Celiac Disease Support Group
Celiac disease is an auto-immune disorder of the digestive system that occurs in genetically-predisposed individuals. It is characterised by damage or flattening to all or part of the villi lining the small intestine, which interferes with the absorption of nutrients. This damage is caused by eating anything with gluten (gliadin), a protein found in wheat, rye, and barley...
try the "product locator" on the Betty Crocker Gluten Free page
http://www.bettycrocker.com/products/gluten-free/gluten-free.htm
I haven't given the cookies a try, they only call for 1 tsp of vanilla and 1 egg... so if they taste good, i'll keep buying, but I won't waste my money on the yellow cake, if anyone has tried the brownies, will you let me know if they are worth the bother?
It was really nice that Chex didn't mark up the price when they changed the one ingredient to make it gluten free. Seems lots of companies relabel without changing anything and then mark the product up a buck or two (can't remember which those were), or change one ingredient and suddenly it costs twice as much.
That's one reason I like Trader Joes so much. They never change the price just because it's gluten free.
Oleander
There are probably hundnreds of sites on the internet that have gluten free recipes for everything imaginable. You can make your own cakes, cookies, etc., MUCH CHEAPER than you can buy the mixes. You still have to mix and bake your cake or cookie mix. You may have to experiment a little, but SO WHAT???
Another thing - once you find a cake or cookie recipe that you like, you can make your own mixes just by setting out 3 or 4 bowls and putting the same DRY ingredients in each one. Then label zipper bags with cooking time, temp, and additional wet ingredients to be added. You have the next 3 or 4 cakes, etc., ready to go, at a heck of a savings !!! When you use one of these mixes,SAVE THE BAG AND USE IT AGAIN LATER when you run out of mixes.
That's IF you have a local store that sells these flours. In my case I don't. Nearest store would be an hour down the mountain and an hour back up. So not worth it. Mean while it's a ten minute trip to the store to buy a Betty Crocker mix. Or I can go on Amazon and pay shipping IF I'm willing to buy in bulk which is another issue altogether for me because I don't have room to keep mulitple bags of flour.
So if all you want is a chocolate chip cookie or a cake every couple months a box of Betty Crocker is a huge savings in time trouble and space over the alternative. It all depends on your circumstances.
HOWEVER, I am absolutely NOT willing to pay for something that is for all intents and purposes unusable simply because I have a disease.
I feel incredibly fortunate to have been diagnosed when I was, as opposed to 20 years ago. Today I went to a local Renaissance Festival and ran into a woman diagnosed in 2001-she was able to confirm the chocolate coating on the chocolate dipped strawberries was gluten free. There's no way that would have happened even 10 years ago. I am very lucky.
But I will not be taken advantage of. I believe we should all be fully utilizing our resources. That includes the internet. I and my friends are always on the search for recipes that taste like the gluten containing originals. Unfortunately, I haven't found a viable chocolate chip cookie recipe, but rather than buy a clearly inferior product, I will keep trying at home.
I'm fortunate to live in 2009, and I'm not going to allow myself to be taken advantage of, even if it means a lot more work in the interim. I can't be alone in that sentiment?? It's like a regular person saying they are glad someone is willing to sell them a loaf of bread for $8. Ridiculous.
As demonstrated by Trader Joes and products like Chex, there's no good excuse for raising prices, or putting out an inferior product. It's just a thinly veiled means for these corporations to make huge profits at our expense. Unacceptable! (Well, of course there are exceptions, VioletsBlues-that is really a tough situation and I feel for you. Again, I feel fortunately to live in such a great metropolitan area).
As for the price of the GF Betty Crocker, there wasn't a huge difference between that and the "regular" mix when I bought them. Price can also be a regional thing as well as differing from store to store. We automatically pay more for most grocery things becuase we're up on a mountain. I haven't found a way around that. So I'm sure to some people what I pay for a simple carton of milk is unbelievable.
So from my point of view it really is relative when it comes to savings. Not everyone's situation is the same, not everyone bakes on a weekly basis or even a monthly basis. You have to do what saves you money and or doesn't cost you a small fortune in time energy and storage.
My bigger concern is that we should be patting Betty Crocker on the back for doing this, not running them down. The mainstream food producers need encouragement. A lot of them are going to be looking at how these Betty Crocker products are received when it comes time for them to decide whether to go to the trouble and expense, YES expense of creating safe gluten free production lines.
Many of Trader Joe's products for instance are made on shared lines or in factories where gluten is present; that's why so many people react to TJ GF products and why they so clearly mark many of their products as such. Betty Crocker had to have made a large investment in creating a totally gluten free environment, not to mention an investment in other areas involved in creating any new product and doing mass distribution on it.
We as a community have whined complained and screamed at companies time and time again about products that contain gluten when they don't need to. We need to present the flip side to that now and cheer on a company who has gone out of their way to create something we can safely eat.
thanks for the comment about the brownies, Crosby, I'll give em a try, I'll try anything at least once... I didn't like the cookies...sandy and crumbly... kinnickinnick choc. chip are still the best, Bob's Red Mill is the best mix for making at home, and I still say that Namaste Brand Cakes are the best ever, they have a chocolate cake mix (to die for), Blondies, and a spice cake that can be turned into a carrot cake just by adding a cup of shredded carrots - this was sooooo good... I've had a few other Namaste products from Whole Foods while visiting my folks in Colorado - the pasta dishes were really good, the pizza mix is one of my fav's but the dough is flavored (most distinctive is the rosemary) and while many people believe that the dough should not be flavored, and some don't like it... I love it the best of all the pizza mixes i've tried.
Coke Cake--GF
1 box Betty Crocker gluten free chocolate cake mix
1 small box Jell-O Instant Chocolate pudding
1 cup cooking oil
4 eggs
10 oz. coke
2 cups marshmallows
!/2- 1 cup chopped pecans (optional)
Combine all ingredients except the marshmallow and mix well with a electric mixer. Add marshmallows and stir in with a large spoon. Poor into a well oiled baking pan. This will make one large rectangular or 2 round cake layers.
Bake at 350* about 40 minutes Do not overbake. OPTIONAL: Pecans can be added to the cake dough before baking or to the frosting.
Frosting-use one of your favorites gluten free frostings.