Three Cheese Bake

This dish quickly became a family favorite!

It's super easy to make and the kids love it!

All I used was...

1lb of lean ground beef or turkey

 3 /4 of a bag of Tinkyada Brown Rice Elbow Macaroni

1 Regular jar of Ragu Sauce (Or homemade spaghetti sauce)

 Half of a medium onion chopped

3/4 cup Green Bell Peppers chopped

Salt

Pepper

Fresh Garlic

Three of your favorite cheeses

I used Mozzarella, Parmesan and Shredded Sharp Cheddar 

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FIRST

Fry the ground beef with the chopped onion, bell pepper garlic and season with salt and pepper to taste.

SECOND

While this is frying bring you water to boil and prepare the noodles.

If you have never made these noodles follow the directions to a "T" so you don't end up with mushy noodles!

THIRD

Remove fat from meat and combine everything in the 9 x 13 pan you are going to bake it in.

Did i measure the cheese? Nah

I used about two handfuls of each one and 

sprinkled some parmesan into the dish and mixed it well.

Then I covered the top with as much 

Parmesan cheese as I wanted on top.

 Mix thoroughly and sprinkle parmesean cheese on top to get a nice crispy top on your bake.

Bake covered for about 30 minutes at 350.

Remove cover and place under broiler for a few minutes to brown the cheeses on top and serve with a side salad.

That's it!

Uno - Dos - Tres - Three Cheese Bake!

As you can see this recipe is super easy to put together and can even be pulled together the night before.

Leftovers freeze well too!

Let me know if you have a similar family favorite.

I would love to give it a try!

:)

BabyCakes NYC- Allergy Friendly Bakery in Orlando

Ok. I know I am not the first to write about this bakery and I certainly won't be the last.
Check this Out
babycakesNYC  is
Refined Sugar Free - Gluten Free - Wheat Free - Soy Free - Casein Free - Egg Free - Vegan - Kosher
I was so excited to see two cases with items I could eat!!!!
There was no... NO you can't eat that!

It was total

I loved everything I tried and even love saying the name

babycakes! Babycakes!! BABYCAKES!!!

haha

First, I have to tell you if you have never been to

babycakesNYC it can be a tad hard to find here in Orlando.

There are no signs directing you there.

and as a matter of fact a Disney employee told me how to find it and his exact words were

"There are no signs for it."

Why is that?

Why would there be no signs directing to you such a lovey little find?

I even checked the shop and restaurant listing and never saw it there either.

What is up with that?
Kind of makes me wonder what else I am passing by and never realizing it's there.

Well thank goodness I found it 
and now let me tell you how to find it yourself :)

here we go....

In Downtown Disney park in Parking Lot 2

in front of T-Rex.

For those of you not familiar with the area don't get T-Rex confused.

babycakes will be located just to the right of T-Rex inside of Pollo Campero Restaurant.

As you enter Pollo Campero babycakes will be off to the right of the restaurant.

Pretty Easy Right?

 It's a small space but packed full of wonderful allergen friendly delights. :)

 They have cookie crunch donuts in vanilla or chocolate!

{They were amazing by the way!}

Everyone in the family had a bite of the chocolate cookie crunch donut I brought home and

everyone loved it.

My trio included their signature cookie sandwich, the cookie crunch donut and the chocolate chocolate cuppy!

 I loved them all!

{However, sometimes you are going to have a favorite}

&

Mine happened to be

 The cookie sandwich and as it turns out it's their most asked for yummy!

I'm telling you... It was divine.

If you get a chance. 

DO IT!

I was told before I left that if I didn't eat them right away the icing would melt. 

So I decided once I got to the truck to eat the cookie and take the 

icepack from my cooler to place inside the box until I could get home.

Hey come on!! Don't give me a hard time here!!!

I honestly didn't think the cookie would fair well on the 20 minute drive home.

[insert chuckles here]

So an executive decision had to be made!

And it was a good one because it would have been 

REAL HARD

&

I mean

 To pry my hands off of this thing and share with the fam.

So that's my review of a wonderful hidden little find right here in O-town.
I hope you enjoyed my post and will head out and give babycakes a try.

If you have tried babycakes before please tell me what your favorite was because
I would love to go back and try more pretties whenever I find myself in the area
and your suggestions will help guide me.

:0

Thanks for stopping by and know that I greatly appreciate your stopping by.
I love you all!
Hats off to my beautiful family & friends who follow my
gluten free adventures and support my efforts to heal myself
and remain gluten free.

xoxoxoxox

runDisney 10 Miler

Race Day

Saturday, September 29, 2012.

(well I should say Race Night, it starts at 10 PM!!)

not to mention after wards you can ride the rides until 3AM!!

Still plenty of time to train for this so get your training plan together.

So what are you waiting for????
Run out and get 

your Mickey/Minnie Ears 

and join in the party!

The more people the better. :)

You can get more information or sign up here by clicking the link below.

Register Here!

_______________________________________________________

Now back to

THE BIG QUESTION

Should I? Could I?

It's official! 

This September I will be lacing up my tennies and hitting the pavement at 

Walt Disney Worlds

Twilight Zone Tower of Terror 10 Miler!!! 

I'm still very shocked at how far I have come since finding out

that gluten is a big No No for me.

Along with a huge laundry list of aches, pains, high cholesterol, anxiety and many 
more ailments I wont bore you with, 

I had basically gotten to the point where I couldn't do much 

physical activity at all because of exercise induced asthma.
(if you want more on my pre-diagnosis struggles you can read my story here.)

After many tests and finally a diagnosis I was instructed by my doctor to remove gluten from my diet forever.

As a result...

 my body started to heal, I started to get stronger and now I feel fantastic and can run again.

As for the

asthma inhaler,

it's now happily parked in my rear view, aka junk drawer! 

~~~~~~~~~~ MOVING FORWARD ~~~~~~~~~

Motivation Is Key
So if you've never ran before or you're considering a longer run

keep this in mind...

"This is a first for me."
I'm not a Pro by any means.
I have a ton to learn.
I will have to train.
There will be hard days.
But the reward will be sweet!

The bottom line is...
"I'm just a regular girl"

who wants to get out there, push myself and do the very best I can

while driving a gluten free body.

I have never ran over 5 miles in one run. 

And just being able to run this is going to be a huge win for me and 
I'm going smile the whole 10 miles.  

so...
If you're a runner/walker/athlete/or weekend warrior
 I would love for you to share what you do to train.

What's your favorite thing to eat that boosts your energy levels?
How soon before a run/workout do you eat a snack?
What's your favorite run/workout gear or clothes?
What is one thing that goes with you on every single run/class/gym visit?
What do you use as motivators?

I'm super excited to hear from you and hope you continue to follow me on my healing journey. :)
Thanks for stopping by!

 

Soup, It's not just for Winter!

While at the St. Petersburg Gluten Free for Life Expo I met some amazing people from 

Kettle Cuisine!

I have to tell you every soup I tried at this booth was simply delicious

and I love the fact that they are made in short runs

and all ingredients are super fresh

and with a really nice selection of 

GLUTEN FREE

soups.

You know for those of us who can't do the gluten thing!

And if you are Vegetarian, Dairy Free or adhering to a Low Fat diet
they have options available for you as well!

And best of all they have my favorite logo

Yes, they are a certified Gluten Free Company. And if you don't know everything that goes into earning the right to wear this badge of honor on your packaging then you should take a little 

visit over to

 www.gfco.org

{trust me, it's a big deal ;)}

So fast forward a couple of weeks and I get a lovely package in the mail 

from Kettle Cuisine filled with 6 of their wonderful GF soups for me to try.

OH JOY!!!
{I just love trying new foods not to mention I am a huge soup girl too!}

My care package included...
Thai Curry Chicken Soup - Angus Beef Steak - Chicken Chili with White Beans

Roasted Vegetable Soup - Tomato Soup with Garden Vegetables - New England Clam Chowder

So
the first soup I tried was the

Thai Curry Chicken Soup

 it was really good.

I loved the flavor and it wasn't too spicy.

Just to give you an idea of the aroma this soup filled the house with...

Well it was enough to bring my teen daughter out of her room. 

And if anyone out there reading this has a teen they know what I am talking about.

I chuckle as I write this.

I let her have some and she really loved it.

To be precise her exact words were...

"Mommy that's really good soup!" 

The other thing I love about these soups is the fact that 

when I was running late

{which is often}

I could just grab a box from the freezer toss it into my bag and I have lunch 

packed!

I just love 

EASY

1- Freezer - 2- Purse - 3 - Lunch  4 - Yum!


The other lovely is the versatility. 
Many people think summer means
time to say goodbye to soups
when they should be looking at all the possibilities soup brings to the table.

For example

soups really make great 

starter meals.

We do soup all year round at our house and use them in many different ways.

Over Potatoes - Over Rice - Over Noodles
served with a yummy garden salad.


And they are super on those nights when 
MOM just needs a BREAK!


We have fend-for-yourself night at our house
(You know those nights when you just can't do another thing and cooking will throw you ova the edge)
I know you know what I'm talking about.
Any how I will be keeping some of these soups on hand for the fam
the heat and eat. 

________________________________________________________

Did You Know????

Jerry, the founder of Kettle Cuisine, has a daughter whom was diagnosed with Celiac Disease nearly twenty years ago. When his daughter was diagnosed Jerry quickly realized how limited the prepared gluten free food options were for this growing community of people. 

In 2006, when the FDA proposed a formal definition for gluten free foods, Jerry finally had his opportunity to serve this community with great tasting, wholesome, real food products. 

As a matter of fact, the back of the soup box has a letter from Kate, Jerry's daughter, thanking her Dad for such wonderful soups.

Currently there are ten gluten free soups available but I am positive demand will bring more of these sensational soups to our tables.

In closing, I must say that I was never offered money for my comments and my review of
these wonderful soups is my honest opinion.

____________________________________________________________

Thank you so much
Kettle Cuisine
;)