Have you heard the news? I have all kinds of tidbits, so I am going to put them all here in one, nice, neat place. 🙂

King Arthur Flour has a gluten-free line of mixes coming out on March 1st. The mixes/flour will be certified gluten-free, kosher, allergen free and have no preservatives. Watch for more info on where to purchase these mixes.

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I am looking for a couple readers to write a guest post that will go live the 3rd week of March. Please email me at kim@glutenfreeislife.com if you are interested.

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Wendy’s has updated their gluten-free menu. They have removed some salads that were previously on the list (Chicken Ceasar, Mandarin Chicken). After speaking with someone from Wendy’s this morning, I confirmed that those salads are no longer available. There are new ones on the menu and the gluten-free status of those salads should be posted on Wendy’s site by the end of February. I will make sure to update when that happens.

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If you are in or near the Columbus area, Holiday Baking Company is beginning to offer gluten-free lasagna starting today!! I will be getting some this week to try out. I can’t wait!

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And, the news that I am most excited about, P.F. Chang’s has added lots of items to their gluten-free menu. Please check out the offerings & make sure to let me know if you have tried any of the new offerings!

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Check out some of my latest articles on Celiac-Disease.com. I have chatted about Quaker Rice Cakes, cacao nibs, bagels, Puffins, waffles and much more.

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Want to try the new You Bars? You can see my review & get a discount code here.

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Get a deal (free shipping) on all frozen gluten-free food you buy from gluten-free.com.  Click here for details

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The offer to get a discount on Zing Bars is ending on Sunday! Take advantage of this deal now!

Here is the code:

Save $10 on EACH box of 12 ordered. So if they order 3 boxes, they would save $30 dollars. Each box of 12 is regularly priced at $31.95.

Coupon code is: gflife
Expiration date is: Feb 28 2010

Have an amaZING day!!

These cookies are inspired by a recipe that I found in the March 2010 issue of Vegetarian Times. I love pecans in my cookies & just happened to have an open bag that needed a use. The way the recipe is written, it is vegan in addition to gluten-free. I changed it slightly. My version is not vegan. I didn’t have any vegan margarine in the house, as we use real butter.

Makes 36 – 44 cookies

3/4 cup chopped pecans

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

3 TBSP maple syrup

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/3 cups Better Batter Flour (you can sub another GF flour mix, just make sure it is not one that contains any baking soda or baking powder)

1/4 cup Sugar in the Raw

1. Preheat oven to 350. Toast chopped pecans for 10 minutes.

2. Beat butter, brown sugar, maple syrup, vanilla and salt with mixer until smooth. Stir in flour with spatula until just mixed. Fold in pecans.

3. Shape dough into two 10-inch logs. Wrap in plastic wrap & chill for at least 2 hours.

4. Unwrap dough logs & preheat your oven to 350. Let dough stand for 20 minutes at room temperature. Roll logs in Sugar in the Raw, then slice into 1/4 inch disks. Transfer to parchment paper lined baking sheet. Bake 12-14 minutes or until golden.

Nutritional Stats per cookie (based on 44 cookies): <1g protein, 4g fat, 55 calories, 6g carb, 3g sugar.

These cookies turned out so good! They remind me of Pecan Sandies!

Today, February 23rd, is National Banana Bread day! Yes, there is a day set aside just for banana bread. What do I like best about bananas? They are naturally gluten-free. Bananas contain considerable amounts of vitamin B6, vitamin C, and potassium. The latter makes them of particular interest to athletes who use them to quickly replenish their electrolytes. I will often eat a banana before my long runs to fuel me through my run and to help with keeping me from getting dehydrated.

I have many banana bread recipes and if you asked me to choose a favorite, I am not sure that I could. There are certain things that I like about each of the recipes that I am sharing below. I wish I had some really ripe bananas to make a loaf today!

Banana Nut Bread

Orange-Pecan-Topped Cream Cheese Banana Nut Bread

Banana Bread French Toast

Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

Do you have a favorite recipe for banana bread that you want to share? I would love to hear about it!

I wanted to write a little about National Eating Disorders Awareness Week because I have suffered from an eating disorder. I struggled with anorexia as a teen and then again a few years back, though not nearly bad the 2nd time. After recovering from my battle as a teen, I never knew that this was a battle that I would have to fight my entire life. I will win this war.

My struggle started innocently enough. I was a gymnast & I always believed, the littler, the better in the sport of gymnastics. What I didn’t realize at the time is that I was trying to defy my genes. I was 13 and starting to develop & grow & I was doing everything in my power to thwart that. I cut my calories way back. I was eating approximately 500 calories/day. After a year or so, I ended up under 100 lbs (at 5′ 7″). I was dangerously thin. I really don’t know how I let it get so bad. I just wanted to lose one more pound. I would lose that pound & then lose just one more. It spiraled out of control.

My Mom took me to a doctor & with threats of being put into the hospital, I slowly began to eat. It wasn’t nearly as easy as one who hasn’t suffered from an eating disorder would think. My stomach was not acclimated to having much food in it at one time. I had to really concentrate on eating calorie dense foods. I was also scared of getting fat. My body image was very, very distorted. I eventually gained the weight back over time – about a year or so. In my later teenage years I looked back on that time & wondered how I ever starved myself, as I love food way too much.

Fast forward to my early 30’s. Hannah was 2 or 3 and I was still carrying around an extra 10 or so pounds (those pounds were in my eyes – I was a healthy weight). I started the South Beach Diet to lose a few pounds before going to the beach & that was enough of a trigger to get me in trouble. I did not cut calories as severely, but I had “rules” about what foods I would eat. I manipulated my diet to where I would lose weight – slowly. It didn’t help that this was pre-Celiac and food just made me feel sick in general. Before I got down to a scary weight, my doctor intervened. I sought counseling & learned to watch for certain “red flags” so that I could identify unhealthy behaviors. I have since gained back what I lost and maintain a healthy weight. One way I help keep my focus on being a healthy weight is knowing that I have to fuel myself properly to have the energy that I need to run.

I am now aware that anorexia doesn’t go away. It isn’t like an illness that is cured. It is something I will need to be aware of & on top of for the rest of my life. I know that I have these tendencies and I know what red flags I need to watch out for. I used restricting food as a method of control. Controlling my food intake gave me a strange sense of calm when everything else around me was chaotic. Now that I know that, I take steps to avoid it.

Here is some great information from the National Eating Disorders website:

The mission of NEDAwareness Week

Our aim of NEDAwareness Week is to ultimately prevent eating disorders and body image issues while reducing the stigma surrounding eating disorders and improving access to treatment. Eating disorders are serious, life-threatening illnesses — not choices — and it’s important to recognize the pressures, attitudes and behaviors that shape the disorder.

How NEDAwareness Week Works

This year, NEDA is calling for everyone to do just one thing to help raise awareness and provide accurate information about eating disorders. NEDAwareness Week participants can choose from a huge range of ways to contribute: Distribute info pamphlets and put up posters, write one letter for Media Watchdogs, register as a Volunteer Speaker or host a Volunteer Speaker, coordinate a NEDA Walk, or arrange interactive and educational activities such as panel discussions, fashion shows, body fairs, movie screenings, art exhibits and more. As an official NEDAwareness Week participant you can be involved in any way that works with your schedule, resources, community, and interests. These events and activities attract public media attention – on local, national and international levels.

I saw a post last week on Oh She Glows by Angela regarding sizes in clothing. Writing “Size Healthy” over all the number sizes in our clothing is a fantastic idea! While it is too late to enter Angela’s contest, it isn’t too late to tag your clothing tags with “Size Healthy”. I may have to get my sharpie out this evening & visit my closet.

I have just started to see the Starfish Battered Fish in our local Whole Foods stores over the past 6 months or so. I was thrilled when Starfish sent me some complimentary samples of 3 varietites of their battered fish – Halibut, Cod & Haddock.

The crispy, battered fish portions are peanut, soy, egg, milk & gluten-free. The wild harvested fish is oven ready & quick to prepare.

I served the fish along side “chips” or steak fries. Jon was so excited to be eating “fish & chips” again. He ate an entire box in one sitting (there are 2 – 2.5 servings per box. If I hadn’t known that these were gluten-free, I wouldn’t have been able to tell. The batter had a crisp texture and the fish was tender & flaky. I even re-heated some fish the next day in the oven after heating up the night before and it turned out just as good as the night before. This is definitely a product that I will be purchasing again

You can find Starfish products in all US Whole Foods stores and some other stores that can be viewed here.

Have you tried Starfish products? How did you like them?

Last week of February! I say that with such excitement because I am hoping, like a lot of other people, that Spring is closer than our groundhog pal led us to believe. While we do still have significant snow on the ground, the incoming “storm of the week” is predicted to bring rain & not snow. While I am not a huge fan of rain, I will take it over snow right now. The snows of this winter seem to be way too long lasting. They have not been a short-lived snow day here & there & then the ground is clear. They have been full of 8+ inches at a time, multiple school snow days & delays. My kids only went to school 1 full day last week! They had Monday scheduled off, Tuesday was a snow day and Wednesday & Thursday were 2-hour delays. The previous week was no better.

Moving along. While on the treadmill for my 12 mile long run yesterday, I had plenty of time to read my new Vegetarian Times. I am not a vegetarian, but I do enjoy many vegetarian meals & I love this magazine. I love that they have ads for gluten-free foods in the magazine – this month it is Food for Life’s new Gluten-free English Muffins. I can’t wait to get my hands on those. I also like that they have a page each month, called “gluten-free pantry” dedicated to cooking or baking gluten-free. This month amaranth is spotlighted. There are also many recipes that can be easily converted to be gluten-free or already use gluten-free flour. One that caught my eye this month is the one for Maple Pecan Sables. I am giving these a shot today & will make sure to let you know how they turn out.

Manda at Asparagus Thin is hosting this week’s gluten-free menu swap. Her choice ingredient of the week is radish. I don’t use radish for much other than when I make a vegetable or relish tray or cut up in my salads. I am very interested to see some recipes incorporating radishes.

Sunday – Rotisserie Chicken, Parmesan Pea Risotto, green beans & salad

Monday-Salmon, baked potato, asparagus & salad

Tuesday- Spaghetti with roasted eggplant & mariutta, salad

Wednesday-Turkey Burgers, sweet potato french fries, broccoli & salad

Thursday-Grilled BBQ Chix Breast, roasted acorn squash, okra & salad

Friday -Pizza – make your own individual pizzas & salad

Saturday-Breakfast for dinner

Baked Goods

Maple Pecan Sables

Homemade waffles

Biscuits

Don’t forget to check out Orgjunkie for more menu ideas.

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Some highlights from the past week in case you may have missed them:

P.F. Chang’s adding several new gluten-free dishes to their menu in March.

Local Columbus people – Holiday Baking Company is now offering gluten-free lasagna.

There was a recall that was expanded this past week. You can read about it here.

I got some exciting news on the writing front. You can check it out here.

I reviewed You Bars – there is also a discount code in the post for all orders!

This is the last week to get your discount on Zing Bars.

I reveiewed Gluten Free Houston’s carrot & coffee cakes.

I made pancakes for Fat Tuesday.

I reviewed some Kinnikinnick products.

I hope you all have a great week!!

A couple weeks back I received a complimentary pacakge of samples from You Bar. You Bar is a company that allows you to creat your own, personalized bars, shakes, cereals, trail mix & cookies.

You Bar was launched in 2006 after the mother-son founders, Ava Bise and Anthony Flynn, began creating protein bars at home to meet their taste, health and allergy needs. They loved eating their unique bars so much that they thought there would be a huge market for protein bars made freshly to customers’ own taste and nutritional needs. Anthony, who had just graduated from business school (and has always had an irrepressible entrepreneurial spirit), said to his mom: “Let’s launch a nutrition bar company,” and she replied: “Yes, if we can customize them like the ones we make at home.” And so, in a small commercial kitchen in Los Angeles, You Bar was born out of a basic concept-you are what you eat, so choose!®

Our revolutionary You Bar® fresh, customized energy bars are based on the belief that nobody else should decide what tastes good to us or what is good for our bodies. We have been giving our customers a choice with You Bars since 2006.

With You Bar®:
You choose the ingredients and the bar size.
You view the nutrition facts of your energy bar while you are creating it.
Your box of bars is hand made fresh-to-order and shipped to your door with a satisfaction guarantee. If you don’t love your bars, you’ll get a new box free of charge.
Your customized nutrition facts and your chosen bar name are printed on each individual bar package.
Friendly telephone customer support is available to answers questions and provide helpful recommendations.

Here are the products that I recieved:

There were 2 samples I received that were not gluten-free, so I passed them along to Aaron. 🙂

Breakfast Bar– Deglet noor dates, Egg white powder, Honey, Cocoa Powder, Instant Coffee Crystals (caffeinated), Cinnamon. Great flavor, especially with the coffee. Great pre-run fuel. 8 g protein!

Honey Cashew Bar -Cashew Butter, Honey, Whey Protein, Nutty Rice Cereal, Organic Honey. I had this bar for a on-the-go breakfast one morning when I had to fast for a blood test. It was filling (10g protein) and tasted great! Loved the crunch of the Nutty Rice Cereal in it.

Great Date with Chocolate -Organic Dates, Whey Protein Isolate, Organic Honey, Cocoa. I ate this bar this morning before my long run & it was a great choice. Kept me fueled & feeling great. I love that these bars have protein in them! Loved the chocolate flavor!

The Best Trail Mix -Almonds, Organic Cashews, Walnuts, Organic Sunflower Seeds, Dried Sweetened Blueberries, Sweetened Cranberries, Sun Drops Original Chocolate Candies. Hannah loved this and only allowed me a small sampling Great combination.

Vanilla Dream -Soy Protein, Organic Cane Juice, Organic Vanilla Powder. Jon had this shake & he said while the flavor wasn’t bad, it was chalky. He didn’t use a blender, but stirred it up and added ice.

Breakfast Shake – Whey Protein, Egg White Powder, Organic Cane Juice, Cocoa Powder, Organic Bananas. I haven’t tried this shake yet, but hope to get to it soon!

Blended Bliss – Whey Protein, Organic Cane Juice, Organic Strawberries, Organic Bananas, Organic Vanilla. I used a blender with this shake & mixed it with Almond Breeze (unsweetened vanilla). I love the flavor! Great protein – 14 grams! I used this to refuel this AM after my long run. This was not chalky at all. Maybe the blender is the key?

I was very impressed by the flavor & nutritional stats of the You Bar products. My 12 mile run today was fueled before & after by You Bar products. I felt great during the run & feel great now, too. I am always on the lookout for products that I can fuel with that don’t upset my stomach or fill me up too much that I feel too full during my runs. You Bar definitely fits the bill.

Have you tried You Bar products? If not, here is your chance to get a 5% discount off of your order! Just enter the code: GFLife at checkout. You can order your own You Bar products by clicking here.

I was the very lucky recipient of some complimentary samples of some baked goods from Gluten Free Houston. Gluten Free Houston is located in Houston – I bet you didn’t pick up on that one! 😉

Here is some more information on Gluten Free Houston & Randi Markowitz:

Are you in search of gluten-free solutions for yourself or a family
member? Are you in the Houston area? Then, I can help. I have
spent the last six years developing my own hand-made gluten-free
baked goods. When I first started out, all I came up with were
lumps of bricks! It’s not easy to produce really good baked goods
without the gluten protein found only in wheat, barley and rye
flours. It is complicated and time consuming, but I have hit on a
formula that works. Even my non gluten-free friends think everything
is fantastic. As you probably already know, living gluten-free
is somewhat expensive–the ingredients are very pricey, but very
high quality. I decided that if I am going to take the time and effort
to bake things for myself, my family members and friends who do
not eat wheat, it might as well be the best it can be, with the best
ingredients. It’s impossible to produce fresh gluten-free baked
goods on a large scale. Everything has to be frozen and it’s really
not very good. When it’s hand-made and fresh, it is fabulous. If
you are a gluten-free person, you don’t have to have baked items
with weird aftertastes, grainy stuff in your mouth, and that strange,
slightly “off” taste. You can and should have the best. Bear with
me here, because these items are not inexpensive. However, I can
guarantee that they are much better than anything you can buy
that is frozen, and better than any mass-produced fresh items.
That is why I am doing it my way—very small selection of items, in
very small quantities, that are available fresh and delicious. Otherwise,
why bother?

Gluten Free Houston is also on Facebook, Twitter and has a blog.

I had the pleasure of sampling the Cinnamon Coffee Cake & Carrot Cake.

Carrot Cake -Fabulous carrot cake muffin loaf, 12 oz., ingredients: sorghum flour, tapioca flour, cornstarch, baking soda, salt, xanthan gum, cinnamon, sugar, eggs, canola oil, buttermilk, vanilla, carrots, pineapple, coconut. Arrived a little crumbly, but that did not effect the taste. The taste was outstanding – one of the moistest cakes I have ever had. The texture was perfect and you can actually taste the chunks of pineapple in the cake. Jon & Lindsey both loved this cake, too.

Cinnamon Coffee Cake -Our fantastic gluten-free 12 oz. cinnamon coffee cake. Stays delicious and fresh on your counter or in the refrigerator for days. It’s one of our most popular items. Ingredients: sugar, vegetable oil, eggs, sour cream, vanilla, sorghum flour, tapioca flour, potato starch, salt, baking powder, xanthan gum. Wonderful flavor & texture. Jon wouldn’t let many pieces out of his sight. Lindsey also enjoyed this cake.

You can purchase items from Gluten Free Houston on their website or in these locations. Right now there is free shipping in Texas with any order of $24 or more!

I won a prize from Foodie Blogroll!!! I won a copy of the $5 Dinner Mom Cookbook by Erin Chase! I am so excited!! I love to win things.

If you blog and don’t belong to Foodie Blogroll, you should go sign up! There are contests to enter every week. Lots of fun info, too.

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I also wanted to share that I did a lot of soul searching about what I wanted to give up for Lent. I had toyed with the idea of meat/fish, but after my physical on Monday and really thinking about it, I thought that giving up meat/fish during marathon training probably wasn’t the greatest idea. I am not saying that people can’t train for a marathon while being vegetarian or vegan, but I have no experience in either area other than an occasional vegetarian day – not 40 days straight. What I have opted to give up is all alchohol. I don’t drink a lot, but I do like to enjoy a glass of wine with dinner a few nights a week. So, now I can be held accountable. 🙂 So far, so good. No desire to even have a glass of wine. Give me a few more days. 😉

Hey guys – Happy Friday! I believe that we are in for a heat wave here today. The temp will finally be above freezing for the first time in a long time.

I mainly wanted to tell you about this great contest that Heidi over at Adventures of a Gluten-free Mom is having. Go check it out & you could win a 12-pack of Crave’s Dark Chocolate Brownies! YUM!