So when a friend handed me a bag of Bob’s Red Mill GF pizza crust mix, I cowered beneath its heft, thinking “Oh shite, I have a pre-made mix now and no more excuses.”

As it turns out, my laziness can even win out over that and it was only last week, nearly a year past the expiry of the mix that I pulled it out and gave it a whirl.

Just to clarify, my mix was in the freezer for most of those months past expiry which kept it from going off and it’s not an all-inclusive mix- you have to add egg, water, olive oil and the included yeast packet. I happened to lose the yeast packet *inside* the mix and used a packet of Red Star before stirring up the second (sealed) packet into the dough but it was  fine. I also discovered in the middle of mixing that I didn’t have an egg. No matter- the package says you can substitute flax meal for the egg. I, not knowing what the heck flax meal was, measured out 6 tablespoons of flax seeds and the required water, let it sit for the desired time and added that instead.

I’m not sure what the flax meal was supposed to do but it turned out that I needed to bake the crust about 8 minutes longer than the package directed. It didn’t spread all that well across the pizza pan but turned out sort of  like a thin drop biscuit and the seeds lent it a nice crunch and rustic look. I used salsa rather than pizza sauce and topped with thin chopped bell pepper, onions, tomatoes, black beans and mozarella cheese. All in all it was a great pizza and would have probably been better if I’d got my ingredients together before I started!

Tasty Factor: Okay, it’s gluten free pizza. Need I say more.

Poopy Factor: I can only blame myself for this one.

I realise that nothing has the same yummy texture as wheat in baking else America as a nation wouldn’t be so fixated with it but still I tend to think if it’s not exactly the same, I don’t want it. Then we stumbled into the grocer at Farmer’s Inn, our favourite cooking supply store outside of Cook Forest Park and this time I let him talk me into trying the pastas there. We spent an arm and a leg but I figured since we never buy this stuff, it was ok.

Fast forward four months. Yes, that’s how long it took me to work up to cooking some of my pasta. I was attempting to try Mrs. Leeper’s Rice Alphabets at $3.19 for 12 oz. (that’s actually not too bad considering it’s gluten free AND organic). I admit, though I love rice noodles in soups and stir fries and I’m a big consumer of rice in itself, there’s something that just disgusts me about the concept of rice spaghetti so this was an act of bravery ladies and gentlemen.

The lowdown? Mrs. Leeper is an all around nice gal. This pasta holds its shape, cooks to a texture virtually identical to its wheat counterpart and has no funky aftertaste. I give it all my thumbs up for taste, texture and ease. My only complaint is the calorie content- 1/3 cup dry clocks in at a steep 200 calories so don’t overload.

Tasty Factor: this has proven to me that GF can do pasta

Poopy Factor: it’s only going to be saved for holidays with calories like that.

Now seriously I’ve never been brave enough to try GF bread so I don’t have much to compare this to but Sisters Three Gluten Free white bread mix IS the schnizzle. Soft on the inside, crusty on the outside, sliceable and actually white coloured, I was in bread heaven. Seriously. The outside was crusty, which I didn’t actually love but gave some texture to my PB sammie and I have no complaints.

Lucky for me, when I returned home I found a bag of the mix tucked into my duffel and as I don;t have a full loaf pan, I thought I’d be swift and make ‘scones‘ by dropping the mix onto a greased baking sheet. While this turned out ‘okaaaaaaaaaay,’ I probably would have preferred anther PB sammie in the longrun. Like I said, they’re okay but I’d recommend baking it as a loaf in a pan. Then again, my best friend’s mother can turn out just about anything better than me so it may have just been that!  I’m also not sure where my friend got this mix but I’m guessing the Punxsutawney Wal-Mart which has a surprisingly large selection of GF items in its own aisle. On this subject I say to Pittsburgh AGAIN, get with it already and stock more. If you stock it, we will buy.

Taste Factor: Excellent! Good texture, good taste, keeps well.  The non-GF’ers loved it too.

Poopy Factor: I didn’t really like the crust on it and the mix uses Crisco which made my internal calorie counter have a stroke.

Hubby is always picking me up little gluten free tidbits when he finds them and while I knew Starbuck’s was carrying packaged gluten free goodies I don’t believe in spending that much money on (come ON Starbuck’s, bake us up something already- that’s my formal public rebuke), I hadn’t splashed out for any.

After Hubby’s doctor appt I slipped into the car to find the latest treat on my seat: Dr. Lucy’s Chocolate Chip cookies. I wasn’t holding out much hope for the gluten free, egg free, diary free, nut free (what else is there….) little rounds but I did like the packaging and let’s face it, I’m a whore for a pretty bag.

Who knew gluten/dairy/egg/nut could be so good? No, but really. For connoisseurs of crunchy cookies, and I know the camp is often violently divided on the issue of crispy or moist, you can’t go wrong with Dr. Lucy’s. Crunchy but not crumbly, dunkable but not mushy. And frankly, they look nice.  I could hear my carton of milk calling for them from the fridge, jealous of my mug of tea.  (Note to Nabisco: go run for the hills.)

Hecks, I even like the website. Clean, informative and not full of freaking flash.  My only complaint is the chocolate chips, which I understand are vegan. And don’t taste so absolutely great honestly but the overall texture of the cookie absolutely makes up for it- 100%  Now all Dr. Lucy needs to do is whip me up some peanut butter cookies….

Tasty factor: love them and will pay silly amounts of money to not have to make my own now that I’ve sucked down a bag for myself

Poopy factor: the chocolate chips taste wierd but once you get past the first bite (yes, bite them, don’t inhale or it’s a waste of cookie), you’ll forget it.