Udi's Gluten Free Cookies Review & Giveaway

*** This giveaway is now closed. Thanks for stopping by! ***

I have a sweet tooth, I won't deny it. But I've come to view cookies and other sweet treats as just that - treats. We don't have any allergies in our household, so making "traditional" (although somewhat healthified) sweets isn't difficult. But what do you do if you have a sweet tooth and a food allergy? It's great to know there are companies out there that specialize in treats for folks with allergies and/or food intolerances.

Udi's Gluten Free Foods is one such company. Even though our family is not strictly gluten-free (we try to be gluten-light), I was very pleased to be asked to review their gluten-free cookies.

Some people might have the perception that if you can't use regular white flour, cookies won't be very tasty. Not true! There are a lot of great alternative "flours" out there that do not have gluten and still produce a delicious treat.

My family received samples of the Udi's Gluten-Free Cookies in Chocolate Chip, Snickerdoodle, and Oatmeal Raisin. They were very tasty, and in fact, tasted like they came from a high-end bakery that we have in our town. Their texture and taste were like any other gourmet cookie. My personal favorite was the Snickerdoodle cookie, while Hubby and Ladybug loved the Chocolate Chip. (The Oatmeal Raisin is delish too!)

Udi's has a large variety of gluten-free products, including bread, bagels, granola, muffins, pizza crust, and cinnamon rolls. If you or a family member need to follow a gluten-free diet, you need to check out the variety! They have a store locator on their website so that you can find where you can find them locally. (That's always one of my favorite features of a company website when I discover a new food that I like!) Even if you are not gluten-free, it's nice to know you can find quality products to share when you have guests or friends who are gluten-free.

The only downside of the cookie samples that we received was that they disappeared way too quickly! But that fault lies strictly with the people in this household.

You can "like" Udi's Facebook page or follow them on Twitter. They even have a coupon available on their website that you can print for your first purchase.

Now for the fun part! The giveaway! One lucky reader will receive samples of Udi's Gluten Free Cookies of their very own. And you can be entered for the low price of a comment: Tell me one thing you do during the holidays (now through New Year's) to balance out all the sweet treats with a healthy lifestyle.

Bonus Entries:

1. "Like" this post using the button below. (1 entry)
2. Tweet this post using the button below. (1 tweet/day = 1 entry)

*** You must leave a valid email address or Twitter ID for each comment so that you can be contacted if you are the winner. ***

Leave a separate comment for each entry. This giveaway is open until Monday, November 14, 2011. One winner will be selected randomly.


Disclosure: I was provided with free product from this company. All opinions expressed are strictly mine. 

Friends

Ladybug (on the left) and one of her preschool friends at the pumpkin patch

Time for a Sugar Detox

This will be short & sweet. Well, not too sweet. Read on....


Life has been really hectic lately. We moved into a new house on October 1st. Then Ladybug (4 years old) & I traveled to see family & attend a family wedding, so we were gone for 5 days. Last week was also my birthday. And some girlfriends and I had our annual Choctoberfest celebration.

Add all of that up, and it equals a lot of extra sugar in my diet. And it's starting to take it's toll. I feel like crap. I'm cranky. I can't focus. Blergh.

Not that any of these things in and of themselves is bad. But all the sweets are. It's time for a sugar detox. That's what I'll be focusing on this next week. And I'm not worried about Halloween candy. The usual stuff doesn't appeal to me anymore because it all tastes so processed.

On a positive note, I ran my sixth 5k race this past weekend. And there's a great giveaway of flax oil products over on bookieboo.com. Check those out!

Thanks to New Balance for sponsoring this week's Mamavation blogging carnival. This week's blogging carnival question is: How would you brand your health and wellness lifestyle? How do you want others to know you in this area? 

I want to be known for three things: clean eating (minimal processed foods) (with the exception of all the recent celebrating), running, and mutual support and encouragement. After all, my blog is titled "Not a Do-It-Yourself Life." We're all in this together, and we're stronger when we can support and encourage each other along the way.

Coastal 5k Race Recap

I don't know if I have words to describe my feelings coming into this race. In 2010, this was my very first race. I didn't know what to expect. Now it's 2011, and this was my SIXTH race. "You've come a long way, baby," doesn't even begin to describe what a year this has been!

I have come a long way.

10/23/2010 - Coastal 5k - 46:12
2//18/2011 - RBC 5k - 46:30
4/9/2011 - SOS Autism Clinic 5k - 42:13
6/11/2011 - Susan G. Komen 5k (w/ a team) - 48:00
9/24/2011 - Strides for Autism 5k - 41:56

Each race has been a unique experience. But I came into this year's Coastal 5k with a lot more confidence because I knew what to expect. I didn't register until the week of the race, but I've been mentally committed to it for months. My goal for this time around: 40 minutes.

After setting out all my gear, I went to bed fairly early on Friday night. I set my alarm for 5:40, but knew I wouldn't need it. I woke up shortly after 5:00 and immediately the race day jitters set in. I got up, got dressed, and piddled around on the computer for a while. Finally, it was time to wake the family, start getting them ready, and make my pre-race breakfast.

On an average running day, I don't eat before running. I get up at o'dark-thirty & sneak out the door as quickly as I can. Race time wasn't until 7:30, so I knew I need some nutrition before the race. The best thing for me is a green smoothie. I absolutely love them & know they are a great way to pack in the nutrition without over-filling my belly. This one had: almond milk, a banana, 2 cups of spinach, a teaspoon of chocolate-flavored flax oil, and ice.

(Side note: if you are a member of bookieboo.com, rush over there and enter the giveaway for these amazing flax oils, open until 11/4/2011)

Hubby and Ladybug came along to cheer for me. Poor Hubs. Wrangling a four year old in a crowd that size for 40 minutes is hard.  He earned many gold stars on this day.

We arrived at the race site around 7:00. Plenty of time for a porta-potty stop and warming up. I lined up around 7:15 and chatted with an experienced runner for a while. It's so amazing to feel the camaraderie that comes immediately when running is the topic.

At 7:30, the gun sounded and we were off! I started near the middle of the pack. I didn't want to dodge a lot of walkers. It was cold, about 45 degrees with clear skies. I'm glad I bought arm warmers at the expo. Last year I wore a long-sleeved shirt and was too warm by the time the sun came up. The arm warmers were perfect.

This is the first race that I monitored my pace. Most of the time, I just go with how I feel, wanting to have fun and enjoy the experience. But I knew that if I was going to make my goal, I needed to keep pushing myself. I was keeping around a 12:15 pace during the first mile, which is fast for me. So I eased up. I didn't want to run out of gas before the end. I finished the first mile in just under 13:00 minutes. Right on pace.

This is an out and back, flat course. I knew the main challenge would be weaving in and out among the other racers. Most people around me were doing run/walk. I was running the whole way. I know that if I slow down to walk, it gets harder and harder to get myself running again. But when others run/walk, they pass you, then you pass them, etc, etc. It gets a little annoying after a while. Especially when they have earbuds in and aren't paying attention to who is coming up behind them.

I hit the turn-around point at 20:15, so I knew I couldn't ease up any more if I was going to make my goal. I started some positive self talk to keep myself moving. I put my head down and focused on the ground in front of me.

As I came into the final stretch, I saw my cheering section waiting for me. I had told Ladybug that she could finish the race with me. So I grabbed her hand and we started running hard. I didn't look at the clock as we crossed the finish line, but I knew I was close to my goal time. I knew it would be a new PR no matter what, and it was a fun race. Even though I was pushing myself, I still want to enjoy the journey, and I did.
 

Official chip time: 40:27, 474/683 overall, 50/74 age division. 

Ladybug was upset that she didn't get a medal too, so I let her wear mine for a little while. This year's medal is a smaller version of the half marathon medal, and even sports a bottle opener. Very cool race bling!

Another great race experience! I feel more confident, not only in my ability as a runner, but in navigating the racing experience. Now that I've been racing for a year, I look forward to repeating past races. But I also look forward to conquering new distances. The Diva half marathon series is coming to our area in May 2012. I'd love to tackle that challenge.

I know I've come a long way, but there are still so many more miles out there to be run. And I can't wait!

Settling In

I can't believe I missed updating y'all on my healthy living journey last week! We moved into our new house on the 29th/30th, and we did have internet. But I just didn't have time or brain cells to compose a post.

We're getting settled in, trying to find a place for everything and then remember where I put it! I need to get myself and this house organized so I can stop looking for things. ;-)

Here's my recap of last week:

Fitness: It was a super-duper fitness week! 250 fitness minutes! Not including being on my feet with unpacking, and not including walking Ladybug (4 years old) to and from school. Now that we live in town, we're only four blocks from church/school. Why start the car to drive such a short distance? It's .81 miles round trip. Some days, I walk the round trip once, some days twice, just depends on what else I've got going on and if I need to stay at church to get church work done. So I spent a lot of time on my feet last week!

And I also ran longer distances than I usually do. Monday, I ran long because I missed the previous Saturday's run because of moving, and I was anxious to get out there and sweat. Wednesday, I ran long because I ran with a friend and even though we have a similar pace, she goes for longer than I usually do. Then I did a 4 mile run on Saturday. Running is my therapy time. It's time alone, time to think and pray. I know that I'm a better mom, wife, and person when I can run often.

Monday: 3.12 mile run
Tuesday: a.m. Pilates & stretching, p.m. cardio/strength class
Wednesday: 3.23 mile run
Thursday: p.m. cardio/strength class
Friday: rest day, my legs were killing me!
Saturday: 4 mile run
Sunday: rest day

I'll try to keep a similar schedule this week, although I'll miss cardio/strength class on Thursday due to traveling for a family wedding this coming weekend. But I'll definitely get my miles in!

Nutrition: It was a decent week for nutrition. The kitchen was the first room that I got set up in the new house, so that definitely made it easier to cook. We ate out a few times in the midst of moving, and really, that got old. At home, we kept things simple and had lots of side salads to round out our veggies. I always feel better when I get adequate amounts of fruits and veggies, especially dark green vegs.

I was able to go to the farmer's market this weekend and get stocked up on squash and collards, so our meals will revolve around those foods. And Ladybug and I will pack healthy snacks while traveling this week.

The Scale: I'm down 1 lb from my last weigh in, and I think I've got some PMS bloating, so I'm happy with that.

Non-Scale Victories: Not really a personal NSV, but by Friday, Ladybug ASKED to walk to school. There was some mumbling and grumbling earlier in the week, but by Friday, she was looking forward to that time. I realized that some of the grumbling was on the walks home after school, and she is hungry and tired by that point, so I've been trying to remember to take a small snack for her to munch on while we walk home.

A Favor: One of my absolute favorite people is Carla, a.k.a Mizfit. She is in the running for Fave Fitness Blogger at Shape Magazine. Please go vote for her. Pretty please? Thank you!!

Good luck to the Mamavation finalists! See you at the Twitter party!

Flat Stanley Came to Visit

We moved into our new house a little over a week ago. Then we had a visitor arrive by mail - Flat Stanley! Hannah in Indiana sent him to visit us. Boy, isn't he lucky missed moving all that heavy furniture!

The first few days of his visit was filled with unpacking boxes. Flat Stanley did his best to help. And while we were unpacking, we found another visitor that had arrived a while ago - Fit Stanley! Fit Stanley is just like Flat Stanley, with the addition that he likes to do active things and eat healthy food. (Fit Stanley is the brain child of my good friend, Mizfit.)

So, once we got some unpacking done, we got back to our normal schedule. One of my favorite things to do on Saturday morning is go to the local farmer's market. We buy fresh fruit and vegetables, and by buying them at the market, we are supporting local farmers.

This week, we bought a big bunch of collard greens (a favorite food here in South Carolina), a small decoration pumpkin, some zucchini, and some cucumbers.

After the farmer's market, we did some yard work because Fit Stanley insisted that we do something active. By lunch, we had worked up a big appetite, so I made Whole Wheat Pumpkin Waffles that everyone enjoyed. My 4 year old daughter loved sharing her waffles with the Stanleys, even though she doesn't look very happy in the picture.

After lunch, we did some more yard work (sorry that there isn't a picture of that, we were so dirty and sweaty!). Then we had a healthy dinner of whole wheat spaghetti and salad, including the fresh cucumbers that we had bought at the farmer's market. (But no mushrooms, because Hannah said that Flat Stanley doesn't like them.)

On Sunday morning, we always go to church. My husband and I lead worship, so the Stanleys joined right in. They are both very good singers!

After church, we went to Sunday School. My Sunday School class doesn't usually have treats, but today we did - donuts. Fit Stanley said it was okay to have one donut because it was a special treat, and treats are okay to have every once in a while.

Then we came home and had veggie and cheese omelets for lunch, and settled in to watch my favorite football team, the Steelers. Both Fit Stanley and Flat Stanley are big football fans.

We didn't do anything special this weekend, just our normal activities. But it was fun to include both Flat Stanley and Fit Stanley. I'm going for a run in the morning. I know Fit Stanley will be up for it. I wonder if we can convince Flat Stanley to come along too?