Chocolate Almond Banana Spread

December 23, 2010 By Leanne Vogel March 3, 2017

If you have celiac disease and live with others that consume gluten containing foods, chances are you’ll fit into one of the three categories below:

1. You have 2 toasters at home – if so, luck you!
2. You’ve tried to make your toast in the oven (and have failed miserably – unless you have a trick to it and if that’s the case please share!)
3. You haven’t had toast in a really long time (I fit into this category)

When I saw the packet of El Peto Toastabags I instantly knew what they were for. I dropped them in my basket and headed for the till with enthusiasm. The lady at the cash register did not share my excitement for the product, even when I explained – “Its a bag you toast your bread in to prevent cross contamination when it’s toasted in a toaster that’s housed gluten!!!” It’s the simple things…

About the product

• The pack comes with 4 inserts
• Each insert can be used up to 50 times. It’s advised to wash with soap and air dry after each use.
• After doing a bit of research it turns out the bags are made of a Teflon material similar to the paraflexx Excalibur dehydrator sheets. What concerns me about this is teflon is a polymer (plastic). So essentially you are placing your bread in plastic and putting it in the toaster. hmmm… something feels wrong about this.

Background on Teflon

Teflon is used in pesticides, bullet proof vests, cookware, and non-stick surfaces. It contains ammonium perfluorooctanoate, which has been linked to cancer, organ damage and other health effects in tests on laboratory animals. In two to five minutes on a conventional stove top, cookware coated with Teflon and other non-stick surfaces can exceed temperatures to the point where the coating breaks apart and emits toxic particles and gases.

Toasting

I decided to go through the whole process so I could write a full review of the product even though at this point I’d decided I was not going to eat the toast that came out of the bag. When I don’t have fresh homemade bread around I use kinnikinnick candadi bread. So I popped a slice of my bread in the bag and dropped it in the toaster at a setting of 5. I had to stop midway when smoke started coming from my toaster. I figured it was the way I’d placed the bag in the toaster so I gave it another go. Same thing happened. Third time’s a charm? Nope. Same thing again. I don’t like feeling discouraged in my kitchen so I moved on to what I was going to place on my toast once I’d gotten the toasting part down. After a couple of test runs I landed on a keeper: chocolate almond banana spread. It’s like Nutella but full of fiber, whole foods, potassium, and vitamin B’s. Best of all.. it’s fresh and raw! View Nutritional Information (once on page scroll down)

As for the toastabags…

I gave up after the fifth time of trying. I’ll give it another go when I have fresh bread to see if it makes a difference. I can understand why this product was created and recognize that it can be a great tool for someone traveling or individuals that don’t have access to a personal toaster. I’ll keep these with me in my travels but have learned that nothing beats buying that second toaster. Is it too late to put a toaster on my Christmas wish list? Sources: http://www.fluoridealert.org/pesticides/epage.teflon.htm http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2005/06/07/nonstick-cookware-toxicity.aspx

This entry was tagged: chocolate