Mixes from the Heartland Pound Cake Review and Giveaway!

A few months ago I discovered Mixes from the Heartland at Lil?s Dietary Shop. They contain all of the dry ingredients to make quick meals, dips, desserts, soups, and breads. All you have to do is add the wet ingredients. Couldn?t be easier!

I tried the Italian Herb dip and Hawaiian Bread mixes - not together, of course! Both were delicious, ESPECIALLY the Hawaiian Bread. With freeze dried pineapple and shredded coconut, it baked into a beautiful golden loaf full of tropical goodness. All I needed was a lei and a grass skirt and I could have been on the island. The most interesting tidbit about this bread is that my dad loved it. He does not follow a gluten free diet and never will. Whenever I make anything gluten free, whether it?s lasagna or cookies, he always declines. Usually followed by a scrunched up face that I could justify with the gluten free selections of 10 years ago which I know he judges everything by?my early experiments were kinda gross. But there he was in the kitchen, slivering off slice after slice of that Hawaiian Bread. Tapping up the crumbs with his fingers, making sure not a morsel went to waste. If he will eat it, then you know it?s good.

Recently Teri Whisenhunt, the founder of Mixes from the Heartland, joined Gluten Free Faces, one of the gluten free social networking sites to which I belong. She?s been holding giveaways on her mixes and I was offered some pound cake mixes to review. New to the line, the pound cakes mixes come in Pineapple, Strawberry, or Lime. Separate packages of fruit dip (lime, strawberry, and raspberry) can be used to add a tasty, fluffy icing?which literally is the icing on the cake?SO good! It?s made with just the dip mix, cream cheese and Cool Whip.

Last month I volunteered at my local Ronald McDonald house with some friends and family. We made dinner for the families that where staying there, and for dessert I made the Strawberry Pound Cake with Strawberry Icing. I told a few people it was gluten free, but no one seemed to think anything of that matter and they cut slice. I used a 9 x 13 pan and turned it into a sheet cake rather than a loaf. Topped with a half inch thick layer of icing, it turned a cold, rainy night in Chicago into a warm, summary day with its sweet strawberry flavor. Most of the cake was gone that evening, although Babs and I did bring a few pieces home, which were gobbled up that night and um?for breakfast.