Saturday, December 31, 2011

Best Wishes to You in 2012!

How are you spending your New Years?  I am making some yummy GF mini cheese stuffed meatloaves and loaded baked potato casserole, maybe a Woodchuck (or two...), and a large ice cream sundae.  Yeah, the life of a mother of a three year old on New Year's, a different kind of exciting :)  I wouldn't ask for anything better :) 

Happy New Year's Everyone!

Monday, December 26, 2011

In Need of a Little Exercise Please....

I definitely over did it this year with the whole "Holiday Eating" activity.  (By the way, my son is insisting that I type this blog entry while I wear 3D glasses, needless to say, I am going to have a headache after this is post is submitted.) I feel as though I am to pop if someone would take a sharp pointy tool to my abdomen area. That may give some relief to this horrible satisfaction of my stomach being 120% full right now.  Thankfully I was blessed with family that knows and understands how to make me feel included in festivities while being gluten free.  You can overdo it on a gluten free diet-if you don't believe me, just come a take a look at the 30 pounds I have gained over the weekend (ok, I exaggerate a little, but it feels like it!)  Oh my...thankfully, through my husbands company, we are now enrolled in Virgin HealthMiles, which gives us a pedometer and we can track our daily steps.  I can then upload those miles from the pedometer via USB into the computer software and we get more extra $ towards our health savings account.  I thankfully received that pedometer in the mail the other day, just in time for me to start walking off these one million calories that I ingested over the weekend. I hope everyone had a wonderful and safe holiday :)

Friday, December 23, 2011

Free Gluten Free Products!

So exciting!  If you follow this link to Vitacost http://www.vitacost.com/Referee?wlsrc=rsReferral&ReferralActionId=466000032282, you get a free $10.00 off coupon code to use on your first purchase.  They will email you the coupon code after you register. They have several gluten free items as well as all types of foods and health products. You can buy SEVERAL items totaling for under $10.00 on this website and all you pay is $4.99 shipping.  I got 3 boxes of my GF Annie's Mac and Cheese and a package of Bob's Red Mill Pizza Crust Mix all for $4.99!  What a bargain!  Even if you don't need GF items, there are several other items you can buy with this $10.00 credit. 

Thursday, December 22, 2011

Reba's Restaurant Bar and Grill

I am so excited! Reba's Restaurant Bar and Grill in Newton, KS serves gluten free foods!  http://www.rebasrestaurant.com/ I emailed them a few weeks ago and I received a phone call from one of the owners. They actually have GF breads and buns to serve with their meals as well as soups, etc.  They even have GF desserts. She said that I could even call ahead and they would make sure they have things ready for a GF patron. It's such a nice feeling that you are being taken care of by a local restaurant to make sure that you have a wonderful dining experience on a GF diet.   This restaurant unfortunately caught fire a awhile back and has since been rebuilt and is beautiful and going strong.  I have heard though that it an establishment that maybe it is best to find a babysitter and leave your kiddos with them.:)  If anyone has been there recently, let me know what you thought :)

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Cider Anyone?

For those gluten free fans out there, I highly recommend Woodchuck Hard Cider, which is naturally gluten free.  Actually. all of their products are gluten free.  And to be quite honest with you, I am enjoying a bottle right now (the Raspberry flavor) as I write this post.  Hey, it's the holidays right? And Woodchuck is the perfect drink of choice for the celiac.  There are several flavors of cider, they even have seasonal ciders as well.  My favorite is the raspberry flavor, light and refreshing. One thing that I have noticed is that more restaurants and bars are now carrying it as well.  It used to be only the more "specialized" establishments would carry it, but not any more....so please fellow gluten free friends, continue to ask for it when you go out for a drink with some friends on a Friday night, you may be surprised :) 
Here is the link to their website. http://www.woodchuck.com/cider/ Very cool website, it even has recipes in which you use Woodchuck Hard Cider.  My kind of dinner......

I did it again....

I overdid it on the holiday baking this year. After 72 GF frosted sugar cookies, 2 batches of chexmix, and 3 batches of chocolate covered GF pretzels, I was ready for a good night's rest.  I get carried away while listening to my holiday playlist on my Ipod as a bake, and cook, and cook and bake, until I realize that there is no more room in the refrigerator to store everything that I just made. My three year old son had a blast helping me.  These are the little moments that I will always treasure.
 I have been really enjoying trying new recipes and converting them to a GF version, especially during the holidays when people with Celiacs can feel a little left out when it comes to the holiday traditions of food.  Once in a while, I will have to use the good ol' resource of Google to help me along the way, but for the most part, I do a pretty good job. 

Monday, December 19, 2011

A Great Day to Go Shopping....

A great day to go shopping....NOT!  I don't know if it was the weather or just last minute Christmas shopping, but the traffic was insane today on the east side.  About made me drive to the local bar instead of the local Starbucks.  (I did choose the latter of those two, just in case you were wondering.)  My friend and I ate at HuHot (which has gluten free options) and then went to the new Natural Grocers that I talked about in my previous post.  What a wonderful store and a great selection of gluten free items!  And guess what, my wish was granted!  They carry Against the Grain products!  Something I thought I would never see unless I drove down to Dallas or went out east.  I guess they supply to this chain, which is a bonus for all GF friends.  You need to try this line of food.  I also saw that several of the GF items that I buy on a regular basis were cheaper than any other natural food store in the area and also cheaper than Dillons.  So excited for something like this to come to town!

Sunday, December 18, 2011

Natural Grocers in Wichita, KS

So excited for the new grocery store, Natural Grocers, to have opened here in Wichita.  There is also one that opened in Lawrence. I believe that this store is a chain that is huge in the Colorado area. A new place to shop for your gluten free items!  Maybe they will have those yummy Against the Grain baguettes that I talked about in a previous post....wishful thinking.  Will definitely be making a trip this week.  I will follow up on what I think :) Here is the link to their website
http://www.naturalgrocers.com/store-info/wichita

Cherry Cranberry Salad

I tried a wonderful new recipe from a book that I have titled "Cooking with 5 Ingredients" by Barbara C. Jones.  It is for a Cherry Cranberry Salad-naturally GF, of course :)  I would still double check all ingredients that you buy, just in case there are brands of the ingredients that wouldn't be gf. 

1 (6oz) package of cherry gelatin
1 cup boiling water
1 can cherry pie filling
1 (16oz) can whole cranberry sauce


In a bowl, mix together gelatin and boiling water until gelatin is dissolved. Mix pie filling and cranberry sauce into gelatin.  Pour into a 9x13 pan and refrigerate. 

Love this recipe, so easy to make and yummy!

Saturday, December 17, 2011

Catered Lunch Gluten Free Style

On Friday I had the opportunity to partake in a wonderful catered lunch at a meeting I had at work.  Gluten free options were wonderful, pork tenderloin, homemade mashed potatoes, asparagus with almonds.  It was wonderful and I actually left a luncheon at work full.  She even brought Pamela's lemon cookies for me with a homemade fruit sauce to dip if I wanted.  Just reminds me how easy gluten free meals can be and how many food items out there are naturally gluten free :)

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

For one day.....

Fellow gluten free friends, if asked the question that I am sure you have thought about several times before..., what would be the one thing that you would eat if you had one day to eat whatever you wanted?  Mine---would be a large chicken fried steak with mashed potatoes and country gravy.  Just thinking about it makes me crave that moment in my life--hopefully sooner than later.  Hey, they have been working on those vaccinations for celiac patients....I am an optimist, what can I say...

Sunday, December 11, 2011

Udi's Gluten Free Hamburger Buns at Red Robin?

I recently found out that the Red Robin's in the southern parts of the US are carrying Udi's Gluten fre Hamburger Buns.  I absolutely LOVE Red Robin and I wish they would build one on the northwest side of Wichita, as I know it would be a hit in that area.  Their fries are gluten free and I love the Royal Red Robin Burger, which has bacon, cheese, and a fried egg.  I always get it without a bun of course, but you can get it wrapped in lettuce.  I really hope that this trend of Udi's buns at Red Robin moves it's way north a little :) Their website is wonderful for those who have allergen questions.  www.redrobin.com.

Only a few more weeks until Christmas!

Saturday, December 10, 2011

My favorite dessert crust

During Thanksgiving, I made a chocolate cream pie that was wonderful.. It didn't make it 24 hours before my son and I devoured it.  I knew there had been several regular gf pie crusts out there, but I was looking for a dessert crust.  I found these graham style crumbs to make a crust at Food 4 Thought in Wichita.  http://consumer.kinnikinnick.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/products.home/productcategoryid/7
Simple to make and delicious!

This crust is also dairy free AND nut free, perfect for those with those intolerances as well :)

Monday, December 5, 2011

Gluten Free Books and Magazines-Christmas Gift Ideas?

Here are some books and magazines that Glutenfreeville posted on their website.  For those of you that are wondering what to get that celiac friend, here are some ideas.  Some of the magazines on this site I was unaware of, I may check them out :)  Living Without is a good magazine, as I have been reading that one since I got diagnosed :)  Check it out http://glutenfreeville.com/featured/books.