screw you Gain!!

After working so hard to eat healthy and fresh (and gluten free!),  I paid little attention to the laundry detergent that I use “safeness.”  I was talking with a friend about loving Gain soap and doing laundry.  I love for my laundry to smell good and have a strong fragrance.  He told me, “You know that’s how they get you.”  And promptly dared me to Google the topic and make my own decision about laundry detergent (LD).   I was a bit skeptical because he does work at Whole Foods and eats super SUPER natural, non-GMO, blah blah blah, but thought I would give it a quick search.

It is scary to think what is in products that doesn’t have to be reported.  These following links are what intrigued me:

• Mothers Challenge A Trace Contaminant in Tide
• Tide Detergent Found To Contain High Levels Of 1,4-Dioxane, Carcinogenic Contaminant
• The best, and worst, laundry detergents with 1,4-dioxane contamination

I try to do what’s best for my body and avoid things that are unhealthy when possible.  I decided to make my own soap because at least this way I know what is going into the mix. I followed this recipe that I found on Pinterest from stepintomygreenworld.com.

From what I can tell from reading around, Borax and the washing soda seem healthier than 1,4 dioxane and who knows what else in conventional soap.   It actually took me longer to find the ingredients than make the soap itself.  I figured Whole Foods would have the Borax and washing soda, but they do not.  A quick trip to H-E-B got me all my ingredients for less than $20.

The prices were as follows:

Dr. Bronner Soap $3.00

Borax $2.94

Washing Soda $3.24

Lavender oil $8.29

To make another load, I just have to buy another bar of Dr. Bronner’s soap and repeat.  The boxes of washing soda/borax will make multiple loads and have plenty of the oil left. Next time I’m thinking about buying the scented soap to start with.

The recipe states it should wash about 32-64 loads, but I’m currently keeping a tally count with my first batch so I will know how much it costs per load.  The lavender recipe smells great and when it says FIVE drops, it MEANS five drops.  Those essential oils are pretty potent.

Of course, I had to decorate a jar to keep it in!!

Overall, my point is to question what you put in/on your body and weigh the pros and the cons.  Do I think that using Gain detergent will cause cancer?  Well, probably not.  But we don’t know for sure what these companies are using in their products and marketing to us as safe.  Better safe than sorry,  I’ll make my own.  🙂  And use Gain candles instead.

gluten free fatty

Full.  Stuffed. Filled to the brim. Grateful.  That is how I would describe me after the GFAF expo in Dallas a week ago. (Yes I realize I am late on this…blog came second to the paperwork involved in buying a house!!) I conned my boyfriend into accompanying me to the Glutenfreepalooza as he so lovingly called it.  The food sensory overload kicked in after visiting about two booths!  So many vendors and snacks to try, I can’t possibly name them all!!  I will simplify and mention my favorite moments/foods of the weekend….

1. This sticker from Way Better Snacks.  GF IS MY BFF!!!  Also their Red Pepper chips were delish (and the samples I got I didn’t even to eat thanks to the BF, which means they are awesome because he isn’t GF).

 

2. These cinnamon rolls from Sevierly Good GF. Moist, sweet and did not taste GF.  AT. ALL.  They are available on the website for $7.50 for the mix.  Chocolate brownie was also stellar.  BF also gave this two thumbs up.

3.  Getting to try products that I normally am too cheap to buy just in case they taste nasty.  For example, Kinnikinnick Foods donuts and bagels.  I have been eyeing these bad boys at Sprouts for months but haven’t been able to fork out the $6 for donuts.  I tried them at the expo and am sold!  I think that’s the glorious part of the whole thing; getting to the opportunity to try foods and decide if you like them before paying hard earned money.

(Forgive my god-awful camera skills, I was probably shaking with excitement from eating these!! Also I feel like a weirdo sometimes taking bazillions of pictures)

4.  HOLY CRAP cereal.  The company welcomed us to the expo and gave us a free bag of the non-GMO, GF goodness.  I would give you my review of the stuff, but the boyfriend also ate the entire bag of Dragon Blend.  He’s a meat and potatoes, favorite food is Tombstone pizza kinda guy, so him eating the whole bag says it all.  It’s full of protein, fiber and omegas and made with fruit, buckwheat, chia seeds and hemp hearts. MMMMM.

 

5.  Getting double snacks because I brought my boyfriend to fill his bag up too. 🙂 I had to buy a plastic bucket to put all my snacks and goodies in at home. So far, I’m loving the NoGii Chocolate Coconut the best.

 

6.  Leaving the GFAF Expo early to meet this sweet angel!!  🙂  I got to visit one of my besties, Abigail afterward.  (I really didn’t want to take that sticker off!!)

Can’t wait to do it again next year!!

just another minion monday

Glutens made me happy today.  No not because I ate them.  I would NEVER. DO. THAT.  But because I made MINION CUPCAKES!!!  Despicable Me Minion Cupcakes!!! Unfortunately they are of the evil gluten-filled species, because GF Twinkies have yet to exist.  I used the recipe from this site: http://mylitter.com/recipes/minion-cupcakes-from-twinkies-despicable-me/.  I don’t know whether you necessarily need a recipe but rather some time, excitement and important supplies: Twinkies, candy eyeballs, frosting, cupcake mix.

I have been biting at the bit to make these bad boys.  I was working on convincing my five-year-old niece to switch from a Hello Kitty birthday to a Despicable Me party theme.  This week is Surgical Technologist Appreciation week at work and I figured this was a good excuse to make them, instead of, well uh, just really wanting to make children’s movie character cupcakes. 🙂

I made it easy on myself and bought the eyes, already blue frosting, Wilson’s Glitter Gel and Betty Crocker cupcake mix. Word to the wise: let the gel set for a good while or your minion eyes will start dripping (this happened) and you will be finishing your minions at 5:30 am.  I also recommend buying two things of frosting to make sure the minions have enough to stick to.   I’ve seen rumors of GF Twinkies on the Internet, so maybe one day these minions will evolve into the gluten-free variety. (Who knows, maybe they will be healthier?)

Until then, I had the pleasure of Twinkie aroma during my 30-minute drive to work to fill my belly.  I enjoyed making them so much that I didn’t care and my coworkers were definitely pleased today!!

My cheater blue frosting…too lazy to mix food coloring 😉

Look at how happy they are! The one-eyed ones are my favorite!

BEEDO BEEDO BEEDO

Yummy toast

Look at this little guy: a squishy huggable stuffed toast!! And I can’t even eat (normal) toast but he looks so happy!

He’s part of a line of comfort snuggled, including a cupcake, bacon and eggs, even a stuffed cup of joe available here.

Gluten free girl hugging stuffed toast = irony. I suppose at least he is safe!!  Perhaps it’s the forbidden fruit theory, we want what we can’t have, which explains this adorable headband I bought from Etsy that my boyfriend informed me looks like wheat crops….

Mmm headbands and stuffed toast. Delish.

Gluten free fail

My sister bought me this nice gluten free baking book so I attempted to make the tortillas. I usually buy the $6 pack in the freezer section at Randall’s and thought MAYBE this could save me money because I could freeze them. Not so much. The dough is too sticky to roll out even with the parchment paper! And I ended up making cilantro GF flour blobs. I never can understand why GF flour is so sticky even though its missing what holds it together?? Conundrum I tell you!!

MEHHHHHH. Then I pulled a Paula Deen and just slathered butter on the poor misshapen shards of flour. Butter makes it better, right? ?

slacker

I have been a terrible terrible blogger.  But during this terrible blogger time, I have became a better nurse.  I took a new position as an operating room nurse in June and started a six-month internship through the various specialties.  So instead of working 3-12s a week, I am working Monday-Friday 6:30-3:00 pm.  I have less of my bored-Melinda-go-crazy time and have fallen into more of a normal routine (I actually have one!). 

So unfortunately, I find less time to blog because I am cooking dinner, trying to study my surgeries for the next day, washing clothes, bla bla and crashing at 9 pm because I am already exhausted.  Anyway, life in the OR is a completely new experience and has definitely challenged my nursing skills and confidence.  But I do love learning something new EVERY SINGLE DAY and I mean EVERY SINGLE DAY.  Sometimes I learn so much, my brain is flooded!! I’ll share a few things I’ve learned in my short time in the operating room…

1.  Always clamp your tubing before spiking giant bags of solution or you will shoot solution across the room like a water gun!!

2.  The operating room is notorious for glutenous things (bring lots of snacks!!)

3. That circulating nurses do a lot more than people give them credit for

4.  You can skip the gym after working ortho, prepping extremities and holding them until the solution is dry is plenty of weightlifting.

5.  That we should spend an entire day just driving stretchers around. It is much harder than it looks.

Lastly, since the change to a “normal person” schedule, I understand wholeheartedly the importance of celebrating Hump Day and Friday.  🙂 You’ve got to smile halfway through and when it’s over for the weekend. 

On that note…. HUMP DAYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My first GF birthday cookie!!

My lovely mother made me the most excellent birthday dinner/dessert yesterday. I love when your family “gets” it about checking things to see if they are safe; Mom was texting me all week about different items (brisket, BBQ sauce) and whether they were okay.

In my past gluten eating birthdays, Great American Cookie Company was my favorite. I mean, cookie > cake to me. Mom prepared it with two Betty Crocker chocolate chip cookie mixes and 20 minutes. It came out moist and chewy! Moms always do it better (except maybe icing decorating but I think it’s adorable).

🙂

diamond in the rough

I recently got a new job as an operating room nurse and as part of my training I have to attend an internship in Temple, TX for three weeks.  Thank goodness my family lives in Waco so I don’t have to drive from south Austin to Temple everyday. That’s about a 2-hour daily drive, so I am crashing in Waco at my mom’s house during the week.

Waco is not the most gluten-free friendly place, but there is one health food store that makes it a little bit easier, Drug Emporium and is also a Vitamins Plus. I’ve been going there since I was a kid with my grandma. They have a variety of everything from hair products, vitamins, wall decor and good prices on designer fragrances. I loved going there with Gogge (my grandma) because she would always buy me some Lip Smackers or some kind of treat. 😉

This time I bought my own treats of the gluten-free persuasion. Two bags full for $29…can’t beat that!!

The store has a great variety of brands, some that I don’t even see at HEB or Whole Foods. I can’t wait til the GFAF expo, I am sure I will find even more new choices. So if you ever get stuck in Wacko and are jonesing for a GF snack, stop at Drug Emporium (located at Bosque and Valley Mills).

i want moore cookies.

Farmers Markets always intrigue me. I love to see the local art, foods and what people in town are actually producing.  The only one I have ever been to is down south off Ben White, the Sunset Valley market.  I was unimpressed and a little let down.  The vendors were sparse and a couple were even rude.  (Maybe they were having a bad day?)

I’ve been wanting to check out some of the other options in town and since Brad owed me one for going on a float with all boys and being the DD; I figured it was my best opportunity to drag him along. 

We tried to go by Barton Creek, which is at the mall near Mopac but realized it was only offered there on Saturday.   Google led me to the HOPE Farmers Market on the east side on Fifth and Comal.  The market is open from 11-3 on Sundays.

It had the quaint little market feel and most of the shops were under shade which is a plus since it’s already 100 degrees by ten o’clock.  (Sunset Valley is on a parking lot).  I was pleased to find lots of gluten-free options and THE BEST COOKIES EVERRRRRRRRRR. 

My purchases: 

1.  One-Pound Honey from the Austin Honey Company, $10.  The honey is a good deal for the size and tastes good.  I try to eat honey to help with allergies; anything to help in the Allergy Capital AKA Austin. 

2. Poblano pepper and Muenster cheese tamale,  The Gardener’s Feast, $3.  This was my lunch that day.  Everything is fresh, organic and gluten-free.  I picked this flavor because it was on the spicy side.  🙂

3.  Fresh veggies, $2, I forgot what the place was called.  But I thought gosh these are small, but oh wait they are homegrown instead of juiced-up veggies. 

4.  My cute head sash, $2, from the Citywide Garage Sale (Brad got dragged there also on Sunday mwahaha).  This is also a fun event, its pretty much a thrift store/antique store on steroids.  Furniture, baseball cards, dishes, linens, you name it they have it, $5 for entry per person plus parking at Palmer Events Center.  The next one is July 13-14.

NOW THE BEST COOKIES EVERRRRRRRRRR…..

Sorry the picture was in my lap in the car on the way home.  Because otherwise the picture would have been of empty cookie bags.  Seriously.  They are that good.  Brad said they don’t even taste GF, which I think is the greatest compliment for GF bakery items.  And he’s had the Lucy’s cookies and other bakery stuff I have brought home. 

The lemon cookies were lemony without being overpowering and the chocolate peanut butter cookies tasted like Reese’s cups but cookie-style.  Soft and not crumbly, these are the best gluten-free cookies I have ever put in my mouth.  We ate them all before we ever got home.

The cookie representative (I think it was the owner from looking at the website) said they were working on a storefront for online sales. 

So go to this website: www.moorecookies.com and bookmark it right now! Because I swear you will want these cookies later. 

blogging + babies and GF!! WINNING!!!

I got an email yesterday saying that I would be a Gluten Free Allergen Free Expo blogger!!  I’m proud of my little piece of the ‘Net here and can’t wait for October to head to Dallas.  If you’ll notice, I have my very first badge!!

For those of you in Texas, the Dallas expo is at Plano Convention Center on October 26 and 27.  It’s conveniently near one of my besties who is going to have a little one soon!!  WIN-WIN for me!!!