Sunshine Cute-isms

Must!Remember!These!

Nonny bought Sunshine a Lego garbage truck which he and Pepper put together.  He's having a great time with his new vehicle!  Yesterday we heard him say, "I hate to do this to you, Garbage, but it has to be done."

Today he was reading his Bible aloud to me (The Beginner's Bible).  It was the story of the boy Jesus getting "lost" at the temple.  It said, "Mary and Joseph hunted for him for 3 days."  Sunshine asked, "Did they hunt for him to eat him?"  He was serious.  That one makes me a little sad.  It highlights how much context and vocabulary he is missing.  On the other hand, I love that he can ask about vocabulary when he isn't sure (he often does) and that he's curious to know.

All these things and more point out every day how he remains about 2 years behind his chronological age.  He's a perfect 6.5 year old in so many ways.

5 Things Saturday

1.  Cross Country did really well at the home meet.  Everyone took 2nd except Varsity boys who were 3rd, but one of the boys won the race.

2.  Mr. GT, Banana Boy, Sunshine and Pepper went on an excellent adventure today, in which they went to the farmer's market, an antique mall, the whole foods co-op, a tractor pull and the cheese factory.  They ate a ton of food!

3.  I got my bedroom cleaned and rearranged for winter.  The bed is back in the inside corner instead of in front of the (now freezing-at-night) window.  All the bedding, from the mattress pad to the duvet cover are washed AND the dog bed.  Vacuumed.  Stuff put back in the closet.

4.  Daisy had the whole house to herself for most of the morning while I was at the CC meet and everyone else was on their excellent adventure.  She wrote, read and did math.  And hung out laundry before I got home to take her to work.

5.  Home by myself for lunch, I stopped and picked up Chinese after dropping Daisy at work.  Yum.

Bonus 6.  RoseBud is accepted at both colleges she applied to.  The private one has offered her (standard for a 4.0 GPA) $18,000/year for 4 years.  This brings it down to ONLY $22,000.  Yikes.  State school starts at $14,000.  She is relieved to receive the scholarship based on her GPA to date, however.  She was really feeling the pressure to maintain it for this year also in order to win it.

Sunshine and Eggy Muffins

1)  The weather this week has been so gloriously beautiful, I can't get over it!  I love the sun and the breeze and the cicadas humming and the clouds puffing across the sky.  It's very dry, though.  We could use some rain.

2)  We have had a most excellent first week of school.  There have been a few hiccups with Daisy's schedule and the little mister's reentry into a formal schedule, but for the most part everyone has worked hard with a great attitude.  Our dreamcatchers turned out very cute, Pepper finished her slideshow on Woodland Indians, Banana Boy read the whole novel he was assigned, and Sunshine has done some good writing!  Daisy managed to complete what she needed to, even with missing a whole morning working at the food pantry.

3)  Speaking of the food pantry, several of the ladies commented to the director on the good quality of Daisy's Spanish.  She gets small opportunities to translate for people occasionally, and she sometimes gets to explain the registration process to new people.  She's also building confidence in just chatting en español as she builds relationships with the customers.  The ladies, for the most part, speak passable English.  It's the men who are shy/stubborn about giving up their Spanish.  She has one older man who always converses with her about Jesus.

4)  I made 40 Eggy Muffins!  I've been wanting to get these made as we had a surplus of eggs and back-to-school was a perfect time to stock up the freezer for busy mornings.  I finally squeezed it in yesterday morning.  Of course, there were no vegetables (!!) to put in them.  Eggy Muffin veggies seem to be done in the garden.  I was reduced to using one old, tough zucchini bat and kale.  The other (unpalatable) options were rutabega, peppers (no one would eat), cabbage, potatoes (not a vegetable) and brussels sprouts.  Tis the season for cruciferous and root vegetables...

5)  I'm so blessed by how the kids play together.  They don't have a lot of friends outside the family, but they are good friends with each other.  They seldom fight and are very rarely physically harmful with each other.  Today BB made Sunshine a treasure hunt.  Pepper made Sunshine a cardboard longhouse for his Playmobil figures.  They all played Playmobil Indians today.  Daisy is helping BB integrate Polly with the goats and she's done BB's Polly chores all but this morning this week as he eased into the school schedule.

5 Things Wednesday

An original title, huh?

1)  The boys are so cute playing their favorite restaurant in the garage.  They have a hostess stand set up at the door with a white board for specials.  They dragged out a card table and the velcro-cutting pizza and sandwich sets for food.  The deck is the patio.

2)  Daisy is feeling the beginning-of-the-year overwhelmed blues.  I'm a bad listener, a bad empathizer and I just want to fix it.  She ran off crying.

3)  Pepper accomplished much today and made a cute dream catcher while we were gone.

4) Rose Bud had her first day of senior year today.  She's not home from CC yet, so no report on how it went.  She did stop in at the restaurant last night after the bus returned from the meet to tell me that the girls one first place!  She was so excited!  I thought it was so sweet of her to take the time to stop in.

5)  The dog can tell time.  Every night between 5:00 and 5:30, she comes wooing in to tell us her dish needs filling.  I don't know how she knows.

Five Things

In honor of September, Rae at JourneyMama (one of my favorite blogs) is typing five things each day on her blog.  In the interest of resurrecting mine, I'll play along.  At least for today!

Rae says, "Here’s something different I'm trying this September: Posts made up of Five Things. These things can be bits of grace, they can be funny things, they can be frustrating things.  These are the things you pull out of your pocket, at the end of the day, and arrange on your night table. These are the thoughts and memories you gather throughout the day. These are the things you paste in your journal. There are no rules, really, I just want to write about five things, to jog my brain and memory and not forget-- it’s the not forgetting that’s the most important— these years are an avalanche of challenges and gifts and I want to remember it all."

So, we'll see if I can come up with five things.

1.  I began the day with a medium level of anxiety.  We camped this weekend and the kids were up much past their bedtime each night.  A certain someone went to bed grumpy last night in protest at having to go to bed early.  The same certain someone did not come out of his/her room as usual at 6:00.  Nor at 7:00.  Nor at 7:30.  I went back and forth trying to decide whether to go check on said someone, not knowing what mood I would find.  I finally decided at 7:30 that whether a person was sleeping in or grumpy, the person was best left in it's bed.  Turned out to be a good call, as the person really was sleeping in (until 8:00!!!) and woke up exceedingly cheerful.

2.  First day of school for the boys.  Second day for Pepper and Daisy.  Last day of no school for Rose Bud.  It went swimmingly!  Again, a good call not to begin with our full-out curriculum, but with a small unit study on Native Americans.  A little less work, just the right amount for easing in to the school year.

3.  Daisy read My Side of the Mountain this summer and since has wanted to make acorn flour.  She asked this morning if she and Pepper might not bike down the road where she knew there was an oak tree and look for nuts.  Not only did I say "yes," but I suggested they take BB, which he loved!  Relax.  Say Yes.  Don't worry.

4.  All day I admired the canning we did yesterday which was taking up space on my island.  Mr. GT did 21 quarts of grape juice and 18 pints of tomatoes with green chiles.  I did 21 pints of jalapenos.  Did I put the jars away in the basement?  No.  But I did get them labeled, took the rings off and admired them all day.

5.  I love September weather!  The day began cool in the morning and peaked at a wonderful warm summer temperature in the afternoon.  The sky is blue and the clouds are floating by.  Things are still green and the sun is shining.  The kids were happy to play outside most of the day (when they weren't doing school.)



There!  I made it to five!  Yay.

“When I said, “My foot is slipping,” your unfailing love, LORD, supported me. When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought me joy.” (Psalm 94:18-19)

“I keep my eyes always on the LORD. With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken.” (Psalm 16:8)

“ Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.” (Hebrews 11:1)

“As for God, his way is perfect: The LORD’s word is flawless; he shields all who take refuge in him.” (Psalm 18:30)

“but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” (Isaiah 40:31)

“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.” (Matthew 7:13-14)

“In God, whose word I praise— in God I trust and am not afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?” (Psalm 56:4)

“Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.” (Proverbs 31:30)

“Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18)

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:6-7)

The Busy Chicken Kitchen

 Sometimes you just get on a roll.  And sometimes you make rolls.  But since we're mostly gluten-free around here, we don't make rolls.

But I've been on a cooking kick today and so far, we have:

 Eggy Breakfast Muffins from Owlhaven's book Family Feasts for $75 a Week.  I made them gluten-free  by using 1 c. white rice flour.  Other changes:  I used 18 eggs and about a cup of milk, 1/2 lb. of bacon and a whole bag of frozen broccoli, chopped. This made 36 muffins in 3 Pampered Chef muffin pans. They freeze great and are easy to pull out for breakfast or cold lunches.

I've got a crockpot of chickpeas going and another of lentils.  Rosebud is hungry for lentil patties.  Patties are a super on-the-go GF food.  They can be cooked up and refrigerated for the week, or frozen.  She likes salmon patties made with cooked brown rice instead of bread crumbs.

These are "like eating Fall leaves," according to Daisy.  "Only they taste better!"  Love kale chips!  The only sad thing about making kale chips is that such a huge head of kale makes such a small amount of chips.  Must buy more kale.  (and note to self:  wash it first next time. :P)  updated to include link to a recipe.  Changes I made:  I used Italian dressing, sparingly. 1 large head needed 4 Pampered Chef pans to be spread in a single layer. Every recipe had a different temperature, with 300 being most common. I baked them at 300 for the first 10 minutes, flipped the kale and turned the oven down to 275.

Slip and Slide and Easy Gluten-Free Cookout with Friends

On a hot summer's day, we decided to put up a slip and slide on the lawn (since we don't yet have the pool up) and invited friends to join us.  My friend A. has Celiac and so is gluten-free also.  I knew she'd be blessed to go out and not have to worry about what she could or couldn't eat, or whether what someone claimed to have made gluten-free actually was.

We did a super-easy menu.

Hamburgers (with buns for the glutenous and lettuce wraps for those of us who are GF, which this week includes RoseBud, myself, Daisy (by choice) and the boys, on whom I am experimenting.  Mr. GT and Pepper chose buns)

Brats from our pigs.  Brats may or may not be gluten-free.  Ours are.

Two kinds of potato salad--the traditional mustard/egg kind and Yogurt Potato Salad (a boring name for a great salad!)

Yogurt Potato Salad (another recipe we've been making for over 20 years)

4-5 medium red potatoes, boiled, peeled and diced
3 T. plain yogurt
1 T. mayo
1 1/2 t. dijon mistard
1 t. thyme
2 t. fresh basil, cut in thin strips
2-3 radishes, sliced thinly
salt and pepper to taste

Peach-Black Bean Salsa

1/2 c. peaches, diced (can be fresh or canned)
1 can black beans, drained
2 c. frozen corn kernels
1 t. cumin
2 T. red wine vinegar
2 T. lime juice
2 T. chopped fresh cilantro
1 green onion, sliced thin
salt and pepper to taste

Mix well and chill.  Serve with GF tortilla chips or Fritos (which are GF--at least the traditional, way-too-thin-for-scooping (ask me how I know this) are.  Check the bag for the Scoops.

Fresh veggies (carrots, plum tomatoes, celery, pepper strips)

Crystal Light (is GF) pink lemonade

The kids are all really sore and scratched up today from the slip and slide.  RoseBud, especially, who went flying off the end a couple of times, is full of scratches.  We finally had to add some more plastic to the end to extend it.  Fun!

Today's gluten-free: Strawberry Pie, Pea Soup and Chick Pea Crackers

Pepper made a Sky-High Strawberry Pie.  And because this is not a foodie blog, I'm going to link you to the recipes.  Lazy.

Sky-High Strawberry Pie, original  (from Taste of Home.)
We've been making this awesome pie since 1994!  We never use the whipped topping or pudding on top.  And we've always made it with a graham cracker crust.  We didn't have any GF graham crackers in the house so we used...

...Gluten-Free Crumb Crust  (also from Taste of Home).
Modified by substituting coconut powder (finely-ground coconut) for the nuts and honey for the juice concentrate.  Nuts, while themselves gluten-free, are often processed in a facility which also processes wheat, so they may be cross-contaminated.  You have to read the label.  We didn't have any uncontaminated nuts in the house.  This crust was easy and tasty. Pepper made it by herself.

After we finished dessert, (kidding) we had pea soup.  Pea soup is naturally GF.

Ham broth (I also often use just water for a vegetarian soup)
Dry split peas
1 large onion, diced
carrots, sliced
potatoes, cut in small cubes
salt and pepper to taste
oregano (dried or fresh)
2 bay leaves
chopped ham, if desired (my family doesn't desire)

Cook peas in broth or water with onion.  When peas start to soften add carrots, salt, pepper, oregano and bay leaves.    When carrots are nearly done, add potatoes and cook until all vegetables are tender and peas are mushy.  Add ham, if desired.

Then I went for uneasy.  I tried these crackers, which were neither easy (although they weren't THAT hard) nor that tasty.  I'd say they were fine.  I don't know if I'll make them again.

Gluten-Free is Easy!

RoseBud has been gluten-free since December, due to some health issues she had.  Probably 60% of what we eat as a family is gluten-free because of that.  She's remarkably disciplined and can cook for herself, so if she can't eat or doesn't like what we're having, she makes something else.  She's feeling much better, btw, and can tell if she eats something with gluten in it.

So I've been wondering if going gluten-free would help anyone else in the family.  Specifically, I'm thinking about the boys.  All three of them.  So with the end of school and the advent of summer I'll be regaining control over everyone's diet and I thought we'd all try it.

You all know how I'll never be a famous foodie blogger, but in an effort to show that being gluten-free isn't really all that hard, I thought I'd toss a couple of recipes on the blog.  Heaven knows I don't blog about anything else!

So my theme is that gluten-free eating, at least at home (!!) isn't all that hard.  In most cases, cooking for RoseBud has mainly involved reading labels.  There have been a few minor substitutions I've had to make, but nothing complicated.  I don't go for complicated anyway.

My theory about simple gluten-free eating is that you can't expect to directly substitute for every glutenated (I made that word up!!) food you eat.  If you try, you will often be disappointed.  In other words, if you try to replicate your grandma's 200 year old chocolate chip cookie recipe, it won't work very well.  If you can be happy eating a nicely textured coconut/peanut butter cookie instead, you can, well, be happy!

We happily eat lots of beans, fruit, veggies, meat and eggs here, and not so much bread/pasta/gluten in the first place.  I'll talk some more about that in another post.

Anyway, lots of things are just plain naturally gluten-free and fine to eat without any modification.  Instead of our afternoon go-to snack of graham crackers, Banana Boy made (almost all by himself!) fruit salad and everyone felt happy!

Banana Boy's Fruit Salad

(we are also not so much measurers in this house!)

a handful of grapes
a banana, sliced
strawberries
an apple, diced
plain yogurt, enough to coat everything
a splash of vanilla
the dregs of the honey jar (about 2 T.)

Mix gently and share with your sisters!

And for dinner (remember, I never said I was a photographer...)

Gluten-Free Taco Lasagna

(My ingredients were home-made (beans cooked from dry, tomatoes & sauce canned from the garden, home-made taco seasoning).  Be sure to check labels of purchased items for gluten-free status)

2 lbs hamburger

1 large onion diced

1 qt tomato sauce

1 pint (14-16 oz) diced tomatoes with green chiles

1 pkt. gluten-free taco seasoning

salt and pepper to taste

3 c. pinto beans

Brown hamburger and onion.  Add remaining ingredients except beans and simmer 20-30 minutes.  Add beans and mix gently.  

More ingredients:

gluten-free corn tortillas (I used Chi-Chi's brand and I used 14 of them)

grated cheddar cheese

black olives

other taco toppings as you like

Spread 1/2 of meat sauce in a 9x13 pan.  Top with gluten-free corn tortillas to cover.  I used 6 in the first layer.  Cover tortillas with grated cheese.  Top with remaining meat sauce, then more tortillas (I used 8 in the top layer), more cheese and black olives.

If I was making this for us at home (It's for a potluck tonight) I'd also top the final layer of cheese with jalapenos.  Bake at 350 until heated through and cheese is slightly browned (30-60 min. depending on if it goes right into the oven after assembly or if it has been refrigerated).  You can sprinkle with other traditional taco toppings after baking like diced raw onion, shredded lettuce, chopped tomatoes, etc.  Serve with sour cream and salsa.

My Other Star