finished

oh nuts. It's already 10pm. Honestly where does the time go? I went for a run when Peter got home at 9, and then showered after that, unloaded half of the dishwasher and came to the computer for a 'break' (feel like i've been doing dishes in all my spare time) and it's already 10. A lot got accomplished today, though, so that I am grateful for. We are finally done planting, praise God! The kids and I went to the park with some friends and I rushed back to make lunch and then after a while, put them to bed. Did more dishes, made some gluten free brownies (photos sometime this week) then made some gluten free bread, two buns out of the extra dough, more and more dishes, and then started my exercise dvd and half-way through, Kate woke up. It was a really productive nap time.

For supper me and the kids had tilapia in little packets in the oven, with some white rice boiled in some homemade turkey stock I made last week. I took my leftover Turkey that I had already made and because I don't have a large enough crockpot, I used two- anyway, I put in some carrots, celery, bay leaf, fresh thyme and parsley (in that order) and enough water to cover the turkey. I let it slow-cook on low for about 20 hours. My turkey still had some meat on it, so when it was done, the meat fell off the bones and I was able to salvage more meat! It made about 6 cups of turkey stock and I froze in 2 cup increments in a quart-size freezer bag. Today I used two cups for my white rice... though it seemed a bit thick, so I used about 1/4-1/2 cup water.  Also, before you freeze the stock, make sure it comes to room temperature so you can remove the fat that floats to the top.

The next day we had chicken quasadillas... the whole family! This one is mine, but peter made his with rice tortillas in the frozen section at Hugos. We sliced up regular chicken breast, marinated it for about 20 minutes in salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, chili powder, little cayenne, honey and enough lemon juice to kind of coat the whole thing, about a table spoon for the amount of chicken we had. (for him it was enough for one queasadilla, we used other fajita meat from Schwanns). Saute your veggies, -  I used green pepper, red pepper, and onion. At this point if you're using fresh chicken, you'd want to saute the chicken in your browned pan to get the chicken 'dirty'.  I put avocado, little bit of cilantro, tiny bit of cheese, tomato and cut in half and sauteed in the pan until crispy. You could also put black beans in there. I used my homemade tomato sauce for a topping.  YUM!!


More later, for now here's some pictures.

machine

I am a baking and cooking machine.  but i love it.  I don't, however, love the dishes and clean-up. and cost. That is really what's keeping me behind. I am usually spending most of nap time to prepare for supper or trying to clean up the mess I've made during lunch. It is tough being healthy.  The big week-break, though, really helped my body get back into swing. I suppose my body just got used to eating really healthy and exercising the same muscles, for several months, so when I stopped exercising (not completely) it went into a shock and now I am off the 'plateau' (for now) and finally have a little more time to concentrate on that since Peter can eat turkey, fish and chicken.  This last week has been successful--seeing results. Here are a few pictures and recipes I've tried this week:

Chocolate Muffin

I couldn't find the perfect recipe so I adapted from a few different ones I saw and added my own things:

3/4 Gluten Free flour blend (I used Pamelas)
1/4 cup GF oats
1/3 cup cane sugar
about 3 T of cocoa powder
1 tsp b. soda
1 tsp b. powder
1/4 tsp salt
Mix and in a 2 cup measuring cup, mix:
1 1/2 oz coconut milk (or other non dairy milk)
1 1/2 oz coconut yogurt (or you could do all 3 oz of yogurt, I just didn't have enough)
1/2 tsp pure maple syrup
1/4 cup water
1 egg replacer
3 or so T of oil
Pour half of the wet into the dry mixture and then stir in the rest. These made about 7 muffins.. that's all we needed so I had split everything in half. You can obviously double, but recommend freezing the rest after a day or two. They were really good! I made it for Peter to enjoy at a birthday party where everyone got cake. They were fluffy and just, good. Even better with frosting, if he could have it.


Salt & Vinegar Chips

• Enough vinegar to cover potatoes (about 2 cups)
• for a small batch, 1-2 russet potatoes
• 1-1.5 tsp coarse sea salt
• Very small sprinkle of freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tsp Extra virgin olive oil 

I washed and cut into rounds... then I put into a medium size pot and I suppose it was at least 2 or so cups of white vinegar. I let it boil for 5 minutes, turned it off, and set aside for 30 minutes. I then placed them on a greased, aluminum foil wrapped baking sheet and baked for 30 minutes, turned them over, and baked another 15 or so. I had to watch carefully and remove the ones that were done... you really need to be by the oven to keep watching. I let them get a little burned so that it would be crispy, like chips. These are only good for a day or so.

 Oven fried french fries

I cut up my russet potato into thin strips, and put them into a zip-lock bag and added 2 tsp of oil, salt, garlic salt, onion powder... really you could put anything and I might have put other seasonings but can't remember right now. 4252 for about 20 or so minutes. I used my pizza stone. I think we also broiled it to get them more crispy. I've also heard that soaking them before is a key to good oven baked french fries-- I'll have to try that next time.

Not Gluten free-- but Healthy Oatmeal Rhubarb-Strawberry Muffins

I can say that I made this into my own after rushing to find a suitable muffin that was healthy to my standards.. here's what I did:

• 1 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 cup oatmeal
• 1/2 cup sugar (could do honey, but more cals I think)
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup rhubarb/strawberries (2-3 strawberries)
• 1 1/2 egg replacer + 2 T water
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 4-6 T coconut milk

122 Calories, Bake at 325 for 16-20 minutes. Made 11.

Chocolate-drop Cookies

 1/2 cup Sorghum Flour
1/4 cup Brown Rice Flour
1/4 Cup Tapioca Flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/3 tsp baking soda (not a typo, that's what i used)
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp guar gum
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg

In a sep. bowl:
1/4 cup + 2 T Spectrum Shortening (non butter)
1/4 cup cane sugar, 1/4 cup honey/agave
1 Ener-G Egg replacer with 2 T water

Add dry ingredients and mix well.

I added a handful or two of gluten free oats. We don't have any dairy-free chocolate chips, so I took cocoa powder , (3 T plus 1 T oil = 1 oz) so three oz. of that, mixed with probably 2-3 T coconut cream, and a little more oil..I wanted it to get hard in the fridge so I could make chocolate chips, but did not work. So instead I got a dough-type texture and I rolled it into balls and put the mixed cookie dough over the chocolate balls. I baked them for about 10-12 minutes at 350 on a parchment lined baking sheet. When done, let stand for 4 minutes before removing... caution: crumbly, but really good. I would  freeze after a day because gluten free things tend to go bad. Also, I made a half batch of this, so if you wanted more you could double. I think it made at least 10 cookies.

Also made rice noodle stirfry -- the changes I made- I didn't use rice, just rice noodles and I thought it was supppppppppppper good, but peter didn't like the sweetness to it.  Oh well, can't win them all!  More photos later... tried two more recipes... photos to come.  I plan to make peach sorbet within a couple days and possible mango-coconut roasted chicken. Peter's appointment is on Tuesday so we'll see what else he can or cannot eat.  Off to bed!

new meals--leaky gut diet

It's been about 4 or so weeks since Peter first began the detox diet. I gave reference to the "leaky gut syndrome" awhile ago.. I remember searching for meal ideas and really not coming up with anything. At that time, I was terrified. But now, I can say that I've got it, for the most part, under control. I don't always have a willing husband to try my recipes, but I am full of ideas. I wonder how life would be without the internet. I suppose I would have to buy lots of cookbooks.... and do less baking.

The first two weeks were strictly gluten, dairy, and sugar free... no potatoes, rice, honey, eggs, really- nothing. He could have beef, some pork, chicken, and turkey. We thought that was bad. The third week we thought maybe he'd be done with the diet soon... but he added oats, beans and honey into the diet. Hey, that's pretty good!! Peter was definitely happy and that's when I could use more of the recipes I had bookmarked. His meals included:

Hamburger, no bun, sauted onions. Steak. Grilled chicken with this rub: 1 T lime juice, 1 T olive oil, spices: garlic salt, onion powder, chili powder, salt, pepper (to your liking) Grilled Tilapia in a pouch with lemon juice, salt and pepper, onions; Roasted Turkey-- my trick, by chance, was roasting it upside down so that the dark meat's juices would drip onto the white meat. I would pat dry, rub down with olive oil, rub under the skin and pour olive oil in, also stuff with garlic cloves, lemon peel, and sprinkle with onion powder, garlic powder, paprika, and tarragon. Other variations: Steak and chicken kebabs, tacos with homemade seasonings, and really, lots of other things. Once the brown rice, beans and oatmeal were included, we had so much more to work with: black bean brownies (sorry, don't have the link, easy to find though!) we put gluten free oats in his shake that he was having daily (4 ice cubes, 2-3 frozen chunks of banana, his hemp protein mix, handful of blueberries, 1-2 whole strawberries, enough coconut milk / watered down pineapple juice to cover and mix to your liking) I like mine to be a little bit thick, and he likes his more watery.  He could have oatmeal for breakfast instead of just his huge bowl of coconut yogurt and fruit. He also was eating turkey sausage and bacon from the health-food store for breakfast, for added protein. Once we made turkey and one ham, he would take those along too for a snack, for added protein.

The next week, though, with thinking he'd be able to open up another range of foods, to our surprise I received a phone call from Peter saying that they took a step BACK. His doctor took away beef, which pretty much was his main source of food during those two weeks (every other day was a hamburger or steak). So, one week without beef, the second week he cannot have ANY meat, and the third week he can have the turkey, chicken, and fish again.... although he should mostly have fish.  Yikes! This was a huge blow to us, because we had such high hopes of opening more food. Like, maybe eggs. This was when I seriously began to shop around for bread mixes, different flours, and look for recipes including rice and beans. It was hard to find ideas at first but once I got introduced to the really good sites, I got more and more ideas. So, the first week on a beef-less diet included:  another turkey. He really did eat turkey leftovers for a few days because he had to... he was busy in the field. I bought him some Italian chicken-type brats at Target that he thought was good. We had Turkey tacos, I also bought a gluten free rice tortilla at Hugos in the freezer section. We made homemade fruit roll-ups, dehydrated fruit, a young chicken roasted, Brazilian beans and rice ,  chicken-broccoli stir-fry (olive oil and lemon juice, tarragon marinade) and I really can't remember what else. It wasn't too bad...though we really did have it good when he could have his beef.

So, we are almost finished with week #2 in the no meats, and I can really say it's gone by well.. but only because I know people were praying for us! Strength is what we had. I came up with some good recipes to help get through this weird time and he actually liked them. For a moment, we thought he couldn't have oats again because his doctor told him he couldn't... but after a few days of cooked Quinoa and Buckwheat, he was craving oatmeal so he asked if he could buy the gluten free oatmeal, which was a YES, so that indeed, made him crazy-happy.  The Quinoa wasn't that bad, really. Just cook 1 cup with 2 cups of water with some raisins, sliced thin chunks of apple, and in about 10 or so minutes it's ready. First soak in cold water for 5 minutes, drain, and then boil for 5 minutes and simmer for the rest, until the liquid is gone. I added blueberries because i love them.

So, the first dinner we had included veggie skewers on dirty rice. I got the recipe here .  This is one of my fav. sites to look for recipes.

I made fried potatoes (originally baked and cut up when cooled, and cooked in olive oil with salt and pepper.  The Quinoa recipe is here . I thought it was good, but i added too much spice so it was a little hard to eat. I bet these would be good on the rice tortillas. We put his on some salad.

 Here is a photo of a really good blueberry breakfast 'cake' that i just made in my banana loaf pan. http://happyherbivore.com/recipe/blueberry-coffee-cake/

I made a successful bread loaf , but used Pamelas bread mix. I realized the trick is to not let it rise too high, because it will keep rising as it bakes, and while the oven is preheating! By the time my loaf got into the oven it was oozing out of the pan. Also, what worked was to put parchment paper on the sides so I could lift the bread out of the pan.

My pasta bake turned out pretty good. Peter really actually hates all pasta bakes, or usually prefers to eat them once a month... so for him to eat this and think it was okay... is good. :) I used asparagus vs. the zucchini that it called for and i obviously just made one single serving vs. a whole casserole. Nutritional yeast is quite cheap and it is supposed to be a vegan's 'Parmesan' cheese. I also used the yeast in the millet cakes, down below.




Other things I've tried, so far (worth writing about):
Bean Burgers
Blueberry Scones (Just a note, i used an egg replacer (you can buy this at the health food store) and used coconut  milk with 1 T lemon juice) and then added 1 tsp guar gum. I added fresh blueberries, not chocolate or cherries.  Because I didn't use an actual egg, these turned out more like a fluffy cookie... which is fine by me! It didn't rise as high as the picture even though I still used 2 tsp. of baking powder.
Best ever banana bread
Awesome pancakes
 No Bake Glo Cakes

That's it, for now! tonight i spent at least a half hour making meal plans for the girls and I, and Peter... at least 2 weeks for the girls and i almost got through one week with peter. Its hard to know how to plan when some days he might be in the field.... one day at a time I guess!

random

Today starts the beginning of my husbands 'No meat' diet.  So far I have made a pretty good bread (that he will eat) and I ended up using a premixed assortment of flours and then added extra ingredients. It turned out pretty good. The last couple days it has been rainy and cold so we really haven't at all spent much time outside, which has been hard for the kids (and me) but hoping it will warm up soon, especially so that the guys can finish seeding.

I have been researching recipes like crazy and coming up with some new ones to try- but the cost of food is sooo expensive and so I am hoping I can get through all the flour I bought and also hope that I don't have to buy anymore! We tried hot Quino cereal the last couple days, and it's pretty good. It fills me up and it's easy to make. I had that this morning with the gluten free bread with some jam purchased from the health food store. So far on my list this week, I have written down : Black Bean Burgers with homemade gluten free buns (wish me luck on those!!)  pancakes,  mashed potato bake,  veggie skewers on dirty rice, Quino dish with veggies,  and a few more.  I think he also plans to have cold and hot cereals as meals at times too... lots of fruits and veggies.  He still is not able to eat dairy, gluten and sugar along with oats and tomatoes, etc., but he IS able to have potatoes and rice, which is a huge huge praise because i'm not sure how he could get through it without it. It has definitely been a learning process and I guess I am grateful for the learning opportunity but I am hoping it ends soon. I feel so bad for anyone who has to do this long-term. Hopefully just a couple more weeks of this and we're done... though that is doubtful. I have enjoyed the banana & blueberry bread because it's tons more healthier and easier to digest -- and i'm sure if i have flour left i will continue to make those things. I have also enjoyed drinking tea, which i am totally not a tea drinker, but I found a really good tea that has been fun to drink.

This week we hope to till the garden and plant that, and just to be with the kids. I am still not working out regularly but waiting for the go-ahead from God. Today I read Philemon and Hebrews 1-5. I have been really hit with how much encouragment is needed daily and so I am trying to do more of that with my friends or just anyone I feel led to. My challenge to you is to go out of your way to encourage someone - do you ever feel nudged to do something nice for someone and then it fizzles away? Don't let it. Do it right away!!  I have two things i'm doing today to be an encouragement to someone.

  At church we are doing a prayer summit and I signed up for the 5:15 a.m. slot... I am sort of dreading it but I know it will feel so good once i'm done. A lot of random thoughts, I know, but that's who I am.   Today I am thankful for friends who really do encourage me and who are not always against me. My friends who are constantly building me up. Thank you!

dreary weather

well today i did NOT get up early, but I still got my devotions in this morning, just barely though. Maddy was up at 6, not really sure why, so we brought her into our room and she never did fall back asleep. So i laid in bed with her until 7. This week I am still getting up at 6:30 for my bible readings and then I shower. I do my workouts during nap time because that seems to be the best and most logical thing to do. That way, I for SURE get a shower in! (which is important) I feel like during nap time I really can't do anything that is loud, such as dishes, showering, vacuuming, etc. So i really have to pick my chores wisely. That's why I chose to do my exercising then.

I realize, too, that though it might be slow, I need to , every day, do some type of organizing. So this week I am mostly focusing on my room. I cleaned out my clothes and jeans that are hanging or folded in my closet. I haven't tackled any other drawers yet, but I put away all my "bigger" clothing and winter clothing. I am going to go through some magazines that are lying around and then the things that are on the floor of our closet. It has been a sigh of relief to be 'on top of things' for the most part. I have been keeping up with the dishes and starting the dishwasher and everything washed before nap, making more use of my time in the mornings instead of my workouts. Yesterday at 8am during breakfast I did the dishes from the night before (I had bible study, so unable to do dishes before bed). Anyway, that's what I'm up to this week.

The next few days looks like it's going to b e cold so we'll be staying in, which means I have to find things inside to do. I  printed off a TON of stuff for the kids and I do to, along with many, many, many good recipes (healthy too) and organized them in three different binders. I am feeling organized!! I bought over 100 protector sheets and put all my printed recipes in there -   I made black bean brownies yesterday.... pretty good!!   Today I am making chocolate cupcakes for my sisters graduation and nephews birthday so i'm sure me and the girls will do that this morning. It kind of stinks, i am not much for willpower anymore... I hope I don't overindulge!!  

Also, some exciting news, I am  featured for Madelyn's birthday! I had three top blogs in mind and they responded immediately. Take a look!
Here's some pictures I put on facebook yesterday:(Took advantage of my frozen meal from last week and made it yesterday while we were out of the house. I set my oven to delay and it was done when we got home................... doing that more often!)

productive

Yesterday was a fun day.  I went to Fargo with a friend and we picked up my new elliptical! I know previously I said we couldn't afford one, but the Lord is good and provided again. I have been feeling a nudge that He wants me to take better care of my body... believe it or not God calls us to do that too! We went to the mall, to Joannes, and a bunch of other small stores.  I can't believe we spent 5 hours in Fargo, but it went so quick! I got some cute fabric and I also got two Euro pillows and 4 throw pillows (I will need to sew covers on them) for an unbeatable price.  That was my find for the day. I also got a shirt to make a dress for Kate out of at a thrift store and a ton of books for the kids to read.

When we got home, we got the elliptical upstairs. It was really tricky getting it upstairs but after about 10 minutes, we got it up there. For a while it was starting to get really heavy-- I didn't know quite how we'd do it. I am very thankful that my feet didn't slip on the stairs because it would have come crashing down on top of me.

This morning's work out was not so easy...I haven't worked out since the summer. It was tough to get up earlier but i feel really good right now. I am drinking my shake mix.. and will hopefully make it through the day without cheating :)  Well, it looks like we are all done with breakfast so I better get going... more later!