I was sent a fun package & a coupon by My Blog Spark for Yoplait Fiber One 50 Calorie yogurt.  I got to try their new product.  I was really excited to try this product out!!  Not only was it only 50 calories, but gluten-free, to boot!!  I am so easily amused, I know.  😉 

I chose the Key Lime flavor.  Wow….this stuff was pretty good!  Non-fat, 50 calories & 5 grams of fiber!!  The real test was Jon….if he likes it, you know it rocks! 😉  LOL!  It passed the “Jon” test!  He ate the other 3 in the package before I could get to them!!  These are great for a quick afternoon snack to hold you over until dinner or even after dinner as a nice little dessert treat. 

From Fiber One

Best-selling author and food expert Lisa Lillien, AKA Hungry Girl, has given her “seal of approval” to the new Fiber One yogurt, the only leading nonfat yogurt with 50 calories and 5 grams of fiber (20 percent of the Recommended Daily Value). It is also a good source of calcium and vitamins A and D, making this an all-around great choice for dieters and those watching their weight. Each cup includes the creamy, delicious taste you expect from Yoplait, and you don’t have to feel guilty about enjoying it. Fiber One is available in a variety of flavors including, Strawberry, Peach, Vanilla and Key Lime Pie (see what Hungry Girl thinks about the new yogurt:

Now, are you ready for the fun stuff?  My Blog Spark is going to send out gift bags to 3 lucky readers!!!  Each of the 3 readers will receive exactly what is pictured above.  The cooler bag and other items to carry your snacks & yogurt.  Also, you can go here for a $1.00 off coupon for Fiber One 50 Calorie Yogurt. 

What do you have to do to enter this giveaway?  I am going to tell you.

1.  Answer this:  What is your guilty snacking pleasure?

2.  If you have a blog, post about this giveaway & link back.

3.  Add me to your blog roll if I am not on it.

4.  Good luck!  You have until Sunday, August 19, 2009 at midnight to enter this giveaway!

The other day I mentioned that I had ordered some Pure Bars.  I reviewed Pure Bars a while back.  You can read my review here and here.  I received my variety pack order of Pure Bars yesterday!  I was so excited!!  I took one along with us to the Zoo today in case I was hungry.  Well, guess what?  I was hungry!  Training for a half marathon will do that to you!!  Today I sampled the Wild Blueberry Bar.

The first thing I noticed when I opened this bar was the awesome scent of blueberries!!  I couldn’t wait to dive right in!!  Do you see all those nuts in the picture?  There were also chunks of blueberries in the bar.  I was very pleased with this bar.  I honestly can’t tell you which of the 3 flavors I have tried is my favorite at this point in time.  I love them all.  🙂

Onto my next new yummy find!!  Blue Diamond Unsweetened Chocolate Almond Breeze!  I usually drink the Unsweetened Vanilla, but once I spotted the Chocolate, I knew I had to give it a try.  Oh.My.WOW.  Tastes like chocolate milk!  This stuff is so good!  If you like almond milk, or heck, even if you don’t, try this stuff!  45 calories/cup, too, BONUS!  I have been using this in my coffee & will try in my cereal this afternoon. 

~~~~~~~

Notes:

Today is the last day to enter my Nature’s Path giveaway.  You have until midnight tonight (August 12th).

New post is up on The Examiner.com.  🙂 

Do you Tweet/Twitter?  If so, make sure to follow me!

Enjoy your hump day!!

Do you have any special plans this weekend?

I have lots of tidbits of info circling around in my head about Celiac Disease.  They aren’t enough to put in a post of their own, so I will lump them all into this post. 

1.  Betty Crocker Gluten-free Mixes have been spotted at Meijer in Columbus, Ohio.  They are in the baking section, but not on the same shelf as the mainstream baking mixes.  They are on the opposite side of the aisle with other health related baking mixes from Bob’s Red Mill, Arrowhead Mills, etc.  They are priced at $3.99, which seems to be just about normal. 

2.  While waiting for Jon to get his hair cut yesterday, I was browsing through Women’s Health Magazine and happened upon an article talking about tummy trouble.  The first potential cause or thing to rule out was Celiac Disease!  I am so happy that Celiac Disease is getting more press.  The more it is out there, the more people can get diagnosed & get to feeling better!

3.  As I have posted in the past, I am training for a half marathon that takes place in less than 10 weeks!  ACK!!  Now that my long runs are 8+ miles, I really need to fuel during my runs, not just before & after.  I posted about Sharkies & Sport Beans before, but have been looking for something simpler.  Gu Gels have been recommended to me by many people.  I went to Fleet Feet yesterday and browsed their gels selections.  I ended up buying 6 Gu Gels.  The Roctane Gels are labeled “gluten-free” and “dairy-free”, which I loved.  The others were not labeled, but I was assured via email (and a super fast response) that all the Gu Gels are gluten-free and they are in the process of changing all of their packaging to say that.  I will review these after my long run this week & let you all know how I liked them.

4.  Top Chef Masters goes Vegan & Gluten-free!!  Did anyone see?  I love Zooey Deschanel and especially loved her in Elf, one of my all-time favorite movies.  All of the food that the Top Chef Masters prepared looked amazing, but Michael Chiarello’s quinoa pasta dish had my mouth watering!!  He ended up winning!  Here is his interview.  I can’t wait to make this meal!!!

5.  Champagne Grapes.  Have you tried or seen them?  They are the tiniest little grapes I have ever seen!!  So cute!!  They are so sweet & have a wonderful flavor.  They are smaller than peas!  Best feature about champagne grapes?  Naturally gluten-free!!

6.  Gluten-free Fox posted a great article on hidden gluten.  I wanted to share this because if this helps just one person not suffer, I am all for it. 

7.  Quick mention of a tweet that I saw come across Twitter this AM:  Rice Chex is on sale at CVS for 2 for $5.00.  This tweet came from @GlutenGossip.  Thanks for spreading the word!  No mention of when the sale ends or if all CVS stores are participating, but worth a shot if you are close by. 

8.  Watch for my Back-to School post coming later this week.  This post will include letters to the school & teachers, information on packing lunches & ideas on what to pack.

Hope you all have a great Tuesday!!  Don’t forget to check out my contest to enter for a chance to win some awesome Nature’s Path products!   It is running until Wednesday, August 12, 2009 at midnight. 

A few weeks back I was contacted by Nature’s Path and asked if I would like to sample some of their gluten-free cereals/products.  Of course I said that I was interested.  I love cereal and feel like I could eat it for every single meal.  Not only that, but Nature’s Path is going to be giving away a fun gift to one of my lucky readers!!  How fun is that?  Details on how to enter & win will be explained below. 

My package arrived on my doorstep & I was eager to dive right in.  I had 4 different cereals to sample: 

• Nature’s Path Honey’d Cornflakes
• EnviroKidz Peanut Butter Panda Puffs
• Nature’s Path Mesa Sunrise
• Nature’s Path Whole O’s

Normally I like to mix my cereals together, at least 3 different kinds at a time.  I have an entire selection of at least 6 cereals at any given time.  This doesn’t really make my husband happy, in fact, it may even drive him a little crazy.  Anyway, I digress.  I took a break from my craziness to get a good taste of these individually.  My thoughts are below:

Nature’s Path Honey’d Cornflakes

I really enjoyed these cornflakes.  They had a great crisp & light sweetness to them, but nothing over the top.  Great alone or mixed with other cereals.  Also would be great to cook with.  I used them as topping on a hash brown casserole and they worked wonderfully!  Another nice thing about this cereal is that there are only 4 ingredients!  2 thumbs up!

EnviroKidz Peanut Butter Panda Puffs

We all know that I am a kid at heart, right?  Well, this cereal is great for kids & adults.  These little cereal balls, which look a lot like Kix, are bursting with peanut butter flavor.  Great alone, or mixed with another cereal or topped with some banana slices.  I also loved these topped with Almond Breeze or Greek yogurt.  Another great cereal with only 6 ingredients.  A much welcomed change from those mainstream cereals with lists longer than Rapunzel’s hair.  2 thumbs up!

Nature’s Path Mesa Sunrise

This is one of my favorite gluten-free cereals.  This cereal was recommended to me by a friend who had been diagnosed with Celiac before I was and I was looking for a way to fill my cereal void.  I love to eat this with fresh fruit cut up on top.  This cereal is a blend of corn, flax, buckwheat, quinoa & amaranth.  Nice crunch to the flakes & great texture & flavor.  2 thumbs up!

Nature’s Path Organic Whole O’s

I was so excited when I saw this product on the market!  I was never a huge fan of Cheerios, but I did like to eat them occasionally.  Now, tell a girl she can’t have something and she wants it even more.  I had tried other gluten-free Cheerios in the past and had been very disappointed.  This cereal did not disappoint.  The Whole O’s were crispy & had a great crunch, but were not overly crunchy like some of the others I had tried.  They were the closest thing to Cheerios that I have tried since embarking on the gluten-free diet.  And, once again, only 5 ingredients in this cereal.  Well done, Nature’s Path!  2 thumbs up!

If you asked me to pick my favorite out of the 4 cereals here, I couldn’t do it.  I like them all for different reasons.  I like to combine flavors, as I said above, so would eat them all at different times for different reasons. I know, I am weird.  😉

Now for the fun giveaway details. 

1.  Go to Nature’s Path  to see what products they have and comment below which ones you would like to try. 

2.  Share this blog post on your blog & link back.  Comment below telling me that you have done this. 

3.  Add me to your blog roll for an extra chance at winning! 

4.  That is it!  Have fun!!

Contest is open until Wednesday, August 12, 2009 at midnight.  A winner will be chosen & announced on Thursday. 

I eat sweet potato fries all the time.  Sweet potatoes are one of those veggies that I didn’t touch as a child.  I wouldn’t even eat them in casserole form topped with marshmallow, syrup & nuts.  Nope.  I was only interested in your “normal” mashed potatoes as a child.  I didn’t even really try, or remember trying, sweet potatoes until just a few years back.  Now, I eat them several times a week.  My new favorite way is to eat them in steak fry form.  I used to make them in rounds, more like thicker chips, as you can see here.  Friday night, I tried the new, better way and love them!!

These are so easy to make, it isn’t even funny.  I sliced a single sweet potato into steak fry shapes first.  Then, I sprayed with Pam and seasoned to my liking (I just used sea salt, pepper & cinnamon).  I tossed into the oven at about 375 – 400 and let them go.  I checked on them every 10 minutes or so and flipped about half way through and then towards the end again to brown up on all sides.  They ROCKED!! 

I served them along side of an open-faced fried egg sandwich.  I toasted 2 slices of Kinnikinnick’s Many Wonder Multi-Grain Bread  and then topped with fresh baby spinach, fried eggs and fresh chopped basil.  So good and went perfectly with the sweet potato steak fries!! 

If you like sweet potatoes, give these fries a try! 

Phew, hot one out today!  96 with a heat index of 104.  It wouldn’t feel so bad if we had been having this weather all season, but it has been unseasonably cool here in Ohio.  I have to admit that this warmer weather has left me uninspired to cook much.  Too hot to turn the oven on, even with A/C.  There has been a lot of grilling going on.  School starts in 17 days.  I will miss having the kids around, but I look forward to being back on more of a structured daily schedule.  Plus, the arguing is getting a little much.  I declared one day last week “National No Arguing Day”.  The kids didn’t buy it.  Darn!  LOL!! 

A friend of ours gave us some cucumber & zucchini from their garden the other day.  You have to see this zucchini.  Jon was pretending to use it as a baseball bat, it is that big!!

This is a 12 inch ruler and a 750ml bottle of wine, for reference.

Look how big around this thing is!

Not sure what I am doing with this monster yet, but I see some zucchini bread in our future!!

In My Box is hosting this week’s gluten-free menu swap.  The ingredients of the week are lentils, beans & pulses.  I had no idea what pulses were, so I went to my trusty Wikipedia site to find out.  Basically they are legumes, but if you want more explanation, click here.  I eat lentils, beans & pulses all the time.  I add chickpeas and/or black beans to my salads all the time.  I also enjoy black beans with some red quinoa and other grilled or roasted veggies.  I don’t have any dinners planned using these items, but they will be in my salads & lunches.  😉 

Sunday ~ Rotisserie Chicken, baked sweet potato w/cinnamon  & Greek yogurt, fresh green beans & mixed greens salad.

Monday ~ Spaghetti & meat sauce (ground turkey), roasted asparagus & salad

Tuesday ~ Baked Chicken Fingers, butternut squash fries, broccoli & salad

Wednesday ~ Leftovers or fend for yourself night (skating)

Thursday ~ Herb Roasted Pork (got bumped from last week), Brown Rice or quinoa, zucchini/yellow squash & salad

Friday ~ Pizza and salad

Saturday ~ Filet mignon, garlic mashed potatoes, roasted veggies & salad

Baked Goods

Pamela’s Bread

Zucchini Bread

Thanks to Cheryl at Gluten-Free Goodness for hosting the temporary GF Menu Swap HQ. 

For more great menu ideas, visit Orgjunkie. 

Reminder:  Do you want to write for The Examiner?  Check out this post for more information.  A great way to reach out to others, have fun & make a little extra money!  They are nationwide!  Make sure to mention where you heard about The Examiner.  My referral Examiner number is 15655. 

I hope you all have a great week!!  Make sure to check back tomorrow & later in the week for some awesome giveaways!! 

Hi guys!  There were only 3 people who commented/entered the contest for the Mary’s Gone Crackers & coupon.  I still used the Random Integer Generator for fairness and the result was:

#1 ~ Erin!  Erin said not the most creative answer to your question but I would like to win because I have never tried the black pepper variety or the sticks/twigs!

Congrats Erin!!!  I will ship your crackers & coupons out early this week!

Thanks to all who entered & keep checking back this week.  I have  another fun contest going up Monday morning and yet another towards the end of the week!  If you like cereal and yogurt, you are in for a treat! 😉

I wrote in my new Examiner post yesterday about Think Thin & Think Fruit Bars.  They are on sale at Kroger this week for $1/each!  That is 50% off!!  I stocked up, as I know the Think Thin Bars are great to have on hand in a situation where there is no safe food available for Jon.  They don’t replace a meal for him, he is a growing boy, but they do hold him over with the 20g of protein they have per bar. 

I bought some Think Fruit Bars for myself and gave the Cashew Acai Protect bar a try today.  I was very impressed!  These taste very similar, if not the same, as Lara Bars!  The bar had a great flavor & texture.  It was full of nuts and has 160 mg of Omega 3s per serving!  They are dairy & gluten-free.  This bar has only 8g of fat, as compared with Lara Bars, which have 10+ grams of fat.  The fat is coming from nuts, so not a bad thing.  The bar has 190 calories, 6 grams of fiber and 3g of protein.  The regular price on these bars at Kroger is $2/each, which is a little steep, in my opinion.  I don’t mind paying between $1 – $1.50 for bars like this.  I would recommend this bar.  🙂  Another great go-to product for those on a gluten-free diet.

See all the nuts?

Now, for some FUN!!  I have a box of Mary’s Gone Crackers Black Pepper crackers to give away to a lucky commenter!  Also, I have a coupon for a free 8oz bag of Mary’s Gone Crackers Sticks & Twigs to go along with it.  All you have to do to enter the contest is:

1.  Leave a comment here telling me why you would like to win.

2.  Blog & link back or tweet about this contest & leave another comment telling me you did.

3.  That is it!  Have fun!

The contest is open until midnight tomorrow night, August 7, 2009.  The winner will be chosen and announced on Saturday AM. 

Have a great night! 

Today my baby girl is 7 years old.  She was born on August 6, 2002 at 1:17 P.M.  I can’t believe that she is going into second grade!  Time sure does fly by.  Hannah had a wonderful family cookout this past weekend and has a party set up for 5 of her closest gals this weekend.  Talk about having a birthday week!!  Today she is having her buddy, Regan (who is also my youngest sister, 7, and Hannah’s Aunt….got all that?), spend the night.  We asked Hannah to choose the menu and she chose Pizza Hut.  Not exactly gluten-free, so Jon & I will make our own pizza.  We will most likely hit up Cold Stone Creamery for some yummy desserts. 

Here is a picture of Hannah on her “birth”day. 

Here she is with me just this past weekend before her party.

Happy birthday, sweetie!  We love you! 

Today was an off day from running which usually means that I will eat more & be hungrier than on the days I run.  Weird, but I think it is my body recovering from the torture! LOL!  I had to have Jon at the orthodontist by 7:30, so I still had to get up early.  I was up by 4:55 and downstairs & eating by 6 AM. 

My breakfast today was a 3 egg white frittata with spinach & Roma tomatoes, decaf w/ vanilla Almond Breeze, brown rice cakes w/ Trader Joe’s Creamy Almond Butter with Sea Salt & Superfood Fruit Spread.  This was my first time trying this AB….OMG…I don’t know which I like better….the raw unsalted that I tried or this stuff.  They both rock!!  And, at $4.99/jar, they are the best deal in town (or on the internet)!

Like my mug? 

Frittata (not super pretty…had some egg cooperation issues today)

Rice cakes w/ AB & Fruit Spread

The star…

Guess who didn’t take a picture of her snack?  LOL!  That would be me!  I had a bowl of cereal (I mixed Brown Rice Crispies, Corn Chex & Honey Kix) and topped with a large spoonful of Fage Greek yogurt.  Love cereal & could eat it for every meal! 

Lunch was so good today.  I am in love with pears and these apple pears that I discovered last week.  I made a sandwich with turkey, provolone, spinach, basil, apple pear on Pamela’s bread & dipped in Grey Poupon.  YUM!!  I also had a spinach salad with grape tomatoes & Fat Free French (I normally don’t like the Fat Free, but Walmart didn’t carry the Light, so I tried this and love it!), Baked Lays, celery sticks & the rest of the apple pear.  The celery ended up back in the fridge….my eyes were bigger than my stomach.

Up close of the amazing sammie…

And one more, because you need to see it…

I am never too full for chocolate, so I had a small handful of dark chocolate covered blueberries & cranberries.

Around 4:30 or so I was hungry and knew dinner would be later because of Hannah’s skating class, so I grabbed a bowl of Daisy Cottage Cheese and some leftover grilled pineapple.  This was amazing together!

Went to skating and I don’t know about you, but I always have to have Tic tacs in my mouth in the car.  These are my Tic Tacs of choice right now:

Dinner was late & I was starving while cooking.  I hate that!  It leads to lots of nibbling…tonight it was on fresh cherries.  🙂  I decided on Artichoke burgers tonight.

If you have not tried these, you have to!  They rank right up there with Sunshine Burgers, and may be better!  They are not only gluten-free, but Vegan, too!

Large salad had to be made…I love my salads.  I just realized that I forgot my tomato on my salad….duh!

I had a small pour of this awesome Pinot Noir from Trader Joe’s

Dinner was an Artichoke burger on a Trader Joe’s French Roll topped with Swiss cheese, sriracha & raw spinach leaves.  On the side I had some thin-sliced pan-fried zucchini slices & grape tomatoes.

See the sriracha on the cheese?

Veggies close-up

Last, but not least, fresh blueberries & cherries w/ mini chocolate chips & a
tiny scoop of Turkey Hill Banana Split Ice Cream.

Was a great day!  Tomorrow is my baby girl’s 7th b-day!  I am starting the day off with an 8 mile run at 5 AM, so wish me luck! 

Fun stuff coming tomorrow…more product reviews & at least one giveaway tomorrow and one later this week and early next week!  Can’t wait!  Night!