Thursday, December 25, 2014

Merry Christmas from Gluten Free Jersey Girl, Carries Kiddies Closet & L...

Merry Christmas Video Card from all of us at 

It's been a wonderful year and we would like to thank everyone for following us and supporting us through the year.  We are incredibly Blessed and thankful for everything we have and hope to bring new and wonderful products, videos and reviews in 2015.  Thanks for watching!! 






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Lego Chocolate Gingerbread Men

Christmas is one of my favorite times of the year!  Every year my son and I make a chocolate gingerbread house and we always make it into a Lego house for fun since my son loves Lego's.  It's a tradition we do every year and it's such a fun thing to do as a family.  This year, I used a pre-made gingerbread house and we made up the adorable chocolate gingerbread to use for our house.

We had such a ball making them and I made up a tutorial video below and a video of our decorating the gingerbread house ...




Decorating gingerbread house and decorating Christmas cookies.



What fun traditions do you have?

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Sunday, December 21, 2014

30 Day Be Thankful Challenge


What are you thankful for?  
What makes you smile?  
What makes you feel good?  

Sometimes it's as simple as someone smiling back at you or holding the door for someone and hearing them say thank you.  I know that for me, it's about the little things.  Many years ago I gave my mother a gratitude journal and after she passed away I found the journal with her things.  I opened the book, and it opened to the only page it had writing on.  She wrote, "I am thankful for the thoughtfulness of my daughter Carolyn" and for my dad.   Other than that, the book was completely empty.  Perhaps coincidence, but I choose to believe it was a message to me and I cherish that book.  

Years ago I wrote in my gratitude journals, meditated, read books by writers like Louise Hay, Eckhart Tolle, Marianne Williamson and followed many different positive speakers.  Life can get so busy and between getting married, having kids, starting a business; life goes so fast and sometimes we need a nudge to remind us how important it is to be quiet and spend time each day being thankful.  After Hurricane Sandy, I struggled with this.  We lost so much and looking back, I now realize just how important that moment in time was.  Our home was destroyed and we were homeless for awhile, sleeping on the floor for months and living without a kitchen and our life was in boxes for nearly a year.  One night I had a dream that God told my mother the hurricane was going to come and she asked him why this had to happen to her daughter.  God leaned over to whisper to her, but I was not allowed to hear. I woke up and felt shaken and this has haunted me ever since.  I may never know why things like this happen in life, but I do know that I am finally finding my way back to a place of peace and love.  It's been a long journey to get to where I am now and I am so excited to see what the future holds.  I would love for you to join me and take the journey toward living life with gratitude, joy and love every day ... 

Join us by emailing shoregirl1000@aol.com with Gratitude in the subject and we will email you when the challenge starts.  

Let's do this together ... thank you for reading and I hope you join!!  


30 Day Challenge .. Coming 2015 


Tuesday, December 2, 2014

Tea Time Tuesdays With Carrie ...

It's tea time! 

Come and hang out with me ... 

This is my new weekly Tea Time Tuesdays series ... today it's about tea, cookies and portion control.

I started the day with a wonderful breakfast with my friend at The Turning Point Restaurant.  It's such a pretty place and my favorite is their no yolks about it omelette with no cheese or muffin.  It comes with salsa and a fruit cup ... I forgot to take a picture, but took a picture of my tea. I had a delicious Chamomile Tea ...  


I love the adorable tea pot you get with your tea. 



After breakfast we shopped at Christmas Tree Shops where I found this adorable small tea pot, sugar and creamer set.



Then it was back home to making Christmas Cards and labels for my online store, Carries Kiddie Closet.  I made a few of my 3 ingredients truffles for a snack with my tea.


I drank a delicous Mango Passionfruit tea by Stash.  The taste was very mild and I flavored it with some of my homemade cashew, hemp and chia milk with cinnamon.  

I loved it!  


Check out my video below and be sure to follow us (links below) and come back tomorrow for What I Ate Wednesday!  


We hope to have some awesome gluten free food scoops coming soon!!


Tuesday, November 18, 2014

What I Ate Tuesday and (Almost) Raw Fudgy Bite Cookies

My week started out a little crazy.  We are doing with some re-organizing because our spare bedroom is eventually going to be my new office.  I was hoping to get it set up before the New Year, but with the chance of having to raise our home in front of us right now, those plans are put on hold.  I need to go through boxes and organize some things so if we do have to pack up to move out for 3 to 4 months, I will be prepared.  It's not a fun process, but it has to be done.   I kept my food really simple today because it was hectic, but here's a brief snapshot of what I ate (mostly drank).

For breakfast this week I've been trying a new Raw Protein Shake.  I mixed Garden of Life Protein Powder with 1 spoon of Wilderness Poet's Hempspread.  I also added a little almond milk and dash of stevia.  It tasted ok.


For lunch I had hummus and some veggies.


My friend asked me to go for a coffee and I thought it would be a nice break from all the craziness of my house, so we headed off to Manasquan and found a cute little place called Green Planet Coffee Co. on Main Street..  I was delighted to see they now offer almond milk cappuccino's. 


It's so cold here at the Jersey Shore today, only in the 20's so it was nice to enjoy an almond milk cappuccino and hang out with a friend for a bit.  It's a cute place with a nice ambiance and a perfect place to hang out and stay warm.

There is another one located on Arnold Avenue in Point Pleasant and you can see my review here.

I love the decor and it was nice to be a be able to get spend time with a friend.  The place is smaller than the Point Pleasant location, but it's still a charming little place to stop in and relax, especially when it's so cold out!  It's a great time to meet up with my friend Hiedi before all the crazy preparations for Thanksgiving start!  


 Next it was time to take Mandy for a walk around the neighborhood.  She does not like the cold, so it was just a 1 mile walk by the water. 


Inspite of the cold, it was an absolute beautiful day! 

 

After our walk I made these yummy protein fudgy bite cookies (recipe below).  They tasted so good, almost like a brownie.   


For dinner I kept it simple by making another protein shake.  I blended 1 scoop of protein powder, 1 cup of mango/pineapple mix, 1 cup of almond milk, 1 teaspoon of nut butter, stevia, handful of pumpkin seeds and a couple big handfuls of spinach.  


Here's the ingredients I used in my cookie:

Garden of Life Raw Protein Powder


Wild Friends Chocolate Almond Butter with Sesame Seeds


Wilderness Poet's Hempspread


Artisana Raw Coconut Butter


Coconut Secret Coconut Nectar


Here's the cookie recipe ...


(Almost) Raw Fudgy Bites
Recipe by: Gluten Free Jersey Girl
Gluten free, dairy free, paleo 

Serves 1-2

Ingredients 

1 Tablespoon protein powder
1 Tablespoon chocolate almond butter with sunflower seeds
1 Tablespoon coconut butter
1 Tablespoon coconut nectar

Instructions

Mix all ingredients together

Be patient as the batter will be very thick.  If you need too, add a touch of almond milk.  Be sure to stir enough so the batter becomes as smooth as you can get it.
Roll into balls and refrigerate for a half an hour.

Enjoy


Notes:  You can use any protein powder or nut butters that you like.  This recipe works well with peanut butter, almond butter and cashew butter.  Makes approximately
5-6 small round cookies.

After dinner Mandy was enjoying lounging with her blanket while I worked on my laptop.




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Sunday, November 16, 2014

Sunday Fun Day around the Jersey Shore

I found my happy place!


Fall Sundays at the Jersey Shore are a great time to drive around and see different areas that we have not been to, especially since the summer crowds are gone.  I have been living here for 15 years, but I had no idea this beautiful little jem was this close to me.  I grew in Upper Montclair surrounded by beautiful parks and since moving to Brick, have missed them so much.  Brick is set up more like a city, so there are no parks like this here.  The bay is a half a block from my house and it's absolutely beautiful here, but I miss parks.  After having lunch in Belmar the other day, my friend and I happened upon this beautiful lake.  We didn't have time to stop, so I brought my husband and son and we had the best time walking, taking pictures and of course climbing trees.


It was so much fun watching the ducks swimming in the water and enjoying the serenity and beauty of nature.


My son and I had quite a fun time climbing this awesome shaped tree. 


I almost fell off!  


I did it!  Ok, well it was not that high, but it was fun!



I had to hug the tree!! 


Kevin (almost) hugged a tree!!


It was a cloudy day, but it was still beautiful and I enjoyed every moment ... I found my happy place!
 I find such peace and serenity when I am in nature.  God's beauty is so inspiring and no mater what is going on in life, all I have to is go out in nature, smell flowers, even looking at beautiful pictures can all make me feel so much better.  I am so incredibly Blessed and I try to embrace every moment.  The world around us can be so chaotic and it is so important that we take time for ourselves to simply be still, and enjoy what surrounds us.   I have been trying to do more of that these days.  I am not one to love the winter time, but I am learning to embrace it more every day.  God whispers to us every day, we just need to listen.  


After enjoying the  walk around this beautiful lake, we stopped in Belmar for something to eat. 
We went to Stay Gold Cafe in Belmar and I had my favorite Guido Salad, yum!!  I also had a delicious almond milk cappuccino.  They had a band playing and we definitely had a fun time!  They also have Acai Bowls and an awesome juice bar!!  


Best salad ever!!  


Yummy almond milk cappuccino!


Neat wall decorations!


Don't miss the juice and smoothie bar -  Acai bowls look amazing (next time). 


Next we stopped at Shore Antiques Center in Allenhurst and Kevin and Davey had some fun looking at antiques!  







Then we stopped at our friends house for a cup of tea and finally, home to relax!
That was our fun Sunday at the Jersey Shore!  

Everyone needs one ... find your happy place !!  

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