A Few of my Favorite Things

Since I haven't "food blogged" in awhile, I decided it was time for an update.  I haven't been baking a lot lately, blame it on summertime laziness, but the following are a few ready-made items (not necessarily GF) that are quick favorites.

YamaMotoYama Sencha Green Tea


This stuff is the bees knees, for real.  I have around 2-4 cups every day!  I can't stand coffee, and while I like tea, I picky about which ones I drink.  After taste testing many of the bathroom-break inducing beverage, I finally found this one.  No funky aftertaste, no bitterness.  Perfect.  I saw it first in the grocery store, since then they discontinued it (of course), so I buy a 6-pack on Amazon.

Edward and Sons Gluten Free Ice Cream Cones


Yes, you can sing the Hallelujah chorus, GF cones have arrived!  For real, tears came to my eyes when I saw these babies sitting on the shelf of my not-so-local health food store.  To boot, they taste GREAT!  If you are so able, find them, buy them, savor them.

Lentil Crackers by Mediterranean Snacks

These crackers are the closest thing to Ritz I've found, as far as GF goes.  Unlike their buttery gluten-filled counterparts, Lentil Crackers are packed with nutrients.  Per every 28g serving there is only 110 calories, 16 carbs, 1g fiber, 3g of fat, and 5g of protein! I've only had the Sea Salt, but I'm super pumped to try more flavors.  Check out their website, they have many goodies to ogle.

Candy Tree Strawberry Twists


To be honest, these taste nothing like Twizzlers (my absolute favorite candy pre-GF days), but they are better than nothing.  They're organic which is a perk, also no added sugar.  The downside is, they're pricey.  I saw these while browsing the candy aisle at a health food store (oxymoron?), and had to try them.  If you've ever had organic fruit strips, these twists have a similar taste, but the texture is more "licorice-y".  An inexpensive alternative that I keep in my purse at all times, Archer Farms Organic Strawberry Fruit Strips.  I find mine at Target!


Snyder's of Hanover Gluten Free Pretzel Sticks



I was leery about trying these pretzel sticks from Snyder's, being that they mostly make "regular" pretzels. Cross contamination was an obvious worry.  But, I found these on sale and couldn't resist indulging as soon as I made it to my car.  I have to say, these are the best GF pretzels I've found so far, better than Glutino brand.



Pamela's Spicy Ginger Cookies

Chewy. Spicy. YUMMY!  These pieces of heaven wrapped in crystalized ginger are paired perfectly with the aforementioned sencha green tea.

Last but not least...

Sierra Mist Natural 

If I can help it, I like to avoid HFCS (High-Fructose Corn Syrup).  Long story short, I just plain feel better when I don't consume it.  Now generally speaking, all I drink is water or my tea.  But on the rare occasion I'm craving some carbonation, this stuff is simply delightful!  I wish they came in those cute little "half-cans" though, I can never finish a whole one!

So tell me, what are your favorite edible things?  Whether it's gluten-free, healthy, or waistline expanding.

                  Rachel

Wolfsbane - Ronie Kending

I will admit to doing a happy dance when I walked into work (a bookstore) and saw that Wolfsbane, the newest Military/Romantic-Suspense novel by Ronie Kendig, had been released.  Literally, I danced.  A co-worker and I had been eagerly counting down the days/months until the release - being that we are such fans of the series.  It should be noted that when the aforementioned co-worker walked in the store later on and I shoved a copy of the book in her face, she too squealed and did a happy dance. 

  A few days later my boss ran up to me and said, “So have you read the new book in our favorite series?!”  Little did I know that after my raving about Nightshade and Digitalis after their releases, she started gobbling up the books as well.   She caught me off guard yesterday when she came up to me and in a very serious, concerned voice said, “I have horrible news…”  Images of empty candy aisles at the supermarket flashed in my brain.  She gave me a pained face and cried, “I finished Wolfsbane last night!  Now what am I supposed to read?!”  My heart went out to her, I too recently went through this horrible loss.  Judging by the bags under her eyes, I knew it had been a long night.  Though my own bloodshot eyes should be the last to judge…  We both agreed that after reading any of Ronie’s books we have to go through a time of “mourning” where we can’t read anything else.  Because, as she mentioned, “All of the other books I read afterwards seem so below par.  I have to regroup and let that one filter out of my brain before I can read anything else.”  My thoughts exactly.  After the general consensus of Ronie Kendig’s literary genius, we decided to display Wolfsbane in the front window of our store and put a “we recommend” sign on the shelf with her books.  My customers should know this by now, though.  It seems that after every release in the Discarded Heroes series, any customer that even glances in the direction of the fiction area of the store will get a talkin’ to about the series from me.  Call me crazy, but I love a suspense novel that is full of suspense!  And Wolfsbane delivers!

One, out of many, reasons I am such a fan of these books is because of their raw honesty!  The characters are human: broken, gritty, and so completely raw that my heart actually hurts for them at moments.  Often, in Christian fiction, the characters will show their “human-ness” to a certain degree, but they are still relatively put together people who have everything resolved by the last paragraph.  Not that that is necessarily a bad thing, but sometimes it isn’t realistic.  What is so great about Ronie Kendig’s books is that she highlights how these very flawed characters have to fight to see change in their lives, it doesn’t just happen.  And they are not peachy clean by the end of the novel, they’re still in the midst of growing and healing.   

Another reason why I absolutely loved Wolfsbane in particular, is for some very taboo subject matter it covers.  I won’t say what (you’ll have to read it to find out!) but I applaud Ronie for putting her characters in a compromising situation and seeing them fail!  As a reader, it gave me a mere glimpse of what it is like for the Lord, seeing His children make poor, sometimes down-right horrible choices and being heartbroken because of it.  The main characters, Dani and Canyon, hit rock bottom and had to completely lean on Christ to climb back up again.  It was beautiful.  It was gritty.  It was real life.  

If you didn’t catch my subtle hinting before, I will say it again - I highly recommend Wolfsbane and all of the books in the Discarded Heroes series.  And when your finished, feel free to stop by my bookstore, my boss and I will console you in your loss.  We’ve been there.