Category: food

Luna Bars Review: Gluten Free

Ok, I have some really fantastic news for all of my gluten-free on-the-go snackers…ALL Luna Bars are now gluten-free! YES, the cupcake one. YES, the brownie one. YES, the cookie one. 
(also: need I mention how happy it makes me that their new ‘gluten free’ symbol is PINK?!)
Have you tried Luna Bars? I like them because they are tasty, not too chewy, and have a well-rounded flavor profile. Granted, they have a bit of sugar, but I’m fine with it once in awhile. It’s better than grabbing a candy bar, which I am apt to do now and again. Don’t get me wrong, I love my Lara bars, my KIND bars, my Bumble bars, and others, but these are a part of my rotation, too. It’s easy to get burnt out on snack bars.
ClifBars sent me an assortment of the new line to try and give you my reviews. They sent me 7, but I like these and have tried some of the other flavors on my own, and I’m including those below. My absolute favorite one is Chocolate Cupcake. The runner-up is Blueberry Bliss. Here are the official reviews, in no particular order. 
Chocolate Cupcake: Absolutely delicious. Truly, it reminded me of a Little Debbie brownie from elementary school days. 
Blueberry Bliss: My second favorite. Beautifully decorated with a thick layer of blueberry jam and oatmeal flakes, this is reminiscent of a blueberry Pop Tart. 
Chocolate-Dipped Coconut: I took a box of these on a long road trip with me and they are still a favorite (that’s saying a lot after eating 6 in 2 days).

Caramel Nut Brownie: This was dry and hard. Not my fave…and it didn’t taste like caramel. 

Honey Salted Peanut: Tastes like Honey Nut Cheerios! Reminds me of the Milk and Cereal bars.
Iced Oatmeal Raisin: I had such high hopes for this one, but it was relatively flavorless.
Lemon Zest: A cheerful and easy one to keep handy no matter what flavor you’re in the mood for (sometimes you just don’t want chocolate in the middle of the day, believe it or not!).
Nutz Over Chocolate: A good granola-bar-esque flavor. Nothing to write home about.
Peanut Butter Cookie: Quite tasty indeed. I love peanut butter in mid-day snacks, and this fit the bill nicely. 
Tell me, do you grab Luna bars or another favorite when you’re on the run? 

My Favorite Grab at the Grocery Store Lunch

Grab at the Grocery Store Lunch

Grab at the Grocery Store Lunch 

These are some of my favorite things to grab at the grocery store for a quick, tasty, filling, and mostly-healthy lunch. Add an apple and you’re good to go!

Nile Black Bean Soup: Basic ingredients but a nice kick. Can be easily made at work with hot water from an electric kettle or microwave.
Lesser Evil Black Olive & Feta Chia Chips: They aren’t kidding when they say these are “super savory”–gluten-free and a hearty complement to the soup.
Ginny Bakes Chocolate Chip-Oatmeal-Coconut Cookies: These are amazingly delicious.
Ayala’s Herbal Water: Any of these flavors are the perfect accompaniment to this lunch.

Happy Tuesday!
xo
Natalie

Summer Snacks

Summer Snacks

Summer Snacks by fashionatalie on Polyvore

Oooo-eee I’ve found some good snackin’s lately 🙂

Here are some of my favorite gluten-free snacks:

1.) Van’s “Lots of Everything” crackers: The taste and texture of a Wheat Thin, with the toppings of an Everything bagel. Lots of good whole-grains, too. Eat by the handful!
2.) Maine Roots Maple-Lemonade: AMazing. SO delicious. 
3.) So Delicious Coconut Milk Ice Cream Bars: Yummy and dairy-free, too.
4.) Kettle Style Chilean-Lime Avocado Oil Potato Chips: Delicious and actually good-for-you sorta fat. Amazing.
5.) KIND bars: Any and all flavors, but the +Protein ones are great this time of year to bring on hikes or adventures.
6.) Jovial Fig-Filled Cookies: I’ve been a BIG fan of Jovial’s cookies for a long time, but I normally pick up the chocolate (because it tastes like a fudge pop-tart). But this time I got the Fig and they are *amazing*. Yum.

Enjoy!

Adventuring with KIND & a Giveaway

Y’all know how much I love a good adventuring day, be it hiking, trail running, antiquing, going to a local festival…anything unique and fun I find along the way!

{ready!}
I am always on the lookout for gluten-free, healthful snacks to throw in my bag or a back pocket for adventuring. This is much easier said than done, because all manner of granola and snack bars contain the dreaded gluten. Or taste terrible. Lose-lose.

Hello, KIND bars. I found KIND bars in an airport a few years ago (which was an extra-awesome find, since gluten-free food in an airport is even harder to come by). I LOVE these bars. I can’t get over them…because they are nuts, but they aren’t crunchy. They are a bit syrupy to make them chewy, but they only have 4g of sugar. And the flavors? Outta this world. Seriously. Cashew-Ginger Spice. Madagascar Vanilla Almond. Dark Chocolate, Nuts, and Sea Salt. Dark Chocolate Chili Almond. Maple Glazed Pecan & Sea Salt. To name a few! These are bars for the adventuring gluten-free foodie. Win-win-WIN.
Their tagline? “Make Junk Food Nervous.”
Love that.

This summer, hop on your bike, in your car, in your canoe, or climb a tree and go repelling or zip lining or SOMETHING cool…just go adventuring!
Make sure to grab a KIND bar (or two or three ’cause they’re that good) to throw in your bag. You will thank me later. 
———
The best part?
I get to give away a MONTH’S supply of KIND bars to one reader!
I kid you not I’m a little jealous because that means approximately 72 KIND bars are yours for the eating and taking-on-adventure-ing. 
Whatchya gotta do to enter? 

Take a look at KIND’s website and tell me what your favorite flavor is in a comment (one mandatory entry).

Bonus entries for following KIND snacks on Facebook and/or Twitter and me on any social media channel. Just leave me a separate comment for each entry. Giveaway open until midnight EST, Monday, June 10. Open to US residents.
Have fun!

April Snacks

April Snacks

April Snacks by fashionatalie on Polyvore

The things I can’t get enough of right now…oh MAN are they crazy-delicious! (cue SNL skit)

The older I get, the more important I realize snacking is for me…I just gotta have something with me that I can eat at a moment’s notice, and it’s gotta be gluten-free. Here are a few of my favorite new things:

1.) Cabot Greek Vanilla Bean Yogurt…This stuff looks & tastes like perfectly-melty vanilla bean ice cream. Amazing, amazing, amazing. Also, from Vermont, which gives it extra points.
2.) Carrot Cake LaraBars….I love discovering new LaraBar flavors, and this one is delicious with carrots and pineapple.
3.) Mom’s Best Cocoa Krispy Rice Cereal….With ice cold milk, it is the perfect late-night snack to satisfy a chocolate craving.
4.) Archer Farms Monster Trail Mix…This is always one of my favorite snacks. The addition of peanut butter chips somehow makes it.
5.) Noble Blood Orange Juice…Delicious and different!
6.) Glutino Apple-Cinnamon Toaster Pastries…Oh boy. I seriously have gone through at least half a dozen boxes of these in less than a month. I keep checking WholeFoods and they are almost always out of stock, so when I see them, I grab a few. The strawberry ones aren’t worth your money, but these? These are a combination of a pop-tart and a McDonald’s apple pie. Toasted heaven.

There ya have it! My delicious finds for April.

Weekend?

Oh how I spent today wishing it were the weekend! It was gray, rainy, and my heart just felt a bit downcast. So I decided to share a few of my favorite weekend things, even though it’s Wednesday…

Favorite Snacks

Favorite Snacks by fashionatalie 

Amazing tea I discovered on my road trip!
The BEST yogurt in the BEST flavor…anything strawberry rhubarb is kinda my favorite, but this is above and beyond.
Udi’s Cranberry granola is so delicious for this time of year.
Pamela’s Chocolate-Chip Coconut “Whenever Bars” are a delicious GF treat.
This chocolate bar was a gift…and man, was it delicious!
It’s that time of year again…I’m getting out my Urban Moonshine Immune Tonic, one of my favorite health products. 

And here’s the outfit I desperately want to be wearing right now….
Weekend Cozy

H&M print dress, $40 / H&M , $48 / H&M , $13 / H&M , $13 / Wallis low boots / Muk Luks military glove

Sweatshirt DRESS = GENIUS. Pair it with a cute vest, polka-dot tights, tall fair isle boot socks, cute ankle boots, and some great gloves. 
Now I think it’s time for tea and reading…that oughtta help me through till the real weekend!

How to Visit a French Bakery

In light of yesterday’s Parisian post, I just had to share this DARLING video I found! It’s just too much adorableness. My favorite part is the little Citron tart section 🙂 Enjoy!
I’m drinking Tazo Early Gray tea out of my Strawberry mug while wearing a shirt rather like this and a skirt made out of sweatpant material. It feels delicious to cozy up on a slightly chill, gray summer morning instead of sweating my way through another 90-degree day. I’m just not such a fan of the heat. 
I’m thinking: some baking? Some writing? Some antiquing?
Have a great Friday, my loves!
xo!

Avocado Chicken Salad

This is a super, super easy, and super delicious summer lunch, inspired by one of my favorite restaurant salads. 
Simplicity:
1.) Pile beautiful fresh greens on a plate. 
2.) Halve an avocado, and put one half on the plate. 
3.) Whip up some chicken salad with whatever you have on hand, and scoop it into the avocado half. 
4.) Grab some veggies if you have some (carrots, cherry toms, and cucumbers are perfect here), and throw those on (obviously I was low on veggies this time around, oops).
5.) Make or buy a delicious champagne vinaigrette, and serve alongside. 
6.) Eat all together–a bit of salad, a bit of chicken salad, and a bit of avocado, all dipped in dressing. Mmmmmmm!!!!

I should have made this again tonight. Instead, I decided in my brilliance to turn on the oven and bake a pizza. And then I burnt my $6 gluten-free pizza to a crisp, all while turning my house into more of a sauna than it is already. So take my advice: on a hot summer evening: make this chicken salad! It’s perfect!
xo!

Good Morning!

Gooooood Morning! It’s Friday! 
Sooo…I’m wondering. How did donuts ever manage to get the “breakfast food” distinction, while just-as-sweet treats like cakes, cookies, etc. were snubbed and called “dessert only”? I’m not sure who decided that. Give me a banana, cheese stick, and piece of chocolate cake for breakfast, and I can power through the day. Granted, I do NOT indulge for breakfast very often, and do not think it is necessarily the best way to start my day, but being an adult does have its advantages. Like eating cake for breakfast.
 I just remembered: this was Kate Spade’s adorable advertising/motto earlier this year! 
Amazing and so much fun. How cute are those outfits?!
Have a great day!

Birthday Celebrations

Birthday cakes are the picture of happiness. Sugar-overload, celebration-happiness baked in a pan and served with a smile. I just love to bake a cake, putting little touches here and there (such as handmade birthday bunting flags), and to offer it as a gift and celebration of friendship, of life, of good things that have been and good things that are to come.
Gluten-free chocolate cake with vanilla buttercream frosting…with organic strawberry milk.
It makes me happy. 
How could it not?
Sending so many good wishes for the coming year to the birthday girl! 
Happy Birthday and Lots of Love!
xo!