Going Gluten Free

So Elphie has made the decision to go Gluten (and dye) free with her boys and eat healthier and more natural all around. Since I signed Batman up for swim lessons down at the base Elphie is at, we stayed with her for the better part of two weeks, and were eating cleaner by proxy. She has seen immediate and amazing results in her kids from changing their diet, and with Superman's issues (Emotional Developmental Delay, fine motor skill challenges and developmental delays in social areas) I figured that this may be a way to help him deal with things better; having a healthier and cleaner system. I haven't seen drastic results due to the diet changes (though the one-on-one time I got with him last week while Batman stayed with Elphie and I had Superman at home for a few days really seemed to help him), but I'm definitely not writing it off.

I do, however, think I may have a wheat allergy or sensitivity. Going from Gluten free to eating like "normal" at home, back and forth, has really been taking a significant (and painful!) toll on my digestive system. It wouldn't really be surprising, as I do have plenty of other seasonal allergies and reactions to various plant life and their pollens. In researching Gluten free cooking & eating, I've come to find that those with these kinds of allergies are most commonly those with hay-fever and reacting to pollens of plants. So I am now trying to go Gluten free in our home as well. It's not exactly easy. Especially when I have two little boys that don't like change and love their bread and pasta!

I have, however, found a great site for Gluten free recipes! When Elphaba was first going Gluten free, she mentioned that the Gluten free bread from the store was gross and that her kids wouldn't eat it unless it was toasted. I put my Internet searching skills to work and found this great blog. We used her sandwich bread recipe, and it was amazing! It was the first time I ever baked with yeast (which I was greatly intimidated by, because I had heard over and over that baking bread with yeast is less like baking and more like cooking...which I kind of fail at...), so I was quite proud of how well it came out. :) And has continued to do so!

A loaf of the Gluten free sandwich bread, halfway done baking

Other than that, we've been staying very busy! Batman has passed his first level of swim lessons with flying colors, and we signed him up today for the next level, which starts next week. Superman did not get swim lessons at the same time because there was a clause in the consent form about assuring the child would not be a hindrance to any of the other kids at any time. With his developmental delays, that's not an area I can promise will go according to the will of the adults involved. However, there is the possibility I may be able to get him into a swim class with kids his age with the teacher that the other boys had this past time, and she was fantastic with whenever there were any problems with wandering attention or tempers flaring. After this set of lessons, though, we'll be done with them for the summer. We'll have just a few weeks to get the boys' school supplies together, plan and have Batman's birthday party, fit in a Barefoot Path adventure, aiming for a picnic lunch at a castle, and hitting up another Medieval Festival at another castle...all before the end of next month! I am grateful that we've been able to keep the boys busy. I can't believe that they've only been out for less than a month, and am even in more disbelief that they'll be starting 1st & 2nd grade in about 6 weeks!

Gettin' My Craft On!

So I have been home from the States for over a month, and I still haven't blogged about my BFF's wedding, nor have I finished blogging about my trip to Paris with Elphie, not to say mentioning my amazing birthday weekend! But I will get there, I promise. And those are not just empty words. I just have...issues...with finding a balance. There tends to be a lot of extreme behaviors one way, and then the complete opposite (and many times back and forth a time or two more!) before I get back into my "groove." And the past few months have been anything but regular!

And in the "extreme behavior" toward the negative, for a week or two, I was completely ensconced in the silly Facebook games. Frontierville/Pioneer Trail, Mafia Wars 2, Cafe World...all that crap. It was like a trance I couldn't be pulled out of. But Monday, I finally reached a decision that I had been mulling over. I decided to stop playing them. All of them. (Well, okay, I still have Words with Friends and Scrabble, but those only take, like, 2 minutes to make your move and then you wait on your opponent to go. No big.) And in the time that I have not been playing those time-sucking games, I have done the following:

Completed the WestKnits Mystery KAL:

Started and completed a stitchmarker Lariat:

Started and completed a pair of Dr. Horrible's Sing-A-Long Wristers:

 

Started and completed a hat for The Instigator's aunt:

Made my own mitten blockers:

Blocked the Bella mittens for Tara:

 Baked a batch of zucchini muffins and 2 loaves of zucchini bread (this is all that was left of the muffins after 24 hours...they were completely gone in less than 48! LOL):

Started and completed a cowl (for trading for an apron from a fellow crafter!):

Finally finished a blanket to donate to a patient of Nephrotic Syndrome 

that has been a long time in coming!:

And have done some super-top-secret HSKS swappy items. Plus,that's to say nothing of finally getting my crafting supplies slowly migrating upstairs to my new craft room (used to be the boys' toy room, but we moved those upstairs to the large closet and their bedroom), catching up on housework, participating in running a knitting swap, and actually cooking meals! I have really been on fire! LOL I'm really hoping that this is less of a swing of the pendulum in the productive segment of my balance and more of a trend leading to habit. :) I guess only time will tell, but all in all, not bad for a week's worth of effort. :)

Taco Casserole

I am blessed very much in having found a husband that likes so much to cook. Cooking was never really one of my strong points, and the recipes I did learn before moving out of my parents' house were the most simplistic ones...macaroni and cheese, spaghetti and the like. And the way that I learned to make those basic recipes were not to The Instigator's liking! LOL He, even now, gripes that my cooking is far too bland! (I quite enjoyed the cuisine in London, as it is without the spice that The Instigator so craves and appreciates.) Needless to say, he has wasted no time in teaching me to cook things that he enjoys. It's still a learning process, and I have quite a ways to go yet, but I would say that the one I am most adept at is taco casserole. It's quite tasty, and is simple to make! I shall let you in on my secret. ;) (I promise it's super simple!)


YOU'LL NEED:

2 lbs. of ground beef
Taco seasoning
2-16 oz. jars of salsa 
3-16 oz. cans of refried beans
4 cups of shredded cheese 
Tortilla shells
 

Fry the meat and use taco seasoning as directed.

In a large bowl, mix together the beans and salsa.

Put the meat in the bottom of a 9x13 dish, covering the entire bottom, and spread the bean and salsa mixture evenly over the meat. Top with shredded cheese, and bake in the oven at 400* for 20 minutes, or until the cheese is bubbling at the edges.

Spoon casserole into the tortilla shells and eat as a burrito! (It's best to let the casserole set for a few minutes so that it holds it's shape better in the pan.)


Thankfully, this keeps and reheats well, though I recommend adding some extra salsa in the individual portion to be reheated to keep it from being too dry.

Bon appetit!

Chicken Casserole

Lately, I've been craving my mom's casseroles, chicken and tuna both. I'm not sure why. But as my husband (who shall henceforth be referred to as The Instigator) despises tuna to the point of if I make tuna salad for sandwiches while he's at work, I have to air out the house and brush my teeth after eating it or I'll be refused kisses, that option is out. So chicken casserole it was. And as we had some cooked chicken leftover from when The Instigator made his chicken enchiladas while we had company over this past weekend, it made sense to use up the meat in a chicken casserole. Unfortunately, as The Instigator grew up in Oklahoma and Texas, he tends to find things from my mom's recipe repertoire unpalatable due to it being too bland for his tastes. So tonight was an adventure in the culinary arts...for me, anyway! (I don't generally cook...a chef I most definitely am not! I put "cooking" low on the list of desirable house duties...right above cleaning the bathroom! LOL I prefer to bake...) Anyway, it turned out fairly well (though The Instigator mentioned a couple of things he would have added to add color and garnish to the dish...and yes, he is the chef of the house! LOL), so I'm posting the recipe to share here, at the request of a friend! :D

You will need:

12 ounces of wide egg noodles

16 ounces of picante sauce

8 ounces of velveeta mexican mild cheese (or about 2 cups of mexican 4 cheese shredded cheese)

2 - 10.75 ounce cans of cream of chicken soup

5 cups chicken

milk

Boil the chicken, spicing to taste, and cut it into small pieces (chicken on the bone is best for this, but chicken breasts also work well)

Boil the noodles according to the directions on the packaging, and then strain off the water.

Mix together cooked noodles, cooked chicken, both cans of cream of chicken soup, (and using one of the empty cans to measure the milk) 1 can of milk, and all 16 ounces of picante sauce.

Once well mixed, pour into a 9"x13" (3 quart) casserole dish.

Warm Velveeta cheese (with a splash of milk to prevent the melting cheese from sticking to the pan) and pour the melted cheese over the casserole. (If using shredded cheese, just sprinkle it on top of the noodle mixture.)

Bake in the oven at about 400* F  for 20 minutes (or until the cheese starts to bubble at the corners of the dish).

It came out quite well, and even The Instigator approved, though we agreed that next time we'll likely add crunched up corn chips in the bottom of the pan (for texture), and he recommends adding in diced red and green bell peppers to add color and garnish to the casserole. Enjoy!!!

Double Whammy!

So yesterday I got the package with my first ever sock yarn and first sock knitting book. Today I got another package with two firsts rolled into one! I got my first ever circular needles! They're also my first ever bamboo needles! It was a very different feel from the plastic and metal that I'm used to....it also feels quite different from the straight needles. I'll have to share the picture later, when I'm not on my husband's laptop. I couldn't even wait to open them before I took the picture, so there are only 13 pairs shown, but I got a total of 14 pairs, sizes 1-15! (Yes, I can count....there's no size 14....lol) And for a reeeeeeeeeeeally good deal, too! The arrival of my new friends is right in time for the sock kit swap, at that! I'm so seriously stoked about that. Sign ups for "new students" aren't for another 10 and a half hours (and yes, I am counting!), but I'm as good as started...minus the little detail of not knowing what colors to send...LOL


In other news....I had a "Super mommy" moment tonight. :D Today had been one of those days, where every little thing was irritating, the boys got into everything they weren't supposed to (including ransacking my craft room....which I still have yet to pick up....crafting stuff is everywhere) and so on. Well, I didn't get the e-mail to my husband in time to tell him we were out of diapers (minus the 6 in the diaper bag), nor did I call him in time, so he came home empty-handed. (Well, almost empty-handed....he did bring me my package. :D ) So instead of getting to run the dungeon I wanted to on WoW, I got to drive all the way back to base to get them and picked up a few other things we were out of while I was at it. By the time I got back home (which was a long and frustrating affair, what with the Italian traffic and all), I didn't feel like making the spaghetti I'd been planning to. Instead, I opted for the quick-fix mac & cheese with hot dogs. I set the pasta on to boil, took out the garbage and washed some dishes while it boiled. I go to pull out the other things I need before I drain the noodles, and lo and behold....I HADN'T BOUGHT ANY MILK!!!! AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH! I took a moment to tell my boys they could get out of time-out (they'd been jumping on the couch), and ran away to lay down before I lost it. As I lay on my bed, berating myself for being so dumb as to forget that I needed milk to make the mac & cheese and for being at the commissary and forgetting to buy any, I was hit with an idea: goulash! I hadn't had goulash in a loooooooooooooong time, and it was one of my favorite things to eat as a kid. I didn't have any ground beef thawed out, but I had chicken (which was what was going to be for the spaghetti), so I ran back upstairs and fried the meat and added the spaghetti sauce, and voila! Not only had I salvaged dinner, but I had created something good, and on an impulse! If you don't know me that well, let me tell you that the genius in the kitchen is my husband, not me. Not by a long shot. And I managed to throw something together like that and it was delicious! My husband even thought so! Not only did he say it was "really good" (instead of the usual, "it's not bad"), but he went back for seconds, so I know that he really liked it! C also enjoyed it (as his sauce-y face and hands attested), and he and I both had seconds too. A didn't want to even try it, but I think I won out. :) 3 vs. 1! It's hard to accommodate all four of our tastes, so the fact that 3 or us liked it is a pretty big deal. Go team me! *happy, happy* *dance, dance*

And now I'm off to knit away the time remaining until I can sign up to get into Ravenclaw for the kit swap.....