KIND bars free at Starbucks 2-5-10!

Hop over to your local Starbucks on Fri. Feb 5 to try KIND bars for free! I will vouch for these yummy bars' deliciousness! In fact, I had one for breakfast this very morning! :) :) I typically carry one-two of them in my work bag because they are so yummy, nutritious, and convenient to carry around. My personal favs are ANY of them with macadamia nuts in them! YUMMY to the maximal power!

Awesome Christmas Gift--Namaste Baking Mixes!

Happy New Year!! Maybe I'll write more this year...and maybe I won't ;). We'll see!

I did, though, want to share about an awesome Christmas gift I received from my mother- and father-in-law: a gift certificate for Namaste food!

I used up the gift certificate shortly after Christmas and received the big box of food last week. I ordered a cookbook (it uses their mixes with a variety of added ingredients...some really great suggestions!), bread mix, brownie mix (I've had this one before...it's great!!), blondie mix, pizza crust mix, sugar-free muffin mix, pancake/waffle mix, and cookie mix. I made the blondies last night for a small dinner party we had with a couple of friends. They tasted pretty yummy! Oh a whim, I added some crushed pecans to the batter, and sprinkled some more crushed pecans and brown sugar on top. Success! :) (I just ate a leftover one a few minutes ago ;)).

I would highly recommend checking out the Namaste website....they have a ton of great products. They also have many of their products available here in Bloomington at Naturally Yours. I've also tried their Biscuit/Pie Crust mix (used it to make a great pie crust for pumpkin pie at Thanksgiving, to rave reviews from my father-in-law ;)), and their Taco Pasta (comes with pasta and a seasoning packet; I added tomato soup and ground beef to it for a yummy dinner!). I have truly loved all of their products! :)

Namaste's website says, among other things, "...Our facility contains no wheat, gluten, corn, soy, potato, dairy or nuts. It is our attempt to try to eliminate any chance of cross-contamination so you can enjoy Namaste Foods products worry-free...." Awesome!! :) :)

Snack foods?

Ok, the Merry Masticator (whom I suspect to be my good friend Rosalee...who else would call themselves that?!) requested in a comment on a previous post that I post a list of my favorite GF snack foods.....so here we go! A lovely list of delicious crappy snack foods a Celiac (or a normal person!) can enjoy!

~Basically any 100% corn chips. Tostitos are easily accessible. I try to get brands that say they are non GMO and crap like that...but, quite honestly, it's usually easiest to get Tostitos so that's what I do most of the time! I do enjoy blue corn chips the best, but like I said...it's usually easiest to just find Tostitos.

~I enjoy said chips with a variety of things...CHEESE (nachos) is always a good start. I can't have lots of the canned nacho cheese stuff (many have gluten and/or MSG)...so I go for the "real" stuff. I also love hummus and refried beans. All delicious and GF.

~ICE CREAM! Many ice creams with no obvious gluten (cookies, brownies, cones, etc) are ok...but I always check to be sure. For example, Breyer's vanilla and mint chocolate chip are both all good.

~Candy: Swedish fish, sour patch kids, York peppermint patties, peanut butter/peanut/plain M & Ms, Raisnets

~Pistachios! (a new obsession...YUM!)...also any other nuts are good, too

~Stretch Island fruit leather

~Larabars

~fresh/frozen/dried fruits...grapes, strawberries, blueberries, cherries, Craisins, raisins...anything, really!

~carrot sticks with hummus

~THINK brand bars (nut and fruit concoctions)

~kettle cooked (no reason really, other than they are greasy and delicious!) potato chips

~Daisy brand sour cream (some other brands are ok as well, but this one stands out in my mind)
~Gluten Free Pantry brownies and muffins (mix available in the cake mix aisle at wal mart!) Their muffins are seriously to die for...Jer even loves them!

I am salivating! ;) (AND I sound like an absolute fatty!!)

Is that enough ideas, Merry Masticator?!

Great Website and products!

http://www.glutenfree.com/home.aspx
Check out the above website for some great tips on living gluten free! Also available on that websites are a variety of products, including the Glutino brand. A few weeks ago I purchased the Chocolate and Peanut Organic Bars and have eaten them for breakfast. They are tasty!

Today I tried the original crackers with some peanut butter spread on top...they were great!



It's so much fun finding new products that are GLUTEN-FREE, but more importantly ;), taste GREAT! :)