Links to Products we Use

Ali Segersten Oct 13, 2009 29 comments

I have had dozens of requests over the last few weeks for either a post on the products I use or specific questions on where to find a certain product. So here it is, all organized and in one place. I have added a link on the sidebar of this blog under "Essential Posts" to make finding this post a snap! Click on the links to view the product brand names and to read more about the product.

Salt & Seasonings

Sea Salt: We use RealSalt which comes from an ancient dried sea bed that has never been exposed to modern day pollution. This salt also contains over 50 trace minerals!

Herbamare: Is a flavorful sea salt and herb blend made by steeping fresh herbs and vegetables in sea salt for several months before being vacuum dehydrated. This salt makes very flavorful soups and stews. I buy it from our local food co-op or health food store. You can also make your own Herbamare at home using my recipe here, for a fraction of the price!

Coconut Aminos: Use this soy-free soy sauce made from fermented coconut nectar in any dish calling for soy sauce or tamari. I prefer to add a little sea salt too as coconut aminos are not as salty as soy sauce or tamari. Learn more about using coconut aminos here.

Oils

Extra Virgin Olive Oil: I think this is a personal choice. I like Lucini best, but also like to use Napa Valley Naturals Organic oil because the cost is reasonable and the quality is good. Omega Nutrition also makes an excellent, reasonably priced olive oil.

Virgin Coconut Oil: I use Nutiva oil nearly every day for cooking and baking. I find this brand to have the best flavor. It is also great used as a massage oil!

Avocado Oil: Primal Kitchen Foods makes two wonderful avocado oils. One is for high heat cooking and the other is great for salad dressings. Use avocado oil for higher heat sautéing, roasting, and more!

Grapeseed Oil: I like Napa Valley Naturals best. It is unrefined which you can see with its beautiful green hue. I use this oil for baking and cooking occasionally.

Organic Palm Shortening: I use this for baking occasionally. It is great for biscuits, pie crusts, and scones. I also use it in special occasion cakes! I have found that the Spectrum brand works best.

Vinegars

Balsamic Vinegar: This is one of my favorites. Now you can spend quite a bit of money on high quality aged vinegar but you don't need to for everyday home cooking. I use Lucini brand balsamic vinegar which has been aged in wood casks.

Seasoned Brown Rice Vinegar: Is made from an alcohol fermentation of mashed brown rice. It then undergoes another fermentation to produce vinegar. Organic grape juice concentrate and sea salt are added to create the Seasoned Vinegar. I like to use this for salad dressings or to season a finished vegetable or bean dish. It is delicious over sautéed kale!

Wine Vinegars: Of course this is a personal choice too. For everyday home cooking Spectrum makes very reasonably priced organic vinegars that can easily fit into the family food budget.

Raw Apple Cider Vinegar: I personally like Braag's raw apple cider vinegar and use it for salad dressings, soups, and stews. A little taken before eating can boost digestion as well!

Natural Sweeteners

Coconut Palm Sugar: Use this low glycemic, nutrient dense granulated sweetener anywhere sugar is called for. It is dark brown and rich-flavored so keep that in mind when baking your favorite recipe! To read more about coconut sugar you can view my Coconut Sugar Apple Crisp Recipe.

Whole Cane Sugar: Whole cane sugar is simply dried cane juice. I rarely ever use this sweetener but if I do I will use Wholesome Sweeteners brand which is gluten-free. Tip: for baking you can pulse this sugar in a coffee grinder or blender to make it finer.

Maple Sugar: Coombs maple sugar is gluten-free and organic. You can also buy small bags of maple sugar from Authentic Foods. I like this sugar best because it is local to the northern latitudes. Reading the Little House on the Prairie series to my daughters brings me back to the simple ingredients used by our ancestors before the commercialization of food. Maple sugar was used for everyday baking back then.

Blackstrap Molasses: Wholesome Sweeteners makes a delicious, organic blackstrap molasses that is great for baking gingerbread cakes, molasses cookies, and other holiday sweets. I also use it in bean dishes.

I also use Grade B maple syrup which I buy in bulk from my local co-op and raw local wildflower honey which I buy locally as well.

Whole Grain Gluten-Free Flours

Sprouted Brown Rice Flour: You can find this flour though a number of different companies including Azure Standard and To Your Health Sprouted Flours.

Sprouted Garbanzo Bean Flour: Use this flour as breading for my gluten-free, egg-free chicken nugget recipe in The Whole Life Nutrition Cookbook. It is also works wonderfully as a batter for gluten-free vegetable fritters! I also use this flour to make dumplings in my Gluten-Free Chicken and Dumpling Soup.

Teff Flour: The Teff Company produces the best teff flour in my opinion. Teff is an ancient grain that originated in East Africa but is now produced in the Snake River region of Idaho. It is high in protein, iron, and other minerals. View my Teff Recipes for inspiration.

Whole Grain GF Flours: Bob's Red Mill produces great whole grain gluten-free flours for baking if you do not want to use sprouted flours. I have a lot of Baked Treats on this site you can check out. You can use a sprouted GF flour interchangeably with its non-sprouted counterpart in any recipe.

Superfine Brown Rice Flour: I use this very finely ground gluten-free flour for making pie crusts, biscuits, rolled cookies, and a few other treats. I usually blend it with Superfine Sweet Rice Flour.

Almond Meal/Flour: Is made from ground blanched almonds. It has a coarse texture and works great in addition to other gluten-free flours in baking to add extra protein and flavor.

Blanched Almond Flour: This flour works for baking grain-free desserts and breads. It is a very fine flour that can not be substituted for Almond Meal.

Pumpkin Seed Flour: Pumpkin seed flour is great to use for grain-free, nut-free baking. I have a few pumpkin seed flour recipes on this blog.

Starches

Tapioca Starch: Also called tapioca flour, is used as part of a flour blend in gluten-free baking. You can also order organic tapioca flour here.

Arrowroot Powder: Is used as part of the flour blend in gluten-free baking, can also be used to dredge foods for sautéing, and can be used as a thickener in sauces and desserts.

Organic Gluten-Free Oats

Rolled Oats: For making oatmeal, for baking, or for grinding into flour for baking.

Other Baking Products

Raw Cacao Powder: Nativas Naturals is my favorite brand for raw cacao powder. Their chocolate products are all gluten-free. Use this high-antioxidant chocolate anywhere cocoa or cacao powder are called for in a recipe.

Extracts and Flavorings: Frontier produces good quality organic extracts and flavorings that are gluten-free. I use their almond, orange, and lemon flavorings for baking. I make my own vanilla with organic potato vodka and vanilla beans.

Chocolate Chips: I buy organic dark, soy-free chocolate chips in bulk from my local food co-op. The brand they carry is Equal Exchange.

Shredded Coconut: I use the finely shredded, unsweetened coconut for baking or breading.

Spices

I like to use Simply Organic's spices most often for cooking and baking. Simply Organic's spices are gluten-free and can be found at your local health food store or food co-op.

I think that's it for specific products. If I missed anything please leave a comment below. Hope you find this helpful! :)

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About the Author

Ali Segersten

Alissa Segersten holds a Bachelor's of Science in Nutrition from Bastyr University and a Master’s of Science in Human Nutrition and Functional Medicine from the University of Western States. She is a Functional Nutritionist, the mother of five children, a whole foods cooking instructor, professional recipe developer, and cookbook author. She is passionate about helping others find a diet that will truly nourish them. Alissa is the author of two very popular gluten-free, whole foods cookbooks and guidebooks: The Whole Life Nutrition Cookbook and Nourishing Meals. She is also the co-author of The Elimination Diet book. Alissa is the founder and owner of Nourishing Meals®.

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Comments

Do you have a recommended source for raw vanilla powder? Or vanilla paste?

I'm probably way too late to ask a question in this post, but I thought I'd give it a try! In one of your books you recommend alcohol free vanilla extract and i wondered where you get your vegetable glycerin? I couldn't find it organic anywhere. Thank you!

can you say more about coconut kefir?

hi.. great list.. i am wondering about 'milks'

when you say coconut milk are you talking about the type in the refrigerator section, or the canned type? if you use the canned type do you blend it together before using it?

also unrefined coconut oil- is this the one with the super coconuty flavor? i don't mind it but my husband won't eat anything with it. the refined one has less of a coconut flavor? is it better just not to use coconut oil or go with the refined?

Ali, I just bought your cookbook and I love it as much as your website. I have a question about replacing tapioca flour. I am sensitive to tapioca, and eggs, and in my research I understand tapioca is mostly used as a binder. Can I use ground flax seed in equal parts to the tapioca called for in the bread recipes in your wonderful cookbook, as well as recipes here on your blog?

Ali I have been wondering whether sucanat or coconut sugar can replace even evaporated cane sugar one to one in some other recipes I use regularly. Will it change the consistency and specifically is there any benefit to using sucanat over evap. cane sugar? Thanks for your book and blog!! I'd be lost without it!

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE your site!! Which Penzys curry do you use when your recipes call for mild curry? Penzys has so many- I am not sure where to start. Thanks!

Your site is a gift. My 3 daughters and i have enjoyed trying so many of your recipes! They are all wonderful. I was wondering where you purchase your raw almond butter and raw cashew butter? Thank you for your time.

Hi Ali! Just wanted to comment about Chia seeds. I recently read that you can use whole chia seeds in recipes as an egg replacement. I use 1 tsp of whole chia seeds soaked in 1/4c. of hot water for about 5 minutes. I have tried it in several recipes including the gluten free peanut butter cookies. The first time I tried replacing the ground chia seeds with the same volume of whole chia seeds. That did not work well. There was not enough water for all the chia seeds and they were crunchy in the cookies. The next time I replaced the 2T. of ground chia seeds with 1 tsp of whole chia seeds and it worked great!! I also have experimented with taking out tapioca flour and adding in chia seeds instead. I have used them in muffins and pancakes and results have been great. Just thought you might be interested. Talk to you later!

Tomoko

Ali - thanks for the list! There's 2 items I'm missing. Hemp flour and particularly Stevia. I have not found a stevia brand that I like yet. Thank you so much for your wonderful blog!
Monica

Christina-

Goodness, I remembered today while making my children polenta-encrusted chicken nuggets for lunch that I forgot to reply to you! We use Del Estancia polenta which is both organic and gluten-free. I buy it from my local grocery store (not a health food store) just down the street. It is the most wonderful polenta we have ever made! I like it because it is higher in protein and lower in starch than others. But the kicker is that it is far from local - it comes from Argentina! I don't make it often but always stock a few bags in my pantry. Bob's Red Mill is GF but not organic. Hope this helps. :)

Thank you Ali, I have used this page quite a bit in helping to stock our GF pantry.

Last night our daughter, Emily, had a reaction and I think it might have been from the (organic) corn we used to make polenta. I ordered it from Azure Standard. I noticed that they only have one processing plant to process wheat and other grains like corn, quinoa, and oats. Do you ever use corn products? Do you have a source for organic polenta that is gluten free?

We like to make corn tortillas, and corn bread. I recently just switched every corn product we have (including corn starch) to organic. But now I'm thinking that we need to make sure it is gluten free as well. Any help you could give would be much appreciated. Thanks for all you do!

cook4seasons - Thanks! My homemade vanilla is on my list of upcoming blog posts! :)

Shirley - Thanks! :)

Janet - I think your best bet with the quinoa bread is to start experimenting. Quinoa flour is expensive so yes in this regard, your experimenting could get pricy. I have a hard time with the strong taste of quinoa flour as the sole flour in a recipe. I usually mix it with other flours to tone down the flavor. On another note, it isn't actually necessary to eat all of your essential amino acids at every meal or every day for that matter. We all have an amino acid pool that our body can draw from at any time. So if you find quinoa flour isn't for you there are plenty of other gluten-free whole grain flours available that are less expensive. Hope this helps! Good luck! :)

Linda - Thanks! :)

Michele - Wonderful! The apple crisp is a great recipe for a child to work on. I am so happy to hear that you have been enjoying it! The coconut sugar is one of the few items I order online. Hopefully soon our health food stores will carry it too. Glad to hear you have been enjoying the chicken stew too, I like your idea to use green beans. My girls pick out the peppers but love green beans so I will try that next time. So happy to hear you are feeling so well, that is what life is all about! :)

Thanks Ali for the list. I made your apple crisp twice this week my kids loved it. My son helped me in the kitchen and we had lots of fun. It's a really easy recipe and great for my first time cook. That night my son gave me a great big hug and told me he had the best day ever. Oh yes it warms up nicely too! Unfortunately I have not been able to find the coconut sugar but I am have asked my local health food store to order it.

Tonight I made your Spicy Chicken and Rice Stew Recipe. It tasted awesome. I situated the red peppers to green beans as I have a few boys who do not like peppers (but I continue to work on it). We will have it for lunch tomorrow and I froze a few portions for lunches.
Your cook book and blog is like an adventure full of fun new tastes and feeling good. I have been gluten and dairy free for 10 weeks and I cannot remember feeling so well and having some much energy. .
Of note my girlfriend's natural path cannot keep your cookbook in stock!

That's a great list. Thanks for the resource.

I am new to eliminating gluten from my diet. I am also vegan, autistic, a single parent, and the sole breadwinner for my family - so it is hard to squeeze in yet another big project (yikes, gluten is lurking behind every corner!!) I hope your blog will be the help I so badly need to efficiently jump-start it.

My first gluten-free question: I am illiterate about mixing flours for baking. I am very interested in your teff bread recipes, but I would like to sub in quinoa flour (a more complete protein so I can have toast and coffee for breakfast and know I have started the day out with all of my essential amino acids).

What do I need to know about flour mixes so I can bake a toothsome loaf with good texture and lift? Are quinoa flakes equivalent to flour? It is expensive to experiment and I am not a very good breadwinner.

Great listing, Ali! There are some items on it that I still need to try so this will be a great reference point for me when I do get to order them. My thanks to your mom, also!

Shirley

Wow - you have saved me soooo much time! What an awesome list. I must copy and credit - thanks in part to your Mom! And now for my request: homemade vanilla:)

Lauren - Thanks! :)

Elena - Thanks, glad I can help. :)

Iman - I store my spices in small glass jars away from heat or light. Make sure you toss spices that are old and replace them with fresh ~ this keeps your meals very tasty! :)

Alchemille - Yes the protein powder/flour are the same thing just a different name. :)

Nancy - Thanks for your kind words of gratitude! My mom was just here visiting ~ (that is how I had time to do this long post). :)

Cathy - Arrowroot powder/flour/starch are all the same thing. I buy mine in 2.5 pound bags for about $11. I don't remember pricing on different brands only because I haven't found any other brand to be gluten-free. Many are processed in the same facility where wheat flour is processed. Hope this helps. :)

Trish - Don't worry, I don't think you are pesky! I am just glad I finally had time to put this list together! :)

Jenna - Thanks, you know I buy most of this locally as well. I just linked it all up so folks could get a better idea what each product is. :)

Metta - Hmm, not sure, the Nutiva brand I use says it is a high-heat cooking oil, up to 350 degrees. It is organic, unrefined, cold-pressed and extra-virgin. It is great for sautéing and baking. I have always used coconut oil like this. I don't know of any process that makes some oils ok for higher temps, sorry. :)

David - Thanks! :)

Great post Ali!

Thanks for the resource list! I have a question about the coconut oil: the oil I bought says on the bottle, “Medium Heat Only, not over 280 F.” I know coconut oil is good for high heat cooking (like over 280F), but can’t seem to find any that doesn’t have this “Medium Heat” warning. Do you know if there is some sort of process that makes some virgin coconut oil good for cooking and other virgin coconut oil not? (I’m not talking about fancy brands either – just what I find at Whole Foods such as Spectrum or their 365 Organic brand.)

Great work Ali! I love that you share the items you have found to be gluten free :) I tend to only use things I can buy locally-I want to try that pumpkin seed flour though!

Thanks so much for this list Ali! I was one of those pesky emailers who asked you about products so a big THANKS is in order from me! Thanks again for your fantastic blog and book. You have helped my family tremendously in switching our diet. Muchas Gracias! Trish

Thanks, great information. Can you clarify is Arrowroot powder, Arrowroot flour and Arrowroot starch the same thing? I see significant differences in prices.

Ali,
Thanks so much for assembling this wonderful/helpful list. You are awesome! I've been passing on the links to your blog and website to lots of people. I don't know how you do all you do, but there are plenty of us who appreciate it.
xo Nancy