Product Review: President's Choice Gluten Free Blueberry Muffins

Presidents Choice deserves a well earned shout out for their Gluten Free Blueberry Muffins. I actually don't (although I should) cringe at paying $5.99 for these gems. They are that good! To top it all off , they are sold fresh, not frozen! This makes for a positive change from all of the freezer burnt Gluten Free muffins out there.

I have to say that these muffins have become a staple in my pantry. They are my go to snack when I'm on the run, want a quick breakfast or even a late night snack. You will notice that they are a great size and do not fall into the everything Gluten Free must be miniature to it's counterpart trap. 

Highlights

• Moist 
• Perfect amount of blueberries 
• Great size 
• Texture is soft and light
•  Fresh tasting, not frozen
• It does not fall apart after one bite
• No need to chase each bite with a drink

If you have not tried these yet, I recommend that you give Presidents Choice Gluten Free Blueberry Muffins a go. If you have tried them, let me know what you think.

Presidents Choice Gluten Free Banana Loaf - Review

PC Gluten Free Banana Loaf

I bought this product having no expectations at all. Horrible of me, I know. It's hard to get excited for a new product sometimes. Why? Well, because what if it sucks? Or what if I love it and can never find it again? Both  situations have happened to me on many an occasion. So I went into this with a we'll see kind of attitude.

Price: 5.99

While not outrageously high for a Gluten Free product, I must say that I am slightly disappointed with the price point. Presidents Choice is a very large company with a lot of pull. I guess I was expecting them to have a more competitively priced Gluten Free line. 

To my delight and surprise, I loved it! The Banana Loaf is sweet, but not too sweet. It is light, moist and and fluffy. The loaf is great with a dab of butter or on its own. 

I pre sliced the loaf and placed it back in the resealable container that it came in. This made for a quick and easy snack on demand.


You can purchase PC Gluten Free products at stores under the Loblaws banner such as No Frills, RCSS and Extra Foods. Items can vary by location. To find a store near you, use the PC Store Finder

President's Choice Gluten Free Bread Review

Presidents Choice Gluten Free Bread

As far as price goes, the cost for Presidents Choice Gluten Free bread is average. It was not overly expensive like some brands out there. At $5.99 it falls in the  right in the middle as far as GF bread prices go.

This is a dense bread. The feel of it in my hand reminded me of pound cake. In defense of the pound cake comparison, this bread makes AMAZING french toast! I like to think of it as a breakfast bread, or even a grilled cheese bread. So many options here.

Toasted or not this bread isn't going to chip your teeth. Always a great start!

I really like that it is sold in a non frozen state. I find any GF bread that has been frozen, just doesn't come off right.

When the bread is eaten lightly toasted it is pretty good! It probably would not hold up a sandwich without being toasted prior. Do note that there is a recommendation to toast this bread on the back of the sandwich bag. 

As I went through my loaf of bread, I noticed some slices were falling apart or already in pieces. Most likely due to the delicateness of the bread and being manhandled in the grocery store.

Toasted

Not Toasted

If you choose the adventurous non toasting route, be prepared for that all to common  crumbly, lodged in your throat dryness that goes hand in hand with our special bread. Not as bad as some brands out there, but noticeable still.

I would definitely buy Presidents Choice Gluten Free bread if I ran out of my usual bread (Kinnikinnick Soft Bread). It's far superior to certain frozen GF breads on the market and does the trick if you just want a slice of toast. 

This is a great start for a company who is a newcomer to Gluten Free products! I look forward to seeing improvements to the bread. There's always room for improvement right? I also look forward to seeing a wider variety of Gluten Free products from Presidents Choice....like ready made meals that can be popped into the oven. *hint* *hint* 

Gluten Free Expo Toronto 2012

Awesome swag bag 

Last Sunday, September 30th I attended the Gluten Free Expo in Toronto with my husband and our three year old son. I was super excited for this event and I hope to see another one next year. While it was a great experience, there were definitely a few hiccups.  I don't want to focus too much on the negative as I'm sure that this was a monstrous event to put together and the packed to the walls turn out can only mean good things.

Lets start with the positives

• Amazing turn out  - I was seriously surprised by how many people turned up for the event. Hopefully this kind of enthusiasm will lead to more awareness and more variety on the store shelves.

• Awesome variety of vendors - There were the known favourites such as Kinnikinnick, Udis, and Pamelas. And there were so many companies that I had never heard of until I tried a sample or spoke to them at their booths. The vendors ranged from food companies and catering to restaurants and magazines. There was also a vendor representing the Chicago Centre for Celiac Disease! Awesome possum.

• great items available for purchase - Wow. Just wow. I probably could have purchased several weeks worth of groceries here. Some vendors had  pretty great deals as well. 

• Everyone was in good spirits - This says it all I think

• My little guy managed the 2 hours we were there without a melt down! Woohoo! He also enjoyed all of the yummy Gluten Free samples that he tried.

• Loads of yummy samples. Seriously yummy  And nothing beats a sample of something to encourage a purchase

Gluten Free Samples and Coupons

• Easy to gain entrance with pre-purchased tickets - That itself was a great option! Hope to see this again.

Jax and Myself

• Had the opportunity to meet Jax! Had to save the best for last on my list of positives. She is truly a Gluten Free inspiration and I recommend having a regular peak at her website Gluten Free Ontario

Alright, on to the not so fun stuff

• We arrived at 9:50 am and waited a good ten minutes to turn into the parking lot. We entered the venue at about 10:10am and it was packed. By 11:30 it was so crowded that vendors were hard to gain access to. Just walking through the crowd was tough. It seemed like there was not enough space for people to line up at the vendors without causing a blockage to the people who just wanted to pass by. 

• Paid $9.00 for parking. I had no idea until we got there that parking would not be free. My fault for not looking into it but I figured $18 on 2 tickets would qualify for free parking or at least some sort of a discount for attending the expo.

• When we left it was very chaotic as there is only one exit from the parking lot. We sat in a lineup of cars for 35 minutes before a second ticket booth was opened and someone came out to direct the flow of vehicles. My dad works by the Toronto Airport and apparently this is a common logistics issue at this  particular venue. All in all, I'm happy nobody freaked out and eventually (35 minutes later) traffic got flowing at a somewhat fair pace. 

• No time to really get to know vendors or learn about the products. We ended up leaving when things got to the point of not being able to get to the booths and see what products were there. Although we strolled by most tables, there were some like the Chicago Center for Celiac Disease where I could only squeeze in enough to snag a pamphlet. Really wish I could have been able to have a chat with them. Everything just felt so rushed.

• I  heard that a few vendors were eating non GF foods at their booths. Thats a big no no. Also, I feel as though any vendor that had GF oats in a product should have had a disclaimer saying so as many Celiacs, including myself get ill from even Gluten Free oats. 

Would I attend a future event?

Hubby & little man in parking lot

Yes, but I would attend with a different frame of mind. Perhaps taking turns navigating the Expo with hubby. This way one of us can keep the little man happy and out of the crowds. It was too difficult to navigate a stroller through the tight space and much too hard for my little guy to walk without getting tripped over.

Next time I will be expecting some big crowds. I will also buy products as I visit the booths instead of attempting to go back at the end of our rounds.

NEW products that caught my eye at the Gluten Free Expo

 Forno Mina Cheese Rolls from Brazil

 At $4.00 they come already made and you just pop em in the oven. Talk about convenient  I have made my own version of these cheese buns for several years and Forno Mina is so authentic. Nothing compares to the airiness and texture  they are soft on the inside and crispy on the outside.

Boring Porridge
I was skeptical at first but HOLY MOLY was it great. Add this to Vanilla yogurt and bam, you have a healthy and easy to make snack. I am such a fan now will have to order this online for sure. Shipping across Canada is only $2.00! 

Review: Whole Foods Mississauga

Over the weekend we made a trip to Whole Foods in Mississauga Ontario.  Wow, what a journey that was! Really wish they would open up shop in Durham region.

I always have my eye open for new places to stock up on Gluten Free food so we went to check it out and see if there were any thing different  available there.

The staff at this location was really friendly and were awesome in helping me find GF food. Let me tell you what a scavenger hunt that was! I'm quite surprised that Whole Foods does not have a better way of displaying GF items. Even Metro does a better job then them, and I'm not fond of Metro's (location near me) GF layout. The food was everywhere. There was really no rhyme or reason to it.

Overall, the items at this location were pretty much on par with what I can get where I live. Nothing special other then the odd  crepe or lasagna. I know people say whole foods is overpriced but we only looked at Gluten Free items and well, they were pretty much on par with everywhere else. Yippee (note sarcasm).