hmmmmm

Well - I tried to be all fancy-schmancy and have my blog post scheduled posts. But it didn't work. Bummer. Anyway - I'll just post them manually!

Not happening!

I made some baked tortilla chips. Emma really liked them. She didn't want to share them.

But you may not have gotten that from her expression. Or maybe you did! LOL

Crochet

Several of us crafty moms got together a swap of playfood items. Every thing was handmade out of natural materials (no acrylic). It has been a big hit! So much so that I have joined another swap which will be over soon. You should see the looks that I get when I tell people who ask that I am crocheting a hotdog! LOL


I got carried away looking for cute clothes to crochet for Em and found tons of patterns. This one went together pretty fast but the flowers (which I added, they were not originally on the pattern) took some tweaking. At first the yarn was too heavy and the brown center looked silly.


This skirt pattern didn't call for any color changes, but i was running out of rust colored yarn. I think the result turned out rather nice! And Em loves how the skirt twirls!

I originally made this purse to carry clothespins in while hanging laundry. While I was making it, Em asked me to make her a bag.


So she chose the colors she wanted and I made one for her.


An interesting side note - Em's favorite color is black! When she has the option, she will always choose the black one. I love it!

Videos!

I have been MIA for a while. To redeem myself I offer you some fun videos of the kids from the past two months. Enjoy!

I LOVE this site. http://www.poissonrouge.com/
There is so much to do. Emma found this section and spent a good 20 minutes playing it over and over and over again. Giggling just as loud each time!

Ahhhh - remembering the cooler days of spring.

I barly had the hammock set up when she hopped on and started swinging. It had been in storage for about 2 years so it took a little practice bet not much!


Later I snuck to the door to catch her singing a book to herself.

They really do play together every now and then!

Wheat and "Booten"

Hilarious!

Bush sucks!

This woman made this dress. I want this dress! That is all. :o)

Definately a winner

Daniel and I got glutened. That is a story for another post. The result was a fiery outbrake of the rash we have been trying so diligently to clear up. I am now fairly convinced that my not being completely thourough in eliminating all sources of gluten from his diet has been the cause of the slow but steady worsening of his excema. Now that I think I know the cause of the rash I have decided to slowly trial the foods I have been avoiding. Since dairy takes a minimum of 2 weeks (!) to clear from my milk I decided to trial cocoa. Yes, before cheese if you can believe it. :o)

I thought this recipie looked delicious and I was not dissapointed!

Here are my attempts at being all artsy-fartsy with the photography.




The sorbet I made out of rhubarb from my generous sister's garden patch, the mint came from mine.

These. are. so. good. It might be the 1 1/2 cups of sugar in them (well - it did make 3 doz cookies) but I really, really loved them. It has been over a month since I had any chocolate at all. They are truly decadant. And they are the first recipie with buckwheat flour that I have liked. I'm not a fan of the buckwheat flavor.

Daniel likes to take one bite out of each cookie and then go for the next one. I tried to take a pic and a little hand snuck into the picture. :o}

What have we been doing? Gardening!

I wanted to start out small. But when my starts come in packs of 4 not two and I just can't bear to throw away any plant (couldn't find anyone who wanted cabbage or brocolli starts) and onions come in packs of 40 (!) - ditto, my garden just seems to be getting bigger every day!

Some updated pics of my boxes.


My bocolli and cabbage are huge! Just had to brag ;o)

Carrots finally starting to look like carrots.

Some pepper starts that my Aunt Kathy sent over with my dad. Thanks Aunt Kathy!

Lovely snap peas that hopefully will start letting me help them up the trellis soon.

Planting corn - they have all popped up now!

Thornless raspberry roots that my Dad brought. 5 were looking great, then one came into contact with D's bouncy ball. lol But I think it will come back.

Emma's garden. She has one pea plant, about 3 of her carrots made it, 3 flower plants from seeds her cousin Hannah sent her and 4 corn stalks. She loves her garden and has tons of fun taking care of it.

Last year a friend gave me a petunia plant. No matter how many blooms Em and D pulled off, that plant kept putting out more blooms. So I got some for the kids to pick this year. Emma even snagged four from a local nursery float parade handout!

I landscaped this area for my herb garden. I got the bricks for free from a friend who was only too happy to have me remove them from her yard! lol I couldn't find a good before picture (forgot to take one) but here is D halfway through.

Finished! Now I just need to figure out what else to plant that doesn't need more than 6 hours of sun. Any suggestions?

Rendering Lard!

No - seriously! lol

My sis found directions at this site and another sis gave me the lipids (that really is what the butcher labeled them as) from the last pig they had slaughtered. So I took the plunge.

I started out with this from my freezer.


I put it in the wonderful, awesome, best ever gift from my honey (anniversary) - my new crockpot to thaw and render.


I let it cool a bit and poured it through my collander and ended up with this. Yummy! just kidding lol.


I poured it into my container and let it set to room temperature.


And there you have it. I have decided to store it in the fridge so that it won't go rancid so quickly. You see, I didn't add any hydrogenated fats or preservatives to it. ;o)


Just a warning - you will want to do this on an outside stove, in your summer kitchen or put your crock outside. This process STINKS!!! It smells like boiling a carcass all day. Not pleasant.

I have already used some of it in an awesome cookie recipie which I will post soon. Here's a teaser: cocoa and mint!

Cooking!

We have been tryimg so many new dishes around here. I thought I would post some of my faves that are definately keepers. :o)

I found a wonderful flatbread recipie that makes a pretty respectable pizza crust. In fact - since the discovery was what jumpstarted me into making pizza again since going dairy-free, Emma calls is pizza. Even when it is for toast or sandwiches. :oP And have you ever tried bacon and fried egg pizza? It's absolutely delish!

(mine got just a little too brown as someone dropped by to chat as it was cooking - it really is fantastic!)

Playing!

swapping!

I made 9 of each of these for a swap on a mothering chat forum. In a week I will be getting a lovely package w/ 9 other foods that the other moms in the swap have made.

Woo-hoo!!!

The 5 stages of (food) grief

So, I was thinking about that old DABDA acronym the other day, and it occurred to me that most of us have gone through that as part of our food elimination process. Insert your food you hate to love here:

My current nemesis -------->

Denial: "He's teething, that's all. It's not dairy."
Anger: "Why does every FREAKIN' thing have to have dairy in it?!"
Bargaining: "Maybe it's just pasturized cow's milk. Maybe raw goat's milk cheese will be fine."
Depression: "I miss cheese... what's the point of eating at all anymore without cheese?"
Acceptance: "Dairy's not particularly good for me anyway. And wow, I
know a lot more ways to cook now!"

I think I may be at acceptance now. I wish that I could say that once you get to Acceptance, there's no going back, but I certainly have found myself standing in the middle of the cookie aisle thinking, "I just shouldn't eat anything anymore." Still, it is a natural process to go through!

A Chinese Heroine

What an amazing woman. I miss having someone to personally donate milk to. Makes me want to start pumping again.

http://yesboleh.blogspot.com/2008/05/chinese-policewoman-helps-quake-effort.html

My Red - er Blue! Umbrella

Em checked this book out from the library and really fell in love with it. It tells the story of a little girl who finds room under her little red umbrella for at least a dozen different animals. Em found our spare (broken) umbrella and acted out her own version of the story.

Ice Cream!

Going dairy free means no ice-cream made with cows milk. What's an ice-cream loving girl (who already gave up her favorite glutinous cookies 'n' cream) to do?

Enter coconuts. Yes! Did you know that oil from coconuts separates into a cream when made into milk? Because Em is sensitive to aluminum and because it's not as healthy or cheap to buy cans or friged I buy coconuts and make my own milk. Here is the break down.

Pierce the eyes of your coconut and reserve the drained liquid.

Bake for 30 min at 325 deg F.

Alow to cool enuf to handle. Remove the shell and slice off any brown bits that remain



Chop into small pieces and add to blender. Cover with about half an inch of reserved liquid plus as much water as needed. (don't you love the OSU cup in the background? lol)



Blend until smooth.



Line a collander with a clean towel and pour the milk in. Squeeze all the moisture from the towel.



Line a dehydrater shelf with cheesecloth and spread the coconut bits in a thin layer.



Enjoy your flaked coconut in this delicious Coconut Carrot Cake It is my fav GF/CF dessert.



Once in a blue moon I get a hankering for this old school classic. Lucky for me it translates well to gluten free. This recipe is based on one of my own [pre-gluten free] standbys. I changed it very little, except for the flour. And I left out the pineapple. Next time I might leave it in, if the mood strikes me.

GF/CF Folks: Use canned pumpkin or applesauce in place of the yogurt, and your own leavened flour mix.

3 large happy organic free-range eggs
1/2 cup light vegetable oil or Spectrum Organic Shortening
1 cup organic light brown sugar, packed
1/3 cup plain yogurt or soy yogurt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon Pumpkin Pie Spice, or Apple Pie Spice [or a mix of nutmeg, clove, ginger, allspice]
2 cups Pamela's Ultimate Baking Mix [or your own flour mix with 1 teaspoon baking powder and 1/2 teaspoon baking soda added per cup of flour]
3/4 cup flaked sweetened coconut
1 1/2 cups processed [or finely grated] carrots (about 4 carrots)
1/2 cup golden raisins or currents
1/2 cup toasted chopped walnuts or pecans

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9-inch springform cake pan.

In a mixing bowl beat the eggs; add the oil and beat; add the brown sugar and beat till smooth. Beat in the yogurt, vanilla, cinnamon and spice. Add in the baking mix and beat till combined. [The batter should be a bit thicker than wheat flour batter.] Add in the coconut, carrots, raisins and nuts; stir with a wooden spoon to combine.

Spread the batter evenly in the cake pan; and place the pan in the center of a preheated oven. Bake until the cake is firm, and a wooden pick inserted into the center emerges clean, about 40 to 45 minutes [or longer if necessary - I baked mine at high altitude]. Cool on a wire rack.

Frost with your favorite cream cheese icing and sprinkle with coconut, if desired.


Cream Cheese Icing:

4 oz. softened cream cheese
2 tablespoons softened unsalted butter
1-2 teaspoons vanilla extract, to taste
3 cups powdered cane sugar- or more, if needed
A squeeze or two of fresh citrus, to taste- lemon, lime or orange

In a mixing bowl beat the cream cheese and butter until fluffy. Add the vanilla. Add in the powdered sugar a cup at a time; squeeze a little lemon or other citrus juice into the frosting and beat till smooth. Taste test. Add more sugar, if needed, to thicken; add more juice to thin.

Frost the cake.

Makes 8 - 10 slices.

Cook's Notes::

Gluten free cakes dry out quickly. If you are not serving this cake the day you bake it, I'd advise chilling it to firm up the icing; then slice and wrap each piece in foil; pop in a large zip freezer bag and freeze.