Well - #&$#^@%^!!

This one is for my sister because she can't eat any sugar right now.

Skillet Cornbread
Dry Ingredients:

1 cup cornmeal
3/4 cup rice or sorghum flour (I used long-grain brown rice that I milled)
1/2 cup tapioca or potato starch
(Sarah - I'm guessing that 2 1/4 cups wheat flour could be subbed for the rice/starch mixture)
1 teaspoon xanthan um
1 taspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 teaspoon chili powder or cinnamon
1 teaspoon stevia powder

Wet Ingredients:

2 large organic free range eggs
1/2 cup plus two tablespoons light olive oil or veetable oil
1 cup plain rice milk or cows milk

Preheat yoru oven to 350 degrees F
Lightly oil a 9-10 inch iron skillet.
Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl.
In a large mixing bol, combine the eggs with the oil and milk and beat for one minute.
Add in the dry ingredients and beat by hand just until a smooth batter is formed, about one minute. If your batter seems a little dry, add a tablespoon more liquid at a time until you achieve a smooth consistency.)
Heat the prepared skillet over meduium-high heat.
Pour the batter into the heated skillet and sprinkle cinnamon over the top of the batter if you like. Bake the cornbread in the center of a pre-heated oven tfor 20-25 minutes until firm to the touch and slightly golden around the edges. Place on a wire rack to cool a bit and allow the cornbread to rest 15 minutes before cutting. This helps keep the slices from crumblin apart. Serve warm.
Yields 8-10 slices.

I made a sloppy-joes inspired meat sauce and served it with the cornbread. I must have told Tuan no less than 10 times during dinner how fantastic and yummy this cornbread is. Seriously - it is wonderful. Yummy, moist but with great texture. So why this particular title? After dinner I stood up to put away the dishes and discovered with much chagrin a painful rash on my leg. More ichyness and further redness appeared throughout the evening. My friends - classic food allergy symptoms. So I will be avoiding corn as much as possible (I can't even begin to list all the things cornstarch is added to) for a week, probably two and then give it another try and see what happens.

So please do enjoy and give a thought to me as you do. :o)

Merry Christmas!

Well - it's been a few crazy days since Christmas. So this post will be a deluge of pics! We used our camcorder for most of the present opening so these pics are from later in the day or the day after.

Every year we each get to open one gift at midnight on Christmas eve. Last year Emma made it all the way to midnight. This year it was obvious Daniel wasn't going to make it so we did it early. However it was still late and this is the best picture I got of our presents - new jammie pants. Look closely - I promise there are four sets of pants in there. lol



After all the papers were folded and in bags I filled the stockings. It was fun. Unfortunately I then had to trudge through the snow delivering papes. Sigh - only two more weeks!



This is a pic and video of Emma's very first playing on her "just my hize" violin. Too, too cute. She loves her violin and everyday since she got it she plays it with "Celtic Women".





Their uncle (Thanks Dale!) sent them these hats from bolivia. It was a trick to get both of them in one frame at the same time as they were so excited to be off and playing! :o)



It's still a bit big for D, but just right for Emma. (her Grandma made the dress she is wearing)



I found this train table at the height of summer and had it stashed in the garage just waiting for Christmas. Man that was hard! lol It is really awesome (I may enjoy it as much or more than Em and D!). What you see is about 1/4th of the tracks that came with it. And everything stores in bins underneath it. It really is cool. But it is also quite a challenge when both Em and D want to play with it at the same time. Which is everytime one or the other climbs on!



As you can see - Emma's style of play is more constructive.



While Daniel's is more destructive.



Emma really made my Christmas this year. I made her this dress and she loved it so much that she insisted on sleeping in it! She wore it over the jammie pants I made for her for two days straight! The only thing she has ever worn that much is, well, her birthday suit. So it really meant a lot to me. Ever the stylish girl, she accesorized it with this scarf herself. Here she is running out to meet her Daddy. Yes it is snowing. No she is not wearing a coat. Or shoes. That's Emma for you!



Speaking of snow - here is my all-time favorite video clip of this winter.



One more fun one:

Wow! On the same day that I was coming here to brag about my new bumper stickers, I hear about a new development from the Center for Disease Control.

But first the good news.






Aren't they beautiful!

ok - not sure why they're so small, but as soon as Tuan gets home with the car I'll take more pics and post them.
The left one says "Circumcision? NO! Moroni 8:8"
The right one says "If God wanted me to have a foreskin, I would have been born with one."

Now, the bad news.

The Centers for Disease Control need to hear from you. Today! I would also strongly urge you to cc your Senate and Congressional Representative.

For those interested in where this is all coming from, there was a conference in the last few weeks that resulted in two very important presentations. The first was a study by Millett et al. that confirmed the Sydney study that male circumcision has no value for gay men, who are the major risk group. Then there was this presentation that seems to recommend mass infant male circumcision anyway on a cost-effectiveness basis. No human rights issues were discussed or apparently even contemplated in recommending genital surgeries on children.

If you have never written to your Congress(wo)men, now is a great time to start!

Here is the letter I sent:

December 10, 2007

Julie Louise Gerberding, M.D., M.P.H.
Director, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Office of the Director
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
1600 Clifton Rd Atlanta, GA 30333

RE: Recommendations viz neonatal male circumcision and HIV

Dear Dr. Gerberding:

I have learned with grave concern that you and the Centers for Disease Control are considering recommending neonatal circumcision as public health policy in the effort to stem the spread of HIV/AIDS in the United States. I oppose this recommendation in the strongest possible way.

Neonatal circumcision has run into national grassroots opposition from a sizable and highly active group of people for at least the last 25 years. This opposition on human rights grounds has resulted in the major medical organizations gradually moving away from support of a marginal procedure that damages sexual response and violates the individual human rights of the infants on the receiving end.

Whatever marginal gain individuals may receive from male circumcision must be in the context of informed consent and voluntariness. Infants can provide neither. The variables involved in the effectiveness of such a procedure over the longer term are many, including the changing dynamics of the disease, changes in provision of healthcare impacting cost-effectiveness, the possibility of new treatments, prevention technologies, and eventually a vaccine. Male circumcision has not served the United States well heretofore in comparison with non-circumcising countries and regions where the HIV/AIDS rate is much lower, e.g. Japan, most of Europe, and Latin America.

I urge you to reject neonatal male circumcision as public health policy in order to safe guard your credibility with the American people and throughout the world. The United States can ill-afford another dubious policy with scant input from American stakeholders.

Very truly yours,

Maria Le
www.tuansprincess@yahoo.com

The best dad ever!!

Tuan and his co-workers won a contest at work. The prize was a gift in a certain price range. They got to make a wish list of 3 items. Tuan got #1 on his list:




I think the reward should have be titled "Best Dad in the World" award because he certainly is!

I hate the Sunday paper!

Seriously - this is reduculous! Each one must weight a pound each.

My baby is a year old!

A complete disaster - almost

What to do with your 6th and final (at least for now) batch of botched rolls that came out less like rolls and more like very expensive hockey pucks.



And since Em and D had a blast, I suppose it wasn't a complete dissaster!

Cilantro meat sauce

Sounds a bit boring. Any suggestions for a snazzier name?

This has become one of my favorite wheat/casin free meals. I'm not a food photagrapher (I really should take a class on that!) so I'm not sure the picture really does it justice. It's fabulous! It all started when I pulled out my frying pan and started throwing things in. :o) This is truly a what-we-have-in-the-fridge dish.

Cilantro Meat Sauce

1/2 lb (1 lb for you big meat eaters out there! ;o} sausage
1/2 red (or color of your choice) bell pepper diced
2 green onions (or more if you really love 'em) cut diagonally in 1/2-1 in lengths
1/2 cup (or as much as you can stand) fresh cilantro leaves, chopped
Enough of whatever you plan to serve it on to feed two people

Heat your pan to hot before putting the meat on. Let it sizzle until a nice sear develops. Use a wooden spoon to crumble and cook until the sugars carmalize and it is no longer pink. Add a drizzle of olive oil if it looks dry. Toss in the bell pepper and some sea salt and fresh ground pepper. After a few minutes toss in the onion and let it get just the soft/crispness that you like. Wilt in the cilantro and remove from the heat. Check the seasoning and adjust if necessary. Spoon over you choice of carbs ;o). Enjoy!

It really is the cilantro that makes this dish. Really - the more cilatro the better. Oh, and I have made it with both and there is definately a difference. Supermarket pork is fine. But pork raised on your sister's farm and barterd for with fabric yardage (everyone wins - except maybe my sis husband! hee, hee) is really the only way to go. Fabulous, fabulous meat! (thanks, Sarah!)

I'm back!

Both kids and I have been sick. While they have/had colds, I have no idea what I got. I think that it was a plugged duct that sent my temp up and landed me in bed for 14 hrs yesterday. Thank goodnes Tuan was a huge help!(luv ya, honey!) Anyway - I seem to be mostly recovered and back on my feet.

Holly - thank you so, so much for your suggestions. Any help/tips you care to share would be imensely appreciated!

Maggie - this is the grinder I have. I would recommend it on this basis: A friend let me borrow hers before my mom gave me this one (new, but never opened or used) and she has been using it for at least 5 years with now problems or dulled blades or anything. Oh - and while I have been using it, it has been great! Only one drawback - it is very, very loud! But I will admit that my knowledge of different brands/types is extremely limited to say the least! ;o) My mom and friend both got theirs at a discount through a church co-op. Perhaps that would be something you could organize in your ward. P.S. that site is the first site I found - not necesarily the cheapest option out there ;o)

I don't need chocolate or diamonds - just give me 'flours'

I recently aquired a wheat grinder from my mom. I loved being able to throw in some wheat, grind it and make a pizza crust from the freshest flour available.

When I cut wheat from my diet I began using it for other flours.
White rice flour
Brown rice flour
Maize flour (corn)
Oat flour

The great thing about giving up wheat is discovering all the other grains out there besides wheat.
Millet
Quinoa
Buckwheat
Teff
Potato Starch/Flour
Tapioca Starch

The binder I use that does the job gluten does (binding and stretching) is Guar-Gum.

I have yet to replicate anything resembling a fluffy white roll but it's actually becoming less important and I discover all the other yummy breads I can make. For now it's still hit or miss.

Miss:


Edible, but anything but fluffy dinner rolls.











Hit!

Resisting temptation

Last night was our ward Thanksgiving potluck dinner. I took corn chips and salsa - wheat and dairy free. However I wasn't sure there would be anything else there that I could eat. Actually, there was! I had strawberry spinach salad and ham. And more ham. And more ham. (the chips and salsa was gone by the time I got through the line) Daniel and I watched (very enviously, I must admit) as Tuan and Emma polished off brownies with cream cheese frosting, pumpkin cake bars and lemon squares. I was feeling rather despondant after dinner so I came home and made this:
Chocolate Banana Bread




This, dear reader is heaven! Spread with plenty of vegan butter (a yummy discovery in the Fred Meyers fridge section) and my eyes just closed in extacy. It is so good! No more feeling deprived at all. It was also great to hear the happy lipsmacking coming from Daniel as he devoured piece after piece.


If you are interested in the recipie, I adapted it from this site - The only change I made was to add 1/4 - 1/2 tsp stevia. Oh, and I only had two bananas so I cut the recipie in half.

1 cup of gluten-free flour of your choice
1 cup of teff flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons high-quality, unsweetened cocoa powder
2 teaspoons cinnamon
4 overly ripe bananas
1/4 cup plain yogurt (make sure it's gluten free - I actually subbed some pumpkin I roasted and purre'd for the yogurt)
2 large eggs
6 tablespoons melted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract


Preheat the oven to 350° degrees. Move the rack to a position in the lower half of the oven. This will prevent the crust of the bread from burning. Grease the pan you intend to use.

Stir together all the dry ingredients, making sure to tame the lumps of cocoa powder with a fork. Set aside.

With a standing mixer or hand mixer, beat the eggs lightly. Then, add the yogurt, vanilla extract, and melted butter. When this assemblage is completely mixed, then gently add in the dry ingredients. Using a rubber spatula, fold in the dry ingredients until they are just mixed.

Scrape the dough into your pan. Pat down the top to make a flat surface. If you wish, toss a few pecans or walnut halves onto the top. Place into the oven and bake for about forty minutes, or until the knife you insert gently into the bread comes out again clean. Let the bread sit in the pan for five to ten minutes, then turn it over onto a wire rack. Serve warm, with cream cheese, if you wish.

A new way of eating

Daniel is reacting to something in my milk. So I have eliminated wheat and dairy from my diet. Now - I LOVE cheese. I do miss it. But strangly enough it's the butter that I am missing most right now. That must be because there has been no cheese in the house since I gave it up. ;o) We'll see how it goes when/if there is some around.

But I am always trying to think in terms of what I can eat not what I can't. (curse you pizza cravings! lol)

This new diet has really led to some surprising and yummy dishes. I decided to share them with you as I feel very proud of my acomplishments!

Happy Hallowe'en!

Emma went as a fairy and Daniel as a lion. My very clever bro-in-law quipped that "shouldn't Daniel be in the den of lions and not a lion?" Har, har! lol






Our church held a "trunk-or-treat" which is basically everyone parking in the lot and dispensing candy (or a pencil/playdough/cookie) from their trunk. Emma went with me down one side and then with her daddy down the other. While they were gone, Daniel decided to have a little snack! ;o)



After Em was done she bunked down under a blanket in the trunk while we handed out the rest of the cookies. As soon as we got home she sorted and resorted her candy - like so many new toys. Didn't eat much -hasn't eaten any since but really enjoyed holding out her bag.



I'm just glad I got better pictured than last year! Here is a refresher:

Hallowe'en Decorations

Some funny decorations - These people actually put costumes on their dog and goose statues. (Actually - putting a dog and goose statue on your front porch seem silly to me even sans costumes!)




Very high tech. And the ugliest skeleton ever. Oh - the ghost had flashing red and green lights! Random.

Bang, bang, bang!

Daniel LOVES to play with my pots and pans. Tuan and I will put them away at night and one of the first things he does when he gets up is to pull them all out of the cupboard while I fix breakfast. Perhaps he will be a chef when he grows up! lol

Now to go nurse my many stubbed toes!

Tandem Nursing

The last video, while adorable, was too dark to really see anything. So I'm trying a new one.

Bad aim

When I first started my paper route my aim was horrid! I was constantly having to go move papers out of flowerbeds and off steps. But after two months my aim has actually improved a bit.

However, this morning I landed my first paper on a roof. Gah! I get an extra paper every day - I suppose this is one of the reasons it could come in handy. After watching the paper sail (in slow motion, mind you) onto the roof, I just stood there running scenarios through my mind. I could leave it and use my extra paper, or attempt to retrieve it. I didn't want to just leave it there for several reasons.
1) There was an interesting article on the front page that I wanted to read.
2) Tuan reads through the extra copy when he gets home from work. He would definitely wonder where the x-tra paper was.
3) The owners would inevitably find the paper either on their roof or in their gutter an know what happened - talk about embarrassing!

So - for all of these admittedly vain and selfish reasons, I decided to try my darnedest to get that paper off of that roof!

I first searched futilely for a branch or stick to help me. What a joke! I quickly realized I would never find one among the immaculately groomed lawns that make up my route. So I walked the short distance home and found a longish stick near our slightly less immaculate apartment complex. I hurried inside and grabbed our two-step step stool. Armed with my tools I began walking back to the house with the offending paper perched on the roof. As I walked, a car turned onto the road. I silently pleaded with them to not notice me with my baggy pants, over sized fleece, bed-head and stick/step stool burden. To my horror he pulled up beside me and rolled down his window. Who stops for directions at 5 in the morninbg anyway? Well, he did not want directions. He asked if I was their paper carrier. "yes", I answered with trepidation whilst racking my brain for any possible offenses to their lawn, home or paper delivery that I could e guilty of. "Well, you are the best paper carrier I have ever had! It's always on time and right there when I open the door". I was very flattered and quite relieved. I hope they had no idea what I was doing with that step stool!

Oh - I did get the paper down. The article wasn't that interesting after all. And Tuan reads this blog, so he will know about my undignified paper rescue regardless. And while that particular customer has no idea I was fishing for papers on their roof, another surely thinks I'm a kook.

*sigh*

Is the leadership of this church truly representative of the worldwide church membership?

Deseret News -

"Joining President Eyring was Elder Quentin L. Cook—a native Utahn, who was also sustained by church members as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. He fills the vacancy in the quorum left by President Eyring."

I'm sorry, but I just can't get excited about another old white guy sitting up on the stand. Where is the African, the Asian, the Indian, dare I ask - the female? Why are the leaders of this church not more representative of the actual member populations?

I voiced this opinion on a friends blog and the responses were interesting. Instead of replying to me, another reader scuttled off to his blog to post this.

"This response was made because of a female member of the church who said she is tired of "old white men" giving talks at conference. Instead, she would like to see more equality that represented the population of the church. In other words, she said she wanted to see SIX female apostles. Now if that isn't a recipe for excommunication, I don't know what is.

I love women. I love my wife, my daughter, my mother, sisters, etc..I respect them, cherish them, bow down to them, they go through something that I would never want to go through, etc..
What I absolutely hate about women are the feminist women. Women who claim there needs equality among everything for everything. Feminism is also described as an ideology focusing on equality of the sexes. I'm all for being equal on most things, but there are certain places where women have no business and others where men have no business.

I remember one day at OKLAHOMA STATE UNIVERSITY, I was walking with Spencer Gee, (good ol Spencer...) to the library and I noticed that there was a woman walking behind us. When we got to the door, I opened the door (you remember how heavy those doors are?!) to allow the woman to go in first because that is what guys do. (Guess what? I open the door for women AND guys to go in first if they are close enough behind me. It's called respect.) Anyway, this woman insisted on opening the other door and said something to the effect that she can do things herself. I was so mad at her. I was simply trying to perform a good gesture and she shot me down.

I remember a few years ago at the PGA event (the Masters), the chair of the National Organiation for Women, made a big stink because there is a golf club in Augusta, Georgia where only MEN can be members. If she was so worried about women wanting to golf at an elitist golf club, then she should go start her own golf club for women only.

If the LORD wanted women apostles, he would call them. If you want women apostles, then go join the RLDS church, or Community of Christ. The LORD will call whom he will call. I resent anyone suggesting that if the leaders of the church would truly represent the population, then they would have women leaders. Oh wait, they do, the Relief Society General Presidency, the Young Women GP, in every stake, ward, branch...
Like I said before, I adore women. I love my wife, and she frequently puts me in my place, but I can't stand feminist. I'm all for equality, but there is a time a place for it."

My response:

What I absolutely hate about people is their insistence on judging an entire group or organization based on the acts of one or two people who identify themselves as such. Oh, wait - now I'm doing it! lol

But seriously - you are completely entitled to your opinion.

To clarify, I didn't say that I am "tired of "old white men" giving talks at conference." I said that I am frustrated that the 1st presidency and quorum don't adequately represent the ethnic membership of the church.

I don't feel that you can compare being an apostle to being in the Relief Society presidency. There was no RS in Christ's time. It is a modern institution.

Now, if I say that I am frustrated by the lack of racial representation in the 1st Presidency and Quorum, it doesn't mean that I no longer believe the gospel is true. Don't throw the baby out with the bath water. I do believe that the Lord calls who he will call. Why must there be something terribly wrong with wishing that one whom he calls would be a woman and those of different ethnicities and expressing my frustration that he does not?

It is obvious that this post was directed at me (that's ok) yet you don't know if I identify myself as a feminist or not. By the way I do.

It is quite arrogant to say - if the woman wants what the men have, she should get off her ass and go get it! Well, in this society, women are not afforded the means nor opportunity to always do that. We are still paid less than men and socially hampered as to career and life options. But this isn't about poor oppressed women, so let's not go there.

Finally, (and if you have read this far - bless you!) saying that you are "all for equality, but there is a time and a place for it" is like asking your friend for the bigger HALF of the cookie. There is no bigger half. Either it is equal or it is not.

You Are 30% Evil

A bit of evil lurks in your heart, but you hide it well.In some ways, you are the most dangerous kind of evil.

How Evil Are You?

">http://www.blogthings.com/howevilareyouquiz/">

gawge sailing!

Emma loves going garage saling with me. Last Saturday Tuan and Daniel came too. It was a great day! Below are the pics of what Tuan found.

Exactly!

Well, to be fair - he bought a box of crayons for Emma and Daniel for 10 cents. That's it!

Sooooooo - here are the pics of what I bought! Hee, hee!

I finally found a mini fridge for Emma and Daniel! It took me all summer, but I found one! I think it's actually a good thing it took several months to find. I have gotten much better at bargaining. It was marked at $35 but I managed to haggle it down to $25. And this was even within the first hour they were open!

This I found at a sale with about $200 worth of toys. They were all plastic (not my thing) but I spotted this gem hidden among them. I asked how much and they only wanted $4 for it! I am going to sand it down and stain it to get it back to the beautiful wood. Emma loves dumping out all of the toys I keep in it and playing inside.

Emma is wearing the Lightning McQueen shirt she snagged and a pair of pants I picked out for Daniel. Both are size 12 mos. The shirt fits and the pants are capris on her! She and D are so close to the same size. I actually get asked if they are twins!

This is only half of what I got for $5! Emma was busy playing with the rest. :o) I'm always on the lookout for beads for Em and D to play with. Nearly all of these are wood and big enough that I don't have to worry about D choking on them. At the same sale I also found at least a dozen fun colored shoelaces. You know - there's something relaxing about threading beads onto laces. Emma will play with these for, well, tens of minutes! If you know Em, you know that she is always going and doesn't stay with something for very long before she's on to the next thing.

At only $1 a piece, these camp chairs weren't a necessity, but impossible to pass up!

While I was gleefully rummaging through stacks of infant boys clothes (all in like-new condition!) Emma found this book. The nose squeaks, so D likes it too. :o}

This purse Emma found and charmed the owner into selling it and a small stuffed animal to her for a quarter. Three of the watermelons at the bottom light up.

I don't have a picture of it all, but for only $5 I got 5 shirts, 4 pairs of pants, 2 sweatshirts and 3 shirts for me! I felt a bit bad that Tuan didn't find anything, but I sure had a blast!