entry: Leave a comment on this blog answering the question: What food product would you like to see available, gluten free, from a major retailer? Please note: Please include a way to contact you - e-mail preferable, Twitter handle acceptable, if I have to do a lot of research to figure out who you are and how to get a hold of you, I'll pass the prize on to someone more accessible!
  
• Bonus entry: Follow me on Facebook - if you already follow me, great! Post on the wall a link to your favorite gluten free recipe from LiveGlutenFreely.com for a 2nd entry.
• Administrative stuff: The winner will be chosen randomly, comments that don't include a way to get a hold of you will be disqualified. Contest closes at 11/19/2010 11:59:59 PM EDT and winner will be announced over the weekend. Prize will be courtesy of MyBlogSpark and LiveGlutenFreely and sent through them.

Good luck!!!!

Review & Giveaway: Bisquick Gluten Free Mix

My husband and I had already tried pancakes with the new gluten free mix. While they were admittedly delicious, I've never been big on pancakes or any other sugary food for breakfast. I usually end up sticking with protein and complex carbs, or else I end up crashing around 10 AM and I'm cranky all the way until lunch, it's really not a good scene for anyone. Still, it was a huge treat for my gluten free hubby, who doesn't seem to have that issue. ;-)

After pancakes, the next thing I tried (per Lisa's suggestion) was the baked chicken. I decided to try the ultimate chicken tenders with BBQ dipping sauce, and they came out wonderfully - they were a huge hit and are likely to be a winter comfort food staple. I also tried mozzarella sticks using the same breading/Parmesan cheese recipe with mixed results.

With such encouraging results so far, when Bisquick and MyBlogSpark offered me a prize pack in return for writing a review of their product I jumped at the chance!

The one thing I hadn't tried with the new GF Bisquick mix was baking a yummy dessert. I thought about an apple crisp, but after Karina's lackluster review I decided to try a cinnamon streusel coffee cake. I found the inital recipe on Betty Crocker's website, and decided to modify some things:

• First of all, these things never have enough streusel topping. Automatically double the streusel recipe.
  
• I've had good experiences with adding a package of vanilla instant Jell-O pudding mix to the gluten free mixes. It helps to keep the cake moist for a few days.
  

Here's the final recipe that I came up with:

Ingredients

Streusel Topping:

• 2/3 cup GF Bisquick mix
• 1 cup packed dark brown sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 cup of butter *NOTE I used only about half of this.
  

Cake:

• 1 3/4 cup GF Bisquick mix
• 1 package instant french vanilla Jell-O pudding mix
• 3 Tbsp sugar
• 2/3 cup H2O (I added a couple of extra teaspoons by eyeballing the mix)
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  
• 3 eggs

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Spray 9-inch square (or round) pan with cooking spray. In a small bowl mix the dry streusel ingredients and add butter while mixing until it is crumbly.
   
2. In a medium bowl (I used our stand mixer), stir all coffee cake ingredients until blended. Add approximately half of the streusel ingredients to the cake mixture. Spread in pan; sprinkle with the rest of the streusel topping.
   
3. Bake for approximately 30 minutes or until golden brown. Store tightly covered.
   

It came out REALLY good. Sweet, moist, chewy, and when it cooled off the next morning my hubby had a huge piece for breakfast (me, not so much, the whole sugary breakfast thing, but the piece I had last night was awesome). Definitely a keeper.

Now, for the good stuff. The folks at MyBlogSpark are providing one of my lucky readers a Bisquick pack of their own. It includes a (nice, cast iron) mini pancake pan, pancake pen, spatula, and of course a box of gluten free Bisquick baking mix.

To enter, please comment *on this blog post* and answer the following question:
What do you plan to make with the new Bisquick gluten free baking mix???

One entry per person, all entries must be submitted by 12:00 AM Monday, October 4th. (Happy Birthday, Samantha!). Thanks and good luck!!!

BJ's Wholesale Club -- and contest!

First of all now that I'm back from the craziness of the holidays, I'd like to wish everyone a Happy New Year. I hope that you all had a wonderful holiday season and are starting 2010 with a great start!

Now, on to the topic of this blog. Before the holidays, MyBlogSpark, General Mills and BJ's offered me a trial membership to BJ's as well as a $25 gift card. My husband and I aren't currently members of BJ's and given our New Years Resolution to save money on groceries this seemed like something interesting to check out. So, we agreed to sign up for the Spark and check out the club.

Overall, there can be some very good deals there for the smart shopper. However, you have to be careful with bulk stores, because it's easy to get sucked in thinking that a large quanity means it's a good deal, or that you're definitely going to use all of something. And, of course the fact that if you're set in the products you use, you might not want to compromise and buy something similar just because it's a good deal -- if you don't like it you have to use an awful lot of it before it's gone! Also, considering that we're constrained by shopping gluten free, I was interested to see what we could find.

Now -- many of the things at BJ's would be a lot better for us if we owned a house or a large freezer. Unfortunately our apartment doesn't have a whole lot of storage space, so we can't really stock up on six month's worth of toilet paper or tissues. At least, unless we wanted to let them do double duty as furniture! So, alas, we stayed away from most household items -- we did find very good deals on Clorox Wipes (I use them for everything) and laundry detergent. I'll give a shoutout to Woollite Dark since that's what I ended up picking up, at a much better deal than at Walmart.

Next, off to the food aisles. They didn't carry any of the pet supplies that we use (we buy Wellness canned dog food), but there were some interesting finds that were gluten free. Staples like rice, pasta sauce (they had Classico multipacks that are labelled gluten free), and salsa, etc. were all decent deals. There were also items that weren't necessarily good deals, like family size packages of corn chips for about the same price as when they go on sale at Price Chopper. Since it's after New Years and we're trying to be good we did give the candy aisle a wide berth, but normally we'd have found quite a bit there we'd like. ;-)

Overall -- even for a gluten free household a BJ's membership can be worthwhile, provided you have ample storage space for bulk items and keep an eye out for what's a good deal and what might not necessarily be good.

Now -- onto the good stuff. Since everyone is trying to save money after the holidays, I'm pleased to announce that MyBlogSpark, BJ's and General Mills are offering a $25 BJ's gift card to one of my readers. If you're interested here is how to enter:

• Receive one entry by leaving a comment on this blog entry before Saturday, January 16th. And entrants -- grad school is starting up, and I just don't have time to track you down. If you're serious about entering leave me some way to contact you -- an e-mail address preferably, or a link to an ACTIVE blog. It can be obfuscated but if I have no idea who made a comment and have no way to contact you, I won't count it.
  
• Winner will be picked at random and announced on this blog.
  

Good luck!

Did you know: Betty Crocker Fruit Snacks are gluten free?

I recently became aware that Betty Crocker Fruit Snacks (including Fruit Roll-Ups and Fruit by the Foot) are not only gluten free but now labelled as such. Now, they're not a snack that's high on my radar, but I remember them very fondly from my childhood. When MyBlogSpark asked if I'd like to review them as a gluten-free snack for kids, I happily agreed.

Full disclosure: My husband and I don't have kids, unless you count the puggle, but we sometimes consider ourselves 20-something kids. ;-) Case in point: MyBlogSpark sent a package containing Betty Crocker fruit snacks as well as toys like a yo-yo, frisbee and pick up sticks. Well, I don't want to throw anyone under the bus here, but that poor yo-yo was broken about five minutes after the box was opened! LOL.

Anyway, the real highlight here were the fruit snacks. We were sent one variety pack with Fruit Roll Ups, Fruit by the Foot and Gushers, and another box of "Create a Bug" fruit snacks.

The Fruit Roll Ups were very similar to how I remembered them - only, when I was a kid (OK, maybe in high school) they had these cut-out shapes in the roll-up part. These were solid, which was different, but tasty. And while there was more fat content than I would have thought, you can't go wrong with a 50 calorie snack where pear concentrate is the first ingredient.

We weren't as thrilled with the "Create a bug" snacks. They weren't bad, and my husband will certainly eat them, but we'll leave those ones for the kids. (Maybe it's my arachnophobia talking).

All said -- I love the fact that these fruit snacks are gluten free. NOT ONLY are they labelled gluten free, but this past weekend I was in the Halloween candy aisle at Walmart (Just looking...) and saw that they had fun-sized fruit snacks to give out as Halloween treats. Now, I don't know about you, but I think this is just awesome! Knowing all the trials that my husband and I go through to find "normal" snacks that we trust to be gluten free, this is great for kids with allergies or sensitivities. I love the idea of more celiac-friendly treats that kids can enjoy for Halloween!

Anyway. Now for the giveaway part: MyBlogSpark and Betty Crocker are providing a free "Simple Joys" package that includes two boxes of fruit snacks and some low-tech toys (a yo-yo, frisbee and retro pick-up-sticks game) to ONE lucky reader of this blog!

To enter the contest, all you have to do is leave a comment on this post. (I approve all comments, so don't worry if it doesn't show up immediately). Please include some means of contacting you - e-mail address preferably - and optionally tell me what some of YOUR simple pleasures are.

The deadline is October 8th. Good luck to everyone!!!

Fiber One Yogurt - plus Giveaway

I'm always looking for good diet-friendly snack foods, so when MyBlogSpark asked me to review Yoplait's new Fiber One yogurt, I happily agreed.

Now, I'm a bit of a yogurt junkie, but I've been in an "eat as little corn syrup and high fructose corn syrup as possible" phase for the past few months so I regretfully phased "regular" Yoplait yogurt out of my diet. For a while I substituted Chobani greek yogurt, which is all natural and very good, but I can't eat it by itself. I have to mix cereal or dried fruit into the yogurt which takes time and adds a lot of extra calories.

I was happy to see that Fiber One yogurt does not contain the dreaded high fructose corn syrup, though it does contain aspartame. Plus, each container is 50 calories! I picked up a four-pack of vanilla yogurt to try.

Now, the first thing I'll say -- these containers are 50 calories because they're significantly smaller than the average yogurt you'd buy in the grocery store. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but one Fiber One yogurt is NOT going to be enough for breakfast by itself. Overall, it tasted pretty good - very similar to Yoplait, which I expected. If you like the taste of Yoplait Light yogurt, you'll probably like the taste of their Fiber One yogurt, and vice versa.

I've found that their vanilla yogurt makes a very good breakfast when mixed with approximately 1 cup of fresh mixed berries (strawberries, blueberries, blackberries and raspberries) and that lasted me most of the morning. But going forward, I'd probably keep them around as a quick snack before running to the gym for a cardio workout - it's just enough to take the edge off your appetite but not too heavy to eat before an intense workout.

Still, I'd be thrilled to take just a few extra calories instead of the aspartame. :-)

With that said: I have three, yes, three Fiber One gift packs to give away from MyBlogSpark and Fiber One. You'll get a "Healthy and Fit Weight Management Kit" containing everything in the picture to the left (and a very nice cooler pack), and a coupon for a free four-pack of Fiber One yogurt at the grocery store.

How to enter:
Leave a comment on my blog with:
- an e-mail address (fool spam bots with username at address dot com format) where I can contact you
- your favorite diet-friendly snack food. Preferably something gluten free or something that can be made gluten free (e.g. chocolate chip cookies can be made with or without gluten).

All entries must be in by Tuesday, September 1st. The winners will be chosen randomly. Only one entry per e-mail address, please!

Finally, the gluten free information and disclaimer: while I couldn't find the words "gluten free" on the yogurt packages like Yoplait displays, Yoplait and Fiber One are owned by General Mills. They have a good labelling policy for gluten and we haven't had a problem to date with products we've purchased from the company, but I e-mailed the company just to make sure. Their response:

"For products not labeled gluten free, we will always declare gluten containing ingredients if they are added to the product. If the ingredient declaration lists wheat, oats, barley, rye, or derivatives of these grains, then the product contains gluten. Examples of derivative ingredients include: malt, barley malt, organic malt, semolina, Durham, triticale, and spelt. We do not include gluten containing ingredients in the ′Natural Flavors′ or ′Spices′ on the product ingredient list. If there are gluten ingredients in our products, those ingredients are always clearly listed. If there are no gluten- containing ingredients listed in the product ingredient label, but the product does not make a gluten free claim, it is because we cannot fully assure that this product is gluten free."

If you're gluten free and not comfortable without a gluten free label on their product, stick with regular Yoplait yogurt.