Adventures in GF Shopping

The Adventures Continue: Level 2 - Erie, PA
Begun March 2013

When I first began my GF journey I was living in assorted parts of New Jersey, shopping primarily at Shop Rite. (I did try the local Walmart but they didn't have a GF section & the employee I asked was so rude he was borderline hostile!) Where I am in Erie there aren't any Shop Rites so it was back to the drawing board - or the internet in any case :) I found that there were 3 options within acceptable distances from the house (because lets face it we spend almost as much on gas to get to the store as we do buying the food!). My choices were Giant Eagle, Wegman's, & .... Walmart. 

 

(Just 1 more example of how "Special" the Walmart experience can be.)

Needless to say I was less than eager for a repeat of my previous visit to a Walmart, however it is very close to the house & a preferred shopping option of my much beloved roomie :) It has taken 1 month & 3 separate trips but we are beginning to locate GF options in the Walmart. We have yet to locate an actual Gluten Free section, but randomly interspersed you can - if you look REALLY carefully - find a few items. On the whole it has proven a headache & half to shop for GF items at Walmart; also the fact that they mix everything together rather bothers me - do they not understand the concept of cross-contamination? (on a side note, is it just me or does anyone else feel like GF are located near all of the bakeries? - I swear I have to walk through walls of baked goods each time I go shopping!)

(I don't have permission to plaster my roomie's face across the net so I "borrowed" this image from photobucket - we LOVE the beach; but she wouldn't be caught dead in pink.... lol)

My roommate is BEYOND amazing, I could not ask for a better, more understanding (read Patient - with a capital "P") friend! She asked where I would like to try next, & pointed out that Wegman's was likely to have the best selection (even though it's the most expensive & farthest from the house) of the 3 options. SO off we went, into the wild blue yonder...... 

I've been sick for a while & unable to work so money is - well non-existent for the most part, although I do qualify for $200 a month from SNAPS (aka food stamps with a snazzier name).  I think most people would agree that Wegman's has a reputation for being expensive, worth it from what I'd heard - but "worth it" only gets you so far on a limited budget. In the past I avoided the temptations of Wegman's, but I did NOT want to drag my friend all over tarnation in search of the elusive gluten free beast so off went, again. lol.

Additional cost aside, can I just say i LOVE Wegman's! They have multiple aisles of Gluten free food! You get to choose from more than 2 brands!! Also the Wegman's brand pancakes are really tasty :)  Most of the brands they sell are new to me so there is lots of trial & error in our future - I will attempt to share as many of these experiments with you all as possible. That is assuming I don't fall victim to the dread Mind Killer (also known as memory fog)!

(This is a demonstration of my thoughts being lost in the mists of Fibro Fog - many of you understand this all too well)

Now even though I love Wegman's, Giant Eagle is closer to our house - & as previously discussed, cheaper; so we have also checked it out in hopes of scoring a few items cheaper whenever possible.  Sadly options are limited (read pitiful), we couldn't even find my Coconut milk! 

When it comes to GF grocery shopping in Erie, PA I rank Giant Eagle #3, Walmart #2, & Wegman's #1. If anyone knows of other options in the Erie area please share! 



Adventures in Gluten Free Shopping: Level 1 - Burlington County, New Jersey
Begun January 2013

 A blog I read called Gluten Free Mom suggested Udi's as the brand to try, so I took their advice & looked for it at my local store - Shoprite. On my first attempt at GF shopping I managed to stumble across the GF section when picking up some Ensure for my Opa. I found lots of options but no Udi's :(  So I picked up a brand of bread called Ener-G.

I had been told that it was best to toast GF breads as they tended to be rather dry; so that afternoon I eagerly popped my bread in the toaster on 1 (I like my breads very lightly toasted), & proceeded to make a sandwich to go with my tomato soup. Well the Ener-G wasn't bad, it had a good - kind of nutty - taste to it. However, it was SO dry that I soaked chunks of the whole sandwich in the soup & STILL thought the bread was too dry! I was determined to make the best of it though because - at the time - I assumed Shoprite must not carry Udi's - I decided that next time I would use extra mayo & soaked it even longer in the soup as well as experiment with various levels of toasting.

The following week during 1 of my bi weekly shopping trips my shoe came untied - which is super rare with my hiking boots - so i stopped at the end of the fridge section to tie it. As I stand up I realize I am staring at a full ridge display of none other than Udi's! It had never occurred to me to check the fridge or freezer sections!!

And what a magical sight it was, I found myself staring at breads & muffins I had thought I would never get to eat again! I couldn't believe the selections - blueberry, lemon streussel, double chocolate chip muffins... I think I almost cried as i reached in & grabbed the chocolate muffins & a loaf whole grain bread.

 

I store both in the fridge - since that's where I found them. The muffins were AMAZING! They were soft, moist, & wonderfully chocolatey; I never would have known they were GF if they hadn't been labeled as such.I have not tried microwaving or toasting the muffins yet but I've been told that I don't know what I'm missing :) so I'll be giving that a try tonight.

As for the bread, I had bought the Whole Grain Bread which looks & tastes something like artisan bread. It has a light airy center & dark thick crust. I have been toasting it every time i eat it but I just read that you can eat it without toasting it & it still tastes amazing. I also recently found a recipe for french toast with this type of bread! I'm super excited because french toast is 1 of my favorite foods in the world - up there with mac n' cheese! - & a another recipe for grilled cheese! needless to say I am beyond thrilled. I can't thank the people at Udi's enough, I love everything of there's that I try & I plan on trying everything that they have! although this is likely to take me a while seeing as how I'm broke - my mom bought me some of the chocolate muffins as part of my birthday present because I liked them that much!

Any way, if you have Celiac, GI, or just plain want to get away from wheat I HIGHLY recommend you try Udi's, they are now the standard that I compare everything else to!