1•2•3 Gluten Free

Has anyone ever tried any other 1•2•3• Gluten Free products before?? I saw this Pan Bar mix sitting on a shelf in a little gourmet grocer & I decided I had to pick it up. 

These were super easy to make and they turned out DELICIOUS!!

There are a few different ways to go with this mix - you can make the mix with applesauce, pumpkin, sweet potato, etc. I decided to go with pumpkin because I had just opened a can for oatmeal the day before -- and it was just the mix, canola oil, pumpkin & eggs - mix it up, bake it, and done!

These are amazingly light & fluffy and  have a wonderful taste with a bit of spice. I'm trying to be good so I'm not sure why I made these -- but I plan on putting in an extra 15 minutes or so at the gym so I can have one when I get home!!

Weekend Breakfasts

So since my love of egg/cheese/sometimes bacon sandwiches is out of control right now - I cannot afford to eat Joan's everyday, so I was at Whole Foods & decided to try some Glutino brand English Muffins (per Jenny's recommendation).  I checked out the nutritional info & it's pretty good - 1 muffin has 190 calories, 2.5g fat,  4g of protein, 1g protein & 410mg sodium. And they were very good! They're very light & fluffy - and I like the cornmeal that coated on the outside. You can see from the pic it's not as dense as Joan's -- and accompanied with my breakfast is a steaming cup of hot apple cider - YUM.

On Saturday I decided to mix it up and make oatmeal for a change. After my issue with the oats a few weeks back, and getting in touch with Bob's Red Mill - they sent me two huge bags! Thanks Bobs!

I made them on the stovetop with milk, a splash of vanilla extract, tsp of ground flax seeds, and a large spoonful of organic pumpkin mixed in! I love my oats to be creamy & think - the pumpkin helps for that & adds some nutritional goodness... You'll also see quite a bit of melting light brown sugar, and a spoonful of organic peanut butter.  They were great! And very filling.

And finally - an open-faced version of a bacon/egg/cheese -- I used a piece of GF bread I had in the freezer, a slice of turkey bacon, a slice of cheese, and a pan-fried egg on top. I doubled up on my drinks and had a glass of OJ along with my morning tea.

Just writing this is making me want breakfast again!!

Today's Food

Well, I wasn't laying when I was telling you that I have been eating the same thing every day - YUM. Not sick of it yet. Today I treated myself to a Joan's english muffin (due to the crappy weather!) with canadian bacon, a fried egg, and TWO slices of cheese :) Also with it - my morning cup of tea... and you can just barely make out our tree in the background. I try to watch at least half an hour of the Today Show in the morning and enjoy my breakfast & tea. This is the reason I am almost always late to work.

I also try to pack up my lunch & snacks every day. If you recall WAY back when I started writing again on this blog - I was on a mission to loose some weight, which I did, and kept off, but I'm still not at my goal... anyway - I was doing the ABS Diet - which was perfect for me. You basically eat lots of snacks & try to get a good balance of food at eat meal & snack. The only thing I'm cheating with here might be the TJ's Meringues - but they are PERFECT for my tiny sweet cravings, and 4 of them is only 100 calories, and 0 grams of fat (they are mostly air).

So here is my lunch & snacks for the day.... an orange, a salad & some dressing, a bag of almonds, some leftover Tinkyada pasta mixed with broccoli, cauliflower & lite trader joes shredded cheese, 3 meringues, and a slice of Light Laughing Cow Garlic & Herb cheese ( I spread this on rice cakes for a late day snack - I keep the rice cakes in my desk).

And there you have it.... do you guys eat like this? Grazers? Or one meal at lunch & maybe 1 snack?

Heavenly

I thought that was a good title for this picture I took of my ham, egg & cheese the other day with the light shining through the window on my tasty morning meal.

This has been my breakfast craving, everyday, for the past couple months. I can't get enough. I'm definitely one to choose savory over sweet -- give me salt over sugar any day!

This particular breakfast sandwich is on a Joan's GF English Muffin - but I try to use them sparingly, as they cost a fortune. I also change up between turkey bacon, Canadian bacon, smoked Canadian bacon, I also mix it up with either a fried, microwaved, or poached egg, and 9 times out of 10 there is cheese on there (either LoL American white, cheddar, or mozz). This morning I just used whatever GF bread I had in the fridge, but I prefer an english muffin. I also usually sprinkle some ground flax seed & a little seasoned salt onto the egg.

Mmmm..... I could eat this for breakfast, lunch & dinner.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I wish everyone the best during the holiday!!!!!

Will post next week with pics of my gluten free feast! :)

Blog-inspiration

The thing I love about blogs is that you get inspiration for something new every time you click into a new page. I love it!

I have found so many wonderful recipes/ideas/snacks/hints, etc about gluten free eating in the past few months -- what did people do before the internet? I feel lucky that we're gluten free at this time, and have each other & the internet to help us through the process -- it's less lonely, and you always know there are people here that just get it.

Recently I had a comment from Hannah at Gluten Free Garden, and while browing through her site (and gorgeous photos!) she had a simple recipe for Avocado Toast (see it here Gluten Free Garden)... I had a bag of avocados at home, and thought of it this morning - and made my own version. I had just used up all the goat cheese I had in the house for the lasagna I made, so I went with cream cheese. I normally love capers, but this morning it was too much - so it's just toasted pieces of multigrain Schar gluten free bread with cream cheese, sliced avocado, salt & pepper, and some fresh squeezed lemon.

YUM - delicious combo! I even made some for matt on whole wheat toast - and he LOVED it... So thanks for the idea Hannah!!

I also made Liz's stuffed cabbage last week & haven't posted yet... that one is coming - thanks Liz!

Gluten Free Apple Pie

It's my favorite time of year for food! I especially have been loving all things APPLES. We've gone through about 5 gallons of apple cider - I love it hot or cold. We have eaten 4 bags of freshly picked apples from New England, and somehow I only made one pie.

One reason for that - the crust. It intimidates me. Especially now that I'm gluten free. Before, I usually 'cheated' and got the pre-made crust. It was just so much easier - and I never had the time to wait for the dough in the fridge, you know?

Anyway - this time, I was going to try to make a crust from a mix I bought, I believe it was Gluten Free Pantry, but the amount of butter that was too be added scared me, and again, I had to wait for it, and then roll it out. Perhaps when I have a kitchen that has counter space, this will be more fun. Now, I have to re-arrange everything to have space to do that.

So I decided to run out to my local Whole Foods and see if they had any Gluten Free Bakehouse pre-made GF Pie Crusts. Luckily, they did! In my past experience with these, I found that the bottom of the pie crust always stuck to the foil pan and ripped a big hole in what was to be the top crust.  So this time I was very careful to make sure I didn't ruin it - there was no easy way around that, I just used a spatula to get the top crust on... The edges were weird, so I had to do a little bit of arranging - but it came out great!

This pie crust is GREAT. I realize that pie crust is almost entirely butter, but YUM. I do a very simple apple pie - I used Macoun  and Cortland apples for this, sliced very thinly, and I usually add one or two more apples than recipes call for. I don't really follow a recipe, but I always check out my copy of "How to Cook Everything" before I make something... but here's what I used:

Granulated sugar

Brown sugar

Cornstarch

dash of salt

Cinnamon

Nutmeg

Allspice

Let me know if you want more specifics & I'll let you know. My only problem, I always wing recipes, and sometimes they don't always work out. In this case - I don't think I added enough cornstarch, and I think I could've used more sugar. Maybe next time I'll use a little all purpose flour mix or some rice flour because it was a tad runny. But who cares really? It was delicious!

I think I'll make an apple crisp next!

PS - I LOVE COOL WHIP - that's what you see added on top!

Quick, Easy, Cheap, Tasty...

Home-made chicken & vegetable fried rice.

I've been making this dish quite a bit recently. It's been getting cold, and I've been wanting warm comfort food, and I always have ingredients in the house to make this. This last time I used brown rice, but I've gotta say - it's better with white rice. Maybe I just didn't add enough soy sauce.

Anyway, here's how I make it, but I change it up every time, and I think you could add anything to this that you like....

Cooked Rice

Chicken, Beef or Shrimp

Veggies - frozen usually, or fresh - I don't like canned veggies in this, because the flavor is too overwhelming

Canned mushrooms (in unsalted water) or fresh sauteed mushrooms

Soy Sauce

1 egg

I usually cook the rice with a bit of bouillon, in a separate pan I add a bit of canola oil, and add the chicken (or whatever you add), cook that through, then add some veggies & some soy sauce to taste (I vary it each time), then add the cooked rice & a bit more soy sauce. Once that is all mixed together, make a little well in the center & add the egg, incorporate it into the rice mixture. 

That's pretty much it! It's very good - and very easy. I usually have all the ingredients in the house, so it's a good last minute option.

ps - sorry for the terrible pic!

Schar Brand

Thanks for all the well-wishes everyone! I'm already in the thick of wedding planning!

Anyway.... When I was at "A New Leaf" in Needham, I found a brand I had heard about but never tried - Schar. I decided to get their "Classic White Bread" first, see if I like it, then try some of their other products.  Overall - I really like it!

The pieces are very small (typical) but the taste is great - there is no strange gluten free taste - it's just good & doesn't take away from whatever you're eating with it. I can't remember how much this bread cost, but I know it wasn't cheap. So I'm torn, because I like the product, but don't think I can afford to keep it stocked in my pantry.

Anyway - have you tried this or any of their products? I may go back & get the pizza crust!

Why I haven't been around.....

I got engaged last weekend!!!!!!! :) :)

It was the perfect long weekend, and we were in the perfect place... it couldn't have been better, and I was SO SURPRISED!!! I'm still in shock a bit, but am so happy! 

We are so excited to start planning our wedding and want to get married somewhere in August - October 2009 - just under a year from now! I'm sure there will be a few related blog posts moving forward.

I'll get back to business next week, but for now I've just been so busy making calls, visiting, and telling "the story" over & over again... not to mention that work is incredibly busy right now! Grr -- all I want to do is stay on cloud 9 and dream about the big day!

A New Leaf - Needham, MA

I finally made it to "A New Leaf" in Needham, MA! (thanks to rochelle for reminding me it was there) - WOW, this place was STOCKED with the most gluten free food I've ever seen!

Check it out! This place is TINY and totally stocked from floor to ceiling. It was like a gluten-free dream. They had all the brands I've seen before, and lots that I had never heard of, or had only read about online. I grabbed a basket and it was overflowing within minutes. I decided to get mostly new things that I had never tried before, and got a couple things that were screaming my name (Joan's English Muffins, for example).

One of the most exciting new things I found was Conte's Gluten Free Pasta... Ever tried this before? I bought their frozen pierogies, ravioli and gnocchi.... SO EXCITING. I will warn you though, this stuff is not cheap. The 3 packages I purchased ranged in price from $7.99 - $11.99. Yowzah! 

I decided to go for the Pierogies first -- these used to be a favorite meal in college for some reason. I think they must have sold them at the shop around the corner, so I was really excited to see these -- and they tasted just like I remembered! I just added a bit of butter on top and ate up the entire bowl in about 2 seconds.

So I had actually gone to this store to find pre-made apple pie crusts, which they were sold out of - but that was OK, I bought some mixes to try... Perhaps you will see that in an upcoming post.

Finally -- the woman working at the store said that the owner wanted to help out those eating gluten free so he is offering 10% off all gluten free items in the store -- which is awesome. 

Bob's Red Mill GF Oats

Marlow was right!

I had a bag of Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free Oats in my pantry that I opened this morning and the Oats tasted like peanuts! Actually when I was cooking them I could smell the peanut aroma. 

So, in case any of you have the same problem, it looks like Bob's Red Mill had some quality issues with their oats (a representative commented on Marlow's page).

I wonder how we can tell which bags are OK??

Joan's Gluten Free Great Bakes Review

It was a perfect time to receive my order from Joan's because it's been pouring rain here in the northeast!

The order came in this nifty frozen package, complete with dry ice to ensure everything stayed frozen:

I ordered some bagels, sandwich bread & cookies.... I wanted to try out the sandwich bread first because I had the bagels & cookies at the cooking spree.

For some reason - the sandwich bread has a totally different taste than the bagels - it has that "gluten free taste"  - the texture is great, and the flavor is good. But it's not the bagels.

I'll still eat it, maybe it'll taste better later, but I doubt it.

It baked nicely with a good crusty crust

I made a turkey & cheese and it was definitely better than your standard small square of bread.

So then it was on to the bagels! I order plain and the onion, egg & poppy seed.

OK -- i'm not even sure what to write here, because they are just SO GOOD. They taste like real bagels - no, not just real bagels - they remind me of New York bagels. If that's not a compliment, I don't know what is.

A pic of the finished product is at the top, but here is the package & the de-frosted bagels on the baking sheet. Check 'em out:

I still have to make the chocolate chip cookies, and I'm really looking forward to that! I'm sad that the bagels will be gone quickly because they're never going to make it past Monday, I ate two today...  It's also too bad that Joan's products are SO EXPENSIVE.... but if you have a special event or are just craving a really good tasting bagel, it may be worth the occasional splurge. 

If these were cheaper, I'd probably keep them stocked in my freezer all the time.

***UPDATE: Just wanted to let you know that as of today (Monday) the bagels have gotten very hard so they don't keep that well - good thing there is only 1 left! I cut through one (with difficulty) and toasted it and it still tasted delicious -- but it lost it's first day glory. If I get these again I will probably bake on demand.

Also - Joan has added some new locations to where she stocks her items, check it out here.

GF Cooking Spree Booty

As you already know -- the Gluten Free Cooking Spree was last weekend and it was SO FUN! The above picture shows all of goodies I collected at the Vendor tables. WOW - I've been eating samples since Sunday. 

My favorite by far: Joans Gluten Free Great Bakes.

I've read about these bagels/muffins/cookies on other websites (Celiac Chicks for example) and I finally got to try them -- INCREDIBLE. I placed an online order today - not cheap, but really worth it. I can't wait to try their sandwich bread.

And, the best part -- One bagel is only 4g of fat, and 270 calories. WOW - compared to the 12g of fat in one "Against The Grain" bagel - that's awesome. And they taste like REAL bagels. I'm not kidding people.

I got two samples of her english muffins, which I promptly ate. Sunday I made a turkey bacon, egg, & cheese on the muffin, and only remembered to take a picture when there was one bight left:

It was DELICIOUS.

Ok - enough raving about Joans.... Jenny over at Sugar & Spice created an awesome & thorough blog about the event, so if you haven't seen it already, check it out, she took some great pics -- except for one very unflattering picture of me & matt with pizza hanging out of our mouths.

Anyway, it was great - we got to gorge ourselves on pizza, Redbridge, soft pretzels, cookies, etc etc...

SOO BUSY!!!

Hi All :) Just wanted to update... I have been so incredibly busy with work (even working on the weekend, boo!!) so I have barely been able to update, nevermind even go on line to read other blogs!

Wanted to update -- I wrote to Outback and they got back in touch and were super friendly! They're going to be sending me something, but I spoke with the manager there just to let  him know that it's hard to go back there & feel safe after what happened!

The beauty of a gluten free menu is supposed to be WORRY FREE.... but mistakes happen, I get that. I was nice about it for sure - he asked how I was feeling which was also nice.

Speaking of which -- I have felt "off" for more than a week! I wonder if it's gluten related, or the amount of stress/work. Who knows. Anyway --- better get back to the grind. GF Cooking spree this weekend!!! :)

Boston Gluten Free Cooking Spree!!

You may have noticed the link to the right my link to the Gluten Free Cooking Spree hosted by the NFCA --------------->>>

Well - if you're in the Boston area have you ordered tickets yet?!?! You can click on that link to get them....

I'll definitely be there, and I cannot wait! If you can't make it, I'll be sure to take pics & give a full re-cap.

Outback Steakhouse

Hope everyone had a great Labor Day weekend! I did.... it didn't start out great though. I went to Outback Steakhouse on Friday night with some friends (I chose it because of their gluten free menu).... I had (what I consider to be) a very safe meal there, off the special menu -- filet, mashed potatoes, and steamed veggies with no seasoning (that were cold and gross).

Well -- somehow, I got glutened. I was up most of that night with pretty bad stomach pain (typical of gluten for me) and was "off" the following day.

NOT COOL.

I eat out pretty often too and don't order from special menus, so whatever they gave me had to have a lot of gluten in it. I know it was from them too because I had prepared all of my own food the entire week leading up to that dinner. AND, I've eaten there once before and I was fine.

I wrote an expressive letter to Outback so we'll see what happens. 

Comparing Wraps

I got a recommendation for "Enjoy Life" wraps, and happened upon them in the store this past weekend so I thought I'd try 'em out. I definitely liked them, but not as much as the Trader Joes --- these also fell apart faster, and worse than the TJ's -- even with melting cheese on them, which i consider to be like glue for these things.

I know I heard contrary reports -- but I think it probably depends on how they're shipped/stored, and how fresh they are when you get them. Who knows... I'm just happy to have found wraps at all!

Enjoy life Breakfast Wrap.... egg whites, ham, cheddar cheese

Chebe Sandwich

I went back to that natural food store in Manchester, NH, "A Natural Foods" and found a few new items... One of those was sandwich bread oven-ready dough. I figured I'd give it a try. Although, I realized when I got home that this package was $7.99, and it only makes two sandwiches.... That seems a bit steep, but what the hell.Here is a picture of the dough right out of the package (mine was not as frozen from the long drive in the hot weather)... It needed to bake at 375 for 35 minutes, which is sortof a long time to wait to eat a sandwich in my opinion...

After about 30 minutes here's what we've got... Puffy and very crunchy on the outside -- probably too crunchy, but I think I overcooked it.

And my Chebe ham & cheese sandwich all pulled together... Check out the pic at the top for what the inside looked like... 

Overall, pretty tasty. Chebe bread is just really good, despite the super crunchy exterior it was good -- but I wouldn't say it improved my ham & cheese. I think next time I'll make this with mozz, tomato & basil or make a tuna melt... Might be a little more exciting than a ham & cheese.... 

Chebe

I completely forgot to post this last week! I had a bag of Chebe mix sitting in the pantry, and it was actually a bit chilly one night so I figured I would turn the oven on.

Have you had this before? I think they're great. They're not everyone's favorite -- I don't think my sister likes the texture -- but I really really like them. They're super easy. You just mix the bag, some oil & a cup of cheese (I used cheddar in these) and you're set.

Actually, I only got to eat TWO of these, because my boyfriend ate all the rest!!! Not cool... I get so mad when he eats my high-priced gluten free goods. OH well... they're really best right out of the oven, they don't keep well.

I have another Chebe experiment coming tomorrow....

Breakfast Wrap

Looks pretty good right?
I wanted something more than a smoothie or cereal for breakfast, so I cooked up some egg whites, zapped the tortilla for about 20 seconds & placed slices of cheese on it that began melting right away -- then added a couple slices of honey ham, and the hot egg whites on top. As you can see, the wrap on the right is starting to break apart a bit on top, but it held together really well. I think the key is warming it, and adding something to hold it together, like cheese.

This is literally the first time I've gotten gluten free wraps since going gluten free -- so i've been having some fun with them. Last week I rolled one up with hummus and turkey --- and today for lunch I have one with cheese, dijon mustard & ham...

I only have 1 left! I think I'll try to find the "Food for Life" wraps that Julia recommended at Whole Foods next...

Happy Wednesday!

Look what I found at Trader Joes yesterday....

I already ate two -- I had a breakfast rollup with egg whites, and I made a turkey & hummus wrap for lunch. The tortilla was a typical GF tortilla -- it fell apart. The one I warmed up at breakfast did a little better. But they were pretty tasty. It's nice to have the roll-up option....

Saturday Morning Stack

I was feelin' pancakes this morning when I woke up. Have I mentioned before how much I love Kinnikinnick? yeah, well, the same goes for their pancake mix.

I think it's the best -- it's a little sweet, I know some people don't like that... but I used to add a bit of granulated sugar to bisquick back in the day, so this works out great for me!

Bella looked on as I mixed everything:
I like to make smaller pancakes, not quite silver-dollar size, but not huge plate sized cakes.... I made this little stack, ate a few, and saved the rest for later. I really like to eat these cold. They only last about a day or so in the fridge before they start to dry out - but try it! YUM.

Had to finish of my plate with a little maple syrup.... ahhh, i love the weekend ;)

Shape Magazine

I was perusing my new issue of Shape Magazine this morning on my train ride into work, and happened upon the title, "What's really causing your upset stomach"? 

Sure enough... they were talking about Celiac Disease. 

I snapped this picture with my BlackBerry on the train - not a great image, I know...  it doesn't say anything new, but it's great to see it talked about more & more. 

The more people that know, the better -- hopefully those ailing with all the problems we are all painfully familiar with, will give their doctors a call & get a blood test. And more awareness = more GF products, and easier for us to go out & not have to give a long story. It'll just be like, Oh yeah, Celiac, I know what that is.

GF Food from Shared Fryers

Good morning -- it's Monday, again... the weekends feel like they get shorter as Fall is right around the corner. But we still have plenty of beach weekends left, I'll have to work in some 3-day retreats...

I was thinking over the weekend about the shared fryer situation... What do you guys usually do about that?? 

I generally will eat some of things that are fried in the same oil... it's usually french fries, we have a limited amount of fried things we can eat to start, and sometimes I figure it's OK because there aren't many fried things on the menu except fries, so I feel it's OK. Or if we're somewhere with TONS of fried foods, I'll stay away... But, am I still cheating? I usually feel fine, but am I damaging my intestines & not knowing? Maybe. Probably.

I started thinking after we went to Marco, and they brought up to me numerous times the fact that the fried items were in the same oil... but that didn't stop me - fried mozzarella?! I HAD to have it.

I suppose some guilt has been setting in - did I cheat? It's not too often I get fries when I'm out anyway, and I certainly eat out more often than I should - and so does my sister, we have discussed it because we know some small traces might be getting in to our food. But we feel fine. 

We also don't have super sterile homes. I share a toaster & cutting boards - we sort of have to - our kitchen has one tiny counter & I have one cabinet for things. But I know many people who aren't doing everything separate...

Just wondering your thoughts on this.....

Dinner at Marco

Sorry for the delay in this post! Work is bananas right now.

OK - SO..... Last Thursday Julia accompanied me to Marco to try out their GF menu! It was very last minute, so we didn't have time to call ahead to order bread -- but, it looks like I'll be going back this week with some other friends, so I'll be sure to call early.

We had some delicious beverages to start: 

These were Ruby Red Grapefruit Bellini's -- YUM. 

Then we decided to start with the fried Mozzarella & Ricotta cheese balls in their very delicious pomodoro with shaved parmesan. Holy delicious. 

I haven't had something fried in ages. They did warn us in advance that they use the same fryer -- I am usually OK with that. Julia said she is too -- and after the meal, we both felt fine -- if not too stuffed & maybe a bit lightheaded from the drinks.

The second drink was some kind of home-infused beverage, which looked pretty with the blueberries - but we didn't really like it that much. I think it was some kind of Tequila - it tasted like patron (yuck), but for those of you who like these infused beverages, then try these out.

For the main course -- we decided to get two half portions of pasta & split them... We went with the Bolognese & Marco's version of an Alfredo:

I thought the Bolognese was amazing. I had actually had it back before I was gluten free -- and it was as good as I remembered. FYI -- they told us they use Glutino's GF pasta, and I thought it tasted great -- I had never had it before, they were able to keep it very slightly al dente.

The Alfredo was good -- not  great. I felt like all I could taste was the olive oil -- but it was mixed with spinach, fresh grape tomatoes, olives and goat cheese. Not sure if it was due to the pasta that didn't make this one great... but I'll try a new dish when we go back.

In the end, we DID clean our plates:

Overall -- I thought it was excellent. It's SO great to be able to eat pasta in the North End! I can't wait to try the bread, which we found out they bake themselves.... AND -- I'm going back on Thursday night! I'll have to post again....

VERY exciting news

One of my favorite North End restaurants, Marco, is now offering gluten free options!!!!!

I just called & spoke with someone & here's what they're offering:

- 3 different kinds of gluten free pasta to substitute into any of their sauces (GF of course)

- GF flour to prepare any of their fried dishes (they did warn me that they do use the same fryer, so for many of you, this may not be an option)

- and if you call 24 hours ahead of time, they will have gluten free bread baked for you!!!!

I'M SO EXCITED!!!!!!  I'm going asap, will update shortly there-after...

Bagels

I found a new kind of bagel that I wanted to try out :

If I was going to get bagels in the past, I would go for Kinnik (i'm obviously a fan) or Glutino. Mainly because those are some of the only kinds I could get my hands on. I also try to avoid them because GF bagels seem to be so high in fat & calories.  I just stick to alternatives... BUT, every once in a while, you want a bagel, so I figured I'd give these a whirl. And yes, these are high in fat... 12g per bagel!! My donut only has 5g!

So, perhaps you have tried these -- I must say I did enjoy them. But they're not like bagels, they're SHAPED like bagels, but the texture/taste is different -- these sort of reminded me of puff pasty, and they were crumbly like that. They also were relatively hollow on the inside:

.... they also reminded me a bit of Chebe bread... they had a buttery taste (probably the fat).

Anyway - these were good, but the high-fat is sort of a turnoff.... Anyone know of any good lower fat options?