Ohh gluten, how we love to demonize thee.
Although I’m not 100% gluten-free, I do try to avoid gluten when I can. I know there’s a lot of debate out there as to whether or not gluten is “bad” for you, but there is a lot of research that says it is inflammatory. So to me, since there are so many delicious (and easy) gluten-free alternatives, I opt for those as much as possible.
Of course I have dozens of other (naturally) gluten free products that I love – nut butters, frozen treats, etc. – but these are my favorite gluten-free replacements for typically gluten-present counterparts. Make sense? Cool 😉
BREAD: Free Bread
I’ve tried just about every gluten-free bread product under the sun. There are definitely a handful that I like (and taste most like “real” bread), but Free Bread is definitely my absolute favorite. It is dense, chewy, and has a great hearty/grainy-ness to it. The slices are also on the larger side, which for some reason is hard to come by with gluten-free bread. Another great thing about Free Bread is that it’s made with whole grains – not filled to death with potato or rice flour like a lot of GF breads on the market.
I’ve found Free Bread in my local health food stores, some Whole Foods, and you can also order it online.
BAKING: Enjoy Life Foods
While gluten free baking-from-scratch is nowhere near impossible (especially with all of the great gluten-free flour options out there these days), most of the time I’m lazy and prefer semi-homemade baking. Enter: Enjoy Life. They have an entire line of great gluten-free baking mixes. My favorites are their brownie mix (like I used to make these Gluten Free S’more Brownie Cupcakes) and chocolate chip muffin mix. I’ve also found Enjoy Life Foods to be the “cleanest” of the gluten-free baking mixes – they don’t have a ton of crazy, what-the-heck-is-that ingredients. Most of their products are also dairy free as well!
PASTA: Bean Pasta
It took a while for me to believe that bean pasta wasn’t too good to be true. I absolutely LOVE the stuff. I’ve read other reviews from people thinking that it tastes “too beany,” but I personally find it to be eerily similar to real pasta. I love other gluten-free pastas (brown rice is great), but bean pasta is lower in calories and higher in fiber + other nutrients. Some that I’ve tried and love are Banza Chickpea Pasta and Explore Asian Black Bean Spaghetti, and it looks like Ancient Harvest just came out with some varieties too!
SNACKING: KIND Bars
A lot of snack/energy bars on the market claim to be healthy when they’re actually full of sugar, processed soy, and even chemical-like ingredients. KIND bars, on the other hand, prove that less is more. Their ingredient list is short and made up of mostly nuts, seeds, and dried fruit. Not to mention that they’re all delicious – I’ve yet to try a variety I didn’t love. KIND bars are crunchy yet chewy…sweet yet salty…and overall my favorite snack for when I’m on-the-go (or even when I just want a little something sweet!).
SWEET TREAT: Pamela’s Cookies
Let’s be real – it’s not very easy to mess up cookies 😉 BUT I’ve definitely had my fair share of subpar gluten-free cookies. There’s something specifically about the texture of Pamela’s cookies that I really love. They’re soft and almost cookie dough-like. My favorites are the pecan shortbread, butter shortbread, and peanut butter.
I’m always on the search for tasty new gluten-free products, so check back as I may be updating this post! But as the title suggests – these are just my top go-to’s 🙂 Be sure to follow me on Instagram @Hungry.Blonde too as I’m always sharing new products I love!
