GF Savvy

A Few of My Favorite Things

2015-04-24T12:20:00.001-05:00

It's no secret that I love to cook and bake, but sometimes you just don't feel like doing either. So when that happens, what's a Celiac to do? Well, if you're like me, you probably keep some nukeable foods that you can just pop in the microwave or oven. In case you don't have many, here's a few of my favorites.

Glutenfreeda Pizza Wraps
I love Italian food, so being able to buy one of these in a handy little wrap is just great! They come in three varieties: Italian Sausage, Three Cheese, and Pesto Chicken. They are reasonably priced, and easy to heat up.

LiveGfree Pizza Pockets
Unlike the Glutenfreeda wraps, these pizza pockets are baked inside of a flaky crust. They also include pepperoni, which I absolutely love. They are easy to heat up, and are quite tasty. You can buy LiveGfree products at Aldi stores, and they are all cheaply priced and yummy!

Udi's Frozen Pizzas
If you want something that you can cook in an oven, then check out Udi's frozen pizzas. You can get cheese, pepperoni, or margherita. All of the varieties are great! They are about 5 to 8 bucks per pizza for the full size version, but well worth the price.

Gluten Free Girl Scout Cookies
This year, I finally got to try the gluten free offerings from the Girl Scouts. There were two varieties to try. The first is the Trios, which have peanut butter, oats, and chocolate chips all mixed into one tiny and tasty cookie. The second, is the Toffee-tastic which are butter cookies, with crunch toffee bits. I can honestly say that I love both varieties and will be buying them again next year.

Dr. Schar Sugar Wafers
These have always been a favorite gluten free snack of mine. They are sweet and delicious, and you can easily eat the whole box in one sitting. Be careful, you will find yourself craving them!

Pamela's Simple Bites - Extreme Chocolate
These tiny cookies are oh so good! They are melt in your mouth chocolatey and I guarantee you can't stop at just one. They come in a resealable bag, so they are a good snack to keep in your desk at work.

Pamela's Whenever Bars - Oat Raisin Walnut Spice
These are a great versatile item. They can be breakfast, or just a snack on the go. They have a great cinnamon spice flavor to them, and are moist and rich.

Glutino Breakfast Pastries - Strawberry
Of course, I must have my pop-tart alternative in here. I love these breakfast pastries from Glutino. They have all the goodness of a pop-tart, without the gluten.

If you have a favorite gluten free food that isn't on the list, please comment below.

What's in A Recipe?

2014-07-05T12:46:00.001-05:00

Recipes are passed down from one generation to another in my family. Some of them are written down, and some of them are made so much we just know them by heart. Being diagnosed as a Celiac put a slight snag in being able to make those recipes as is, but instead of just giving up on them, I've decided to remake them my way.

There was a time when I thought I would never be able to cook anything that tasted good again, but I was quite surprised to learn that the truth was quite the opposite. The past two years I have spent much of my free time trying new recipes that I either adapted from an old family recipe, or just made up off the top of my head.

If you're going to adapt a recipe, you need to consider the ingredients carefully and cook times as well. Some recipes aren't as simple as substituting one cup of gluten free flour for one cup of regular flour. If you are going to make up a recipe, here's what you need to know.

The first thing is to figure out what you want to make. If you are new to making your own recipes, it's a good idea to look up a couple of different ways to make the dish you are trying to create. Obviously you don't want to copy those recipes, but it helps to look at the ingredients as an inspiration. Once you've done that, just decide what ingredients you want to use and, most importantly, write it down! You can make the most amazing recipe in the world, but it won't be useful again if you don't remember what you put in it. Amounts of ingredients are really important too, so if you want to make slight adjustments, you know how much of each ingredient you used.

These same rules apply for baking, only here, it's even more important to measure every ingredient and write those measurements down. You've probably heard some people say that they can just throw ingredients in a dish and bake them up into a delicious dessert without measuring a thing. I can do that now, but I couldn't when I first started baking. Part of that skill is knowing your ingredients, and what each measurement looks like without using the utensils.

Sometimes, recipes can also be made as a way to use certain food items around your house. An example of this is using cups of instant oatmeal that I got at an expo to make the most amazing blueberry muffins I have ever had. I'm not really a fan of the texture of oatmeal, but using the raw ingredients in a muffin was perfect! It gives the muffin a great texture, and keeps me from wasting gluten free food.

Something to remember is that it may take a few tries to get the recipe just right, and that's okay. My Dad always says practice makes perfect, and that really does apply here.

Gluten Free Summer Camp

2014-06-28T15:18:00.000-05:00

This past week, I attended our local Council's Boy Scout summer camp program. There was a kitchen staff that provided food for the campers, but what about me? Since I am a Celiac, I wound up providing my own meals for this excursion. How did I do it? Planning, Ziploc bags, and airtight containers.

I decided the best way to do this, was to make it as easy as possible. I had to provide breakfast, lunch, and dinner for each day I was there. Anyone who knows me, knows that I am very organized and quite O.C.D. as well. I had one airtight container for each meal of the day. Inside those containers, I had a Ziploc bag for each meal. That way, when it was time to eat all I had to do was grab a bag out of the container.

For breakfast, each bag had two things. Some of the bags had a vanilla Greek yogurt and an Udi's Cinnamon Raisin Bagel. The other bags had the vanilla Greek yogurt and an Udi's Blueberry Oatmeal Muffin Top. This way I got some variation while I was there.

For Lunch, I had crackers, ham and turkey rounds, cheese blocks, and a pickle.

Dinner was a ham, turkey, and cheese sandwich on Udi's Multigrain bread with carrots and a pickle.

Each bag had the ham and turkey in smaller bags so that the bread and crackers didn't end up soggy before I got to eat them. The pickles also had their own bags for the same reason. Each kit also had napkins, and any necessary utensils.

If there is one thing that being a Celiac has taught me, it is that you can make anything work with some planning and a little bit of work.

Gluten Free at Braum's

2014-05-26T10:45:00.001-05:00

I have been gluten free ever since I was diagnosed with Celiac Disease 12 years ago. The great thing about how long I have been on the diet, is that my family is always on the lookout for new products or places to buy them. A few days ago, my sister and her kids discovered that our local Braum's is now carrying a ton of gluten free items.

The great thing about this, is that I no longer have to drive all the way to Wichita Falls to get gluten free food. I can now drive about 2 minutes from my house and get whatever product I need. It's really exciting to me to see more and more stores starting to carry gluten free products.

As far as prices go, they are about what I would expect for gluten free foods. For me, they are a tad cheaper, because I no longer have to waste gas driving to the next town to buy my groceries.

I would like to thank Braum's for making my life, and the lives of those like me, just a little bit easier.

Aldi's LiveGFree Review

2014-05-26T10:31:00.001-05:00

Recently, I came across an Aldi's sale paper and noticed that they were advertising a ton of new gluten free products. These products are from the new Aldi's line LiveGFree. The first thing that caught my eye was the prices on these products. I immediately decided to go buy them so I could give them a taste.

When I went to buy the products, one thing that blew me away was how each product was labeled free of whatever allergens it doesn't contain. For example, it might say dairy free or soy free. I personally love this because I am lactose intolerant, so it was easy for me to tell what products contained dairy or not.

I managed to make it out of the store with about a dozen products, and it only cost me 30 bucks!

The first product I tried was the Double Chocolate Brownie Cookies, which were absolutely delectable.

The product I was most excited to try was the Pepperoni Pizza Stuffed Sandwiches, and these were off the chain amazing!! I have really missed having a good stuffed sandwich pocket since being diagnosed 12 years ago, but this one certainly fits that description. The crust is flaky and crispy all at the same time. The filling has just the right amount of spice and cheesy goodness. These are certainly my favorite of all the items I bought.

I also tried the Southwest Veggie Stuffed Sandwiches, and like the other products, they were also tasty. I will caution you about these, because they are spicy! I actually liked that about these sandwiches, but you'll definitely want to have a drink on hand.

Another product I tried was the Very Berry Chewy Bars. These are a perfect item to take camping for a gluten free easy breakfast. They have a wonderful flavor to them, and are soft a chewy.

The last product I have tried is the Pepperoni Pizza. I thought this product was good, but I tend to lean toward making my own pizza over buying it frozen in a store.

I still have many more items to try, and as I do, I will update this blog post. Stay tuned for more tasty gluten free reviews.

New Year, Same Me

2013-12-31T11:44:00.001-06:00

The beginning of a new year marks a time for people to decide what their goals are. For most, their goal is to lose weight or eat healthier. One phrase we hear all too much is "New Year, New You". This year, I decided to depart from the usual, and instead use the motto "New Year, Same Me". To do this, I have set three simple goals for myself.

The first is just to be myself. I've spent a lot of my life trying to fit in and be like everyone else, but the truth is, I'm not. I'm that girl that gets exited about gluten free food, new places to buy gluten free food, geeky things, and pretty much anything related to technology. That's the girl that I am, and that's the girl that the world needs to get to know.

My second goal for 2014 is to believe in myself. I've realized that I can do just about anything that I put my mind to. It doesn't matter what anyone else says. I know what I'm capable of and it's time to stop listening to what others say, and just trust in that.

Finally, my last goal is to be smarter and make better decisions. With every experience you learn what you could have done different, and sometimes, what you could have done better. I need to take that knowledge and apply it to my actions.

When I think back on the last year, I realize how many things have changed for me. I learned that with enough work and determination, I can accomplish anything. I also learned how one person can make a huge impact on others. I've set my goals for 2014, but there is one outcome that will result from these three things. That is to be happy. More than anything, that is what I hope to accomplish in the next year. 2014 is the year for me to be true to myself and happy.

Now that you know my goals for the next year, I would like to know what your New Year's resolutions are. Leave a comment below, or share with me on Facebook or Twitter.

Old El Paso Frozen Entrees

2013-11-20T18:45:00.000-06:00

I don't usually blog about food that I won't eat, but since I live in a house that is not completely gluten free, I'm making an exception for the new Old El Paso Frozen Entrees. When I first heard about these products, I wanted to try them. However, though certain products do not have gluten containing ingredients, the manufacturer will not label them gluten free due to the risk of cross contamination. General Mills is amazing about making sure that any product labeled gluten free can be trusted, and I certainly appreciate that. Due to the contamination risk, I will not chance eating the items.

I was given an opportunity to try the new frozen entrees, but since I'm unable to, my family was willing to try the product for me and give a review. The product that they tried was the Chicken Quesadillas. One box comes with four quesadillas, which is enough for two people. They are easy to heat up, and ready to go. The quesadillas had good flavor, the right amount of spice, and were filling too. For about 6 bucks, you're getting a convenient and tasty dinner for two. I would definitely buy these again for my family to eat when we just don't have time to cook.

If you'd like to see what products Old El Paso has to offer, you can find them at their website. Also be sure to check them out on Facebook.

Review: Joe Corbi's Gluten Free Fundraising Items

2013-11-03T18:34:00.000-06:00

A few weeks ago, I told you about gluten free fundraising items that I found from Joe Corbi's. I decided to order both options to test them out and see how good they are. The items are a gluten free pizza kit that has everything you need to make four personal gluten free pizzas and a tub of gluten free chocolate chip cookies.

Let's start with the gluten free pizza kit. The kit comes in the box in the picture above with the crusts in one package, sauce in two other packages, and cheese in two packages as well. The instructions are on the box and very easy to follow. To make the first pizza, I took a frozen crust and topped it with half of one package of sauce. Since the sauce is also frozen, I put it in the microwave in a bowl for about 30 seconds to get it soft enough to spread on the crust. After that, I topped it with half of one package of cheese. Then, I added some pepperoni that I bought at the grocery store, and I popped it in the oven for about 10 minutes. When it came out of the oven, the cheese was melted and bubbly, and the crust was golden and crispy. This pizza was amazing! The crust was not a bit soggy or dry, it was crispy and delicious. The sauce had a wonderful flavor to it and the cheese was perfect. This kit was so good, I plan to order more of them.

Now on to Grandma Corbi's Gluten Free Casein Free Chocolate Chip Cookies. I kept the tub of dough in the freezer until I was ready to bake some. The night before I wanted to bake, I put the tub in the fridge to thaw the dough. When I was ready to bake them, I scooped out teaspoonfuls of dough onto an ungreased cookie sheet and put them in the oven for 12 minutes to bake. When they came out of the oven, they were soft and chewy. The cookies have great flavor, but as with most gluten free items, the raw dough has an awful taste to it from the uncooked flour.

All in all, these foods are amazing, and certainly well worth ordering. I am most impressed by my first gluten free fundraising items, and look forward to seeing what I find next.

To check out what Joe Corbi's has to offer, click here.

Have you found any gluten free fundraising items?

Gluten Free Fundraisers

2013-10-13T16:07:00.000-05:00

With school back in for a while now, you've more than likely been hit up for one fundraiser or another. I know I have been hit up with fundraisers for school, band, and Boy Scouts of America just in the last month. With all of these fundraisers coming at me, and all of them being food, I started wondering what the fundraising world has to offer the gluten free community. The day my nephew got his band fundraiser packet, I got an answer to that question. When he called to tell me about the new fundraiser, he told me that he asked his teacher if there was anything gluten free. The teacher instructed him to look on the website that is on the fundraiser brochure. Once he gave me the web address, I immediately went to check it out.

I was surprised when I visited the Joe Corbi's fundraising site to find not one, but two products that are gluten free. They have a gluten free pizza kit that makes 4 personal size pizzas, and a tub of gluten free chocolate chip cookie dough. The price is just a tad higher than the other products, but certainly worth it in my opinion.

I will be ordering these items in the next week, and as soon as I get them will put up a review of the products. I have to say that I am so proud of my nephew for asking his teacher about the gluten free items. I also think it's really great that I am finally able to buy something from a fundraiser that I can actually eat!

Gluten Free Baking Made Easy

2013-05-27T19:02:00.000-05:00

It's no secret that I love to bake, but I have to acknowledge that for some baking may not come so easily. Luckily, the wonderful folks at Betty Crocker have come up with the perfect mixes to help you with that. The are six mixes now that can be used for a variety of recipes, including two new ones. These are the Gluten Free Sugar Cookie Mix and All-Purpose Gluten Free Rice Flour Blend.

The mix that I have decided to use for this post is one of my favorites because of its versatility, the Gluten Free Yellow Cake Mix. I love cake as much as anyone, but my real weakness is donuts! So I decided to use the cake mix to make donut holes for breakfast this week. In order to do this, it's very simple. Here's what you need:

1 Betty Crocker Gluten Free Yellow Cake Mix
3 Tbs Cinnamon
1 Cup Sugar
1 Gallon Size Plastic Zipper Bag

To bake these donut holes, I used an electronic donut hole maker that I got for Christmas. You could, however get a cake pop pan and bake them in that as well.

The first thing I did was to mix up the cake batter following the instructions on the box. Once the mix was prepared, I added 1 tablespoon of the cinnamon to the batter. Then I sat the batter aside to get the donut hole maker ready. While the donut hole maker was heating up, I took the gallon size bag and added the cup of sugar and remaining 2 tablespoons of cinnamon. Then I closed the bag and shook up the contents to mix the sugar and cinnamon.
Once the donut hole maker was heated, I took a pastry brush and greased the pan well with vegetable oil. Once coated, I added one teaspoon of mix to each hole in the pan and cooked for 5 minutes. When they were finished cooking, I took them out of the pan and let them cool for a minute. Then I dropped them in the cinnamon sugar mix, closed the bag and shook it up to coat the donut holes completely.

Just like that, I had delicious cinnamon sugar donut holes. You could also easily coat these in powdered sugar instead of cinnamon. There is a ton of possibilities for using these mixes. You can make just about anything with them.

Because I want you to give these mixes a try, I'm going to give you the utensils to bake with.

Here's what you get:

A Baking Tool Set and an 8" Square Cake Pan

All you have to do to be entered to win this set is like our new page Gluten Free Goodys on Facebook, and comment on this blog post with what you would use this set to bake. Would you make one of the Betty Crocker Mixes, or would you make a recipe of your own?

Also, make sure you check out our Friends at Betty Crocker at their website, and on Facebook and Twitter!

Contest ends on Saturday, June 1st at Midnight. The winner will be contacted via email on Sunday, June 2nd. Good luck to everyone!

**The information and prize pack have been provided by General Mills through MyBlogSpark.

Making a Difference

2013-04-21T14:25:00.000-05:00

Earlier this week, I attended an all day conference for work. Since it was an all day event, we were served lunch. Everything was going so well until I got in the line for lunch. I was horrified to see that the only thing on the table that I could eat was potato chips. Now, being a Celiac for over 10 years now, I always have a contingency plan when I go to events like these. So, instead of having lunch at the conference, I left to go buy my own lunch and then came back afterwards. I know that I should have checked before the conference to make sure there was something that I could eat, but sometimes I find myself assuming with the amount of awareness out there now that there will always be something for me.
What this event taught me is that there is still so much more work to be done on spreading awareness about Celiac Disease and making sure that there is always lunch for those who can't eat just anything. After lunch that day, I listened to a speaker who talked about never giving up on what you want. She told us that if you believe in yourself, you can make anything happen. When I left that room, I found myself more determined than ever to get the word out there about Celiac Disease and the gluten free diet. That is one of the biggest reasons that I am hosting the Gluten Free Expo in Wichita Falls, Texas in less than a month. I want people to know what Celiac Disease is, and what it means to those who have it.
This expo will be the first of many events to raise awareness in Wichita Falls, Texas. This experience has given me a new sense of purpose to help give those with Celiac Disease a voice and see to it that no one has to feel like an outsider at any event they attend. I admit this is not going to be an easy task, but it will certainly be worth it.

My Newest Addiction

2013-04-16T13:41:00.000-05:00

We gluten free cooks spend a ton of time looking for and coming up with new recipes. Now, it's easier than ever to find those recipes online, with iPhone apps, and especially with Pinterest. For anyone who has never used Pinterest before, I caution you. It is incredibly addicting! When I first started using the site, I was amazed to see how many gluten free recipes, ideas, and product reviews that were available. Now there isn't a day that goes by that I am not on Pinterest checking out new recipes, products, and a ton of other things. The great thing about the site is that you get all of these things from people who are just like you, and even share the enthusiasm that I know I have when I find a new gluten free product. It's really amazing to have yet one more resource at your fingertips to get gluten free information from. I use Pinterest on my iPhone and iPad about 99% of the time. I do occasionally get on the computer to check the site out, but I like having the capability of checking it anytime and anywhere. So give it a try and see what great gluten free treats and dinner recipes you can find.

Remaking Recipes

2013-04-01T22:20:00.000-05:00

Sometimes it's not so easy to make a recipe you used before going gluten free into a gluten free success. However, it is possible. It might take a couple of tries so don't give up if you don't succeed the first time.
The first thing you should do when trying to convert a recipe is to make sure you know what ingredients on your recipe are not gluten free. Once you know that, figure out what a suitable replacement for those ingredients will be. Keep in mind that with a gluten free flour or baking mix, you might need a little more moisture in your recipes than you did before.
The other thing that may need to be adjusted on your recipes is cooking time. Cooking times with gluten free ingredients are not always the same as their gluten containing cousins.
One recipe that I converted shortly after going gluten free was an easy pie crust recipe that I use for every holiday and party. This pie is so good that I have my 10 year old cousin and my 11 year old nephew requesting them for every family dinner. This delectable dish was taken to my family's Easter dinner this past weekend, and the boys ate all but one little slice of it.

This go to dessert took me a couple tries to get a flavor combination that liked in the crust. After trying it with Bob's Red Mill All Purpose Gluten Free Flour and also with Gluten Free Bisquick, I wound up choosing the Bisquick.
After a few attempts with converting recipes, you'll get the hang of it. After several years of cooking gluten free, I can now convert recipes with ease and even make up my own all the time. I've failed at some recipes and some have taken several tries, but if you stick to it, you can figure anything out.

Gluten Free New Year

2013-01-08T14:32:00.001-06:00

Another year has passed, and with it many things have changed. Celiac Disease and the gluten free diet have become mainstream with new foods coming out every day. You can also buy those wonderful gluten free foods at grocery store chains like United Supermarket and Albertsons and superstores like Walmart and Target. More and more companies are also labeling their foods gluten free and some are even going that extra step to reformulate their existing products to be gluten free. Some of these companies include General Mills and Post.

There are more places than ever to get information on how to live gluten free and so many wonderful people out there to lend a hand to those who need it. Gluten free expos and events are popping up everywhere and are easier to find than ever with sites like Gluten Free Calendar.

You also have the gluten free companies like Udi's Gluten Free, Katz Gluten Free, Rudi's Gluten-Free, Lucy's, and many more that have expanded their product lines to include more and more delicious offerings.

And of course, you can't forget the strides that have been made over the past year in fighting for standardized gluten free labeling. This effort gave the gluten free community a chance to stand up and tell the world why this is so important to us.

I think 2013 is going to bring many amazing changes to living gluten free and I can't wait to see what's in store. In the past week alone, I have seen news about Dunkin' Donuts adding gluten free options in test markets as well as Van's Natural Foods expanding their gluten free selection. I can only hope this trend will continue and things will get even better for living gluten free.

The Holidays are Coming!

2012-10-28T15:24:00.003-05:00

November is just a few days away and per usual for this time of year, I find myself really excited. I've already started planning the Thanksgiving dinner menu as well as the sweet treats that I will be making. While planning all of this, I was reminded that the holidays were not always this way for me. When I was a kid I absolutely loved this time of year.

The year I turned 15 I was diagnosed with Celiac Disease after being sick and miserable for months. My diagnosis happened in the beginning of November. At this time most people had no idea what Celiac Disease and a gluten free diet was, including me. I remember leaving the meeting with the dietitian, who honestly didn't know any more about the gluten free diet than I did, thinking I was doomed. Thankfully, the internet had the resources I needed to get on track with this diet. Unfortunately, the holidays were so close that my family did not have the opportunity to learn about how to make sure the things they cooked were gluten free. That year, I had one dessert I could eat, simply because it was gluten free to begin with and dinner was basically meat and vegetables. That was the first year that I wanted to just cry on Thanksgiving and Christmas.

By the next year, I had learned a ton on how to cook gluten free and so had my family. My Grammy made a gluten free chocolate cake, and I was so excited. One thing everyone knows about me is that I love chocolate. I remember her saying "it's not too pretty, so I hope it tastes good", and it did. The truth is that cake could have been terrible, and I wouldn't have said a word. I was so happy too see a dessert that I could eat too. From that year on, the holidays were the way the used to be..happy. Every year they get better and better as I come up with new and better ways to cook things and new recipes.

This year is looking to be the best year yet, and I can't wait. If there is any lesson to be learned from this, it's that even though it may be a ways off, there is always a light at the end of the tunnel.

Gluten Free Goodness

2012-04-10T13:24:00.000-05:00

Once you go gluten free, it's the little things in life that really count. Today became a wonderful day the minute I saw this beautiful site at McAlister's Deli.

While I understand that this is a small thing to get excited about, it is still horribly exciting for me. To be able to get a sandwich like anyone else is nothing short of amazing.

I was so excited about it that the McAlister's employee told me I could take the menu with me. Of course, I did and the second I got to the table I took a picture of it and immediately posted it to Facebook. I have since posted it on my website, Twitter, LinkedIn, and obviously I'm blogging about it.

It's funny, before going gluten free I was never so excited about food. This diet has given me an appreciation for food, and more importantly the little things in life. I hope others will be as excited about this delish find as I am.

The menu is very self explanatory and the bread they are using is downright lovely. It reminds me of the Genius by Gutino Multigrain Sandwich Bread, but I'm not sure if it is or not. I will certainly be spending more of my money at McAlister's Deli in the future, and it will be money well spent to get a luscious lunch like this one.

Gluten Free Truth

2012-03-05T10:59:00.002-06:00

This past weekend I came to realize that sometimes being gluten free just sucks. In the beginning that one thought completely fills your head, but as time goes on you realize things aren't really as bad as you once thought they were. Still you find that every now and then that thought of how much you miss being able to eat little things like Girl Scout Thin Mints. At that point all you feel is anger at how much it sucks to not be able to eat those little things and wishing that there was a gluten free alternative. I used to get mad at myself for having those feelings, because I work so hard to advocate being gluten. Now I finally see that it's ok to feel that way. I know that I'm not alone in feeling this way sometimes and just maybe putting these feelings down will help someone else out there that feels the same way I did. Being an advocate doesn't always mean you love what you have to deal with every day. It means you understand it fully, the good and the bad, and you know how to deal with both. Being gluten free makes me healthy. There isn't a single part of me that regrets that. My problem is that some of those little things I loved as a kid are now not available to me. I hope that some day they will be, but until then all I can do is try to deal with it the best way I know how. Over time it gets easier to deal with these little disappointments, but you still just have those days.

New Year's Resolutions

2012-01-04T13:36:00.000-06:00

If you ask most people, they will tell you that making a New Year's resolution is pointless. After all, in a couple of months you will have either given up on it, or broken it all together. I know that this was true of me for several of the past years. I think the reason is because we set these goals without thinking about what it is going to take to achieve them. Maybe if we set more reasonable goals that take less work to achieve we will actually get somewhere. Progress doesn't happen overnight and that is something you have to keep in mind when setting a New Year's resolution. So, with that in mind, I have made a New Year's resolution that I think will be easy to stick to.
My resolution is to be true to myself. I need to stop caring about what other people think of me and what I do, and care about what I think. So many times in this past year, I have done something I knew better than to do because I wanted to feel normal for once. I didn't realize at the time that I was never meant to be normal. I was meant to be exactly who I am, someone who is different. That is not something to be afraid of, and it has taken me a long time to realize that. Now that I have, it is time to embrace it and be the person I was always meant to be. The other part of that is to start taking better care of myself. For so long, I have tried to put everyone else in my life first, but it just doesn't work. You can only neglect yourself for so long before it really takes a toll on you. After the past year, I have realized that while I meant well, all I really did was hurt myself.
In short, I'm going to try and make 2012 a healthier and happier year for me. Whether or not it works, we'll see, but you never know what will happen until you try.

Gluten Free Thanksgiving

2011-11-27T16:05:00.001-06:00

Every year, it gets easier and easier to have a gluten free holiday free of worries. This year, I just went to the store and purchased all the things I needed to make a convenient gluten free meal.
When I was diagnosed ten years ago, I had basically given up on ever having a holiday that felt the way it used to. I couldn't have guessed that now the holidays would be even better than they were then where the food is concerned.
Not only can I find a ton of gluten free products, but I can now make all kinds of recipes that I would not even have dreamed of back then. I can make a Thanksgiving feast complete with several different desserts that wouldn't make anyone guess it was gluten free.
Being gluten free has taught me so many things I never thought I would learn. It has given me a love of cooking that I don't think I ever would have acquired otherwise. Most of all, it has given me the need to try new things and be less picky about what I am willing to eat. That is possibly the thing I am most thankful for this Thanksgiving.
After all the hardship at first, the tried and failed recipes, and the continued efforts to make things better, I am finally to a place where it all works. I can now throw ingredients in a bowl and come out with a delicious recipe that I never would have found in a cookbook. For that, I will always be thankful.

The Gluten Free Allergen Free Expo

2011-10-08T11:51:00.000-05:00

Since going gluten free, there aren't many times in my life now when a simple event can make me feel like a kid in a candy store. That being said, the Gluten Free Allergen Free Expo held this past weekend in Dallas did just that. The second I walked in the door, I could feel the excitement of all the vendors trying to get their gluten free products out there. I could also see the excitement in the people like me there, that couldn't believe all the vendors in the room and all the amazing gluten free products awaiting them. I've been to my share of expos since going gluten free, but this one was different. I never had to ask what was in a product before trying it, and sadly pass the ones I knew I couldn't have. Every food in the room was gluten free, so there was nothing out of my reach. That is a truly amazing feeling to have no restrictions for the first time in ten years. I walked around the room amazed at how many of the vendors I had heard of. There were only just a few that I had not heard of. I got to try some truly amazing products, and even bought a couple. I also came away from the expo with four new cookbooks at really cheap prices. Even better than all that is all the free products I came home with to try. It's been a long time since I have had that much fun at any kind of big event. It is truly a wonderful experience to go to an event that is made for the gluten free community. It's a completely different atmosphere. No one is in a hurry to get through it and leave, everyone is just so happy to be there that they are nice to everyone around them. If every event I went to was like that one, I would never stay home. I had a blast at the GFAF Expo, and I can't wait until the next event I get to attend.

Kind Peanut Butter Chocolate Bars

2011-08-25T13:03:00.000-05:00

I've spent a good part of the past few weeks looking for a snack bar that is good for you, but also tastes just as good. I am a foodie who loves real food, not diet food. So as you can guess, it is nearly impossible for me to find a good diet type snack bar. I recently tried the Peanut Butter Dark Chocolate Kind Plus bar and loved it. You really get all the flavors mixed in beautifully with every bite. I love dark chocolate, and this bar did not leave me disappointed. It really delivers the dark chocolate in a big way. It also has that chewy texture to it so it is not rock hard like most gluten free bars. This bar does not taste like a gluten free diet bar. It tastes like a candy bar that is good for you.

KIND PLUS, Peanut Butter Dark Chocolate + Protein, Gluten Free Bars (Pack of 12)

Making Time to Find New Things

2011-08-21T12:57:00.000-05:00

After being gluten free for almost ten years now, I usually don't look much for gluten free products in the grocery store in my town. They rarely have anything that is except for their small gluten free section. But every now and then, I decide to just walk around and if I see a product that looks good, I pick it up and read the label. While this is quite time consuming, it is also vastly rewarding when I find a product that is in fact gluten free. My most recent find, is Talenti Gelato.

I have passed it in the store for months, but never stopped to look at it. To my surprise, it actually is labeled gluten free on the back of the jar. I was actually drawn to this because I was craving chocolate, and nothing that is double dark chocolate could ever be bad. Talenti has 13 flavors of gelato and 5 flavors of sorbetto, all gluten free except the Caramel Cookie Crunch. It is light and fluffy, Kosher, all natural, contains 30 to 100 percent less fat than ice cream, and absolutely delicious! This find reminded me that every now and then, you have to take the time to look around and see what you might be missing.

Katz Gluten Free Review & Giveaway

2011-07-27T19:40:00.000-05:00

Anyone who has read my blog, Facebook, or Twitter page knows by now that I love Katz Gluten Free Products. Recently I had the opportunity to sample some of the new products from Katz, and I found that I love them just as much as the rest, and so do some of my family and friends that are not gluten free. The first product I tried was the new apple pie. I am a lover of pie, so if it can impress me, it's gotta be a great pie.

Just glancing at the pie, I immediately noticed that it looked flaky and beautiful. It was love at first bite. The pie was indeed flaky, not dry and crumbly. The apple filling had a wonderful apple flavor, a thick syrup filling and wasn't too sweet.

The next product I tried was the Coffee Bundt Cake.

The cake was moist and not sweet at all. The frosting balanced with the cake perfectly with the sweet element and the strong coffee flavor any espresso fan is sure to love. I took a couple pieces of this cake to work, and in less than 10 minutes, my friend Jake made them disappear. The cake is a wonderful breakfast food.

The final new product I have tried so far is the Sugared Snack Poppers.

These amazing cookies remind me of the Nilla Wafers I loved so much as a kid. They have a fantastic vanilla flavor and are the perfect size for kids and adults alike. These cookies would be perfect to use in a vanilla pudding recipe or other pudding desserts.

Katz Gluten Free has about 40 products, all of them fantastic! They offer cakes, cookies, breads, pizza crusts, and much more. You can get free shipping on orders over $30 and right now if you purchase their new Cherry Pie or Apple Pie you can get up to 4 dollars off with these coupon codes.

Cherry: SummerPie2
Apple: SummerPie1
Blueberry: SummerPie3

You can follow Katz on Twitter or like them on Facebook. Now to the good part. You have a chance to win a box of any 5 products of your choosing from GF Savvy and Katz Gluten Free. To enter, just leave a comment at the bottom of this blog with your email address and why you love Katz Gluten Free products. You can also enter to win a box of every product Katz Gluten Free carries in their grand raffle. To enter that raffle, go to katzglutenfree.com.

The Excitement of a Box

2011-07-23T14:28:00.001-05:00

As hilarious as it might be, I always get just giddy when I get a new box of gluten free products to try. Yesterday, I got a box from one of my favorite companies, Katz Gluten Free. As soon as I saw the label on the box, I went inside and ripped into it. Inside the box was all the products that I wanted to try. Some of these products were their new Apple Pies, a Coffee Bundt Cake, and the Sugared Snack Poppers. I have to say Katz couldn't have picked better products for me if they had tried. My favorite kind of pie is apple, and I am addicted to coffee! Over the next few days, I will be sending reviews on all of these products, plus there will be a chance for you to win a box of 5 Katz Gluten Free products of your choice. Check in tomorrow to see how you can win!

The Wonder of Food

2011-07-03T15:10:00.000-05:00

When I was younger, I was quite a picky eater. I think most of us can say that as children. As I got older, I started trying some new things, but still fell under the picky eater category. When I started the gluten free diet, I realized that limiting myself to the foods I knew I liked was just crazy. There was so much food out there that I could have, but didn't want to try. At that point I came to realize that the gluten free diet was picky enough without me helping. About a year after going gluten free, I adopted a new policy on food. If it's gluten free and doesn't eat me first, I'll try it. The truth is, you never know what your missing unless you give it a shot. If you try something and don't like it, you can at least say you tried it. But, not giving something a try just because you think you won't like it is cheating yourself. You never know when you'll miss out on something amazing.