Friday, February 5, 2010

Friday before a supposed big snow in NY--we'll see! I wouldn't mind a blizzard, so relaxing , no responsibilities, no worries, just cook and watch a movie and go throw snowballs.
I have tried a new product-- the company graciously sent me some items-- Mixes from the Heartland. www.mixesfromtheheartland.net They are Gluten Free / Wheat Free for celiacs. Unfortunately some of the items I couldn't try-- too many eggs to substitute or packaged cream of celery soup with milk in it already. But what I did try was:
Italian Bean soup mix: good, a bit strong on the herbs--I think oregano and possibly tarragon-- but it was hearty and made a nice side dish over pasta.
Italian Veggie Dip: Well we can't make dip (no milk or soy products) at our house, but I mixed the packet with about a cup of water and poured it over chicken pieces and baked. YUM it was great! very tasty over the chicken and made a nice little sauce as it mixed with the chicken juices.
Microwave Brownie Mix: As I've said, I'm not a good baker. I mixed up the ingredients and made any egg substitutions--which was one egg I believe. I microwaved, and well, I got gooey delicious fudgey stuff. Not brownie at all, not really liquid, but a gooey goodness that I let harden a bit and then scooped into bowls to serve. Good tasting, just the form of the cooked mix did not --literally-- gel. We enjoyed, but maybe I did something wrong with the microwave... don't know.
I have others to try, and I'll let you know. For those of you out there without milk or egg allergies, these are nicely proportioned and interesting mixes made in a gluten, barely, egg, oat, peanut, rye, soy free facility.