Gluten Free Snacks for Work: Avoid being the Carrie CrankyPants of your Office

Sadly, I often work through my lunch at work.  When I get that hunger slump/grouchy, low blood sugar feeling, here's what gluten free goodies I bite off, in lieu of my coworkers' heads:

I like Justin's butters to spread on crackers or dip Glutino gluten free pretzels into.  I buy at Super Target or health store.

DeMet's turtles make a sweet gluten free treat.  I buy at drug store or Super Target.

These crispy rice bars are ONLY good when soft.  I ONLY like the peanut choc drizzle flavor.I buy at Super Target.

I like all flavors of the bunny fruit snacks.  I get them at Super Target. This is not my hand.

I buy these at Super Target or Whole Foods.  I spread with p.b., cheese,  or tuna.   They do not compare to a "regular" cracker, but are an acceptable gluten free topping-holder or chili-topping.

I prefer this Love Grow granola. (Udi's scrapes my gums in my mouth.  I hate Bakery on Main- it's not crunchy enough and gets stale too quickly.)  I buy LoveGrown at Kroger.

Tasty, but a bit hard to chew.  Beware- they can get hard, even though they are sealed in indiv. wrappers.

Lara bars are an ACQUIRED taste.  I used to only like Apple and Pecan.  Now I love this cookie dough kind and banana nut bread.

Nice, savory snack.  Worked great when I smelled someone cooking bacon in the toaster oven at work.

Gluten free heaven, but due to cost, I usually by the PLAIN and dip in my own chocolate or p.b.

Guiltlessly gluten free.  Some people don't eat Quaker since products are made on "shared" equipment.

Funny enough, I didn't like the first flavor I tried at a gf food faire- it was vegetable and chicken noodle.  Later, I had a coupon and was SURPRISED to LOVE the chili with angus beef, the chicken chili, and REALLY surprised I liked clam chowder  and Thai curry chicken soup, since I didn't eat those flavors prior to being gluten free!  These FROZEN gluten free soups taste BETTER THAN CANNED soups- better seasoning, fresher, ONLY 250 CALORIES and lots of MEAT!

I add Love Joy granola to my yogurt.  This is the yogurt my boyfriend prefers, and it is good.   I stock up when Kroger has them on sale for $1.

Gluten Free Foods I've Tried Lately

Gluten Free Foods I've tried lately:

Restaurants:

Blue Moon Pizza in Sandy Springs, GA---  I liked the pizza, it was $16 and they offer Redbridge and Green's GF beers.  The pizza was tasty, with fresh toppings, but my stomach was upset that evening, but my stomach gets sensitive just from eating "too much" gf flour-laden/processed foods I think.  I ate at least half of the tasty 10" pizza, so I probably did it to myself!  Their website lists the exact ingredients of the dough and the precautions they take for GF preparation, too!

Blue Moon Gluten Free Pizza and Green's gluten free Beer

Orange Chicken from Lavender Asian Bistro

Moe's Southwest: Dunwoody, GA--- Now that I'm a Parole Officer, I enjoy that they give a "uniform discount"-25%, so I had the pork rice bowl and the dressing that comes with it is excellent.  I did ask the preparer to use new gloves and a clean spoon and to take food from the untouched, back area of the bins to prepare mine.  And...I felt fine after eating there- which is a great thing when you're driving in a car with 2 other officers, visiting parolees at their houses.  The cool Coca Cola machine that you get to fill up your own soda with is fun, too!  Sprite Zero is my hero!  Here is Moe's website.

Lavender Asian Bistro-Lawrenceville, GA---I thought the place was modern and elegant. The server was funny, knowledgeable and on point. I ordered orange chicken, which was delightfully breaded, and had a thick sauce with strawberries and mango, but a bit too sweet. I still enjoyed it. The calamari was very good- similar to the gluten version in most places. The fact that most dishes contain MSG was alarming. It was a fun event socializing with others without worrying about after-effects, cross-contamination, ordering miscommunication,etc. The price was reasonable as well.  Here's the website.

Gluten Free Foods and Snacks:

Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free Cornbread Mix:

Looks great, nice texture, and fairly easy to prepare.  The problem is, I got sick from eating it.  I keep a gluten free kitchen, but I do have stomach issues sometimes when I eat more than a small amount of products with lots of gf flours and stuff.  For example, if I have more than one of Pamela's cookies or Lucy's (the parts per million must add up).  If you don't have trouble eating gf baked goods, you'll be fine.  

I'm taking these back to the store for a refund.  Gross!

Mi-Del S'mores gluten free snacks:  I got these at Whole Paycheck Foods.  Thought it would be a nice addition to my snack drawer at work.  Uhhh- not!  Yuk.  Overly crunchy, bad texture, not reminiscent of a s'more over the fire in any way.  Tastes like they took bad oreo crumbs and condensed them together, similar to pressed particleboard.  Luckily, Whole Foods gives you your $ back for products you return because you don't like them.  

My favorite cupcake- from Whole Foods Market- frozen section

Whole Foods Bakery Cupcakes- in the frozen section- my longtime favorite cupcake. I've eaten these for years.  They are a staple for PMS days.  Microwave for 20 seconds on defrost.  People often ask me my favorite ready-made cupcakes and it's a tie between these and Red Velvet Cupcakery in D.C.'s black velvet gluten free cupcake.

Glow Gluten Free Cookies:  Previously, I stated that I hated these chocolate chip cookies and was bewildered as to why anyone would eat the crumbly, dry wreckage of a cookie.  Interestingly enough, I'd won them as part of a prize basket in a silent auction at a gf food faire, so I had several boxes and flavors.  I now realize that the first box I tried must have been OLD.  So many gluten free products have a short shelf life, which is extra annoying because they are so much more expensive, so it's a bigger waste when you throw them away.  I saved the other boxes to "donate" to any willing takers at the next meetup for my GF dinner group.  Unwittingly, in an act of PMS desperation, I tore into the double chocolate box a few weeks later, and they, surprisingly enough,were GOOD!  Thin, chewy, and rich chocolate flavor.  Serendipity at its best, the snickerdoodles and gingersnaps were also chewy, flavorful, and yummy!  At the right price, I would buy them.  Here is the website.  I have no idea where to buy them.

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Just like the gluteny "Kraft Blue Box" kind I grew up on.  Great taste, price, and above, all TEXTURE!
Two Thumbs WAAAAY UP!!!!!  I got mine at Trader Joe's in Sandy Springs, GA.