Enjoy Life....Indeed

There has been a huge lifestyle change at my house.

We've gone from lazy days of summer to the more regimented days of school.

They all went off to their first day with a smile on their face and so many stories to tell when they returned home.

Along with the joy of school comes the task of lunches.  My kids don't have a cafeteria and thus have to brown bag their lunches...which I love but then I also have to constantly be thinking of nutritious and delicious foods.

I was given a wonderful surprise when Enjoy Life Foods contacted me and asked if I would like a sampling of their crunchy cookies.

I gladly accepted their offer and was so stunned when I opened up their package to reveal this

We received all four varieties:

Sugar Crisp
Vanilla Honey Graham
Double Chocolate
Chocolate Chip

The great thing about Enjoy Life is that their cookies are gluten free, nut free, and soy free.

Did you know that not only can you enjoy the cookies straight out of the package but there have been numerous recipes developed USING the cookies in them.  To see some of the delights please click here (my favorite is the double stuffed sugar cookies).

When my kids hear "gluten free" they often think the product will be lacking flavor...but I assure you they had no idea that the gluten was lacking in these products.

They happily gobbled up the samples and gave 6 thumbs up (2 for each child of course).

They are now begging me to break into the bigger boxes of cookies.  Won't they be so excited when they find a cookie in their lunches!  They will indeed be going back to school in style.

Thank you Enjoy Life for giving me the opportunity to sample and review your cookies...they are a treat above the rest.

Have you tried any gluten free foods?  Did you enjoy them?

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Simple but Genius

Let's start with sometimes my husband is a genius.

You see our family enjoys popcorn, nothing fancy just popped corn (and maybe a little seasoning salt).

Well after reading articles such as this we began rethinking microwave popcorn.

So not one to be defeated my husband decided to take an ordinary brown paper bag with a 1/4 cup of organic popcorn and viola:

He popped it for about 2 minutes and we had a healthy bag o' snack.

Topped simply with a little pink himalayan salt and we were good to.

This is a good example of how dad's "fix" things.

Looking forward to presenting him with another challenge to see how he does (I am quite sure he will come out a winner).

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Hop on Over to My House

Can I tell you what joy it is to have a package waiting on your front porch when you get home?

Seriously I love getting mail and boxes.

This week I got this box on front porch:

You can't see it but I did a little dance (scarred the neighbors a little) and tore into it to see what the goodies were.

Do you like what you see?

Me too :)

This is Lollihop.

Lollihop is a subscription service which, monthly, delivers to your door a box of treats.

These aren't just any treats they are healthy and organic.

The subscriptions start at $18.95 a month (what better last minute gift than this as Christmas is only 2 days away).

The items in the box are hand curated by nutritionists, who ensure the healthy quality and then taste test to make sure customers will be satisfied.

This is a great way to be exposed to new foods and sample something before you consider buying a full size version.

The selections change monthly, but just look what December had in store:

I lost the Larabar to my daughter who loves a "bar" and the Pop Corners were snatched by my oldest son who, at 9, is a snacking machine.

I was super pleased with the selections and variety (plenty of salty and sweet).

I don't know if I would buy the subscription for myself I think I would have more joy giving it to a friend and letting them see how good healthy food can be...afterall I do so want to help bring people into a healthier way of life.

Would you like to try Lollihop?  What sort of foods would you want in your box if you got one?

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CSA Haul and Updated Banana Split

On Friday's we head over to Faucette Farms to pick up our bounty from their CSA (Community Supported Agriculture).

WHOA!

Yet another wonderful week in which I feel we got TONS of food for the money.

That watermelon is bigger then any I have ever seen before at about 2.5 feet long.

We were lucky to still get some peaches (a recipe with them coming tomorrow!!!) and some apples (a recipe with those the day after tomorrow!!).

My favorite item in our bag were these tomatoes

Those tiny ones in the back are the best snack food.  They are about the size of a blueberry and you can just pop them in your mouth and go.

Speaking of snacks my children LOVE snacks, whole meals not so much, but mention "snack" and they are on board for whatever you are serving...hence my new favorite snack.

Aften dinner last night the kids wanted dessert and my husband mentioned banana splits...but we don't have any type of ice cream.

So to avoid going to the grocery story and spending money we didn't need to spend I decided to feed the kids these...

Cut in half and topped with this...

Nutella!!!

In a sandwich bag I placed a handful of animal crackers and crushed them with a meat mallet

The poor meat mallet hasn't gotten much of a workout since I gave up meat, but it did turn those animal crackers into this

A nice fine crunchy middle for my banana treat.

Put the banana halves back together and serve

My husband preferred to have his topped with peanut butter, animal crackers, and chocolate chips

Both very yummy and healthy alternatives to the traditional banana split.



I didn't blog this weekend, I know "BAD" Rachel, but I did want to share the items that were removed for Operation Declutter My House:

Saturday, Day 5:

Sunday (we decided to go big and to Goodwill), Day 6:

9 coffee mugs (that's alot for two people who don't drink coffee)



model train



bag of clothing and some running shoes that I have always hated

For today I am have removed this toy which provided hours of fun for my boys (Day 7):

My First Leap Pad



I hope you all have a wonderful Monday and come back tomorrow for a delicious and refreshing peach treat.

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