I am always looking to support companies that take on gluten-free because of a personal connection to Celiac disease and Mom’s Place Gluten Free is a small company founded by three Moms that is making great products. My friends at Mom’s Place Gluten Free sent me a sampling of their products including: Pigs in a Blanket/Pizza Bits Mix, Sorghum Bread Mix, Snickerdoodle Cookie Mix, Onion Dip Mix, and Taco Seasoning.
While I was of course interested in sampling all of the products I received, the Pigs in a Blanket mix truly piqued my interest as I can safely say that I have not indulged in what was one of my favorite snack bites since my Celiac diagnosis. I am sure that many of you out there know that good gluten-free dough is hard to find — particularly one that is pliable enough to work with and manipulate into the well-know pig in blanket wrapped shape without going all sticky and becoming a complete mess. Well, Mom’s Place dough was not only easy to make (remember, I am completely baking challenged) but remained easy to work with until all the little piggies were wrapped. These baked up a dream and had a wonderfully light texture and a muted flavor that was not at all doughy but rather crisp and flakey. Pair it with some spicy mustard (or BBQ sauce) and you have a gluten-free version of a classic hors d’oeuvre that truly tastes like the real thing.
Next up was their Sorghum Bread Mix. Now I have to admit I was never a fan of Sorghum as I always found the flavor to be not really to my liking when it was the main component of a product. Mom’s Place however made me a convert. First of all the prep is completely fool-proof and the bread rises absolutely perfectly and has a light and airy texture versus the well-known cakey gluten-free bricks that some mixes yield. Mom’s Place bread yields a dark crispy crust and soft airy center. While the flavor is indeed more on the nutty side it is actually extremely well-balanced so that you do not get the often dreaded sorghum aftertaste.
Snickerdoodles seem to be the gluten-free cookie du jour with most companies having the flavor in their repertoire and there are quite a few really good ones out there. Yet, I have not really come across a mix for the flavor that was easy to make and tasted great. Mom’s Place definitely met the bill and the cookies baked up perfectly — just slightly crispy the outside and soft on the inside.
It is no secret that I am a huge dip fan. I love all types of dip but have a particular weakness for good onion dip. Many of the traditional soup mixes out there contain gluten or have questionable ingredients so it has been a challenge to fine a dry base to make great dip with. Mom’s Place dry mix comes in a small package but packs a big flavor punch. I used a non-fat sour cream and added the dry mix and let it set for a bit in the refrigerator to allow the flavor to really come out (this dip was actually even better the next day). The nice thing about this dip is that it was not overly salty as is often the case with dry mixes.
The final item I sampled was the taco seasoning mix. I am a huge fan of tacos as they are a fast and easy meal option. I do however tend to make my own base rather than using a dry mix so I was a bit weary of giving a mix a go. I was actually very pleasantly surprised with this mix. It has a very nice mix of spices that gave it a good flavor with the spice-level being very well-balanced without being overpowering. I had a bit of the packet remaining and actually tossed it into some sour cream I had around and the mix made for a very nice taco-flavored dip (again, more flavorful the next day after the flavors melded).
Be sure to check out the Mom’s Place Web site for their complete product portfolio and to order online. They also have tons of recipes and tips as well as their own blog on living gluten-free as a Mom.
