Busy week ahead.  The kids are only in school for two days, snow is on the way and my mom arrives tomorrow!  Getting ready for the holiday isn’t just about cooking and/or baking, it involves cleaning.  The quickest way to plow through chores is to divide and conquer.  I wanted to make it fair, so I used my empty Glutino Instant Baking Mix container to hold folded up slips of paper with different chores written on them.

It’s the luck of the draw!

Tuesday – Pot roast, potatoes, carrots and salad

Wednesday – Leftovers or take-out

Thursday – Turkey, stuffing, potatoes, salad, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie and carrot cake

Friday – leftovers

Saturday – Turkey pasta Alfredo and salad

Weekly Recap

Recipe: Sweet Potato Hash Pie

Review: Sam Mill’s Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Granola Bar

New Holiday products from Glutino & Dr. Lucy’s

Have a great week!

Kim

Refueling on-the-go is a way of life these days.  In a perfect world we would be able prepare a meal to refuel after every hard workout, but we all know the world is far from perfect.  The next best thing is a bar you can eat on-the-go that is packed full of the important nutrients your body needs.  PR Bars are a tasty, easy way to get those nutrients.

More about PR Bars:

•Provide endurance (optimal energy)
•Perfect ratio of protein, carbs and fat
•Stabilizes blood sugars
•Excellent taste
•Eight different flavors
•Gluten-free
•The official bar of Team USA

PR Bar is the Official Performance Nutrition Bar Licensee of the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Team. PR Bars are an all-natural, gluten-free product formulated to sustain energy. Each bar has the perfect ratio of carbohydrates, protein and fat which optimizes performance by controlling blood sugars and using body fat for fuel. Whether you are training for your first Olympic Games or training for your first 5k, let PR Bar help fuel your dreams!

The eight different flavors of PR Bar are:

• Yogurt Berry
• Chocolate Peanut
• Chocolate Mint
• Iced Brownie
• Peanut Butter Granola
• Granola Oatmeal Raisin
• Apple Pie
• Double Chocolate

I had the opportunity to taste the Yogurt Berry and Chocolate Peanut PR Bars and really liked them both.  One of the best things about PR Bars is they don’t contain any sugar alcohols!  They taste awesome and have a great texture, too!  The bars do a great job refueling me after my workouts and keeping me full until I can get a full meal. 

PR Bar has generously offered to give Gluten-Free is Life readers a discount on their orders placed on or before November 30, 2013.  Simply visit the website and enter code: GLUTENFREEISLIFE to receive 15% off of your order. 

*PR Bar provided a free sample of their product for this post. My participation is voluntary and my opinions, as always, are my own.

First, welcome to Hump Day and post #1500 on Gluten-Free is Life!  I would never have imagined when I started writing my blog 5 years ago that I would still be writing today.  Thank you for reading daily, weekly or whenever I get around to posting.

When I was growing up I always thought I would move out of Columbus, Ohio and move to someplace more exciting.  I am not sure where I thought that might be, just that I knew that place wouldn’t be Columbus.  Well, here I am twenty-eight years after first moving to Columbus in 1985.  I did move to Dayton with my mom for a few months, but other than that, I’ve been here. You know what?  I can’t think of any other place I would rather be.  Sure I complain about the cold, but I am sure I would complain about something wherever I was.

Columbus, the capital and largest city in Ohio, has a lot to offer:

• The Ohio State University
• Columbus Blue Jackets Hockey
• Columbus Crew Soccer
• Columbus Zoo & Aquarium – Home of Jack Hanna
• HQ of four corporations in the US Fortune 500 – Nationwide Insurance, L Brands, American Electric Power and Big Lots.
• Wendy’s HQ

In addition to all of those great things, Columbus has some pretty fantastic places to shop and eat gluten-free.  Sure, there are the typical chain stores and restaurants, but it is the local shops that really stand out.

One of those places is Bake Me Happy Gluten-Free Bakery.  On top of a super-cute name, the baked goods are first class.

Bake me Happy offers a wide variety of gluten-free baked goods, including some that you may not have had since going gluten-free.

• Twinkies <—Yes, I said “Twinkies”
• Slow Burner Peanut Butter Cookies
• Sea Salt Dark Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Gigantic Oatmeal Crème Pies
• Ham, Cheese & Chive Scones
• Blueberry Goat Cheese Scones
• Coconut Almond Mini Chocolate Chip Scones
• Sugar Cream Pie
• Chocolate Cream Pie
• Sour Cream Apple Pie
• Double Crusted Apple Pie
• Cherry Pie
• Pumpkin or Sweet Potato Pie
• Pecan Pie
• Strawberry Rhubarb Pie (Seasonal)

I had the opportunity a few weeks back to meet owner, Wendy Miller Pugh, tour the dedicated gluten-free kitchen and take home some samples.  I am very impressed with the facility and each and every product I tried.

Amazing!!

Decadent!

Sweet & Spicy!

Bake Me Happy products can be found in the following places in Columbus:

• The Hills Market Downtown
• Celebrate Local at Easton
• Spinelli’s Deli
• The Kitchen (scones available at brunch on select Sundays)
• Farmer’s Market at 400 W Rich in Franklinton (select dates)

They can also be picked up on Thursdays and Fridays at the Bake Me Happy kitchen location at 250 W. Dodridge St., Columbus, Ohio 43202 (and by special appointment).  Please allow 7 days notice for pie orders.  Email Bake Me Happy for more information.

If you live in the Columbus area or happen to be visiting, make sure to add Bake Me Happy to your “must try” list.  Wendy is just as sweet as her baked goods and I think you will quickly fall in love, just as I did.

*The products mentioned in this post were given to me free of charge for review purposes.  The thoughts and opinions shared here are mine and have not been influenced by anyone or anything.

Before I get started with the menu plan I want to take a moment to thank all who are currently serving and have previously served our country.  I am not only sending thanks to those veterans, but to their families, too. 

Thank you!

Monday – Burgers, baked steak fries and salad

Tuesday – Easy enchilada bake and salad

Wednesday – Take-out

Thursday – Grilled chicken salads

Friday – Make your own pizza and salad

Saturday – Breakfast for dinner or take-out

Don’t forget to enter to win a stuffing prize package from Rudi’s Gluten-Free…only 3 more days to enter!

Canyon Bakehouse products now in Target Stores

University of Chicago offering free Celiac Disease screening

NFCA Webinar: Holiday Special: Gluten-Free Baking

Udi’s introduces pumpkin muffins

Have a great week!

Kim

Thanksgiving is right around the corner, so now is the time to start thinking about your meal plan.  Will you make the same dishes you do every year or will you try something new?  For the most part I find that it is fairly simple to make all parts of our Thanksgiving dinner gluten-free, with the exception of the stuffing, rolls and pies.  In the past I have used gluten-free cornbread in my stuffing, but this year I have something even better up my sleeve….Rudi’s Gluten-Free Stuffing!

More about the stuffing:

Rudi’s Gluten-Free Stuffing is an artisan inspired gluten-free stuffing that is perfect to bring to any holiday table for the whole family, gluten-free or not. Made from the bestselling Rudi’s Gluten-Free Multigrain & Original breads and blended with a perfect amount of savory spices, it is a perfect match to any holiday meal.  The stuffing can be prepared in about 5 minutes and is dairy, soy and, of course, gluten-free.  Unlike other Rudi’s Gluten-Free products, our gluten free stuffing is a limited time only program available while supplies last for 2013 holiday season.

The stuffing can be prepared in 5 minutes, as the package says, but I did things a little different.  I used Rudi’s Gluten-Free Stuffing in my stuffing recipe.  This recipe is the one my mom has been making since I was a little kid, so it means a lot to me that I can make it gluten-free.

Savory Sausage Stuffing

1 package Rudi’s Gluten-Free Savory Herb Stuffing

2 cups gluten-free chicken broth

1 stick (1/2 cup) butter

½ cup chopped celery

½ cup chopped onion

1 teaspoon poultry seasoning

8 oz. mild sausage, crumbled & cooked

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Melt butter and cook onion and celery over medium heat until translucent. Stir in poultry seasoning. Mix well. Stir in cooked sausage crumbles.

3. Heat chicken broth to boiling, remove from heat and stir in stuffing mix and sausage, celery and onion mix. Cover and let sit for 5 minutes.

4. Transfer to oven-safe dish, cover and bake for 30 minutes*.

5. Enjoy!

*Stuffing can be stuffed into a turkey as opposed to baking alone in a dish.

Rudi’s Gluten-Free Stuffing can be found in Costco and natural food grocers nationwide!  Remember, this is a limited-run product, so don’t wait to get yours!  Rudi’s Gluten-Free has offered to give one lucky reader a stuffing package worth $90 (pictured below)!

All you have to do to enter is follow the instructions in the Rafflecopter box below.  Comments must be made on this blog post in order for your entry to count. Continue reading →