When I was shopping at Raisin Rack the other day, I found some wafer cookies and I had to have them.  Hannah had the gluten-filled version the other day and both Jon & I were drooling over them.  Usually I can recreate a treat at home to satisfy both Jon & I, but the wafers in the cookies are a little (or a lot) beyond my skill level.  It certainly helped that they were on sale for $3.99 ($1.00 off).  I just checked Schar’s website and these are $3.59 right now on the site. 

Schar Vanilla Wafer Cookies were better than I imagined they could be!   They tasted as close to, if not better, than the gluten version that I remember.  They were light & crisp with a great vanilla flavor throughout.  Jon concurred.  These were definitely a winner in our house. 

Put these on your list the next time you place an order from Amazon.  They are decently priced there as well, and if you like them, they come in a case of 12 packages!  Score!

Happy Halloween to you all!!!  Our trick or treating night is tonight and I am praying that it stops raining before tonight.  It was 70 yesterday and a cold front is coming through now.  Figures.  We won’t let that stop our fun, though.  🙂  I have my handy dandy candy list ready for all the treats that may come our way.

Now, for the good stuff.  The winners of the Yoplait Kids contest.   Using the Random Number Generator, the winners are:

Erin, on October 30th, 2009 at 3:41 pm Said: Edit Comment

sign me up!

denise, on October 29th, 2009 at 5:46 pm Said: Edit Comment

I would love to try this for my kids.

denise_22315 (at) yahoo (dot) com

Congrats to you both!! 

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Stay safe tonight out there!  Beware of all of the witches & goblins that will be out. 

Have I ever found anything that I didn’t care for at Trader Joe’s?  Yes, yes I have.  I was not a fan of the Creamed Honey or the Flattened Bananas.  I think those are the only 2 things.  Great thing about Trader Joe’s is that if you buy something & you don’t like it, take it back & they will give you a store credit towards your next purchase.  Can’t argue with that.  Enough about not liking things – onto my new found love: Trader Joe’s Cranberry Apple Butter.

I found this on my last Trader Joe’s trip when I was picking up some of my favorite pumpkin butter.  I just knew that I wouldn’t be disappointed.  Guess what?  I was right!  This ranks right up there with my pumpkin butter, but Mr. Pumpkin will always be #1 in my heart.  😉 

So, how did I use this new spread?  I eat a lot of sandwiches for lunch and have grown bored with my turkey/chicken, cheese, sriracha & spinach so I tried out a new combo – roast chicken, strawberry cream cheese, cranberry apple butter, sliced Honeycrisp apple and spinach on toasted Pamela’s Gluten-free Bread. 

What an awesome combination this turned out to be.  I love the crunch that the sliced apple added to the sandwich and the cranberry apple butter added a nice tart bite to it as well.  Great fall treat! 

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Make sure to check out my newest Examiner articles:  Gluten-free Italian Cookbook, Cranberry Sauce & Cranberry Glazed Carrots.

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Don’t forget to enter to win the Yoplait Kids prize pack!  I have partnered up with MyBlogSpark & Yoplait Kids to give away 2 fun packs!

MyBlogSpark & Yoplait Kids Less Sugar have come together to offer this great prize package for 2 of my readers!  Yoplait is the yogurt that I buy for Jon because not only does Yoplait call out any gluten on their labels, but they have started to label their products “gluten-free”.  Yoplait Kids has always been my daughter’s yogurt of choice….she hates chunks & pieces of fruit in her yogurt & Yoplait Kids is smooth & creamy & free of chunks.  So, this is a favorite in our house.

Information from Yoplait Kids:

Are you searching for a snack for the kids that tastes good and is good for them? Yoplait Kids yogurt is the perfect solution with 25% less sugar than the leading kids’ yogurt. With its thick and creamy texture that will hug your little one’s spoon, you won’t have to worry about a sticky mess to clean up afterwards. It also contains no artificial sweeteners or flavors, so you can feel good about serving it to your kids.

In addition, Yoplait Kids is a good source of vitamin D and, according to two new studies that provide the first national assessment of the crucial nutrient in young Americans, millions of U.S. children have disturbingly low vitamin D levels, possibly increasing their risk for a variety of health concerns, including bone problems. About 7.6 million children, adolescents, and young adults have vitamin D levels so low they could be considered deficient. It can be challenging for growing kids to get enough vitamin D because this nutrient is only found naturally in very few foods; however Yoplait Kids makes it a little easier to incorporate a delicious source of vitamin D and calcium in your child’s diet.

If you are interested in entering this giveaway, please leave a comment below.  If you have blog, you can receive an extra entry by linking back.  If you have a Twitter account, you can receive an extra entry by tweeting & including @kbouldin in the tweet so I know.  The deadline to enter is Friday at midnight.  The 2 winners will be chosen Saturday morning.  Good luck!

What better time of the year to review candy than at Halloween?  Surf Sweets generously sent me some samples a couple weeks back to review.  I love gummy candy, especially the sour kind! 

Surf Sweets Candy not only tastes great, but has 100% RDA of Vitamin C!  The gummy swirls are also fortified with Calcium, a great added benefit of eating candy!  Some other great facts about Surf Sweets:

• Made with Organic Fruit Juice & Sweeteners
• Natural Colors & Flavors
• Free of Corn Syrup & GMOs
• Made in a nut free facility
• Gluten-free
• Casein free
• Made in the USA

The line includes Gummy Worms, Gummy Swirls, Gummy Bears, Fruity Bears, Jelly Beans, Sour Worms, New Sour Berry Bears & New Snack Packs.  My favorite that I tried is the Sour Berry Bears.  I especially liked that this candy didn’t get stuck in my teeth.  Some gummy candy out there gets in your teeth & is really hard to get out. 

I didn’t try the jelly beans, so I will have to pick some up & give those a try.  I am a sucker for jelly beans and eat them year round!  No need to wait for the EB here!  😉 

Surf Sweets has some fun Halloween recipes up on their site – be sure to check them out.  You can find Surf Sweets Candy at the locations listed here.  One store that stands out is Whole Foods.  I am picking up some jelly beans the next time I make a Whole Foods trip.  Pick some up for your little witches & goblins this Halloween!

A friend tweeted me last week about a recipe for Glazed Chocolate Bundt Cake and said she thought of me when she saw it.  I knew it was something I had to make once I read it.  Right up my alley!  Thanks for thinking of me, Erin!  The original recipe comes from Eating Well, but I modified it to be gluten-free.  Look at this yummy goodness…

Glazed Chocolate Pumpkin Bundt Cake

Makes 16 servings

1 3/4 cup gluten-free flour mix*

1 3/4 tsp. xanthan gum

1 cup granulated sugar

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, (not Dutch-process) *I used Hershey’s Special Dark

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice (I used 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp ginger, 3/8 tsp nutmeg & 3/8 tsp of all spice)

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup nonfat buttermilk

1 15-ounce can unsweetened pumpkin puree

3/4 cup dark brown sugar, packed

1 large egg, at room temperature

1 large egg white, at room temperature

1/4 cup canola oil

1/4 cup light corn syrup (I used Agave Nectar)

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

GLAZE & GARNISH

1/2 cup packed confectioners’ sugar

1 tablespoon nonfat buttermilk

2 tablespoons mini chocolate chips, or toasted chopped nuts

Prep:

1.  Preheat oven to 350.  Spray your bundt pan with Pam or other cooking spray.

2.  Whisk together all the dry ingredients, except the brown sugar; set aside.

3.  Mix 1 cup buttermilk, pumpkin puree and brown sugar in a large bowl with an mixer on low speed.  Beat in egg and egg white.  Stir in oil and agave nectar.  Gradually add the dry ingredients and mixing just until combined.  Pour into the bundt pan.

4.  Bake in the oven for 1 to 1 1/4 hours or until toothpick inserted in the middle comes out with just a few moist crumbs.

5.  Let cool on wire rack for about 15 minutes and then remove from the pan and let cool for another 1 -2 hours.  I put the plate that I wanted the cake on upside down over the pan and then turned upside down to limit the chance of any breakage.

6.  Stir together the ingredients for the glaze & drizzle over the cake.  Add the chocolate chips and/or nuts before the glaze hardens.

7.  Enjoy!

Hannah wanted to help me out with the glaze.  We thought the end product looked perfect for Halloween.  Kind of like a spider web!  🙂  She is a great helper!

*Flour Mix – From Carol Fenster’s 1,000 Gluten-free Recipes

1 1/2 cups sorghum flour

1 1/2 cups potato starch

1 cup of tapioca flour

This makes 4 cups.  I store in a tightly sealed Tupperware container in my pantry.

Make sure to head over to check out Amy’s Blog – Simply Sugar & Gluten-free for Slightly Indulgent Monday.

I think that we are back among the living this week.  The fevers are gone and the coughs are on the way out.  Good Lord.  That was rough!  My whole menu plan was scrapped last week as it was all I could to do function, let alone cook.  So, some of what was on last week’s plan is being moved to this week.  🙂

This week Heather, of Celiac Family, is hosting the gluten-free menu swap & she chose shrimp as the weekly ingredient.  I love shrimp!  Unfortunately it is not on our menu plan this week, but I wish it was.  Shrimp Scampi is one of my favorite dishes.  Thanks for hosting, Heather.

Sunday – Salmon, Coconut Baked Rice, steamed green beans & carrots & salad

Monday – Burgers, butternut squash fries, broccoli & salad

Tuesday- Spaghetti, roasted veggies & salad

Wednesday – Turkey Tacos/Lentil Tacos, refried beans, corn & salad

Thursday-Grilled BBQ Chicken Breast, baked potatoes, broccoli & salad

Friday-Homemade Pizza, veggies & salad

Saturday-Leftovers

Baked Goods

Bread

Pumpkin Cookies

Brownies

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Make sure to check out my latest Examiner articles:  Recall on Breyer’s Ice Cream and Roasted Fall Vegetables.

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Coming up this week:  A healthy & fun recipe for Chocolate-Pumpkin Bundt Cake.  🙂

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The 2009 Candy List has been updated on my tab at the top.  Check it out for the latest.

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

Just saw this come across in an email – an updated list from Melanie at Silly Yaks.  Some of the information may be outdated, but Melanie noted that she kept the information there for everyone to make the decision themselves.

I will be back later on with my menu plan and a review on some great new natural & organic candy that I just tried.

Last week I had the pleasure of reviewing a brand new gluten-free product, Custom Choice Cereal.  Custom Choice Cereal is a gluten-free cereal mix that you create that is then mixed in a dedicated facility to avoid cross-contamination.  Does it get any better than that? 

I was able to select my cereal mix from a nice variety of choices.  First, you select a base from 3 different choices.  After selecting a base, you add your favorite dried fruits.  Then you can add nuts or seeds and finally, you can name your mix.  The whole process from start to finish could not be easier. 

I selected Good Morning Flakes as my base.  Good Morning Flakes are made up of Organic corn flakes enriched with flax, buckwheat, quinoa & amaranth.  I chose apricots & cranberries for my dried fruit & almond & coconut for my nuts and/or seeds. 

You can click this picture to enlarge it.

I was pleasantly surprised to see how much dried fruit & nuts my mix contained.  What a great combination of flavors.  I love to mix things into my cereal and rarely just eat 1 cereal plain, so this is right up my alley.  Another wonderful gluten-free option out on the market.  Prices vary based on the mix you create. 

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Check out my latest Examiner articles.  Roasted Fall Vegetables and Gluten-Free Dining at P.F. Chang’s. 

Hope you all have a great Saturday!  Go BUCKEYES!

You will all have to excuse my lack of blogging and/or recipes this week.  I have been struggling to keep up with day to day life with this virus.  While I hesitate to say it, I think that now, after 7 days, I have finally turned the corner & my chest no longer feels as if someone is sitting on it.  I hope I don’t jinx myself. 

Last Friday I had the wonderful opportunity to meet up with an amazing woman, Heidi, from Adventures of a Gluten-free Mom.  Heidi lives in New Mexico, but grew up here in Ohio!  When Heidi contacted me to see if I wanted to meet for lunch when she was in town, I was so excited!  We met at Cheeseburger in Paradise for an awesome gluten-free lunch.  Being the chatty bloggers that we are, we managed to have Jon take a picture of us, but we forgot to take pictures of our food?!?!  What is up with that?  LOL!  The kids had school off that day, so they joined us for lunch.  Heidi was able to pick Jon’s brain a bit, but being the extremely cooperative 13 year old boy that he is, he probably wasn’t as forthcoming as Heidi would have liked.  The kids were well behaved for the time that we were there.  🙂  Jon ordered the gluten-free cheeseburger & fries and a salad on the side.  He wasn’t happy with the way his burger was cooked, but that was because I won’t let him order it medium-rare.  Geez, Mom, lighten up already! 😉  I ordered the Turkey Burger with mushrooms, Swiss & avocado on top with a side of fries and a salad.  That was the first time I had fries in close to a year!  Carb loading & fries go hand-in-hand.  Heidi had the Cheeseburger in Paradise (I think) and fries.  She was very pleased to see fries on the gluten-free menu.  Want to see a picture of us?

Heidi, it was so great to meet you!  Thank you so much for the bottle of wine & green salsa.  One of these days I will be able to drink that wine.  Must stop taking cold medicine first. 😉  Please let me know the next time you will be in town.  Maybe I can make you dinner! 🙂