Glamorous Glamorous Gluten

Gluten.  There, I said it.  It's out.  I like gluten and if you're reading this blog, you really like gluten too.  By now I expect that most of you have figured out that I really enjoy cheese and stuff made from many kinds of (wheat or wheat related) flour. Be it noodles, bread whatever.  I could easily live on the starch & dairy combo (not healthily, but we're just talking hypothetically here) and be good for months before I get bored.  While this may work for me, more and more people are now having issues digesting the protein gluten that specialty versions of our favorite dishes are starting to spring up. Often times gluten free pasta means that it's made with rice flour instead of a flour based on wheat.  But as I've experienced already here and here, it doesn't necessarily mean that it's a tastier (all be it less painful gastronomically for those who don't handle gluten) option.

While people have had gluten allergies for as long as humans have been eating wheat, I don't think I've heard much about it until just a few years ago, when these specialty prepared foods, free of gluten have begun to spring up.  For those who've got problems handling gluten, it comes about in a few manners, most notably coeliac disease or wheat allergy.  If you look at the symptoms of someone who's gluten sensitive/intolerant you'll see that their afflictions of bloating, abdominal discomfort/pain, diarrhea, joint pain or muscle and muscle disturbances (no clue on what this last one actually is) are pretty open ended symptoms that one wouldn't necessarily chalk up to a gluten issue.  I won't get into any real details on it, but if you're curious Wikipedia has whole sections on gluten sensitivity, Coealic disease and all kinds of other stuff related to wheat and gluten.

While shopping at my local Sprouts I have stumbled onto very few mac meal options besides their chill case fresh one and like any mac I find in stores, it somehow finds its way into the cart and then home to my freezer whether or not I've got space for it.  I've told myself that with specialty ones like this, that I'm just preparing for the unlikely day in the future where I would need to eat gluten-free dishes (thanks to all the gluten in these pasta noodles) and need to know my scant mac options as well as helping any friends who are intolerant to gluten, so it's best that I review them as quickly as possible.

The Review

Brand:
Glutino Gluten Free Mac & Cheese

Packaging circa 2012-2013, orange and noodles, we know what this is selling.

Packaging as of spring 2013, now it looks like a Lean Cuisine box.

Price:
$4.49 at Sprouts Farmers Market

Packaging Description:
(On Front)
Tender brown rice pasta in a creamy cheese sauce made with Monterey Jack, Cheddar and Parmesan.
New & improved recipe.

(On Back)
N/A

Preparation:
*Remove the tray from the box.

Not nearly as bright as the box makes it out... oh, wait. I need to cook it first.

*Take a close knife or fork and stab a few vent holes into the plastic film on the top of the tray.

Stabby stabby!

*Place the tray into the microwave and cook for 4 minutes.

Looks like you're starting to break a sweat there mac. 

*The tray is in a bag (not sealed only on the top of the tray), so cut open one end and carefully remove the tray most of the way from the plastic bag. 

Full frontal exposure.

*Stir the mac up, making sure to break apart any frozen clumps.

Surprisingly four minutes wasn't enough, back into the atom agitator!

*Slide it back into the bag and cook it for an additional 2:15.

Not quite sure why, but it's become more orange, but I'll accept magic as a reason.

*Give it another stir before letting it stand for a minute longer than standard (as compared to all these other mac's I've had) two minutes.

Stirred and cooled.

*Commence with the nomming!

Taste:
After removing the fully heated tray from the microwave, I was greeted with a smell that was much more of a cheeseburger hamburger helper smell and not the cheese sauce/noodly smell one would expect to have.   The noodles VERY chewy and gummy.  They lost all their form as they were being mixed up during the lulls between cooking.  There was not much of a cheesy taste to the sauce, however occasionally I got hints of Parmesan.


Final Score:
Non-traditional noodles have been quite a hard sell for me thus far.  The texture is off and eating super gummy noodles just hasn't been the best base for any of the macs that I've had, this meal included.  While this sauce was been the least offensive sauce of they gluten free options, it's lack of taste really didn't help make you forget the squishyness of the "noodles".  As I've already said, if this is all I could eat without my body revolting in rash and pain, then I'll put up.  But I can stomach actual noodles and these are pale imitations that hurt the whole dish.

Nutritional Information:
Serving Size 1 tray (300g)

Servings Per Container 1

Calories 440
Calories From Fat 130
Total Fat 15g (23% Daily Value)

Saturated Fat 5g (25% DV)

Trans Fat 0g
Cholesterol 25mg (8% DV)
Sodium 600mg (25% DV)
Total Carbohydrates 64g (21% DV)
Dietary Fiber 3g (12% DV)
Sugars 4g
Protein 14g