JeanC Reviews...

One thing I have learned since going gluten free and having to read labels, there are a LOT of products that contain wheat in some form or another. Sometimes I have no idea why, except it is used as a filler or a cheap thickener. Had to give up my favorite brand of canned chili because of that, the side effects just weren't worth it. I've been contemplating a brand that doesn't have any wheat, but at over $2 a can, just not in the budget. So while looking longingly at the canned chili at the grocery store the other day I noticed a brand I hadn't seen before, so I picked it up and read the label. No wheat listed.  Looked at all the flavors, no wheat listed.  Looked at the price, around $1.40 a can. Okay, more then the 88 cents a can of my former favorite, but definitely less the $2+ a can, so I figured, heck, give it a try.  I picked the original flavor, wasn't up for trying the spicy flavors. Good call, this was just spicy enough for me. While it w...

I am forever looking for a good gluten free bread. While I've made some pretty tasty ones at home, for the ultimate sandwich (grilled cheese) I have not found one I truely love.  While shopping in Lewiston a while back we'd passed the Franz Bakery Outlet and saw they had a sign saying they had gluten free bread. We stopped, but they were out (seems it tends to sell out as fast as they bring it in). So the next time we were there we stopped and they had a few loaves left. It was priced at $4.98 a loaf, so I only grabbed one. The price is a bit more then I would usually pay, esp since I was used to 89 cent a loaf wheat bread, but I decided I had to try it. I hadn't seen any fresh GF in the stores and the ones they do have, while tasty, are found in the freezer section and are rather small for $5 a loaf.  The loaf was a hefty 1 lb 2 oz and felt substantial. I couldn't wait to get home to give it a try. Since it was brutally hot that day we opted for dinner of cold c...

I picked up and tried New Planet Beer's Off the Grid Pale Ale and Oh MY!!! If I didn't know any better I would have said this was a regular wheat beer. A little sweeter perhaps, but the taste and mouth feel was very good. I have been missing beer of late and I am glad to have the option of picking up a bottle or two to enjoy on a hot day.

We've been hearing about the ground beef at the Moscow Food Co-op for a while and finally decided to give it a try. We usually buy regular ground beef in the BIG packages and never the lean or super lean. We both grew up with ground beef being super cheap and when it went to over $2 a pound we went into sticker shock and have been there ever since. Still, we've been wanting to try and buy more local (or as local as we can. I count anything from Idaho, Washington, Oregon and Montana as local) and popped in one evening to buy some. They didn't have any of the family packs out, so the meat counter guy ran tot he back to see about them. While we waited for them to finish a couple up we talked with him about the meat. The Co-op gets their meat in a whole muscle and grind it there, none of this grinding it in a big factory and then regrinding it to make it look fresh when it hits the mega mart. By grinding it there they can avoid some of the problems of contaminated ground ...

A Sonic opened in Lewiston a while back and we decided to stop off and give them a try. We'd been to the Sonic in Post Falls and enjoyed it so we were pretty sure we would like this one. There isn't a lot on the menu I could have unless it was altered in some way and I wasn't int he mood for a bunless burger. They did have hot dogs on the menu and I asked for the blue cheese and bacon dog without the bun: Hubby opted for the All American Dog: They were both good and hit the spot. I like being able to stay in the car and having a car hop bring out the food. I remember when I was a kid when we went to A&W. I do miss the trays that slipped onto the window, there was just something so cool about that (esp with the root beer came in those nice frosty mugs). The person putting together the order didni't think to put in a fork and I forgot to ask. So I had to eat my blue cheese and bacon dog with my fingers (insert little girl giggle here hehehehehe). I will ha...

We had a friend give us some ground elk and we decided on burgers for dinner. We stopped at the Co-op to pick up some buns and a couple other things (beef to mix with the elk) and found they had the Udi's Whole Grain hamburger buns . I thought this was great as for something as special as elk burgers I needed something other then a standard hamburger bun. These buns are more of an artisan bun and have a great texture and flavor. Broiled with a bit of butter and they were perfect with the burger. The flavor of the bun complimented the elk burger and my taste buds were in heaven. The price for them was good, less the $4.00 a package. They thaw nicely and don't get soggy.

We'd stopped in at the Co-op for some chicken breasts they had on sale and I decided to see if by chance they had any gluten free beers. And lo and behold, they did! A small selection compared to all the rest of the yummy beers they have, but as yet there aren't too many breweries making gluten free. So we picked up a couple bottles, one from Anheuser-Busch and the other from New Planet (that will be a subject for another review). Took them home and decided I would try the Redbridge  first since it was from a big brewer. Opened the bottle and took a sniff. Smelled like beer. Took a taste and it tasted a bit like beer. Handed the bottle to hubby so he could have a tiny taste and he thought it tasted like beer. Grabbed a glass and poured in the beer: Good color, a bit of a head, lots of bubbles. So I started sipping. Didn't quite have the full body feel of regular beer and it had a rather interesting aftertaste that wasn't unpleasant. It was also somewhat fizzier th...