Be Free For Me Blog

When summer is here, I can’t help but want to whip-up good gluten-free dishes with fresh from the garden ingredients. Fresh herbs, vegetables and some good quality olive oil make a fantastic salad – but throw in some fresh Mozzarella Cheese and I have myself a meal.

One of my favorite mozzarella cheeses is made by Belgioioso. My favorite recipe using this cheese is simple – Cubed mozzarella and fresh tomatoes, thin slivers of fresh basil leaves, all tossed with a couple of tablespoons of olive oil, fresh cracked pepper and sea salt. So simple –  but so yummy.

The Belgioioso website also suggests other ways to enjoy their mozzarella including marinating their Fresh Mozzarella balls or cubes in minced garlic, fresh chopped basil, fresh chopped oregano, red pepper flakes, salt, pepper and white wine vinegar for at least three hours then serving as a part of your antipasto platter; or topping a roast beef sandwich with roasted red peppers and a slice of their fresh mozzarella, drizzled with olive oil. Yum. This sounds like a delicious sandwich using my gluten-free bread.

According to the Belgioioso website all of their products are gluten-free. So dig in this summer and toss a little mozzarella in with your fresh garden vegetables.

Congratulations Belgioioso Cheese for being chosen as this week’s BeFreeForMe’s Friday Favorite!

Just-Like-I-Remember, Pizza-Party-Deliciousness are the words that come to mind when I think of Gillian’s Foods Pizza Dough Mix.

Better than any pizza parlor around this gluten-free pizza dough is my pick when it comes to pizza… gluten-free style.

Another bonus of Gillian’s Foods products is that they are manufactured in a gluten and nut free environment and their products are dairy free too.

A few of my favorite toppings for these pizza crusts are Barbeque sauce, grilled chicken, mixed cheeses and caramelized onions or my old stand-by tomato sauce, basil, fresh mozzarella and fresh sliced tomatoes.

Any way you top it this pizza dough mix is a must-have  for anyone on a gluten-free (and dairy-free) diet.

Congrats Gillian’s Foods for being chosen this week’s Friday Favorite on BeFreeForMe.com!

One of the things that people who are starting a gluten-free diet tell me they most the most is stuffed pasta… raviolis, pierogies, and stuffed shells.

That is when I direct them to the Conte’s Gluten-Free Pasta to check out the delicious gluten-free pasta that is made the old-fashioned way – but free of gluten.

I love the Conte’s Gluten-Free Cheese Raviolis. I always have a bag of these raviolis in my freezer ready for a quick and easy dinner.  It’s a cinch to a boil up some hot water, pop in a few raviolis.  Add a fresh tossed salad and top the hot raviolis with some fresh made pesto and my dinner is as good, if not better, than any Italian restaurant in the North end of Boston.
Delizioso!

Quick and easy restaurant quality raviolis and other gluten-free  pastas are why this week’s Friday favorite honors on BeFreeForMe.com goes to Conte’s Pasta Company!

NOTE: FREE Super-Saver Shipping on Conte’s Gluten-Free Pasta on Amazon.com! Here’s the link: Conte’s Gluten Free Cheese Ravioli, 12-Ounce Bags (Pack of 3)

When I was a little girl, I can remember my Mom using Bisquick for every thing… from pancakes, cobblers, dumplings, casseroles and chicken breading!

Now thanks to the folks over at General Mills, they’ve come up with a gluten-free version of this classic kitchen staple.

Like my Mom, I love having a box of gluten-free Bisquick in my cupboards since it is always a sure-bet ingredient when needing to whip-up a last minute breakfast, dinner or baked good.

There are also some great recipes using gluten-free Bisque on the General Mills website. Some of my favorites? Banana-Pecan Waffles and Chesse Garlic Biscuits.

Fast, quick and so very, very versatile are the reason Bisquick is this weeks Friday Favorite honoree on BeFreeForMe!

Want to purchase? Get Gluten-Free Bisquick Mix on Amazon.com. FREE SUPER-SAVER SHIPPING! Here is the link: Bisquick Pancake and Baking Mix, Gluten-Free, 16-Ounce Boxes (Pack of 3)

Fast, Fantastic and Found in my grocer’s freezer case are the three reasons why this week’s BeFreeForMe’s  Friday Favorite is awarded to PJ’s Organic Chicken Enchilada Meal.

This organic frozen meal features a healthy-portioned Chicken Enchilada, accompanied organic brown rice and black beans. It only take 5 minutes to cook in the microwave, so it’s a perfect choice for lunchtime or when you need a quick meal.

All of PJ’s Organics products are made with USDA-certified organic ingredients, and contain no GMO’s, pesticides or preservatives.

Although I haven’t tried them yet, PJ’s Organics also makes a few other gluten-free items including, Beef Enchilada Meal, Deluxe Chicken Taquitos, and Traditional Chicken Taquitos. However, if the other gluten-free items are anything at all like the Chicken Enchilada Meal, you can bet you’ll see PJ’s Organics making the BeFreeForMe’s Friday Favorite roster again in the very near future.

Congrats P.J.’s Organics!

Great as a marinade, a dipping sauce or brush on during grilling, Sweet Baby Ray’s Barbeque Sauce is a sweet addition to any gluten-free grilling feast!

Sweet, thick and with a kick, Sweet Baby Ray’s Barbeque Sauce comes in several varieties, including: Sweet Baby Ray’s Original, Sweet Baby Ray’s Hickory & Brown Sugar, Sweet Baby Ray’s Sweet ’n Spicy, Sweet Baby Ray’s Sweet Vidalia Onion Sweet Baby Ray’s Honey Chipotle; and my favorite,

And just to let you BBQ lovers all know… I called the Sweet Baby ray headquarters today and they assured me that all of the retail varieties of Sweet Baby Ray’s Barbeque Sauces ARE gluten-free! (The modified food starch is derived from corn).

All these sweet reasons are why this week’s Friday Favorite on BeFreeForMe.com goes to Sweet Baby Ray’s Barbeque Sauce. So slather it, dip it, baste it, dunk it… and make sure to enjoy the sticky sweetness of an ole’ fashioned barbeque… gluten-free style!

I usually don’t rave too much about beverages, but last week I discovered a fantastic new drink at StyleFixx in Boston. Although found only in select markets it should be available across the US in the next 6 months (if you live in the Northeast, California, Metro-Seattle, and Wisconsin – your in luck now). But believe  me… it’s worth the wait!

The drink is called Bai and it is a powerhouse of antioxidants. This drink is juicy, tantalizing… and gluten-free. It’s not your average juice or even energy beverage since it’s naturally infused with coffee fruits extracts, which contain 40 times more antioxidants that a pomegranate.

My favorite of the Bai drinks are the two 5-calorie Bai-5 flavors Costa Rica Clementine and Sumatra Dragonfruit, but they also come in 4 other thrilling flavors too: Tanzania Strawberry, Mango Kauai, Jamaica Blue berry and Kenya Peach and Panama Peach.

And the fun part about this product is that although it taste nothing at all like coffee (trust me on this!) it contains 70 mg of caffeine which comes from the coffee fruit & white tea extract (a typical 16-ounce coffee contains about 70-120 mgs).

Check out their website for more info: www.drinkbai.com

Natural energy, plentiful antioxidants, only 5 calories and exciting flavors makes this week’s Friday Favorite an easy choice…. Bai-5 Antioxidant Infusion Drinks! Cheers!

The Oskri Organic Bar is another one of my newest gluten-free bar finds.

To be truthful, I originally bought this bar because I was intrigued it was made with quinoa…. One of my new favorite grains since going gluten-free.

There are many bars out there made with oats, seeds and other gluten-free goods, but a bar made with quinoa is few and far between.

But what turned out as a sense of intrigue turned into a confirmation that quinoa in a bar is one mighty fine thing.

Soft, chewy and sweet – the Oskri Organic bars  are filling and a perfect snack. I also like that they are also lactose free and vegan. And of course, organic.

Another added bonus: These bars only have 4 … yes, FOUR… ingredients. You can count them all on one hand, and there’s not many things to eat around today that can tote that claim (The four ingredients: Rice Syrup, Quinoa, Sesame Seeds, Date Syrup).

Simple goodness is the reason in a nut-shell that Oskri Organics Quinoa Bar has been graced with this week’s Friday Favorite on BeFreeForMe.com!

Want to buy? Check out this link on Amazon.com…. Oskri Quinoa Bar, Gluten Free, 1.9-Ounce Bars (Pack of 18)

The Fed Ex Man just came to the BeFreeForMe offices and we all almost pounced on him. Why? Because earlier in the day we received an email from Joan at Joan’s GF Great Bakes telling us she was shipping us a FedEx box packed with samples of her new Double Chocolate Muffins.

Once we ripped the package opened we all dug in. And for a moment or two there was content gluten-free loving silence. Mouths were full, heads were slowly bobbing in confirmation, a thumb was being pointed up while stuffing the last morsel into a mouth (O.K…. I admit… that was me), eyes were connecting with others affirming that these muffins were gluten-free superstars. For gluten-free folks this was a powerful conversation… even though not one single word was spoken.

But the words that were finally shared after the muffin-feeding frenzy was complete? “Superstar muffins”, “Full of chocolate ecstasy”, “Rich and chewy”, “Sinful”.

We also liked that these muffins are not only gluten-free, but also dairy-free too.

Joan’s GF Great Bakes Double Chocolate Muffins – the super soft, chewy, fudgy, rich chocolate muffins that are filled to capacity with chocolate chip morsels are this week’s Friday Favorite pick at BeFreeForMe.com.

Thanks, Joan!

P.S. Join me and become a fan of Joan’s GF Great Bakes on Facebook or Twitter!

I love quick and easy, hand-held, grab-on-the-go mini-meals. While rushing from here to there, these types of meals fit best into my lifestyle.

My “bars” (as I fondly like to call them) are great, but sometimes I feel like more. Something that is more like a meal… rather than a snack.

That is why I was thrilled to discover GlutenFreeda’s Gluten-free Pizza Wraps. These portable, no-mess wraps are stuffed with all-time favorite pizza toppings; including, Three Cheese, Italian Sausage, and my favorite, Pesto Chicken.

With less than 240 calories each, these wraps are even less calories than some of favorite bars and supply more protein (14-15 grams of protein per wrap).

Because of their easy prep (easily microwaved) and eat in-hand convenience, these new GlutenFreeda Pizza Wraps take this week’s BeFreeForMe Friday Favorite honor!