Going Gluten Free

A month or so ago, Hubby and I decided that we wanted to try eating GLUTEN FREE.  There wasn't really a "good reason"; however, recently I had been getting some bad headaches and was having trouble sleeping and I was willing to try just about anything to see if either or both would improve.  So, we decided we'd cut out Gluten.  I was a little intimidated at first, but did some research and found some really great Gluten free blogs...such as this one or this one and I can't forget this one.  Once I found these blogs, I felt a little bit more confident about meal planning & changing our eating habits.  

So, what exactly is Gluten?  The definition states it's "a substance present in cereal grains, especially wheat, that is responsible for the elastic texture of dough".  In "Leah-Terms", it's the glue that holds yummy food together ;)  I did a little research and planned out all of our meals and found it to be a lot easier than I had anticipated.  It seems as though Celiac Disease is on the rise and most grocery stores carry Gluten free foods.  I've never really had to look what I was buying before, so having to read labels closely was a foreign concept.  It definitely took longer to grocery shop, but in the end, I bought all Gluten free foods.  Everything from pasta, to breakfast foods, sweet treats, salad dressings and pretty much everything else in-between :)

I will say that even though it was easy to find GF products, it was not so nice on the wallet.  GF foods tend to be a lot more expensive.  I bought a GF cookie mix and it was $6 and made about 15 cookies.  I am sure there are better places to buy GF foods, but I stuck with my local grocery store.

How do I feel?  For the first 2 weeks, I didn't really notice a change, but into week 3, it sort of hit me that I was sleeping better and hadn't had a headache in over a week.  Who knows - maybe it's coincidence or all in my head, but maybe just maybe eating GF will help my headaches and sleep patterns!  For now, we're trying to eat GF as often as possible and we hope to continue this for a while.  

Here are a few pictures of the GF meals we made:

And, last, but certainly not least, stay tuned this week for a BIG announcement!  Yep, our household has BIG things happening...and I'm excited to finally share it with you ;)  

Happy Wednesday!

Weekly Snapshots

dafney's "boyfriend", "leah-palooza" and my second Mother's Day!

A long, long, long (okay, I think you get the point) time ago, we had some friends over & they brought their completely sweet and totally adorable little one with them.  I'm pretty sure that Dafney & R are going to the Senior Prom together :)  

When our friends came over, R was 5 months old.  The second R came in the door, Dafney was completely obsessed.  She kept pointing to him & saying "baby"!  She gave him more kisses than a {then} 14 month old should & the hugs were endless.  Needless to say, Dafney won't be left alone with a boy anytime soon ;)  It was extremely adorable how cute she was with her new buddy!  She only laid on him twice and he only almost lost an eye once.  Not bad for a toddler-baby combination!  I'm sure someday she'll be totally embarrassed when we tell her about her makeout sesh with R, but I'm a parent now and I'm all about embarrassing my daughter this is a story that I plan on sharing with her :)

Don't you think they're the cutest little kiddo's ever?!

Hugs :)

Kisses

hmm...you look like you need ANOTHER kiss :)

A couple weeks ago we celebrated "Leah-Palooza"...otherwise known as my birthday!  I lucked out and got a gorgeous day.  I took the afternoon off work to get ready for the "leah-palooza" party.  We had some friends over, grilled some food, drank some drinks and had an enjoyable time with some of our favorite loved ones :)  It was a perfect day!

Birthday cake from my amazing co-workers!

DRINKS!!!

Birthday Cake (#2) from a friend!

Mother's Day was another perfect day!  I got to spend it with Dafney & my husband, but also my parents, sister & brother-in-law!  We went to the Zoo and enjoyed each other's company as well as watching Dafney run around!  Then we went back to my parent's house for dinner...truly a perfect day!

Starting the beautiful day with a walk!

Grandma & Grandpa

Me and my love ♥

foodie penpal reveal: April

Happy Tuesday!  You'd hardly know it was the last day of April since we're supposed to get {gulp}SNOW on Thursday...if that actually  happens, you will see me hopping a plane to get somewhere warm.  

Enough snow talk...on to something more fun & exciting.  As you know, each month I participate in the foodie penpals program that Lindsay over at The Lean Green Bean coordinates each month.  If you haven't yet, you definitely need to check it out...and her blog which is pretty amazing, too!  This month I received a fun package from Kaycee who blogs over at Crafty Zoo with Monkeys.  Let me tell you she sent a HUGE package...here's what was in it:

• Kool-Aid packets: this brought me right back to my childhood.  We always had Kool-Aid in the house and it's Kool-Aid "season" and I'm definitely looking forward to making a big ole' pitcher {and perhaps making it "adult" kool-aid ;)}
• Oatmeal Raisin Granola Bars: I love granola bars, so these were gone in record time!
• Oatmeal (perfect portions): I haven't tried this yet, but I definitely will be!
• Mac-N-Cheese:  This is my daughter's favorite food, so I know we'll enjoy having this together.
• Pasta Noodles: Who doesn't love pasta?!?  And, this will go perfectly in some chicken noodle soup.
• Some Grilling Essentials: Worcestershire Sauce, Mustard & a Marinade - OMG, grilling season is finally upon us and these will definitely be put to good use!
• Jello: Another childhood fave...
• Balance Bar: I haven't tried this yet, but am looking forward to it!
• Little Debbie Snacks: Kaycee lives near by to where they make Little Debbie snacks...(sorta jealous) so she sent TONS of LD snacks.  I had to hide some of the oatmeal cream pies from my husband as they are his FAVE :)
• Starbucks Coffee packets:  Coffee+Starbucks=my weak spot!  The coffee was cinnamon flavored and it was delicious!
• Some sugar(s) and flour to make some brownies (she included a recipe!!!): unfortunately life has been a bit crazy lately & I haven't had time to make them, but it's definitely on my "to-bake" list!!

Thank-you, Kaycee for sending such a great package!

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Jealous and want to join??  Here's how:

What is the program all about?

- On the 5th of every month, you will receive your penpal pairing via email.  It will be your responsibility to contact your penpal & get their mailing address & any other information you might need such as allergy or dietary restrictions.

- You will have until the 15th of the month to put your box of goodies in the mail.  On the last day of the month, you will post about the goodies you received from your penpal!

- The boxes are to be filled with fun foodie things, local food items or even homemade treats.  The spending limit is $15.  The box must also include something written.  This can be anything from a note explaining what's in the box, to a fun recipe...use your imagination; the possibilities are endless!

- You are responsible for figuring out the best way to ship your items depending on their size & how fragile they are.  *Don't forget about flat rate boxes!*

-Foodie Penpals is open to blog readers as well as bloggers.  If you're a reader & you get paired with a blogger, you are to write a short guest post for your penpal to post on their blog about what you received.  If two readers are paired together, neither needs to worry about writing a post for the month.

- Foodie Penpals is open to US & Canadian residents.  Please note, Canadian residents will be paired with other Canadian residents ONLY.  We've determined things might get too slow & backed up if we're trying to send foods through customs across the border from the US to Canada & vice versa. 

If you are interested in participating 

​for May

, please CLICK HERE to fill out the participation form & to read the terms & conditions.

You must submit your information by May 4th as pairings will be emailed on May 5th.​

Weekly Photos

ten things Tuesday

I love lists, so I thought I'd make this post a list-y kind of one :)

10.  I've been on this {semi} health kick the past couple of weeks. I guess I picked a really bad {or really good, depending on how you look at it} day to stop eating junk food...mainly donuts.  We always seem to have junk food to snack on in my office & guess who's always "snacking"...yep, yours truly.  So, yesterday I said that I'm done snacking.  Now, that's not to say I won't enjoy a small treat every now & then, but certainly not everyday.  I need to start eating healthier, especially for breakfast!  I need to start my day off with healthy eats & hope it continues throughout my day!

9.  In keeping with my "healthy-kick", I decided to fore-go my Caramel Macchiato from Starbucks.  But, since I'm someone that *needs* caffeine to start my day off, I still make my daily trip to Starbucks.  However, I've traded in my 260+ calorie drink in for a simple cup of Joe...saving myself well over 250 calories!  Good for the waist and the wallet :)

8.  And, since we're speaking of healthy things, I might as well add one more :)  Hubby & I decided to go GLUTEN FREE next week. We've both heard good things and thought we'd give it a try.  I've been getting a lot migraine type headaches lately & thought that maybe cleaning up my diet a bit might help and I'm willing to try anything at this point.  What are some of your favorite GF products, recipes, tips or tricks?  

7.  We're supposed to get another snow storm this week...I'm over this winter crap and am ready to break out the flip flops, dresses and swimsuit (okay maybe not the swimsuit just yet, but the other two for sure)!

6.  I ♥ Hannah...probably as much as she loves to sleep on the bed!

5.  Hubby has a volunteer event for work today and the place they are volunteering at happens to be near my work.  So I get to meet him for a happy hour tonight!  I never, ever get to do happy hours anymore because I pick Dafney up from daycare so this will be a fun treat.  Is it 3:30pm yet?  Can you tell I don't get out much?!  

4.  It wouldn't be a complete post without a picture of my Dafney!  She's finally at the point where she loves to walk out of daycare vs. being carried.  And, she can't go anywhere without her "babies".  It's  rare now-a-days to see her without them :)

3.  I don't often stumble upon over-exciting websites, but Groop Dealz is worth sharing!  It's a lot like Groupon, but I feel it tailors more towards kids & women :)  Such as unique jewlery, crafty items, fun gift ideas and over-the-top cute kid items!  All at a really fantastic price!  

2.  We've finally decided that we are going to put our house up for sale.  I'm excited & nervous all at once.  I know that a bigger house is something we need, but I'm so comfortable in our current place.  However, we've had a bunch of foundational problems and we simply need to pack up & move on.  This weekend will be spent organizing, de-cluttering, cleaning & packing.  Jealous, aren't you?!

1.  Last and certainly not least, I want to take a moment to remember, pray for and send thoughts to those affected with the Boston Marathon tragedy yesterday.  I know that you can hear about this everywhere, so I'm going to be very brief and let those remember & grieve how they want, but I send my most sincere thoughts & prayers to Boston, those injured & the families who tragically lost loved ones yesterday.

back at it...

It's time for me to reunite with an old friend...her name is Jillian Michaels :)  Yes, it's been far too long since I've had a serious workout.  I need to get into shape & start working out again!  Not only am I participating in another triathlon this summer, I'm also a Bridesmaid in a wedding.  So, I want to be in shape & more importantly, I want my dress to fit :)  

I'm hoping to get in 5 days worth of workouts, but finding time can be difficult.  I'm hoping to get in one or two runs in a week over my lunch hour - but with the warmer {hopefully} weather, it might not be conducive to run in the sweltering summer heat.  On the days that Dafney is napping after daycare, I'm hoping to get in a 30-minute Jillian workout.  On the days she's awake, I'm hoping to get a run in after the Hubby gets home from work; and on the days that I'm wide awake at 5am (which seems to be more often than not), I plan to get up & work out before heading to work.  Hopefully I can stick to this regimen...

What are your favorite workouts & how do you find the time?