And the winners are....

For the Gluten Free Products prize:
Pauline

For the book prize:
Shelly

Congratulations!! And thanks to random.org for helping pick random winners.

I will be contacting you soon!

After I contact the winners, they have four days to respond. If no response, a new winner will be drawn.

-heather

Honey Rooibos Iced Tea

The contest has ended!

Today, movers will be here in about an hour and I shouldn't even be on the computer because we still have stuff to do. We were faced with having to move with a less than two week notice. To make a long story short, we found out that our daughter is allergic to dust mites. We found a place that only has hardwood floors and jumped on it.


For that reason, I will be announcing the winners by Monday. I had originally planned to announce them today, Thursday. I apologize for the inconvenience. I hope everyone will understand.




How to make the tea:

• Heat 7 cups of water in a sauce pan

• Add 2 Rooibos tea bags

• Add 2 tablespoons of raw honey [or to taste]

• Add to pitcher

My glass pitcher happens to hold 57.25 ounces, which I think is kind of odd. That comes to about 7 cups of water. You can adjust the recipe to fit your needs.

Health benefits of Rooibos tea:
• Rooibos tea contains no colors, additives or preservatives, making it a natural beverage. It contains no caffeine.

• According to studies conducted in South Africa and Japan Rooibos has been shown to aid in health problems such as insomnia, irritability, headaches, nervous tension, and hypertension.

• Studies also show that this tea contains anti - spasmodic agents, which can relieve stomach cramping and colic in infants.

• In South Africa Rooibos has been used to treat allergies such as hay fever, asthma and eczema very effectively .

• It is also used to treat irritated skin. Rooibos is brewed and placed directly on infected areas. Rooibos contains anti - oxidants which can help slow the aging process and boost the immune system.

• This tea contains almost no oxalic acid, making it a good beverage for people prone to kidney stones.

• Rooibos naturally contains the following minerals: copper, iron and potassium, calcium, fluoride, zinc, manganese, alpha- hydroxy ( for healthy skin ) and magnesium (for the nervous system) are also components of this tea.

**Facts from AfricanTea.com

Happiness Cookies

I call these happiness cookies for two reasons. One, after making the first batch and letting them cool, I was choosing one to give my husband to try. Somehow, I dropped it on the floor. As I went to pick it up, I noticed that the chocolate chips were arranged in a perfect -- but quite unintentional smiley face. There were two eyes, a nose, and then several chocolate chips in a curved mouth form.

How about that! Too bad I didn't think to take a picture :)

Second reason was I enjoyed this thoroughly. It was so much fun to make something for my husband to take to a work meeting. With all the challenges we have been having -- with our daughters allergies and so forth -- I took a moment to really savor the small things. I am so thankful.

I used Cherrybrook Kitchen Sugar Cookie Mix

It calls for:
1/4 cup of milk substitute (I usedRice Milk)

1/2 cup of margarine or oil

2 1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract, Gluten Free

** I added 1 organic egg

After dolloping the cookie dough onto the sheet, I sprinkled each cookie with chocolate chips from Enjoy Life

** I have made this mix before. It is kind of dry and although the cookies come out moist from the oven, they hardened quickly. My solution to that problem was to add 1 organic egg. Now, I know that my blogger address is "glutenfreeveganbaby," but my husband has lately been adding organic eggs to his diet. I have as well. The reason is because my daughter has so many allergies, and so we did some allergy testing. She reacted to basically everything on the vegetarian panel: flaxseeds, millet, quinoa, brown rice, hemp seeds, etc. So, as you can imagine, our choices are quite limited!

-heather

Gluten-Free Product Give-A-Way! Expanded

PLEASE READ:
There have been several "Anonymous" comments with no email address. It is okay if you leave an Anonymous comment, BUT if you want to be entered in the drawing then there has to be a way to contact you if you win. Thanks!! If you entered a comment and neglected to give contact info, you can repost a comment.

Welcome to my first product give-a-way. I am excited!

Participating companies:
›Arico Gluten Free, Casein Free Snacks
›Cherrybrook Kitchen
›Enjoy Life Foods

What the winner will receive:

› 1 box of Chocolate Cake Mix by Cherrybrook Kitchen
› 1 individually wrapped Chocolate Chunk Cookie Bar by Arico Natural Foods
› 1 individually wrapped Double Chocolate Cookie Bar by Arico Natural Foods
› 1 bag of Cassava Chips, Barbeque Bliss
› 1 box of Snickerdoodle Cookies by Enjoy Life plus a coupon [Oh these are so good!]

Here is how to participate:

› Leave a comment below.
› Post about my give-a-way on your blog [this is optional]

Only one entry per person. Entry deadline is June 25, 2008.

›Who is eligible:
You must have a US shipping address. You don't have to be a blogger to win, just supply a valid e-mail address.

›When the giveaway ends:
Wednesday, June 25. I'll e-mail the winner, and results will be posted here as well. If the winner doesn't respond within four business days, a new winner will be drawn.

Happy commenting!!

› Allergy information:
Please note that while the cookie bars are casein free, the package does say "may contain traces of milk protein" because the chocolate chunks may pick up traces during the manufacturing process.

Wow. I have gotten such a huge response to this. I am adding another giveaway of The Essential Gluten-Free Restaurant Guide from Triumph Dining

After the giveaway deadline ends on June 25, I will draw one winner for the gluten free products prize and then a separate winner for the book prize!

-heather

A Gluten Free Bread

This bread mix by Namaste Foods turned out to be very tasty. It was also very much egg free. For those of you who cannot eat eggs or simply choose not to, then listen up!

I used 1 and a half avocado in place of the 1 egg and 3 egg whites that the mix called for.

It worked so well, the bread is still nice and moist in the center. You would literally never miss the egg.

It was weird making bread from a mix, though. Growing up, I would help my mom make bread (gluten bread of course). I remember kneading it and pounding it. That was the true joy of it. The fun of creating something, with my own mother no less. It wasn't really the making of the bread,but rather just being together and doing something together! But now that we are gluten free, my mom and I make gluten free recipes along with my little one. Now that's the joy of living.



This mix is: Dairy Free, Gluten Free, Corn Free, Casein Free, Soy Free and Potato Free.

And because of the avocado, the dough looked greenish before I baked it. :)

To make the avocado egg replacement:

1 1/2 avocado

put in blender

add some water and blend it to a creamy consistency 

-heather

A Reflection in the Rain

Thank you, rain.
You cleanse the air, feed our sprouting seeds and nourish our buds.

You create puddles for little ones to jump in
and sometimes, if they are brave, adults will too

You help us welcome spring
and give us a reason to put our rain boots on

So, rain, Thanks.. and do come again.

It was raining and I said to my husband "Let's go walk in the rain. We can go check the mail too"
So he obliged, and we got our daughter ready to go out in the rain. She loved it, of course. That's her in the picture, isn't she the cutest?

As we were walking though, he said to me "what are you waiting for in the mail?" with that look of "yeh you're doing this just because...."
Offended [not really, but that sounds more thrilling], I said "Nothing! I just wanted to walk in the rain."
"Really." as he continued to give me a look of mixed bewilderment and disbelief
Am I really that plain? Hm.


These Coconut "Ice Cream" Bars are a hot commodity. In our house, they do not last long. They not only taste great great great, but fulfill several requirements:
Dairy Free
Gluten Free
Soy Free
and Organic!
They have other flavors to, notably: Strawberry. I had this as a treat during my labor.

What are you thankful for? How do you perceive rain? Is it something that bothers you, just another negative in a day already rushed and over-extended? Or do you really stop and appreciate rain?


-heather