Gluten free me ~Mahaley's Story

From the time I was a kid, I was in and out of doctors' offices for stomach aches. I constantly felt nauseous or sick after I ate a meal - no matter what it was. I couldn't keep weight on to save my life, and yet no one knew what the source of my stomach problems were. Lactose intolerant and ulcers were once thought to be the sources of the problem, but that never turned out to be the true reason.

When I was a teenager, I became very interested in a holistic lifestyle. I stopped eating meat, ate little dairy, and focused on eating whole, raw, organic foods. It was definitely a learning process, but I eventually found myself in this new world of taking care of my health through the foods I ate - not the doctors I went to. 

Though I was consuming what I thought to be healthy foods (and most were), I was eating a lot of whole grains, since I often opted for a pasta option as a meat replacement. Though I generally felt better than when I was a kid, I still suffered from constant stomach aches, and one piece of processed or fried food and I was in bed for a day. I didn't understand how I could be eating all of the things I was supposed to be eating, and still feel like crap.

At the beginning of this year, I started to suspect that I could be gluten sensitive. A little side note about me, I am three weeks away from being a certified holistic nutritionist, and there are many theories on how wheat is not beneficial to your health. It occurred to me that I did, in fact, eat a lot of wheat products, and that could be the source of my stomach aches. 

Come January, I decided to go gluten free. It was a little overwhelming at first, but after a lot of research and some help from my friends who were gluten free, I got the hang of it. I found a lot of recipes I loved, and bought substitutes for my favorite things like waffles and cereal. I often found gluten free products to taste better than the "normal" ones. 

I am not three days away from being 26, and I find myself in the best health I've ever been in. Going gluten free has changed my life in that I no longer suffer on a daily basis from stomach aches. They still come, but I know having a sensitive stomach is just apart of my life. I will take a few times a month as opposed to almost every day. 

For those of you reading this that think you may have an allergy, what do you have to lose by trying it for a month? That's what I asked myself, and the answer was that I had nothing to lose. It can take three months to completely get gluten out of your system, but those three months can also lead to the healthiest you've ever been. I don't regret my decision for one second. I get asked all the time "how did you give up bread?" Well, I now feel so great that there is no temptation. And when I want a piece of bread, I just toast one of my gluten free bread slices. I haven't realty given up much, but I gained a lot. 

Win an Ellie outfit and Yoga DVD

We are so excited to share this great giveaway from Ellie with you!  You can win a Free Ellie outfit and Yoga DVD set from Travis Eliot! If you have not heard about Travis Eliot yet, you can find out more on his website. If you are part of the yoga world, you may have already heard about him. Also, if you live in the LA area, you can go check out his classes at Power Yoga West or Equinox Fitness in Santa Monica. If you win, you get his 108 day yoga program with a nutrition plan and program calendar! You can enter to win here! While you are at it, don't forget to take a look at Ellie's newest styles! We are excited to get ours! Loving the new pants and capris for the cool morning runs. Please Follow us, Like us, Watch us, and Subscribe to us! Thank you so much for your support!

Raw Vanilla Pudding

Today on Gluten Free Best Friend we make Gluten Free, Vegan, Raw Vanilla Pudding

All you need to make this is an avocado, almond milk, two dates and a fresh vanilla bean 

Watch the Video here!

Start by putting the avocado and dates in a food processor

Add 1/2 a cup of almond milk and blend

Cut open your vanilla bean and scoop everything out with a spoon. Add this to the food processor.

Mix everything together, and add more almond milk if your mixture needs to be thinned out. 

Once you have the desired pudding consistency, you're good to go

This is best served chilled, so toss it into the fridge for  a bit before you dig it! The whole thing is only 380 calories and makes 4 servings! 

I found great directions for using the Vanilla Bean from Choosing Raw

To prepare the Vanilla Bean, you first need to trim the ends off. Next, slice open the Vanilla Bean. It's best if you just slice through the top layer, but it's okay if you slice through the whole bean. 

Open the vanilla bean expose the seeds inside, then use a spoon to scoop out the beans

Put the seeds in the blender, and you are good to go 

Let us know what you think! P.S. Don't let the avocado scare you. Our camera man couldn't get over the color and insisted we were crazy! Give it a try! 

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Banana Cocoa "No Cook" Oatmeal

This is an AMAZING recipe for a no-cook oatmeal. Oatmeal is traditionally eaten for breakfast, but this recipe is so delicious, I find myself eating it for any meal of the day, including dessert. It takes about 5 minutes to make, and is great for an on-the-go oatmeal. This recipe has become a staple in my house, and I think it will in yours, too. 

I adapted this recipe from The Yummy Life to make it GF and Vegan

*I used unsweetened vanilla almond milk and So Delicious' greek coconut yogurt, vanilla flavored. Both work great with this recipe 

This is one of those recipes that gets better over time, so feel free to eat on this for days, or make a few jars in advance! 

One Serving (One Jar) is about 300 calories 

There are several other versions you can make with this on The Yummy Life's website, and just make the necessary substitutions for a GF/V version! 

I could eat this everyday....

oh wait, I do. 

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Dress Up Your Kitchen ~ Nicole Porter Designs

Since fashion isn't just about what you wear, we want to share something fun to spice up your kitchen or give your next get together some conversation pieces.

While snooping around Etsy looking for a housewarming gift for a friend I found Nicole Porter Design and not only found a gift, but found a few things I wanted as well!

There are adorable state napkins. I'd snag some of the Cali Napkins for a fun girl's night or small casual dinner party.

I know some of you are transplants like Mahaley and I. 

Pick up your state napkins and have a piece of home with you!

If you don't have a connection to your state, or maybe want to go with a different theme, check out these Eat Well Napkins! You can get them in any color and they are adorable! I love these!

I am thinking of getting some of the plates she makes! They are made of beachwood or melamine and have great patterns or images.

I love the bright colors on the beach wood bowls and plates. I think it would make a pre-set dinner table 

look almost professional!  I like the neon pink and blue the best I think.

I also need this serving tray and spoons!! I can't seem to find the spoons on the Etsy page, but I am now inspired to make them myself!

I'm also thinking of doing some mixing and matching!

How cute would all of these be at a girl's day brunch or tea party! I love how the pretty pastel colors look on the wood. 

I would own a hundred sets of plates if I had the storage for it! Sadly, I don't, but one of my sets I have had one set since I moved to LA over 7 years ago. I can swap it out, right?

Lets go with yes, yes I can!

I hope you like this stuff too, I had to share it with everyone because it is so much fun! Food is so much  fun to make and eat, it should be a whole production, right!

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Camping in Big Bear!

We took a long weekend and drove up to Big Bear for a fun camping adventure!

We were able to leave at a normal hour so we were much more awake than when we left for the Big Sur camping trip. I was even awake enough to pack snacks! 

Mmmm! Gotta love an Udi's almond butter and jelly!

It is only about a 2 hour drive from LA so it took no time at all! I forget how close it is, we should go more often!

When we got there, I was only a teeny bit car sick, from all the twisting and turning up the mountain. As soon as I was out and got some fresh air and smelled the pines, I was cured!

We had a site reserved at Hanna Flat Campground. It is out there, you have to drive on a dirt road for a few miles, so don't plan on having a clean car!

 Our site was really big and had a lot of tree cover so we would have plenty of shade during the day to keep us nice and cool. We were kinda close to our neighbors, but we could not have predicted that they would be singing all night long.

We got our tents and sleeping bags all ready, then got corn hole set up! 

If for some reason you are not familiar with corn hole, it is one of the best yard games out there! You basically throw bean bags in a hole for points. I have no idea why it is called corn hole. I guess I could probably google it.

The name isn't important though. It is super fun! Even if you aren't any good at it like me. I tend to get lucky and make it in but I usually have to rely on my partner. 

Kim and I may have had less points, but it is not about winning or losing. We had more fun, so technically we won. 

After all the fun and games, we carried wood. It is kinda like carrying a watermelon, but cooler!

Can you tell we had some built up energy from sitting in the car? We were ready to go for a hike!

When the rest of our crew finally made it we let them set up their tent, then took a hike to check out the area before dinner. 

The area surrounding the campground had been pretty damaged in a fire and it was pretty crazy to see the black trees and open space where prior to the fire it must have been a very lush and green area. 

It was pretty sad, but there were quite a few of new trees planted throughout the hike. Hopefully, people will be responsible and let it grow again. I'd love to return in about 10 years and have it look like a completely different place.

It kinda looked like the "in-between" area in the Lorax movie where all the trees had died. 

As the Lorax would say, "Who will speak for the trees?"

Well, us girls beat the boys back easily, who knows what took them so long. Other than the fact that they thought we would have dinner ready when they got back to camp.

Nope, no dinner, but we did get the fire going without them! 

Yay, Girl Power!

So I had a lot of fun planning the meals in advance for this trip.  I had pre-made both of these so all I had to do was take them out of the cooler and toss them on fire pit. quick easy and no need to search for a clean place to prepare them. 

The grilled cheese was Udi's bread with cheese and pesto and the quinoa was mixed with squash, zucchini, and mushrooms!

Mmmmm!  Great dinner, but of course marshmallows are the required dessert when camping! I could eat a whole bag. I never craver marshmallows but when I'm camping I can't go to bed without one.

We were all tired that first night so we went to bed pretty early, I was also really cold! I wash't expecting it to get so cold. I won't tell you how cold exactly because I'm pretty sure I would get eye rolls from all my upstate NY friends. Lucky for me I have an awesome sleeping bag so I slept like a baby!

Stay tuned for the rest of the trip! So much happened I just couldn't fit it all into one post!



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GFAF EXPO

We are so so so so so excited to tell you that we are official GFAF Expo bloggers!

Mahaley and I will be going to the Gluten Free Allergen Free Expo in Dallas, Texas in October! 

If you are on a gluten free diet, curious about starting one, or if you have any other food allergies the Gluten Free Allergen Free Expo is where you want to be! At the expo you can learn about new products, sample products and even save some money on them while you are there. There are also classes to help educate you about the gluten free or allergen free lifestyle! Oh and plenty of goodies and free samples. Who doesn't love free stuff!

The Expo's main sponsors are Udi's and Glutino, plenty of yummies from them plus plenty of other great brands!

Holy Crap Cereal is the Amazing Blogger Team Sponsor in Dallas! A huge thanks to them! 

We can't wait to see all the new products out there and learn more about the products that we love! We are going to have a hard time choosing which classes to attend! There is even a Yes to Gluten Free...No to Diabetes course! There are some pretty amazing presenters, and we are excited to eat and learn, and then eat some more!

Oh and we are excited to meet you!

We want you to win a chance to go too!

You can choose which day you would like to attend.  And wait, there is more.... Because we think everything is more fun with your best friend, you will get two tickets so you can bring your best friend along! All you need to do to enter is leave a comment on the blog and follow GFAF Expo on Twitter and like them on Facebook!

Let your friends and family know all about the Expo in Dallas! The winner can pick up their tickets at the GFAF Expo registration desk on the day you choose!

We will be counting down the days and sharing more and more as the expo gets closer!

Be sure to enter to win! We will celebrate together with gluten free cake at the expo!

~Bailey and Mahaley