I've Been Thinking About Trying Gluten-Free

So I've been thinking about going gluten-free just to try it out.  I've heard so many people say that they feel so much better once they go gluten free and I just want to see if it's true.  The problem is that I don't even know where to begin!  I really need to sit down and spend hours doing research and see what all gluten is in and then what I can use as alternates.  Who knew there was gluten in soy sauce?  Not me!  I got this blog post today and and thankful that she has done some of the research.  I will have to figure out when I can try this out, it will take some days to get it all straight I think.

Food for thought: Katie Learns About Gluten

Does anyone have any input about going gluten-free?  Any ideas?  Research that you want to share?  I'm and blank slate here!

A Change of Colors

A few weeks ago I started to notice a change of colors in stores.  The colors normally seen in the stores this time of year are warm tones- oranges, browns, reds and golds.  These are beautiful colors that make my heart warm.

I have decided that living on the east coast has made me appreciate warm fall tones because they are all around as the trees turn.  While these colors make me feel warm and happy inside, there are two other colors that really make me smile.

Red and green.

I LOVE Christmas.  As Munchkie and I were walking through the aisles of a store I just had to laugh, there are shelves of Halloween candy and costumes with Christmas trees and decorations just next to them.  We are just so anxious we can't even wait for one season to be over because we are moving onto the next.

I'm ok with skipping Halloween completely, so seeing Christmas trees instead of skeletons doesn't bother me (I am quite sad that we skip over Thanksgiving and the season of being thankful for what we have).  I start to think about Christmas months before I want to admit.  I used to love Christmas as a child because I knew that I would get presents, but as I get older I love the season because of what happens during the Christmas season.  People become nice, friendly, selfless.  The world becomes a better place when the colors red and green begin to show.  I love giving gifts to people, baking delicious things, spices and sweets wafting in the air.  I rounded an aisle to see the Christmas section being set up in the store and bent over to talk to Munchkie.  I said "do you know what season is coming?  Christmas!  You don't remember what Christmas is, but it's so exciting.  We have to remember why it's exciting, Jesus came as a little baby on Christmas day."  To which she responded in a very excited tone "Baby? Jesus?"  She may not get it quite yet, but I am looking forward to showing her how wonderful this season of giving is.

I've been working for a while on our homemade gifts for this year, but this week I realized I need to get serious and can think of little else. I came up with the last part of our gift today and immediately ordered online the supplies I would need.   We decided that instead of buying family and friends something just to buy something, we are going to give homemade gifts.  While sometimes they might be perishable and only last a little while, we put our thought, love, and time into it.  I know this means more than a random material possession.  I can't wait to lovingly put these gifts together with Munchkie.  I am looking forward to this time of making, baking, giving and sharing.  This year I will be teaching Munchkie, the sponge, all about what this season of Christmas means.  Bring on the red and green.  I am so ready!

Revision of Granola Bars

I made a new batch of granola bars last night for Munchkie's Daddy to take to work with him.  I think that they turned out better this time and Munchkie's Daddy says he likes them better.  He's not a sweet person so when I buy him bars he usually doesn't like them because they are so sweet.  He also said that they were very filling and held him over until lunch today, he wasn't hungry by 10:30 like he usually is.  I guess that's a good thing!  So here is my revised recipe.  You can look here for my previous post with recipe and here for Katie of KitchenStewardship.com's recipe that I adapted.  The basic jist is that you need 1 cup flour, 4-4/12 cups oatmeal or comparable ingredients (quinoa, puffed rice, slivered almonds), you need a sweetener which I substitute 3/4 cup applesauce (only using 1/4 cup honey), and then 2 cups of "mix-ins" of your choice.  This last time I cut out the butter without a problem, I think because the quinoa is so moist. You can use all kinds of things for mix-ins, coconut, chocolate, any kind of dried fruit or nuts, whatever sounds good to you.

Ingredients:
1 cup oatmeal
1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup puffed rice cereal
1 cup dry quinoa
1 cup slivered almonds
1 cup dry cranberries
2 cups water
3/4 cup applesauce
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup sunflower seeds
1/2 cup pumpkin seeds
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon baking soda

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325 and lightly grease a 9x13 pan
2. Cook the 1 cup quinoa and 2 cups water as directed on package.
3.  I crushed up the slivered almonds in a ziplock bag until they were crumbs and little pieces.
4. Mix together applesauce, honey, vanilla, baking soda.
5. Add oatmeal, flour, quinoa, almonds and then puffed rice.
6. Last add the "mix-ins"- cranberries, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds.
7. Press the mixture into the pan, pressing firmly with your hands to ensure it is tightly in the pan.
8. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until light brown on top.
9. Let sit for 10 minutes
10. After 10 minutes, cut into 20 Quaker Chewy granola bar size
11. Do not take out of pan until completely cooled.
12. Store in an airtight container.

And drum roll-
Nutrition facts:
Serving size 1 bar, servings per batch 20
Calories 141
Fat: 5.1g
Saturated Fat 0.6g
Trans Fat 0g
Cholesterol 0g
Sodium 66g
Total Carbohydrates 20.5g
Dietary Fiber 2.3g
Sugars 4.9g
Protein 4.5g

Not so bad!

Cleaning is not so fun

When I was college I used to love cleaning.  My roommate would come into our room and ask which class I had a test in because my method of procrastination was to clean.  I also made a little bit of money cleaning a few people's homes because I enjoyed doing it.  Then I graduated and had a whole house to clean.  I did not enjoy that so much. 

Obviously cleaning is something we have to do, but I just don't enjoy putting elbow grease into anything, as evidenced by my earlier post on not liking dishes I would rather just put it off.  Now I'm trying to make my own cleaning products to help clean better without the elbow grease or the fumes.  This is the research that I've put together to create my own cleaning products.

Homemade Dusting Spray

1 cup white vinegar with 1/2 teaspoon olive oil

All Purpose Cleaner

• 1/4 cup white vinegar
• 2 Tbsp. baking soda
• 1/4 gallon (1 liter) hot water
• a few drops of essential oil (optional)

 Daily Shower Spray

• 1/3 cup rubbing alcohol
• 1/3 cup hydrogen peroxide
• 2 squirts Dr. Bronner's
• 1/3 cup white vinegar
• few drops tea tree oil
• few drops essential oil (optional)

I really like Dr. Bronner's and so I use it for a lot of things.  I have an old dish soap bottle that foams and so I put a few squirts of Dr. Bronner's and fill the rest with water.  I use this to clean my my dishes.  I also use Dr. Bronner's diluted in a spray bottle to do some cleaning.  

I also use vinegar for a lot of things.  I add it in the dishwasher as a rinse agent to prevent buildup from forming on my dishes.  I use it with my laundry in place of a fabric softener.  The best thing about vinegar- it has antibacterial properties AND you can buy a gallon for under $2. 

We also have almost eliminated paper products.  I say almost because I have quite a bit of paper napkins and I'm not going to just throw them away, so we're using them up.  I also just recently found a hidden roll of paper towel that Munchkie's Daddy had because he just couldn't handle the thought of paper free cleaning.  I read Simple Mom's article about a paperless kitchen a while ago and wanted to try it out.  She said the key is to make sure there are rags handy.  For us there had to be rags handy and a laundry basket handy.  I keep rags of different textures and sizes for all different kinds of cleaning in a bucket on the counter, under the paper towel holder, so that it is easily accessible for spills or cleanups.  I then have the laundry basket sitting out that is just for dirty rags and towels so they can go right into the basket.  I wash all of the rags every couple days on the sanitary cycle of our washing machine. 

We've now been doing this for several months and it's been working out really well.  Between our homemade cleaners and rags we have eliminated several different expenses while helping the environment out a little bit.  This doesn't really mean that I enjoy cleaning any more, but at least I can be a little creative while I'm doing it.  Just a few more ways I can be green, economical and of course, clean.

Weekends Are Not for Healthy Cooking

I am trying so hard to be healthy.  We try to cook most of our meals at home and have more vegetables than carbs or meats.  I've tried to almost completely eliminate processed foods and refined sugars.  But seriously, on the weekend, I just can't do it.  Especially today, I worked (on a holiday no less) and everyone was eating junk all day.  The nurses ordered Chinese food for lunch, then another group ate Chinese food for dinner, then I went to start an IV in a patient's room and their family was eating Chinese.  Yeah right was I going to come home and fix some healthy raw veggie meal.  I came home and said "forget our budget and the food in the fridge, I want Chinese food even if we go broke buying it."  So much for those two apples, homemade granola bar and veggie soup I ate.  I just negated it all with some General Tso's Chicken.

And this is how I became overweight.  How do we get past this way of thinking?  How do we look forward to a nice big bowl of salad?  How can I get past those comfort foods and squelch the cravings and desires inside?  What makes us think that the weekend is for not caring about anything, jobs, diets, worries, chores?  I think we all just need some days of rest.  When we are too extreme we overdo it and need to give ourselves a break.  Tomorrow, it's back to the veggies for me. No more slacking, both in the home and with my diet.   I can do this and I WILL...... at least until my next weekend off.....

It All Goes Back to Childhood

Since Mimi has been here being her amazing self, Munchkie's Daddy and I went out on a date last night.  We have learned that it's essential to spend time together, just the two of us.  Sometimes it's hard to meld schedules  and get a babysitter, but last night it all came together.  A friend gave a few restaurant suggestions and so we tried a place we had never been.  We checked out the menu online and decided it fit both of our desires.

Everything was great, we drove there, and as soon as we approached the restaurant I could see through the window the linen table cloths, the black and white dressed waiters and waitresses and the man pouring water with the while linen cloth on his arm.  This is when I immediately began to panic.  I didn't really associate it as panic at first, I just knew that I felt incredibly uncomfortable.  We walked in and I immediately started to look around, see what others were wearing, eating, drinking, how they were eating, I mentally compared myself to them and took notes.  I literally cowered in my seat feeling uncomfortable and overwhelmed.  When the waitress came for drinks, I could hardly order, begging Munchkie's Daddy with my eyes to help me, save me - just over the drinks.  As I was sitting there trying to enjoy this limited time I had to enjoy a nice night out, I realized what was going on inside me.

A few days ago someone told me, everything goes back to your childhood.  They said, you may not realize how or why until much later, or sometimes never, but it all goes back to childhood.  I sat there and this person's comments came to mind.  Over my childhood whenever we went to a nice restaurant, such as this one, it was with my grandparents.  Each time we went out to dinner with them I could sense the anxiety and stress in my own mother and this was passed to me, even as a small child.  Any time we went out with them I would be so anxious that I would not be able to enjoy anything.  Each experience out for dinner made me feel so much pressure, I had to behave perfectly, use my utensils perfectly, order perfectly (no chicken fingers and fries for us), eat perfectly, and then still listen to my grandparent's critique of everything and everyone. I learned to immediately begin to assess the situation when I walked through the door.  Now any time I go into a "nice" restaurant I feel the pressure of being perfect with my grandparents.  I hope that now that I realize the source of the stomach turning and hand shaking so I can sit and completely enjoy a meal with whomever I am eating with.  I don't have to worry about being judged, ridiculed, sarcastic hurtful comments headed my way, or reprimanded for not using the correct utensil.  I can actually comfortably sit, enjoy good company and good food.  Too bad it took me almost the whole meal to sort through how my childhood has impacted my dining out experiences.  Desert was amazing......

Moms are great!

I'm finally off of work for a few days after working several days in a row.  Mimi (my mom) came on Tuesday which was night 4 out of 5.  What an amazing person Mimi is.  The first morning (after getting home at 2am) I heard Munchkie cry and jumped out of bed to grab her before she woke Mimi up (it's a slumber party in Munchkie's room).  I found Mimi was already up and changing Munchkie's diaper. She doesn't stop there.  My laundry was folded, and she apologized for not knowing where the cleaning supplies were.  Munchkie's Daddy always says, "you know you think you're doing good until Mimi comes, and then you realize what doing good really is."  It's like you can let out this big sigh and know that for just a few days, there's someone taking care of you.

Besides entertaining Munchkie, encouraging learning, cleaning around the house and whipping the dogs into shape, Mimi also babysits Munchkie so we can go out on a much needed date.  I think the last time that Munchkie's Daddy and I went out just the two of us was our anniversary.  In May.  Needless to say we are very excited, and appreciative of this opportunity to spend some quality time together.

Mother are really the most amazing thing ever, besides giving you life, they keep your life together.  I can only hope and pray that I can be a fraction of the amazing person Mimi is.