Gluten Free Treat

Recently, one of my daughter's was diagnosed with having Morphia.  It's a disease that can pop up here and there and it affects your skin.  There's no cause behind it, but just to be on the safe and healthy side, and also because we just think it's a better way of eating, we decided to make her diet gluten free.  This is just something we're trying to see if it will help.  There's no documented evidence that it will, but I personally think that gluten is a root of many things that we don't realize yet.

I'm really not a fan of spending the extra money on gluten free boxed mixes, although I have been known to do that.  It's all just so expensive!  So just to add another card in your gluten free recipe rolodex, I came up with this.

Serving rice crispy treats in the nontraditional way is perfect for gluten free kids who would like to bring something comparable to cupcakes to a party without having to either, a) make gluten free cupcakes for all of the kids or b) bringing their own special cupcake while supplying the other kids with the regular kind. 

All you need to do is make your favorite rice crispy treat recipe, put it in the refrigerator for 5-10 minutes so that they can be molded without melting down into a lump, butter those hands up, form balls that are big enough to fill the cupcake papers that you bought, and pop them in the papers.  Voila!  I think they're super cute and we get compliments on them every time we show up with them in hand.  I mean, what nutso doesn't like rice crispy treats?! lol

Black Bean Burger

So I scoured the internet for a good vegan black bean burger recipe & couldn't find one.  I decided to experiment in the kitchen a little & this is what I came up with.

Half of a small yellow onion
3 garlic cloves
2 cans of black beans
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp pepper

Finely FINELY chop the onion & garlic.  Put all ingredients into a bowl & squish it all together until you can form a patty.  My best tools for this are my hands.  Heat a good amount of oil in a pan on medium high heat.  Cook the burger on each side until a nice crisp forms, NOT BURNT....crisp.  Okay, slide that sucker onto some bread.  I like Nature's Own Sandwich Rounds, but whatever works for you is good.  Now hook it up with toppings!  Voila!!

The Picky Vegan

My husband and I have almost always been well aware of our health and like most people, have struggled with good vs. evil when it comes to nutrition.  I write "almost always" because there were those blissful years, before those thirties came along, when we could eat anything we wanted and not much stuck.  Aaahh...those were the days.  Unfortunately, those days are long gone and my metabolism is fading as well.  Because of this, I'm always up for a challenge when it comes to diet or exercise.  One of my favorites was last year's two week juice cleanse.  I had nothing but juice from fruit and mostly vegetables for two weeks.  TWO WEEKS!!!  I felt great and my energy level was through the roof.  Since then, I still juice a couple of times a week, not nearly as much as I'd like to, but I'm on to the next! lol

I actually went vegan in July.  I have a friend who was looking for some people to go vegan with him for the month of July and I decided to do it.  (By the way, if you're ever looking for a partner in anything that's not life threatening or illegal and most people think you're too crazy for even trying it, I'm your girl!)  There are certain months that are probably not the best months to try something like this out...or maybe they are, depending on if your a half full or half empty kind of a person.  I guess if you can make it through November or December being vegan, then you're pretty much set, right?  So I consider July one of those months.  First of all, the 4th of July brings picnics with grilled meats and all kinds of yummy side dishes full of creamy butters and cheeses, not to mention the platter of deviled eggs that always gets set out and desserts sure to have whipped cream or chocolate in them.  Also, July is the month that I ALWAYS visit the town that I grew up in.  That visit is chalk full of family and friends who almost always wind up sitting around a table with me at breakfast, lunch, or dinner.  So, yes, July was a difficult month to try this out in, but I made it!

I liked being vegan.  I liked the way I felt and I liked my thoughts of how my body just had to be running smoother on cleaner fuel.  Whether that's true or not, I have no idea, but it made me feel good.  So here I am, two and a half months later and I'm still at it.  No, I haven't lost weight.  That's usually one of the first things people ask when it comes to the benefits. lol  BUT, I notice different things about myself like my skin is smoother, I sleep better, I have more energy, etc.  So we'll see where this takes me.  Maybe I'll do it forever and maybe I'll get bored with it or as with other things, hear one day that it's bad for your health and then it's on to the next!

I named this post The Picky Vegan because a friend of mine told me that they were watching The Simpsons the other day and they panned a shot of the food court at the mall.  He said he saw a restaurant named The Picky Vegan and he thought of me.  This made me giggle.  I just love my friends.

Summer 2012

Summer 2012 has begun.  Yesssss!!!  It's 9pm and I did not spend one minute of the last hour chasing the kids around making sure that homework was finished and packed away for tomorrow morning or shooing anyone into the shower and smelling heads afterwards to make sure it was a good one.  I did not look at the clock every two to five minutes making sure that bedtimes were made.  I didn't have to send any emails regarding collections of any kind, whether for a teacher's gift or supplies for any class parties.  No lunchbox searching, no frantic searches for jammies or matching socks in the laundry room, no looking around for a pair of glasses that haven't been seen since the night before.  I did not have to explain about why bedtimes are set or argue over "one more minute."  Instead, this is how I spent the last hour.  I catnapped on our couch and ate a creamy bowl of sherbet.  That's it.  Summer 2012 has begun.  Yesssss!!!

Odds and Ends

I hung the bird feeders out yesterday.  I LOVE the new one!  It looks so lovely.....BUT (did you see that one coming?) I filled it yesterday and this morning, as I'm looking out the window right this minute, the bottom level is more than half empty.  Normally, I would be all smiles about this, but yesterday afternoon I happened to step outside and saw a squirrel having a feast, handful by dirty little handful.  I'm not happy about this.  I gave it a stern look and said, rather loudly, "Hey you!  Get out of there!!  I didn't put that out for you!"  It looked up at me with its beady little eyes, still thieving and testing my patience.  I clapped at it and it scampered away....with its cheeks full of my money, for sure.  The bird feeder is hanging from a branch and somewhat close to the trunk.  I'm thinking of moving it further out, but I have a feeling that it will do nothing to deter a determined little varmint from stealing an easy meal.  I'll have to think on this one...

In other news, earlier this week, Mr.P began reading his first chapter book, Junie B. Jones and the Stupid Smelly Bus.  We don't use that word in our house so the titled has been altered to ....the Silly Smelly Bus.  It's fun to sit and read with him because I'm able to read ahead a little so I know what's coming up.  He'll move along slowly, sounding out the more difficult words and needing my help on the even harder ones, but when he realizes what he just read out loud, I can see it coming together by his facial expressions.  My favorite times are the parts that make him laugh.  Here's an example from yesterday.  Junie B. is scared of the bus, but her parents are making her ride it anyway and she notices the door for the first time. 

"It wasn't a regular kind of door, though.  It folded in half.  And when it closed, it made a whishy sound.  I don't like that kind of door.  If it closes on you by accident, it will cut you in half, and you will make a squishy sound." 

He read this and giggled.  Then, as it formed a picture in his mind and it made more sense, he laughed a little more.  Seeing him made me laugh and we kind of fed off of eachother for a minute to the point where the book fell on the floor and his head was buried in my arm.  lol

I know I'm all over the place with this post, but Camri and her boyfriend planted the strawberries yesterday.  We did the Topsy Turvy, which is somewhat of a big red eyesore right now.  Hopefully the leaves start forming soon because right now it just looks like a big red barrel-shaped canvas.  I'll probably end up hanging it from the playhouse that Jeremy built for the kids.  Not sure if it will get enough sun, under the trees like that, but that thing is kinda fugly. lol

Oh, I saw a pretty red cardinal perched in one of trees out front this morning just before I was leaving to take Camri to school.  Maybe I should hang another feeder out there.  I'll put that on my birthday list ; )

Planting

I got the garden planted today and now I can't keep my eyes open.  I went right to work on it as soon as I got home from dropping Camri off at school and finished just in time to make it 10 minutes late to my spanish class.  Jeremy and I have talked about extending the garden by wrapping it around the side of the house but I'm not counting on that happening anytime soon, so I went ahead and filled the space that our garden usually takes up.  The soil is so soft in that area from so much use that it was no trouble at all digging into it with the shovel to turn it over.  I planted as much as I could in the space that I had.  Now it's filled with tomato plants, pepper plants, cucumber, and lots of different herbs.  Hopefully we'll get a truckload of dirt this weekend and we'll be all set to extend.  Then we can get the squash, zucchini, and the extra tomato and pepper plants put in.  Here is my only problem.  I ran into some grubs as I was turning the dirt over.  I didn't think much about them.  I even picked one up, cleaned the dirt off and studied it, with gloves on, of course.  Those little suckers are UGLY! lol  I just left them in the soil because I assumed they were natural little aeraters just like worms.  Wrong.  As Jeremy and I were talking about the garden over dinner, he asked if I came across any grubs.  Apparently, the little buggers chomp away at plant roots!  Why I oughtta.....!!!  I didn't realize this or I would have contained them and brought them to the pond on one of these gorgeous spring days.  I'm sure one of the ducks would have loved to gobble them up or one of the fishermen could have used them for bait.  The slimeballs got away for now, but  I hope they don't expect the same courtesy next year.

Oh, I also called my daddy about the mysterious package.  Seeds!  Some of them are Morning Glories and others are some type of gourds.  Morning Glories are pretty vines that offer big fat green leaves and the prettiest trumpets of flowers in purples and blues. I looked up pictures online and can't wait to get those in the ground.  He said that they attract hummingbirds, so maybe they'll come back to me after all!  He also said that the gourds from the seeds that he sent are perfect for making little birdhouses with.  Tune in this fall for a special birdhouse post, if all grows well.  Get it?  If all "grows" well.  (knee slapper)

Off the subject, but I thought this was worth mentioning.  I took Sabrina to the doctor yesterday for her 8 year old well check.  Each time the kids have their yearly well checks, I like to compare their weights and heights to see where everyone is/was at a certain age.  Normally, they are within a couple inches of eachother, but this time I noticed something kind of cool.  All three of the girls measured 51 1/4 inches at age 8.  Ha!  Vanessa, like her mommy, has embraced her shorter size, but Camri who teeters around 5'1 continues to vow if Sabrina is any taller than her, she will be very upset. lol  Bets on the table, please!

Spring Has Sprung

Spring has definitely sprung in Texas and I have the fever, for sure.  I know some of you don't care for the time change that comes with spring, but I don't mind it a bit!  We've been enjoying the extra light in our evenings.  For some reason, it makes the evenings feel longer and I definitely need that.  Mr.P and Sabrina are back to wearing one of Daddy's t-shirts when they can't locate any jammies, or if they're just too lazy to go find some, and that always means summer is on the way.  I've always loved seeing the kids run around in a cool, cotton t-shirt with their little legs and feet sticking out of the bottoms.  It's a sure sign of warmer weather, in this house.  With spring comes our garden.  I CAN'T WAIT to dig my hands in the dirt and plant.  We do the usual -- tomato, peppers, zucchini, squash, cucumbers, lots of different herbs and this year we are trying our hand at.......strawberries!  I've read that they spread, so to keep them under control, we plan on putting them in a planter.  I hope they thrive.  It will be nice to bite into a plump, juicy homegrown strawberry in a few months.

Last year, Jeremy drove us to a cotton field that he passes every day on the way to work.  At that time, the cotton was perfectly fluffy and ready to be picked.  I'd never seen a cotton field before and the kids and I were just bubbling over with excitement.  He was just planning on driving us by the field, but I just couldn't help myself.  I "politely" ordered him to pull to the side of the road so the kids and I could get a closer look.  I couldn't get out of the car fast enough.  It was just so cool to see a whole field of cotton puffs.  It was in the afternoon, but Jeremy said in the morning when the sun is shining on the field, it's very pretty.  I hopped out of the car and as I was studying this plant, I just couldn't help myself and plucked a fluff of raw cotton right off.  Jeremy, still in the driver's seat and already paranoid about being stopped in the middle of the road, was horrified at what I'd done. lol  And if that weren't enough, I told the kids that each of them could also pull off one fluff and then we had to go.  Jeremy, wild-eyed, was expecting Farmer Brown to pull up any minute in his cotton picking station wagon and haul us in to the local police station....or that's how he looked anyway.  His eyes kept darting around, looking for any sign of the fuzz, while he kept instructing (more like pleading with) us to hurry up. lol  I kept giggling and telling him to calm down...it was only 5 cotton balls and one plant makes around 4.  Each ball of cotton that we picked had seeds enbedded in it.  I carefully picked out each of the seeds and I think we'll plant them in the garden as well.  It would be cool if they produce even a mini cotton ball for us!

This year we got smart and instead of spending lots of money on plants, we spent a little money on seeds.  We planted them at the end of January and now they're ready to go into the ground.  My friend's dad, Popo, also gave us some nice hearty tomato plants that he grew from seeds.  His are much stronger and prettier than ours, so hopefully some, if not all, of our plants will take off.

I'm also looking forward to filling my hummingbird feeder and putting it out.  Last year, I saw no hummingbirds : (  The year before, I loved watching them, but for some reason, they didn't make a visit last year.  My daddy had the same thing happen, so maybe there was something going on.  Whatever it was, hopefully it won't keep them from making an appearance this year.  I also received a new finch feeder for Christmas!  I've had one on my birthday and Christmas lists for a couple of years now and I was finally good enough to receive one!  I can't wait to hang that one up also.  Maybe I'll get to work on that tomorrow...

Lastly, I received a package in the mail yesterday from my daddy.  It had these strange little woodchips inside and a note from him telling me to call when I received the package and he'd explain what they were.  I'm just sure it has something to do with spring!

Longer evenings, lighter clothing, birdies chirping, mowers buzzing, gardens to plant.....yes, spring has definitely sprung.