Gluten-Free Ratio Rally Does Tea Bread!

Logo designed by Anile Prakash

Time for me to post another Gluten-Free Ratio Rally catch-up - eventually I'll catch up to where they are and maybe, hopefully, I'll be able to start baking in the challenges again!

The rally participants did tea bread for the challenge in May, and the ever-so-sweet Brooke from B and the boy! was the host for this challenge with her Scottish Tea Bread. Be sure to check out Brooke's yummy bread, as well as the recipes the other participants baked up for you.

If you aren't familiar with the Gluten-Free Ratio Rally, I have a rally page here where I link to all the challenges I participated in, as well as host posts to those I didn't.

Heather: Discovering the Extraordinary -- "Figgy" Tea Bread

Adina: Gluten Free Travellette -- Rhubarb Tea Bread

Morri: Meals with Morri -- Oatmeal Raisin Tea Bread

I hope you're all having a great summer!

Ibotta what?

A quick post for you, if you enjoy saving money as much as I do.

Have you heard of the smartphone app called Ibotta? You may have - you're likely not as behind the times as I am. I saw a friend posting on Facebook about some purchases she made a few weeks ago - organic purchases, at that - where she got rewarded through something called "Ibotta." After seeing a few of these posts, I was intrigued and asked her about it, and followed the links for more information.

My friend informed me that she was indeed earning money back on some of her purchases, and the bonus was it was all fairly simple - or she wouldn't be doing it, she said. You earn money on certain purchases and it's transferred to your PayPal account when you want it to be.

I figured it was worth a try - and earned $13.75 to my account in less than two weeks for just redeeming offers on five products I'd purchased. Of course, $10 of that was for redeeming enough offers in my first two weeks, but still. That's a few sno cones or some other little fun treat for the girls this summer.

Here's how it works: You have certain products, some of which you're likely already going to buy (Almond milk, anyone? Salad? Coconut water? Organic kids' snacks? Potato chips? Eggs? Olive oil? Lip balm?) ... Then you click on that product through the app, take a little poll or read a little fact or something else that takes seconds ... Then once you've purchased it at a participating store (Whole Foods, Walmart, Target, many grocery and pharmacy chains, dollar stores, etc.), you click redeem through the app, where it will take a photo of your receipt, then scan the bar code of the product you purchased. It takes just a few seconds (trust me, if it was complicated or time consuming I would NOT be doing it), and some products are worth a few dollars back, some are worth 50-75 cents or more.

Sound good?

I've decided after using it for a couple of weeks that it's worth it to me to continue using it, so I wanted to share with you for two reasons. The disclaimer is the one for my personal benefit: I earn a dollar for referrals. The other reason is I love a deal, and I've always loved sharing a deal, so I wanted to share this Ibotta thing with you in case you didn't already know about it. Here's the link if you want more information or to join (it's free!): http://ibotta.com/r/7rWXEA

Have a good week!

Gluten-Free Ratio Rally Does Shortbread Cookies!

Logo designed by Anile Prakash

I've been really, *really* MIA on the Gluten-Free Ratio Rally lately. And with so many things going on, I've also missed posting the challenges each month even when I'm not participating. I'm sorry.

So, I'm catching up now. (I'll continue to post updates on occasion until I'm all caught up - and hopefully participating again at some point!) This is the challenge from APRIL - and it's delicious. Who doesn't love shortbread cookies?

The host of the shortbread cookie challenge was Meaghan over at the Wicked Good Vegan. Check out her host post of gin and tonic cookies - as well as the other yummy recipes the other participants baked up for you!

If you aren't familiar with the Gluten-Free Ratio Rally, I have a rally page here where I link to all the challenges I participated in, as well as host posts to those I didn't.

• Heather at Discovering the Extraordinary made Buckwheat Shortbread Cookies with lemon curd
• Jonathan at The Canary Files made Black Sesame Teff Shortbread Cookies
• Mary Fran at Franny Cakes made Gluten-Free Jammie Dodgers
• Meg at Gluten-Free Boulangerie made Lemon Bars with Lemon Shortbread Crust
• Morri at Meals with Morri made Earl Grey Shortbread
• Rebecca at Salts Kitchen made Rosemary, Lemon, and Toasted Pecan Shortbread and Espresso and Bittersweet Chocolate Chunk Shortbread

Product Highlight - Gratify Pretzels (and free of many allergens!)

It's been a while since I've done product highlight here, but I thought these Gratify pretzel thins were worth it!

I picked these up at Walmart the other day because I'd never seen them before. They are free of gluten, milk, casein and eggs AND are non-GMO. I thought I better give them a try. I'm glad I did - they are pretty darn good. I won't tell you they are healthy, though ... the ingredients are mostly starchy. But if you're looking for an occasional snack of this type and free of several allergens, this certainly fits the tasty bill and I think it's okay to indulge on occasion. :)

This was the only flavor I saw there, but it looks like they also come in sesame, sour cream and onion and some other flavors.

Have you seen these yet? Have you tried them? Do you like them? I noticed they are a new arrival on amazon as well, so maybe we'll be seeing more of them in the stores at some point.

Food Allergy Coaching

Are you familiar with Kim over at Cook It Allergy Free? She has an awesome blog, website and social media presence full of resources to help those with all sorts of food allergies. She even has an app! (It's neat, I've had it since she launched it.) And now Kim is offering food allergy coaching services and more to those who are in need of help navigating the overwhelming world of food allergies. Whether you personally have been diagnosed with them recently or in the past, or someone you care about has, Kim has a service that can help. I'm pleased to announce that Mama Me Gluten Free is supporting Kim's services and has joined up to refer them. (Full disclosure: This means I get commission on sales.)

If you are interested in more information, you can read the information below and click on the links, or the image above. There is a 20% off discount for the moment!

If you are living with food allergies or special diets, you know exactly what a journey it can be to navigate all of the ins and outs of knowing what is safe to eat, how to cook for the whole family so that everyone can enjoy a meal together, how to handle different social situations, and how to handle the stress of it all.
Living each day like this is definitely a journey. It's not a final destination. There are some great days and some not so great days.

It can be a struggle at times to deal with the challenges. There are times when you just feel plain overwhelmed.
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Cinnamon Pastry Iced Coffee

So you've no doubt noticed that things have been a little different around here lately. A dog video in the last post and iphone photos to be expected in the cocoa baked oatmeal in a mug post before that. Work is keeping me busy, my chronic fatigue syndrome is beating me up and I'm desperately missing my best friend and hurting for her precious family. 

Thanks for being patient.

And what a week we've had as a country. What a month we've had. What a time we've had the last few months ...

Lots of prayer going up for a lot of people in the country and in the world these days.

So, I've needed quick, simple and easy in my life lately and I'm assuming I'm not the only one. Another iphone photo for you - that doesn't even really show this iced coffee very well. I'm sorry. (By the way, the goldfish tumbler is my oldest daughter's. I always borrow her goldfish Tervis tumbler or my youngest's Hello Kitty Tervis tumbler for my iced coffee because they are the perfect size. Both were gifts from the grandparents from Bed, Bath & Beyond.)

A word on this iced coffee variety: We got a Keurig for Christmas, which made me very excited. But a little background, first. When I was a reporter, I had a serious coffee habit. Working 60-hour-plus weeks and deadlines until the middle of the night kind of does that to you. A big part of my paycheck went to the coffee shop, as I could only stomach the office coffee in the late hours. I got to where I was easily drinking 8-10 cups a day, and not just to keep me awake. I love coffee. My husband wasn't a coffee drinker at the same time I was.

When I got pregnant, I had to quit coffee cold turkey and it was hard. I had horrible withdrawal and was very sick. I swore I'd never get that way with coffee again, and for years wouldn't touch a drop. The last few years I've allowed myself a cup or two a month, and even though I wanted to immediately have another cup, I would fight the urge. After I gave up coffee, my husband started enjoying it. We had a Senseo maker (I don't think they even make those anymore?) at the time, and it was perfect for him being the only one drinking it. About the time I started feeling like I might be able to handle a cup every day without going overboard, the pods became too expensive and it was back to the drip machine. The only problem is he enjoys his coffee weaker than I like mine, so I decided to continue not drinking it rather than have a weak cup. The Keurig solved this, of course - and gave us lots of options.

One of the options when you order K-cups from Keurig.com (I have found it's worth it to register your maker and get the two free boxes, become a club member and get 10% off your order and in addition, wait to order when I can find additional coupon codes) is you can order small sample boxes. The Timothy's Cinnamon Pastry cups had good reviews, so I thought I'd give them a try in a sample box. 

(*Please note that I researched this flavor before trying it, to verify gluten-free status. I read this concerning gluten in K-cups on Keurig's site, and this on Green Mountain Coffee's site (Timothy's is in the Green Mountain family). I tried contacting Timothy's directly, but basically received the same answer from the Canadian branch. I also came across several others who can't have gluten who drink this flavor without trouble. So I felt it was okay to give it a try, and both my husband and myself have been able to drink it without problems.)

Is the flavor as good as the reviewers said? Bleh. (But you might not think so - the reviews from others are very good.) 

Here's the thing about me: I like my coffee black, no sugar, no creamer. The bolder, the stronger and darker, the better. The problem with this coffee flavor is it's one of those that tastes like it needs to be sweet with cream, and that's not my style for hot coffee. Iced coffee, however, I like sweet and creamy. I thought I'd give it a try, and it's actually pretty good. So, here's my solution if you have a Keurig brewer and want to make cinnamon pastry iced coffee:

1 Timothy's Cinnamon Pastry k-cup(*See note above)

1 cup ice

8 Tablespoons unflavored coconut milk (not canned, but the refrigerated kind)

4 teaspoons organic pure cane sugar (or sweeten to taste with natural sweetener of choice)

Place ice, coconut milk and sugar in 16 oz. tumbler or glass of choice and place in brewer.

Place k-cup in brewer and brew at 6 oz. size option.

Stir until sugar is dissolved.

Enjoy!

(And yes ... iced coffee is usually a very occasional second cup of coffee in a day, later in the morning or afternoon, and only if I really need a pick-me-up. I stop at two now, and I limit that to a few times a week. It's all about moderation!)

In Need of a Smile?

Are you in need of a smile as much as I am today? I hope this helps.

If you follow this blog, you know things have been tough lately. Added to that we had the unexpected death of one of our beloved chickens a couple of weeks ago and I had to tell my oldest after school today that her fish had died. We are an animal-loving family, and every pet death is hard. Considering my daughter loves marine life so much she wants to be a marine biologist, I struggled when I discovered Thunder had passed on to the golden water in the sky.

Before picking them up, I watched this video that a friend posted on Facebook. I knew right away it wasn't a coincidence, and sure enough it provided lots of smiles and laughter for our sad girls. 

I don't think I've ever shared anything like this here before, but maybe I need to give you all something to smile about more often?