Category Archives: Gluten-Free

Bobo’s Oat Bars Review

Bobo’s Oat Bars Review and Giveaway

Confession time again! Despite my best intentions I usually run about 5-10 minutes late. This is usually due to wanting either a snack or drink to go, and this has been happening since I was young. I wish 30 years ago on the cold mornings I was running late, that there was a breakfast snack like Bobo’s Oat Bars. Bobo’s Oat Bars are mini loaves of compressed oats.

Bobo’s Oat Bars are available in 10 regular flavors including original flavor, cinnamon raisin, peanut butter, cranberry orange, coconut, chocolate, almond, banana, strawberry and apricot. Bobo’s also makes 6 gluten-free flavors including peach, maple pecan, lemon poppy-seed, chocolate almond, apple pie and peanut butter/raspberry jelly.

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Nii Bars Review

Nii Bars Review and Giveaway

There are many companies that are creating bars and protein snacks. The common thread in these bars is dates. I will be honest when I say that I know little to nothing about dates, other than their appearance. If I am being really honest I will tell you they have never been high on my list to try as they are visually unappetizing. The great thing about these bars and protein snacks is that the visual look of the ingredients is less important, and the sum of the parts becomes the focus.

The way in which I discovered Nii Bars is different than most ways I come across these type of products. One night Jason and I were watching Food Network and came upon a show that showcases up and coming companies seeking an investment to grow their business. I was immediately intrigued by what I saw on the screen and knew that I wanted to sample these for myself. Mom to three children, Shanais Pelka started Nii Bars in her kitchen. Her passion for feeding healthy, vegan, whole, nutrient dense foods to her family grew into an Nii Bars.

Nii Bars are organic, gluten-free, Non-GMO certified, vegan, soy-free and kosher. The ingredients in each bar are cold-pressed and they are sweetened with coconut nectar. They come in 5 flavors including Almond Chocolate Chip, Berry Cashew, Peanut Butter, Cherry Coconut and Cacao Coconut.

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Goodie Girl Cookies Review

Goodie Girl Cookies Review & Giveaway

My nickname when I was a child was “Cookie Monster”. I grew up in the age of the talking puppets and I reminded my parents of this iconic blue puppet. As a child I embraced this nickname and became a cookie connoisseur, or at least as much of one as a 5-year-old can become. If I am being honest, he actually became one of my favorite characters of all time. I am still a monster when it comes to cookies.

I am always looking for new and unique cookies to try and I hit the mother-load when I discovered Goodie Girl Cookies. These are one of the most delicious cookie brands I have ever come across.

I love that this New York based mom wanted to create a delicious cookie for the gluten-free people of the world. After sampling these cookies I would say that she accomplished her goal. Not only are Goodie Girl Cookies gluten-free but they are made of simple ingredients such as white rice, brown rice, tapioca and quinoa flours. To substitute for the lack of wheat, corn and potato are used in their place.

So, like any good Cookie Monster I dove right in to the “Goodie”ness in front of me, including:

Crunchy Midnight Brownie : The first thing I thought after my first bite was that this cookie reminded me of a high quality Mississippi mud pie made into a crunchy cookie. This would be awesome crumbled on top of a vanilla bean ice cream cone.

Goodie Girl Mint Slims: I am not going to lie, these immediately reminded me of their obvious inspiration counterparts. These were so good that it was extremely difficult to not eat these all in one sitting – especially for a cookie monster like myself.

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Canyon Bakehouse Bagel and Brownie Review

Let me start by saying that the products featured in this post were provided to me free of charge courtesy of Canyon Bakehouse. This post may contain affiliate links but this in no way will influence the review to follow and all opinions are my own.

Canyon Bakehouse Bagel and Brownie – Review and Giveaway

I have mentioned in the past my affinity towards bread and bread products. My love of bread extends to toasted breads, sugared and cream cheese covered breads and chocolate breads. I think the bottom line and common thread is that I love bread.

In March I had the opportunity to review Canyon Bakehouse’s breads (see review here) and loved them. I recently received an email that was announcing that Canyon Bakehouse was launching 3 new products: Plain Bagels, Everything Bagels and Brownie Bites. I was beyond excited that Canyon Bakehouse was releasing more products as I really enjoyed the items I reviewed in March.

Now Jason does not quite share my affinity towards bread. That is not to say that he is not a bread fan, just not a 1/2 loaf in one sitting kinda bread fan. Despite his not so passionate love of bread he even enjoyed these new gluten-free offering’s from Canyon Bakehouse which included Plain Bagels, Everything Bagels and Brownie Bites.

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Seponifiq Review and Giveaway!

Let me start by saying that the products featured in this post were provided to me free of charge courtesy of Seponifiq. This in no way will influence the review to follow and all opinions are my own.

Seponifiq – Bread and Lettuce Sepo Sauce Review and Giveaway!

If you are anything like me you have never tried Sepo sauce. Well that is not entirely true, I recently tried Seponifiq’s Bread and Lettuce Sauce.

The easiest way for me to describe Sepo Sauce, it that it is a bread and lettuce sauce that is packed with flavor. The texture and consistency are similar to thick salad dressing and when refrigerated the consistency is so thick that you can turn the open jar upside down with little to no sauce loss. Once the jar is open, the first thing you smell is a pleasant combination of garlic and mustard. The flavor is reminiscent of a caesar dressing, and tastes of garlic, horseradish with a small back note of vinegar. The sauce is not spicy, and is easy to spread and loaded with possibilities and flavor.

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Golden Girl Granola Review and Giveaway

Golden Girl Granola Review and Giveaway

When you generally think of granola a couple of adjectives come to mind: outdoors, natural, healthy and durable. I love having simple granola snacks in my house despite being less than an outdoors person. There is nothing simpler then a bag of healthy tasty granola for an afternoon snack. Granola is just as versatile as it is tasty and this granola from a family run business in Shirley, MA is no exception.

The benefit of review blogging is being given the opportunity to try different types of the snacks and products I already enjoy. All the while supporting a small family run business and product, such as Golden Girl Granola. I was graciously sent 4 bags of my choosing to sample. The ones I chose were Bluesberry, Chocolate Decadence, Home Sweet Honey and Forest Maple. The other flavors I did not choose were Creative Cranberry, Truly Tropical and The Original. A 14 oz bag is available for $7.50 and they also have a 12 pack of 3 oz package’s available for $36.00.

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6 Tips For Traveling and Being Gluten Free

Let me start by saying that the products featured in this post were provided to me free of charge in consideration of a post from Glutino/Boulder Brands. This in no way will influence the post & all opinions are my own.

Traveling While Gluten Free

Let’s be honest for a moment, being gluten-free and traveling is nothing short of a frustrating. From finding snack items that are gluten-free at unfamiliar stores, to locating restaurants that have gluten-free options traveling can be a challenge. The struggle then becomes the added cost to the gluten-free menu items or menu changes for gluten-free that might not have been worked into your original budget.

In light of this struggle have compiled some tips to make travel a little easier and hopefully a little less frustrating.

1. My first tip also comes with a fun project that you can have kids help you with. Pre-package snacks in plastic bags, count them out and tie them with cute or color coded ties. This makes for easy grab and go accessibility whenever needed.

How To: I opened each bag and counted out 5 of each flavor. I took 4 plastic bags and cut 4 green and 4 yellow raffia into 5 inch sections. I placed 5 pretzels of each flavor in the bag and the tied the bag with one green and one yellow tie. I chose to place my completed bags into the freezer for a cool easy treat to take on road trips.

2. Do your research and look ahead for gluten-free restaurants in the area in which you are traveling. Many places have a gluten-free menu and are local places are not only unique places to eat but generally care about the food the serve and use the highest ingredients which many times means organic, fresh and locally grown.

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Enjoy Life Foods: Vanilla Honey Graham and Snickerdoodle Cookies Review

Enjoy Life Foods: Vanilla Honey Graham and Snickerdoodle Cookies Review & Giveaway

I feel as though we have been light on the admissions around here so thought it was a great time to admit to you all that we are a sweet house. At times I wonder if our house has more sweets than proteins. We love cookies, cakes, brownies, and any combination of those that a person can dream of.

In our constant pursuit for healthier versions of the snacks and treats that we love so much we were given the opportunity to sample a couple of Enjoy Life Food’s cookies. We sampled the Soft Baked Snickerdoodles and the Vanilla Honey Grahams.

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Namaste Brownie and Coating Mixes Review and Giveaway

Let me start by saying that the products featured in this post were provided to me free of charge courtesy of Namaste Foods. This post contains affiliate links but this in no way will influence the review to follow and all opinions are my own.

Namaste Brownie and Coating Mixes Review and Giveaway!

Alright, I will admit it: I might be on a healthy eating quest. This previous sentence could be debated by those that love me, but I figure with small changes you can effect big change. If I adjust my diet a little then maybe I will see big results. There is no medical reason for this new-found awareness, just the looming July date that makes me rethink the previous 4 decades of choices.

Despite my desire for calm at times our house is in a state of debate and discussion. The reason for the discussion’s are not medical, financial or emotional, but are about the proper consistency of brownie mix. I was a watery mix girl and Jason was a lumpy mix boy – how we have lasted this long is mystery.

I recently had the opportunity to review a couple of Namaste Foods products. I had the opportunity to review the Gluten-Free Brownie Mix and the Gluten-Free Italian Herb Coating Mix. I am always open to trying new brownies and new coating mixes to add flavor to my foods.

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Naturtint Permanent Hair Colorant Review

Naturtint Permanent Hair Colorant Review

To many people I won the genetic lottery: blonde hair and blue eyes. There is a downside to this genetic win, blonde jokes – so, so many blonde jokes. By the time I was late into my high school journey I finally grew tired of the constant jokes that did not apply to me. I began dying my hair and for that first color I went totally different – Red! There was no easing into this opposite spectral color, I was all in from the start.

Flash forward 20 years and admittedly I am older, smarter, wiser and I realize what a gift it is to still have my natural blond hair. I still yearn for the easy change I can make to my appearance, but hate the idea of all the harmful chemicals that are used in modern-day at home hair coloring box systems. One of the worst parts about coloring your own hair is the strong ammonia smell that inevitably fills your bathroom and surrounding area. I know that my two cats avoid me like the plague when I am coloring my hair due to the smell, I think it burns their little noses.

Something in me has been brewing, and I knew I wanted a change, so I began looking for alternatives to the potentially dangerous options for hair coloring that are currently available. I happened upon Natrutint during my searching. I reached out to this plant-based hair color company to do a review and they were generous enough to send me a color to try. I chose color “5G Light Golden Chestnut” – which on the box looks like a brown with hints of blond.

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