Be Free For Me Blog

This week’s Friday Favorite is all about keeping things healthy… even when snacking.

Let’s face it – snacking gets a bum-rap since it is synonymous with high-fat, high-calorie, and high-guilt foods. But all of you healthy-snackers out there can now rejoice thanks to Naked Edge Snacks.

Gluten-free Naked Edge Snacks are like snacks of no other. Their Veggie-Go snacks are similar to tradition fruit strips or fruit leathers, but made from whole, organic fruits AND veggies. The fruit and veggies combos are unique and will have your taste buds happy. Some of the varieties are: Carrots, Apples & Ginger;  Beets, Apples, Sweet Potatoes, Flax Seed & Cinnamon; Sweet Potato Pie and my favorite, Berries, Spinach, Apples & Sweet Potatoes.

They are also made in a dedicated gluten-free facility. According to their website, “No gluten ever enters our doors!”

The Veggie-Go’s are also organic and non-GMO, have less that 1/3 of the sugar of leading fruit strips (with no added sugar either!), and have a 1/2 serving of fruit AND 1/2 serving of veggies in every strip.

For all these healthy reasons that give snacking a good rap, Naked Edge Snack’s Veggie Go’s are this week’s Friday Favorite on BeFreeForMe.com. Congrats!

Yes! It is time for a new WIN-It-Wednesday and we are on a roll with another fabulous cookbook giveaway!

This Win-It-Wednesday sponsor is the Vibrant Food Cookbook by Kimberley Hasselbrink… a cookbook that celebrates the ingredients, recipes and colors of each season.

Being the start of the summertime season, my first instinct was to page to the chapter on the bold colors of summer. With thoughts of my upcoming garden bounty, I was happy to see some exciting recipes using some of the vegetables and fruits I will soon be enjoying in abundance. Some of my favorites are the Sweet Corn and Squash Fritters with Avocado Crema, Summer Squash Pasta with Green Goddess Dressing, Smoky Red Pepper Soup with Pumpkin Seeds and Feta, and Summer Berry-Coconut Milk Ice Pops.

The vivid photography in this cookbook has the food bursting off the pages, tempting you to create them in your own kitchen, and enticing you to enjoy not only the flavors, but the beauty of your food creations. Usually when I make a dish, I dig in right away, but the recipes that Kimberley Hasselbrink has created in the Vibrant Food Cookbook begs me to step back a moment to admire… and appreciate… before my fork hits the plate. No wonder Kimberley is a photographer, as well as a food blogger (you must check out her fabulous blog The Year in Food)!

The recipes in this cookbook are truly a feast for both your eyes and your appetite. Made with fresh, seasonal (think local) and vivid foods, almost all the recipes in this cookbook are gluten-free (and the ones that are not “naturally” gluten-free can be super easily adapted to be so – i.e. swapping out regular pasta for gluten-free pasta).

All of these fabulous reasons are why I am so excited that Kimberley Hasselbrink the photographer and food blogger behind the new cookbook  “Vibrant Foods”  is the sponsor of this Win-It-Wednesday contest on BeFreeForMe.com!

How can you win?
Easy!

Reply to this blog and tell us your favorite vibrant summer fruits or vegetables. (Me? Berries! I love the bluish, purple, red colors… and their sweet, yet tart, taste!)

A total of two (Yes… 2!) BeFreeForMe members will be selected to win a copy of “Vibrant Food” Cookbook by Kimberley Hasselbrink. One (1) winner will be randomly selected from the entries received before Tuesday, June 24, 2014 at 11:59 PM EST, and one (1) more winners will be randomly selected to win from the entries received between Wednesday, June 25 and Tuesday, July 1, 2014 at 11:59PM. SO – make sure you enter to win two times!

Good luck, remember to keep your world colorful, vibrant and tasty… and as always…
Be Free!

Want to buy “Vibrant Colors” cookbook? Be the first of your friends… it goes on sale, June 17, 2014! Check out this link on Amazon.com!

P.S. Join me and follow Kimberley on Facebook for her vibrant posts, news and recipes! ~Kathleen

If you are a chocolate lover you are aboslutly going to adore this week’s Friday Favorite on BeFreeForMe.com!

Righteously Raw’s slogan is “the way chocolate ought to be”… and they are spot on. Certified gluten-free, organic, non-GMO, vegan and kosher, this chocolate is also free of the top 8 allergens and contain no refined sugars.

The flavors are also too good to be true. These “adult-like” varieties are super creative and made for the adult palate. Maca, Pure Dark, Goji, Caramel, Acai and my favorite, Rose are all sure to please.

All of these reasons are the reasons why this week’s Friday Favorite is awarded to Righteously Raw! Congratulations!

If you’re looking to blend, shake and mix things up when it comes to your snacks, meals, salads, soups, appetizers and dessert you need to  check out Tess Masters new cookbook, “The Blender Girl… Super-Easy, Super-Healthy Meals, Snacks, Desserts & Drinks”.

After paging through this cookbook and checking out all of Tess’s mouth-watering recipes I have to admit I have a brand new respect for my trustworthy blender. Who would have thought that my appliance that normally just sits unused on my kitchen counter could whip up such dishes? Simply amazing! Some of my favorite recipes that Tess has created include: Flourless Triple-Pecan Mousse Pie, Raspberry Lemon Cheesecake Smoothie and Taste Like Ice-Cream Kale. Tess’s sense of style and flair is apparent in all of her health conscious recipes… all of which nourish our bodies and get our taste-buds dancing.

Another bonus is that all of Tess’s recipes are gluten-free, vegan and rely on natural flavors and sweeteners. Super-easy and super-healthy… just the way I like things!

And while you’re at it… check out Tess’s website, and follow her on Pinterest, Twitter and Facebook to make sure you catch all of her latest recipes, posts and healthy blending ideas.

All of these fabulous reasons are why I am so excited that Tess Masters the blendaholic behind  “The Blender Girl” Cookbook  is the sponsor of this Win-It-Wednesday contest on BeFreeForMe.com!

How can you win?
Easy!

Reply to this blog and tell us a super-easy thing you do to keep yourself super-healthy. (Me? I can’t make up my mind, so here are two things… I park at the furthest end of a parking lot to get a little walk into my day and I substitute avocado for mayo on my gluten-free sandwiches!)

A total of two (Yes… 2!) BeFreeForMe members will be selected to win a copy of “The Blender Girl” Cookbook by Tess Masters. One (1) winner will be randomly selected from the entries received before Tuesday, June 10, 2014 at 11:59 PM EST, and one (1) more winners will be randomly selected to win from the entries received between Wednesday, June 11 and Tuesday, June 17, 2014 at 11:59PM. SO – make sure you enter to win two times!

Good luck, Keep things super-easy & super-healthy… and as always…
Be Free!

Want to buy “The Blender Girl” cookbook? Check out this link on Amazon.com!