Say hello to...Asian Home Gourmet spice pastes.

I LOVE asian food and am so thankful for the variety of asian products here in Seoul. When my schedules too hectic and I don't have time to make an elaborate meal from scratch, I like to use Asian Home Gourmet spice pastes. You don't have to find some odd asian spice, chop it up, or mix it up. All the hard work is done for you, just add meat and vegetables! Although the company doesn't label their packages as gluten-free, the ingredients are clearly listed. My favorites are Butter Chicken, Korma Curry, Lemongrass Chicken, and Green Curry. Check out the full Asian Home Gourmet product list.

Say hello to...Trader Joe's gluten-free brownie mix.

When my friend came back from her vacation in the States, she brought back a gluten-free surprise for me! She surprised me with Trader Joe's gluten-free brownie mix. I'm not a huge fan of brownies but was more than satisfied with these. I substituted apple sauce in place of the vegetable oil, and they were nice and moist! If you live near a Trader Joe's, give them a try!

Say hello to...honey mustard dressing.

A few weeks ago I posted a recipe for an easy balsamic & olive oil dressing. I received a comment on that post and realized that a lot of people probably don't make their own salad dressings. Once you make them yourself though, you'll soon realize that they taste SO much better. Here's a new salad dressing recipe that I recently discovered:

Ingredients

1/2 tsp chopped or smashed garlic

1 tbsp honey

1 tbsp wholegrain mustard (dijon mustard works great too)

2 tbsp lemon juice

2 tbsp olive oil

Mix all the ingredients together and shake well before using. I like to triple the recipe and keep it in my fridge for the whole week.  This recipe serves 4. 

Enjoy your salad :)

Say hello to...chicken bouillon cubes.

Of course homemade soup broths are everyone's first choice. But in case you don't have time to make your own homemade broth, Herb-Ox offers gluten-free, MSG free bouillon cubes in many flavors; chicken, beef, pork, and vegetable. Check your local grocery store today for Herb-Ox bouillon cubes.

Say hello to...McCormick spices.

It's hard to believe that some companies include gluten in their spice products. But it's nice to know that there are companies out there that do carry gf lines, and clearly mark their products when there is gluten. McCormick spices 'Gourmet Collection' is entirely gf, along with many other McCormick products. Below is their company statement of whether their products include gluten or not:

All of our single ingredient spices and herbs are gluten-free and 100% pure, with nothing added to them. All of our extracts, including Pure Vanilla, are also gluten-free. Some of our products do contain gluten, and this will be clearly listed in BOLD type within the ingredient statement. We do not maintain a list of gluten-free products, as our formulas change from time to time.

Say hello to...Nikaido tea.

While it seems only natural that tea should be gluten-free, there is some tea that contains gluten. Celestial Chai Tea and Teavana Utopian Jewel Oolong both state on their websites that they contain/may contain gluten. Still, there are great companies like Stash and Tazo (sold at Starbucks) that state on their websites that they are gluten-free. I tend to stick to loose leaf tea not only because it's safer, but it tastes a whole lot better too. My absolute favorite tea these days is from Nikaido tea shop in Steveston, Richmond, BC, Canada. Yes, it's a pretty specific location, but well worth the visit. If you happen to make it there, definitely try their Sencha green tea.

Say hello to...gf stores on ipod touch.

Not only is there loads of information on the internet regarding gluten-free stores, but now you can have your very own list on your ipod! If you haven't tried out the ipod touch, you have yet to find out how easy it is to use, and how much information can be accessed through it. Although I do have an ipod touch, I'm unable to access the gluten-free stores since I'm currently not living in North America. However, if you have used this function on the ipod, I'd love to hear your thoughts on it and whether or not it's been helpful. It sounds like a pretty useful tool to me.