Week 2 of the #LivingNowFoods Challenge

June 8, 2014 NerdMom 1 Comment

I am bringing week #2 of the #LivingNowFoods Challenge to close! For those of you who missed last week’s post, I am doing a 30 day gluten free challenge with Living Now Foods and Mamavation! This is the kind of work I love getting paid for! Cooking and eating! I have made some very yummy stuff with the Living Now Foods! Lets take a look!

I made the Living Now Foods Chocolate Chip Banana Bread this week and was so good! Matter of fact I am finishing it off as I type (shh, don’t tell Jeremy because he went to be early;). I am very open with the fact that I was prepared to hate this but I love it. I am a banana bread snob. My family has always made it from scratch and my mom didn’t do a lot of cooking so that says something. But I haven’t developed a gluten free recipe yet and I have been craving banana bread something awful. This is moist and flavorful. Just enough sweetness with a good texture. It is so good! And because it is a mix this is something you can have on hand when gluten free friends (specifically me) visit. So good and so easy!!

I also made Greek Yogurt Muffins this week! It may not look like much but it may be my new favorite gluten free baked good! This is a tweak off an old gluten filled muffin recipe that I had laying around. These are tender and sumptuous. they have this melt in your mouth baked quality that is hard to get in gluten free recipes! My key ingredients for this are a flavored Greek yogurt and the Living Now All Purpose Flour. These also only took about 10 minutes to put together and I can’t wait to see how they freeze (if I can get enough left to freeze;).

Zucchini is starting to come into season around here so finding recipes for them is great. Fritters and pancakes are always a big hit around here so I thought it would be perfect to come up with a gluten free zucchini and corn cake! The most time consuming part of all this was shredding the zucchini. Other than that this is a super easy recipe that comes together with Living Now Foods Brown Rice Flour. You mix and fry them on a flat top or skillet. And it was a huge hit with my kids! So any way to get just a little more veggies in them is a win!

So that is this week’s adventure! If you want to keep up on everyone’s experience just follow the hashtag on Facebook! Since I have already made the gluten free switch I am challenging you all! Can you substitute 3 meals a week with gluten free alternative? What are you biggest gluten free challenges? Let me know and maybe I can take them on for you!

(Disclosure: I am being compensated for this piece but all thoughts and opinions are mine and mine alone!)

Food, giveaway, Things & Travel

A Look at the Downtown Grocery Outlet and a Giveaway

June 7, 2014 NerdMom 13 Comments

As you may have seen in a previous post that I did, there is a new Grocery Outlet in Downtown Fresno! It moved into the space that was previously occupied by Fresh and Easy. I got a chance to go out and check out the new Grocery Outlet at its Grand Opening! I got a chance to take a tour of the store and have a chat with the owner!

Owner Chris Caillier may be new to Fresno but he is loving it like a native. Caillier relocated to Fresno from Seattle in order to open his first Grocery Outlet and immediately has gotten involved with the community! Of course they had all the local dignitaries out at the Grocery Outlet but his community involvement goes beyond that. The Grocery Outlet has started with Edison High School. A group from Edison was at the Grand Opening selling hot dogs. Also they are donating money and getting involved with the Jovante Woods Scholarship. There will even be an event near the end of June!

The Downtown Grocery Outlet is also going to be supporting the Muex Home that is right across the street. They will be supporting the Muex Home by working with supplying them with goods for some up coming fundraisers. I am personally a big fan of the Muex Home myself, as I have great childhood memories;). I think that this Grocery Outlet will be a great asset to Fresno and especially downtown.

I also got to tour the store and was quite pleased! In addition to seeing lots of great priced products, including a bunch of gluten free and organic items, I learned 3 very great things about Grocery Outlet! (Ok, I think they are great;)

1) They have a dedicated line of gluten free pasta that is packaged just for them! Which means it is a standing order so they should always have it!

2) Our area Grocery Outlets get all their produce from OK Produce here in Fresno! So when you shop their produce you are shopping local!

3) You know all those great deals on durable goods they always have? The dishes or knives or As Seen on TV stuff? Well, I have always been slow to buy any of those just in case there is something wrong with them. Well, don’t worry about that! Grocery Outlet has a 100% guarantee on all returns. And you can return it to any Grocery Outlet, regardless where you buy it! And there isn’t a time frame either. You can can return anything as long as you have a receipt!

I am still really excited for the Downtown Grocery Outlet! And to celebrate I have another $25 gift card to give away!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

(Disclosure: I was given a gift card to compensate my time. All opinions and thoughts are mine.)

Contesting Monday

Contesting Monday 6/1

June 1, 2014 NerdMom 2 Comments

So here is the deal. If you are hosting a giveaway or have a post about someone’s giveaway just leave a link. Make sure this link is to the giveaway post itself and not just the blog or it will be deleted. If you listed it last week but your giveaway is still open, list it again! Also your link must be to something family friendly or it will be deleted.

Before you run off to enter all the fabulous giveaways make sure to enter my SOL Republic Relays giveaway over at Geek for the Real Girl. They are a great set of $80 headphones!

So now you need to add your giveaways and go enter some giveaways! Let them know that Contesting Monday sent you!

Entertainment, Movies, Things & Travel

A Mother/Daughter Review of Maleficent

June 1, 2014 NerdMom Leave a comment

NerdMom’s 2 cents: I really enjoyed Maleficent! Before the movie came out, I was sure the effects in Maleficent were going to be fabulous but I had no faith in the story line. I figured it would be fine but meh. As a true geek, I went to see it for the effects and grandeur the movie was sure to deliver. Well, it delivered all the grandeur and it also delivered a wonderful story. I was very impressed! Maleficent was a fabulous movie! I don’t want to give anything away so it is hard to review it. But be sure, this isn’t just a case of the mean person was right to do what she did. But just as life is, the story is complicated and layered.

As to the intensity of the movie and kids. I was a little concerned after watching the trailers that Maleficent would be a little dark and scary. There are intense moments but overall it wasn’t that scary. My kids have all watched The Avengers and Captain America 2. I will have no problem letting any of my kids watch Maleficent but I am prepared to hold hands at a couple of points;).

Bottom line: I loved this movie! Now for 10 year old’s thoughts;).

From the NerdPie: I think that Maleficent was better then Frozen. Maleficent was all about humans coping with magic using the story of Sleeping Beauty. The graphics were so amazing, it almost seemed like fairies were normal. It’s cool how, unlike other Disney movies, every thing isn’t centered around love.

(Disclosure: I was graciously given press passes to see Maleficent with my daughter. All thoughts and opinions are mine!)

Food, Gluten Free, Products

Week 1 of the #LivingNowFoods Challenge

June 1, 2014 NerdMom 2 Comments

I am so excited! I recently got chosen to be one of 15 Ambassadors for the 30 day Living Now Foods Challenge through Mamavation! They issued a 30 day challenge (and compensated me) to go gluten free with the help of a giant box of their fabulous products. As many of you may know, I am already gluten free and so I was really excited to get a chance to discover these awesome products!

Starting this week (and continuing for the next 3 after) I will do a round up of a few things and recipes that I have made with the Living Now Foods products! Then on July 2, 2014 there is going to be a fabulous twitter party to wrap up the challenge.

So lets get to the food!

My first adventure with Living Now Foods was with Living Now’s Tapioca Flour. I made my ever popular Brazilian Cheese Rolls to go with a dinner of roast and broccoli! The great thing about Brazilian Cheese Rolls is that it gives you a bread type component to go with meals! When we first went gluten free we missed dinner rolls. And while these aren’t super bread, they are cheesy and delish! The tapioca flour is the key ingredient in these rolls. It is a great starch! The 1 think to remember is (at least with this recipe) you heat up the liquid and allow the starch to hydrate.

My second adventure is a completely new recipe I created with Living Now’s Quinoa! I am not super used to dealing with quinoa but it is a complete protein and really good for you. And I had been craving all the flavors of a traditional Caprese salad so I put together this spring themed Caprese Quinoa! The quinoa was super easy to deal with! I just used my rice cooker with a 2:1 chicken stock to quinoa and set it on white rice. It was that easy!

And last but not least for this week is a little dessert! I made chocolate chip cookies using the Living Now Chocolate Chip Cookie Mix. I was blown away that this cookie mix was dairy free, soy free, egg free, and nut free in addition to being gluten free. They were super easy and had a great chewy texture! I will be honest, I may like my home made chocolate chip cookies better but these were pretty tasty! They are great to have on hand for quick treats. They are also the perfect thing to have on hand if have people in your life that have any of these allergies! A super clean mixing bowl and baking sheet and you can make them a clean and uncontaminated dessert!

(Disclosure: I am being compensated for this piece but all thoughts and opinions are mine and mine alone!)

Contesting Monday

Contesting Monday 5/26

May 25, 2014 NerdMom 4 Comments

Before you run off to enter all the fabulous giveaways make sure to enter my awesome and practical giveaway first! I am giving away a $25 Grocery Outlet gift card and who doesn’t need groceries?

So now you need to add your giveaways and go enter some giveaways! Let them know that Contesting Monday sent you!

Fashion, Things & Travel

Clinton Kelly Visits Fresno & 4 Specific Fashion Tips!

May 24, 2014 NerdMom Leave a comment

A picture of me with Clinton Kelly! Shh, he doesn't know;)! — A picture of me with Clinton Kelly! Shh, he doesn’t know;)!

Clinton Kelly giving some outfit advice. (She asked for it;)

Recently Fresno was graced with the fabulous Clinton Kelly, who came to Macys with Estee Lauder as a sponsor. He was giving fashion advice and talking on adapting fashion trends to different people. I love the fact that we are now getting events like this in Fresno!

I am a huge Clinton Kelly fan! I was a viewer of What Not to Wear before he joined the show and loved it when he became Stacy London’s cohost. I have even watched a fair amount of The Chew (stopped because it isn’t so kid friendly and on during lunch;). So it was very interesting to hear Kelly talking about his time on What Not to Wear. I was left with the impression that he didn’t really enjoy his time all that much. He didn’t seem to be miserable about it but that “it was his job” so he was happy when it was over. He talked about how with The Chew he preps but pretty much an hour of work makes an hour of tv. But on What Not to Wear they would shoot at least an hour for every minute used and that they really did spend a whole week with the subjects so they were happy to see them go at the end of the week.

Clinton Kelly was just as entertaining in this format as he is on tv! He was funny and honest all at the same time;). He talked about how hard it is to get here by plane (oh yeah). Of course the heat was mentioned and it wasn’t even all that hot;). But he hit on a fashion challenge that I have saw here in Fresno for a long time. It is the casualness of Fresno! He was talking about everyone’s shock at him wearing a suit when he was at the airport. I struggle with that here too. If I am actually trying to dress cute I feel so over dressed. And people will comment about how fancy you are dressed, it makes me feel odd…

There was a fashion show covering some of today’s hot trends and a collection of cute dresses. Then Kelly walked through the audience answering questions! I walked away 4 great fashion tips!

1) Which trends should we follow? If you caught it the first time around it may not be for you. The example he gave is older women and the bohemian look. It looks like you just kept all your original 70’s clothes and never changed.

2) Who is that bold lemon color for? It isn’t for people who have a lot of pink in their skin. If that is you, look into the more mustard types of yellow.

3) Cross body bags, giant purses, little purses, what is a girl to choose? When it comes to purse size Kelly says to get a bag that holds all your stuff! But giant bags with skinny, petite girls look like their bag is going to eat them. And if you are large chested avoid the cross body bags as it draws even more attention and not in a good way!

4) What do I do to camouflage the back end in skinny jeans? Kelly says that skinny jeans are for all women of all sizes. But he says if you are self conscious of your butt you should practice divide and conquer. That is where you jacket or shirt falls just to the largest part of your butt and takes away from its size. But he emphasized, if you has a bog or small butt and are comfortable with it you should flaunt it.

I absolutely enjoyed myself at the Clinton Kelly event! If it comes your way you definitely should go! Now if only I could have a few hours of him shopping for me on my budget;).

Disclosure: I was compensated for attending and covering this event. But all thoughts and opinions are mine and mine alone!

Food, Fresno, giveaway, Things & Travel

A New Grocery Outlet Grand Opening & a Giveaway

May 23, 2014 NerdMom 16 Comments

I know that I was not alone in my sorrow when the Fresh and Easy at Tulare and R closed here in Fresno. But a new Grocery Outlet opened this week in its place. I am so excited because there are always great deals to be had a Grocery Outlet! And to celebrate there is a big Grand Opening this Saturday (May 24th)!

The festivities will kick off at 7am where there will be free coffee and treats along with free reusable bags for the first 500 customers. At 10am they are bringing out the Wheel of Bargains where you can spin and win (until 3pm). Then from 11am to 3pm there will be free face painting!

If you are there between 11am and 2pm you can get a $1 hot dog and drink. All proceeds will benefit Edison High School Athletics! You also should check out their facebook page before you go too. There may or may not be a deal to be had over there;).

I am going to go check it out and I hope to see you all there. And to get us all excited for the new store, Grocery Outlet is providing a $25 gift card for one of my readers. Just enter in the Rafflecopter! There will be lots of opportunities for entries!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Make sure to enter and check back for another giveaway with my write up on the new store!

(Disclosure: Grocery Outlet provided me with a gift card to go shopping and with gift cards for giveaways. But all thoughts are mine!)

Contesting Monday

Contesting Monday 5/19

May 18, 2014 NerdMom 1 Comment

Before you run off to enter all the fabulous giveaways make sure to enter my fabulous giveaway! I I am giving away a great bath package from Lush Cosmetics!

So now you need to add your giveaways and go enter some giveaways! Let them know that Contesting Monday sent you!

Coupons, Food, Homeschooling, Homeschoooling, Products

National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day

May 15, 2014 NerdMom Leave a comment

Did you know that May 15, 2014 is National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day? It is and I am hard pressed to think of a more delicious holiday. As many of you know, I am gluten free but that doesn’t prevent me from eating way to many chocolate chip cookies! They just happen to be my Delectable Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe!

And what would any holiday be with out me nerding it up a little bit? I found this great activity you can do with your kids to teach them all about mining with chocolate chip cookies. You just need some common kitchen items and chocolate chip cookies!

And lets not forget the invention of chocolate chip cookies by Ruth Graves Wakefield. I found a great little piece that talks about the happy accident that resulted in the creation of everyone’s favorite cookie. I think it is a great lesson to kids. We have to try. Even if we fail we may succeed as something new!

For all you gluten eaters (like my kids;), Mrs Fields is running a geeky chocolate chip cookie special..

They have Angry Birds cookie cakes and Angry Birds cookies & milk boxes just in time for National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day. And during May 15th-20th, there is a 20% off coupon these and any of their treats on their site. Use code NCCCD to get the discount!

Now, if you will excuse me. I have to make some cookies!

Nerd Family

Week 2 of the #LivingNowFoods Challenge

A Look at the Downtown Grocery Outlet and a Giveaway

Contesting Monday 6/1

A Mother/Daughter Review of Maleficent

Week 1 of the #LivingNowFoods Challenge

Contesting Monday 5/26

Clinton Kelly Visits Fresno & 4 Specific Fashion Tips!

A New Grocery Outlet Grand Opening & a Giveaway

Contesting Monday 5/19

National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day

A Pro Nerd Family of Pro Family Nerds.