Oatmeal (Review from the GiG Health and Wellness Experience)

Our family went to our local GiG chapter's Health and Wellness Experience at the beginning of November.  I will be attempting to do a series of reviews and informational posts about what we saw (and tasted!) there.  These are all unsolicited reviews, and we're receiving no compensation for them (beyond some excellent samples from the GiG Experience).  As always, be sure to read the ingredients before trying any product.

Technically, oatmeal is a gluten-free food in that oats do not contain any gluten protein.  The problem with oatmeal is it's often cross-contaminated with wheat, barley and rye at the field or processing level.  Because of this, for many people with gluten issues, it's imperative to find a gf source of oatmeal.  And in our fast paced lives, it's nice to have a variety of oatmeal that won't take ages of slaving over the stove to prepare. We had the opportunity to try to quality, just-add-hot-water oatmeal products from Gluten Free Oats and Glutenfreeda.

Canyon Oats comes from Gluten Free Oats, a family owned company in Wyoming.  This is the only gf oatmeal company that controls their oat production from seed to finished product to ensure quality and the highest levels of gluten-free.  They generously sent our family home with several different varieties of their oatmeal to-go cups.  They were all amazing and so quick and easy to make.  What we liked best about their product was the quality of the oats.  So often with instant brands, the oatmeal is shredded to help it cook faster which can give the oatmeal sort of a funny texture.  Canyon Oats uses whole pieces of thick oatmeal which gives it a perfect oatmeal texture.  In addition the flavor of each variety was delicious with just the right level of sweetness.  My favorite was the cherry cranberry and walnut, youngest liked the maple, and oldest liked the sweet honey cinnamon.  The husband liked them all.


Glutenfreeda is another fantastic Northwest company making stellar gluten-free products.  We've been big fans of their instant oatmeal for years but were really excited to find they've introduced oatmeal in a to-go cup.  Glutenfreeda really puts the effort into making quality products which includes extensive testing and using the best ingredients.  We brought home several samples and found the flavors for their oatmeal cups to be delicious.  About the only strike against them would be the fact they use more of the shredded oats instead of the full oat which makes the texture not quite as good as the Canyon Oats brand.  But beyond that, a yummy product that's easy to make and handy to take with you when you're on the go.