Maggie Bee Gluten Free / Sinfully Safe Introduction and Product Review

“Let Them Eat Cake.” Words not often heard with any real pleasure by a person who needs to adhere to a gluten free diet. I mean sure, there are some gluten free cakes out there in the supermarket freezer section as well as gluten free cake mixes, but most are just downright substandard and the rest taste like they came from a box! So if you need to be gluten free and have gone for so long without eating bakery type desserts, then I guess anything the manufacturers throw at you seems tasty.

However, just like regular savory foods I am also a bit of a food snob when it comes to dessert. As it stands, I do not bake and have given up that pursuit a long time ago after a bevy of personal failures from best selling gluten free baking cookbooks that I have attempted. Nope, I am going to stick with what I am really good at and leave the baking to the professional.

Enter Maggie Bee Gluten Free and her product line Sinfully Safe.

Unlike most items I review where someone is seeking me out, this one came to me by way of a friend who wanted to bring a dessert to my wife and daughter at a party (thanks Nikki!). Before I review the product though, let me tell you a little about Margaret Bauer, owner and baker of Maggie Bee Gluten Free.

I met Margaret for coffee to talk about her story and her product. I have to say, I am always fascinated to hear how people start to do what they do in the gluten and allergy free world. Her story begins with the all too familiar word “misdiagnosis,” as is heard through much of the gluten free community when it comes to getting that first diagnosis. After the actual diagnosis though, her story reminds me a lot like my own. Basically, after trying many different gluten free products and being unhappy with the substandard quality of them, she took it upon herself to start baking. After perfecting her recipes, visitors at her house would have her desserts and say, “Margaret, you should sell desserts they are so good.” One thing led to another, and now we have the Maggie Bee Gluten Free bakery.

She brought me many products to try out, and while I did try some while chatting with her, the real sit down part of my review was later when I got home.

On the menu: brownies (regular and peanut butter version), chocolate chip cookies and a sample version of their Pecan Banana Muffin.

Let’s start with the look of this product. The cookies looked like Toll-House cookies, the brownies were big and looked like they were baked to perfection and the Pecan Banana Muffins looked decadent. Basically, these items did not look like gluten free products, which are typically dry and crumbly. And while the look of a product may not be so important to some, I tend to eat with my eyes first!

Next up, the deciding factor…taste. Let me just skip to the chase on this since I have three items to talk about and can sum this up in two words…COFECTION PERFECTION! Seriously, I am not kidding!

I am blown away by these products. The only things going through my head while eating these products were how moist and delicious they were.

What was not going through my head was how good of a “gluten free” product they were. I seriously could not taste the difference in flavor or texture in these from that of a regular gluten containing product. In fact, I would bet anyone that if you had these items side by side with gluten containing products that they could not tell the difference, either visually or by flavor.

These products are more of a home-baked item from a bakery rather than a supermarket bought product. The cookies really looked like my wife whipped up a batch of Toll-House cookies. The texture was no different than its look. Side note: The dunk ability factor was truly irresistible.

The brownies looked like a real brownie should, and not like a big hunk of processed fudge. They tasted just like they looked; crisp on the outside with a chewy and super moist looking inside. I have to admit, they are addictive and the ones with peanut butter were killer.

Last, and by no means least, was the Pecan Banana Muffins. These were so good I am actually glad I only had one to eat. They were super moist and were loaded with flavor and texture. Self control would have gone right out the window if I had more.

As you are no doubt looking to try the Maggie Bee Gluten Free line of Sinfully Safe desserts at this point, remember to ask your local store if they carry it. If not, I am sure they will get it in for you.

By the way, don’t think I am being a hypocrite reviewing dessert items and then posting about “Diets, and your failure to succeed.” While I have been taking the high road to health and wellness as of late, it does not mean I have denied myself the occasional indulgence. In fact, rule # 1 to my six month program is that “deprivation” is evil. So after working out five days a week and eating super healthy, you bet your abs that I am going to enjoy a cookie or a cupcake in moderation, if so presented with one, on an occasion.

This just in: Delicious Orchards in Colts Neck, NJ will now be carrying Maggie Bee Gluten Free line of Sinfully Safe baked goods.

Resources:

Sinfully Safe Website

Facebook Fan Page

Twitter Handle: @sinfullysafegf

Delicious Orchards, NJ: http://www.deliciousorchardsnj.com/welcome/index.php

Gluten Tox Home screening kit (review)

I was asked about a month ago to try out the Gluten Tox Home screening test kit. I have to admit, I have seen the product before, but since we have a gluten free home, I never saw the need to research the product further.

The test is simple enough to use although it has a few working parts in order to get a result. The test comes with easy to follow directions and takes about 20 minutes in total to complete from beginning to end. The kit is capable of testing from 20PPM (parts per million) down to as little as 5PPM. 

The way I tested this product was to actually add a small (the size of a crumb) gluten containing piece of food into a large amount of non gluten containing liquid, one that I knew would dissolve easily so I can actually see if the test showed a result. I tested down to 5PPM because I thought this would be a more beneficial test as my family is severely GI. 

TEST RESULTS:
The test yielded POSITIVE for gluten at the 5PPM mark. 

The test does in fact work, which I found kind of cool. I’m no mad scientist, but I felt like I was back in school for a few minutes. 

So is this at home test kit worth it? Well yes and no. I live in a gluten free household so this test is not something I would need to have on hand. If you had a mixed household (gluten containing foods along with your gluten free foods) than I would say it is not a bad idea. The biggest drawback that I see is that the test takes 20 minutes. One would assume though that this is not for testing every meal, as that would be time consuming and costly, but geared more towards big occasions one might have in their house…at least in my opinion.

Gluten Tox Home kit

 

Where I do see a huge use for this product would be in a commercial setting. Being a certified GF restaurant means that an establishment has gone through the proper training in safe food handling and preparation, via a certification organization (such as the GIG or the GREAT program). However, this is not always enough as I have seen even the best of establishments fail when it comes to improperly trained staff and cross contamination. Any commercial establishment that serves both regular and gluten free foods could find this very useful if they are preparing large quantities of food. They could very well test entire batches of food(s) to insure that the entire lot is gluten free. This would bring an extra layer of security on top of their certification. Better peace of mind for the patrons if you ask me. 

Just to give you an idea of the miniscule amount it takes to get an adverse reaction from gluten, take a look at this picture below. Both the 20PPM and the 5PPM are very tiny given the size of the bread, but when you suffer from an autoimmune disease or a severe reaction to anything, size is irrelevant. Keep in mind, that even the tiniest piece of gluten ingested by a person with Celiac disease is creating an autoimmune reaction. So regardless if you feel like you are sick from ingesting gluten or not, you are still doing damage to your body. The same holds true for people who are not Celiac and are instead gluten intolerant. They may not have an autoimmune reaction, but other damage is happening to their body. For more information on the effects of gluten to a person with Celiac disease or gluten intolerance, contact me through my Healthy Xpectations website.

Slice of bread showing the size of 20ppm and 5ppm

  

Side note; I am not a fan of any establishment that wants to say they serve gluten free foods or have a gluten free menu, but has not gone through one of the certification programs out there. Any establishment that offers these foods on a menu or advertises them, but has not taken the time to get a certification in safe food handling and preparation, is just out to make a buck. And while I do appreciate making money as much as the next guy, I wouldn’t go about saying so without the paperwork to back it up! So if you have issues with gluten do me a favor and find a certified restaurant. You’re not only helping yourself, but also future generations of food intolerance and allergy sufferers by making them realize that the customer really does come first. 

Resources:

Gluten Tox Website: http://glutentox.com/