Food for the… #3

I had big plans for today’s post. I was going to pour out my heart and sole to you guys. Share my deepest darkest secrets.

Okay, not really, but I seriously did have plans for a greater ratio of words to links. However, my friend and I spent the last hour and a half looking at apartments online and e-mailing prospective landlords. Do you know how hard it is to find furnished, cat-friendly, two bedroom apartments?

Let me rephrase that. Do you know how hard it is to find furnished, cat-friendly, two bedroom apartments that don’t cost a lot AND don’t look like they haven’t been updated since the 60’s? Incredibly hard I’ll tell you.

We did manage to find a few that didn’t sound too bad and fit my roommate’s price constraints. To me the money isn’t that big of an issue since whatever we choose will be cheaper than staying in our dorm. Would you like to guess how much it costs per month to stay in a dorm at my college? $770. And that doesn’t even include a kitchen or a decent parking space! It makes the apartments that we’re looking at with $400 a month look like a steal. We’re aiming for in the high 200s to low 300s though per person, which while that seems difficult, is totally feasible.

But that’s probably more than you would have liked to hear about my “oh look I’m pretending to be an adult” rants about finding a cheap apartment. Shoot, most of you own HOUSES! My argument pales in comparison I’m sure.

So let’s move on to my Friday link-love of all of the posts/pictures/videos that I found interesting throughout the week. As per tradition I have divided them into four separate categories. MIND (posts to get you thinking!), BELLY (recipes to get you hungry), EYES (videos or pictures to make you laugh/cry/contemplate the meaning of your existence), and SOUL (articles that speak to the heart) . This week I have decided to add a fifth category: BODY, which, as the name hints at, will be a collection of exercise articles and workouts.

FOOD FOR THE MIND

Oreo’s New Cookie Dough Flavor is Real — from Buzzfeed

Senior Citizens Amazingly Re-Create Famous Movie Scenes — from Buzzfeed

Changes to FDA Food Label — from Yahoo! Food

16 Signs You Are a Little (Or a Lot) Type A — from The Huffington Post

Paleo on a Budget — from Pencils and Pancakes

Is Butter Secretly Ruining Your Health? — from Food Babe

Nutrition in the NBA — from CBSports

The Disney Side of Life — from Running with Spoons

Nutrition Notes: Canned Soup — from Kath Eats

FOOD FOR THE BELLY

Chocolate Brownies that Blew Me Away — from Eat Drink Paleo

Nutty Bread — from Treats With a Twist

Frozen Sunbutter Fudge — from The Spunky Coconut

Gluten-Free Baked Salt and Vinegar Potato Chips — from The Healthy Apple

Easy Oat Flatbread — from Sprint 2 the Table

Homemade Ketchup — from Skinny Taste

Chunky Monkey Fudge — from Nut Butter Runner

Sweet Potato Maple Vegan Beer Bread — from Averie Cooks

Tuna Cakes with Greek Yogurt Dill Sauce — from Minou Girl

FOOD FOR THE EYES

I Guess This Dog Just Likes to Party — from Facebook

Amazing Kid – Future MMA Star — from YouTube

Dancing in the Sky — from Dani and Lizzy

Brothers Do Amazing Job Recreating Childhood Photos for Mum — from Yahoo! Shine

Doritos Superbowl Commercial Finalists — from Doritos

Sam Woolf American Idol Audition — from YouTube

Right Before Dying From A Rare Lifelong Disease, Sam Revealed His Three Secrets To Happiness — from Upworthy

“The World’s Ugliest Girl” and Her Response — from Shockable

Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit Trailer — from Movie Clips

FOOD FOR THE SOUL

When Compliments Feel Like Lies, and What to Do About It — from Sensual Appeal Blog

Emotional Eating — from Peachy Palate

The Story Telling Edition — from Clean Eats Fast Feets

Surround Yourself — from Purely Twins

When You Think You’re Falling, It’s Time to REFOCUS — from Cotter Crunch

Running and Food Allergies — from Mile-Posts

It’s Not Easy for Everyone — from The Lean Green Bean

How Blogging Enhanced My Eating Disorder (Guest Post) — from Fueled by LOLZ

It’s Not All Rainbows and Smiles — from Anna the Apple

FOOD FOR THE BODY

What Does “Fit” Mean to You? — The Healthy Maven

Hips, Butt and Thighs — from Blogilates

Three Tips for Running Newbies — from The Little Honey Bee (Guest Post)

Core on Fire Workout — from The Fitnessista

Yoga for Detox and Digestion — from Sarah Beth Yoga

Weight, Wait, Weight Again — from Back on Pointe

Fifty Rep Workout: Part Two — from Peanut Butter Fingers

5 Tips for Starting an Exercise Program — from Carla “MizFit”

1 Minute Fitness Challenge: Seal Jack — from Fit Sugar

You can check out my first two “Food For the…” posts here and here!

Happy Friday everyone!

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Tell me… What is your weekly Food for the… Mind, Belly, Eyes, and Soul?

Food For the … #2

It’s been awhile since I have done a link love post so here ya go:

FOOD FOR THE MIND

Complaining is Not a Conversation — from Happy Herbivore

5 Questions to Ask Before Posting to Social Media — from Relevant Magazine

Your Success Does Not Depend on the Failure of Others — from The Healthy Maven

Does Eating a Healthy Diet Cost More? — from Kat’s Health Corner

Calories — from Picky Runner

Cleaning Up the Blog Reader — from The Big Man’s World

Why Does the Bible Mention Unicorns? — from Creation Today

15 Reasons Why Your New Years Resolution Left You More Bloated Than Ever — from A Gutsy Girl

19 Conundrums Only Book Lovers Understand — from Huffington Post

FOOD FOR THE BELLY

Chocolate Almond Microwave Cake — from Slices of Sarah Pie

Healing Raw Cookie Dough Treat — from Sweetly Fit

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Blondies — from The Healthy Maven

Crispy Chicken Dippers — from PaleOMG

Paleo Trix Cereal — from Brittany Angell

Cookie Dough Cinnamon Rolls with Cookie Dough Frosting — from Purely Twins

Paleo Chocolate, and Coconut Banana Cake — from Flake and Cake

No Bake Muddy Buddy (or Puppy Chow) Bars — from Sweet Your Heart Out

Easy Turkey Meatloaf — from Eat Great, Be Great

FOOD FOR THE EYES

Dogs, Cats, and Trust — from YouTube

The Bullying Experiment — from Fousey YouTube

Spider Man 2 Trailer — from Sony Pictures

How the Desolation of Smaug Should Have Ended — from How it Should Have Ended

Gosselin Twins All Grown Up — from OK Magazine

X-Men Trailer — from Cieon Movies

Stop Everything You Are Doing and Watch This Dog Dance — from Buzzfeed

Watch This Kid’s Jaw Dropping Skating Routing — from Natasia Fan 101 Take 10

Hilarious Pet Videos — from Facebook

FOOD FOR THE SOUL

Integrity Meets Kindness — from Runnin Sri Lankan

You’re Never Alone — from Jessie Loves to Run

It’s Just Not Okay — from Healthful Pursuit

Comparison is the Thief of Joy — from Mile Posts

What’s Under Your Nose — from Peace, Love and Oats

The Star Fish Story — from Eat Great, Be Great

You can check out my first “Food For the…” post here!

Have a great weekend everyone!

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Questions for you:

What is your weekly Food for the… Mind, Belly, Eyes, and Soul?

What are you thoughts on some of these articles? Some are just for fun, but a lot this week are kind of deep. They left me with a lot to think about, both good and bad.

What are your plans for the weekend?

Microwave Cinnamon Rolls — 12 Days of Allergy-Free Christmas Recipes Day One

Hello and welcome to Day One of the 12 Days of Allergy-Free Christmas Recipes. I am your host, Madison at Eating 4 Balance, and boy have we got a show for you today!

The theme for Day One is breakfast pastries, a very fitting way to begin this round-up as breakfast will be the very first thing you eat come Christmas day.

As part of this post I have collected dozens of breakfast pastry recipes which I will share shortly. Before we do that though, I have created a “new” special recipe to share as well which I am confident you are going to love.

Whether you have food allergies, a special diet, or are just trying to eat healthier, it can be frustrating to come across an amazing looking recipe and then see the serving size. Especially if you are the only one in your family eating a certain way, a recipe with multiple servings is just too much. First, do we really want to still be eating the leftovers come the next week? Of course not! And if it’s a dessert recipe, having multiple servings can be very tempting and if you’re anything like me you can’t just stop at one or two.

So this recipe, no matter which category you fall into, is perfect. It only makes two, and is so quick to whip up that if you need a tasty allergy-free treat on Christmas morning but don’t want the prep time or hassle, you can make these microwave cinnamon rolls.

Microwave Cinnamon Rolls

Grain/Gluten/Wheat-Free, Vegan, Nut-Free, Paleo/GAPS-Friendly

Makes two large servings

Dough Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup ground flaxseed + 1/4 cup water
• 1 small ripe banana
• 1 tbsp honey
• 1 tbsp coconut oil, melted
• 1/3 cup coconut flour
• dash of salt
• 1/2 tsp baking soda

Filling Ingredients:

• 1 tbsp coconut oil, melted
• 1 tbsp honey
• 1-2 tsp cinnamon

Directions:

1. Combine the flaxseed and water in a bowl until thickened. Mash in the ripe banana and then add in the remaining ingredients. Mix well until you have a thick dough.
2. Using your hands, press out the dough onto a piece of parchment paper by hand to the size of a long, but thin rectangle.
3. Mix together the coconut oil and honey for the filling and spread evenly over the dough. Sprinkle on the cinnamon.
4. Next roll up the dough so that you are left with a log about 4 or 5 inches wide. Slice into two halves.
5. Place one of the halves on a plate lined with parchment paper and pop it into the microwave. Cook for about 3 minutes on high (you will have to experiment with this as all microwaves cook differently). When done it should spring back to the touch but still be somewhat soft.
6. Repeat with the other half. Enjoy your quick and allergy-free cinnamon rolls!

Notes: If you prefer to not cook things in the microwave, you can also bake these for about 15-20 at 350 degrees. I adapted this recipe from my oven one which you can look at here.

Usually I stay away from anything that isn’t meat or a vegetable because my stomach starts acting up, but I made an exception for these cinnamon rolls and hate half. Delicious.

If those don’t appeal to you though, don’t worry because I have many other recipes that you will be interested. Actually, it’s almost impossible that you won’t find a recipe that you can make among the ones I am about to share.

We have basically ever breakfast pastry under the Sun here. Scones, donuts, bagels, biscotti, cinnamon rolls, and much more. I have separated all of the recipes into categories with the links underneath the respective pictures. To make it easier for you, I have also included the food allergy profile next to each link so you can see if it will fit with your diet.

Those recipes that have an asterisk (*) by tree nut or soy free is to denote that the recipe calls for an ingredient that can easily be switched for those who cannot have it. For example, if a recipe calls for almond milk and that is the only tree nut in the recipe, I will put an asterisk by tree nut because you can easily use a different milk substitute with similar results.

While I tried very hard to make sure that I included the correct allergens and that the links are all functioning, please let me know if I have missed something. Enjoy!

Scones

Cranberry Orange and Chocolate Scones (wheat, dairy, egg, soy, peanut, tree nut*, and sesame free)

Cherry Oat Scones (gluten, wheat, dairy, egg, soy, peanut, tree nut, and sesame free)

Pear and Almond Scones (wheat, dairy, egg, soy, peanut, and sesame free)

Paleo Pumpkin Maple Scones (grain, gluten, wheat, dairy, soy, peanut, and sesame free)

Cranberry Apple Scones – (grain, gluten, wheat, dairy, soy, peanut, and sesame free)

Dark Chocolate Cherry Scones – (grain, gluten, wheat, dairy*, soy, peanut, and sesame free)

Donuts

Apple Donuts (dairy, egg, soy, peanut, tree nut, and sesame free)

Apple Cider Donuts (gluten, wheat, dairy, soy, peanut, tree nut, and sesame free)

Cinnamon Roll Donuts (grain, gluten, wheat, dairy, soy, peanut, and sesame free)

Chocolate Peppermint Cake Donuts (grain, gluten, wheat, dairy, soy, peanut, and sesame free)

Gingerbread Donuts with Cinnamon Buttercream Frosting (gluten, wheat, dairy, egg, soy, peanut, tree nut, and sesame free)

Healthier Chocolate Glazed Donuts (soy, peanut, tree nut*, and sesame free)

Molasses Donuts (gluten, wheat, dairy, soy, peanut, tree nut*, and sesame free)

Maple Glazed Donuts (dairy, egg, peanut, tree nut, and sesame free)

Caramel-Glazed Donuts (grain, gluten, wheat, dairy, soy, peanut, tree nut, and sesame free)

Carrot Cake Donuts (grain, gluten, wheat, dairy, soy, peanut, tree nut, and sesame free)

Banana Coconut Pecan Protein Baked Donuts (gluten, wheat, dairy, soy, peanut, and sesame free)

Almond Joy Mini Donuts (gluten, wheat, dairy, egg, soy, peanut, tree nut, and sesame free)

Bagels

Grain-Free Bagels (grain, gluten, wheat, dairy, soy, peanut,  and sesame free)

Whole Wheat Cinnamon Raisin Bagels (dairy, egg, soy, peanut, tree nut, and sesame free)

Onion Poppy Seed and Cinnamon Raisin Bagels (grain, gluten, wheat, dairy, egg, soy, peanut, tree nut, and sesame free)

Breakfast “Rolls”

Bananas Baked in Phyllo with Date-Sweetened Chocolate Sauce (dairy, egg, soy, peanut, and sesame free)

Skinny Mini Jelly Roll Cake for One (gluten, wheat, dairy, egg, soy, peanut, tree nut, and sesame free)

Paleo Crepes with Nutella (grain, gluten, wheat, dairy, soy, peanut, and sesame free)

Biscotti

Cranberry Pistachio Biscotti (grain, gluten, wheat, egg, soy, peanut,  and sesame free)

Vegan Eggnog Crunch Biscotti (dairy, egg, soy, peanut, and sesame free)

Cherry Chocolate Biscotti (gluten, wheat, dairy, egg, soy, peanut, tree nut, and sesame free)

Baked Fruit

Baked Apples Stuffed with Cinnamon Date Pecan Oatmeal (gluten, wheat, dairy, egg, soy, peanut, and sesame free)

Fresh Gingered Anjou Pear Cobbler (gluten, wheat, dairy, egg, soy, peanut, and sesame free)

Apple Fritters (grain, gluten, wheat, dairy, soy, peanut, and sesame free)

Honey Cinnamon Stewed Apples (grain, gluten, wheat, dairy, egg, soy, peanut, tree nut, and sesame free)

Healthy Apple Pie Breakfast (gluten, wheat, dairy, egg, soy, peanut, tree nut*, and sesame free)

Poached Pears (grain, gluten, wheat, dairy, egg, soy, peanut, tree nut, and sesame free)

Cinnamon Rolls

Raw Cinnamon Rolls with Coconut Icing and Caramel Raisin Filling (gluten, wheat, dairy, egg, soy, peanut, tree nut, and sesame free)

Hot Cocoa Toasty Marshmallow Swirl Cinna-Buns (dairy, egg, soy, peanut, tree nut, and sesame free)

Walnut Raisin Cinnamon Rolls (grain, gluten, wheat, dairy, soy, peanut, and sesame free)

Coconut Flour Cinnamon Rolls (grain, gluten, wheat, dairy, egg, soy, peanut, tree nut, and sesame free)

Nut Butter and Carob Chunk Cinnamon Rolls (grain, gluten, wheat, dairy, egg, soy, peanut, tree nut, and sesame free)

Apple Chunk Cinnamon Rolls (grain, gluten, wheat, dairy, egg, soy, peanut*, tree nut*, and sesame free)

Miscellaneous Pastries

Cream Puff Pastry (grain, gluten, wheat, dairy, soy, peanut, tree nut, and sesame free)

Cinna-Sugar Flutes (dairy, egg, soy, peanut, tree nut, and sesame free)

Gingerbread Breakfast Pizzert (dairy, egg, soy, peanut, tree nut*, and sesame free)

Almond Croissants (dairy, egg, soy, peanut, and sesame free)

Chocolate Eclairs (grain, gluten, wheat, dairy, egg, soy, peanut, tree nut, and sesame free)

Paleo Churros (grain, gluten, wheat, dairy, soy, peanut, tree nut, and sesame free)

Thanks for looking through all of these breakfast pastry recipes! If you have a favorite not listed here, feel free to share it in the links so everyone can enjoy it as well.

To see the rest of the 12 Days of Christmas Allergy-Free recipes, check back on this page (which you can also access on my menu above) where I will be including the hyperlinks as the other bloggers post. Also, if you are interested in participating in this round-up, there are a few days left and we would love to have you.

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Questions for you:

What are you going to eat Christmas morning?

What is your favorite breakfast pastry?

Do you prefer smaller serving sizes for recipes?

12 Days of Allergy-Free Christmas Recipes— Everything you Need to Know, and How to Sign Up

I have just been amazed at the response I’ve received on my idea that I shared on Friday. You all are truly wonderful and I’m so lucky to have you as both fellow bloggers, and friends. I asked for help and you certainly delivered.

I have no doubt in my mind now that we will be able to do this 12 Days of Allergy-Free Christmas Recipes with great success. In this post today I am going to give you all of the fine details and hopefully better explain what the round-up is all about, and more importantly- how you can participate.

Don’t be worried by the enormous amount of text that is about to come. I have already written up a draft of my contribution post, and it took me less than an hour (which if you know me, is quite quick 😉 ). Most of the information below is just me trying to be a thorough as I can so there is no confusion. Still, if there are any questions or concerns, don’t hesitate to ask!

To get started, here is the “button” that I have created for the round-up event:

Feel free to scale down to size (I just wanted provide the largest amount of pixels possible to prevent blurry images).

Now onto all of the details…

What are the who/what/where/when/whys of the 12 Days of Allergy-Free Christmas Recipes?

• Who: Any blogger that wants to join in, can. If we surpass the 12 bloggers, you can still participate by submitting a recipe link directly to the blogger in charge of a particular theme. In addition you could also still use the round-up button for any Christmas or holiday posts that involve allergy-friendly recipes that you post throughout the season.

• What: We are gathering up Christmas allergy-free recipes into one large collection. The recipes don’t need to be “free” of everything, just at least one common allergen like wheat, dairy, gluten, peanuts, eggs, etc. One post doesn’t need to be all gluten-free or all peanut-free. Mix it up and provide options for everyone!

• When: The round-up will be starting this Friday, December 13 as “Day One” and will end the day before Christmas on Tuesday, December 24 as “Day Twelve.”

• Where: You will post your themed post as you would a regular post on your blog, and I will have a page on my blog dedicated especially for this event, with a link for each day.

• Why: This round-up is so that at the conclusion of the 12 Days we will have a full list of Christmas recipes that can help those with any dietary needs or restrictions. The holidays are supposed to be about sharing smiles, spending time with family, and getting to make amazing memories. Having to be concerned with finding safe food to eat is often stressful, time-consuming, and not very fun. This collection of recipes will be an invaluable resource to lessen that burden and help people enjoy the holidays!

How to participate in the 12 Days:

1. Leave a comment below with what days you are available to host, and what theme you would like to showcase (if you can give a couple of each that would be great for scheduling purposes). This is open to absolutely any blogger that would like to join up to 12 (but like I said previously, if we go over 12, you can still submit a recipe to the the other co-hosts for their specific themed round-up).

2. I will contact you as soon as possible to let you know what day and theme is yours. I will also update the lists below on this blog post as days and themes are taken so you not which are still available.

3. A few days before it is is your posting day, start to gather your recipes. Make a call out to your readers for links to their favorite allergy-free recipes, and gather some of those from your favorite bloggers. Also, work on the recipe that you are contributing and get all of those delicious photos taken!

4. Write and publish the round-up on your assigned day. No need to send me the link. I will grab it when reading your blog along with everyone else, and I will come back here to add a hyperlink to the round-up home base.

When it comes to making your post, just a few things to remember:

• Explain what this round-up is for and why you are participating. Maybe you are doing it because you have dietary restrictions and know how hard it can be to find good holiday recipes, or perhaps you are doing it just out of the generosity of your heart!

• Include the provided round-up button and link back to the home page located on my blog. I will be listing and sharing a link for each host’s themed post so that they are easily accessible all in one place.

• Share the collection of recipes that you found within your food theme. You can include a link, optional photo, and most conveniently, a quick breakdown of who the recipe would be good for. As an example- Easy Apple Cinnamon Pancakes from Eating 4 Balance (Grain-Free, Paleo).

• Then include the recipe that you made specifically for the event! If you don’t have time to make a recipe, no worries. You can just repost an old one, making sure to give a breakdown of what food allergies/diet it would be good for.

• And finally, make sure to remind your readers to check out the other bloggers who will be sharing their round-ups and recipes!

Here is the current list of available days (which I will update as bloggers confirm when they can host):

• December 13- Madison from Eating 4 Balance (Breakfast pastries)
• December 14- Jan from Sprouts N Squats (Breakfast foods)
• December 15- Rosie from Facing Your Storm (Drinks)
• December 16- Juli from 1000 Lovely Things (Bread)
• December 17- Kendra from Veggie Dancer (Main Dishes)
• December 18- Sarah from Slices of Sarah Pie (Snacks)
• December 19- Andrea from Pencils and Pancakes (Appetizers)
• December 20- Kathleen from Kat’s Health Corner (Nut butters and spreads)
• December 21
• December 22- Olivia from Liv Lives Life (Side Dishes)
• December 23
• December 24- GiGi from Gigi Eats Celebrities (Cookies)

Click here for an icon that you can include for your specific day. Example of Day 1 below.

Here are the available themes (again, which I will update as they are taken):

***I would like to try and have the 12 days of food themes run in at least some sort of chronological order with breakfast starting first, then followed in some combination of drinks, appetizers, the main meals, side dishes, bread, dessert, leftovers, etc. Here are the 12 themes that I think would be best to include, but feel free to suggest/replace one with your own idea!

• Breakfast- Pastries and dessert-like items. (Me from Eating 4 Balance)
• Breakfast- Casseroles, Porridge, Eggs/Quiches, etc. (Jan from Sprouts N Squats)
• Snacks- What you could snack on throughout the day while cooking up the big Christmas feast! 😀 (Sarah from Slices of Sarah Pie)
• Drinks- Hot cocoa, juice, smoothies, flavored water, cider, fruit punch, coffee… (Rosie from Facing Your Storm)
• Appetizers- Easy-to-pick-up foods to eat before the main meal. (Andrea from Pencils and Pancakes)
• Main dishes- Self explanatory. (Kendra from Veggie Dancer)
• Side dishes- This can be anything from vegetables to stuffing to a traditional family favorite. (Olivia from Liv Lives Life)
• Bread- Sweet breads, savory breads, muffins, fruit cake, etc. (Juli from 1000 Lovely Things)
• Cookies- One of the essentials for Santa on Christmas Eve! 😉 (GiGi from Gigi Eats Celebrities)
• Pie/Cake/Cheesecake/Pudding- Almost every celebration has them. (Cat from Cat Food is Good for You)
• Candy/Fudge- This can be simple homemade candy and/or seasonal twists on delicious fudge.
• Nut butters and spreads- Come on, you nut butter lovers out there know that this is a holiday must! (Kathleen from Kat’s Health Corner
• Leftovers- An inevitable part. Some creative, allergy-friendly suggestions for what to do with them would be so helpful!

**If you are listed as “tentative” above that means that we have discussed a theme but I haven’t 100% verified that you can do it. Let me know if you’re still able to or would like to change, and what day you want!**

Thanks in advance to everyone who participates!

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Please comment below with what days you are available, and what themes you would like to host. List them in order of preference so that I can work our the schedule and find the best fit for everyone!

Are there any themes that you would rather see, or do you have any questions about the round-up details? Nothing is set in stone and if you have a good suggestion for improvement, I’m all ears! 🙂

As always, if you don’t want to leave a comment here, you can also e-mail me at alleyhays[at]gmail[dot]com (<<< I promise I will get a better one soon with my actual name! 😉 ).

And if for any reason you end up being not able to post, please e-mail me immediately. If you could find a blogger that would be willing to replace you in that event, I would thoroughly appreciate it, but if not, the sooner I know, the sooner I can find someone!