Tupelo Honey Review- Asheville, North Carolina Gluten Free Restaurant Gems

On our last day in Asheville, NC we had the opportunity to get dinner on our own. A couple of the graduate students had definitely done their research and also looked up to make sure their choice had a gluten free menu… I am so blessed!! 🙂

Tupelo Honey was the restaurant of choice. There are two locations in Asheville.  We went to the one on the Southside of town. It was super cute inside and very homey feeling. The first thing that was brought to the table was… you guessed it… HONEY and biscuits.

I grew up eating biscuits or my Mom’s amazing homemade dinner rolls with honey. I was addicted, but once I became gluten intolerant the addiction sadly came to an end! When we placed our orders, I definitely placed mine off of their extensive gluten free menu. I ordered a chicken sandwich… mainly because I wanted to have gluten free bread after being deprived for a while. Our server asked if I would like gluten free bread instead of the biscuits the others were chowing down on… WOW this place had a great understanding of gluten free and I had full confidence in my dinner.

As you can can see there is a sheen of honey on that first bite… YUMMYYYYY I was so very happy!  I highly suggest this restaurant if you are near the Biltmore. It is not far at all and it is very very good. The other’s review on the main menu was fantastic also. Many others got grits and some fried food and fried okra. What a great way to end a wonderful trip!

Gluten Free Cosmetics and Hair Products

The other day I received some information via a comment on my blog about a couple of gluten free cosmetic and make-up items from my high school honors english teacher. I sometimes do think of her as I write this and worry about her catching all of my hurried grammatical errors, just as she did years ago 😉 She has always been a very sweet lady and she contacted me a while ago about going gluten free for her health. Since then she has shared some knowledge about the products that she has found, which I appreciate.

So… onto the products! 🙂

Red Apple Lipstick is completely gluten free and also offers more than just lipstick.

They even provided an awesome link to more information about why gluten free cosmetics are the way to go since gluten is our enemy. Taken from the website, “One ingredient in particular, gluten, is used as a binding agent in many cosmetics and can be quite harmful.”I do not know if that surprises anyone, but I had never honestly thought of lipstick having gluten in it. I have to admit, I NEVER wear lipstick and only wear mascara on a daily basis so it would not affect me anyway. Yet, many people I know who are gluten intolerant do enjoy wearing cosmetics.

Red Apple also shared some reviews on their products. I just sent my twin a text to tell her that her lipstick might have gluten in it, believe it or not. Come to think of it, these cosmetics could be sweet stocking stuffers and surprises for gluten intolerant friends.

The other company that Mrs. Roach had mentioned was the Wen line hair care.  The pomegranate scent is the only one truly gluten free though.  I have thought about the fact that shampoo often time runs down my face and probably gets into my mouth a little at a time. I am VERY sensitive to gluten (a few crumbs in a dish I saw fixed by someone left me sick for days) and therefore would appreciate knowing if all of my shampoos and conditioners were gluten free also. I use Pantene Pro-V and have no issues, but remember my twin saying the specific kind for color treated hair had gluten in it. I use the kind for curly hair and for extra moisture… so I am good to go!

Any questions, let me know!! Hope this helps, make sure to check everything… sounds silly but if not you could end up sick as a dog! 😦

Maggiano’s Italian Restaurant San Antonio

This past Saturday we went to San Antonio to pick up our couch… you might remember reading about it here.  Aaron knows that my favorite restaurant is Maggiano’s and he also knew there was one in San Antonio. 🙂 Yes sireee he took me to my favorite restaurant with gluten free pasta 🙂 🙂

I ordered the gluten free pasta with meat sauce. The last time I ate at a Maggiano’s (it is a chain) they asked if I preferred corn or rice pasta.  I ordered corn pasta. This time the only option was rice. I have to admit, the corn is a LOT better than the rice. Especially as leftovers. The rice was a lot more dry, which is Aaron’s main complaint about rice pasta versus regular pasta.

Check out those guns while I displayed my meal 😉

Aaron ordered a gluten filled meal, of course. He LOVED the bread and oil with herbs and ordered a salad that had bacon as well as avocado on it and a light dressing. It was actually gluten free, but I am not a huge salad lover so I let him enjoy it without having to share.

 He ordered a pasta stuffed with crab and shrimp with lots of alfredo sauce. It was topped with peppers also. We both had soooo much food that we took the leftovers back with us to Aaron’s parents where we had worked sheep earlier. Unfortunately, Aaron was in a HUGE hurry to get back to Lubbock to unload all of the sheep that he didn’t even give me time to run in and get the leftovers…  😦 😦

Mason Wedding Shower Recap

Sorry for the delay and lateness in this getting posted, better late than never though!

To start off I want to say another huge thank you to the hosts and hostesses and to all of the people who attended!

The whole group of sweet hosts and hostesses with us

The shower was a lot of fun, the food was delicious, and the decorations were perfect for the occassion. We enjoyed seeing everyone and I met a lot of the people that have been in Aaron’s life. It was very sweet, the meal was gluten free and one of the hostesses even made me a gluten free peach cobbler. I loved it and Aaron even got the gluten free version instead of the normal version and he demanded I get the recipe because he liked it even more than the regular kind :-)! Hopefully I will have the recipe soon to share with you. It WAS delicious.

We received a lot of very nice gifts that we will be able to use during our marriage and in our home. We appreciate all of them and the stories that were shared during the shower.

Excited to try some recipes out in my new Crock-Pot from Heather and Matt. It is so fancy that it even has a timer on it 🙂

You might remember this couple, Kurt and Kim were married just a couple months ago and Aaron was in their wedding.

My new in-laws below 🙂

Gluten free meatloaf

Guess what had been delivered when we got home last night?? Aaron’s thesis defense/graduation gift from me!!!

I was excited that we finally got it, it was very heavy and cost a lot to get it shipped… No, I didn’t get him a life sized sheep statue. I got him this farm barn and set of livestock that he’s wanted since before I knew him. Why he never received it before I don’t know. We even registered for it on our Amazon wedding registry. He was very sad he didn’t get it as a wedding gift.

It is pretty cute if you ask me. Why he never asked for it for his birthday before he met me I have no clue!

But he was one excited little boy soon to be Master’s graduate. He passed his thesis
Monday and has been working on his corrections… Tonight he played with his gift 😉

So, while I was doing this… (working out like a crazy person)

My twin was doing this:

Jordan, her hubby, bought her 4 of the $1 size portions of custard from Culvers. I am pretty sure I would have just ordered a quart and let the earth remain a little greener without all those plastic cups. Haha 😉

I was craving Sheridan’s custard at this point, but settled for picking Aaron up at school (we ride to and from work together to save a few bucks) and headed home and made meatloaf at his request.

I made it gluten free obviously.

Grocery list:
LOAF:
1 pound hamburger
1 cup brown rice cooked
1 egg
1 tsp mustard

1tsp garlic salt

 

TOPPING:
1 c ketchup
1 tsp mustard
2 tbsp brown sugar

Get busy:
Combine all of the loaf ingredients and place in a glass baking pan.

Mix all of the topping ingredients together and pour over top of the loaf.

Bake for 35-45 min at 350 degrees.

Cut up and enjoy!

I pretty much mutilated it from the get go. I am not a huge meatloaf fan, but every once in a while I can eat it. Aaron said it tasted like meatloaf even though it was gluten free. He is such a trooper.

Reader Recipe: Mediterranean Nachos

I received an e-mail with a tested gluten free recipe. The whole family thought it was delicious and the young lady who sent it to me said it was very easy and a welcomed gluten free meal! Thanks for the suggestion, I am excited to try it soon!

Mediterranean Nachos

Grocery list:

Restaurant style corn chips (tortilla chips)

Feta cheese 

Sun dried tomatoes

Roma tomato

Green onion

Black olives

*black beans

*Italian Style Turkey meatballs

*These were not in the recipe, but she added them

 Get Busy:

Dice the sun dried tomatoes, Roma tomatoes, green onions and black olives and mix in a bowl.

Preheat the meatball and beans and add them in the mix in the bowl.

Crumble the cheese on the chips and microwave until the cheese melts and bubbles.

Put mix from the bowl on the chips and enjoy.

Doesn’t this sound delicious? I have yet to try making them… something about being too busy to be home and actually fix a meal in forever 😉 Can you tell this girl is ready for a slow down, but not getting one for the next 6 weeks it looks like. Next time I fix a meal I will probably be an old married woman  married, my wedding is in a month and a day!

 For now I am working away at school while it is getting up to 100 degrees outside EEK!

Hope you all have a happy Wednesday!

Dinner recipe: Mexican tortilla stack ups

At my bridal shower in Indiana our neighbor growing up adopted us as her daughters. We would get our hair done with Aunt Shirley, go shopping for show outfits and she is the one who introduced us to lambs! Aaron can thank her 😉

Anywhos, Aunt Shirley was looking out for me as always and gave me The Gluten Free Bible. On our drive home I looked through it and got very excited to try almost every single recipe in it. Here is one I made and enjoyed a lot!

As you can see in the recipe there was not any meat included. I can’t have a meal without meat so I browned some hamburger and added it the can of drained black beans, 1 cup frozen corn, and gluten free chili mix seasoning (I didn’t have any taco seasoning mix).

This is what the bool portrayed the finishing product looking like:

Mine kind of fell apart, but it was still delicious and I highly suggest it as an easy dinner.

Someone else has discovered the awesomeness of Sunland Peanut Butter

Sooo remember when I talked about the amazing Chocolate Peanut Butter that Mr. Shearer gave me?!?

Well, look who tried it today PBFingers!!

To buy the peanut butter check out this LINK.

I promise you will not be disappointed when you order this:

This would not last long around me!

Enjoy your Friday and make sure to get your hands on this awesome peanut butter!

Here is the link for the little squeeze packets I tried. Great portion and snack sized convenience.

Stock up your pantry, desk, and purse with this convenient treat!

Step 1: Admitting my addiction… and evidence to prove it

A few weeks ago while at the Jenning’s I of course indulged in some Blue Bell with my future father in law (we both make fun of one another for how much we love it and the large quantities of it that we consume). Actually Mrs Jennings made a special stop just to make sure we would have enough to “get by”.

I literally could eat the WHOLE half gallon of this Homemade Vanilla… and have over the course of a couple days before… and that was because I was around others… Had I been by myself it would have been gone in one setting.

I HAVE NO SELF CONTROL WITH ICE CREAM!!

While I do not consider this a problem I have always wondered why I crave more each time I have it.

WELL, Mr Jennings did share that he heard on K-Love that research was done and that ice cream is addictive like a drug. A bowl might satisfy you, but the next time you will want two, and then three so on and so forth.

Problem is I don’t remember ever just wanting ONE bowl… many of times my twin and I would get a whole container and 2 spoons and go to town on our own! Oh the good ol spiked metabolism days!!… and then we would go run a painful 2 miles thinking that it would burn it all off haha

Ice cream has always been a staple at our house and HOMEMADE ice cream, hand cranked, is a summer tradition after long days bailing hay and working on the farm.

I shared the study with Corey and she found the study and I thought you might be interested in reading it.

While I realize my addiction… do you really think it is worth giving up ice cream?? Are you addicted?