Free frosting giveaway!

Attention all gluten-free fans!

Do you have a sweet tooth like me? If so, then I want to share with you a special offer by Pamela's Products to promote their gluten-free (and dairy-free) frosting mixes.

For a limited time, Pamela's will send you a free full-size sample of one of their frostings in exchange for 3 UPC codes. Just visit this page on their website: http://www.pamelasproducts.com/special/frostingcoupon.html,
print out the coupon, and mail it in with three Proofs of Purchase* from packages of Pamela's products. I tested the promotion myself, so I can vouch that it works. I got my very own bag of chocolate frosting in the mail a week or so ago. I don't know when the offer will expire, but the link still works, so start clipping those UPCs!

*If you've never tried any of Pamela's gluten-free offerings, I recommend the Chunky Chocolate Chip cookies (with or without walnuts) and the Simplebites Mini Cookies in Ginger or Extreme Chocolate. All of Pamela's products are gluten-free and wheat-free, but read the packages carefully to look for other potential allergens, including dairy and soy. (NOTE: "cocoa butter" is not butter. Cocoa is dairy-free, unless some other milk product has been added to it.) I also like the Chocolate Chip Mini Cookies, but have occasionally gotten a batch that seemed to have dairy in it (duly forewarned on the ingredient label).

Pamela's frosting mixes are some of the best-tasting and easiest to use that I've tried. In particular, I like that each package features multiple mini-recipes for varying the flavor and even the texture or appearance of your frosting. With a few drops of flavored oil (non-alcoholic, please, if you'll be serving them to the kiddies), you can easily make a luscious lemon or jazzy chocolate-mint frosting to liven up your next gluten-free birthday cake.

I like a fluffier frosting, so I prefer to use vegetable shortening rather than a butter substitute when preparing these frostings; otherwise the butter flavor and density is just too overpowering for my taste. Spectrum makes a nice non-hydrogenated organic vegetable shortening, made only from mechanically pressed palm oil, with no hidden ingredients. It's kosher, keeps well, has no trans fats, and has a decent ratio of the healthier poly- and monounsaturated fats to saturated fat. …Although, if you're trying to eat "healthier," I wouldn't recommend eating a lot of birthday cake! :)

You can read more about Spectrum products and find nutrition information at www.spectrumorganics.com.

Also, since we're on the subject of cake, I'm over the moon about Turtle Mountain's new Purely Decadent Dairy Free (and gluten-free) Cookie Dough soy ice cream. Not a low-calorie or low-fat product either, but my taste buds were thrilled by the authentic taste of cookie dough nestled in sumptuous clouds of vanilla. (Oh my, waxing euphoric… I haven't had "raw" cookie dough since the salmonella scare of the late '80's. It's been a while!)

Turtle Mountain makes a version of the Cookie Dough flavor in their new coconut milk line of frozen dessert pints as well. Both are fantastic. (The coconut milk, in my opinion, might be less of an "everyday" dessert, but certainly serves a wow factor for a special treat.)

You can learn about all their dairy-free flavors here: http://www.turtlemountain.com/products/purely_decadent.html, where you can also download a .pdf file with allergen information for each flavor. (See also http://www.turtlemountain.com/health/allergies.html for details on their cleaning and testing methods, as well as the potential for trace residues in some of their products. If you scroll down to the bottom of that page, you can see a chart identifying the presence of various allergens in their products. Most are gluten-free.)

If you know of other great products (or promotions!), leave a comment or send me an email and I'll post them here.

Safe and happy eating!