Eat Well And Smile Often With Udi’s! @UdisGlutenFree #Ad

*I participated in a campaign on behalf of Udi's. I received a promotional item to facilitate this review.  All opinions are 100% mine.       As many of you know, my family and I traveled to Chicago this past July to attend a blogging conference.  During our stay, I had the opportunity to connect with some wonderful brands and one of my favorites was Udi's Gluten Free.  They are the #1 gluten free brand in America and they create some delicious foods such as breads, buns, bagels, muffins, cookies and granolas.  Prior to this, I had no idea that gluten free foods could be so delicious!     Aside from tasting great and being gluten free, Udi's products are also all natural and made without any artificial flavors, colorings, preservatives or other synthetic additives.  For those of you who don't know, Gluten is a protein found in wheat that gives elasticity to dough, helping it to rise and keep its shape. Gluten is a combination of gliadin and glutenin, which is joined with … [Read more...]

Experience The Benefits Of The Mediterranean Diet! #HormelFamily #Ad

*This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Hormel Foods.  All opinions are 100% mine.     Building a healthy lifestyle and practicing good eating habits are very important to a person's overall health.  According to a study recently published in the New England Journal of Medicine, it has been found that the Mediterranean Diet decreases a person's chance of having a heart attack, having a stroke, or dying from cardiovascular disease.  People who enjoy meals that adhere to the Mediterranean Diet make a conscious decision to replace red meats and sweets with a balanced diet of fruits, vegetable, olive oil, nuts, whole grains, seafood, poultry and certain dairy products.     Although I have not made the transition to the Mediterranean Diet, I personally understand the impact that cutting sugar out of a person's diet has on their overall health.  For health reasons, I almost completely cut sugar out of my diet a little over a year ago and have lost sixty pounds as a result … [Read more...]

Give Me Some Sugar!

        My youngest son, "E", has a sweet tooth.  Actually to say that is an understatement because he is addicted to sweets.  Now, before you press the comment button to enlighten me about the importance of eating a balanced diet and limiting children's sugar intake, know that I already know and do all of these things.  My husband and I encourage our boys to eat healthy snacks and always have plenty of fruit available for the kids to eat.  After all, Hubby works in the produce business so he always has access to the best fruits and vegetables.     I'm not sure when E's love affair with sugar began.  Lately I have been wondering if it all started during my pregnancy with him.  Since I had gestational diabetes during that pregnancy, I adhered to a strict no sugar and limited carb diet.  Maybe that initial deprivation of any kind of sugar made him go crazy over it when he was finally able to taste it for the first time.  All I know is that he loves anything that contains sugar … [Read more...]