Terrific Things Tuesday!

Hey y’all!! It’s been quite some time since we’ve had a Terrific Things Tuesday, so I thought I’d do a new one, and highlight some cool products I’ve found! 🙂

1) The Elephant Pants!

These are SO fun. There’s a variety of styles and colors, and each pair donates $1 or $2 to help save elephants. Plus, they’re not terribly expensive with most pairs running around $30 including shipping. These are currently my favorites:

2) The Westward Bag from Noonday Collection

This bag is made by artisans in India and empowers them with a dignified job to provide for themselves, and their families. Besides the good it does, it’s quite pretty, and has an awesome pop of color with the mirrored tassel. It also is large enough to use as a carry on when you’re traveling.

Screen Shot 2015-08-11 at 4.28.00 PM3) Celestial Seasonings Recycled “Art Work” Tote

This tote bag will help you reduce your carbon footprint, and is pretty to boot! Basically, Celestial Seasonings tea company took some of their tea box designs, and collaged them onto a reusable tote bag for groceries. I have one and LOVE it. It’s super sturdy yet lightweight and flexible enough to fold up and keep in my purse. 🙂 Plus, I get complements on it ALL the time because it’s so unique.

4) Navy Polka Dot Linen Classics from TOMS!

These are just adorable, and I need them in my fall wardrobe. That’s all.

5) Tree Free Greetings Notecards

Continuing the Save the Planet theme from the reusable tote, I give you . . . 100% recycled notecards. The art of letter-writing is almost extinct, why not do your part to bring it back with one of these pretty notecards? 😉 There are 12 packed in a cute tin box enclosed in which you’ll find three different designs. (The dragonfly is my favorite.)

That’s all the terrificness one post can handle so . . .

Have a Terrific Tuesday y’all! I will see you back here tomorrow!

Love,

Olivia

Tony Roma’s Gluten Free Ribs and Pulled Pork (a review)

Okay y’all, let me start off by saying that I am SO very sorry for my unplanned leave of absence. I have a good excuse . . . promise! I moved, and then Comcast was all: “What? We can’t get you internet until August 9th.” Which was good in the sense that it gave me some time to pack, but bad because it kept me from blogging.

So, you may be wondering, “Where’d ya move to?” And I have your answer right here:Rome, GA-13Just in case the picture isn’t loading for y’all . . . I moved back to Rome, GA! I’m super excited to have a new place to tackle Gluten Free living, and am looking forward to re-acclimating to life here in Rome after a few years away. Enough moving stuff! Let’s get to our review, shall we?

Rupari Foods distributes Tony Roma’s Gluten Free Ribs and Pulled Pork, and sent me some products to try and review for y’all! 😀

Here’s what I received:

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Their World Famous Baby Back Pork Ribs, and Signature Pulled Pork. Both of which are free from both gluten and high fructose corn syrup.

Let’s begin our review with the ribs . . .

There were 12 ribs in the rack of ribs. Preparation was super simple, just put them in the oven on a foil lined baking sheet, and brush with sauce a few times throughout the cooking:

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After removing from the oven, all you have to do is split into servings, and enjoy!

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They were really moist, almost to the point of falling off the bone, which makes an already messy eating process messier. Oh well! They make sinks for a reason, right? The mess factor is one thing that’s kind of classic when eating ribs anyways, so it was to be expected.

As for the flavor, the sauce is a bit on the ketchupy side, which was not my favorite. In my opinion, there just wasn’t enough dimension to the flavor, and it could’ve used a bit more spice. However, if you’re not a fan of spicy barbecue, these might just be what you’ve been looking for.

The pulled pork was my favorite by far. As with the ribs, preparation was quite simple. Remove from package, heat on stovetop. So easy that I almost made Ava (see photo below) cook it. 😉

IMG_4491Anyways, after it’s heated clear through, you can eat it plain, or put it on a bun/ toast and make a Pulled Pork Sandwich. I toasted two pieces of my favorite Gluten Free bread, and made a sandwich:

IMG_4676The flavor is awesome, it had the smoky/spicy component I missed from the ribs, and was just over all really yummy. The sauce is really good, flavorful but not overpowering. I liked that I could still taste the meat, not just sauce . . . a common flaw in preprepared barbecue.

As for the texture, it was a bit on the mushy side for me. But, I accidentally let it go a minute or two longer than directed, so it may have been my error . . . not the product’s.

I was very impressed by the quality of Tony Roma’s products, and while I’m unsure about the ribs, I’d definitely buy the pulled pork in the future.

I hope y’all found this review helpful. As usual, all opinions expressed within this article are mine and mine alone, regardless of how nice it was to get the products for free.

I hope y’all are having a wonderful week, and promise to see y’all back here sooner rather than later!

Love,

Olivia

Summer makes Gluten Free Easy!!!

I LOVE the Farmer’s Market, but y’all know that already! 😉

We have been loving our local farmer’s market this summer, and are enjoying the bounty of available produce! And with the bounty of produce, comes a plethora of Gluten Free Deliciousness! Such as our FAVORITE summer meal . . . corn and tomatoes.

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We get fresh corn from the farmer’s market, as well as the tomatoes. Then, once we return home, we get everything ready and serve the meal.

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What you see above is the beautiful array of tomatoes we purchased. Our favorite varieties have been: Empire, Lemon Boy, and Striped German.

I love all of these great naturally, gluten free options, and am thoroughly enjoying the expansive selection of summer food options!

What are y’all’s favorite summer vegetables? Let me know in the comments below!

Have a wonderful day, y’all!

Love,

Olivia

A quick PSA!

Y’all!  Gigi’s has Gluten Free Cupcakes!

I realize I may be late to the party on this, but I just thought I’d let you know. We’ve tried a few different flavors over the past couple weeks, and I thought I’d share them with you! 🙂

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Here’s what the Knoxville Store says about their Gluten Free products:

“Gigi’s Cupcakes Knoxville has gluten-free fans covered. Every day we bake three different gluten-free cupcakes. Our gluten-free cupcakes varieties include Wedding Cake, Midnight Magic Chocolate Chip, Birthday Surprise, White Midnight Magic, Peanut Butter Cup, Lemon Dream Supreme, Chocolate Salted Caramel, Strawberry Shortcake and Miss Princess. And, we make the most delicious flourless Triple Chocolate Torte you’ve ever put in your mouth! So, come see us at Gigi’s Cupcakes of Knoxville.”

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Additionally, here’s what Gigi’s says about their Gluten Free Cupcakes!

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That’s all for today folks!

Tell me what your favorite Gluten Free Cupcakes are in the comments!

Have a tremendous Thursday day y’all!

Love,

Olivia

Battle Hymn of the Republic

In honor of Independence Day yesterday, I thought I’d share a more patriotic song this Sunday!


Happy Sunday, y’all!

Love,

Olivia

Upcoming Gluten Free Products!

So, after my brief sabbatical due to illness . . . I have returned to the blogosphere to share some AWESOME news with y’all!!

There’s a new cereal coming to join the Gluten Free Community, y’all!! Do you recognize the cereal in the picture below?

That’s right . . . Lucky Charms are going Gluten Free!! 🙂

Let’s be honest though, we all are WAY more excited about these:

Than the actual cereal. Lol.

If you want to read more of the logistics, read General Mills official announcement here.

According to the announcement, they will be available labelled Gluten Free by September, which I find quite exciting, because Lucky Charms are always fun on occasion.

Have a Tremendous Thursday y’all!

Love,

Olivia

Your Name

For I will proclaim the name of the Lord;
    ascribe greatness to our God!

Deuteronomy 32:3

Find the lyrics here!

Have a blessed day y’all!!

Love,

Olivia

CVS Gluten Free Product Find

I was at CVS yesterday to pick up cough medicine because . . . #SickGirlProblems, and while there realized I hadn’t eaten yet, and went off to their snack area with SUPER low expectations of finding anything Gluten Free when I stumbled upon these:

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And I was really impressed. They’re super tasty, make an awesome snack, and they’re Certified Gluten Free! So, if you have a CVS near you . . . try these out!

Have a Super Saturday y’all!

Love,

Olivia

Strawberry Yogurt Pupsicles

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Popsicles for the pupster = Pupsicles! Get it? 😉

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It’s getting hotter outside, and you can’t forget your furry friends need to cool down, right? Well, if you’re a crazy dog lady like me, then you make your dog popsicles. Lol.

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These have a whole two ingredients:

  • yogurt
  • mashed strawberries

That’s it.

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I mixed 3/4 of a 32 oz tub of vanilla yogurt (you could use plain yogurt too. The less sugar, the better) with a cup of mashed strawberries in a gallon size bag, cut the corner off, and filled plastic punch cups halfway full with the mixture. Then, stuck them in my freezer.

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After about an hour . . . I took some milkshake straws, cut them in half, and inserted them into each popsicle. Then, I let them continue to freeze until they were solid.

After they’re frozen you can serve them to your pupster! I’m pretty sure they’ll like it!

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Now, I don’t let her eat the whole thing at once. One popsicle is about three servings for her, but obviously it’d be less for any dog that isn’t an 8 lb MaltiPoo.

Do y’all make treats for your dogs? Share the recipe in the comments!!

Want to show off how cute your pupster is? Share a picture in the comments, or on the Facebook page!!

Have a Terrific Tuesday y’all!!

Love,

Olivia

Father

“Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.”

Exodus 20:12

Lyrics are here!

Have a blessed Sunday y’all!

Love,

Olivia