30 Days of Real Food Challenge

ARE YOU READY???

Tomorrow we kick off 30 Days of Real Food, gluten free style!

I have wrangled up some real food eating friends over on Facebook in a new, “Gluten Free & Good For Me” closed group and you should join us too!

Here’s a little “Real Food 101” so we’re ready to go…

• Know where we’re headed!
  • Check out the rules for our real food challenge — just remember that Lisa and her family are not gluten-free, so just ignore the “whole wheat” and know that means whole grains for us, like brown rice, sorghum, etc. I have used several of their recipes as ideas and inspiration and any that are not written as gluten-free are easily converted.

• Plan ahead!
  • Don’t let yourself get hangry. ALWAYS carry snacks.
  • Write out your menu for the week and make a grocery trip.
  • Look at your calendar for any upcoming social events and see if you can choose a restaurant with real food, meet for coffee instead, eat before you go, etc.
• Try new things!
  • Let this month be an experiment in new-to-you foods.
  • Check out all the real food ideas on Pinterest. (be sure to modify them to be GF)
  • Dig out some of those recipes you’ve tucked away but been meaning to try, then share them with us!

• Breakfast ideas
  • Anything Goes Egg Cups
  • Morning Monkey Mocha Smoothie
  • Overnight Oats (please use GF Harvest oats!)
  • Oatmeal Raisin Breakfast Bars
  • Banana Nut Oatmeal Bites (breakfast cookies!)
  • Pumpkin Spice Granola (or omit pumpkin spice and just do cinnamon and have this with plain Greek yogurt sweetened with honey or maple syrup)
• Lunch ideas
  • Spicy Tomato Dill Soup 
  • Potato Leek Soup
  • All kinds of satisfying salads
• Dinner ideas
  • Zucchini Planks 
  • Simple Shrimp Skillet with Chive Potatoes
  • Italian Chili (people LOVE this one!)
  • Grilled Asparagus with lemon (top with a fried egg!)
• Snack ideas
  • Peach “Sorbet” (ONE ingredient!)
  • Almond Joy-like Lara-like bars 😉
  • Chocolate Banana Peanut Butter Mock Ice Cream 
  • Four Ingredient Hummus
  • BLT Bites (if you can find bacon sans sugar)

See? You’re set for the first few days!

TO-DO LIST

• Add yourself to our Gluten Free & Good For Me page.
• See the RULES here. 
• Leave a comment below with any questions or real food recipes to share!

I know we can do this! (I did over 50 days of real food in the fall and survived, so this will be totally do-able, I promise!)

random round up: national coffee day

You know me, I’m a sucker for “national ______  day” posts. (you fill in the blank, I get pretty excited about them all.)

But today? Today’s “national day” seems more important than just a quick thumbs up on Facebook or a double tap on Instagram. (I’d even considering doing a Periscope video if I had combed my hair.)

It’s NATIONAL COFFEE DAY!

This deserves a celebration.

Grab your mug and start clicking…

My Cinnamon Dolce Latte made this list a couple years ago — we still make that one often.

No words even needed, make your own PSL today. (I now add pumpkin spices right into my coffee grounds before brewing and sweeten with maple syrup!)

Dairy-free? My recipe for dairy-free coffee creamer is just what you need. (add pumpkin spice!)

Maybe you need your coffee and smoothie in one. Try this Morning Monkey Mocha smoothie.

 

While in London, I fell in love with the Flat White, a misunderstood coffee drink here in the US. I got lucky and had some Australian friends make me my first one, but you can make them at home as well. (now would be a good time to insert an item from my birthday list: an espresso machine! 😉  )

Speaking of London, I bought this Cafe Life London book while I was there and made it a mission to get to as many as possible — a fun challenge if you ever find yourself there for three months or even three days! Or in any city really, go out looking for a local coffee shop, they rarely disappoint.

We use a French Press for our coffee makings — what do you use are your house?

This one looks fancy: pumpkin chai tea latte. (dairy-free!) I am a huge fan of chai + coffee. I use cold brew coffee mixed with cold chai and add honey for a little number I call Liquid Sunshine. This goes for hot coffee + chai too.

Happy National Coffee Day — may your coffee be strong and your Monday be short! xoxo

Tuesday To Do List — what to buy, spy, and try! (or sometimes cry about)

Tuesday To Do List is my newest attempt at bringing you tidbits from the gluten-free world each week. This will continue until my mind-that-doesn’t-rest comes up with another way to entertain you guys. Cross your fingers I am back here next Tuesday with another list…

• Once upon a time, I got to meet THE Pioneer Woman — I talked a mile a minute telling her what a big fan I was and that I had found out about her wonderfulness through Shauna from Gluten Free Girl and the Chef. Although I don’t follow along as closely as I used to, (I’m still sad that Google Reader is no longer!) I’m still a big fan, have a couple of her books, make her baked beans recipe by request, and will probably end up buying a piece from her new collection because it’s so dang pretty. (she is too and she’s hilariously down to earth)

• And speaking of Gluten Free Girl… they have a new cookbook coming out this week! Their recipes have never let me down and I’m guessing this one will not disappoint: American Classics Reinvented. It’s already in my cart to buy on Amazon.