Adopt a Gluten Free Blogger

I have big plans for my “debut” at the Adopt a Gluten Free Blogger Event hosted by the Book of Yum.  Pizza is the recipe for me!

I picked a blogger who I’ve enjoyed getting to know during What’s for Dinner Wednesday’s and with whom I’ve had a couple laughs over the difficulties of trying to feed kids. If you ask my husband though, it’s harder to feed me. I’m sure Brian at Fire and Salt has a few tales of his own and can understand my husbands lament since he blogs about his gluten free journey on behalf of his wife’s celiac.

I did manage to make Brian’s pizza crust but right off the bat I broke the “cardinal” rule and made a change to the recipe. Hopefully Sea will forgive me since I’ve got three growing boys and one who is not supposed to be growing! I doubled the batch!  That’s a heck of a lot of egg whites, whew and fishing all those shells out, I’m a terrible egg cracker.

Anyway I’m a rule breaker.  There I’ve said it I broke the rules and I’m begging forgiveness.

Brian’s post for the crust/bread is very detailed and full of pictures I like that because I’m a visual learner.  Look Brian, we properly proofed the yeast!

As you can see, I enlisted some help.  Thing 1 thoroughly enjoyed  his supervisory roll and even got to help with the crust.

Brian’s recipe intrigued me because he had a solution for making the pizza crust look like it’s wheat counterpart with a nice rolled edge and all. Why didn’t I think of that? All this time I’ve been rolling and squashing, flattening and fluffing like crazy trying to get something with an edge that wouldn’t let all the goodies spill off in the oven. Brian solved it for me with a recipe to boot!

I will be in touch with the Firefigher Blogger to see if he has suggestions for adjusting the recipe for my dry dry climate but other than being a tad dry (I’m sure due to the vast difference between Seattle by the sea vs. arid intermountian Idaho) I was very pleased with the outcome and despite my hopes of having extra pizza for lunch on day two, the boys and I polished two pizza’s off in one night.

Thanks Brian and thank you Sea for allowing me to participate in all my rule breaking glory!

Ta da!  She’s a beauty!

Jessie

Well water

Lovin’ this weather!

Ahhh!

I wuv mooseec!

Ah, there is music in the house! When there is music we are all refreshed. There is a neighbor over who plays guitar and it is so good to have live music!

The Bubba told me the other day “I wuv mooseec!”

Famous Yet?

I’ve been “surfing” a little and have come across some very busy blogs! I’ve then thought to myself, “Am I famouse yet?”

“Yeah right and no thank you!” my practical self reminds me.

“Still, wouldn’t it be fun to have 800+ readers and 400 comments on every post I add no matter how thick or thin it might be?”

“No, no,” reality is a good teacher, “how could you respond to all those comments, let alone read them?”

More than anything I write because I enjoy it. Secondly I write because I need a little piece of my life that I can organize to the gills. Thirdly and maybe a tie with number two, I love to make people laugh, smile and maybe cry a little as long as it is healing tears and we can wipe them together and move on back to the Joy!

So, no thank you to the Famous Blog, you won’t see me on the top ten but I bet if I start posting things like “I hate the Lakers” (even if I don’t) and “New York City stinks” (even though I’ve only been there a total of 2hrs in my whole life so how would I know) I would probably get more readers!

My goofy trick to get kids to eat!

There is not pitter patter in this house it’s more like “Boom, Crash, Slam!” 

Then the next thing I know it’s, “Do-do-do-doo-do-d-d-d-dooo,” the talented Thing 2 playing the kazoo version of “March of the Empire”!

I love it though, the kids are so creative!

Last night’s dinner was a hit and not because of my extreme talent.  Thing 1 polished off his stir-fry saying “I loved it, I loved it ALL!” 

Would you believe me if I told you the stir-fry contained mushrooms, green peppers and bean sprouts?  Here is my secret. 

Thing 1 sliced mushrooms using this wire egg slicer, Thing 2 stirred and The Bubba  who never needs coaxing when it comes to eating especially if his brothers are there, supervised!

It was a hit mostly because I let the Thinglets help and they couldn’t resist trying what they had “made”!

Stir-Fry Kid Style Un-Recipe: GF

What you’ll need- meat, cooked rice, various veggies, liquid and seasoning (We used olive oil, Tamari Wheat Free Soy Sauce, garlic and sugar water).  We in this case means my hubby, as I was the slice and dice supervisor!

• partially thaw frozen chicken (we were in a hurry) and slice into thin strips while heating an electric skillet (or frying pan) with a little olive oil
• cook chicken in olive oil over med heat until no longer frozen then add garlic and a little more oil and increase heat to 400 degrees
• add vegetables that need extra time like bell pepper and onion (if you must-ha ha)
• continue to fry and stir so nothing burns
• add Tamari soy sauce, sugar water (and no, I’m not a Bug)
• add the remaining veggies and cooked rice (yesterday’s left overs).  For a little zip add a small amount of crushed red pepper or red pepper oil after you dish some for the kids 🙂
• Stir fry until heated through and the vegetables are cooked how you like them.  I like mine pretty limp, Not recommended at culinary schools across the nation, if it were I’d probably be on TV and not writing a blog about how to cook Goof style!

Previously Featured at:

This has been another recipe for the “What’s for Dinner Wednesday Blog Carnival” Hosted by the Gluten Free Homemaker. Thanks for stopping and check out more great ideas here.

Currently Featured at:

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Legacy

I won’t pretend that everyone likes to write as much as I do but if you are one of the strange ones you might like this idea.  Almost everyone has some sort of baby book, calendar or plans to scrapbook those hundreds of baby pictures from years past.  I have a baby book, scrapbook AND calendar for my first son, a calendar and scrapbook for my second son, a baby book for the third son and a memory card full of pictures for the fourth and only little girl.  Actually the fact that I’ve still got plenty of pictures of all of them is pretty remarkable but as far as organizing them and writing milestones down, wow I’m lucky if I get dinner on the table so the milestones often come and go.

Once I realized the scrap-booking dreams were “gone with the wind” I had to think fast.  Being the oldest in my own family I am privileged to have my own baby book and pictures galore.  It means a lot to me that my mom kept such good records so I didn’t want to “deprive” (ha ha) my children of that privilege.  I am also enough older than my sister (the youngest of three) to remember her lament, “Why are there no pictures of me when I was a baby?”  Now, NO pictures is a pretty big exaggeration but in her defense most of  the pics have older sis and bro in them and as for a baby book… well mom was too busy plucking her off of hooks on the patio and running her back and forth to the ER to have her disconnected arm fixed (not related to the hook incident).  In case you are wondering about that… my brother and I discovered that a good restraint for a 3yr old is an infant life jacket and a bike hook looped through the little handle on top.  No harm done but we kept my mother busy. 🙂

To the point…

It is now my tradition to purchase a journal for each of my children and write in it as often as possible. I keep them on my nightstand and I try to grab them each time I find myself saying “I should write that down” or get a particular inspiration to tell them something.  Sometimes a verse, often a funny story, sometimes praising their accomplishments and personalities.  Lately I have only been writing every couple months but it’s better than nothing. 

I also have the largest ziploc bag I could find, assigned to each of them and I put artwork, certificates and special momentos including favorite children’s book, little league team shirts (though that’s probably overkill) and pictures inside each one.  I have planned to make memory quilts someday when they are all older (maybe for their first baby) so I will include a favorite outfit or scraps of fabric in each as well.

Bath Time Noodle Dish

Now isn’t that perty?

This week has not been as eventful as past weeks but I did have to give Pee Wee an emergency bath in the middle of dinner, during which I accidentally hosed myself down with the hand shower!  It’s hard to wield a shower head in one hand and grip a slippery wet and squirmy infant in the other, not to mention remembering that the stream of water actually needs to be aimed!  Thankfully this meal is easy enough to prepare even during bath time and turned out to be one worth shouting about.

Thing 1 got a quick sample during one of his many dinner progress inspections and immediately ran out, slammed the door and began yelling at his brothers, “Come quick, it’s a really, really good dinner!”

I went ahead and “re-purposed” that barbecued chicken one last time and since the sun has begun to peek through those spring storms more often I have been in the mood for something more reminiscent of a picnic.  A light noodle dish was just the ticket.

Noodle Dish Recipe:

Boil water and cook pasta as recommended (I like tinkyada)

Saute in olive oil over med/low

• sliced mini sweet peppers
• garlic
• onion (if desired)

Add noodles to wok with cooked (or BBQ) chicken and additional olive oil if needed.

Top with parmesan cheese (if desired) and serve warm!

If you are a goof like me you might forget to saute the garlic and veggies in advance so just push that mass of noodles to the side of your wok and make some room near the bottom so you can do it anyway.  Since my chicken was cooked at the beginning of the week it was really just a heat and serve meal.  Whew!  With more time on your hands you might try this with Noodles at Noon.

This has been another recipe for the “What’s for Dinner Wednesday Blog Carnival” Hosted by the Gluten Free Homemaker. Thanks for stopping and check out more great ideas here.

Nothing Part 2

There is a neat thing you can learn when humbled by making the wrong decision or feeling forgotten; it is wrapped up in Gods grace, the essence of his nature and it is his desire through relationship with his beloved people.  That lesson is Hope!

Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord, they are plans to prosper you not to harm you, to give you a future and a hope.”

It often feels impossible to continue to tend that nest when it is empty or in another analogy to wait for harvest when you are hungry but God’s promise is of hope.

I mentioned Naomi who changed her name to Mara after loosing her husband and two sons.  She was left empty and felt only bitterness.  Even through her raw emotion God allowed her small blessings, maybe not what she imagined for herself… I’m sure a house full of grandchildren by her husbands name…but hope in the friendship of her daughter-in-law (a foreigner) who chose to stay in an unknown land, and work a peasants job to show love and faithfulness. 

God blessed the women and through Ruth continued the line of David, redeeming Naomi and her lonely desperation.

I am often surprised at the narrow path God leads me to follow, I look longingly at the wide road filled with apparent happiness, but void of the Joy that accompanies this tattered way.  Often, like Naomi I would change my name and crawl into the hole of emptiness rather than cry with my eyes toward the Son.  She did both and God allowed her to mourn but asked her to follow.  She did and I hope I too will remember there is Joy on the path and Hope in the tattered way.  Like an empty nest my dreams bring endless possibility, I would rather that in place of a basket full of Easter eggs already stamped out for me.

Nothing Part 1

Nest full of Nothing

Isn’t it strange, when you are feeling a bit down that all the emotions of today, a week ago, a month and even years ago come flooding back.  In fact, Naomiof the Bible was so overwhelmed by her circumstances that she changed her name from one meaning pleasant to Mara, meaning bitter.  I strugglewith circumstance, to the point of being an obvious pain the the “booy”  as my two year old calls it. When my brow furrows and I spend the hours after dinner frantically cleaning or tackling huge un-warranted projects it often brings questions…

It is my experience when someone asks “What’s the matter?” one of two answers results:

1. “I’m fine.” or virtually the same answer, “Nothing.”  It’s not that you intend to deceive but your mind is saying stuff like, “Tired chocolate dad clutch and baby.  Phone call under the couch and maybe my hair”  How can a sane person make any sense of that?  So what a person usually intends to say follows. “Nothing I can wrap my brain around at the moment.” Or “I’m fine without dumping all the garbage I can’t even sort in my own mind yet.”
2. The other answer, though it’s less often perceived as deceitful is more often taken personally especially by unsuspecting, sincerely caring spouses:  Pause a moment while the questioned waits for the flood of thoughts to bump against the front of her brain and spill down into the central cavity of the brain where she can begin to pick them up one at a time, examine them and blurt out in no particular order just like the lottery lady on television, “I’m still feeling residual effects of the PPD, I really thought it would disappear one day and I would be rid of it but I’m loosing a lot of sleep over it,” deep breath while tears begin to well, “my dad being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s back at Christmas time is still heavy on my heart, I’m mad at God and I struggle every day to remember to thank God that Dad is still around and can do projects and play with the kids, I didn’t loose him in a car accident or a fire (he was a firefighter for over 25yrs) but I’m fearful of the future because I can’t imagine life without him AND,” with a flood of tears mounting now (I never cry so now I’m getting mad that my Hubby hit the jackpot, so to speak and I’m sobbing which will inevitable give me an unwanted headache) “the baby is sleeping really well now, in her own room but even though it is good I miss her and I lose sleep over THAT!”  Another gasp while I, I mean she 😉 winds up for the finale, “There are dust bunnies under the couch and that guy left a message for the third time about the clutch AND I haven’t had a shower so my hair is greasy and uncooperative!”

I think if it’s all the same, next time I will stick to “Nothing!” and save myself the headache.