When I am training to run a half or full marathon, protein is a key component for recovery. Fueling after long runs is where I often run into trouble. I have no appetite and getting in a good amount of protein within the first hour after I finish is critical. I have tried protein shakes and while I do like the Jay Robb shakes, sometimes it is easier to have a bar, then to make sure I have almond milk or water to mix the protein powder with.

PureFit Nutrition Bars were named “Nutrition Bar of the Year” by Bike magazine. I was able to sample these bars over the past month and have been really impressed with them. I want to share some information about PureFit first, then I will get to my review.

“Nutrition Info
Kosher-certified and vegan-approved PureFit bars do not contain dairy, wheat, or gluten, and will not melt in their packaging. PureFit works diligently to provide high-quality, award-winning nutrition bars without artificial ingredients, sugar alcohols or common allergens, including milk, wheat or gluten.

Our bars are an integral part of The PureFit Fat-Burning System. It provides many of the nutrients and calories you need to round out your PureFit diet. And it does not contain harmful ingredients found in virtually every nutrition bar on the market. 100% All-Natural Ingredients, 18 Grams of Soy Protein, Non-GMO Soy, Unprecedented Great Taste. This low glycemic, nondairy bar is based on over 20 years of research and was not practical to manufacture until now. It offers:

NO Hydrogenated Oils
NO Animal Products – Vegan
NO Cholesterol or Trans Fatty Acids
NO Wheat or Gluten
NO Artificial Sweeteners
NO Hidden Carbohydrates
NO Sugar Alcohol

Best of all, these bars are versatile. From lunch boxes to soccer moms, from Wall Street executives to pro-athletes—everybody loves the taste and they fit into any pocket. Finally—a nutrition bar designed not only for the whole person but for the whole family.”

I was very impressed with these bars. They tasted great and have 18 grams of protein per bar! I gave Jon the chocolate brownie and he really liked it. My favorite of the bars that I sampled is either the almond crunch or the peanut butter crunch. These bars did not upset my stomach in the least and had a great taste & texture. They are easy to keep in my purse, van or gym bag.

PureFit Bars are sold in many locations across the US or online. There are some special offers when purchased online:

Order 4-5 Boxes of PureFit bars save 7% ($32/box)

Order 6-9 Boxes of PureFit bars save 13% ($30/box)

Order 10+ Boxes of PureFit bars save 18% ($28/box)

Buy 2 or more Boxes of PureFit Bars — Receive a FREE PureFit Men’s T-shirt or Baby Doll T-shirt. If you’ve been waiting to try our new Granola Crunch bar – the one featuring certified gluten-free oats – or feel like this month’s other special (free shipping on 10 boxes of bars or more) is a little too much for your pantry, then check this out: Order any 2 boxes of PureFit Bars and we’ll throw in one of our Men’s PureFit T-shirts or Women’s Baby Doll T-shirts for free. Place your order today! This is a LIMITED TIME OFFER ONLY that expires on September 30, 2010.

To keep up with all of the PureFit news, follow PureFit on Twitter and Facebook.

**In the spirit of full disclosure, these bars were sent to me free of charge by PureFit Nutrition. The views & opinions in this blog are mine and were not influenced by anything or anyone.

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Don’t forget to enter to win a prize package from Ian’s Natural Foods!

Dear Mother Nature,

Please take your heat, humidity and ragweed and leave Ohio. I don’t like to complain, I like to have a positive outlook on life, but you are making it rather difficult right now. If the ragweed was not bad enough, the A/C breaking down causing us to open the windows & let my attacker right in, was the final straw. My eyes itch and are swollen, my nose itches, my skin itches. I take a myriad of medication to combat these symptoms and don’t get a lot of relief. Please don’t remind me that it may not have been in my best interest to fire my allergist last week – not only do I clearly need help, but who cares how long I had to sit there, at least there was A/C, right?

Have you ever taken Zyrtec? If you are ever wanting to be in a zombie-like state, this is the pill to take. I weighed my options and chose to take the Zyrtec thinking I could deal with a little lethargy & fatigue since we had a 3-day weekend – big mistake. My motivation went out the open window. The couch and I became best buddies as I watched the hours pass. Oh, I didn’t sleep the entire time, somehow I got sucked into watching Kourtney & Khloe Take Miami. I don’t know which show is a bigger train wreck, this one or Jersey Shore. Did I really just admit that I watch those?

So, if you can just do that one thing for me, I promise to not complain again until February when I am sick & tired of freezing my arse off.

Thank you,

Kimberly Bouldin

Now back to your regularly scheduled gluten-free programming. 😉

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Don’t forget to enter to win a super cool prize package from Ian’s Natural Foods.

Well, here I am on Monday making my weekly menu plan. Last night was a hodge podge of food, so I won’t bore you with those details. I had a yummy Amy’s Kitchen gluten-free burrito! These things rock! It was my last one, so I sure hope that my local stores start to carrying them soon!

We have had a bit of a change of sporting teams in the house this week. Jon made the decision to play JV or varsity (if he makes it) instead of travel hockey. I am proud of him for making this big decision. He has always wanted to play travel, but things weren’t working out the way we expected with the travel team he was placed on, so he opted to go with his school team. This is nice for us because the real season doesn’t start until later in the year. Try outs aren’t until the first week in November, so he will just have meetings and drop in sessions until then. He will definitely play JV and does have a shot at making the varsity team. Apparently they take 5-6 JV players for varsity. Aside from the obvious reason, a huge break in my schedule, I am glad that Jon has a chance to settle into his school routine before the season starts up.

Monday – Salmon, roasted red skin potatoes with basil infused olive oil, broccoli & salad

Tuesday – Tacos, Mexi-corn & salad

Wednesday-Filet mignon, baked sweet potatoes, green beans & salad

Thursday- Spicy Chile Burgers, home baked steak fries, roasted veggies & salad

Friday-Veggie pizza and salad

Saturday-leftovers

Baked Goods

Zucchini Brownies

Bread

Weekly Recap

NFCA presents “The Gluten-Free Effect on Athletes: Improving Performance Through Diet“

It’s time for pumpkin!!

Chicken Tostadas

Helen’s Kitchen Tofu Steaks

Holiday Baking Company offers new hours.

BJ’s Brewhouse offers gluten-free ciders.

Mellow Mushroom Pizza serving gluten-free pizza in Columbus.

Shirley of Gluten-Free Easily shares how she makes waffles that make the perfect waffle sandwich!

Check out Amy’s Labor Day Round Up for a bunch of wonderful recipes all in one place!

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Don’t forget to enter the Ian’s Sweepstakes for a prize package to serve you & 14 friends or family!

Recently I was contacted by Ian’s to review a couple of their newer products and host a giveaway for a really cool prize package for one lucky reader & their friends or family. I have previously tried only a couple of Ian’s products, so I was excited to give some others a try. I was able to try the Chicken Tenders & Pepperoni French Bread Pizza, or maybe I should say Jon was. I was able to get a couple of bites out of the food before he destroyed it and boy, was I glad that I did!

Chicken Tenders

These were some of the best gluten-free chicken tenders that I have tried since going gluten-free. They were very crisp on the outside and tender on the inside, like the name implies. I followed the box directions and made them in the oven (microwave preparation is not recommended). The box says that there 2 servings, 3 ounces each, in the box, but Jon ate the whole box in one sitting. I can see where 2 servings would be possible if these were being fed to a younger child, but otherwise, just 1 serving.

Pepperoni Pizza French Bread Pizza

Another hit from Ian’s! These pizzas were really good. They were crunchy, just like a French bread pizza is supposed to be. Again, Jon polished off this whole box in one sitting. The kid can eat! I was lucky to snap the picture and snag a bite! As with the chicken tenders, the instructions recommend baking in the oven, not the microwave.

Now for the fun stuff!!

Ian’s will be giving away an Allergen Free Food Party Package, serving 14 guests. The winner will receive one of two kinds of party packages; a “Gluten Free Pizza Party”, with our NEW Wheat Free Gluten Free Pepperoni French Bread Pizza and our NEW Wheat Free Gluten Free Wafer Bites, or a an “Allergen Free Fun Fest” with our Wheat Free Gluten Free Chicken Tenders, as well as our ever-popular Alphatots! Each party includes plates, utensils and napkins, invitations for each winner to send to guests, and fun Andy the Otter stickers, tattoos and prizes!

In order to enter, readers must post a comment in response to this blog post describing how dietary restrictions affect their lives. The Winner will be chosen at random from these comments. Contestants must also register with Ian’s Natural Foods’ SuperFit Kid Program at www.imasuperfitkid.com, and will only receive their Grand Prize winnings upon confirmation of SuperFit Kid Membership.

So, to recap:

1. Comment here on how dietary restrictions affect your life. (required)

2. Register with Ian’s Natural Foods’ SuperFit Kid Program. (required)

3. Follow me on Twitter (bonus entry)

4. “Like” Gluten-Free is Life on Facebook.

This contest will run until midnight on September 17, 2010. Good luck!!

*Contest is open to US residents only

**The samples for this review were provided to me, free of charge, courtesy of Ian’s Natural Foods. The views and opinions in this blog are mine and mine alone and have not been influenced by anyone or anything.

The time of year has come when Starbucks is once again making the beloved Pumpkin Spice Latte. Due to Starbucks making changes earlier this year to their Frappuccinos, I thought it would be in my best interest to email them to verify the gluten-free status of the lattes/syrups, etc. I am not at all pleased with the response that I got.

Hello Kimberly,

Thank you for contacting Starbucks Coffee Company.

Starbucks is unable to guarantee a “gluten-free” environment in our retail locations due to the potential for cross contamination with gluten-containing products. The open environment and operating procedures of our store locations may present additional risk for gluten-sensitive customers aside from the gluten-containing ingredients themselves. “Gluten-free” is a claim with specific requirements defined by government agencies and industry standards. We are unable to make this claim on a product unless the item is specifically formulated and manufactured to meet the definition of the claim.

We do offer some packaged food items that meet gluten-free requirements including Kind Bars, Lucy’s Cookies, Peeled Snacks, Two Mom’s Raw Granola and Food Should Taste Good Chips. Please note that product assortment varies from location to location, and our packaged food offerings may change from season to season. If a packaged food item qualifies as gluten-free, it will be indicated on the label.

If you have any further questions or concerns that I was unable to address, please feel free to let me know.

Warm Regards,

Allison T.
Customer Relations
Starbucks Coffee Company
800 23-LATTE (235-2883)
Monday through Friday, 5AM to 8PM (PST)

While I appreciate the honesty, I am saddened that I can’t have my beloved latte. 🙁 They don’t come right out & say that the pumpkin spice syrup has gluten in it, but they won’t say that it doesn’t either. I do appreciate the other gluten-free snacks that they are now offering, but in all honesty, their plain coffee is not good enough to entice me into the store to buy it or the snacks.

So long Pumpkin Spice Latte, so long. Perhaps I can save all the money I would have spent on my PSLs and put it towards something fun – like a new pair of jeans or pedicure!