A couple of Gluten Free recipes

First up, Insanely Good Blueberry Oatmeal Muffins. This recipe is one I got from one of my favorite blogs, Gina's Skinny Taste. She does healthy low fat weight watcher's recipes. So far every thing I've tried has been good. Here is the link to the recipe for these muffins if you aren't gluten free: http://www.skinnytaste.com/2012/03/insanely-good-blueberry-oatmeal-muffins.html I made a few simple changes to make them Gluten free and they turned out so moist and good I can't even tell they are GF! That is always my goal make stuff we will all eat so I don't have to make two batches. So if it's bad, it's never made again. My changes are as follows: Oatmeal-use certified GF oats, instead of the 1/2 c. white whole wheat flour I subbed in: 1/2 c.GF Mix (Bette Hagman's mix- 6c. rice flour, 2c. potato starch flour (not potato flour), 1 c. tapioca starch) with 1/2 t. xantham gum and 2 T. ground flax seed meal. You could probably skip the flax, but I wanted the good fat and fiber from it. I would probably add the flax if I was using wheat flour too. I like adding flax to things.
That's it!

Sponge Cake- great base for strawberry shortcake
Adapted from my favorite cook book, The Joy of Cooking. I'm typing the recipe as it appears in the book, then adding my subs in at the end.
Economical, if you use the minimum number of eggs. Especially delightful, if you vary the flavors. (for gf I always use the 6 eggs, 5 if they are duck eggs).
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Grate then stir:
1 teaspoon lemon or orange rind into
1 cup sifted sugar
Beat until very light:
3-6 egg yolks
Beat in the sugar gradually. Beat in:
1/4 c. boiling water
When cool, beat in:
1 Tablespoon Lemon juice or 1 teaspoon vanilla (I often use both)
Sift before measuring:
1 cup cake flour
Resift with:
1 1/2 teaspoons double acting baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt.
Add the flour mix gradually to the yolk mixture. Stir the batter until blended
Whip until stiff but not dry:
3-6 egg whites.
Fold them lightly into the batter (this is easiest with a large wisk)
Bake the cake 20-45 min. in a well greased pan. I use a fluted torte pan, the recipe calls for a 9 inch tube pan, I've also used a springform pan.

Now my subs for the flour. I've used successfully both a mixture of (both betty hagman mixtures I got them out of the book Life Taste's Good Again) GF mix and Featherlight mix in equal quantities and just plain GF mix. Then to it I add 3/4 t. xantham gum and an extra 1/2 t. baking powder. That's it! Easy subs again, and it's super tasty.

The best Chocolate chip cookies ever!
I've been working on this recipe for a while now. It's pretty good. Good enough that last week I made it for Justen and a batch of Tollhouse for Garrison and I. I ended up eating Justen's cookies because they were better than mine. Half the trick is in the freezing of the dough. Although they do work when fresh baked, they just turn out so much chewier when baked half frozen.

3/4 c. butter (I have used a mix of butter and margerine but we all know butter tastes so much better.
1 1/4 c. packed brown sugar
1/4 c. white sugar
1 t. GF Vanilla
1/4 c. egg substitute or 1 large egg (done it both ways both work fine)
2 1/4 c. GF Mix (again Bette Hagman's recipe-see above recipe for proportions)
1 1/2 t. xantham gum
1 t. baking soda
1 t. baking powder
1 t. salt (scant)
8-12 oz. Chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375degrees F.
Prepare a greased baking sheet (I have forgotten to do this and it does work without just sometimes you mangle the cookies getting them off)
In a medium bowl, cream butter adn sugar. Gradually add egg adn vanulla while mixing. Sift together gluten free flour mix, baking soda, powder and salt. Stur into butter mix until blended. Then stir in chocolate chips.
Using a cookie scoop (looks like a tiny ice cream scoop) drop cookies 2 inches apart on prepared sheet. Then flatten slightly because they don't spread like gluten cookies. You will know if you forget to flatten them because you will have odd little dough cakes instead of flat, yummy, chewy cookies. Can do it with a teaspoon they just didn't turn out as thick and chewy.

Bake in preheated oven 6-8 min. or until just starting to brown. For chewier cookies, smack pan on counter when it comes out of the oven. Let cookies cool on the sheet for 2 min. until moving them to cooling racks.

Now the freezer part: I always make a huge batch and freeze so Justen can bake his own cookies whenever he wants. So I started scooping them out with the cookie baller thingy, really close together on a cookie sheet and then freezing. After a day I move them into a zip lock and he bakes as needed. As a side note, they are awesome frozen unbaked! To bake from frozen, put them on prepared sheet and let thaw about 20 min. (this time has been here in the winter so I'm sure it would be different if it were summer). You want them to be just thawed enough that you can smoosh them down a bit but they aren't all the way thawed. Then bake the 6-8 min (we prefer them slightly under done). They are awesome! We baked two batches side by side one night to see if the frozen ones really were better than the fresh ones, and for some reason they are.

Decluttering

This info is for Brittany, but of course we can all use a little reminder that spring is here it's time to clean out. This is cut and pasted info from the Minimalist/De clutter challenge I've been doing.

Mini Minimalist Challenge runs for the week, Monday-Saturday, with Sunday being break day. I will be updating the first post to reflect the current day. I suggest, if you are able to, taking your weeks worth of donations and drop them off on Saturday/Sunday to avoid a new clutter spot. Out of sight, out of mind. Before and after pictures are great if you want to post them to inspire others. Lets get minimal ladies!!!


Monday 3.5.12- Purge 5 items from a non clothing closet. Of course more than 5 is better if you have more to purge.

Tuesday 3.6.12- Purge 5 items from your bathroom drawers/cabinets.

Wednesday 3.7.12- Purge 5 items from your desk/office/mail space. If you don't have a desk/office/mail space then purge 5 items from your junk drawer.

Thursday 3.8.12- Purge 5 items from your spice/pantry cabinet. Check expiration dates.

Friday 3.9.12- Purge 5 items from your laundry room

Saturday 3.10.12- Purge 5 items from your CD/DVD/VHS/etc library.

Sunday 3.11.12- BREAK DAY!!!

Week 2

Monday 3.12.12- Purge 5 items from your reading materials. Books, magazines, etc. Check your bookshelves, magazine rack/basket, even the bathroom.

Tuesday 3.13.12- Purge 5 items from your closet. A good rule is that if it has not fit or been worn in 6mths, toss it.

Wednesday 3.14.12- Purge 5 items from your/kids craft supplies.

Thursday 3.15.12- Purge 5 items from your kids clothes.

Friday 3.16.12- Purge 5 items from your fridge/freezer. Check dates!

Saturday 3.17.12- Purge 5 items from your garage.

Sunday 3.18.12- BREAK DAY!

Week 3

Monday 3.19.12- Purge 5 non food items from your kitchen cabinets.

Tuesday 3.20.12- Purge 5 items from your kids toys.

Wednesday 3.21.12- Purge 5 items from your lotion/bodyspray/perfume.


Thursday 3.22.12- Purge 5 items from your nightstand/dresser top.

Friday 3.23.12- Purge 5 items from your car. Remember if it is not attached to the car it should not be out in the open. It will become a projectile in a crash. (Please PM me with purge ideas)

Sat/Sun: BREAK DAY! (since saturday is the day we have the most time, I didn't take a break- we went ahead and also did the medicine cabinet, & G's whole toy box)

WEEK 4

Monday 3.26- Purge 5 stuffed animals. We try and limit the kids to less than 10.

Tuesday 3.27- Purge 5 items from your filing cabinet. Taxes only need to be kept for the 7 most current years. Receipts only need to be kept for the life of the warranty. If you have not gone to paperless billing it is suggested to keep them for one-two months to make sure the payments are reflected on your next statement. If you save manuals check to see if you still own the item. Please remember to shred anything with personal information on it.

Wednesday 3.28- Purge 5 items from under your sinks. Try and only keep items under your sinks that belong to that room. Kitchen items in the kitchen, master bath to master, kids bath to kids, guest bath to guest.

Thursday 3.29- Purge 5 children's books. We try and keep the books to their age and reading levels. If they have outgrown them we donate them.

Friday 3.30- Purge 5 items from your computer/electrical components. Cords, disks, old games, old software, chargers, etc.

It's not to hard to do 5 things a day but on days you have desire and time, it's hard not to do more. Most days I take one drawer and find 10+ things easily. But it's so much easier to know that after 5 things you can walk away if you are overwhelmed. And some areas, I only found three things and had to count creatively. I keep a laundry basket behind my couch and each day add my items to it. When it's full I bag it up and move it to the trunk of my car so it's ready to go to DI when I'm out running errands. It gets it gone, and it makes it so I have no choice of rethinking "what if I need that". It's gone, and my house is my own again. It's so much easier to keep clean when it's free of clutter. I mean how many spatulas, toys, magazines, ect.... can I possibly use at a time? I've been amazed how much easier my home is to function is and how nice it is now that every thing has a place and we know where to look for things.

Garrison's Birthday

I don't have a lot of pictures (since as usual I forgot my camera), but our big boy is 4!! He's so excited to be older. Thanks to Nanny and Papa we had a really nice birthday party at their house. Justen and his Ag. Mechanics class have been working hard on designing this pedal tractor for about 6 months now. It was suppose to be Garrison's Christmas present, but didn't get done in time. So they worked hard and got the main part of it done in time for his Birthday. It is fully functional- loader lifts and bucket tilts. And of course it peddles forward, backward, and steers. Their next job is to design a back hoe attachment. They've even put a hitch on it so they can add more implements. Justen thinks he needs a scraper blade and a harrow, in addition to the backhoe attachment. Sorry for the crummy cell phone picture, it's all I have right now.

Mold

We have been trying to find time to lay laminant flooring in our house for over a year. The flooring has been purchased and sitting in the garage as has the paint. We thought for a quick 3 day weekend project we'd tackle our bedroom. Boy were we wrong! We got down to the sub flooring to find a little bit of warping, and it had been painted. We later discovered why. It was most likely kilz. Justen decided to put a new piece of sub floor down right there so the laminant would lay flat. When he pulled up the board he discovered mold. Lots and lots of mold. It wasn't new, and it wasn 't wet, so it has been there probably since long before we bought the house. It completely explains why I thought I was allergic to my bedroom carpet all these years. I've woken up with a sore throat every morning since we moved in. Thanks to LOTS of help from the Selman's and Pali's, we are ready to move back into our bedroom. Here are some pictures of the demo, and the finished room ready for the rest of the furniture to come back in. Now of course through this whole process we couldn't keep Garrison out. And as it turns out he inherited my allergies. He's had a thoroughly fun time with his sinuses through this whole thing. We managed to keep him out while the mold was exposed, but he spent lots of time in before it was discovered, and once it was mostly out. That little bit of exposure was still enough to reak havok on his poor little nose and eyes.






This is what happens when I forget and tell him to smile!




And the finished product:


Sadly the picture doesn't do it justice. We really love the end result!

A late Christmas update.

Let's start with Christmas. We tried to keep things pretty low key. I finished my Master's degree just a week before Christmas so I was using the break as some much needed recovery time. But we still found time for some fun and reflection. We started out at home, and then flew up to Oregon.



Then there was Garrison's favorite present:


When we went to Oregon to spend some time with my family, Garrison had a ball with his cousins. On Christmas Eve they did a little nativity play. This is a tradition that my family always did when we were kids. Since there were only 3 kids they each had to play several parts (except Mary of course since there is only one girl in the story). So first Garrison was Joseph sleeping when the angel came to tell him he should marry Mary. Then he's leading his Donkey. Uncle Karl was sure a good sport to play that roll, especially with all the teasing that came with it.






Of course the best part of the play we didn't catch on camera. Oh, how I wish we'd been taking a video. Garrison then had to switch roles to be the shepherds. No way was he letting anyone else take that roll. Can you say, Justen's Son all the way! Well, Oma told him to herd his sheep toward Mary (our donkey had now switched rolls to a flock of sheep.). Garrison ran behind, threw his arms up in the air, and yelled, "Get around Abby!" Yup that's right, you can't move sheep without a sheep dog.

And of course lets not forget when our ever shifty donkey/sheep combo becomes a camel so that the wise man (we only had one-Garrison was to busy directing Abby with the sheep) could ride in. Now keep in mind, Abby had been left in Utah so Garrison was herding his imaginary sheep with his imaginary border collie.


And we can't forget the pictures with Mater. There's a tow truck painted up to look like Mater in Oregon City. We were so sure Garrison would love it! Notice he's not in any of the pictures. He spent his time crying, clinging to my leg, and trying to run back to the car. Turns out he was afraid it would come to life. Oh, well, better luck next trip.

Gluten Free OAMC

Just finished this round of OAMC. Having to do it all Gluten Free (or at least making sure Justen has a GF option) made it an extra special level of fun. But it's done and in the freezer, except the lasanga. All the parts of it are cooked only for me to discover I'm out of freezer dishes. So they are ordered and will be here Monday, and then I can finish up and get that done. So here is my copy and paste of the menu I type to hang on my fridge so I stay organized and remember what is out there.

Meals in the freezer

-GF Mexican Beans and Rice Casserole X2 _____ _____

-GF Farmer’s Casserole X3 _____ _____ ______

-GF Meatloaf X2 _____ ______

-GF Carolina Pulled Pork X2 _____ ______

-Enchiladas X3 _____ ______ _____ (10 individual bowls of GF w/Corn tort.)

-GF BBQ Meatballs X2 _____ _____

-GF Taco Meat X2 _____ ______

-GF Steak Fajita Kits X3 _____ _____ _____

-GF Roast Beef and Gravy _____

-GF Roast Beef Gravy for hot sandwiches _____ (use buns Nanny made for GF, and grocery store beef)

-GF Taco Soup _____
-GF Stroganoff X3 ______ _____ _____

- Stuffed Shells x3 _____ _____ _____ (6 individual GF servings)

-Lasagna X3 _____ _____ _____ (8 individual GF servings)

-5 individual servings Nanny's BBQ with GF buns.

A few crafty things.

A little dyeing, a little sewing, a little soap, and a little home decorating. Have forgotten to take pics of lots that I've done this month but here's the run down of what I did remember to take pics of.

Finished the curtains for Garrison's new room. Thanks to Loraine's help for getting me started by doing the blackout curtains (behind). I had crafter's block and couldn't seem to get started. Can't wait to get the rest done, he's going to love it. They didn't turn out quite like I planned since first I measured wrong, then I cut even more wrong, and then I had to salvage the whole situation. Oh, well.

Click this bar to view the full image.

My mom and I had a dye day while she was here. We did more than this, but this is all I remembered to take pictures of. This will be knit into a cabled sleep sack (pattern purchased from cabbages and kings- so CUTE!). And the roving will be handspun by me and my mom will knit it into a matching cabled hat. My mom does all my knitting since I don't know how. I also finished a really pretty skein of handspun yarn in tropical colors but sadly forgot to take pictures.

Click this bar to view the full image.

And finally, I'm pretty proud of this. A man who grew up in our neighbor hood (whose parents still live here) needs a liver transplant. The whole community was pitching in for a big fund raising effort. So I put this together to put in the silent auction. I have no clue what it went for but I sure enjoyed making it. I got the idea online, as some one else did a go green basket for a library fundraiser. It was a lot of work, but I enjoyed doing it. So here is my take on a go green kitchen basket:

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Mine contained:
1 set dinner napkins - woven
1 set dinner napkins- flannel
1 set lunch napkins
1 roll unpaper towels.
1 bag holder
1 reusable shopping tote (purchased)
1 SS water bottle (purchased)
1 bottle seventh generation dish soap. (purchased obviously)
1 bottle seventh generation spray cleaner (purchased)
1 natural lip balm (made by me)
3 bars soap (also made by me)
and 1 natural oil lotion bar.