My First Commercial Gluten Free Milkshake in Years

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I don’t eat fast foods, and my kids rarely do either.  Health, finances, weight, and all that.   You know.  I literally have not touched it since I was diagnosed with celiac disease.

But let me tell you something:  I love the food itself.  And so do the kids, probably because they rarely get it.

Now, while we were out shopping yesterday, we noticed Arby’s had a milkshake deal.  On impulse, I sent Miss 15 and Miss 10 to buy three shakes, one for each of the girls, while Miss 13 and I got gluten free flours close by.

And, guess what, the girls came back with four shakes, one for me, too!  Miss 15 had made careful inquiries, the Arby’s person had double-checked, and it turns out that some of Arby’s shakes are gluten free!  So I had my first commercial chocolate milkshake in many, many years.

It was delicious.

Just knowing that some fast foods are gluten-free opened a whole new world of opportunities (and calories) to me.   Maybe that’s not so good, but it sure is exciting!

Note:  Whenever you go out to eat, be sure to tell your server you are gluten free, and be sure to ask about the gluten status of the food you are ordering.

It turns out Arby’s US has quite a few gluten free options.  At least for the milkshakes, Arby’s Canada was the same.

Disclosure:  Arby’s does not even know I exist.  This is not a sponsored post and all opinions are my own.

The Gluten Free Baking Mix Cookbook on Sale

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gf-mixes

So many people buy premade gluten free foods because they do not know how to make them, or they have no time.  Often the premade gluten free foods are full of unpronounceable ingredients, starches, and sugars, and cost an arm and a leg, so their only advantage is convenience.

Imagine if you could have that convenience for a much, much better price and avoid all unpronounceable ingredients at the same time.

The Gluten Free Baking Mix Cookbook by Lynn’s Kitchen Adventures gives you this option.  With a simple, four-option baking mix and fifty quick and easy recipes, this ebook gives you a ticket into the world of homemade gluten free convenience foods.

The recipes may not be ultra-healthy— there’s sugar and a fair bit of starch in the mix—but they are about average as far as gluten free flour mixes go, and if you use the brown rice version they are better.

Now, I’m in a bit of a quandary. The Gluten Free Baking Mix Cookbook is on sale May 21 and May 22, and I want to tell you about it now so that you can get it for 99c.  However, I have not yet had a chance to try out this book. I was so excited about making the pizza crust until I remembered that we’re out of one of the main flours used in the mix.  Sigh!  But since the baking mix is similar to one we’ve used successfully, and the recipes look both easy and delicious, I’m going out on a limb to recommend this book without trying it.  After all, you can’t really go wrong for 99c.

Because our family is on a quest to reduce starches and sugars, add more whole grains, and otherwise increase the nutrition of our gluten free diet, The Gluten Free Baking Mix Cookbook will not become our main cookbook, but I expect to use these recipes occasionally–often, if the pizza crust works out.

Note, however, that we’re a bit unusual. Most families just want yummy, easy gluten free food for a reasonable cost, not something super health-nutty like we do.  For such families, this would be a goldmine and would even make it financially possible to feed the entire family gluten free foods.  No more cooking two versions of each meal!

The Gluten Free Baking Mix Cookbook is available for Kindle, or if you like your recipes printed out you can get a printable PDF version.

Disclosure:  This post contains affiliate links.  I was given a preview copy of The Gluten Free Baking Mix Cookbook by Ashley of Ambient Promotions.

BundleoftheWeek.com, 5 eBooks for $7.40!

Always Check the Label

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Last night my husband came home with some Lay’s chips. Yum.  I love Lay’s because most flavors are gluten free.

Just to be sure, though, I checked the label on the Bar-B-Q chips.  Uh oh!  It read ‘contains barley, wheat.’

If I hadn’t taken that second to double check the ingredients, I would have caused myself a lot of trouble.  Not a good start to a long weekend!

But the other bag, full of zesty Sea Salt and Pepper chips, had the two magic words:  Gluten free.  I love that label!

It may not have been a healthy snack—OK, so it wasn’t healthy at all—but it was a good beginning to our long weekend:  a quiet evening of reading, chatting, and munching…in a neat house, with company coming, a mown yard, and lots of good, healthy food planned.

An occasional indulgence is fine, provided it is gluten free.

Moral of the story?  Always check the label.

And have a happy, gluten free weekend.

Disclosure:  This post was not sponsored by Lay’s.  In fact, they don’t even know I exist.

BundleoftheWeek.com, 5 eBooks for $7.40!

Mennonite Girls Can Cook: Celebrations

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Celebrations (1)

Gluten free living is going mainstream, and that’s wonderful.  Here’s an example:

Mennonite Girls Can Cook Celebrations, an amazing and joyful cookbook—just look at that cover!— notes which of its recipes are gluten free.  Here are a few:  Naan Bites and Spinach Dip, Raspberry Cake Roll, Scones with Crème Fraiche.

Even better, when it’s easy to do, the Mennonite Girls tell you how to convert a traditional recipe to make it gluten free.

Sometimes it’s as simple as using gluten free chicken stock (easy if you make your own) although other times I’m sure it’s completely impossible.

Gluten free cream puffs?  Never heard of them yet…until I just now did a quick internet search and came up with a recipe posted by these same Mennonite Girls:  Cream Puffs—Gluten Free!  Perhaps my plans for today will change…. And perhaps, someday when I have time, I will make the amazing Cream Puff Swans from the Celebrations cookbook after all.

In any case, if you need a cheerful and delicious cookbook with gluten free options, you might enjoy the scrumptious tastes and gorgeous photography of Mennonite Girls Can Cook Celebrations. Rhubarb sorbet, anyone?  We enjoy it straight, or mixed with club soda to make a frosty, for both snacks and dessert.

Note that this is not a purely gluten free cookbook, but it is so beautiful (photography) and inspiring (essays) that it is helping me to be joyful about the gluten free lifestyle as well as everything else. Who can resist the purples and greens of lilacs and blooming chives and the smiles of down-home celebrations?

You’ll also want to check out the Mennonite Girls Can Cook website’s gluten free offerings.   See, it can be easy to embrace your gluten free life!

Disclosure:  If you buy the book via the above link, we will receive a small percentage of the sale at no cost to you.  This is our way of keeping this site going.  I received a free review copy of this cookbook for a different project, courtesy of MennoMedia (Herald Press) and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc.  and decided to mention it to you as well.
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Welcome to Embracing a Gluten Free Life

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Chocolate Swirl Cheesecake

Although I have been gluten free for years, it is still an almost-daily decision to embrace this life rather than just endure it.

As you join me on my gluten free journey, I hope you, too, will be inspired to embrace this lifestyle.

For months I’ve been wondering what to write in this important first post, and I’ve let many potential second posts go.  Enough of that. It’s 4:14 AM and I could not sleep because I was thinking about gluten free cookbooks.  Could there be a better beginning to our journey?

Cookbooks, flour mixes, healthy choices, gluten free prepared foods, quick cooking from scratch, saving money while eating gluten free….  Let’s go!