Gluten Free Thanksgiving

   Every year, it gets easier and easier to have a gluten free holiday free of worries. This year, I just went to the store and purchased all the things I needed to make a convenient gluten free meal. 
   When I was diagnosed ten years ago, I had basically given up on ever having a holiday that felt the way it used to. I couldn't have guessed that now the holidays would be even better than they were then where the food is concerned. 
   Not only can I find a ton of gluten free products, but I can now make all kinds of recipes that I would not even have dreamed of back then. I can make a Thanksgiving feast complete with several different desserts that wouldn't make anyone guess it was gluten free. 
   Being gluten free has taught me so many things I never thought I would learn. It has given me a love of cooking that I don't think I ever would have acquired otherwise. Most of all, it has given me the need to try new things and be less picky about what I am willing to eat. That is possibly the thing I am most thankful for this Thanksgiving. 
   After all the hardship at first, the tried and failed recipes, and the continued efforts to make things better, I am finally to a place where it all works. I can now throw ingredients in a bowl and come out with a delicious recipe that I never would have found in a cookbook. For that, I will always be thankful.

The Gluten Free Allergen Free Expo

Since going gluten free, there aren't many times in my life now when a simple event can make me feel like a kid in a candy store. That being said, the Gluten Free Allergen Free Expo held this past weekend in Dallas did just that. The second I walked in the door, I could feel the excitement of all the vendors trying to get their gluten free products out there. I could also see the excitement in the people like me there, that couldn't believe all the vendors in the room and all the amazing gluten free products awaiting them. I've been to my share of expos since going gluten free, but this one was different. I never had to ask what was in a product before trying it, and sadly pass the ones I knew I couldn't have. Every food in the room was gluten free, so there was nothing out of my reach. That is a truly amazing feeling to have no restrictions for the first time in ten years. I walked around the room amazed at how many of the vendors I had heard of. There were only just a few that I had not heard of. I got to try some truly amazing products, and even bought a couple. I also came away from the expo with four new cookbooks at really cheap prices. Even better than all that is all the free products I came home with to try. It's been a long time since I have had that much fun at any kind of big event. It is truly a wonderful experience to go to an event that is made for the gluten free community. It's a completely different atmosphere. No one is in a hurry to get through it and leave, everyone is just so happy to be there that they are nice to everyone around them. If every event I went to was like that one, I would never stay home. I had a blast at the GFAF Expo, and I can't wait until the next event I get to attend. 

Kind Peanut Butter Chocolate Bars

I've spent a good part of the past few weeks looking for a snack bar that is good for you, but also tastes just as good. I am a foodie who loves real food, not diet food. So as you can guess, it is nearly impossible for me to find a good diet type snack bar. I recently tried the Peanut Butter Dark Chocolate Kind Plus bar and loved it. You really get all the flavors mixed in beautifully with every bite. I love dark chocolate, and this bar did not leave me disappointed. It really delivers the dark chocolate in a big way. It also has that chewy texture to it so it is not rock hard like most gluten free bars. This bar does not taste like a gluten free diet bar. It tastes like a candy bar that is good for you.


KIND PLUS, Peanut Butter Dark Chocolate + Protein, Gluten Free Bars (Pack of 12)

Making Time to Find New Things

After being gluten free for almost ten years now, I usually don't look much for gluten free products in the grocery store in my town. They rarely have anything that is except for their small gluten free section. But every now and then, I decide to just walk around and if I see a product that looks good, I pick it up and read the label. While this is quite time consuming, it is also vastly rewarding when I find a product that is in fact gluten free. My most recent find, is Talenti Gelato.

I have passed it in the store for months, but never stopped to look at it. To my surprise, it actually is labeled gluten free on the back of the jar. I was actually drawn to this because I was craving chocolate, and nothing that is double dark chocolate could ever be bad. Talenti has 13 flavors of gelato and 5 flavors of sorbetto, all gluten free except the Caramel Cookie Crunch. It is light and fluffy, Kosher, all natural, contains 30 to 100 percent less fat than ice cream, and absolutely delicious! This find reminded me that every now and then, you have to take the time to look around and see what you might be missing. 

Katz Gluten Free Review & Giveaway

Anyone who has read my blog, Facebook, or Twitter page knows by now that I love Katz Gluten Free Products. Recently I had the opportunity to sample some of the new products from Katz, and I found that I love them just as much as the rest, and so do some of my family and friends that are not gluten free. The first product I tried was the new apple pie. I am a lover of pie, so if it can impress me, it's gotta be a great pie.

Just glancing at the pie, I immediately noticed that it looked flaky and beautiful. It was love at first bite. The pie was indeed flaky, not dry and crumbly. The apple filling had a wonderful apple flavor, a thick syrup filling and wasn't too sweet.








The next product I tried was the Coffee Bundt Cake.

The cake was moist and not sweet at all. The frosting balanced with the cake perfectly with the sweet element and the strong coffee flavor any espresso fan is sure to love. I took a couple pieces of this cake to work, and in less than 10 minutes, my friend Jake made them disappear. The cake is a wonderful breakfast food.






The final new product I have tried so far is the Sugared Snack Poppers.

These amazing cookies remind me of the Nilla Wafers I loved so much as a kid. They have a fantastic vanilla flavor and are the perfect size for kids and adults alike. These cookies would be perfect to use in a vanilla pudding recipe or other pudding desserts.




Katz Gluten Free has about 40 products, all of them fantastic! They offer cakes, cookies, breads, pizza crusts, and much more. You can get free shipping on orders over $30 and right now if you purchase their new Cherry Pie or Apple Pie you can get up to 4 dollars off with these coupon codes.


Cherry: SummerPie2
Apple: SummerPie1
Blueberry: SummerPie3


You can follow Katz on Twitter or like them on Facebook. Now to the good part. You have a chance to win a box of any 5 products of your choosing from GF Savvy and Katz Gluten Free. To enter, just leave a comment at the bottom of this blog with your email address and why you love Katz Gluten Free products. You can also enter to win a box of every product Katz Gluten Free carries in their grand raffle. To enter that raffle, go to katzglutenfree.com.

The Excitement of a Box

As hilarious as it might be, I always get just giddy when I get a new box of gluten free products to try. Yesterday, I got a box from one of my favorite companies, Katz Gluten Free. As soon as I saw the label on the box, I went inside and ripped into it. Inside the box was all the products that I wanted to try. Some of these products were their new Apple Pies, a Coffee Bundt Cake, and the Sugared Snack Poppers. I have to say Katz couldn't have picked better products for me if they had tried. My favorite kind of pie is apple, and I am addicted to coffee! Over the next few days, I will be sending reviews on all of these products, plus there will be a chance for you to win a box of 5 Katz Gluten Free products of your choice. Check in tomorrow to see how you can win!

The Wonder of Food

When I was younger, I was quite a picky eater. I think most of us can say that as children. As I got older, I started trying some new things, but still fell under the picky eater category. When I started the gluten free diet, I realized that limiting myself to the foods I knew I liked was just crazy. There was so much food out there that I could have, but didn't want to try. At that point I came to realize that the gluten free diet was picky enough without me helping. About a year after going gluten free, I adopted a new policy on food. If it's gluten free and doesn't eat me first, I'll try it. The truth is, you never know what your missing unless you give it a shot. If you try something and don't like it, you can at least say you tried it. But, not giving something a try just because you think you won't like it is cheating yourself. You never know when you'll miss out on something amazing.