I am honored to have been tagged by Shirley of GFE (Gluten-Free Easily) with a 7 Links blogging challenge.  For this 7 Links event, bloggers must choose their posts that best fit the following categories: Most Beautiful Post, Most Popular Post, Most Controversial Post, Most Helpful Post, Post Whose Success Surprised Me, Post That Didn’t Get Attention It Deserved, and Post I Am Most Proud of. Check out Shirley’s 7 Links – Reflections on Past Posts for some incredible posts that you might have missed.  I’m not the greatest at reflection, because that actually takes being still and thinking.  I’m more of a think and drive forward at the speed of light kind of girl.  But I’ll give this a shot!

Most Beautiful Post

Gluten-Free Ravioli on Christmas Eve is beautiful to me for many reasons.  First of all, just look at the picture!  Is there anything more beautiful than gluten-free Italian food after fearing that you’ll never eat pasta again?  After years of spending Christmas vacation traveling to visit our families who are all across the country, the Husband and I spent last Christmas at home.  Our Christmas Eve was magical.  It was beautiful.  And it was delicious. We played music, sipped red wine, and made the most delicious Spinach, Mushroom, Cheese Ravioli from scratch.  This post will walk you through the process, step by step, and hopefully it will inspire you to try something you never thought was possible.

Most Popular Post

Baked French Toast with Bananas and Almond Butter.  How could that NOT be one of my most popular posts?  Just the thought of it makes me swoon!  There’s even a dusting of cocoa powder on this incredible breakfast entree.  But the amazing thing about this meal is that it’s actually healthy!  Sure, you could put it over the top by stuffing it with almond butter and chocolate chips and drenching it with maple syrup, but the recipe I came up with has the perfect combination of goodness that leaves you feeling happily satisfied.

Most Controversial Post

I’m not a controversial writer.  Nobody seems to be bothered by anything I have to say. Maybe that means I play it safe.  Maybe that means my readers and I have a lot in common. But my very first Friday’s Find hit a hot button.  I chose to review Snyder’s of Hanover Gluten-Free Pretzels.  I was thrilled to have found a regular company that offered a gluten-free version, and I jumped at the chance to rave about it.  There was quite a buzz on Twitter and Facebook about cross contamination and illness from the ingredient palm oil.  I learned very quickly to do my research!

Most Helpful Post

My most helpful post was Smoothing the GF Transition with Smoothies.  I was honored that Diane of The Whole Gang invited me to be a part of the 30 Days to Easy Gluten-Free Living blog event.  If you haven’t read the 30 incredible entries, please do.  Because this was such a popular event, my little post about my smoothie secrets got a lot of visitors.  In this post, I shared my recipe for creating a well-balanced smoothie and gave links to some of my favorite combinations as well as links to smoothies by some of my favorite bloggers.  I’m not sure if anyone but a blogger truly understands the joy in receiving comments on her blog! But the encouraging responses for this piece had me happy dancing for a week!

Post Whose Success Surprised Me

As part of my weekly Friday’s Find, I reviewed a gluten-free tortilla produced by Maria and Ricardo’s Tortilla Factory.  I really like the tortillas, and the post inspired me to come up with vegan Black Bean Sweet Potato Tacos.  This post was particularly successful because the recipe was selected as the winner of the Le Creuset Gluten-Free Recipe Contest hosted by Paul of Food, Living, and Everything Else!

Post That Didn’t Get the Attention It Deserved

I could make a very long list, ha!  But I’m a needy writer.  As a blogger, I may spend hours on a post that I feel is amazing, and it might get one comment.  From my mom.  It’s so hard to know which posts are going to be wildly popular and which will be sent into cyberspace with nary a glance.  But one recent post that I was wild about was Baked Tilapia with Sweet Cherry Salsa.  Even if you aren’t a fish fan, you will LOVE this salsa.  I promise!

Post I Am Most Proud Of

This post has almost nothing to do with gluten-free food.  It is called The Terrible, Horrible, Incredible Triathlon.  Last summer, I ran my first triathlon.  I didn’t start with a sprint tri.  I jumped in and trained for an Olympic which consisted of a mile swim, a 25 mile bike, and a 6.2 mile run.  I’m most proud of this post, because it summarizes one of the most challenging feats I’ve ever conquered.  There is nothing more satisfying that crossing the finish line after pushing your body to its limit!

Thank you, Shirley for choosing me as one of your five bloggers to share my 7 Links.  Now it’s my turn to tag 5 more bloggers.  I know you’ll love hearing from these five lovely girls. You may even fall in love with a new blog!

Valerie of City Life Eats

Courtney of Gluten-Free Jesus Freak

Leanne of Healthful Pursuit

Brittany of Real Sustenance

Sunny of And Love it Too!  (read Sunny’s 7 Links Post here!)