I love healthy, snacky foods.  I know snacky is not technically a word, as Word and the dictionary just told me, but I am going to use it anyway.  Foods that I can put in my purse for food emergencies (times when I need food NOW) make me happy.  I like my snacky foods to be of some nutritional value so I can save my “junk” food for dessert. 

Pure Bliss Organics makes a nice variety of portable gluten-free snacks.  In addition to their gourmet nuts, there are two varieties of gluten-free energy bar bites.

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More about Pure Bliss Organics:

Mission Statement

To produce artisan-quality products from scratch, in small batches, using original recipes. We don’t cut any corners, and you can taste the difference.

To source exclusively organic ingredients for optimum flavor, nutrition and sustainability. Our products are made with organic grains, dried fruit, nuts, seeds, all-natural extracts and minimally-processed sweeteners.

To create a great work environment. Our employees are family, and we strive to create jobs that are challenging, fun, steady and rewarding.

To be environmentally- and socially-conscious in all aspects of our company’s operation. Your purchase helps us support organic agriculture and Food For Life Global, a nonprofit relief organization.

To give first class service to our customers and treat with respect and fairness all individuals and companies that we do business with.

Pure Bliss Organics does offer a number of gluten free products, but not all our products are officially gluten free.

With the exception of Blissful Trails, our organic Gourmet Nuts ARE gluten free.  In the near future, we plan to introduce two new gluten free Energy Bars & Energy Bites.

At this time, our organic Granola and organic Energy Bars & Energy Bites ARE NOT officially gluten free.  The reason for this is that these products contain organic oats, which are commonly grown and processed alongside wheat.  Consequentially, it’s possible that trace amounts of wheat gluten may occasionally spread to the organic oats used in our production.  Since even a small incident of cross-contamination may sicken a person with extreme gluten sensitivity, we recommend such individuals avoid these products.  Those customers who simply wish to cut the gluten out of their diet should enjoy our products, as no wheat is used in anything we make.

I had the pleasure of sampling the new gluten-free energy bar bites.  The bites come in two different varieties:

Appleachia – Ingredients: Organic Dates, Organic Sunflower Seeds, Organic Agave, Organic Apple Pieces, Organic Almonds, Organic Flax Meal, Organic Brown Rice Crisps, Organic Walnuts, Organic Apple Powder, Organic Cinnamon, Sea Salt

PB & J – Ingredients: Organic Dates, Organic Agave, Organic Fresh Ground Peanut Butter, Organic Almonds, Organic Peanuts, Organic Sunflower Seeds, Organic Brown Rice Crisps, Organic Flax Meal, Organic Grape Powder, Sea Salt

I really enjoyed both varieties of energy bar bites.  The PB & J does taste a lot like the old favorite without the bread!  The Appleachia has a wonderfully creative name and a great flavor!  These are snacks that I feel good about eating, as they are good for me.  An added bonus – they won’t melt in my car!  They would make great snacks to pack for school snacks or lunches. 

Pure Bliss Organic products can be found in stores across the US and online. 

*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.

I am always on the lookout for gluten-free snacks for Jon and Hannah.  While Hannah isn’t currently gluten-free, she eats a lot of gluten-free foods.  Earth Fare puts out coupon books every few months and the current book has a $1.00 off coupon for Froose snacks. 

I know you may be thinking that Jon is a little old for snacks like this, but the boy will eat what he likes, regardless of the targeted age.  Heck, I will too – I am not above eating moose shaped snacks. More about Froose gummy snacks:

Capturing Whole Food Nutrition for On-the-Grow

Where can you find whole grains, a good source of fiber, complex carbohydrates and organic ingredients in a 100% natural, gluten free, Grab-and Grow® pouch… Froose® Gummy Snacks – another great tasting and fun product from the Froose® team that brings natural fruity flavors in the form of Milton the Froose® Moose that kids know and love.

Froose® Gummy Snacks uniquely contain whole food and support digestive health yet contain significantly less sugar than alternative gummies. Delivering healthy convenience in right-sized, fun, familiar formats, Froose® Gummies are the ideal snack for the lunchbox, car, or anywhere!

Learn more about how Froose is made and the benefits for your child

• Organic Whole Grains & Fruit Juice
• Reduced Sugar (25% less)
• Good Source of Fiber 3 (Grams)
• Supports Digestive Health
• Gluten-Free/ Kosher Certified
• A healthy gummy snack option for kids
• Natural colors & sweeteners
• Softer texture – does not stick to teeth
• Complex carbohydrate energy – no sugar highs
• Kosher Certified

Froose gummy snacks come in three different varieties: assorted fruit, berry blast and tropical blend.  I bought the assorted fruit flavor.  I loved the snacks, especially the fact that they are not overly sweet.  Hannah didn’t care for them, but I have a feeling that is because she read the box.  That is her new thing – she won’t voice an opinion until she reads the ingredients.  She did the same thing with a frozen box of macaroni and cheese yesterday; she saw there were carrots on the list (and the box said “hidden veggies” and that was all she wrote.)  My guess is she saw “reduced sugar” on the Froose box and that sealed their fate.  Jon, on the other hand, ate them with no complaints = he liked them!  Here is the ingredient list for the assorted fruit flavors:

ASSORTED FRUIT FLAVORS INGREDIENTS* (100% Natural)
Organic Brown Rice Syrup, Beet or Cane Sugar, Water, Fructan (Nutraflora®), Organic Apple Juice (from Concentrate), Maltodextrin, Dextrose, Organic Brown Rice Flour, Pectin, Citric Acid, Sodium Citrate, Natural Flavors (With Other Natural Flavors), Ascorbic Acid (Vitamin C), Natural Color Added

The boxes sell for $3.69 for a box of 5 individual packs at Earth Fare or may be found in these stores.  The snacks may also be purchased on the Froose website, where shipping is free.  Froose also makes juice boxes, which we have not tried yet.  These products would be great for packing in a school lunch or sending in for snack.

Do your kids like fruit snacks?  Do you?  I will often eat a pack before a workout for a quick boost of carb-loaded energy. 

Just a couple of months ago I had the pleasure of reviewing a couple of Sebamed products.  I liked them so much that I am still using them today and plan on continuing to do so.  When they asked if I would be interested in trying a couple more of their products, I didn’t hesitate.  I had no doubt that I would like them.  These were the Sebamed cleansing shower oil and moisturizing face cream.

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Cleansing shower oil – Ingredients – Avocado oil (Persea Gratissima), Lecithin, MIPA-Laureth Sulfate, Laureth-4, Mineral Oil(Paraffinum Liquidum), Poloxamer 101, Cocamide DEA, Fragrance (Parfum), Sodium Lactate

Moisturizing face cream – Ingredients – Water (Aqua), petrolatum, myreth-3 myristate, glycerin, cetearyl alcohol, tocopheryl acetate (Vitamin E), ceteareth-20, dimethicone, sodium PCA, sodium citrate, sodium carbomer, Fragrance (parfum), benzyl alcohol, phenoxyethanol

I am in love with the shower oil!  Not only does it make my skin feel fantastic, but it has a great scent to it!  I have been trying to find reasons to take extra showers now so I can treat myself to the oil!  The face cream made my face feel fantastic, but I also had a few breakouts while using it.  I stopped using it for the time being and hope to try to use it again.  I am not sure at this point if it was the cream or hormones, so I will give it another try. 

Sebamed products can be found in 7500+ stores including Costco, CVS, Walgreens and online at Amazon.com.  I found the prices to be comparable to the skin care I have used in the recent past, which includes Neutrogena and Clinique. 

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

The London Olympics sure have been exciting!  First is was gluten-free Dana Vollmer that scored gold, now it is Jennifer Suhr!  Suhr won gold in the pole vault on Monday.  She was diagnosed with Celiac Disease in 2011.  I find it fascinating that both of these athletes have found success with the gluten-free diet.  Something as simple as a diet change made all of the difference in the world. 

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If it were up to me, everyone would be gluten-free, because then my life would be easier.  The reality is that while the gluten-free diet can do wonders for those with Celiac Disease and gluten sensitivity, it is not for everyone.  There have been many articles about how the gluten-free diet is the newest “fad diet” along with the celebrities that are currently avoiding gluten.  It has been said that the gluten-free diet isn’t a healthy one and if you don’t have to be on it, you may be missing out on vital nutrients.  My opinion has always been that a diet is what you make it.  I don’t even like the word “diet” – I prefer lifestyle.  If you choose to eat wide variety of nutrient-rich, whole, unprocessed foods you will most likely be following a healthy “lifestyle”.  If those foods are gluten-free or not only matters if you can’t digest gluten.  If you choose to replace all of the processed foods you once ate with their gluten-free counterparts, your diet lifestyle may not be as healthy as it could be. 

If you have a chance to read this article from Online Athens, please do so.  It does a great job of covering all of the important parts. 

What has been your favorite part of the Olympics so far?

Our baby girl turns 10 years old today.  How does a decade pass in the blink of an eye?  It seems like it was just yesterday that I was pregnant with my baby girl. 

Another year also means that it is time for Hannah to be tested again for Celiac Disease.  She has been tested in the past and while her blood work has been negative, she does carry one of the genes associated with Celiac Disease.  She has intermittent stomach issues, so yearly testing is definitely warranted. 

Tuesday – Taco Tuesday – turkey tacos, black beans, corn and salad

Wednesday – Bourbon chicken, coconut baked brown rice, broccoli and salad

Thursday – BBQ pulled pork, baked potatoes, green beans and salad

Friday – Make your own pizza and salad

Saturday – Breakfast for dinner

Week in Review:

Dana Vollmer’s power breakfast/bowl leads her to gold!

Wholesome Chow Chocolate Lavender Cake Mix review

Do you miss pot stickers?  Check these out from Feel Good Foods!

Review: Virgil’s Cream Soda

Review: Bee Nut Free snacks

By the time you are reading this, I am probably out on my Saturday long run.  Eleven miles on the plan today and I have to admit that I was looking forward to it.  Add that to the list of “You know you are a runner when…” things that non-runners would never say. 

Bee Nut Free makes gluten, dairy and nut free snacks.  There are many people out there that have to avoid more than just gluten, making it difficult to find safe food to eat.  If you only have to avoid gluten, consider yourself lucky. 

Bee Nut Free has a line of cookies, granola bars and trail mix.  I just love the logo and name of this company!

Located at 9,100 feet in elevation, Bee Nut Free, LLC is based in Summit County, Colorado.  We are in the heart of ski country, USA, surrounded by National Forest and high alpine peaks. We love where we live, we love what we do, we love making the lives of allergy sensitive individuals a little easier.

Inspired by her son’s (artist of our logo’s bumble bee) positive attitude toward his life threatening nut allergy and a friend’s challenges with celiac disease (artist of our logo’s columbine), owner Jo-Anne Tyson is fulfilling her dream of providing tasty, nutritious, SAFE snacks to allergy sensitive individuals.  Like many others, Jo-Anne became frustrated with the lack of variety of snack foods available for food sensitive children.  As more and more product labels indicated “made in a plant that manufactures or processes nut products”, nutritious, tasty snack foods became less available.  As a mom and a businesswoman who is passionate about her family, community, and customers, Jo-Anne chose to become part of the solution and put her baking talents to work!  

Bee Nut Free, LLC takes great pride in their products.  We require allergy information from each of our suppliers and routinely test our raw ingredients and finished products in order to confidently produce wholesome allergy friendly treats.  Staff respects food allergies.  We understand them because we live with them.  Unlike other food allergy categories with strict guidelines, the U.S. government does not have regulations outlining a nut free facility.  Because of this, we willfully adopted a “No tolerance” policy for nuts and avoid the “Top 8” allergens before and during our shifts in order to maintain the integrity of our facility and our products.

Our ingredients have been carefully chosen to ensure they are not only allergen free but also free of high fructose corn syrup, trans-fat, artificial colors, and artificial flavorings.  Our snack products are so good, folks with or without food allergies are asking for them!

We at Bee Nut Free, LLC want to gain your trust in our product line.  Look for the bee – and be guaranteed your snack item will ALWAYS be peanut, tree nut, gluten, and dairy free (shellfish free too…thank goodness!)  Our family loves our snacks; we hope your family loves them too!

These snacks make a nice dessert after lunch, fuel before a morning workout or afternoon snack. 

• Cranberry citrus energy bar
• Ten mile tropical bars
• Chocolate chip granola bars
• Sunny honey cookie bites
• Trails end trail mix
• Sunflower ginger energy bars

Every one of these products impressed me!  They all had great flavor and texture and are made from wholesome ingredients.  Just check out the chunks of fruit in the Ten Mile Tropical bar below:

Bee Nut Free snacks can be purchased in some retail locations in Colorado or online.  I would love to see these snacks make it into stores across the US!

Welcome to ‘Back-to-School’ mania!  Now is the time to stock up on all of your favorite gluten-free products.  Gluten Freely is running a three day sale that begins today with 30% off and goes through August 4th. 

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The discount is taken off of your entire order when you enter the code at checkout.  Additionally, some items are already on sale, so this makes for an even better deal! 

Gluten Freely is always adding new products to the offerings.  Some of those new products include:

• Udi’s breads, buns and bagels
• NoGii bars
• Udi’s muffins and muffin tops
• Bhuja snack mixes
• Larabar Uber
• Organicville sauces, dressings and marinades
• Goldbaum’s ice cream cones – I made gluten-free Drumsticks from the sugar cones! 

Gluten Freely offers free shipping on orders over $75.00. 

Have you ordered from Gluten Freely before?  I have had nothing but great, speedy service each time I have placed orders.  What are some gluten-free products you like to stock up on?

I am a chatter box this morning and no one else in my house is awake.  Because of that, I will put my thoughts down here.  Lucky you! 

There is a new warning out that I ran across last night on Twitter that I feel the need to get out.  I already shared on my Gluten-Free is Life Facebook, but just in case you don’t “Like” me there, I want to make sure you know: Advil Liqui-Gels are NOT gluten-free.  I know that I have taken these in the past and am not sure if this is a recent change to the gels or not.  Additionally, Advil Migraine is not gluten-free. 

Q:I am allergic to gluten. Is it all right for me to take this product?

A:Advil^® Liqui-Gels^® and Advil^® Migraine and contain a wheat derivative, and are not gluten-free. You should check with your doctor if you have any concerns about taking this product.

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Gluten-free swimmer Dana Vollmer won gold and set a new world record in the 100M butterfly!  Dana has also teamed with Crunchmaster as the crackers are a great gluten-free snack to help fuel her for her workouts!  Congrats Dana!  Dana shared her winning breakfast on Twitter:

Sounds like I need to give this breakfast a try!  From Dana’s Twitter feed:

My fav meal still- rice w/almonds, peanuts, sunflower seeds, peanut butter and milk! I ate this before my swim last night! #GF #eggfree

If memory serves me correct, Dana has another race today!  Go girl!

Have you been bumming when you saw the Nestle Crunch Thin Mint Bars?  Well, check this information out from NuGo Nutrition:

Ha – seems the NuGo Dark Mint Chocolate Chip bar is a lot healthier!  It’s when I see stuff like this that I am happy to be gluten-free.  What better way to refuel after a hard run or workout? 

I have a lot of stuff to do today, as I have been slacking a bit with all of the Olympic events that I have been watching.  So exciting!  Have a great day!!

Okay, so I have to use some words.  I have never been good at being quiet, just ask my husband.  I just can’t help myself!  This cake is too good to keep quiet about anyway.  It is a Cinnamon Streusel Coffee Cake and is among many other fabulous recipes that are in the Betty Crocker Gluten-Free Cooking cookbook.    If you are looking for a quick and easy recipe to impress, this is it!  I think I may add some mini chocolate chips to the batter next time I make it!