A Good Way to Start Your Day

One thing about moving that's difficult for a specialty eater is finding foods that you are used to, and foods to replace what you're used to eating, in local and new grocery stores.  I think I've done a pretty good job over the past few months playing switch the brand and find your favorites.  It's best when you don't have to do this though, which is why I'm thankful for the nationally popular companies and their products, like Attune Foods' Erewhon Cereals.  Attune Foods' motto is, Simple Ingredients.  Simply Made.  How can you argue with that approach?  I personally like knowing that my food isn't highly processed.  I like knowing that it wasn't on an assembly line starting as something that doesn't resemble what it comes out as.  I enjoy a company that also understands nutrition; then they can deliver me the best product they can.  It's selfish really ;)

Like I said, the offshoot that I enjoy is the Erewhon Cereals because they have 6 great GF varieties I can choose from and one to all of them can be found at most Whole Foods or nutrition groceries across the country.  My favorite is the Crispy Brown Rice with Mixed Berries, which has chunks of freeze dried blueberries, strawberries, and raspberries in every bite.  Sometimes we're lazy in the morning and don't feel like cutting up fruit; now you don't have to!

Attune also was kind enough to send me the Rice Twice (brown rice crisps and puffs), Strawberry Crisp (flakes with freeze dried strawberries), and the Cocoa Crispy (brown rice in a cocoa glaze) to try.  I was surprised how sweet the Rice Twice was, and not in a bad way.  Usually, a plain rice cereal tends to be bland; this wasn't.  It's perfect to use in breakfast parfaits:

Pick 1 cup of your favorite yogurt, 1/4 cup of fruit, and 

1/4-1/2 cup of Rice Twice, and layer in two divisions as above.  Enjoy!

The Strawberry Crisp was also automatically in my favor because it reminded me of the Rice w/ Mixed Berries.  A great use for the Strawberry Crisp (besides breakfast) is to throw the cereal in a processor/blender and make crumbs.  It can add another level to an oven "fried" chicken or a GF mozzarella stick with the presence of fruit.

The Cocoa wasn't my favorite of the cereals, but is a great option for the GF child in the house (or you) who wants to feel like they're eating something "sugary" and "decadent" which in reality isn't so bad for them at all.

Thanks to Attune Foods; they really care for their customers!  In full disclosure, they did provide me with the cereals highlighted gratis.  As always though, I only share my honest opinions of the product. 

A New Beginning

Hello readers,

In my absence, I hope that your holiday seasons went well and that all of your new year's started off with a bang!  I've certainly had a very busy time these last couple of months.  You see, I've been in the process of completely changing my life, in almost every way.  This rather dramatic decision wasn't made overnight, yet was deliberated over very carefully for about a year.

I had a change of heart, in that I felt I was losing passion for my job.  I had a change of body, as my health continued to devolve into an ever-changing unsolved mystery, and I had to make some real evaluations of what my day-to-day life will be like from now until modern medicine catches up with me.  I had a change of perspective from my circumstances and started making honest, big decisions about the things I wanted from life and from myself.  This is what we call being a grown-up.  This is what being a real live adult is like.  This is the real world.  None of this was easy.

I traveled across the country from a location that I dearly loved, to a place where I've never lived, I have no friends (but am close to family) and I have no job.  The only thing I have to cling to right now is the hope that as rough as it seems, I am on a path to fulfilling my own goals and living a less stressful life.  This has taken a lot of faith in myself and whatever else may be helping me out there. 

Since I got here, I have chosen more roads to travel down.  I will begin working towards a life that I am passionate about, as I study health and fitness on a professional level.  I hope to take all that I've learned from these rocky years of nutrition and health and build upon them so I can help others in person, not just via blog.  But don't worry, I'm not abandoning you!  I love writing here, and though sometimes I may be absent because of what gets thrown my way, I'll never leave.

I hope that all of you have started your year off well, with good intentions and positive feelings.  Even though I am in a place of transition, I feel mentally stronger approaching my new journey.  This is my little Me 2.0 adventure.  It's never too early or too late to make changes in your life either.  And if you don't think you've got what it takes, I scoff!  Allergics and GF peeps are some of the strongest people I know ;)

Much love~