Huge Gluten Free Giveaway Hosted Canyon Bake House and Love with Food

I have an exciting giveaway to share with you all. Canyon Bakehouse and Love With Food are giving away an amazing prize. Three people will win one of every product that Canyon Bakehouse makes. So, enter down below and good luck.

Link to the Giveaway

If you are curious about Love With Food feel free to click on my link and save.
Save on your first box!

Celiac Awareness Month Giveaway from Love With Food Gluten Free

I have an exciting giveaway to share with you. It is Celiac Disease Awareness Month and Love with Food Gluten free wants to celebrate by giving one winner a Year subscription of the Celiac-safe Love With Food Gluten-Free Box curated by KC the G-Free Foodie and a bag full of delish Allergen-Free Swag from Enjoy Life Foods! Two other winners will win a 3 Month Love With Food Membership! Just click on the link below and follow the steps. Good luck!
Giveaway:
celiac-awareness-month-giveaway

Save money on your first box:
Everyone is a winner because when you use this link you can get 50% off your first Love With Food Gluten Free Box! 
 50% off your first box!

Simple Mills Baking Mixes Review

Chocolate Muffins

I was lucky enough to win a Simple Mills prize pack from Gluten Free Frenzy and I am so grateful that I did. I was not sure what to expect because as you know gluten free baking mixes are usually a hit or a big miss. After trying all the mixes Simple Mills was definitely a huge hit at our home. All the mixes were delicious and moist and I loved that they are not crumbly like some gluten free products are.

Pumpkin Muffin

One thing that impressed me was that they were low in sugar and Paleo friendly. They are a great option if your trying to avoid sugar or grains but still want a sweet treat. Just like their name their ingredients are simple as you can see in the picture. To top it off they include some organic ingredients and they are also Non-GMO. I will definitely continue to purchase these mixes.


You can find the mixes at http://www.simplemills.com/ and I believe Whole Foods. The mixes are around 7.99 a box. They are made in a dedicated bakery and certified gluten free.

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New Gluten free Beauty Haul and Review

I picked up a couple of things to start the new year and I'm excited to share them with you. I will also link all the products websites for you if you would like to get more info on any of the products. 

I had been wanting to try the Acure Organics brand and I'm happy to say I love them. I picked up the Acure Organics Sensitive Face Wash and the Acure Coconut plus Argan Oil Cleansing Towelettes. Usually most face washes are too harsh for me since I have very sensitive skin but this face wash is perfect. It not only made my face cleaner it was very gentle and did not irritate my skin one bit. I'm also in love with the face wipes. I love the smell coconut and the wipes are so soft yet does it's job. It also did not irritate my eyes or skin. I highly recommend them. They are gluten free, cruelty free and have pretty good ingredients.
Acure Organics

While I was ordering the Acure Organic products on Iherb I went ahead and picked up my favorite mouthwash since I did need some. I have talked about my favorite mouthwash by Desert Essence in the past but if you need a mouthwash that keeps your breath fresh and helps your gums you might want to try it. I will warn you because it's tea tree oil based it tastes horrible. I mean it's pretty bad and took me awhile to get used to but it really does it's job and after awhile I could not even taste the tea tree. I since tried another brand and it just did not live up so I switched back. I also saw that they are having a sale on the Desert Essence website. Of course they are also gluten and cruelty free. Desert Essence


I wanted to treat myself and since Red Apple Lipstick is my favorite lipstick brand of all time I decided to try some new lipsticks. I chose Wine and Dandy and After Hours. Wine and Dandy came out awhile ago but it looked gorgeous and After Hours is from their newest winter collection. The colors are amazing and the formulations are so pigmented and moisturizing. Wine and Dandy is on top and left. After Hours is on the bottom and right. I'm in love with both of them but After Hours has to be one of my new favorite lipsticks. It's a very wearable purple. Red Apple did it again. Red Apple Lipstick is an amazing gluten free, cruelty free and vegan company. I do have a review that I will link if you want to know more about this brand. Red Apple Lipstick Website
My Review on Red Apple Lipstick

Next I picked up a sugar paper planner from Target. I'm pretty sure it's only available online. I really wanted to get a nice planner but I really could not justify spending 50 dollars for one. Although those planners are beautiful they are just not in my budget. So I started looking for more affordable options and that's when I found Sugar Paper. It was only 9.99 and there was decent variety. I feel like they are pretty comparable to the big brand planners as well. It does not have a removable cover or any customization options but it's still a great planner. It's cover and design is sleek and so pretty. I really like the horizontal layout because you have much more space to write on versus the square layouts. It has pages for contacts (because who hasn't lost or broken their phone and lost their contacts), a year calendar page, monthly calendars, a page with holiday dates and one note page. I will say I wish they would add more note pages. All in all I am very impressed with my planner especially for the price. Target(sugarpaper)

 Last but not least while browsing Marshall's I found Gabriel Cosmetics Hydrating Mask. It's says it's great for sunburns and irritated skin but I figured it wold be good to revive my dry skin this winter. It definitely worked. My skin feels hydrated, soft and smooth. You can see what it looks like in the picture. It is very lightweight and soothing. Plus the ingredients are great. I believe it said the regular price is about 24.00. If you can find it at Marshall's like I did for five bucks you can save some money. I do not think I would have purchased this at full price just because I could probably find something similar for a lot less. Gabriel Cosmetics

Have you tried any of these products? Feel free to leave comments or questions. To get updates on my blog you can subscribe by email. 

               
*All products were purchased with my own money and all opinions are my own*

Nomsy

Hi, everyone. Today I wanted to share with you a new up and coming app that aims to help people with food allergies, food intolerances, special diets and Celiac Disease. It is called Nomsy. Nomsy will be a community based platform that can be customized to your food needs. That means you can open your app and find recipes and safe places to eat that fit your diet. You will be able to read articles and even be able to catch up with trending topics that you care about and all in one place. Plus it's always great to connect with others who know what your going through and support you. Did I mention it will be free? How amazing is that? When I learned about Nomsy I knew I had to share it with you all! Check out these videos to learn more.
Move Forward in the Fight Against Dietary Restrictions from Robert Greenfield on Vimeo.

A sneak peak of what Nomsy will look like Be sure to check out their website at http://www.nomsy.co/ or check out their Instagram at @nutfreenoms .

You can help them get started by visiting their go fund me page at this link: http://gofundme.com/nomsy Even if your not able to donate consider sharing their campaign on your social media to spread the word around. What I love about this campaign is that some of the proceeds will even go towards food allergy and Celiac Disease research (they are partnering with the Celiac Disease Foundation and End Allergies Together Organization). Be sure to check them out.

Thank you all for reading and be sure to check out Nomsy.

*I was not paid in anyway for this blog post.

 

Why I started using natural products

While looking for true gluten free beauty products and makeup I noticed most of the companies I started using talked about toxic ingredients. They made me think about what I was using everyday not only on myself but my family. I decided to do some research. What I found was startling. I couldn't believe all the scary and toxic chemicals that name brand companies use everyday. I trusted these companies and always thought their products were safe. For example one ingredient that is in almost everything we own (shampoo, lotions, makeup, even baby products) is parabens. Companies and the FDA says they are perfectly safe but studies show that parabens have been found in cancerous breast tumors. Europe has banned over 1,000 ingredients in beauty products and the U.S. has only banned or restricted 11. That's right only 11. This means companies can still put formaldehyde in your nail polish and coal tar in your hair dyes. One of the first websites I found was http://www.ewg.org/skindeep  It is a great resource. You can type the name of a product in their database and it will score on a 0-10 scale how hazardous your product is. It will also name every ingredient in the product and score every individual ingredient in that product. It even gives you tips on what ingredients to avoid when shopping. So, I decided to type in all the products I and my family use.  All my products including my son's were scored medium to high hazard. I know not everyone will care about this issue but a lot of people (like me) had no idea. I have switched all my products already and seen a huge difference in my son's eczema. He has not had a breakout since. I really encourage you to look at the ingredients and be aware of what you are putting on your skin.

P.S. I thought switching would be very expensive. It really is not. Websites like www.iherb.com and www.vitacost.com have discounted products. I also recommend looking for products in discount stores like grocery outlet and Marshall's. You can even find wonderful products at target.

Thanks for reading. Have a great weekend.
Sylvia

Any tips, questions or comments just leave them down below.  Don't forget to follow or subscribe.

Are you Gluten Free? You Don't Have to Apologize!

I'm not sorry for being gluten free. I'm not sorry that I have felt the best emotionally, spiritually and physically than I have ever felt in my whole life. I'm not sorry for tweeting, instagraming, and posting pictures on Facebook of the new gluten free product I just found because I cannot contain my happiness. I'm not sorry for filling my cart with gluten free foods and talking about how awesome my new recipe came out. This is why.

 Almost every week there is another article, another celebrity, another person we know telling us being gluten free is just a fad. The funny thing is most of these people are not gluten free and never had to deal with the symptoms gluten has caused us. Suddenly we have became the punch line to peoples jokes and the cause for waiters to roll their eyes when we ask questions about the gluten free menu.

Yes there are people who eat gluten free to lose weight. Yes, these "fad dieters" are usually the target of all the jokes and hate. The thing is we get lumped up in this group. People start asking questions like, Does gluten really make you sick or all you just trying to lose weight?  Family members start to question if you are just following a trend. Believe me I wouldn't be gluten free if it I didn't have to. I want to go to a party and eat the food. It would be great to just grab my phone and order a pizza because I do not have time to cook or go out to eat anywhere without having to plan and call ahead. Yeah that would be great but it's not my reality. I have a disease and if I want to avoid other auto-immune diseases and scary things like cancer I have to be gluten free. The thing is gluten can cause more than just stomach issues. Before I was diagnosed two years ago with Celiac disease, I was becoming a horrible mess. Besides the stomach issues my thyroid medicine was not being absorbed. There were days when I could barely even get up. My goiter was enlarging again and I gained all the weight I lost. My anxiety was high and I could hardly sleep at night. The list goes on. I'm not asking for you to feel sorry for me. All I ask is that you just that you understand that gluten makes some people genuinely sick. There are kids who have been bullied about having to be gluten free because that funny guy on television said that being gluten free is stupid. It breaks my heart. I don't get the hate. If I have no problems with you eating gluten why should you have problems with me not eating it?

Then there is this weird obsession with the media that if you do not have Celiac Disease you shouldn't be gluten free. That being gluten free is bad for your health because gluten free cake and cookies are unhealthy for you. Yes, of course they are because they are junk food. I'm pretty sure natural gluten free foods like fruits and vegetable are healthy. The thing is there are people who have other reasons for being gluten free. Maybe you have gluten sensitivity, a wheat allergy, a yeast overgrowth or an auto-immune disease like Lupus, Crohn's or MS and eat gluten free to help keep down inflammation. Maybe you have been to dozens of doctors and took dozens of tests but still had no answers so you took the gluten challenge or visited a homeopathic doctor who told you to stop eating wheat and it worked. Whatever the case your eating gluten free for health reasons and there is nothing wrong with that.

Agree with me or not Gluten Free is not a fad. Stop the bullying and the hate. Let's be positive and drive out the negativity. I challenge you to spread awareness and get the truth out. Being Gluten Free is a part of my life and I will not apologize for that. I will not be apologize for being happy and healthy. You shouldn't either.

Why do you eat gluten free? How do you deal with people saying gluten free is just a fad? What do you say? Feel free to comment and share. Let's support each other.