Hello Old Friend

Wow, it has been forever. For a while I didn't know what to do with this here, old, blog. This blog has seen me through so much but it took the backburner for a long while. But, it kept creeping into my mind lately, so I knew it was time to get back to it.

I am now vegan so, all food related posts will be about that. But, I can't wait to dive into the GF vegan blogging arena!

Happy 2016, let it be sweet!

New Feature!: Fit Gluttony

Back in the day, when I was a fit glutton.

I think I took my role as "the Glutton" too seriously.  I indulged too much. Don't get me wrong, I eat healthy 90% of the time but weight snuck up on me. Yeah, I had a baby since then but I started slowly gaining weight before the baby, so that isn't a good excuse. I kinda...well, let myself go. Love kicked in and when Steve and I moved in together I had to cook differently. When I lived with my mom my favorite meals were salads and lean proteins. Steve adores Mexican food an loathes salads unless it is what he calls Crouton Soup (it is a small amount of lettuce, then an abundant amount of croutons, and tons of dressing). Cooking for us became hard. We had totally different ideas of what a good meal was. I adapted to him. Cooked things he liked but that made me gain weight. Steve is now a vegetarian so many nights I either cook my healthier meals or I end up going on carb overload.

This year, I vowed to myself to regain my health. I had some health issues and it is better for me to be healthy. I joined a gym last week. Mainly for my children (I wrote about it on my other blog) but also for me. I want to be healthy so I can be around for a long time. Be a positive example and I need to learn to balance.

Will I indulge still? I sure will. After all, I have to review amazing foods for you all. But, moderation not indulgence will be my new motto.

I have been hitting the gym and loving it.

I burned a ton of calories on Wednesday doing spin and weights!

My goals:

• Hit the gym 5-6 times per week. 
• Eat healthy 95% of the time
• Try new and challenging work outs
• Try new and exciting dishes
• Blog!!! Gotta keep myself accountable. 

 Wish me luck!

I am addicted to pretzels

  *I was not financially compensated for this post. I received a sample for review purposes. The opinions are completely  based on my experience. My opinions are honest and unbiased.*

 
I have a rather stupid confession. I can not be trusted with GF pretzels. I will devour the bag of pretzels without a second thought. In the last two months, Glutino sent me two types of Preztles and the bag was eaten in one sitting. That freaking good. Last week, I purchased a few bags and one was eaten on the way home and the other, I begrudging shared with my son. I did not want to share.

I love that Glutino offers a variety of pretzels. 

Last month, I was all about the Peppermint Yogurt Pretzels.

These pretzels reminded me of Christmas as soon as I tasted them. You know how certain things (smells, places, etc) remind you of other things? Well, these did that to me. As soon and I bit my fist pretzel, I felt like it was Christmas even though AZ has no snow or anything that remotely screams "Winter Wonderland" but these made the season feel more real. They were delish and I enjoyed them while watching Christmas movies with my family. I purchased a few bags to make Christmas feel longer!

I also really enjoyed the Honey Mustard Pretzels. They are totally different than the peppermint ones. The peppermint ones are obviously sweet. These were salty and hit the spot. I was really nice and shared with everyone and no one could tell they were gluten free. That is how you know you have a winner, when no one can taste a difference.  The honey mustard taste was not overpowering at all. It was seasoned perfectly. I totally recommend them.

Hello, 2014. 29 days late.

This little old blog has gotten crazy neglected. And that is rather unfortunate. I lost my passion a while back for food blogging but it is back. 2013 was a hard year for me. Most of my time was spent dealing with family stress. But, I feel renewed. I feel like 2014 is a new start. In fact, one of my resolutions was to BLOG MORE!

So, here I am. Making this resolution a reality and I am excited. I have lots to write about! A new feature too!

'Twas The Night Before Christmas

Glutino sent me this awesome little ditty and I though I would share it with you guys too! Merry Christmas!

WOW Baking Holiday Treats! (Ginger Molasses Cookies & Peppermint Brownies!)

  *I was not financially compensated for this post. I received a sample for review purposes. The opinions are completely  based on my experience. My opinions are honest and unbiased.*

This holiday, I felt spoiled. I normally do not get to indulge in several gluten free goodies. I am lucky if there is one. However, this season there were multiple times that I got to nosh out.  WOW Baking sent me an amazing box a while back and I have been indulging ever since. 
  

 I did not expect to like the Ginger Molasses. I don't know why, but before I even opened it I thought that it did not sound like something I would buy. But, I was surprised, I did like it. I didn't love it but I liked it. Blaine actually loved it. He went crazy for it. Which was perfect because that allowed me to not feel guilty about not wanting to share my favorite item in the box...

My absolute favorite item in the box, hands down was the Peppermint Brownies. I love peppermint, I love brownies, putting them together is a no brainier. Wow really out did themselves. I would buy this in the store on a regular basis, yes, it is that amazing.

Holiday baking with Glutino Sugar Cookies.

  *I was not financially compensated for this post. I received a sample for review purposes. The opinions are completely  based on my experience. My opinions are honest and unbiased.*

I spent tonight working on Christmas. Up late, chipping away at the massive to do list I have to complete before Santa slides down my imaginary chimney. I have baked goodies for other, disinfected the kitchen to get that dreaded gluten out but tonight, it was my turn. My turn for a home baked treat.

Glutino had sent me some goodies (thanks Glutino!!!) and had a sweet tooth that needed satisfying, sounded like a win/win for the night.

I had been eying this in my pantry for a few weeks! It was time to get baking!

Glutino has really user friendly directions and their Sugar Cookies were no exception. Easy peasy.

Cookie Dough!

The batter was delish. I know, only lick the spoon, but OMG! AMAZEBALLS! I almost wanted to just eat the cookie dough.

After I placed the cookie sheets in the pre-heated oven, I waited a mere 15 minutes and my cookies were finished!

                                                They were big, fluffy and smelled great!

Excuse the not so great pic but the cookies tasted great!

Thanksgiving & Glutino Gluten Free Stuffing

 *I was not financially compensated for this post. I received a sample for review purposes. The opinions are completely  based on my experience. My opinions are honest and unbiased.*

Oh, Thanksgiving how you came and went and the days after it seem like a food filled blur.

Thanksgiving dinner was amazing (with the exception of Steve accidentally glutening Blaine and a diaper explosion being the result!). The day was filled with family and love.

The only thing that would make this picture better would be if Steve was in it too. He was playing photographer!

We ate to our hearts content and my mom had tons of GF options. She sent us home with tons of leftovers too! Score!

The next day, I knew what would be the perfect dish to accompany all of the delicious dishes  my mom worked so hard on. Glutino's Gluten Free Stuffing!

I was super excited. I hadn't had stuffing in over five years!

I sauteed the onions and celery per the directions. The aroma was amazing.

 I mixed together all the ingredients, it was so simple.

Yum!

All done!!

Once it was done, I dug in. It was a taste explosion in my mouth. I LOVED it. Blaine loved it. This made my leftovers from my mom's last even longer. I am buying some of this for Christmas.

That is a lot of pressure for one pie... (Glutino Perfect Pie Crust)

*I was not financially compensated for this post. I received a sample for review purposes. The opinions are completely  based on my experience. My opinions are honest and unbiased.*


 You know how Sororities have Hell Week? I would deem this November my Hell Month. Too much stress for me. My youngest was in the hospital for a week. That caused me to feel out of sorts. I am not sure I even recovered from it. I feel like getting back into the swing of things has taken me longer this time around. Throw in Hanukkah and Thanksgiving to the mix and November went from stressful to downright chaotic. 

Anyway, Glutino had sent me their Perfect Pie Crust. I had planned to make it before the whole hospital debacle went down. Then I was stuck at the hospital for a week with my mind wandering to other things to take me anywhere else but where we were. I started to picture this magnificent pie. This pie started to represent so many things to me. It almost became ludicrous how many different incarnations of pie I had created in my imagination over the hospital stay. It probably didn't help that every time I went to the cafeteria, non-gluten free pie was staring me in the face.

This pie became a thing. 

Have you seen the movie Waitress? I love that movie. The main character creates these different pies that are supposed to encompass whatever emotion she needs to fill. That is a tall order for a pie. However, I found myself doing just that with the Perfect Pie Crust. 

I had a lot of time to think. I was going to make an elaborate pie but then I decided to go simple. You cannot screw simple up and I had never met a cherry pie I did not like.

I took all my stress out on the dough. It was a lot easier to work than I imagined. I chose to have my Perfect Pie Crust dough rest overnight. I thought that would make it easier to use.

Before it was filled!

I followed the directions and my house smelled fabulous while it baked. 

Finished pie

I was so excited to dig in. However, once I tried it...I was less than thrilled. This was the first Glutino product that I did not go nuts over. There was a sour undertone to the crust. I even called a friend over to try it to make sure I wasn't imagining it. She said she had a hard time getting the aftertaste out of her mouth. I ended up eating the pie...somewhat. I scopped the cherry filling out and eating just that. 

I think I put too much pressure on the pie. I built it up to be a monumental thing. It was silly to assume a pie could cure my November blues. It was just a pie...with a funky after taste.

 

WOW BAKING COMPANY and WOW Pumpkin Spice cookies

*I was not financially compensated for this post. I received a sample for review purposes. The opinions are completely  based on my experience. My opinions are honest and unbiased.*


WOW BAKING COMPANY is a company I had heard a lot of buzz around but had not actually tried. They sent me an amazingly generous package last week (stay tuned for tons of reviews!) and they live up to the hype. One word came to mind, "WOW".

 While doing research on WOW BAKING COMPANY, I found a lot of information that swayed my mind into thinking that WOW was a quality company before the shipment even arrived at my doorstep.

WOW BAKING COMPANY always uses:

• Real Butter,
• Real Vanilla
• Organic Cane Juice

WOW BAKING COMPANY never uses:

• Hydrogenated oils
• Refined sugars
• Artificial flavors
• Their products are all GF                                                                                                                                                  

I love that if I want a sweet GF treat,I don't have to worry about any extras in our food. I can share these desserts with baby Blaine and not worry that I am feeding him a bunch of processed crap.  

So, when that gigantic, generous and impressive package arrived at my doorstep, I could not wait to dig in. 

What is better for the Autumn months than some Pumpkin Spice cookies? I cannot think of anything!

I often miss out on typical pumpkin flavored items because they are not gluten free. I have already decided that this Autumn I am not. I kicked off Fall with these cookies. They were the first taste of Autumn I had and they did not disappoint. They were really fresh and I liked them so much that when the package we were sent was gone, I went and purchased more (Find WOW products near you). I am taking these to my Mom's for Thanksgiving! I really liked them!