Thursday, March 4, 2010

A Gluten-Free Trip to BJ's

Boy, did I have a great time at BJ's Wholesale Club this morning. I went in to buy garbage bags and tissue (yawn). I came out with several yummy, gluten-free finds. I thought about separating my reviews into separate posts, but naaaaaaaah. So, hold on to your hats folks...this is going to be a looooooong post! Mrs. May's Naturals Cran-Blueberry Crunch If you love crunchy, nutty treats, this one's for you! Mrs. May's is Gluten-Free, Wheat-Free Dairy-Free and Vegan and has no cholesterol and no preservatives. The ingredients in this snack are cashews, almonds, pistachios, dried cranberries, dried blueberries, natural flavor, sesame seeds, rice malt, evaporated cane juice and sea salt. The serving size is 6 pieces and each serving has 172 calories, 2 grams of fiber and 12 grams of fat, making it 4 WW points. It also has 5 grams of protein. The 20 oz. bag was $6.99. It even has the Celiac Sprue Association stamp of approval on the bag! I loved this snack. The crunchy, little fruity, nutty nuggets are really tasty. It's hard to stop at 6 pieces!!! Second Nature Wholesome Medley My family loves trail mix. When I saw this bag, I just couldn't resist. Who could resist "A naturally savory and sweet assortment of dark chocolate chunks, roasted and salted peanuts, almonds and cashews, tart red cherries and dried cranberries"? Well, obviously, not me!
This trail mix is not marked gluten-free, however, I didn't see anything in the ingredients that would make me suspect gluten. The allergy information does state however, that it is manufactured on equipment that also processes peanuts, tree nuts, soybeans, milk and wheat.
The Serving size is about 3 tablespoons. Each serving has 130 calories, 2 grams of fiber and 9 grams of fat. 3 WW points. It has 4 grams of protein. What I really like about this trail mix is that it has big chunks of antioxidant-packed dark chocolate! Yum! (Now, if my daughter doesn't pick out all of the chocolate chunks and leave only nuts and berries! LOL!) Oh, and the 32 oz. bag cost me $9.99.
If there's anything my daughter likes more than trail mix, it would be gummy candy. I definitely had her in mind when I saw these.
Sunkist Fruit Gems are from the makers of Jelly Belly. They are made with 5 fruit juices, 100% Daily Value of Vitamin C per serving, Naturally Flavored, Naturally Fat and Gluten-Free and are OU Kosher Certified.
They come individually wrapped and come in Lime, Lemon, Orange, Raspberry and Grapefruit flavors. A nice little treat for in a child's (or adults) lunch box!
They do have sugar and corn syrup in them, if you are sensitive to either of those ingredients. The service size is 4 pieces. There are 130 calories, 0 fiber and 0 fat per serving. 3 WW points. The 2 pound bag cost $7.99.
Classico Pasta Sauce
I buy Classico Pasta Sauce all the time. We really like the taste, especially the Four Cheese and the Cabernet Marinara with Herbs. So when I saw a three-pack that included these flavors, I had to grab it! The three pack included two jars of Four Cheese and one jar of Marinara.
This sauce is labeled gluten-free right on the back.
The Cabernet Marinara with Herbs has 70 calories, 2 grams of fiber and 2 grams of fat in one 125 gram serving. Which I think is about a 1/2 cup. 1 WW point.
The Four Cheese has 80 calories, 3 grams of fiber and 3 grams of fat. Also 1 WW point.
The three-pack was $5.99, which isn't really much of a savings over the Walmart price. :(
Other Notes:
~ Did you all see Jillian mention Larabars on The Biggest Loser Tuesday night? :)
~ I was very disappointed earlier this week to find out that one of our local Price Chopper stores actually REMOVED their gluten-free section (and items) from their store. Wow. There are some items still located throughout the store, but you have to hunt for them.
~ Along with the disappearance of the gluten-free section, I am also no longer able to find my favorite Schar brand spaghetti at Price Chopper. First, they get me hooked on Bell and Evan's Gluten-Free Chicken Nuggets and then stop carrying them and now my pasta!!! Shame, shame on them!
~ I was happy to find that Amazon.com carries Schar GF Spaghetti for $18.92 for a 5 pack ($3.78 ea) . Which is cheaper than the $4.49 each I was paying at Price Chopper. So...pfffffffttttt! :P
So now I come to the end of my really looooong post! I hope you stayed with me!
Have a healthy, gluten-free day!!! :)

4 comments:

Simply Life said...

YUM! Looks like you picked up some really great foods!

Alison said...

Look like you had a great grocery trip yesterday! Welcome to the foodie blogroll!

Lisa said...

Alison,

Thank you! :)

Lisa

Velva said...

Looks like you had a blast at BJ's... I have yet to go into Costco and get only what's on my list.