First, since I’m two days late, the winner of the Stubb’s Bar-B-Q giveaway is…

Wahooo!  Molly please email me your mailing address at lifesabowlblog@gmail.com and I’ll forward it to Stubb’s.

The one thing that I need more of right now is time.  More time laughing with Ryan.  More time cuddling with Charlie.  More time sharing memories with my momma.  More time goofing off with friends.  More time unwinding after work.  More time zoning out in an intense workout.

Mornings have always been, and most likely always will be, my favorite time of the day.  It’s eerily calm, quiet, and somewhat surreal.  I typically take Charlie for a short walk around the neighborhood, watch the news, pack lunches for Ryan and myself, and enjoy a sweet breakfast.  Mornings are when I have the most time.

Being completely honest, I’m feeling overwhelmed at the moment.  We’re loving out new apartment but we still have boxes to unpack, things to organize, furniture to assemble, and an old kitchen table that needs to be replaced.  Work is busy with deadlines that need to be met.  And yesterday I received some health related news that I’m not ready to accept.

With all of that said, my posts the next couple of weeks are going to be sporadic – lately they’ve been sparse, but they’re gonna be even less frequent until things settle down.  I need a break from something and sitting behind my computer is the one thing that I can currently afford to take a break from.  I selfishly need more “me” time.

Sticking with Wednesday tradition, my recent eats.  Yesterday I completely forgot to photograph my lunch since it was eaten while I worked at my desk and dinner was eaten in a ravenous state since I got home late.  Sooo…  Here’s a combo of some of my favorite recent eats!

Thanks Jenn for hosting another tasty link-up!

I feel like I’ve been living under a rock, my first time trying chopped dates – they’re nature’s candy

honeydew, turkey breakfast sausage links, & Van’s frozen waffles topped with Chobani + Earth Balance Crunchy Coconut Peanut Spread + Van’s Cinnamon Heaven Cereal + chopped dates

sweet strawberries

unpictured veggies & a mile high turkey sandwich with lettuce + tomato + dijon mustard

Van’s Peanut Butter Chocolate Chewy Snack Bar

an unpictured salad & [my first ever] spaghetti squash topped with a breaded chicken cutlet + Stubb’s BBQ sauce + cottage cheese

a couple of chunks of Theo dark chocolate

Guess what?  I’ve got another tasty giveaway for y’all!  I feel truly fortunate to have had the opportunity to try a handful of new products lately that I’ve really enjoyed.  One of the many sweet perks of blogging = exchanging products for honest opinions.  As someone who likes to eat and try new treats, I’m all for it!  And so is my hungry husband who hardly ever says no to taste testing.  There have been a few products that weren’t my cup of tea, so I haven’t mentioned them on LAB.  I don’t think it’s fair to the company, to all y’all, or myself, to say things that I don’t support.  Agreed?

I’ve always been a carb lover – I joke about it, but I seriously think that I could survive off of bread, fruit, and veggies…  Carbs!  Not that I ever hope that my eats ever become limited to only those, but if they do I’m not worried.  So as you can imagine, when my doctor suggested a while back that I try a gluten free diet thinking that it could possibly help calm my digestive issues, I was bummed.  No bread?  What ze heck?

I tried a bunch of different gluten free products but I was less than impressed.  A lot of them were full of sugar, lacked fiber or protein, tasted like cardboard, crumbled or cracked unless they were heated up, and many of the products were frozen.  Not very appealing in my opinion.

Thankfully, after sticking to a gluten free diet for a few months and seeing no improvement, my doctor let me incorporate gluten back into my diet and I couldn’t have been happier.  I swore that I’d never eat another gluten free product again.  That is until the kind folks at Van’s offered to send me a few coupons to try their new gluten free line.

Some information about the products…

This summer, Van’s Natural Foods offers healthy new snacks with its all-natural, nutrition-packed whole grain snack bars and crackers.  The portable treats – perfect for day camp backpacks, family road trip snacks, pool totes or beach bags – offer a delicious and nutritious way to snack that the whole family can enjoy.  Bonus – they’re gluten-free!

Finding nutritious, better-for-you snacks like Van’s snack bars and crackers is more important than ever as we get more of our daily calories at snack time.  In fact, according to a recent article by Stuart Cantor, Ph.D., in Food Processing magazine, they have become as nutritionally significant as regular meals.

Van’s Whole Grain Crackers (MSRP: $2.99): deliciously light and perfectly crispy.  A fun addition to a school lunch or a party snack everyone can enjoy, they’re baked with nutrient-rich whole grains, including gluten free oats, brown rice, millet, quinoa, and amaranth.  Available in three flavors – Multigrain, Lots of Everything! and Say Cheese! – these gluten free crackers are full of nutrition and flavor, with 16 grams of whole grains per serving – and no artificial colors, flavors, or preservatives.

Van’s Whole Grain Snack Bars (MSRP: $4.49): in chewy, delicious Chocolate Chip, Cranberry Almond and Peanut Butter Chocolate, are perfect for breakfast on-the-run, snack-time or an anytime nutritious treat.  Baked with real, all-natural ingredients and nutrient-rich whole grains, the bars have 8-10 grams of whole grains and 4 grams of fiber per serving – more than four times the fiber of other gluten free bars on the market today, according to our research.

The verdict?  They are AWESOME!  We tried the Lots of Everything! Whole Grain Crackers and the Peanut Butter Chocolate Whole Grain Snack Bars and have been enjoying them daily in our lunches.  The flavor of the crackers remind me of an everything bagel [one of my favorites] and the snack bars remind me of a super soft cookie [another one of my favorites].  We will definitely purchase these products again in the future…  Even if they’re gluten free

Want to win 3 free coupons [valued at $12-14] and 3 $1 off coupons to get some tasty snacks for yourself?  The giveaway is open until Sunday, June 16th at 11:59PM EST and I’ll announce the winner on Monday.  Please note that this giveaway is only open to U.S. residents.

There are 6 ways to enter.  Please leave a separate comment for each entry.  You can enter once, twice, or all six times – the more entries, the better your chances…

1. Leave a comment answering:  What’s your favorite gluten free product?
2. Tweet about this giveaway and tag @lifesabowl and @vansfoods
3. Follow Van’s on Twitter
4. Follow Life’s a Bowl on Twitter
5. Like Van’s on Facebook
6. Like Life’s a Bowl on Facebook

Disclaimer:  I was provided free products from Van’s Natural Foods for the purpose of this review, however I was not compensated in any other way.  All opinions are my own.

— Allison