Buttercelli's Bakeshop

There is a serious shortage of gluten-free bakeries. I realize I say that living in one of the only cities in the US that has multiple to choose from, but seriously, I wish GF/vegan bakeries were everywhere. Thankfully, for those of you in the LA area (specifically in the valley), Buttercelli's has amazing gluten-free, vegan, and paleo options. 

I discovered Buttercelli's when one of my best friend's bought me cupcakes from there for my birthday this past September (thanks again, G). Ever since, I stop in every time I am in the area to stock up on my favorites. They have a vast assortment of delicious baked goods and cupcakes. My favorites would have to be the brownie, blondie, donuts, and vanilla cupcake. 

They will do custom cakes and orders, as well as catering and special events. 

They often have quiches and some savory items to choose from. 

And their latte's are out of control good. The almond milk latte is a must. 

I highly recommend this bakery to anyone with dietary restrictions, and those without. I also have to mention that the staff is incredibly nice. Every time I go in there, I ask 21 questions about their treats, and take an hour to decide what I want, and all the while the staff is incredibly friendly, helpful, and personable. 

You can find more info about Buttercelli's here

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OMG Blends New Year's Giveaway!

Remember the OMG Blends cleanse that Bailey went on a few months ago? Well, we thought with the New Year that it would be a perfect time to giveaway a 3 day cleanse to one of our readers. If one of your new year's resolutions is to be healthier, this is a perfect (and affordable) way to do so. 

In case you don't remember what OMG Blends is and you don't want to read the old blog post we will break it down for you here.

OMG incorporates meal replacement smoothies, soup and a healthy lean protein meal each day. Great for a refresher to get back on track, start a new routine or just enjoy healthy alternatives without having to do a lot of cooking. 

So who wants to win a 3 day cleanse from OMG??

We will be announcing the winner on January 17th. Perfect timing if you ask us. Just in case your New Year's Resolution starts to get tough to stick to after the novelty wears off, this will kick start you back into gear!

How to enter... First, OMG is only local to Southern California so we are sorry if you are out of the area, but we have plenty of other giveaways coming your way this month so hang tight.

Ok, now make sure you are subscribed, like us on facebook, follow us on twitter and then leave us a comment letting us know what your resolutions are for this year! 

Also, just in case you don't want to wait to see if you win, you can use the code ORGANIC to get 25% off your first online order!

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BOLD Organics Pizza

Recently, I became completely dairy free, which has made eating my favorite meal - pizza - very difficult. I am so excited to share with you my new discovery, BOLD Organics Pizza. I have tried most of the frozen dairy free/gluten free pizzas on the market, and I have yet to find one that either tastes good, or is worth the calories for the tiny portion size you get. So, usually I just make my my own, but sometimes that just isn't possible. 

I almost don't believe that I am eating a gluten free/dairy free pizza when I eat the Veggie Lovers pizza from BOLD. But, trust me, I have checked and re-checked the ingredient list - it's legit. (Oh and you can have it vegan!)

They have four different flavors, and are in a substantial amount of stores. The Veggie Lovers pizza is not only one of my favorite frozen pizzas (believe me, I've had them all), but it is without a doubt the best of its kind. 

For you GF meat eaters out there, they have something for you as well! You can try out the deluxe or the meat lovers.

So good you must give it a try!

Read about BOLD here

Have any of you had BOLD pizza?? If so let us know what you thought.

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AGBF New Year's Resolutions

Happy New Year!

Hopefully you drank too much champagne and danced on tables last night! Or cuddled in your PJ's with your dog. As a team we did a combination of both :)

We are beginning a brand new year and could not be more excited. In just about 1/2 of 2013 we were able to learn so much about our health and what we put in our bodies. We are pretty sure that 2014 has bigger and better things to come. 

As the new year begins we hope to bring you lots of delicious recipes and tips to make being gluten free and feeling your best as easy as possible.

Here are a few of our resolutions for the blog! Since it is going to take us till March to remember to write a '4' and not a '3' every time we write the date, we will do 4 resolutions! 

1. We are going to listen to our bodies and try to make the healthiest decisions for us. We will also share our new knowledge and decisions with all of you. We want to be a helpful and informative blog for everyone out there trying to figure out how to work this whole gluten free thing. Hopefully we can help guide you though your journey! Be sure to share what has worked for you as well! This learning thing goes both ways.

2. Speaking of listening to our bodies, we both recently discovered that we feel pretty great without dairy. So we are going to try to bring you more gluten free and dairy free recipes and products as the year goes on.

3.  We want to create more and more of our very own recipes. Don't get us wrong, we love using all the fabulous gluten free recipes out there, but we want a cookbook. Yup, can you imagine it? A Girl's Best Friend Cookbook! We hope to make enough delicious treats and dinners and soups and pancakes and well pretty much all of our favorites that will fill a book! As we post these new AGBF recipes we will be looking to see who tried them out and we want to know you think of them. You will be helping us pick our favorites for the cookbook! 

4. We want to get to know you and chat with  you. We are hoping to get to know our readers a bit more this year and make some connections and find our what is is you want to read about. We can't do this one by ourselves so we are hoping you will do this one with us! Please comment and share on anything that is of interest to you. Or just let us know how your day is going. Maybe it is great and you want to share an accomplishment, or maybe you got a parking ticket and you want to share the frustration. We want to know! So, to start the year off right, we want know what your resolutions are for the year! Let us know in the comments below!

Well, there you have it! We wish you all the best in 2014 and we can't wait to explore what is to come together! 

Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas from A Girl's Best Friend

Christmas is almost here, and 2013 is almost at its end. We would like to take a moment to wish you all a Merry Christmas, a very happy holiday, and a wonderful new year. We will be taking the rest of the year off from the internet to spend quality time with our loved ones, and hope you get to do the same. 

My (Mahaley) holiday plans consist of Coco, coffee, mom, dad, and multiple viewings of Christmas Vacation and Home Alone (1&2). 

But, we wouldn't feel right without leaving you with one last holiday recipe. I have chosen to share my Pecan Pie recipe with you all. It's super easy to make if you use a bought crust, and there are many GF/Dairy Free options in the stores. 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Mix the following: 

1 1/4 cup agave 2tbsp (melted) vegan butter 3 eggs Pinch of salt 1 tsp vanilla 

Stir in 1 cup chopped pecans

Stir well with whisk, but don't over beat 

Pour filling into crust and bake for 35-45 minutes. You know it's done when the filling doesn't jiggle anymore. If edges start to darken, cover with foil mid way through baking.

Also - if you use a 9 inch crust, you may need to add about 2 tbsp of agave and 1/4 cup pecans (eyeball it). I've used this recipe for both 8 and 9 inch, and I end up either adding a tiny bit or having a little leftover. 

A Girl's Best Friend is still in an internal debate about how to pronounce "pecan" - please feel free to weigh in. 

*cough cough* peCAN *cough* Well my holiday plans include me (Bailey) staying put in Los Angeles for the first time! Believe it or not, but I'm super excited to be missing the white Christmas this year! I'll be spanding time with my west coast family with extra cuddles from Harley and trips to the barn to ride. I also have quite a few appointments with some tea and a few good books!

Since the holidays are a time to be merry, I'd like to share my favorite holiday drink with you! Its is so easy to make, it looks so festive, and it is sure to make you merry!  Everyone loves a Poinsettia or two!

All you need for a Poinsettia is some champagne, cranberry juice and some pomegranate seeds. It is totally up to you how you make the champagne to cranberry juice ratio, I prefer 3/4 champagne, 1/4 cranberry juice.

The  best part is tossing in the pomegranate seeds and watching them dance as the glass fizzes! If you want to be extra fancy rim the glass with some sugar crystals.

Put it in a different glass and it is totally manly too!

Thank you for the continued support throughout this year, and we will see you in 2014!

12 Days of A Girl's Best Friend Gift Guide: Dr. Lucy's Treats

Today is the last day of our gift guide! And Christmas is almost here. Which means you will be needing some cookies for Santa! We have featured a variety of gift ideas, and we've saved one of the tastiest for the end - Dr. Lucy's Treats.

Dr. Lucy's cookies are gluten free, vegan, milk and egg free, and peanut free. I was shocked when I tasted them and how good they were. They are low in calorie, and have a great ingredient list. Thus far, Dr. Lucy's are my favorite vegan/gluten free cookie on the market. These make a great stocking stuffer, thank you gift, or addition to any gift, especially someone with a food allergy. 

Here is a sample of their different flavors. They are sold in Target, Whole Foods, and a variety of other stores depending on where you live. If you are in a rush, they are available on Amazon Prime as well. 

(These are Santa's Favorite.)

(But the reindeer are all about the sugar cookies!)

The best news? Dr. Lucy's has been kind enough to gift one of our readers 5 boxes! You know the drill by now - follow us on twitter and instagram, like us on facebook, and leave a comment below. We will be choosing the winner on New Year's Day, so hurry up and enter! 

You can visit Dr. Lucy's site here

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12 Days of A Girl's Best Friend Gift Guide: Red Apple Lipstick

More 12 Days of A Girl's Best Friend's Gift Guide!

Perfect for your gluten free friends and pretty much anyone who likes makeup.

You may be familiar with Red Apple Lipstick from some of our previous posts. We have been big fans since we met them at the GFAF Expo in Dallas and we think you will be instant fans once you try some of these new products too! 

Here is what Mahaley has to say about the Rallye Balm and Lip Exfoliator

I have never seen anything quite like the Rallye Balm or the Lip Exfoliator from Red Apple Lipstick. I love that they come in a pack, because they are both worth having. The Lip Exfoliator is so gentle, but really does make your lips look and feel amazing. The Rallye balm is so moisturizing, and I can definitely noticed a decrease in how chapped my lips are during the winter (because 70 degrees in LA is considered the arctic). 

The great thing about this as a gift option is that it's suitable for every girl and every skin tone. There's no guessing as to what color might look good, or what that person will like. The balm and exfoliator are also sold separately, but, like I said, it's worth the combo :)

Bailey sampled some of the Red Apple Lipstick eye shadows. We both really loved the lipstick and the lipgloss, but had no idea what to expect with the eye-shadow. 

Bailey tried the Twinkle Taupe, Violet Vixen, Graphite Glam and Iced Mocha colors. Seriously, Twinkle Taupe. Everyone should get this color just because the name will automatically make you happy!

Take a look at Bailey trying out the eye shadows.

This quickly became a favorite and all the poor old eye shadows are collecting dust in the back of a drawer someone in the bathroom. This would be a great gift for the girl who is a beauty guru, and also that girl who only sometimes wears makeup. Either way it is going to look great and it doesn't have any of those nasty ingredients that will bother their skin.

There are also pre-designed palettes to choose from :)

They eye shadow may be a difficult gift to get for someone if you don't know their colors, but there is always a gift card if you are not up for the challenge. Any girl would be excited to pick out some new colors! Perfect timing too, everyone wants to start fresh and try something new in the New Year. What better way to start than having some new eye-shadow to rock at that New Year's Eve Party! 

Happy Shopping! Be sure to check out everything Red Apple Lipstick has to offer.