Enjoy Life Crunchy Rice and Crunchy Flax Cereals

I am a huge fan of Enjoy Life Foods. It is so comforting to be able to see their logo and know that I don’t have to read the ingredients – I know when I see their products without a doubt that there is no hidden gluten or dairy – it just isn’t there. People who don’t deal with food allergies or intolerances have no idea how freeing that is. The one time you don’t read the label may be the one time that the formula was changed and a food previously safe is no more.

So I was quite excited when Enjoy Life contacted me a week or so ago and asked me if I would be willing to try their new cereals. All they asked in return was that I personally try the products and to give my unbiased opinion so that is what you are getting here.

I received the two free boxes of cereal yesterday. One box of Crunchy Flax and one box of Crunchy Rice.

As usual, my son Andy was super excited to be getting something new to try. I thought these cereals might be a little too grown up for him but he wanted to try them. We opened both boxes and sampled a little right out of the box.

Andy immediately asked for a bowl of the Crunchy Rice with vanilla almond milk. I just gave him a small bowl of it since I didn’t want to waste any and I thought he might be expecting it to be lighter – more like a crispy rice cereal instead of so crunchy. He finished it and had a second bowl right away!

I know my boy though and I knew the true test would come this morning. He often times eats something new really well the first time he has it but then decides he doesn’t like it after all. And it is almost impossible to get breakfast down him before school! So, this morning I asked him what he wanted for breakfast and without hesitation he asked for the *new* crunchy rice stuff. He finished the entire bowl and went to school with a full tummy – let me tell you that doesn’t happen very often. I hope this continues! I don’t care how expensive it is if he will eat breakfast every day.

I ate the Crunchy Flax sprinkled over my soy yogurt and it was really really good. I was surprised. Regular readers of my blog know that I am not just into things being gluten and dairy free but also very into health and nutrition. Flax is such a good food for you – but not one that I consume regularly because I simply don’t like the taste. I have tried to like it but it has to be hidden in foods for me to enjoy it. This was great – the crunchy flax bits were just the right size for yogurt – I sometimes have granola (Enjoy Life brand of course) over my yogurt and I find the granola pieces a little too large and a little too soft. The Crunchy Flax was perfect. I’m not sure if the rest of my family will eat the Crunchy Flax but I most certainly will.

Enjoy Life sent me a press release with the products and now that I have shared my personal opinion with you, I’ll share some of what they have to say about their new products.

It appears that these cereals are new to Enjoy Life but they are not new cereals. Perky’s Nutty Flax and Perky’s Nutty Rice have been around for 25 years. They are now transitioning under the Enjoy Life brand, becoming Enjoy Life Crunchy Flax and Enjoy Life Crunchy Rice. Personally I think crunchy is a better name since there is no nuts in either of the cereals.

Both products are made in a dedicated nut-free and certified gluten-free facility ensuring the quality, integrity and purity of the products. All Enjoy Life products are certified gluten-free by the Gluten-Free Certification Organization (GFCO) and are allergy-friendly. All Enjoy Life products are free of the eight most common allergens (NO: wheat, dairy, peanuts, tree nuts, egg, soy, fish or shellfish).

Crunchy Flax is 100% natural, sweetened with fruit juice and honey, and has 50g of whole grain, 425 mg of Omega-3’s and 6g of fiber per serving. WOW! Tasty and nutritious!

Crunchy Rice is 100% natural, sweetened with fruit juice and honey and is low fat and low sodium.

I haven’t had the opportunity yet to check my local stores for these cereals, but I do see that glutenfree.com does have them.

If you want to ask your local stores to carry these – or any Enjoy Life product, Enjoy Life does have a letter on their website that all you have to do is print, sign and give to your local grocer – just as easy as that.

If you are a coupon shopper like me, Enjoy Life also has a printable coupon on their website for 55 cents off any product.

Try these new products yourself and then post a comment and let me know what you think of them.

Sencha Naturals

Sencha Naturals is running a contest on their blog. You can find all of the answers to the questions by reading about their product on their website.

You really should take the time to check it out - even if you aren't interested in the contest.

Why?

Well, their products are all gfcf for one (the bars do have soy for those of you avoiding soy).

They taste great for another - and let's face it so much of what we have to choose from commercially is not all that great tasting.

They are packed full of nutrition and are all natural and fair traded - all things that are as important to me as GFCF.

I entered the contest because I love to win things and when the chance is to win food, I'm there!

Shabtai Gourmet Cookies and Cakes

I received a large package yesterday from Shabtai Gourmet Cookies and Cakes.

Yum.

All of their products are made in a dedicated facility and are free of gluten, lactose, soy, casein and dairy. They are also are certified Kosher for Passover and Kosher Parve . They do not have a storefront, you can order from their website - http://www.shabtai-gourmet.com/ or by calling 516-652-5671. They do offer free shipping on all orders in the continental United States.

We haven't had time yet to sample all of the goodies, but what we have sampled are very yummy. If you are looking for a gluten free product to replace things like hostess cupcake type products - these fit the bill.


The inside of a Ring Ting showing the cream filling.


The Ring Ting's as packaged on the tray. These were my husband's favorite! They are moist chocolate with a cream filling and then a coating.


Raspberry Roll. Very moist and delcious with a coconut topping. Roll cakes like this are very difficult to make with wheat flour - how he manages to produce these without a crumbly texture, I do not know.

My son holding a Rainbow Cookie Square before it disappeared into his mouth. These were very colorful and delicious - like a layer cake with a chocolate coating. These do contain red 40 - which I prefer my child not consume, but for an occasional treat, these are super yummy.

The Rainbow Cookie Squares as they come packaged on the tray.

The entire shipment. As you can see, everything is packaged very well with very little breakage - only the chocolate chip cookies appear to have some broken ones.

Watch for more reviews as we try the rest of the goodies.

If you do not have access locally to a gluten free bakery and do not have the desire to bake yourself, I recommend trying Shabtai. The taste and quality are exceptional.

A new name for a familar product

Wellshire Farms and Wellshire Kids products are now Garrett County at all stores except Whole Foods. Whole Foods is continuing to use the Wellshire name.


Here are what the chicken bites look like now in the new packaging. The product is the same, the name is all that has changed.

Mock Goldfish Cracker Mix

Miss Robens used to offer a Mock Goldfish Cracker Mix. It was really good - very close to tasting like the real thing. I made it a few times but it was too much work for me (I was still working full-time at the time) and my child wasn't one of those really attatched to Goldfish crackers. I've had a lot of people asking if I knew of a gfcf goldfish cracker and I was amazed that it appeared to be gone from their website.

But, I have it on very good authority, that you can special order it from them. Because it is special order - you have to order by the case (12 mixes which are shelf stable for 1 year). A case costs $70.80 plus a special order fee. The order number is 1190, but it is not available through their website. You must call them to order. Their phone number is (800) 891-0083 or 240-329-2717 if outside the USA.

I hope that helps someone who has a child that must have his goldfish crackers.