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Frito-Lay Snacks

Frito-Lay Snacks (The Sun Chips are NOT Gluten Free)

When my husband and I travel, we like to grab a quick snack when we stop for gas, and sometimes it is just plain difficult to find something that does not have gluten in it. As a person who eats a gluten free diet, I was glad to learn that quite a few of Frito-Lay products are gluten free. While I have always known that potato chips are, it has been hard to determine what else is safe to eat. Luckily, Frito-Lay has an enormous list of their gluten free and wheat free products listed on their website! This list was updated January 2011, so it is up to date as of today. Please note, in the photo above of the products they sent me, the Sun Chips are NOT gluten free, but my husband loved them!

Here are some fun facts to know about Frito-Lay:

·         Frito-Lay starts with fresh, farm-grown ingredients, making many of our chips with just three simple ingredients: potatoes or corn, all-natural oils and salt.

·         Frito-Lay was the first major food company to remove partially hydrogenated oils from our cooking oil way back in 2003. That means Frito-Lay chips have 0 grams trans fat because we use all-natural oils such as corn oil and sunflower oil.

·         Many varieties of Frito-Lay chips provide whole grains like Tostitos® snacks, which contain 8 grams of whole grain corn per serving, and SunChips®, which brings 18 grams of whole grain per serving to your diet! SunChips is also a good source of fiber.

·         Frito-Lay supports American farmers and buys the potatoes used to make our potato chips from 80+ farms across 27 states.

I received samples of several Frito-Lay products to try in order to write this review. What is your favorite Frito-Lay product? Mine is CHEETOS® Cheese Flavored Snacks.

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Beanitos Gluten Free Snack Chips

As a Celiac and type II diabetic, I am always looking for foods that I can eat without getting sick from the gluten, and that don’t have too much sugar. These chips fit that description.  The things that make Beanitos so healthy and delicious are real ingredients, nutritious calories, and beans. Beans are naturally loaded with health benefits such as vitamins and minerals.  Doug and Dave Foreman,  the owners of Bean Brand Foods, say “Beanitos is a nutritional powerhouse: a corn free, gluten free, low glycemic, 100% whole bean snack chip packed with Omega 3′s, protein and fiber.”   They are also high in fiber and contain 2 1/2 times the protein of corn or potato chips. I say, they are quite tasty and filling as a snack.

Beanitos come in two varieties: Black Bean and Pinto Bean with Flax Seeds. The Black Bean flavor has 5 grams of fiber and 140 calories in a 10 chip serving.  To get the same amount of fiber from potato chips, you would 75 chips with 750 calories. And potato chips offer no Omega 3′s at all!

I tried the Black Bean flavor by itself as a between meal snack. The recommended serving size of 10 chips was plenty to fill me up and satisfy my hunger. They have a very pleasing flavor, and I think they would be good with cheese dip or as nachos.

Beanitos suggested retail price is $3.99 for a 6 oz. b and can be found in many stores nationwide, including H-E-B and Whole Foods.  If you can’t find them at your favorite local store, visit the Beanitos website to download a product fact sheet to give the manager nex time you go.  Order them online at Snack Warehouse.

Ingredients: Whole black beans, whole grain rice (brown and/or long grain white, pure vegetable oil (one of the following: canola, sunflower, safflower), guar bean gum, sea salt.

Calories per serving: 140    Carbohydrate content: 15 grams  Protein: 4 grams