Waffles make a quick and easy breakfast for both Jon and me.  It doesn’t take much time to toss a couple of frozen waffles right into the toaster over while brewing coffee in my Keurig or slicing up some fruit.  Frozen Guru makes waffles that are free from:

• gluten
• flour
• eggs
• lactose
• yeast
• oil
• preservatives
• gums
• fillers

At first I admit that I was a little skeptical about how these would taste, but I have quickly fallen in love! 

More about the waffles:

Our waffles are made using all-natural ingredients, with Non-GMO Tofu, Fruit, Chia Seeds, Flax Seeds and Gluten-Free Rolled Oats accounting for well over half of the total product weight. 

We produce waffles with the  lowest sodium, calories, carbohydrates and sugar largely because we do not add any sodium, oil or sugar… As much as we normally hate to boast, we probably should mention that our waffles possess some of the highest protein and fiber per serving as well.

Frozen Guru waffles are perfect on the go because they can be tossed into the toaster for a quick and healthy meal, or they can simply be thawed and eaten at room temperature.  To achieve these amazing results, we left out the primary ingredient in all current waffle products: FLOUR.  And voilà!  A healthy waffle product not high in anything at all (well, aside from protein & fiber).

I was very impressed with these waffles!  They were a little on the small side, so I worried about how long they would keep me full.  I ate them the same way that I eat the other gluten-free waffles – paired with the same food, same amounts – to get an accurate feeling of satiety.  I am thrilled to report that I felt full all morning and had plenty of energy to get me through until lunch time!  Each serving (2 waffles) contains 8-9 grams of protein and 5-6 grams of fiber with only 115-125 calories.  I topped my waffles with 1 tablespoon of Skippy Natural and a touch of blueberry fruit spread.

Not only did they keep me full, but they tasted great, too!  I think I liked the Coconut Chia best, but the Sweet Banana was also very good. 

Frozen Guru waffles can be found in select stores.  Hopefully they will be more widely available in the near future!

**These products were sent to me free of charge for review purposes.  The thoughts and opinions shared here are mine and have not been influenced by anyone or anything.

Welcome to another week!  Hope you all had a good week.  The temperatures has been simply amazing here for the past few days making for wonderful running and sleeping weather.  It is astonishing how much better one’s body functions in lower humidity!  Fall is definitely in the air, which we all know means pumpkin.  I have mentioned a few things pumpkin in the past couple of weeks, but I think it is high time to start fall baking.  Some of my favorite pumpkin recipes include:

Glazed Chocolate Pumpkin Bundt Cake

Pumpkin Raisin Scones

Pumpkin Raisin Bread

Dark Chocolate Pumpkin Loaf

Iced Pumpkin Cookies

Creamy Pumpkin Brown Rice

Pumpkin Cupcakes

Pumpkin Cornbread

Pumpkin Blondies

Grandma’s Pumpkin Pie

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bars

Pumpkin Muffins

I don’t know about you, but after all of that, I don’t really want dinner food this week, I want a bunch of pumpkin goodies!

Monday – Eggplant Parmesan with brown rice pasta and salad

Tuesday – Easy Enchilada Bake, corn and salad

Wednesday – Battered Chicken Fingers, steak fries, steamed broccoli and salad

Thursday – Perfect Herbed Pork Tenderloin, mashed potatoes, steamed green beans and salad

Friday – Make your own pizza and salad

Saturday- Take-out or Breakfast for Dinner

Kinnikinnick brings back Pumpkin Spice Donuts

Jules Gluten Free introduces Pancake & Waffle Mix

Gluten-Free Girl Scout Cookie Pilot Program

Venice Bakery hosts “London 2012 After Party” – RSVP by October 1, 2012

Gimbal’s introduces “Harvest Mix” jelly beans <—- You had to know that I , of all people, would find these, right?

Have a fantastic week!

Today is Celiac Disease Awareness Day.  I thought this would be a great time to share some basic information on Celiac Disease and the gluten-free diet to help those newly diagnosed or looking for a possible diagnosis or answers to their health problems.

One of the best places to start is the National Foundation for Celiac Awareness website.  They have a wonderful symptom checklist that can be completed, printed out and then taken to your doctor with you. 

Once you receive a diagnosis or embark on the gluten-free diet it is often hard to figure out where to start.  Check out these Gluten-Free Tips for Newbies for all kinds of information to help make those first few days, weeks and months a little easier. 

Since we are talking about awareness today, I thought it would be a great time to share the newest piece of information I learned about coffee about Dunkin Donuts from Paula at Celiac Corner:

9/10/12 – She stated that “at this time” ALL DD’s coffees, plain and flavored are gluten-free (includes Barley/Rye). All ground bagged coffees are gluten-free as well. She suggested however that anytime a new flavor is introduced, it should be questioned .. but as of this moment in time, ALL are GF. I recommended they add “barley & rye” to their allergen/nutritional website info and of course, there is always a risk of cross-contamination in an establishment where so many wheat-based items are being handled! Hope this info will be useful to your visitors!

And, last, but not least, if you haven’t found these yet…

Yum!!!  If they weren’t good enough on their own, my friend, Amy Jones, suggested dropping two of these babies in the bottom of your coffee cup!  I know how I am having my coffee tomorrow!

What is your favorite gluten-free food? 

How long did it take you to get diagnosed with Celiac Disease, if you have been diagnosed?

Are you gluten-free for another reason other than Celiac Disease?  If so, please share why. 

If there was one thing you could do to help get the word out & raise Celiac Awareness, what would it be?

Welcome to a new week! I am still recovering from my cold, but I have held true to my plan and have continued to rest. I hope to get back to the training plan tomorrow morning.  I am making it through the day with this sinus headache medication from Walgreens:

Walgreens has always been helpful when it comes to gluten-free medication and maintain a list of their brand medications that don’t contain gluten.  I was pleased to see that the package is labeled like this:

Tomorrow is also the 11th anniversary of that horrible day in America that no one will ever forget. I will never forget where I was when I first heard or how I felt that day and the days and the months following that day. The victims and their families will never be forgotten.

Monday – Italian grilled chicken fettuccine Alfredo, steamed broccoli and salad
Tuesday- Mexican pizzas, corn and salad
Wednesday- BBQ pulled pork sammies, baked potato, zucchini and salad
Thursday- Bourbon chicken, coconut baked brown rice, sugar snap peas and salad
Friday- Make your own pizza and salad
Saturday- Take-out

Week in Review

Weigh in: Would you take medication for Celiac Disease so you could eat gluten?

Gevalia coffee warning

Udi’s has new products set to debut

Lunch Box Spotlight: Kozy Shack Pudding

Back-to-School with Udi’s Gluten-Free

I am putting this out there so that I have no choice but to follow through.  I am shutting my training down for two days.  Monday is a scheduled rest day, but today is not.  Today I am supposed to run 2-3 miles and go to an intense core class that I adore.  I am really trying to listen to my body, but honestly, I don’t want to.  I want to run.  I want to go to core class. 

Things my body is telling me:

• Resting HR is elevated despite the humidity coming down
• Severe allergies or cold (I am leaning towards cold at this point) have left my sleep interrupted, head congested and throat sore
• Tired

Things my head is telling me to do:

• Suck it up, Cupcake!
• No pain, no gain
• Seriously, you are not going to workout until Tuesday?

It is times like these that I need to look at the big picture.  I need to focus on my goal(s) for the fall:

• Run 3 half marathons (1 down, 2 to go)
• Run the Columbus Half Marathon under 1:50
• Do all of the above injury-free

So for the next two, very long days, I will rest and recover.  The Air Force Half Marathon is coming up on Saturday and even though I am running it as a training run, I would rather do so healthy. 

I am going to refer to this post and this picture each and every time I question my decision to rest.  Perhaps staying in my jammies will help. 

Have you had to force yourself to take time off from something you love?  What helped motivate you to stick with it?

I cannot express how good it feels to be gluten-free in 2012!  Just saying that makes me excited.  Some of you might think I am crazy, and maybe I am, but following the gluten-free diet today is much easier than it was 10+ years ago.  One can argue that if you stick to whole, unprocessed foods it can be relatively easy to follow the diet, and I do believe in that, but it is nice to be able to have readily available substitution foods on the market.  Everything in moderation, right?

I have been a long-time fan of Udi’s Gluten Free products and often have my Friday night pizza on their crust.  As I was making my pizza this past Friday night, I noticed the crust looked bigger.  I flipped over the package and noticed the nutritional information/calorie count had changed, reassuring me I wasn’t just imagining things.  I also noticed that they have included the words “Thin & Crispy” on the front, which after some online research, I found was not there in the past.  Then I took my pizza out of the oven I put it on a plate to see just how much bigger it was.  See the new picture up top and a picture of the Udi’s crust in 2009 below.

And, in case you were wondering, I ate the whole thing by myself and it was spectacular!

Now, onto the fun stuff!  As I was browsing around the internet looking for information on the pizza crust, I learned of several new Udi’s Gluten Free products set to debut in January (baguettes & dinner rolls will be October/November.) 

Udi’s Everything Inside & Mighty Bagels – “We know you have been craving a new bagel flavor, so we combined a delicious blend of millet, flax, and poppy seeds, onions, garlic and salt to create our new Everything Inside Bagel—no messy seeds falling off the outside because we put them inside.  The Mighty Bagel has its name for a reason: it’s packed with nutrients!  Whole quinoa flour, cranberries, sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds are a few new ingredients you can find in this bagel, so enjoy the new, power –packed Mighty Bagel.”

Udi’s Harvest Crunch Muffins & Udi’s Double Vanilla Muffins – “There couldn’t be a better way to head into fall than with two great new muffin flavors like Harvest Crunch and Double Vanilla?   Paired with warm apple cider or vanilla latte perhaps?  Our mouths are watering already!”

Udi’s French Baguettes – “Whether it’s a sub sandwich, a panini, or homemade bruschetta, our new French Baguettes are perfect for your homemade creation!  With two baguettes per bag, make a one-on-one feast, or share with the family!”

Udi’s Dinner Rolls –“Now we know you have been waiting for these! You may have some gluten free pasta with a side dish, but sometimes you just want a dinner roll!  Thanksgiving will be here before you know it, and in case you have a few “practice runs” before Turkey Day, we thought you might want to practice gluten-free! Besides, who doesn’t like a Thanksgiving-style meal every now and then?  But we don’t want to limit you – think Italian, or “mini sandwiches”, or even paired with a big leafy salad and side soup (dunk away!) Bring on the “bread basket”!”

(source)

I don’t know about you, but I need to get my hands on The Mighty Bagel ASAP!

What is your current favorite Udi’s Gluten Free product?  Which new product do you look forward to trying the most?

School days, school days, dear old golden rule days… ‘Tis the season.  Kids everywhere are either ecstatic or dreading the start of a new school year.  Kids have enough on their plates these days, that lunch should be the least of their concerns.  Thanks to Udi’s Gluten Free and Glutino, those lunches will be tastier than ever!  I have been tasked with creating a week’s worth of lunches and snacks with specific Udi’s Gluten Free and Glutino products. 

In addition to the above products, I also received the cutest Udi’s insulated lunch tote!  Great for helping to keep the lunch you pack for yourself or child cold.  I had a lot of fun creating fun lunches with the products I received. 

Monday – Turkey & cheddar sandwich on Millet-Chia bread, pretzels, sliced zucchini

Tuesday – PB & J on White Sandwich bread, pretzels, grapes and chocolate chip cookies

Wednesday – Tuna salad sandwich on Millet-Chia bread and spinach salad, yogurt topped with granola for snack

Thursday – Grilled cheese (Have you ever cooked this in advance and sent along to school? I learned this trick from a friend!)

Friday – Pepperoni and cheddar sandwich, pretzels, apple and snickerdoodles

Turkey & cheddar on Millet-Chia bread

PB & J on White Sandwich bread

Chocolate Chip Cookies so soft that you would never know they weren’t homemade!

Each and every product listed above travels well and holds up to the hands and miscellaneous torture of a child.  We all know that lunch boxes get sat or stepped on.  The bread does not crumble.  It does what bread should do – acts as a vehicle to the sandwich fillings. 

To find the products I used for the above lunches, visit Udi’s Gluten Free and Glutino sites.  I have seen both brands (and all of the above products) available in most mainstream grocery stores. 

*The products mentioned in this blog post were sent to me free of charge for the purpose of creating lunches to share with my readers.  The thoughts and opinions shared here are mine and have not been influenced by anyone or anything.

School is back in session all around the country now and what better way to celebrate on the blog than with a weekly series of Lunch Box Spotlights!  Today I am going to focus on dessert.  Why?  Because it makes me happy!  Enter: Kozy Shack Pudding. 

I have been a long-time fan of Kozy Shack Pudding.  When I first began the gluten-free diet in 2006, Kozy Shack clearly labeled their products gluten-free, which wasn’t the norm at the time.  Being new to the diet and inexperienced at label reading, I often stuck with products that were easy to identify as gluten-free.  Additionally, I have a special place in my heart for tapioca pudding and I fell in love with Kozy Shack’s version.  More about Kozy Shack:

Kozy Shack, Inc. is a family owned company that has been producing quality desserts since 1967. In 1994, we expanded our manufacturing facility and corporate offices by relocating from Mineola, New York, to Hicksville, New York. In 1995, in order to support national sales and distribution, we opened our second manufacturing plant in Turlock, California. In 2000, we experienced international growth and added our third manufacturing facility in Lough Egish, Ireland (60 miles north of Dublin).

We have grown from a neighborhood delicatessen serving homemade rice pudding to a major dessert manufacturer with international distribution. Kozy Shack products are available through popular retail stores: supermarkets, mass merchandisers, club stores and natural food stores. Kozy Shack products are also carried by convenience stores, military commissaries and foodservice distributors.

When Kozy Shack offered to send me samples of their products to review, I was overjoyed!  Not only do I love pudding, but I was interested in trying the new Lactose-Free variety. 

Of course Jon took one look at this and he refused to try it.  I didn’t have a problem with that, because that meant more for me!  I tried these side by side, marked on the bottom, not knowing which was which and was not able to tell the difference.  Jon doesn’t know what he is missing!  It is important to note that not all of Kozy Shack’s products are gluten-free.  The following products are gluten-free:

• Rice
• Lactose Free
• Tapioca
• Chocolate
• Butterscotch
• Banana Cream (Apr – Oct)
• Pumpkin (Oct-Dec) <- Can’t wait to try this one!
• Chocolate Hazelnut
• Chocolate Rice
• No Sugar Added Puddings
• Flans
• Gels

The gluten-free products will be clearly labeled, so there should be no confusion.  It seems that the only products that do contain gluten are the bread pudding varieties.  The single-serve portions of Kozy Shack Puddings are perfect for packing in a lunch box.  Kozy Shack products can be found in stores across the US and Canada. 

Have you tried any of the Kozy Shack products?  What is your go-to lunch box snack or dessert?

*These products were sent to me free of charge for review purposes.  The thoughts and opinions shared here are mine and have not been influenced by anyone or anything.

Some days I need a little more motivation than others.  Today was one of those days.  I was excited that my sports doctor gave me permission to do speed work, even though my resting heart rate has been elevated over the past week.  The humidity has been ridiculous lately, I took a complete rest day yesterday and when the humidity dropped a couple of weeks back, so did my heart rate.  I would not have attempted speed work today had I not spoken with my doctor yesterday when I was in his office getting ART on my foot.

Even though I was excited that I could do the prescribed speed work, I took a look at the weather and knew it was going to be tough – check out the humidity:

I got dressed, put on my motivating Bondi band and lined up a motivating playlist.

I headed out and set my Garmin to show me current pace, lap pace and distance only.  The prescribed workout was:

Experienced Half Marathoners – 6 x 2000m at Marathon Pace with 1 minute rest between.

I only had 6 miles on my schedule, so I modified the plan to 4 x 2000 at MP with 1 minute rest.  I made sure to do a mile warm up and cool down, so I ended up with 7.25 miles today.  When this happens I usually modify a shorter mileage day.  It is important to do both the warm up and cool down, not skip them.  My target MP (or for me, half marathon pace) is 8:41/mile.  I have a hard time running exactly that pace because I live in an area with rolling hills.  My comfort zone seems to be around 8:25-8:35/mile or so lately, which hopefully means I’ll be able to run my goal time of sub-1:50 in the Columbus Half Marathon this fall.

1 – 10:05.3 warm up

2-  08:37.0

3 – 08:31.3

4 – 08:26.6

5 – 08:30.2

6 – 08:27.6

7 – 09:12.7 first .25 miles was still part of the speed work

8 – 02:26.7 last .25 of cool down

My average HR for the run was 161 – Zone 4.  The AVG HR per mile was higher than I would have liked it to be, but given the humidity, I am not surprised.  The key now is properly refueling, hydrating and stretching.  Active recovery tomorrow with a couple of easy miles.

My gluten-free fuel for today:

Pre-run: Organic Honey Stinger – Fruit Punch

Run: Gatorade

Post-Run: So Delicious Almond Plus Vanilla, Meijer Gluten-Free Waffles with Skippy Natural, Blueberries, Peach & Plum

What do you do to motivate yourself?

Welcome to September!  Sure doesn’t feel like September here yet, but hopefully it will soon!  Yesterday I started a new month-long challenge that was organized by a running friend of mine – Plank A Day Challenge.

The challenge is this:

A strong core is essential to efficient body mechanics when running and cycling. Take the plank a day challenge. Every day in September, start your day with planks, including prone and side planks (on both sides). Record your time at the beginning and end of the month to see how far you have progressed. When you complete the challenge, you will receive the satisfaction of knowing that you got stronger!

Anyone is welcome to join – just visit the page on Facebook and join!  It is important to note that this challenge is about improving yourself, your core, your body.  This is not a competition with anyone else.  I shared the video above only as a glimpse into what I have worked towards – what I have achieved as the result of lots of physical therapy for my lower back, hamstrings and IT band.  The point of this challenge is to get a baseline time for you and then to continue to work towards making yourself stronger.  If you are unsure of proper form, there are examples posted on the Facebook page or don’t hesitate to ask for help.

What’s on the menu this week?  Jon has been complaining that we eat the same meals all of the time.  He is tired of tacos.  Tired of burgers.  funny coming from someone who will only eat 3-5 different things.  I love to cook new things, but both of the kids are very picky and don’t welcome change.  There are many nights where I am making them very basic versions of what I am eating or something different.

Sunday – Burgers, sweet potato puffs and salad

Monday – Italian grilled chicken Alfredo, brown rice fettuccine, green beans and salad

Tuesday – Easy Enchilada Bake, corn and salad (on menu plan last week and went with tacos instead due to time issues)

Wednesday – BBQ pulled pork sandwiches, baked potatoes, broccoli and salad

Thursday – Lasagna and salad

Friday – Make your own pizza and salad

Saturday – Take out

Weekly Recap:

Enter to win a free sample package of Cascal Fermeted Soda.

Some amazing new gluten-free bread: Goodbye Gluten

My new favorite trail mix from Navitas Naturals

Caribou Coffee – I finally tried the Iced Pumpkin Latte

Meijer stores add lots of gluten-free products to their selection!