Category Archives: New Products

Fruit and Nothing But the Fruit — Plus A Food Gal Giveaway

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Peeled Snacks' "Paradise found'' variety with organic bananas, mangoes and pineapple.

In this day and age with ingredients lists a mile long on food packaging, you have to hand it to the “Much-ado-about-mango” one.

Its ingredient list?

Organic mangoes.

That’s it.

Peeled Snacks of Brooklyn makes conveniently packaged dried, organic fruit that has no added sugar, no preservatives, no sulfites and no gluten.

As a result, this dried fruit actually tastes like real fruit and not a souped-up sweetened version of it.

The resealable snack pouches come in 10 varieties, from “Cherry-go-round” (organic cherries) to “Farmer’s Market Trio” (organic raisins, apples and cherries).

Recently, I had a chance to try some sample bags.

Although the fruit is dried, it still has a nice soft texture. I can’t get over how vibrant the fruit tastes when it’s not masked by sugar, as is the case with so many other dried fruit products.

I especially liked the “Paradise found” with its thick, tender chunks of dried banana (none of those thin, hard chips here), along with pieces of mango and bits of pineapple. Call me a purist, but my favorite was probably the “Much-ado-about-mango,” which is just big shards of mango the color of a sunset and the taste of the tropics.

Just mango.

One serving has about 120-130 calories, depending upon the variety.

Tuck a bag into your child’s lunch. Or toss one into your purse, workout bag or carry-on luggage.

A 4.4-ounce bag is $3.49 and is available at select Whole Foods, CVS and Starbucks stores.

Available in resealable bags.

Contest: Two lucky Food Gal readers will get a chance to try a free variety-sampler pack of Peeled Snacks (a $25 value). Entries, limited to those in the continental United States, will be accepted through midnight PST Sept. 8. Winners will be announced Sept. 10.

How to win?

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Ad Hoc and Bouchon Bakery Gluten-Free Mixes

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Yup, these are gluten-free.

For those suffering from gluten allergies or intolerance, Chef Thomas Keller comes to the rescue.

His line of baking mixes, sold exclusively by Williams-Sonoma, makes use of his own “Cup 4 Cup”  custom-blended gluton-free flour, which has proven a runaway hit. Cup 4 Cup, which also is sold at Williams-Sonoma for $19.95 for a three-pound bag is in such high demand that when I tried to get a sample bag earlier this year, I was told it was on back order for three months. It’s a blend of cornstarch, white rice flour, brown rice flour, milk powder, tapioca flour, potato starch, and xanthan gum that can replace all-purpose flour in a recipe in a direct 1-to-1 ratio.

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Introducing the Updated Version of Food Gal’s Bay Area Dining App & A Giveaway

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Introducing my new, improved app.

Drum roll, please.

Just as I am my own person, I’m also my own app now.

If you remember back to February, I proudly launched my “Food Gal’s Ultimate Guide to Bay Area Dining” for iPhones.

Back then, it was under the umbrella of the new venture, the “Know What” network of apps for favorite bars, food, hikes, museums and more. So, you had to buy the “Know What Essentials”  app first, before you could add on more specific modules, such as my own.

Now, with the blessing and help of the team behind Escape Apps, which created the “Know What” network, you can bypass that step and just buy my app alone for $1.99.

My app has been updated to  feature more than 75 restaurants, bakeries and wine bars to check out in the Bay Area — from the tony to the hole-in-the-wall.

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Beefy Burgers and A Food Gal Giveaway

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Juicy grilled burgers made from Piedmontese beef.

Nothing says summer backyard gatherings like a great grilled burger.

These are particularly flavorful, made from the Piedmontese breed of cattle, which originated in the foothills of Italy.

Raised on ranges, where they grow up eating grass and are finished on grains, these cows produce meat that is less marbled, and therefore lower in saturated fat and cholesterol. Because of their genetic makeup, the meat doesn’t have the usual stringy fibers of regular beef, making it naturally tender.

Recently, I had a chance to try samples of these burgers from Montana’s Ranch Brand Natural Meats, which contain no antibiotics or growth hormones. The sizable 8-ounce patties are dense, almost just shy of sausage-like in texture. They are very beefy tasty and despite being on the leaner side are quite juicy.

A package of 12 Piedmontese Steak Burgers is $38.54. They are shipped on ice packs to their destination.

They’re just one of many items available via FromtheFarm, a California company that bills itself as an online farmers market. It partners with growers and producers around the country to ship produce, meat, flowers, baked goods and jams directly from the farm to your house.

Through Aug. 27, Food Gal readers can get 10 percent off the purchase of Piedmontese beef. Just use the code: FOODGAL.

Contest: One lucky Food Gal reader will win a dozen Piedmontese burgers, courtesy of FromtheFarm. Entries, limited to those in the continental United States, will be accepted through midnight PST Aug. 18. Winner will be announced Aug. 20.

How to win?

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