Cookies, Breads, Tortillas and More Gluten-Free from Udi’s #udisglutenfree

Disclosure:  I participated in this program on behalf of Udi’s and The Motherhood. All opinions are my own.

Gluten allergies are something that while my family does not have, my youngest son does have food allergies and it sucks.  Not being able to eat foods you want or ones everything else is eating makes my son feel left out, so I am constantly trying to foods to replace our everyday foods with.  For awhile it seemed like gluten was in everything and gluten sufferers had to miss out, but thanks to Udi’s there is no more missing out!

Udi’s is a company that is the #1 gluten-free brand in America.  Their mission is to provide you with the best gluten-free food on the planet and I will say I tried a bunch of their products and they are on their way!  Now you may think that being gluten-free means foods won’t taste the same or will be blank, but Udi’s is like a magician for creating baked goods without gluten in them.  From breads to muffins to chips to tortillas, Udi’s product line of gluten free foods includes pretty much everything you’d you looking for!

Here are some of the products I checked out:

Soft Baked Salted Caramel Cashew Cookies- Yum!  I love caramel anything so I am a little bias, but these are good for store bought.

Soft and Chewy Snickerdoodle Cookies – Delicious!  Super chewy and soft as suggested!

Dark Chocolate Brownie Bites – These were full of chocolate goodness, which surprisingly I am not a big dark chocolate fan so these weren’t for me but I’m told by my kids they are good!

Thin and Crispy Pizza Crusts – I never thought about gluten free pizza crust, I love the option and the size is perfect for small personal pizzas!  It got crispy as well, which is a must for us.

Double Vanilla Muffins – What I love about these is they are a good size, full of vanilla goodness and moist!  These would be perfect to bring over for breakfast for someone or as a treat!

Active Antioxidant Blueberry Cashew Granola Clusters – You can eat this alone or with something, I actually added it on top of some vanilla yogurt – yum!

Aged Cheddar Ancient Grain Crisps – My 5 year old ate the whole bag!  So addicting and good!

Omega Flax & Fiber bread – Tasted hearty and delicious as my sandwich bread.

Honestly I don’t know if I can pick a favorite as they were all good, seriously there was not one product I disliked.  My husband and kids who were werirded out when I mentioned about eating gluten-free, didn’t even notice when I switched their usual products for Udi’s!  I take that back, actually my son loves the cookies more and my husband said to buy that “wheat” bread again.

Here are some questions and answers straight from Udi’s that I found interesting:

What are the benefits of eating a gluten free diet?

Wheat in general is a natural inflammatory so when you eat a ton of wheat, you may feel a little bit bloated, so any reduction in wheat will help alleviate those symptoms. We find that with a lot of people are sticking with the brand or eating gluten free just because they feel better.

But if you have celiac disease, your body doesn’t have the ability to process gluten and you can’t actually absorb the nutrients. So that actually has very long term effects! Udi’s is a real solution for those who have celiac disease or for gluten intolerance.

Will the benefits be seen if a family eliminates gluten products one at a time or do you have to completely go off of gluten to see the results?

If you have celiac disease or gluten intolerance, then you absolutely have to go off of it all the way! That’s the only way your body is going to heal itself and stay healed. If you are choosing to eat gluten free for your own health reasons then that is up to the individual. Some people choose to start by adopting “Gluten Free Friday.”

Are there any tips for families who want to cut back on gluten but not go completely gluten free?

We make simple substitutions in my family. So when we have pizza nights, I started using gluten free pizza crust instead of a wheat-based crust. There are some great gluten free pastas out there, so you can substitute gluten free pasta on spaghetti night. A lot of the time, no one notices a difference!

Will going gluten free help my child who has the occasional stomach grumbles?

That may be up to the individual. Simply make those trade-outs for gluten free products and see how your child is feeling before deciding to stick with it. Make a simple substitution like using gluten free bread for their sandwiches.

Do you have suggestions for trying to accommodate everyone in the family, when not everyone is gluten intolerant?

We see all the time that it is so much easier when the whole household goes on a gluten free diet together, so that everyone feels they are part of the group. What we try to do on our website is create recipes that nobody in the house would know that they are gluten free and recipes that the whole family can come together and enjoy.  See Udi’s gluten free recipes here.

Are there things we should look for (other than wheat or gluten) on an ingredients list?

Most of the hidden wheat ingredients will be lower on the list. It will be things like emulsifiers or wheat maltodextrin. Most of these things are in salad dressings or soups as a thickening agent. You want to look at ketchup to see if there is any wheat-based maltodextrin on the label.

How do you make the transition to a gluten free diet for a child?

If you really think that it is an intolerance or celiac disease, you need to cut wheat cold turkey! But do it in a way that you are still giving your child their favorites. If they love pizza, just use gluten free crust. You can have your child play an active role in trying out new options to make sure that they are great-tasting substitutes!

How has eating gluten free become a trend?

The way we eat is always evolving! Because we always are traveling and adapting to other types of eating, we as consumers continue to want more and more choices. Eating gluten free is the same; we are hearing more about how processed foods are unhealthy and now we just want another option for taking control of what they are eating and another option for eating healthier. It’s like eating vegetarian. Even non-vegetarians choose to be a vegetarian even if it’s only one day a week, just because it’s another healthy option.

Where can we find Udi’s products?

You can find us at national grocery stores. Sometimes it is in the bakery, sometimes it is in the frozen food section, depending on the product. Use our website store locator to find which grocery stores are carrying your products.

What new things are introduced to the Udi’s line?

We did just introduce a line of four frozen meals: a Classic Mac ’N’ Cheese with Penne Pasta, a Bacon Mac ‘N’ Cheese, a Sausage Lasagna and a Kale and Broccoli Lasagna! We really tried to make these taste homemade. For example, we used real cream and real ingredients so they would be tasty!

What is your best selling bread?

Our best sellers, by far, are two breads: the Whole Grain Bread and the White Sandwich Bread.

Are you in restaurants?

We have been working in the food service arena for the past two years. Our hamburger and hot dug buns are at stadiums, Red Robin and most other hamburger joints carry our hamburger buns and we are just starting to get traction with our pizza crust. We are really working hard to make sure that there are gluten free options for people in restaurants!

Overall, I love that Udi’s has so many products available in basically every category I could think of.  I have told two friends who have gluten allergies and they had no clue about the huge line of products from Udi’s!  I hope this can help others out there who have felt left out previously and I am actually switching some of our everyday products to Udi’s because they taste so dang delicious!

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BUY IT:  You can find Udi’s at most national grocery stores.  Use their website store locator to find which grocery stores in your area are carrying Udi’s.