Paleo Chicken Tenders Recipe

Learn how to make the best paleo chicken tenders/nuggets. These are great for kids of all ages, and our recipe is completely gluten, grain, dairy, peanut, and soy free.

Snackin’ Free becomes an Alliance Partner with The Gluten Intolerance Group

gigApril 19, 2016

Gluten Intolerance Group (GIG) announces their exciting partnership with Snackin’ Free, aiming to continue promoting the benefits of a gluten-free lifestyle while sharing their delectable gluten, grain, dairy, soy, peanut, yeast, and artificial ingredient free foods with the world.

GIG is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the support and advocacy of the gluten-free community, as well as a leader in food safety certification.

Snackin’ Free’s partnership with [us] not only brings more credibility to their product lines, but will increase their visibility in markets nationwide.

“Snackin’ Free’s commitment through this Alliance partnership is helping GIG’s outreach to all persons living gluten-free,” said Chris Rich, VP of development for GIG. “It’s a testament of the compassion that they put into every product.”

More people than ever are turning to alternative meal plans as a means to live healthier and help with gluten intolerance; autoimmune problems such as IBS, Chron’s Disease, and Celiac Disease; and assist with Autism management.

There has been a need for brands that embrace their journey, and Snackin’ Free is showing them the way to enjoy food again.

“It is a tremendous honor to be partnered with one of the largest and oldest gluten-free organization in the world, and we are excited for the opportunity to help bring awareness and educate our community about living a gluten-free lifestyle,” said Snackin’ Free founder and head chef Laura Savinovich.

Savinovich turned to the Paleo lifestyle as a way to help with the fatigue, pain, and weight gain associated with her Rheumatoid Arthritis. Finding relief through the changes, but a lack of viable food options on the market, she decided to fill the niche herself.

She launched the brand in 2012, soon expanding from her home’s kitchen to a dedicated facility free of gluten, grain, dairy, soy, peanut, yeast, and artificial ingredients.

Snackin’ Free specializes in low GI, paleo, and primal friendly foods that are nutrient dense yet mouthwatering.

“Through this partnership we look forward to connecting with others in the gluten-free community to offer them the very finest quality, truly gluten-free foods,” said Savinovich.

Snackin’ Free’s product lines include paleo breads, tortillas, pizzas, and sandwiches; barbecue sauce and salad dressing; cupcakes, cookies, and other baked goods; and cereals and granola.

Their products can be purchased online at snackinfree.com or at its brick and mortar location in Old Town Murrieta, California, where it provides the community with fresh meals and ingredients daily.

Partnership with Gluten Intolerance Group

Founder & head baker, Laura Savinovich, comes from a family with a long history of Autoimmune Disease. In the last three generations, all the females, from her mother to her daughter, have some form of Autoimmune Disease ranging from Scleroderma and Pemphigus to Hashimoto’s and Lupus. In 2003, she was diagnosed with moderate RA and in 2010 she learned about something that would literally change her life, the “Paleo Lifestyle.” She decided to do some extensive research before jumping in with both feet, clearing all the cupboards, and disrupting everyone’s life, but soon found that finding tasty foods that adhered to her new strict dietary guidelines proved very difficult. So, she knew she had to make it herself.

She began by searching through her own family recipes and then started scouring the book stores and internet to find recipes that could be transformed into those tasty treats and baked goods that she remembered and was unable to find in the stores. After much experimentation, reformulation and manipulation, with ingredients that were foreign to her, she began to test her creations on family and friends with great results. Now at Snackin’ Free, they offer everything from the best paleo breads and tortillas, salad dressings and barbecue sauce, to cookies and cupcakes all without containing any gluten, grain, dairy, soy, peanuts, processed sugars or artificial ingredients.

…Find out more about GIG Partnership

 

New & Cool Food Products

Red Tricycle
March 8, 2016
It’s time to forget your reliable standbys and give these four new food products and services a whirl. Read on for cool new additions to the parenting food scene that recently caught our editor’s eye.

Cinnamon Graham CrackersSnackin’ Free Crackers
The next time a snack attack hits reach for Snackin’ Free crackers, which are now available nationwide in kid-sized packages and in flavors like Honey Graham Cracker and Cheddar n’ Chives. Their crackers are more than just gluten-free; they’re also free of grain, dairy, soy, peanuts, yeast and artificial ingredients (try saying that 10 times fast). Made without a ton of ingredients, the crackers are not only healthy, but downright delicious. In fact, they got a big two-thumbs up from our six-year-old resident food tester.

Available for $2.89/package at snackinfree.com

…Read Full Article

Snackin’ Free Goes Online 

Press Enterprise | Laurie Lucas
January 26, 2016
Snackin Free WebsiteA Murrieta bakery cafe designed for those with special dietary needs and health challenges has just expanded to an online store and to Amazon.

Snackin’ Free at 41539 Kalmia St., Suite 102 is now offering to consumers worldwide its food options scrubbed of gluten, dairy, grain, soy, peanuts, yeast and artificial ingredients. Its 100 plus products include breads, tortillas, pizzas, sandwiches, barbecue sauce salad dressings, cupcakes, cookies, cereals and other baked goods. Owner and founder Laura Savinovich, 56, and her team pairs low glycemic sweeteners with high fiber flours and nut meals to make and bake the goods themselves.

“I don’t advocate that eating certain foods will cure any illness but rather eating certain foods can improve one’s health,” said Savinovich. “I am living proof that it can impact your life in a positive way.”

Savinovich, a longtime Murrieta resident who managed an antiques store, joined a kettleball gym and changed her diet 13 years ago to counter the pain, fatigue and weight gain from rheumatoid arthritis, an autoimmune condition.

“I started eating like this to lose weight and to feel better,” she said. “It’s helping me regulate my system and keep the inflammation down.” She’s also kept off the 40 pounds and has never had to increase or switch her medications.

After years of experimenting and researching which foods to avoid, Savonovich launched Snackin’ Free from her kitchen in 2012 under the new state Cottage Food Industry law. A year later she opened her 1,400-square-foot brick-and-mortar store in Old Town Murrieta draws customers from as far away as Las Vegas, San Francisco and San Diego. A month ago she hit the web and is considering a larger space for the bakery.

Information: 951-304-2433, snackinfree.com

…Read Full Article

Limited co-packers dedicated to allergen-free production hinders category growth, Snackin’ Free warns

Food Navigator | Elizabeth Crawford
January 20, 2016
Limited-co-packers-dedicated-to-allergen-free-production_strict_xxlA lack of co-packers with dedicated allergen- and grain-free production facilities will hinder startups and small manufacturers from competing in the quickly growing free-from category, but it won’t stop them for long, as demonstrated by Snackin’ Free’s recent expansion into online CPG sales demonstrates.

Laura Savinovich, the founder of Snackin’ Free – a California-based bakery offering food free of gluten, grains, dairy, soy, peanuts, yeast and artificial ingredients, was inspired to offer her goods nationwide through her online store after she realized some consumers were traveling hundreds of miles to stock up on her baked goods, granola, sauces and snacks.

“We are in Southern California, but we have people who drive as far as Arizona, San Francisco and Las Vegas to get our products. I also have a consumer in Florida who orders products directly from us once a month,” Savinovich said. Eventually, she added, she realized it would be easier to launch an online store and sell her products through Amazon so that even more people on highly restricted diets could enjoy her products.

She says her products are different from competitors because they are not just made from allergen-free ingredients but in a kitchen dedicated to making food free from gluten, grains, dairy, soy, peanuts, yeast and artificial ingredients – so there is no risk of cross-contamination.

Some other manufacturers that make free-from claims for products made on equipment shared with allergen triggering ingredients, must include a warning on labels about the shared equipment, even though they also must thoroughly clean them.

These warnings can scare away consumers with sensitive allergies who most need the products, which is why Savinovich says she refuses to compromise when looking for a co-packer to help her make and fill her online orders.

Unfortunately, she has yet to find one that meets her rigorous free-from standards, prompting her to work overtime in her commercial kitchen at her retail shop to fill the orders.

“My customers come here because they know everything is clean and completely dedicated. We don’t even bring gluten, dairy, soy or grains into the store – so there is no risk of cross-contamination. To lose their trust [by outsourcing to a co- packer with shared equipment] would have been a big loss and I didn’t want to deal with that,” Savinovich said.

But her decision is holding her business back, and likely also is holding back other startups and small manufacturers as well. Given that these are the types of companies that typically bring the most innovation to a category, such a restriction could limit the overall segment’s growth as well.

Savinovich says she has a seller on Amazon who will market her products, which include cookies, crackers, cereals, muffins, sauces, snack bars, dressings and other treats, but she hasn’t been able to fill the order yet for lack of an allergy- free packager.

She acknowledges she is frustrated and already works more than 12-hour days most days a week. But she hopes to fill the order in the next few months with help from her staff, most of whom have dietary restrictions and are dedicated to Savinovich’s high standards.

If Savinovich cannot find a dedicated allergen-free co-packer she says she likely will need to move to a bigger kitchen.

She also hopes that one day she can help others in the same restrictive position by opening her own dedicated co-packing facility.

While that part of her dream is farther in the future, she is confident that there will still be a need for specialized co-packers because the free-from diet is not a passing fad.

Paleo and gluten-free are here to stay

Paleo, gluten-free and allergy-free diets and those who follow them are evolving, but they also are growing, Savinovich said.

She explains that she, like many others, started following the paleo diet as way to lose weight. But she stuck with it long after meeting her weight-loss goal because she found it helps her auto-immune disease.

She believes that as others discover how their diets can impact their health beyond their waistline, the diets will grow in popularity among the auto-immune community. She also thinks the paleo diet will appeal to people who are drawn to vegan fare because it also is plant-based and focused on whole foods.

That said, Savinovich said she suspects the paleo diet “might die out” in the gym scene, which already is turning its attention to the macro and keto diets. Similarly, otherwise healthy people who started the gluten-free diet to help lose weight also might turn their backs on the diet, but for those people who have an intolerance, the diet will grow in importance.

And it is for those people who need allergen- and grain-free options to manage their health without sacrificing good tasting food that Savinovich remains loyal to her uncompromisingly high standards to make high-quality, free-from products more widely available.

Originally Published on foodnavigator-usa.com

Snackin’ Free Founder Turns her own Health Problems into Entrepreneurial Success

OC Foodie | Kelli
January 12, 2016
Cheddar n Chives CrackersSnackin’ Free, a Murrieta, California based bakery cafe, which offers delectable eat-in or on-the go-food options made in a entirely dedicated kitchen free of gluten, grain, dairy, soy, peanuts, yeast, and artificial ingredients, is now taking their popular brand to the next level by offering their products to consumers nationwide via on line shopping through their own website and soon through Amazon. For Laura Savinovich, the brand’s founder and chef, making the switch to such a restrictive diet was difficult, but ultimately achievable. Now her goal is to bring her artisanal made and truly delicious foods and baked goods to those folks who, like herself, have found it hard to find foods that are not only good for you but taste good as well.

Savinovich turned to the Paleo lifestyle as a way to help with the fatigue, pain, and weight gain associated with her Rheumatoid Arthritis. Finding relief through her new diet, but a lack of viable food options on the market, she decided to fill the niche herself and to share her own experience and the knowledge gained with others making it easier for them to succeed on their journeys toward health while still being able to enjoy those foods we all crave and love.

Savinovich said that even the most unsuspecting things like soy sauce, taco season, candy and even make up, lotions and soaps can contain gluten, grains, soy and/ or refined sugars.It forces the consumer to be on your guard,to become an investigator of sorts and to question all products and every ingredient, especially those that have names you can not pronounce. “I feel privileged that we can share our products with customers nation wide and honored that they place their complete trust and confidence in us knowing that everything we make is made in a completely dedicated Kitchen and that the quality and taste will always be their best, said Savinovich.”

SnackinFree (360 of 385)At Snackin’ Free they pair low glycemic sweeteners with high fiber flours and nut meals to create an array of delicious and nutritious foods including paleo breads, tortillas, pizzas, and sandwiches, barbecue sauce and salad dressings, as well as cupcakes, cookies and various other baked goods, cereals and more all made in a completely dedicated facility by team members whose own dietary restrictions have made them devotees to the brand’s quest for great taste with simplicity and honesty. “I don’t advocate that eating certain foods will cure any illness but rather eating certain foods can improve one’s health,” said Savinovich. “I am living proof that it can impact your life in a positive way.”

Snackin’ Free’s products can be purchased online at www.snackinfree.com or at its brick and mortar location in Old Town Murrieta, where it provides the community with fresh food daily.

…Learn More about OC Foodies