Kate's Ice Cream Social Birthday Party

It's over! Her 4th birthday party is over. I knew I was doing an ice cream themed party about a year ago... so I have collected ideas throughout the year and it was so fun to plan and see them fall into place. The invitations, though, I had no idea up until a week before I sent them in the mail. I am pleased with how they turned out. Everything else was prepped fairly well except the last minute cleaning and unexpected busyness of the weekend...there were so many things going on I hardly had time to blink. The pictures are pretty self explanatory... for now I just wanted to get them published, maybe later I can explain what I did.

After the party, was a wedding we all went to. Love this picture!

prompted

just a quick post today.  Last night I totally blew up at Peter and had a huge meltdown. I think he thought I was crazy.... I certainly was acting like it. Anyway, I went to bed late after trying to clean up all the dishes I had dirtied and stuff around the house.. I thought for sure I would be extremely tired. God woke me up at 6 a.m.with not an ounce of tiredness in me. I thought it was probably 7, but when I saw it was 6 I decided I should just get up. So I did.  And I got my shoes on, and I went for a run.  And it felt SO good! It was perfect outside. I took Peter's phone because my Ipod was dead, and I ran for 15 or so minutes, and then went on my bike for another 15. And the whole time I was listening to praise & worship music, just really in awe of how God can restore my mind and body the way He does. How he can refresh me through nature, music, and just the sunlight. After that, I even had time to do my devotions before the kids got up.  So thankful this morning. One thing that God spoke to me through his word was this:

"Be joyful always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." 2 Thessalonians 1:12 

 

So thankful this morning that God reminded me after what happened last night.. I allowed Satan to get me wound up. I wasn't joyful, I wasn't in prayer the whole time asking God to help Satan flee from me (James 4:7) and I wasn't giving thanks.  Lord, help me to do this more often!

Happy Birthday, Kate

Yesterday was Kate's birthday. I can't believe she is FOUR! I really don't even have the words to describe how I feel right now.. sometimes I just need moments like this where I can be reminded of how precious life is and how I stress about the smallest, dumbest things. Here's a few pictures just so I can make a post (it's been so busy the last week, I have hardly even had time on the computer) Here are some pictures of her birthday... her party is tomorrow, and it's midnight. I think I am done prepping for the night so hopefully the morning doesn't come too quickly. It was late bedtimes for all of us, so I am anticipating that the girls will be up extra early tomorrow. I guess that's okay... I have lots to do.

big week ahead

 This weekend was pretty fun, I'd say. Friday Peter came home from work at a decent time.. I was thrilled I could make him pizza (that he actually really liked) and supper was a roasted chicken with potatoes- I later, again, used the remains to roast in the crock pot for chicken stock. Right now I am trying to make this weeks menu plans... it's getting harder by the week! You'd think it'd be easier with all the meals I've tried, but truthfully, he's getting sick of all of them. Yesterday for breakfast, I did make Apple Cinnamon GF muffins. He liked those. Today we tried a GF, Dairy Free Quiche... since he can have eggs, this was possible. That was good, too. I also tried GF blueberry muffins and he enjoyed those as well. Here are some other things I tried this week:

Both buns and bread were made from the same recipe. Instead of typing it all out, you can find the recipe here. It's kind of a longer process, but I think it's worth it. It really did seem less 'sticky' than the other previous breads I've made. Though I've noticed that turning my oven on 200 and shutting it off right away made my yeast dough rise too quickly with the other bread doughs... with this one I didn't do it, and it hardly rose. I took it out and preheated the oven to 200 and shut it off, and it started rising more quickly. You have to be careful for it not to rise too fast otherwise it will fall during baking because it doesn't have enough gluten to support the dough.  You dont' really have to worry about this recipe , though.  It made nice buns. I had to broil for a minute though to get it a little  brown. I also forgot, I made some changes to the recipe. Instead of the nonfat milk powder, I added an additional 1/4 cup of tapioca starch, and I didn't have millet flour so I added more sorghum to replace that, I also added mostly heated milk (where it calls for 1 1/4 cup, about 3/4 milk and the rest water )   in place of the brown sugar to proof the yeast, I added cane sugar instead. Still turned out!

Here's my pizza!

For the pizza : Since peter cannot have tomato based products, I had to find a recipe that he could have pizza with because I think he was really missing it.  I marinated the chicken the same way we did for the fajitas, and sauteed them. In a saucepan I did 2-3 T of non-dairy butter (found at health food store) and 1`/4 cup or so of coconut creamer. I mixed in about 2 T of rice flour. I let that boil a little bit and added nutritional yeast, about 3-4 T or so.... that gets it nice and thick. I took it off the heat and spread it on half of the crust (or whole crust if you're doing the whole pizza this way).  I added the chicken, and some non-dairy cheese, some onions, broccoli, and any other veggie you want. I also threw in some sauteed Italian chicken sausage too, found at Target.

For the Taco.. I took a half a can of Black beans, 2 T (or more) of chicken/turkey stock, cumin, garlic powder, a little chili powder, and ground it in my food processor. It makes a thick paste which is spread on the crust.  For the topping I used my browned hamburger with the homemade taco seasoning and put that on top of the paste. Onions, and other veggies can be added.


Other meals I made this week, without pictures:

Scalloped Potatoes & Ham -- I think I kind of went between the two of Betty Crockers and this website -- but basically I think I did 1/4 cup nondairy butter, mixed with 3-4 T of rice flour, with salt and pepper.... then I added 2-3 cups of coconut milk (half almond milk) -- when this got bubbly I added some garlic powder, onion powder, and 4 or so T of nutritional yeast. I cut up the potatoes and frozen ham and layered this in probably dish smaller than 8x8.. it served about 3-4 people.



Fudge Brownies (has eggs)

Tilapia-- all I did for this was put some olive oil, lemon juice, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, and a little chili powder and roast in a packet in the oven for about 20 minutes I'd say at 375. It was SUPER good and even the girls loved it! 

These are really good, Apple Cinnamon Muffins. They don't taste gluten free at all... I think it's a really good mix. But be careful - they become dry fast- watch them in the oven! The first time I made them they were so moist and good. The second time the batter seemed a bit dry, and I set the timer wrong... I would set it to about 15 minutes and go from there.  I used 1/4 cup cane sugar and 1/4-1/2 cup agave. In place of apple juice, i used coconut milk.  I also put blueberries in half the batter and apples in the other half. The blueberry ones were really moist, too.  Yummmmmm! I think that's all for now. More later!

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!

not a coincidence...

Our "triad" bible study is reading through Philemon and Hebrews 1-6 this last week. This week we are unable to meet and the last couple days I haven't read my readings because we had a few extra days in between our meetings. Poor excuse, I know. One of the girls in our group canceled this week so we are meeting on Monday.  I decided to open up my bible study booklet on the apostle Paul, and low and behold the last place I left off, is on the book of Philemon. It is not a coincidence.  It is fun to see the puzzle pieces of life work together- I had to quit this bible study from Beth Moore because I wasn't able to comit fully every week because of babysitting issues, but now I know why.  It is sooo encouraging and exciting to me to see God move in this way. I have experienced this week God moving in big ways and just stretching of my faith, just as I had prayerfully asked. God is so good.  As for Haiti, I am always praying that people are being rescued.. that they get the help they need before it's too late. Although they are totally bombarded with patients.... those patients are getting rescued and the funds have come in to support that service. Now I am praying for space, strength, and healing. 

Back to the bible study. I love how Beth takes a one page book of Philemon and just shoots me with tons more information that i normally would have never gotten.  In a nutshell, Paul basically is telling Philemon that he should welcome in Onesimus.  Beth gives background info that Philemon must have been rich enough to own a large house to have Onesimus as a slave. Onesimus must have run away and possibly stolen something : (verse 18)   He also indicates that he might have led Philemon to Christ (verse 19)  -- I would have never picked up on those things... also - Beth pointed out the significance of Mark in this passage.  (Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ, sends you greetings, and so do MARK, Aristarchus, Demas, and Luke, my fellow workers) As I re-read  Acts 15: 37-38, I remembered that John Mark was the reason Paul & Barnabas as separated... Paul was just not sure that Mark should be traveling with them because Mark had deserted them previously. Two things came about this, in my opinion. Barnabas and Paul separated to reach more people, instead of sticking together. #2, because of this argument between Paul & Barnabas, Paul speaks from experience in now letting Mark be apart of his fellow workers, even though he had a previous 'grudge' against Mark. Now they are both serving together for Christ.


So that's the furthest I've gotten , and I am so excited to come back to read more.  It has been refreshing to me today to read and it reminds me of how much fun learning is. I am thinking about doing another bible study book myself this summer, along with my triad just because I just love being fed like this. I am still praying that I can really balance my time better and allow enough time to do the things God wants me to do- such as my readings, and pick and prioritize my exercising, cleaning and fun things like finishing kate's quilt or maybe even just resting. I am really hoping that I can discern the best things for me and the things that matter most. I hope this post makes sense... some times I am just so excited to share that I don't think about the words I am putting onto the page, I just write!