This week, we get to celebrate all that learning at a competition that will bring together 80 of the best teams (from a field of 15,000!) from around the world. I could not be more proud of my children- I get all weepy thinking about how incredible they are!

However- this week will not just be full of robotics challenges- we have to eat. And, when you’re in an entertainment arena full of junky food- 99% of it gluten-full- you’ve gotta be resourceful. We’ve baked bacon/egg/cheese/veggie muffins, we’ll be baking energy cookies, and taking a lot of fruit and string cheese with us…oh- and these cute little items as well. Who knew there was a gluten-free goldfish in the shape of a duck??

I didn’t, until about a week ago when this awesome blogger, Ryan, who’s part of a really great collaborative blog called Let’s Get Basted, found them for me. This blog is managed by four college students from James Madison University, and it’s well-written, fun, and engaging! The blog is directed to the college students on campus and is filled with easy cooking tips ranging covering a wide variety of subject matter- from eating on a budget, to one pan cooking, to what to cook to impress your date. Their commentary on college life is fascinating, and at times downright hilarious.

Why would an old lady like me follow a blog like this? These students developed their passion for food and cooking while on an adventure abroad- as did I, or were raised by foodie parents- like I’m trying to raise my girls. I can’t help but wonder if I would have started something like had the internet existed waaaay back in the dark ages of the late 80′s/early 90′s when I was in college. And, as I watch them write and grow, it gives me hope that my daughters won’t run to the nearest McDonald’s the moment they step foot on a college campus.

Ryan’s post “Goldfish Nachos” caught my eye and triggered my curiosity. While I may be a food snob most of the time, I do appreciate some good junkfood..namely Sonic chili cheese fries…and the idea of putting goldfish on nachos really struck my funny bone. It’s an easy recipe and definitely one we’ll try for a snack some night now that I have these GF equivalents to Goldfish. Ryan was kind enough to do some hunting around the internet based on a comment I’d left and sent me the link to purchase the Qwackers.

Knowing that we were headed to World Festival, I thought this would be the perfect time to try them out. At this time they only come in individual sizes, which is perfect for our traveling. They are also very reasonably priced.

The best thing about Qwackers is that they are not filled with a laundry list of preservatives and it shows in the flavor. They use real ingredients- including a sharp cheddar cheese. They are slightly denser than the Goldfish I remember, and my husband verified this. However, the flavor was spot on. All four of us sampled them last night and were thrilled with the taste- a nice sharp cheddar flavor and just the perfect amount of salt. We’ll be keeping them in our pockets at WorldFestival and purchasing more for the roadtrips to come. Thanks Ryan and the rest of the writers at Let’s Get Basted- keep up the great work.

As for me, I’m hoping to scout out the gluten-free scene in St. Louis- if you know of someplace we have to try, post a comment! And, if you’re in St. Louis later this week- stop by the Edward Jones Dome and cheer us on- we’ll be the ones wearing the bunny ears!

On that note- today I close with a link to a cool video the robotics team and I put together to showcase Kansas City and their research project, which was about….Food Safety…How fitting!