<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>>

For those of you who may be addicted to the endorphins that come with the
hot stuff, here's some good news!

There's a local outfit in our town (called Tia Rita's) that makes mixes and
spices for Mexican foods. I hadn't looked at any of them until recently
when I picked up one of her packages of mix for Creamed Green Enchilada
Dinner. The ingredients caught my eye when I realized she had cornstarch
and dry milk in it--the same things I use in the soup mix I use for green
enchiladas--plus lots of good spices. I picked it up, went through the list
of ingredients again a couple of times, decided it was okay, and finally
tried it out last night. It was super delicious!  --no [gluten] reaction
either (but I did chase it down with a tiny bit of ice cream for the
spices!)--

Anyway, today I went over to their booth at the local Farmer's Market to
talk with them about their products. The person there told me that one of
her primary concerns in developing and making her products was to AVOID
WHEAT!! Hooray!

Anyhow, here are a couple of the products I KNOW are gluten-free --

Instant Salsa Mix (just add tomatoes)    --- in either mild, medium, hot,
or extra hot! They're $1.59 each, but $15.00 for 12, and a case of 24 for
$27.60. (Makes a pint)

Red Enchilada Sauce -- just add water, I think. Makes 3 cups of sauce in
less than 5 minutes, with no bitterness. These are $1.99 each, or 3 for $5.
This also comes in mild, medium, or hot.

And then there's Tia Rita's Pure Stuff -- bags of pure chile, either ground
or crushed. This comes in green ground, green crushed, red ground, jalapeno
ground, jalapeno crushed, and habanero ground (these are the little bitty
ones).

The green enchilada dinner mix is a bit pricier -- $4.19, which makes a
meal for about 6 (or wonderful leftovers for the two of us!). You add your
own cheese and tortillas. It's sorta medium hot, though I added a can of
chopped green chile, which at the least added some more vitamin E!

The phone number is 800-367-5454, credit cards accepted. Her brochure
states that distributorships are available, and that you can get her
products in bulk quantities -- like maybe local support groups might like
to do this?

They have lots more products, but I'll wait until they send me copies of
the labels before I post any more.

It goes without saying that I'm not affiliated with this company (though I
could probably be persuaded to put together care packages of good Las
Cruces gluten-free tortillas or even fresh green chiles when the crop comes
in, if somebody is in dire need!).

I hope this is helpful to some of y'all. We do love our CHILE (please note
the spelling!) down here on the border.

Sue

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Susan Pieper/Las Cruces, [log in to unmask]