The Best Gluten Free Cake Mixes!

You always are in need of a good cake mix, whether it is for your toddlers birthday party or for cupcakes for school. We have found a number of gluten free cake mixes that are easy to make and taste great:

Betty Crocker Gluten Free Cake Mixes

Betty Crocker recently ventured into the Gluten Free market with a number of baking mixes, but there cake mixes, are our favorites for their versatility. They taste great and they are easy to find on the baking aisle of any major grocery chain. They are inexpensive and they bake easily turning into great cupcakes and cakes. The cakes and cupcakes made with these mixes, do tend to dry out after the first twenty-four hours, so you can always add applesauce or sour cream, to keep them moist. The Betty Crock offers a: Yellow and a Chocolate Devil's Food cake mix. Our favorite is the Yellow Cake mix! Betty Crocker also has a FAQ's area for their Gluten Free baking mixes!

Cherrybrook Kitchen Cake Mixes

Cherrybrook Kitchen is a wonderful company and they offer a great gluten free cake mixes. These mixes tend to be a little more expensive, but they taste wonderful. We love their Yellow Cake Mix and it is very moist. Cherrybrook Kitchen's is so sure that you will love their products that, they stand by their products, if you are not satisfied with any of their products for any reason at all, you can return it to them and they will either replace it with a product of your choice or refund your money. Cherrybrook Kitchen offers a Gluten Free Yellow Cake Mix and a Gluten Free Chocolate Cake Mix. Some grocery stores such as Kroger and Earthfare carry Cherrybrook Kitchen's products, however, if you cannot find it in your local store, you can order items directly from Cherrybrook Kitchen or you can purchase them in bulk on websites such as Amazon.com.

Gluten Free Pantry's Old Fashioned Cake & Cookie Mix

Gluten Free Pantry has a great Old Fashioned Cake & Cookie Mix, that is easy to use, versatile (makes cakes or cookies) and tastes great. The mix tends to be a little more expensive that the Betty Crocker mix, but it is widely available and tastes great. If you can't find this mix in your local grocery store, you can purchase it online from Amazon.com and GlutenFree.com.

Drinks

What gluten free options are there for your toddler to drink? We were faced with this question over a year ago, and we found a number of drinks, which we have been very pleased with:

First JuiceFirst Juice organic fruit and vegetable juice is naturally lower in sugar, tastes great and your toddler will love it. First Juice is gluten-free, organic, healthy and all First Juice brand bottles are made of Bisphenol-A (BPA) free and phthalate-free plastic. They offer two conveinent bottles: 32 oz. multi-serve refill and an 8 oz. sippy top bottle (which you can purchase individually or in a playgroup pack). First Juice tends to be a little more expensive that the average juice, but you can purchase it online and in-bulk to increase the savings and you can find coupons. In our house, First Juice, is always around. First Juice is offered in a number of different flavors: Apple+carrot (43% juice); Banana+carrot (49% juice); Peach+Purple Carrot (44% juice); and Blueberry+Purple Carrot (45% juice).

Honest Kids Juice

Honest Kids juice, is the second toddler drink that we keeped stocked in our house. These organic thirst quenchers are half the sugar of most kids drinks and gluten free. They taste great and your toddler will love them. They are inexpensive, and you should be able to find them in your local grocery store or Wal-Mart. Honest Kids currently comes in 5 flavors: Goodness Grapeness, Appley Ever After, Berry Berry Good Lemonade, Super Fruit Punch, and Tropical Tango Punch.

Cold Cuts

It is always hard to grapple with just how products contain gluten, and one that catches a lot of individuals off guard is cold cuts, aka sandwich/deli meats. Sandwiches are a large part of the American culture. It is what a kid packs in their lunch box for school, it is what parents take to work. Thus we thought it was important to find out what deli meats our son could eat. Below are a number of gluten free brands:

Boar's Head Brand

Boar's Head Brand meats, cheese and condiments are all Gluten Free. Their deli meats and cheese contain no fillers, artificial flavors, colors or trans fat. This is very convenient considering there are approximately 500 products under the Boar's Head Brand available nationally. To make sure there is no cross contamination issues, you will have to ask the store to cut it on a cleaned slicer. You can read more about the brand in the Board's Head Nutrition Guide.

Hormel® Natural Choice® Sandwich Meats

Hormel recently has launched Hormel® Natural Choice® meats, which includes sandwich/deli meats. We came across it one day in our local Wal-Mart's sandwich meat cooler. I tossed it in the cart, figuring that I would give it a try, and we have been very pleased with the products. After further researching this line of products, I was pleasantly surprised to learn that Hormel has also has a Gluten Free section on their website, where they offer the following statement:

As part of its commitment to food health and nutrition, Hormel Foods is proud to provide celiac disease information to help consumers navigate through the often confusing food landscape. On this site, you’ll find basic terminology, tools and resources to get you started on becoming and staying gluten free.

Hormel's Natural Choice sandwich meat is inexpensive, easy to locate and taste great. Hormel also has a coupon section on their website. I would highly recommend trying them with your family.

Applegate Farms

Applegate Farms makes a wonderful sandwich meat. A well know brand within the Celiac/Gluten Intolerant community, Applegate Farms offers organic and antibiotic-free product, their products are without a doubt some of the best and freshest tasting sandwich meat, we have ever had. The downside to their cold cuts is that they tend to be expensive, however, you can order them directly from Applegate Farms and in-bulk which can help to cut out the extra cost if you purchase it in a local grocery store. For a complete list of Cold Cuts, you can check out this list.

Glutino Gluten Free Pretzels

Glutino makes the best Gluten Free pretzels on the market. Glutino's pretzels do not contain artificial flavors, colors or preservatives. And they are great for the whole family, especially teething toddlers. Glutino offers four different types of the pretzels: Pretzel Sticks (our favorite), Pretzel Twists, Sesame Rings and Unsalted Twists. Glutino offers a variety of other great Gluten Free Products as well.

Schar Gluten Free Pasta

Schar Pasta is probably the best tasting Gluten Free pasta on the market. The company offers a variety of different types of pasta: Penne, Tagliatelle,Multigrain Penne Rigate, Anellini, Fusilli, and Spaghetti. Schar's pasta is inexpensive and can be found at WalMart and other nationwide retails. The whole family will love it. And unlike some of the other Gluten Free pastas on the market today, Schar's pasta does not fall apart when you cook it, and their Anellini pasta is designed to use in soups. Schar also offer's a variety of other Gluten Free products.

Chips!

Every toddler loves chips! While they are not always the healthiest of snacks, they are handy, and they are often found at parties and family gatherings, so it is good to get to know which chips are gluten free. We have found a number of gluten free chips on the market, from the ordinary to the gourment, there are a couple of brands available to enjoy.

Cassava Chips

Cassava chips are probably out favorite chip of all time. Cassava Chips are made by Arico and they are gluten free, casein free and trans fat free. The first thing you are probably saying to yourself, what is Cassava? According to Arico's website Cassava, or yucca, grows much like the potato and has twice the fiber of the common potato. We discovered these chip over a year ago and they offer a richer and fuller flavor that a potatoe chip. They are hard to find in local grocery stores, however, you can easily order them online, directly from Arico or from places like Amazon. The downside is that they tend to be a little more expensive than potato chips, but are well worth it for special occaisions. However, Arico does offer coupons, which you can find on a regular basis. Cassava chips are offered in a number of flavors: Barbeque Bliss Cassava Chip (our favorite flavor), Sea Salt Mist Chip, Original Chip, and Ginger on Fire.

Frito-Lay

Believe it or not Frito Lay, one of the larger chip manufacturers in the U.S., has an extensive list of their Gluten Free Chips. You can find just about any type of chips on this list from CHEETOS® Giant Puffs Cheese Flavored Snacks to BAKED! LAY'S® Original Potato Crisps. They are inexpensive and readily available.

Gluten Free Baby Food

Finding Gluten Free baby food was a challenge over a year ago, however, there are a number of gluten free varieties available. You can find each of these both in grocery stores and online (and buying them in bulk saves you money):

Healthy Times Organic Baby Food
This brand of baby food is organic, in expensive and offers a wide variety of flavors that are Gluten Free. Some of our sons favorite flavors were: Cabana Banana, Garden Fresh Carrots, Pumpkin Pie and Orchard Fruit Peekaboo.


Earth's Best Organic Baby Food
This brand of baby food is organic, it is slightly more expensive than others (but you can find coupons- which is a plus) and offers a number of flavors that are Gluten Free in a variety of different stages. Some of our sons favorite flavors were: 1st Peas, Apples & Blueberries, Pears & Mangos, Carrots,Peas & Brown Rice, Plum Banana Brown Rice, and Rice & Lental Dinner


Beech-Nut Baby Food
Beech-Nut Baby Food offers a wide variety of Gluten Free options for your child. They are extremely inexpensive and can be found in most major grocery store chains, however, on the downside, at this time they do not offer an organic line. Their Website is extremely user friendly and they also have a handy search tool on their Website that shows you all of the Gluten Free options.

General Mills Gluten Free List

General Mills has published their Gluten Free product list. They have more than 200 great-tasting gluten-free products from General Mills. Their product labels also clearly state Gluten Free.

Mrs. Leeper's Organic Gluten Free Pastas!!

As a full time working mom, just as any parent, I struggle to find nutritious easy to make meals, especially ones that are Gluten Free and taste good. However, Mrs. Leeper's Organic Gluten Free Pasta products changed all of this for us. Mrs. Leeper's products are low-fat, organic, and cost efficient; All of the Mrs. Leeper's products taste great and please everyone from toddlers to the grandparents. Mrs. Leeper's offer 6 ready to make meals in a box: Creamy Tuna Dinner, Lasagna Dinner, Chicken Alfredo Dinner, Beef Stroganoff Dinner, Cheeseburger Mac Dinner, and Mac & Cheese. They also offer Gluten Free Corn Pasta and Gluten Free Rice Pastas. Our family's favorite Mrs. Leeper's Dinners are Cheeseburger Mac, Beef Stroganoff and Creamy Tuna.

Gluten Free Chex!

Gluten Free Chex are a great snack or breakfast option for G/F toddlers. These are great snacks for toddler play dates as well. They taste great, are inexpensive and easy to find in a wide variety of grocery stores. The Gluten Free Chex Website also offers some great toddler friendly recipes. Gluten Free Chex are currently offered in the following flavors: Rice Chex, Corn Chex, Honey Nut Chex, Chocolate Chex, Cinnamon Chex, and Strawberry Chex. (Our favorite flavors are Rice Chex and Cinnamon Chex).

HAPPYBELLIES: Organic Brown Rice Cereal

HAPPYBELLIES: Organic Brown Rice Cereal has been a stable in our house since our son first began eating solids and still is being used today. It is Gluten Free and the container is BPA Free. It is inexpensive and you can find it at a lot of food stores including at Target.

Ian's Alphatots

Ian's Alphatots are quick and easy Gluten Free french fries, that your toddler will love (and you will find yourself stealing a few bites). The downside, as with a lot of Gluten Free food they are a little pricey. However, a lot of stores will sell them in bulk (by the case) which helps reduce the cost per bag. Also, you can find coupons for Ian's products. They are great for the busy parents.

Baby Mum-Mums and Toddler Mum-Mums

Baby Mum-Mums and Toddler Mum-Mums are wonderful. These Gluten Free rice rusk snacks for baby and toddlers, we first started using as a teething biscuit for our son, since we could only find Gluten containing teething biscuits on the market. Our son loves these snacks still at two! Plus, a major bonus, they are completely cost efficient.

Funky Monkey!

Funky Monkey- Simply the best snacks for Gluten Free toddlers (and parents)!! Funky Monkey Snacks are organic freeze-dried fruit snacks, that you and your toddler will love instantly. Our favorite flavors are JiveALime and BananaMon.