There's an App for that!
I have been meaning to share this with you for some time.... with all of the fun food finds and fun new gluten free recipes it got lost in the shuffle, until this week! I was in the grocery store (again) looking for ingredients to make a special birthday treat for my youngest - Rainbow Sprinkle Bread *yes, I will share the recipe*. He's the lone gluten eater in our family of five, but since I wanted for all of us to be able to enjoy the treat, I was converting the recipe to Gluten Free. It was pretty simple, just a flour swap, but there was one ingredient that was tripping me up. The recipe called for "Clear" vanilla extract and stated specifically that it HAD to be clear because regular brown vanilla extract would change the color of the bread . Um, ok. I have 10 minutes before I need to be somewhere - do I REALLY care if the color is compromised? Yeah, I guess I do, because I'm particular like that! So I am scanning vanilla extract labels, all clearly stating whether they are gluten free. I finally find the clear version JACKPOT! But wait, no GF labeling. Ugh. I frantically start googling, checking the company website and of course the market has sloooow cell service. Grr. Nothing. I know you GF Mamas have been there! In the moment when I was frustrated and about to throw in the towel, I suddenly remembered I had a secret weapon...the GF Scanner App!
If you don't have this app, I urge you to download it. It's free and so incredibly useful, especially when you're in a pinch like I was.
This app is as much fun as it is useful - when I first downloaded it my kiddos were scanning everything in our pantry, including non food items LOL. Did you know that Method Kitchen Spray is GF? SO this is how it works...when you click on the app, a "Scandit" screen pops up. Just hover it over the bar code of the product and like magic, you get this! A product screen appears instantly with a picture and an indictor of Gluten Free or Not Gluten Free, as long is the product is in the database. It's pretty extensive (over 500,000 products and growing!). I have yet to find something that isn't listed, so I'd say its pretty darn reliable. Of course, the standard "alway use your best judgement, when in doubt contact the company" applies here.
Whatever you scan is saved to your history for easy reference. There is an option to leave feedback if you notice any errors, as well as a share function. There's another version of the GF Scanner called the FULL version that is $3.99. It has some increased functionality, but I haven't had the need to download it considering how useful the free version has been. If you don't already have this on your phone, head to the app store and check it out!
And here's that recipe for "Rainbow Sprinkle Bread with Birthday Crumb Topping" from bakefromcratch.com. This is a non-GF recipe so just swap the all purpose flour with a GF Cup fo Cup alternative. I'm making this today so fingers crossed!
Doesn't this look like such a FUN bday treat?!
Eat well,
GFSavvyMama
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