Gluten Free at Aldi (Live G Free)

 Last Weekend I was very excited to go to Aldi since I saw that they were going to have cheap Gluten free food. Yes! They have had gluten free brownies and Bisquick type mix for about a year.They are the Best brownies EVER!!! Before Aldi my old Favorite was Betty Crocker's Gluten Free.

 I'm not a big fan of chocolate chips in my brownies. I always felt like they were making up for something by putting them in.

Live G Free Wins!

 They had also gotten the Mac and Cheese a month or so ago. I do like that too, it doesn't taste quite like Annies perhaps the cheese is a little more sugary more like Kraft I think but the price is unbeatable. I would probably buy Annies if they were the same price, but because live G free is much cheaper.

Live G Free Wins

We went to Aldi at 9:30 a little after it opened on Sunday. We were both so excited that, we were grabbing gluten free things willynilly.

The noodles were pretty good. When you go gluten free you either like corn noodles or rice noodles. My mom is a rice noodle person, I generally like corn better. I had found one that blends both at target... the Barilla brand. I find that I can't find a noticeable difference between the Aldi and Barilla brand even though the Aldi one is only corn. So because the Aldi brand is cheaper....

Live G Free Wins

Next the pizza, when I first opened the package I was disappointed. It was so small. smaller than udi's for sure. The whole pizza is able to fit inside my toaster oven. The pizza is edible but for the price is not really a savings. Udis tastes much better in my opinion.

Udi's Wins

The crackers are okay but they don't have the same crunch or taste as the Crunchmaster. The Live G Free taste a little bit more like plain flour. 

Crunchmaster Wins

We didn't have a staple cornbread that we used all the time. I was definitely in the market for some though, I'm used to the jiffy type cornbread (before gluten free) and I would have to say that the aldi one tasted more like sugar...Almost like a cake cornbread, It wasn't bad..definitely edible. The cookies were pretty delicious probably better than the homemade ones that I make with homemade flour. Definitely follow the directions on the box though, the ingredients have to be room temp which means you have to let the butter and egg sit out for a while.

Running Again Day One and Why I love running

I started running again today.  One reason I have been less apt to run lately is because I don't have a smartphone anymore. In an effort to save money I got a really cheap phone with an even cheaper plan. I loved to see all the data I got from my runs at Map my run. It shows you how far you go, the pace, elevation, and splits of a mile.

Its funny how when you first start to run again after a hiatus you think you can go really far. Like today, after pretty much not running for 6 months. I was thinking oh maybe I'll go out an run a 5k with hills in 80 degree, humid super sunny weather. I made it 2.22 miles with half walking because of the heat! And I solved the gps dilemma by stealing my husbands phone for a half and hour.

I love lots of useless information. One thing that I love about running is that I see places I never would have seen otherwise. Especially if I go on a trip, running on the trails or through town, I get to see the real deal. I get to see or rather smell the turkey farms,the RV parks, the historical homes, the shops the wild grapevines, the boardwalk, the 80 year old man who passes me or the old barn.

Family

So since the spring time I feel like I've been bombarded with babies. Farm Babies at the zoo, people being pregnant, baby giveaways on blogs, royal (kate middleton's) baby, baby fever facebook posts

To me it symbolizes adding another to the family. Not necessarily by having another ourselves. Nick and I have always wanted to adopt. Even before we had Kairi I felt like our adopted kid was a part of our family. What I didn't expect is not being able to adopt. We looked at many agencies and they will not accept us either because I am not 30 or because we do not make enough money, being that we already have 2 kids. Right now I know we do not have a lot of space either, we have a 2 bed one bath with 2 girls and ourselves. Most agencies also put more emphasis on the people without kids or ones that cannot have kids. I understand that too, We have 2 beautiful girls and I am thankful. But in my heart of hearts, I know we have one that is waiting for us.

Even getting a coffee and I am again reminded that our family is not yet together. I have always wanted more than 2.  I think one reason we didn't have more right away is because I was sick with Kairi. Intraheptic Cholestasis of Pregnancy and Hypothyroid while Pregnant doesn't sound fun to me. One option we are considering right now is Fostering. We actually have an information meeting next week. I've been reading blogs about fostering. It's not all roses and sunshine. There is heartbreak, loss but also a lot of love. One great information source for Fostering is about.com. They have a 5 week information class online that you can subscribe to by email or just read online. http://adoption.about.com/od/fostering/a/greatfosterpartindex.htm Pray for us while we think about being a Foster family for a child. I know it is a big step, if we decide to take it.

Gluten-Free Brownie Mix at Aldi? Heck yes :)

I was at my local Aldi today in MN and they had gluten free mixes. I know right, who wants to pay $5+ for brownie mix. Not this girl.

I was very excited to see that its only $2.99. I think that's the cheapest I've seen for gluten free brownie mix anywhere.  They seem like they are selling pretty fast too, I mean I was at Aldi last week and they didn't have any gluten free mixes. The first thing that I noticed when I started making the mix was how much cocoa was in it, (a lot more than the competition not to name names BC).

 Some of the most delicious gluten free brownies I've ever had. Thanks Aldi, I'd love to see some more gluten free stuff in the United States.

Gift basket from California Delicious {winnings}

So I won a gift basket from http://www.mommyscraftobsession.com/2013/06/california-delicious-gift-baskets.html  I thought just for fun I'd review it. I got the gourmet meat and cheese gift.
http://www.californiadelicious.com/category/gourmet-food-gifts/california-gourmet-meat-and-cheese-gift.html
Here is how it arrived.

I sent a gift message to myself.

It came shrink wrapped and with a bow.

I looked at all the ingredient lists and these are the things I can eat/use to the best of my knowledge are gluten-free.

Clair de Lune Brie, Smoked almonds and the Beef Summer sausage. Oh and of course the non edible things like the cheese knife and the cheese cutting board.

My Hubs and Children get to try the 3 pepper water crackers, honey mustard nuggets and hot sweet mustard (has wheat in it).

And the cookies Chocolate Almond Biscotti and Beth's Chocolate Chip Cookies.

 All the food had bags inside the boxes so I gave them to the girls to put in their play food box.

I bought some gluten free table crackers so I could try all of the gluten free things in the basket I won. The smoked almonds were delicious. I thought it taste like bacon flavored almonds.

It tasted like a gluten-free gourmet lunchable. Thanks for the Giveaway!

Betty Crocker Cookie Mix- Gluten Free

When I go to any store Betty Crocker Gluten free are usually one of the only choices I have.

One thing I found weird is that you actually mix together all the ingredients before you put in the mix. And yes I mix with a fork. I think I got that form my mom.

The dough if very crumbly and I had to smash it into the tablespoon to keep the shape.

I love these rounded measuring spoons they are great for rounded cookies.

I use parchment paper for all of my gluten free cooking, without it everything seems to stick. These take the full 10 mins or else they are mush for my oven anyway.

So far this is the only gluten free chocolate chip cookie that I've tried but its good, They taste like regular cookies. They do not freeze well though.I tried that once and they taste super buttery... but in a bad way.

Preserving our Mulberry Harvest

We have spent a lot of time this summer picking mulberries as seen here.
http://gettingbacktorandom.blogspot.com/2013/07/mulberry-tree-and-backyard-foraging.html
We were getting so many I didn't know what to do with them. My two ideas were save then for smoothies by freezing them and the internet suggested drying them in a dehydrator. We tried both

I'd have to say the Frozen one looks way more appetizing than the dried one. Plus the fact that freezing only takes like 2 hrs, and drying takes up to 36 hrs!!!  After the trial we froze the rest of them on cookies sheets so they didn't stick together and wax paper for easy clean up, and we just had a bunch.

Our Harvest so far. 

And since I let my kids go barefeet in the backyard this is what we get

Berry Feet

An InLinkz Link-up
Add your link to a webpage about Mulberries. Mulberry recipe, picking or preserving Thanks!