Today is 6 days before Halloween. I figured that now was a good of a time as any to work on carving our pumpkins. Oh, I had to go get the pumpkins too! LOL! I had wanted to take Jon & Hannah to the small pumpkin patch up the street, but it was rainy & wet this morning, of course. Wal-Mart and their pumpkins would have to do. Hey, they were under $4 a piece and they were a pretty good size! We headed out to mother-in-law’s house for the carving festivities. Jon informed me on the way over that he wasn’t really all that interested in carving a pumpkin. He didn’t want to get his hands dirty. Oh, that and his hand/wrist was sore and still healing from his recent injury. Okay, fine. I told him that he could take pictures and I would help Hannah. Once Hannah found out how messy (the insides) it was and how hard they pumpkins were to carve (very tough for some reason), she was all about swinging outside on the swing and abandoning the whole project. Glad we made plans to carve pumpkins today, huh? Well, the kids disinterest didn’t discourage MIL, FIL and I from carving up the 2 pumpkins that we had. The first one was much easier to carve than the 2nd one. The second one was very tough and hard to get a knife through. Thank goodness for FIL being there as I don’t think that MIL or I were strong enough to finish them up.

A couple quick pictures:

In honor of the pumpkin carving, MIL is going to roast the seeds and bring them by tomorrow morning. I can’t wait to snack on those! A great gluten-free snack! I also centered tonight’s dinner around pumpkins by making a Creamy Pumpkin Brown Rice recipe that is from Whole Food’s website. I did make some changes. Here is the recipe I used:

1 cup brown basmati rice
1.5 TBSP EVOO
Saute rice & EVOO until rice is toasted, about 3-5 minutes
Combine 3 cups chicken broth and 7 -8 oz. canned pumpkin puree in a bowl and whisk together
Add 1 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp nutmeg, salt & pepper to the chicken & pumpkin
Pour mixture into rice and bring to a boil. Stir and turn down to simmer for 40 – 45 minutes. Remove from heat and let sit for 5 minutes. Add more salt/pepper, if needed. **I left out the onion (can’t eat them) and bay leaves (didn’t have any) and added the cinnamon & nutmeg.

Now, for the yummy part. I had an acorn squash laying around so I decided to cook it up in the micro (sliced, removed seeds and seasoned with cinnamon & brown sugar; place face up in micro safe dish, added 1/2 cup of water to dish & covered with saran wrap; micro for 10 min or until tender). Once the squash was done, I filled my half with the rice and topped with chopped walnuts! YUM!!! I served that along with Perfect Pork Tenderloin (recipe to follow) and a mixed greens salad. Dessert was pumpkin ice cream topped with chocolate chips. Perfect end to a perfect pumpkin filled day!

Perfect Pork Tenderloin

Ingredients
· bonelesspork tenderloins or pork loin roast (my pork loin was 2 lbs 12 oz and I cooked it for 16 minutes and let sit in the oven for an hour after that)
· salt and pepper
· dryseasoning, of your choice( I used thyme, rosemary, garlic powder, basil, oregano, S & P)

Directions
1. NOTE: The success of this cooking method will depend upon how accurate the temperature of your oven is and how well your oven retains heat. Adjust cooking time +/- according your individual oven.
2. Get the EXACT weight of roast from the meat wrapper.
3. Weight will determine how long to cook the roast.
4. Preheat oven to 550 degrees.
5. Remove roast from refrigerator. Season roast as desired. Place seasoned roast in an uncovered roasting pan.
6. Bake EXACTLY 5 1/2 minutes PER POUND. Adjust +/- according to your oven’s accuracy and heat retention.
7. Turn oven OFF and DO NOT open oven door for 1 hour.
8. Remove from oven and let rest 5 minutes to redistribute internal juices.
9. Roast will be done, very slightly pink in the center, and very moist.
10. NOTE:******* For anyone questioning this method of cooking, it really does reach the proper internal temperature on a thermometer.
11. If you have a thermometer that has a wire that goes through the side of the oven door, by all means use it and set alarm for 140-145 degrees.
12. It should go off before the hour is up.
13. After resting 5-10 minutes, the roast should reach 145-150 degrees.
14. According to Sara Moulton on FoodTV, salmonella is killed at 138 degrees, and 145 is a safe temperature for pork, although the USDA recommends 160 degrees (meat will be drier).

This is one of our favorite pork tenderloin/pork loin recipes. 🙂

My daughter is 6 years old and is in love with the High School Musical movies. She loves anything and everything HSM. She loves Troy & Gabriella, Shapay & Ryan. When we saw that HSM3 was coming out October 24th, I promised to take her on opening night. She was ecstatic! I held true to my word. When Hannah woke up yesterday morning, she had a permanent smile on her face. She knew that it was the day she had been waiting for, counting down to, for the last month. There was no wiping the smile off of her face. She proudly dressed for school, making sure to wear her brand new HSM shirt.

As we walked up to the theater last night, I wondered what in the world I had gotten myself into. Yes, I enjoyed (okay, really, really liked) the first 2 High School Musical movies, but I did so in the comfort of my own home, with only 1 screaming, crazy 6-year old girl, not a theater full of them. It was a madhouse! Fortunately I had purchased my tickets online and only had to show my credit card to claim them. We headed to the snack counter to pick out our delicacies (I call them that b/c they are priced like they are made from gold or truffles or something of the like). I do have to comment on the number of choices for those on a gluten-free diet. Don’t get all excited, there really wasn’t a healthy choice among the layout of sweets & chocolate. There was, however, more than a handful of choices to choose from. There were Skittles (sour & regular), Reese’s Pieces, Dots, M & M’s (peanut & regular), Snicker’s, Gummi-Savers and a few others that I can’t recall. I ended up with Skittle’s and some of my little sister’s Reese’s Pieces. I have heard that popcorn (without butter and some theaters with) is another option, I have just never looked into it b/c I am happy with my candy. 😉 Plus, what an excuse to stuff myself with chocolate and/or sugar! We quickly headed into the theater to claim our seats even though there was still 45 minutes until showtime. I think I counted a total of 10 men in the entire theater. The rest were HSM crazed girls/tweens and their cranky Moms. Deep down I was really looking forward to the movie itself, just not the craziness that went along with it. The movie did not disappoint. Shhhh….I think I liked it better than Hannah & Regan! The best part was seeing all the little girls rush down to the front of the theater at the end of the movie to dance to the final song. Ahhhh…to be young again.

What could be better than a cookie that combines the 2 things that I love the most? Not much! LOL! By now, most of you know that peanut butter and chocolate are near and dear to my heart. They rank right up there with my husband, kids and my wine. 😉 So, it was a no brainer that I had to try a recipe for a cookie that combined PB and chocolate. These cookies were so unbelieveably easy to make and so worth it. They are the perfect ratio of peanut butter to chocolate. This recipe is supposed to make 48, mine made 37 and I can’t guarantee how long they will be around for. The kids both loved them. I am going to freeze some, but I don’t know how long they will last there, either, unless I forget about them.

Hershey’s Peanut Butter Blossoms **Modified from a recipe on the Hershey’s Kisses Bag to be Gluten-Free

48 Hershey’s Kisses
½ cup shortening
¾ cup Peanut Butter (I used Peter Pan)
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup light brown sugar
1 egg
2 TBSP milk (I used 1%)
1 tsp. Vanilla extract
1 ½ cups GF Flour Mix (I used rice, potato starch & tapioca)
1 tsp Xanthan Gum
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
Granulated Sugar

1. Heat oven to 375. Remove wrappers from chocolate (you may want to not unwrap all 48, as this recipe didn’t make that many cookies for me ~ I got about 37).
2. Beat shortening & peanut butter until well blended. Add sugars and beat until fluffy. Add egg, milk & vanilla; beat well.
3. Mix together flour, xanthan gum, baking soda, salt and then mix into wet into peanut butter mixture. Refrigerate dough for 30 – 60 minutes.
4. Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Roll in granulated sugar; place on ungreased cookie sheet.
5. Bake 8 – 10 minutes or until lightly browned. Immediately press a Hershey’s Kiss into the center of each cookie; cookie will crack around the edges. Remove cookie to wire rack. Cool Completely. Makes about 4 dozen according to the recipe, I got 37.

When I was growing up my Mom used to make these cookies all the time. They ranked up there with some of my favorites. My favorites as a little girl were thumbprint cookies, spritz cookies, snowballs (Russian Teacakes), chocolate chip cookies, gingersnaps and snickerdoodles. I love to say “Snickerdoodle”. Believe it or not, in my almost 3 years of being on the gluten-free diet, I have never made Snickerdoodles. If nothing else, I would have thought I would have made them just so I could say the word. 😉 I have been pleasantly surprised at how good the cookies have turned out when converted to be gluten-free. I can’t really think of one time that I was disappointed. Oh, wait, only once. I used a flour mix that I was not happy with. I now stick with my GF Mix of rice flour, potato starch and tapioca flour and add xanthan gum, usually close to a teaspoon per cup of flour. I don’t usually add partial teaspoons though, so if a recipe calls for 2 3/4 cups flour, I will use 2 tsp xanthan gum. Hope that makes sense.

Onto the good stuff! Here is my recipe and some pictures of the yummy goodness:

Snickerdoodles**Modified from a recipe in Betty Crocker’s Cookbook

½ cup butter, softened
½ cup shortening
1 ½ cups sugar
2 eggs
2 ¾ cups GF Flour Mix (I used rice, potato starch & tapioca)
2 tsps. Xanthan Gum
2 tsps. Cream of tartar
1 tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt

2 TBSP Sugar
2 tsps. Cinnamon

1. Heat oven to 400 degrees. Mix thoroughly butter, shortening, sugar & eggs. Blend in the flour, cream of tartar, salt & baking soda. Refrigerate for 30 – 60 minutes. Mix 2 TBSP sugar & 2 tsps. Cinnamon in a small bowl. Shape dough by rounded teaspoonfuls into balls. Roll balls in mixture.
2. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheet. Bake 8 – 10 minutes until set. Immediately remove from baking sheet.

Makes about 6 dozen.

Jon gave the thumbs up on these. I am going to freeze about half of them for treats in the upcoming weeks.

Even though I have been following this diet for coming up on 3 years, I still consult my safe & forbidden lists every now and then to refresh myself, especially on those items that I don’t use frequently. I wanted to post them here so that they would be readily available to those who are just starting or just need to glance at them for a specific reason in a hurry.

Let’s start with the SAFE ingredients. That is much more positive than going over the stuff we can’t have, huh?

Acacia Gum
Acorn Quercus
Adipic Acid
Adzuki Bean
Acacia Gum
Agar
Alcohol (wine is fine; hard ciders ~ Woodstock is fine; Redbridge beer is fine)
Alfalfa
Algae
Algin
Alginate
Allicin
Almond Nut
Aluminum
Amaranth
Annatto
Annatto Color
Apple Cider Vinegar
Arabic Gum
Arrowroot
Artichokes
Artificial Flavoring
Aspartame
Aspic
Ascorbic Acid
Astragalus Gummifer
Baking Soda
Balsamic Vinegar
Beans
Bean, Adzuki
Bean, Hyacinth
Bean, Lentil
Bean, Mung
Bean Romano (Chickpea)
Bean Tepary
Benzoic acid
Besan
Betaine
BHA
BHT
Beta Carotene
Bicarbonate of Soda (check)
Biotin
Buckwheat
Butter, real
Butylated Hydroxyanisole
Butyl Compounds
Calcium Carbonate
Calcium Caseinate
Calcium Chloride
Calcium Disodium
Calcium Phosphate
Calcium Silicate
Calcium Stearate
Calcium Sulfate
Camphor
Canola Oil (Rapeseed Oil)
Caprylic Acid
Carageenan Chondrus Crispus
Carboxymethylcellul ose
Carnauba Wax
Carob Bean
Carob Bean Gum
Carob Flour
Carrageenan
Casein
Cassava Manihot Esculenta
Castor Oil
Cellulose1
Cellulose Gum
Cetyl Alcohol
Cheeses (make sure to read label)
Chestnuts
Chickpea
Chlorella
Chymosin
Citric Acid
Collagen
Corn
Corn Gluten
Corn Meal
Corn Flour
Cornstarch
Corn Syrup
Corn Syrup Solids
Corn Swetener
Cortisone
Cotton Seed Oil
Cowitch
Cowpea
Cream of Tartar
Cysteine, L
Demineralized Whey
Desamidocollagen
Dextrose
Dioctyl Sodium
Distilled Vinegar
Eggs
Elastin
Ester Gum
Ethyl Alcohol
Ferrous Gluconate
Fish (check for additives)
Flaked Rice
Flax
Folic Acid-Folacin
Formaldehyde
Fructose
Fruit
Fumaric Acid
Gelatin
Glutamate
Glutamic Acid
Glutamine
Glycerides
Glycerol Monooleate
Glycol Monosterate
Glycol
Glycolic acid
Gram flour (chick peas)
Grits, Corn
Guar Gum
Hemp
Herbs
Honey
Hyacinth Bean
Hydrogen Peroxide
Hydrolyzed soy protein
Iodine
Inulin
Invert Sugar
Jobs Tears
Kasha (roasted buckwheat)
Keratin
Kudzu Root Starch
Lactic Acid
Lactose
Lanolin
Lecithin
Lentil
Lipase
Locust Bean Gum
Magnesium Carbonate
Magnesium Hydroxide
Maize
Maize Waxy
Malic Acid
Maltitol
Maltodextrin
Manioc
Masa
Masa Flour
Masa Harina
Meat (check for additives/flavorings)
Methyl Cellulose2
Microcrystallin Cellulose
Milk
Millet
Milo
Mineral Oil
Mineral Salts
Mono and Diglycerides
Monosodium Glutamate MSG (made in USA)
Monopotassium Phosphate
Mung Bean
Musk
Niacin-Niacinamide
Nuts (check labels if there are flavorings)
Nut, Acron
Nut, Almond
Oats, if they are labeled gluten-free (Lara’s made by Cream Hill Estates & Bob’s Red Mill both have GF Oats)
Oils and Fats
Oleyl Alcohol/Oil
Paraffin
Peas
Pea – Chick
Pea – Cow
Pea Flour
Pepsin
Peru Balsam
Petrolatum
Phenylalanine
Pigeon Peas
Polenta
Polyethylene Glycol
Polyglycerol
Polysorbates
Potassium Citrate
Potassium Iodide
Potassium Sorbate
Potatoes
Potato Flour
Prinus
Pristane
Propolis
Propylene Glycol
Propylene Glycol Monosterate
Propyl Gallate
Psyllium
Pyridoxine Hydrochloride
Quinoa
Ragi
Rape
Rennet
reticulin
Rice
Rice
Rice Flour
Rice Vinegar
Romano Bean (chickpea)
Rosin
Royal Jelly
Sago Palm
Sago Flour
Saifun (bean threads)
Scotch Whisky
Seaweed
Seed – Sesame
Seed – Sunflower
Sphingolipids
Soba (be sure its 100% buckwheat)
Sodium Acid Pyrophosphate
Sodium Alginate
Sodium Ascorbate
Sodium Benzoate
Sodium Caseinate
Sodium Citrate
Sodium Erythrobate
Sodium Hexametaphosphate
Sodium Lauryl Sulfate
Sodium Nitrate
Sodium Phosphate
Sodium Silacoaluminate
Sodium Stannate
Sorbic Acid
Sorbitol-Mannitol
Sorghum
Sorghum Flour
Soy
Soybean
Soy Lecithin
Spices (pure, 100%)
Stearates
Stearamide
Stearamine
Stearic Acid
Subflower Seed
Succotash (corn and beans)
Sucrose
Sulfosuccinate
Sulfites
Sulfur Dioxide
Sweet Chestnut Flour
Tallow
Tapioca
Tapioca Flour
Tarrow Root
Tartaric Acid
TBHQ is Tetra or Tributylhydroquinon e
Tea
Tea-Tree Oil
Teff
Teff Flour
Tepary Bean
Thiamine Hydrochoride
Tofu-Soya Curd
Tolu Balsam
Tragacanth
Tragacanth Gum
Tri-Calcium Phosphate
Turmeric (Kurkuma)
Tyrosine
Urad/Urid Beans
Urad/Urid Dal (peas) Vegetables
Urad/Urid flour
Vinegar (All except Malt)
Vanilla Extract
Vanilla Flavoring
Vanillin
Vinegars (Specific Types)
Vitamin A (retinol)
Waxy Maize
Whey
White Vinegar
Wines
Wine Vinegars (including Balsamic)
Wild Rice
Xanthan Gum
Yam Flour
Yogurt (make sure to check labels, some brands/types are NOT safe)

See, that leaves all kinds of things that we Celiacs can eat!

Ingredients that we should always question:

Questionable Ingredients

Natural Flavors/Flavorings (can contain malt, made from barley)
Soy Sauce (most are brewed from/with wheat; La Choy is safe)
Modified Food Starch (will be labeled if the source is wheat; it is a law as of 2006)
Spices (100% spices are fine, some spice mixes or combinations may contain gluten; always check if you are not sure)

Now, onto the Unsafe List:

Amp-Isostearoyl Hydrolyzed Wheat Protein
Barley Grass (can contain seeds)
Barley Hordeum vulgare
Barley Malt
Beer
Bleached Flour
Blue Cheese (made with bread ~ some are safe, I have never investigated it b/c I hate it!)
Bran
Bread Flour
Brewers Yeast
Brown Flour
Bulgur (Bulgar Wheat/Nuts)
Bulgur Wheat
Cereal Binding
Chilton
Club Wheat
Common Wheat
Couscous
Dextrimaltose
Durum wheat (Triticum durum)
Edible Starch
Einkorn
Emmer
Farina
Farina Graham
Filler
Flour (normally this is wheat)
Fu (dried wheat gluten)
Germ
Graham Flour
Granary Flour
Groats (barley, wheat)
Hard Wheat
Hydrolyzed Wheat Gluten
Hydrolyzed Wheat Protein
Hydrolyzed Wheat Protein Pg-Propyl Silanetriol
Hydrolyzed Wheat Starch
Hydroxypropyltrimonium Hydrolyzed Wheat Protein
Kamut
Malt
Malt Extract
Malt Syrup
Malt Flavoring
Malt Vinegar
Macha Wheat
Matzo Semolina
Mir
Oriental Wheat
Pasta
Pearl Barley
Persian Wheat
Poulard Wheat
Polish Wheat
Rice Malt (if barley or Koji are used)
Rye
Seitan
Semolina
Semolina Triticum
Shot Wheat
Small Spelt
Spelt
Sprouted Wheat or Barley
Strong Flour
Suet in Packets
Tabbouleh
Teriyaki Sauce (La Choy is GF)
Textured Vegetable Protein – TVP
Timopheevi Wheat
Triticale X triticosecale
Triticum Vulgare (Wheat) Flour Lipids
Triticum Vulgare (Wheat) Germ Extract
Triticum Vulgare (Wheat) Germ Oil
Udon (wheat noodles)
Unbleached Flour
Vavilovi Wheat
Vegetable Starch
Wheat, Abyssinian Hard triticum durum
Wheat amino acids
Wheat Bran Extract
Wheat, Bulgur
Wheat Durum Triticum
Wheat Germ Extract
Wheat Germ Glycerides
Wheat Germ Oil
Wheat Grass (can contain seeds)
Wheat Nuts
Wheat Protein
Wheat Triticum aestivum
Wheat Triticum Monococcum
Wheat (Triticum Vulgare) Bran Extract
Whole-Meal Flour
Wild Einkorn
Wild Emmer

I got this in my email the other day titled “46 Odd Things”. I changed it to “40-Something Odd Things” b/c some of the things were “Who Will Send This Back”, etc. So, here are my “Odd Things”

1. Do you like blue cheese? Ewww….
2. Have you ever smoked heroin? No
3. Do you own a gun? Nope
4. What flavor do you add to your drink at Sonic? I have never eaten at Sonic
5. Do you get nervous before doctor appointments? Not usually
6. What do you think of hot dogs? Yuck..they make me feel sick
7. Favorite Christmas movie? ELF!! (“Buddy the elf, what’s your favorite color?”)
8. What do you prefer to drink in the morning? COFFEE and water
9. Can you do push ups? Yep
10. What’s your favorite piece of jewelry? my wedding ring
11 .Favorite hobby? cooking/baking, blogging (I guess “favorite” implies one)
12. Do you have A.D.D? Wouldn’t surprise me
13. What is one trait you hate about yourself? Super people pleaser
14. Middle name? Lynn
15. Name 3 thoughts at this exact moment. I should bake something, I should clean something, No, I shouldn’t
16. Name 3 things you bought yesterday. Hmm…Starbucks Coffee, Cold Stone Ice Cream, Antibiotics for Jon & Hannah
17. Name 3 drinks you regularly drink. Coffee, water & wine…all the liquids you need
18. Current worry? Too many to list
19. Current hate right now? Cancer
20. Favorite place to be? anywhere with my family
21. Where would you like to go? someplace where cancer doesn’t exist
22. What shirt are you wearing? Pumpkin Orange Sweater..it is cold out today
23. What year would you go back in time to? I don’t want to go back in time
24. Can you whistle? Not really
25. Favorite color? pink
26. Would you be a pirate? No
27. Favorite girl’s name? Hannah
28. Favorite boy’s name? Jon
29. Last thing you dreamed about? I can’t remember
30. What’s in your pocket right now? lint
31. Last thing that made you laugh? When Jon told Hannah to “Get out of my grill” He meant to get out of his face. I had never heard that before, but it made me LOL!
32. Best Halloween costume? I probably won’t dress up. I am having surgery that day (nothing serious, just have to have a small cyst on a salivary gland removed), so I probably won’t dress up.
33. Worst injury you’ve ever had? Hmm…broke my finger
34. Do you like where you live?yes
35 How many TVs do you have in your house? 5
36. Favorite Halloween Candy? Heath Bar
37. Favortie Pie Flavor? toss up between pumpkin and apple
38. Favorite shoes you own? myUgg slippers
39. Favorite Pizza Topping? toss up between BLT and veggie (tomato, mushroom, broccoli & cheese)
40. Favorite burger topping? bacon & cheddar & mushroom
41. Does someone have a crush on you? Hopefully my husband
41. What is your favorite book(s)? Oh good grief…I don’t know
42. Favorite Sport? Ice Hockey
43. What were you doing 12 AM last night? Sleeping
44 What was the first thing you thought of when you woke up? OMG, my legs are killing me (work out that I did at home the other day that included many lunges/squats).

This week I am hosting Menu Plan Monday and am thrilled to do so. I have chosen squash as the ingredient of the week.

Squash (aside from yellow, zucchini squash) is relatively new in my menu plan. I had just never really tried it before. Last fall I made some salmon and decided to makes some butternut squash along with it and I was quickly in love. I have now branched out to Spaghetti Squash, one of my new favs.

We have a very busy week this week. Last night I had planned on making homemade pizza, but was unable to do so, so we went out instead. I am planning on moving that now until Friday.

Monday ~ Salmon with Agave & Lime, acorn squash & salad

Tuesday ~ Mexican Pizzas, Mexican Rice and organic black refried beans

Wednesday ~ Hockey/Ice Skating night; Cheeseburger in Paradise

Thursday ~ Apricot Glazed Pork Loin (recipe to follow), butternut squash, salad & chebe rolls

Friday ~ BBQ chicken breasts, sweet potato fries, steamed broccoli, salad

Saturday ~ Homemade pizza, salad & steamed veggies

Baked Goods
Snickerdoodles
Bagels

Make sure to check out Org Junkie for more fun menu ideas.

Check out Cheryl at Gluten-Free Goodness. She has a wonderful menu planned this week. I am especially interested in her quinoa italiana. I may give that a try! Her vegan brownies from last week look scrumptious! The pumpkin cornbread has also caught my eye. I hope you share a recipe for that, Cheryl, I am a sucker for anything pumpkin. 🙂

Karen at Gluten Free Sox Fan has a great menu planned for the week. The chicken pot pie sounds wonderful! She is also looking for ideas about what to take to a Halloween party, so if you have some ideas, make sure to share. 🙂

Ginger from Fresh Ginger has a yummy menu planned. I may just move in with her for the week. 😉 The Turkey tenderloins stuffed with spinach have caught me eye. I love spinach!

Brenda at Book of Yum has an amazing looking menu this week.
The pumpkin & black bean casserole has me drooling, as do some of her breakfast choices.

Manda at Aspargus Thin is loving the ingredient of the week. Squash is one of her favorites. Her Teriyaki Salmon with simmered squash sounds very good. I would also like to hear more about the pumpkin chip muffins, as I love any and all things pumpkin. 🙂

Kimberly at Living Free hasn’t been feeling well. I hope you feel better soon!! She is planning on cooking a pumpkin this week and using it for something. I can’t wait to see what she does with it.

Joe is my new best friend. No, I don’t mean Joe The Plumber. I am referring to Trader Joe. 🙂 I had ya there, huh? I ran into Trader Joe’s quickly yesterday. I had an appointment on that side of town and needed my GF French Rolls. While waiting in line, I noticed that they had Trader Joe’s Rice Krispy Treats. I picked up the box to read the label and the cashier offered me a sample (the sample was a whole bar!). I was planning on buying them anyway, but the sample sealed the deal. (See why Joe is my friend?) 😉 The bars are $2.99/box of 5. Kind of pricey, but cheaper than some of the other GF alternatives out there. Not only are these puppies GF, but they are dairy free and vegan, too! The bars have a great taste to them and they are only 100 calories! 🙂

While I am on the subject of Trader Joe’s, I must talk about their GF brownie mix. Talk about an easy way to get your chocolate fix! The mix is $2.99 (I think) and you add 1/2 cup oil, 1/4 water, 1 egg and I added chocolate chips b/c one can never have too much chocolate. 😉 Super easy to mix up and throw in the oven. Bake for 30 minutes (I actually had to bake for 40) and then cool for 15. Cut into squares and enjoy. These brownies are so fudgey and yummy. I was going to frost them, but I think I am going to leave them be. I would normally use a mix of powdered sugar, cocoa, vanilla & milk for the frosting. I think that for dessert later I will be topping one with some Edy’s Slow-Churned Pumpkin Ice Cream, Hershey’s Syrup and more Chocolate Chips.

In the pan, before cutting

See the yummy goodness??

So, if you don’t have any weekend plans yet and you have a Trader Joe’s close by, you should go try out some of their GF products.

It is no secret that I am a chocoholic. The funny part is that I was not a fan of chocolate until I was pregnant with my second child. If offered a choice between a sugary, fruity candy and a chocolate bar, I would have chosen a fruity candy, hands down, before my second pregnancy. But, once I was pregnant with Hannah, this strange force came over me. All of a sudden I had to have this double fudge chocolate brownie ice cream every night after dinner. I really should have bought stock in Edy’s, as I swear I kept them in business during that pregnancy. This sudden obsession with chocolate did not come without consequences, I gained 65+ pounds during that pregnancy. OUCH! 65 pounds of sheer, chocolate bliss. 🙂 My craving for chocolate has never gone away since. I love chocolate. I can’t get enough. So, when I saw that Peanut Butter & Co. made a peanut butter with chocolate in it, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on some. I happened to be in Wal-Mart yesterday and came across a jar of Dark Chocolate Dreams. I picked up up, saying a little prayer that it was gluten-free, and as I looked down the label, imagine my surprise when it said “Gluten-Free” right there on the label! YAY!! This PB was mine! It even had a $.55 off coupon right on the lid. There was no reason not to buy it, at least not from my point of view. 😉 Aaron might beg to differ. I couldn’t wait for breakfast this morning to have some of this heaven on my rice cake and then top it with black cherry preserves. It did not disappoint. Wow. Why has it taken me this long to discover this amazing product? What better way to start the day than with peanut butter, chocolate and a piping hot cup of coffee? The bonus to this is that the nutritional value of this peanut butter is about the same as my Skippy Natural. It has 10 less calories, 3 g less fat, and a lot less sodium. There is no refined sugar or hydrogenated oil in the Dark Chocolate Dreams; it is sweetened with evaporated cane juice. This is a win-win in my opinion. The only downside that I can see is that it is a little pricier than my Skippy Natural. It is, however, cheaper than the Almond Butter I bought last week and it tastes better, too! 🙂

I love these so much! Veggiegirl always has these cool lists on her blog. This is almost as much fun as getting mail used to be when I was a kid! Getting mail isn’t so fun now, b/c it is usually just bills. I do look forward to getting my magazines and cards, but that is about it.

Anywho, onto the list! It is a Sweet 100 list!!

First, here are the rules:

1.) Copy this list into your site, including the instructions!

2.) Bold all of the sweets you’ve eaten–or make them a different type color.

3.) Cross out any of them that you’d never ever eat.

4.) Consider anything that is not bold or crossed out your “To Do” List.

5.) Optional: Post a comment here linking to your results–or just post a comment letting us know how many you’ve tried, or what you’re going to try next!

And now, here is…

**Gluten-Free Is Life’s Sweet 100 List**

1. Red Velvet Cake

2. Princess Torte

3. Whoopie Pie

4. Apple Pie either topped or baked with sharp cheddar

5. Beignet

6. Baklava

7. Black and white cookie

8. Seven Layer Bar

9. Fried Fruit pie (sometimes called hand pies) – I have eaten Hostess Fruit Pies and miss them dearly since having to go GF. I really need to create these soon.

10. Kringle ~ YUM!! Love the raspberry filled kind. Again, need to make a GF one.

11. Just-fried (still hot) doughnut ~can you say Krispy Kreme???

12. Scone with clotted cream

13. Betty, Grunt, Slump, Buckle or Pandowdy

14. Halvah – also known as the “Turkish Delight.”

15. Macaroons

16. Banana pudding with nilla wafers – YUM

17. Bubble tea (with tapioca “pearls”) ~ never heard of it

18. Dixie Cup –

19. Rice Krispie treats – Yes, yes, yes!

20. Alfajores –

21. Blondies –

22. Croquembouche

23. Girl Scout cookies – Love Thin Mints & Samoas.

24. Moon cake

25. Candy Apple –

26. Baked Alaska

27. Brooklyn Egg Cream

28. Nanaimo bar

29. Baba au rhum

30. King Cake –

31. Sachertorte –

32. Pavlova

33. Tres Leches Cake –

34. Trifle

35. Shoofly Pie

36. Key Lime Pie (made with real key lime) –

37. Panna Cotta

38. New York Cheesecake ~ my fav

39. Napoleon / mille-fueille –

40. Russian Tea Cake / Mexican Wedding Cake ~ I make these GF at Christmas time….I can’t wait!

41. Anzac biscuits

42. Pizzelle –

43. Kolache – love them with apricot filling & blueberry filling

44. Buckeyes – Ummmm..I live in Columbus, Ohio, home of the Ohio State Buckeyes. I think I might get shot if I hadn’t tried these! BTW, love them!

45. Malasadas

46. Moon Pie

47. Dutch baby –

48. Boston Cream Pie

49. Homemade chocolate chip cookies – Yes. I have my fav recipe here on my blog for them.

50. Pralines –

51. Gooey butter cake

52. Rusks

53. Daifuku

54. Green tea cake or cookies

55. Cupcakes from a cupcake shop

56. Crème brûlée ~ never tried until I was GF. Then I was in heaven since the ingredients are naturally GF.

57. Some sort of deep fried fair food (twinkie, candy bar, cupcake) – Hmmm…I can happily say “No”.

58. Yellow cake with chocolate frosting ~

59. Jelly Roll ~ LOVE my Grandma’s jelly roll!

60. Pop Tarts – Heck ya! I am going to make a GF version for Jon soon.

61. Charlotte Russe

62. An “upside down” dessert (Pineapple upside-down cake or Tarte Tatin) –

63. Hummingbird Cake

64. Jell-O from a mold – Yes. My Grandma (Dad’s Mom) loved her Jell-O molds. 🙂

65. Black forest cake

66. Mock Apple Pie (Ritz Cracker Pie)

67. Kulfi

68. Linzer torte

69. Churro – In Spanish Class we made these!

70. Stollen

71. Angel Food Cake ~ excellent with fresh strawberries

72. Mincemeat pie

73. Concha

74. Opera Cake

75. Sfogliatelle / Lobster tail

76. Pain au chocolat – in France.

77. A piece of Gingerbread House –

78. Cassata –

79. Cannoli – .

80. Rainbow cookies

81. Religieuse

82. Petits fours

83. Chocolate Souffle ~ This is on my to-do list to make

84. Bienenstich (Bee Sting Cake)

85. Rugelach

86. Hamenstashen –

87. Homemade marshmallows

88. Rigo Janci

89. Pie or cake made with candy bar flavors (Snickers pie, Reeses pie, etc) – Snicker’s Pie

90. Divinity

91. Coke or Cola cake

92. Gateau Basque

93. S’mores

94. Figgy Pudding

95. Bananas foster or other flaming dessert –
96. Joe Froggers

97. Sables

98. Millionaire’s Shortbread

99. Animal crackers – yes, and most recently, Envirokidz GF Animal Crackers!

100. Basbousa

Anyone notice that I didn’t cross anything out?? Now, that could be b/c I don’t know what some of these things are or b/c I really do have a sweet tooth and I haven’t met many desserts that I don’t like. 😉