Did you head out to shop on Black Friday? We did! My mom, sister, Hannah and I hit the road at 4:00 AM for our coffee at Caribou and then hit the mall. We scored some great deals including a new toaster over for $19 and a Shark Steam Mop for $49. I am loving the steam mop! LOL! We shopped for over 12 hours stopping only to eat, which we did 3 times over that period! Shopping makes me hungry!

Today is another great day to score some deals – Cyber Monday! I even found a gluten-free site getting in on some Cyber Monday specials at Glutenfree.com. They are offering 25% off everything with the code “CYBERSHOP” at checkout. The code is good until 11:59 PM PST tonight (11/29/2010). I think I am going to get some Schar sub rolls and Glutino Chocolate Covered Pretzels!

Here are just some of the brands that can be found at Glutenfree.com:

• Udi’s
• Glutino
• Schar
• Ener-G
• Gluten-Free Pantry
• Amy’s Kitchen
• Bakery on Main
• Lara’s
• Bob’s Red Mill
• Enjoy Life

Now, go get your shop on! 😉

Stay tuned for some fun later this week – another giveaway! This giveaway will be done in conjunction with some other bloggers in addition to myself! Katie Chalmers, Author and Illustrator of the unique new book, “Mommy, What is Celiac Disease?”, is offering (think: perfect gift!) the “Gluten-Free Holiday Giveaway Galore x10!” to 10 lucky winners. Click here for more details. Make sure to check out Katie’s Facebook page, too!

When I was asked if I wanted to receive a copy of Jules new cookbook, Free for All Cooking, I was thrilled! I love Jules Gluten Free Flour and was excited to get my hands on a new cookbook. The cookbook contains 150 easy, gluten-free, allergy-friendly recipes that the whole family can enjoy.

Part I of the book discussed ingredients and substitutions. What foods are safe, basic, naturally gluten-free foods, egg substitutes, dairy substitutes and ingredients to avoid. If you are just beginning the gluten-free diet or trying to learn how to cook and bake gluten-free for a friend or family member, this book is a great resource.

Part II of the book is the recipes. Jules goes to great lengths to share a wide variety of recipes that can accommodate nearly every dietary restriction. Each recipe is labeled with an icon that notates which diets the dish is safe for. The different notations include:

• gluten-free
• dairy-free
• nut-free
• soy-free
• egg-free
• vegetarian (not necessarily vegan)

There are recipes for Breakfast Foods, including Pop-Tarts, granola, scones and cinnamon rolls. Appetizers & Side Dishes include recipes for Croutons, Stuffing, Fried Green Tomatoes (one of my favs), Matzo and more. Breads & Rolls include Baguettes, Biscuits, Challah, Pizza Dough, and more. The Soups section was one of the most fun to browse through! So many good recipes like Pumpkin Soup, Chili and Gazpacho. Main Dishes include Potato Gnocchi, Ravioli, Tempura Shrimp or Vegetables, and Tomato Sauce. Then, saving the best for last, Desserts! Recipes range from the simple Chocolate Birthday Cake and White Frosting to Brownies to Carrot-Apple Cider Cake with Sour Cream Frosting. Like pies? There are many recipes, including a Crustless Pumpkin and a Key Lime Pie.

The new cookbook can be purchased on Amazon.com for only $12.89! That is 32% off! What a great gift for the upcoming holiday season!

**This book was sent to me as a complimentary sample to review. The opinions in this post are mine and mine alone and have not be influenced by anyone or anything.

If any week is crazy, it is this one. Interesting that I don’t feel all that stressed. Hmmmm… Maybe a touch of “the calm before the storm” going on here. We are hosting Thanksgiving dinner again this year, something I love to do. We purchased a 20 lb turkey and have begun the process of getting all of the details figured out. When to make the pies, the cornbread, the cranberry sauce, etc. I am planning on doing as much as I can in advance so that we can do more socializing and wine drinking on Thanksgiving day. 😉

Food that I will be preparing:

• Pumpkin Pies
• Cranberry Sauce
• Cornbread
• Cornbread & Sausage Stuffing
• Veggie & Cheese Trays
• Turkey
• Steamed Carrots, Green Beans & Broccoli

We will also have (brought by family):

• Catholic Potatoes
• Salad
• Cheesecake

I am so excited! Several of us will be participating in a 4 mile race the morning of Thanksgiving. No better way to create a calorie deficit than to run before the meal! There will also be mass shopping on Black Friday to work off the rest of the meal and dessert. 😉

Sunday – Butternut Squash Soup & salad

Monday – Battered Chicken Fingers, baked steak fries, asparagus & salad

Tuesday -Taco Tuesday, black beans, corn & salad (Jon’s gotta have those tacos)

Wednesday -I am thinking take-out

Thursday – The Big Meal

Friday – Leftovers

Saturday-More Leftovers

Baking

Lemon bars (new mix to sample & review)

Cornbread

Pumpkin Pies

I wish you all a wonderful Thanksgiving and hope that you will be able to spend it with those you love. 🙂

I don’t know about you guys, but I like free stuff. A lot. Want a chance to get some free Triumph Dining cards? All you have to do is cast your vote and the dining cards are yours! More details from Triumph Dining:

We’re launching the first-annual Best of Gluten-Free Awards to select the best gluten-free products on the market and to thank the companies that provide them. And we’d like you and your readers to pick the winners. Not only will you get to honor your favorite brands and products, but we’ll also give the first 2,000 voters a chance to sign up for our newsletter and get a FREE five-pack of American Dining Cards (worth $11!). The dining cards are completely free to anyone with a US shipping address, just for completing the survey (we’re even covering shipping).

The Best of Gluten-Free Awards consist of 43 different categories like “Best Gluten-Free Bread Mix” and “Best Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookie.” Winners will be announced in early 2011.

You can recognize your favorites by voting here: www.triumphdining.com/blog/best-of-gluten-free.

A very important point to remember: Only the first 2000 voters will receive the free dining cards!

With the holidays right around the corner, crackers are a must for appetizers and cheese trays. I have discussed the topic of crackers on my blog before, both good & bad. Anyone who has been gluten-free for any period of time is well aware that good gluten-free crackers can be hard to come by. I picked up a box of Back to Nature White Cheddar Rice Thins not too long ago and was in for a pleasant surprise.

I wasn’t sure what to expect from these crackers, so I didn’t go into tasting them with high expectations. As a result, I was pleasantly surprised. The crisp crackers have a wonderful sharp, white cheddar flavor. The crackers hold up well to dipping or topping with your choice of topping. These would be great topped with crab dip, hummus and red pepper or even an apple jelly to compliment the white cheddar. These crackers have decent nutritional stats and the following characteristics:

• Gluten-free
• No Cholesterol
• 0g Trans Fat
• No Hydrogenated Oils
• No Artificial Preservatives, Flavors or Colors
• Certified Gluten-Free

Back to Nature also has a Multi-Seed gluten-free cracker. I have not had the opportunity to sample this variety, but Tiffany Janes of Celiac-Disease.com has. Please click here to read her review.

I have seen these crackers in my mainstream grocery stores around town. Click here to find one close to you. The crackers can also be purchased on Amazon.com in bulk.

Consider the Back to Nature Crackers in addition to Glutino & Crunchmaster Crackers for your holiday parties this year.

ACK! Thanksgiving is next week and Christmas is 38 days away. I have a friend on Facebook who is ever so kind as to remind me (and the rest of her friends) how many more days until Christmas. While hearing it does freak me out, it does tend to keep me on my toes. Thanks, Nicole! 😉 Have you started Christmas or holiday shopping yet? I purchased one gift back in September and then a few more last week. Black Friday is the big day. I can’t wait to head out and find some deals. I hope to complete my shopping, or come darn close that day.

I was in a hurry on Friday night to grab dinner with Hannah and then head to Jon’s first pre-season game. I stopped into Champp’s to eat only to discover their gluten-free options have been seriously pared down. I was not going to sacrifice a mini-girly night out by eating bland food when so many other places cater to those on the gluten-free diet. We were just getting up to leave as the server approached our table and I explained my dilemma. He said that he would pass the comment on to his manager. I am not sure if he did or not, but I would like to think that he did. I am going to follow up with an email to corporate. There were so many options for us that night, but we were in a hurry by this time, so we chose Red Robin, as they didn’t have a wait. I hadn’t eaten at Red Robin for a long time, so I was excited to get my hands on those steak fries. I don’t often eat fries out at restaurants. Not only do I worry about cross-contamination, but I prefer to eat the healthier version of fries that I make at home. Well, every girl deserves a treat once in a while, right? Oh yeah, and a treat these were! These fries were the absolute most perfect fries in the world! I did pair them with a salad and turkey protein burger, so I didn’t feel too guilty. 😉 It was nice to splurge with my mini-me for a night.

Dinner last night, Sunday, was on the fly. Jon was getting home late from a pre-season hockey game (they lost both games this weekend) and I had spent the day cleaning. Aaron & Hannah opted for non-gluten-free pizza, so I opted for an iron-rich bison burger, sweet potato steak fries, carrots & salad. I hope to have some more organization through the rest of the week.

Monday – Grilled Chicken Breast, brown rice, broccoli & salad

Tuesday – Taco Tuesday – this day has become a must have for Jon. He loves tacos and begs for them weekly

Wednesday – Teriyaki Steelhead Trout, baked potatoes, asparagus and salad

Thursday -Spaghetti with roasted veggies and salad

Friday – Take out after hockey

Saturday – Pizza or Breakfast for dinner

Baked Goods

Super-secret treats! (Trying out a few cookbook recipes that I am reviewing)

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Week in Review

Arrowhead Mills helps simplify the holidays.

Gluten-free Gingerbread Houses. Yes, I said gluten-free!!

Review: Food for Good Thought Foods

Review: Kettle Cuisine Chili

Gluten-free time saving Thanksgiving Tips

Gluten-free Bisquick now available at Gluten Solutions.

Review: Against the Grain products

Udi’s products now in Kroger stores nationwide

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I hope you all have a great week!!

I just received some really exciting news that I wanted to share with you all – Glutino has launched a new and improved website! This new site is super user-friendly with all kinds of resources. Some more information from Glutino:

THE GLUTINO FOOD GROUP ANNOUNCES NEW WEBSITE

Glutino.com Provides Resources and Features for Living Gluten-Free

LAWRENCE, Mass. – The Glutino Food Group, a trusted pioneer and leader in the gluten-free food category, announces the launch of its new website, www.glutino.com. The easy-to-navigate site offers several new features and trusted resources for those living a gluten-free lifestyle, including information and tools for those recently diagnosed with celiac disease or gluten intolerance.

As a leader and pioneer in gluten-free foods, Glutino designed its website to serve as a guide for gluten-free eating. The new site features a sample weekly menu that provides gluten-free meal ideas, as well as a recipe database that showcases a wide variety of recipes in several categories including appetizers, dinners, desserts, and even gluten-free holiday options.

Those living a gluten-free lifestyle can use the new website to learn more about Glutino’s full line of more than 80 gluten-free products including snacks, frozen bakery items, frozen meals, baking mixes and more. With a fresh, new design, Glutino’s website allows those living gluten-free to shop online quickly and easily.

Other new features on glutino.com include a “Physicians and Dietitians” section allowing these professionals to access information and materials to aid newly diagnosed patients, as well as information on support groups for those living with gluten intolerance or celiac disease.

“Since 1983, Glutino has been solely dedicated to providing gluten-free solutions for people living with gluten intolerance or celiac disease,” said Laura Kuykendall, director of marketing and R&D for the Glutino Food Group. “We are excited to provide new online resources that make life a little easier for the gluten-free consumer.”

About the Glutino Food Group

Since 1983, the Glutino Food Group has been a trusted pioneer and leader in the gluten-free category. Based in Laval, Quebec, the company offers a wide variety of great-tasting, gluten-free foods consumers can trust. Products are available nationwide at local supermarkets, natural and organic retailers and on www.glutenfree.com. For more information on The Glutino Food Group, visit www.Glutino.com.

The new website is very easy to navigate. The products are easily found and include ingredients and nutritional information in addition to a link to buy the item or where to find it close by. If you choose a product, like a mix, and there is a recipe on the site using that product, you will see the link right there under the product listing. There are all kinds of resources for the newly diagnosed, including a “Newly Diagnosed Kit’ and sample weekly menu plans.

It seems that Glutino has made some positive changes with their new website. The older site was hard to navigate and didn’t have nearly the amount of information available. Seems that Glutino is trying to keep up with General Mill’s Live Gluten Freely website. Gotta love competition, right? We can all benefit from it.

Some of my favorite Glutino products include the Chocolate & Yogurt Covered Pretzels, Spinach & Feta Cheese Frozen Pizza and the Chocolate Truffle Brownie Mix. What are some of your favorite Glutino products?

Susan, you are the next winner on Gluten-free is Life!! Congrats, Susan! You have just won the prize package courtesy of MyBlogSpark and Live Gluten Freely! Please email me with your information so that I can get it over to MyBlogSpark – kim@glutenfreeislife.com

Susan
November 8th, 2010 at 4:05 pm
I would like more gluten free baking mixes – like muffins, pie crust, etc.

Thank you to all who entered!

Live Gluten Freely is General Mill’s gluten-free website that is chock-full of information pertaining to the gluten-free diet. The site has a listing of gluten-free products, recipes, articles written by the Live Gluten Freely bloggers (hint – I am one of them) and much more. I am thrilled to announce that MyBlogSpark, together with Live Gluten Freely, will be giving one of my lucky readers a prize pack full of gluten-free goodies from General Mills.

LiveGlutenFreely also provides great-tasting recipes ranging from breakfast treats like Blueberry-Corn Muffins to delicious dishes like Favorite Chicken Nuggets to indulgent desserts like Brownie Ganache Torte with Raspberries and Carrot Cake.

General Mills is proud to offer more than 300 affordable gluten-free products, available in grocery stores nationwide. Keep up with new additions to the gluten-free list by subscribing to the LiveGlutenFreely Newsletter. Every month, you’ll receive great “goodies” like yummy gluten-free recipes, tips, coupons for gluten-free items, new product information and more delivered directly to your inbox. Click here to sign up today!

Also, be sure to visit Live Gluten Freely on Facebook at Facebook.com/glutenfreely. “Like” the page and check out recipe ideas, product news and tips about living without gluten…freely!

Now for the fun part. See the products above? All of those are part of the awesome prize packaged brought to you by MyBlogSpark & Live Gluten Freely. I received the same package last week and have already been into the cereal and made some brownies with chocolate frosting. They didn’t last long here! Also, the Peanut Butter Cookie Larabar is one of my favorite flavors. What do you have to do to win? Simple. Just leave a comment below telling me which product you would like to see available gluten-free. That is all you have to do to enter.

For additional entries (1 extra entry per comment) do one or more of the following.

1. “Like” Gluten-free is Life on Facebook.

2. Follow me on Twitter.

3. Tweet about this giveaway making sure to include “@kbouldin” and “#myblogspark” in your tweet.

Good luck! Contest will end Wednesday, November 10, 2010 at midnight!

**Prize package for my reader and myself were provided free of charge courtesy of MyBlogSpark and Live Gluten Freely.

Did you remember to “Fall Back” last night? I didn’t set my clocks last night because I knew the cable clock and my cell phone clock would take care of that for me. Plus, I really enjoy waking up in the middle of the night confused because I can’t figure out which clock is right in my half-asleep state.

Last night Aaron & I went out to our special place for our 10th Anniversary dinner. While Hyde Park doesn’t have a printed gluten-free menu, they have always done a wonderful job of making sure my food is safe to eat. Safe to eat and prepared the way I ordered it are 2 different things. I seem to have a problem with this lately. Not with my food showing up contaminated with gluten, but being prepared wrong. Both Aaron and I ordered meals that consisted of salads, filet mignon (7 oz) and a choice of seafood. One would think that because the steaks were exactly the same size and they were both ordered “medium-rare”, that they would arrive looking the same. One would think. This was not the case. Aaron’s steak was perfectly cooked. My steak was well-done. How does that happen? I sent my steak back and they quickly remade me a new one. It didn’t take long, as it was indeed medium-rare this time. Once I had my steak back, it was phenomenal. The rest of the meal was excellent and I enjoyed spending such a wonderful evening with the man I love. Back to my food coming out wrong. I met some friends for lunch today at BJ’s Brewhouse, which I seem to frequent about once a week. I ordered a salad with no onions, dressing on the side and topped with broiled salmon. Salad shows up swimming in dressing. I mean there was enough dressing there for me to say that I needed some more lettuce to go with my dressing. It was gross. I sent it back and make sure to let the server know that I was disappointed that once again my salad had come out wrong. The last 3 salads I have ordered there have come out incorrectly. The other 2 times they came with diced red onions covering them and I am about as sensitive to those as I am to gluten, so there is no way I could eat them. While the food is good when it comes out right, I think they need to get their act together on expediting the meals. Well, unless they want to keep giving me free salads, that is.

Onto the menu plan.

Sunday – Leftovers

Monday -BBQ chicken breast, quinoa, sugar snap peas & salad

Tuesday -Taco Tuesday, black beans, corn & salad

Wednesday -Bison Burgers, sweet potato steak fries, broccoli & salad

Thursday -Steelhead Trout, baked potatoes, spinach & salad

Friday – Pizza and salad

Saturday- Carry out

Weekly Recap:

Gluten-Free Gingerbread Houses

Review of Food for Good Thought gluten-free products

Review of Kettle Cuisine Soups

Le Garden Bakery products to be carried at Raisin Rack

O & H Danish Bakery has gluten-free choices

Review of O’Dough’s Bread

Bloomfield Farms offers reasonably priced gluten-free mixes

NFCA offers another free webinar: “Serving Up Gluten-Free at Colleges & Universities“

Review: Celiac Specialties

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Make sure to check back tomorrow for a fun giveaway! You won’t want to miss this one!