I admit it...sometimes when it comes to Christmas cards, I um, have good intentions, but sometimes fail to follow through. Okay, seriously fail to follow through (as in I didn't send any for 4 years). I know, it's bad, but in my defense, the Christmas letter seriously bogged me down. Last year, though I had a revelation, photo cards! No letter required, people can take one look at it and see how our family is doing. If I decide to get ambitious, I could try to produce one of those elusive Christmas letters to go with it, but, most likely I'll stick to the photo card.
This year, I'm going to try the cards from Shutterfly.com
I already love their photo printing and their photo books are marvelous! The hard part is deciding which card to choose, although it's a must that it says Merry Christmas...I am so NOT into a wimpy "Happy Holidays" message. Hopefully, these are able to be completely custom and I can change the message to my preferences. So far, I like Warmest Wishes, it would go with a family picture from Hawaii, which would save me some photo sessions (although, I do love taking photos). I also like the Chocolate Lime Snowflakes card and part of the profits from that one go to the American Lung Association.
Decisions, decisions I guess it might take me a little while to make up my mind. If you want some great Shutterfly Christmas cards for yourself...and I'm sure you do!
Shutterfly is offering 20% off all holiday cards
Leave me a comment and let me know what card you like and what you do for Christmas cards (or if you send any).
Happy Shopping!
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Monday, October 25, 2010
Oh, My Poor Neglected Blog
This poor little blog. It's been sitting here, lonely, just waiting for me to share the culinary delights in our life. There have been some delights, but mostly there's been a lot of little colds that my son and I have been passing back and forth between each other. And soccer and life in general. Life always interferes with my good intentions! I must admit that this cold that I have is not really making me want to cook at all. I'd rather sleep...when I can. Usually, I'm just coughing and coughing if I try to sleep. Not fun.
I have been keeping track of some yummy recipes for you, I promise. I'll list a few that I want to share and I will try to get them posted soon. I have a great recipe for Turkey salad (which would be perfect to use up some of those turkey leftovers next month). I made a delicious Hamburger Goulash that my guys gobbled up. I have a review of a Gluten and dairy free Ranch Dressing recipe and I know there are some other fun things in my notebook. So check back later this week, hopefully, I will kick this cough and be back in action.
Until then...
Happy Eating!
I have been keeping track of some yummy recipes for you, I promise. I'll list a few that I want to share and I will try to get them posted soon. I have a great recipe for Turkey salad (which would be perfect to use up some of those turkey leftovers next month). I made a delicious Hamburger Goulash that my guys gobbled up. I have a review of a Gluten and dairy free Ranch Dressing recipe and I know there are some other fun things in my notebook. So check back later this week, hopefully, I will kick this cough and be back in action.
Until then...
Happy Eating!
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Happy Anniversary
This week marks an anniversary for our family. One year ago we embarked on our journey in living and eating gluten and dairy free. It wasn't an easy decision, it would effect everyone in our family, but we decided that to help our son and our various minor health issues, it was worth trying.
We learned a lot this past year. We started our journey relying on soy as our go to substitute for dairy. Then a friend casually mentioned that her son can't have dairy and she won't give him soy because it isn't good for guys (hormones and estrogen), so this set me on the research path. I realized soy wasn't a great choice and that it can actually be toxic due to the fast processing times in the US. Plus, it gave me really bad headaches. So, soy was out. Now we were gluten/dairy and soy free, we could deal with this.
Then we realized that yes, we should avoid nitrates and nitrites just like our book had recommended. It gave me a headache and we were very cranky for a couple of days until it went through our system.
So now we were gluten/dairy/soy and nitrate/nitrite free, I could deal with it. Then Ian had some candy with food dye (red is especially bad) and we watched him lose focus and become a moody irrational creature. So we added food dye to the list of food to avoid.
Thankfully, we were able to go off of foods that bothered us gradually. Gluten and dairy were immediate and quick, but the rest we discovered as our bodies were no longer reacting to gluten and dairy (it became very obvious what foods caused problems).
So here we are a year later. Has it made any difference? I would say, YES! My son can focus better, he's still a 9 yr. old boy, so he has his ups and downs, but for the most part, it's better. My hubby has lost around 20- 25 lbs. and has fewer tummy troubles. I have lost a few lbs., but the biggest difference for me is that I am off all my allergy medicine. I was on allergy shots, zyrtec, claritin, a nasal steroid spray, occasional benedryl and sometimes allergy eye drops and none of it worked! I still got terrible sinusitis that would last for a month at a time and require antibiotics (not that that really did much as it was most likely a fungal infection). I am happy to say that I went an entire year without needing to go see the doctor. That hasn't happened for years! Oh, and when I did go to the doc, it was for a condition review, not because I was sick.
I have had questions about our new way of living/eating, so in honor of our one year anniversary, I will answer them here.
1. Does it cost a lot to eat this way? It does cost us a little bit more since we decided to go more organic and processed foods are pretty much out of the question. Cost really depends on your choices. If you are eating lots of fresh fruit and vegetables and meat, it probably isn't much of a price difference. If you are buying lots of gluten and dairy free specialty foods (crackers, donuts, bread, etc) expect to pay a whole lot more. For the most part, I try to make the treats we want, it's a lot cheaper. For us, the cost evens out when you look at how many trips to the doctor and prescriptions weren't needed.
2. Isn't it hard to cook this way? Not really. You just have to be creative and have a good cookbook and GF/CF blogs to help you out. If you can cook from scratch with gluten and dairy, you can cook from scratch without them.
3. Is it hard to get your son and husband to stay on the eating plan? Not really. My son is very good about watching out for foods he can't eat. He likes how he feels without these foods, so he makes sure that the food he eats doesn't contain anything not on the plan. My husband is good about staying on the plan, too. He likes to snack, so we've just found snacks that work for him on this plan. Thankfully, we don't have any nut allergies, so at work my husband will snack on some peanuts. It actually helps him not come home starving.
4. Is it worth the effort? YES! It is so worth it. It is a huge change at first, but it becomes easier over time.
We learned a lot this past year. We started our journey relying on soy as our go to substitute for dairy. Then a friend casually mentioned that her son can't have dairy and she won't give him soy because it isn't good for guys (hormones and estrogen), so this set me on the research path. I realized soy wasn't a great choice and that it can actually be toxic due to the fast processing times in the US. Plus, it gave me really bad headaches. So, soy was out. Now we were gluten/dairy and soy free, we could deal with this.
Then we realized that yes, we should avoid nitrates and nitrites just like our book had recommended. It gave me a headache and we were very cranky for a couple of days until it went through our system.
So now we were gluten/dairy/soy and nitrate/nitrite free, I could deal with it. Then Ian had some candy with food dye (red is especially bad) and we watched him lose focus and become a moody irrational creature. So we added food dye to the list of food to avoid.
Thankfully, we were able to go off of foods that bothered us gradually. Gluten and dairy were immediate and quick, but the rest we discovered as our bodies were no longer reacting to gluten and dairy (it became very obvious what foods caused problems).
So here we are a year later. Has it made any difference? I would say, YES! My son can focus better, he's still a 9 yr. old boy, so he has his ups and downs, but for the most part, it's better. My hubby has lost around 20- 25 lbs. and has fewer tummy troubles. I have lost a few lbs., but the biggest difference for me is that I am off all my allergy medicine. I was on allergy shots, zyrtec, claritin, a nasal steroid spray, occasional benedryl and sometimes allergy eye drops and none of it worked! I still got terrible sinusitis that would last for a month at a time and require antibiotics (not that that really did much as it was most likely a fungal infection). I am happy to say that I went an entire year without needing to go see the doctor. That hasn't happened for years! Oh, and when I did go to the doc, it was for a condition review, not because I was sick.
I have had questions about our new way of living/eating, so in honor of our one year anniversary, I will answer them here.
1. Does it cost a lot to eat this way? It does cost us a little bit more since we decided to go more organic and processed foods are pretty much out of the question. Cost really depends on your choices. If you are eating lots of fresh fruit and vegetables and meat, it probably isn't much of a price difference. If you are buying lots of gluten and dairy free specialty foods (crackers, donuts, bread, etc) expect to pay a whole lot more. For the most part, I try to make the treats we want, it's a lot cheaper. For us, the cost evens out when you look at how many trips to the doctor and prescriptions weren't needed.
2. Isn't it hard to cook this way? Not really. You just have to be creative and have a good cookbook and GF/CF blogs to help you out. If you can cook from scratch with gluten and dairy, you can cook from scratch without them.
3. Is it hard to get your son and husband to stay on the eating plan? Not really. My son is very good about watching out for foods he can't eat. He likes how he feels without these foods, so he makes sure that the food he eats doesn't contain anything not on the plan. My husband is good about staying on the plan, too. He likes to snack, so we've just found snacks that work for him on this plan. Thankfully, we don't have any nut allergies, so at work my husband will snack on some peanuts. It actually helps him not come home starving.
4. Is it worth the effort? YES! It is so worth it. It is a huge change at first, but it becomes easier over time.
Saturday, July 31, 2010
Banana Bread
My son and I just tried the finished results a few minutes ago and it's good. Both of us responded to the first bite with a soul satisfied uuuummmmmmm. That means, it's REALLY good! My son even helped me make this, what could be better? If you like banana bread, this recipe should satisfy your craving! Click on the name to go to the recipe: Gluten Free Banana Bread
Happy Eating!
Friday, July 30, 2010
Fried Chicken
I love fried chicken! It's one of my favorite things to eat. Growing up in Kansas, I had several options for really good fried chicken. My favorite was the Olpe Chicken House. We'd go there for special occasions with my Grandma and the food was always delicious. It was 10 miles away from my hometown, so we didn't go there all the time, but , boy what a treat when we did go!
I even worked as a waitress there for a few months during college. So I KNOW good fried chicken when I see it.
Then I moved out west and fried chicken, at least good fried chicken was nowhere to be found. Nowhere. Only the fast food fried chicken, which isn't the same at all. And grocery store deli fried chicken, sigh, let's not even talk about it. I made my own fried chicken sometimes, but usually, I just didn't bother. Then, we went gluten free and I thought it was over. No fried chicken in my future.
Until, one day I had this huge craving for fried chicken and knew I had to find a solution. So I decided to make a cornflake fried chicken, not baked like you do to most cornflake chicken, no this was fried. I used chicken tenders (I know, completely cheating, but it's so much easier) and used my food processor to make the cornflakes into almost a powder, added some seasonings, coated the chicken, pan fried it and tasted the yummiest fried chicken I'd had in a long time. So good, that my son requested it for his birthday dinner. So good, that I made it for my parents when they were visiting this summer and they loved it, too. Trust me, it's good. Not the same as Olpe Chicken House fried chicken, but still delicious and simple to make at home. It's a winner in my book.
Happy Eating!
I even worked as a waitress there for a few months during college. So I KNOW good fried chicken when I see it.
Then I moved out west and fried chicken, at least good fried chicken was nowhere to be found. Nowhere. Only the fast food fried chicken, which isn't the same at all. And grocery store deli fried chicken, sigh, let's not even talk about it. I made my own fried chicken sometimes, but usually, I just didn't bother. Then, we went gluten free and I thought it was over. No fried chicken in my future.
Until, one day I had this huge craving for fried chicken and knew I had to find a solution. So I decided to make a cornflake fried chicken, not baked like you do to most cornflake chicken, no this was fried. I used chicken tenders (I know, completely cheating, but it's so much easier) and used my food processor to make the cornflakes into almost a powder, added some seasonings, coated the chicken, pan fried it and tasted the yummiest fried chicken I'd had in a long time. So good, that my son requested it for his birthday dinner. So good, that I made it for my parents when they were visiting this summer and they loved it, too. Trust me, it's good. Not the same as Olpe Chicken House fried chicken, but still delicious and simple to make at home. It's a winner in my book.
Happy Eating!
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Uninspired
Inspiration has been elusive lately and even when I was inspired, I only had time to write things down to save for another post at a later time. I did make some great recipes that I will share soon and I have a HUGE gluten free cookbook that I got for my birthday that I will be reviewing.
Life is so full of ups and downs. Sometimes I am so inspired that I just overflow with ideas to share and other times, I can't seem to find much to be inspired about.
First, it was cold weather in June, then a mini-vacation to the Oregon Coast, then a prayer request to pray for a sick child from church, then the news that she hadn't survived the illness. It sucks inspiration right out of you. Then busyness strikes and parents are visiting and VBS and the inevitable minor illnesses that seem to strike our family after VBS. Sometimes I have to remind myself to breathe in the midst of the craziness.
So please forgive me for being absent from blogging for a while, life was interrupting, as it should. Hang in there, I'm sure inspiration will strike any time now.
Life is so full of ups and downs. Sometimes I am so inspired that I just overflow with ideas to share and other times, I can't seem to find much to be inspired about.
First, it was cold weather in June, then a mini-vacation to the Oregon Coast, then a prayer request to pray for a sick child from church, then the news that she hadn't survived the illness. It sucks inspiration right out of you. Then busyness strikes and parents are visiting and VBS and the inevitable minor illnesses that seem to strike our family after VBS. Sometimes I have to remind myself to breathe in the midst of the craziness.
So please forgive me for being absent from blogging for a while, life was interrupting, as it should. Hang in there, I'm sure inspiration will strike any time now.
Monday, June 7, 2010
Fishy Business
This is long overdue. I hope you enjoy a little "fishy-ness".
Before we stepped into this new world of gluten and dairy free living, my guys loved fish sticks. They still do, I suppose, we just can't eat them. We're not really big fans of fish, mostly we like the kind that you probably shouldn't like, namely, breaded or batter dipped and fried. Yum! Give me some fried fish and hush puppies with yummy coleslaw at Long John Silver's and I'm a happy camper. In fact, when I moved out west, there wasn't a LJS anywhere near where I lived...I actually had cravings for it! When I visited my parents in the midwest we HAD to go to LJS, just to satisfy my longings. Then one store opened about 2-3 hrs. away from where I lived...I planned it into a trip that way so I could eat my lovely fried fish. Then one day last spring I came out of a restaurant and smelled fried fish. I thought it must be McDonald's making a lot of fish sandwiches because there wasn't any fish place near where I was (or so I thought)and then I saw it, a brand new LJS/KFC had opened just down the street from the local Wal-mart. Birds started singing, life was good, we ate dinner there that night. I think we ate there one more time (it was always crazy busy) and then we found out we needed to switch our diet. Such sadness.
Desperation leads to inspiration in times of intense cravings, so I have come up with some versions of my own favorite coleslaw, fish and hush puppies.
I hope you enjoy them as much as my family did. Just to be clear, the fish is not like Long John's, it's just tasty. Sometime, I'll have to tackle making batter fried fish similar to Long John's. I'll share it with you if I'm successful!
Happy Eating!
Before we stepped into this new world of gluten and dairy free living, my guys loved fish sticks. They still do, I suppose, we just can't eat them. We're not really big fans of fish, mostly we like the kind that you probably shouldn't like, namely, breaded or batter dipped and fried. Yum! Give me some fried fish and hush puppies with yummy coleslaw at Long John Silver's and I'm a happy camper. In fact, when I moved out west, there wasn't a LJS anywhere near where I lived...I actually had cravings for it! When I visited my parents in the midwest we HAD to go to LJS, just to satisfy my longings. Then one store opened about 2-3 hrs. away from where I lived...I planned it into a trip that way so I could eat my lovely fried fish. Then one day last spring I came out of a restaurant and smelled fried fish. I thought it must be McDonald's making a lot of fish sandwiches because there wasn't any fish place near where I was (or so I thought)and then I saw it, a brand new LJS/KFC had opened just down the street from the local Wal-mart. Birds started singing, life was good, we ate dinner there that night. I think we ate there one more time (it was always crazy busy) and then we found out we needed to switch our diet. Such sadness.
Desperation leads to inspiration in times of intense cravings, so I have come up with some versions of my own favorite coleslaw, fish and hush puppies.
I hope you enjoy them as much as my family did. Just to be clear, the fish is not like Long John's, it's just tasty. Sometime, I'll have to tackle making batter fried fish similar to Long John's. I'll share it with you if I'm successful!
Happy Eating!
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