Dinner of samples: Buddha Bread and penne from Schar

At the GF &AF Expo in Worcester I received 2 sample bags of Bonta d' Italia penne from Schar and a bag of Buddha Bread from Bread Empire.  Tonight I figured I'd give them a try.

Buddha Bread is a Brazilian style cheese bread which is supeeeeer easy to make (400*, no preheating, bake for 15-20 minutes, done!) and very yummy. Lots of "mmmm mmmmms" from me as I ate it. I even had the gluten-eater try it and he thought it was good too. I paired it with the  Schar pasta, some pasta sauce (sorry, not home-made), Parmesan cheese, and Aidell's Italian Style chicken sausages, and frozen spinach. Voila, dinner! I am still needing iron (from a procedure last week) so the spinach definitely helped.

The Schar penne pasta cooked up easily and al dente just the way I like it. It doesn't have that odd taste that some corn products seem to get, although it is made with corn, millet flour, and rice flour. These are quite similar to (what I remember) gluten-containing noodles to be. Folks, I may have found a new pasta to keep in the house!

**FYI the Buddha bread does have milk & eggs in it, thus it is NOT dairy free.
**Schar penne may contain soy, according to their product page.

Schar pasta you can find in most grocery stores. I know my local Shaw's and Stop & Shop both have them, as well as the independent stores nearby. On-line of course at: Schar's product page.

Buddha Bread is a bit harder to find. According to their website it's located:

• Foodies Market of South Boston –Boston, MA
• Cornucopia Foods –Northampton, MA
• Palmers Market –Darien, CT
• Sunny Bridge Natural Foods –Pittsburg, PA
• Honest Weight Food Coop –Albany, NY
• Niskayuna Coop –Niskayuna, NY
• Moorfield's Green Grocer –Clifton Park, NY
• Nature's Pantry –New Windsor, NY
• Nature's Pantry –Fishkill, NY
• Thyme & Season –Hamden, CT
• The Common Bond Market –Shelton, CT
• G-Free NYC – Manhattan, NY
• Westerly Natural Market –Manhattan, NY
• Westside Market –Manhattan, NY

and of course, on-line: http://www.bread-empire.com/collections/buddha-bread On their website you can order the Original, which is what I have, for $39.80 for 4 (6)-packs. Also according to their website, they will be introducing Buddha Bread-Guava and BB-Garlic in 2015. I will be looking forward to the Garlic version. Buddha Bread by Bread Empire

Dinner-all gluten free!

I hope you have enjoyed this blog and my foray into gluten-free blogging.
***I was not paid for this, nor am I affiliated with any of the aforementioned companies.