As a blogger, I am invited to a lot of amazing events that are catered with yummy drinks, mouth watering appetizers and sweet treats. Inevitably I am always the attendee who is not indulging in the deliciousness and quite often I am asked why. When I say that I am both gluten and dairy intolerant people usually look at me first like I’m crazy and then with pity, followed by, ‘Wow, what can you eat then?’ Well the answer is, a lot. (It should be noted that I am also corn and soy free however those are by choice, and yet the answer is still a lot!)
I know a lot of people who are sensitive to one or both gluten and dairy, yet continue to eat it because they don’t know what to eat, particularly when it comes to snacking. So I ordered a bunch of my favorite snacks from Thrive Market and thought I’d share a few of them with you.
If you don’t know what Thrive Market is, it’s like a virtual market offering the kind of products you’d find at Whole Foods, for a lower cost. You’ll not only find gluten free, dairy free, vegan and even raw foods but also beauty and health care products, kitchen supplies and more. You pay for a yearly membership and then you can order all year round and have your favorite health products delivered right to your door. When I ordered this package of stuff it came in less than 2 days. Another great thing about them is every time someone joins they donate a free membership to a family, veteran or a public school teacher.
Ok so onto to the yumminess:
Beanfields Bean & Rice Chips: These are my version of a tortilla chips and are awesome with salsa or guac. They are made with black beans, navy beans, long grain rice, safflower or sunflower oil and sea salt. They come in other flavors that have other ingredients, but the sea salt is my favorite.
Food Should Taste Good Sweet Potato chips: While regular potato chips don’t contain gluten, sweet potatoes have a lower amount of starch and a lower glycemic index than regular potatoes, which makes them much more bikini body friendly. But they also taste really good. Often times brands who make sweet potato chips cook them in canola oil…for those of you who don’t know, canola oil is made from genetically modified corn so I avoid it as much as I can. But Food Should Taste Good brand makes them with sunflower oil and sea salt.
Mary’s Gone Crackers: These are my cracker substitute, but I first want to say, these two flavors do have soy, though it is non GMO soy. I usually try to avoid soy altogether, but the Super Seed flavor that is soy free was not available. The only reason I caved was the fact that it’s non gmo. But if that isn’t a concern for you, these crackers are the bomb.
Two Moms in the Raw Almond Butter Cacao Truffle: These are my favorite on the go snack, particularly if I am craving something sweet. They are made from organic almonds, organic agave, organic cacao and salt. Usually I avoid agave because much like sugar it spikes your blood sugar causing a release in insulin which signals fat storage (sorry if I am showing my inner health nut geek but this stuff is important!) however, once in awhile it isn’t bad and for the most part they are healthy. Raw foods are also much easier for your system to break down and absorb, which is another reason they are great to snack on.
Lily’s Dark Chocolate Chips: The fact of the matter is, there is no substitute for chocolate. When you need a chocolate fix, other sweet things just won’t do. Now for dairy free people, you would think dark chocolate would be a simple solution, however 90% of the time even they contain milkfat. So when I discovered Lily’s I was over the moon. They are vegan which means no milk, they are also non GMO and sweetened with stevia so they don’t wreak havoc on your blood sugar and in turn, your waistline. AND they are so good!!
Sweet Leaf Sweet Drops in Vanilla Creme: When I tell people they should try Stevia, I am often told they just can’t get past the aftertaste. The thing is, your palette is use to super sweet sugar tasting things but if you cut those out, you will adjust to the taste of other things. But if you are still a non believer, you can try the flavored kind. This Vanilla Creme is so good, you won’t believe it’s Stevia. I use it in everything from coffee, tea, smoothies and more.
Traditional Medicinals Peppermint Tea: I used to turn my nose up at anything mint (unless it was chocolate) but around Christmas time I tried a peppermint tea at Starbucks. I was feeling festive and peppermint is holiday appropriate. Then I realized I LOVED it and I have been hooked ever since. It is so good, and caffeine free so you can have it any time of day. I sip this throughout the day and on top of being good, it is really great for your digestive system.
One more tip when looking for dairy and gluten free foods, read EVERY label before you eat something and educate yourself as to what things are. Your belly will thank you 🙂
I hope you learned something new, or found this interesting! I’d love to hear your thoughts… I very rarely do posts like this because I am not sure you guys are interested in health, diet and fitness stuff but if you are and want to see more let me know!
Also check out Thrive Market and get a free 2 month membership!
XO,
