GF Biscuits are a joke…what an utter waste.

I made some GF biscuits from a recipe I found online. They were horrible, gritty, nasty, a complete waste of expensive ingredients. I’m going to fool around and try and get something better together.
Otherwise, compacting is going okay. I’ve found some used washcloths to buy for family cloth. I’m very excited. I will sanitize them in my mom’s front loader this weekend or next hopefully. I cleaned out our daughter’s toys and books last night as I really can’t handle clutter, it makes me twitchy. We have amassed ridiculous quantities of stuffed animals. I’ll take them to foster care support and then I have some stuff for the consigment store too.
My husband is still looking for a house. Wish us luck on that one.
I’m working on exercising every day and have done so four days in a row. I’ve lost a total of !.8 pounds. Seems like so little. I’ve jogged 2 days and walked 2 days. I have an ab dvd that I need to continue working on. Motivation….wedding May 17th for husband’s family member.
Regardless, I’ll work on the recipes and get them up here when perfected.
Also, forgive me for the category problems on the sidebar. I’m working on figuring out how to sort things properly and I don’t have a full understanding yet of the software.
Liz

Trying to teach……

I’m trying to teach our toddler her ABC’s, colors, and counting/numbers. She can count and sing her ABC’s but doesn’t recognize letters, numbers, or colors. She will pop out with any color repeatedly and I wonder if she’s color blind, although I know this is ridiculously rare if not impossible in girls. This is very frustrating but like anything else is a foray into perseverance; they’ll learn eventually, right?

I am also trying to accomplish the herculean task of cooking almost everything that we eat from scratch which can go very badly at times (think screaming infant and toddler and tired mama). GF foods are ridiculously cost prohibitive. On a happy note, my daughter can tolerate eggs and might be able to tolerate wheat now!

Instead of putting the family on a schedule, I think that I will make a list of the things that need to get accomplished daily and just check them off as I do them. I KNOW that kids benefit from having a set schedule, but I’m not sure that works so well when I have two nurslings in tow on different schedules….time will tell.

Today I gave our daughter steel cut oats with dates for breakfast, made some pancakes for snack, some garlicky kale and white beans with rice for lunch, an apple and rice cakes with cashew butter for snack. Dinner will be brats, and oh no, potato chips, carrot and celery sticks. I’ve just been a little slow on the dinner planning today.

Tomorrow will be good though, arroz con pollo with steamed broccoli!! Yummy. Maybe I will post that recipe.

Re: The compact, my only concern for the moment is finding William some decent diaper covers and some additional washcloths to use as wipes for Annabelle and I. Sigh.

Liz

Gluten Free Pancakes

Gluten Free Pancakes (Serves 4)

2/3 C brown rice flour
1/3 C amaranth flour
3 tablespoons tapioca flour
1/3 C potato starch
1/2 teaspoon guar gum
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
dash ground cloves

1 teaspoon GF vanilla (Costco sells one)
3 tablespoons canola/olive oil (or applesauce)
1 medium banana mashed (or 1/2 banana mashed and EnerG egg replacer equivalent of one egg)
1 – 3 tablespoons of sugar of your choice (I don’t add sugar as we use real maple syrup to top)
1 – 2 Cups rice milk or soy or whatever (I just add until it achieves proper consistency)

Mix all dry ingredients in a bowl, whisk to combine. Add all the wet ingredients to the dry. Let sit for a minute till it starts to rise. Then pour batter into hot skillet.

You don’t want a very thick batter, as the pancakes will not refridgerate or freeze well. I put in a variance for the milk as depending on the temperature of your flours, the amount of liquid will vary. I keep mine in the fridge.

COOK’S NOTES: If you don’t have amaranth flour, you can use all brown rice flour. If you aren’t a huge fan of bananas, you will want to either substitute eggs/EnerG egg replacer/or the half banana and half egg replacer. These have a defined banana taste when you use the whole banana.

The Compact

Well. I’ve decided to join the Compact, in particular a group called Mamas on the Comact for a period of 2 months, http://compactingmamas.blogspot.com/. I’m basing my Compact off of an adjusted compact contract written by Krista. If this goes well, I’ll extend it. My husband said this is absolutely something that he could not do, I have a feeling because of his side business that some items he simply must purchase and he might feel like it was somehow cheating. I’m joining because while I do recycle and am not currently composting I am amazed at the amount of both waste and money involved in said products. I’d also like to support locals as much as possible. Also, I’m working hard to avoid things not manufactured here in the US should I absolutely need to purchase something for labor and economy support reasons. Regardless, here’s

My Pledge:
Follow the rules and exemptions of the original Ccompact, with a few personal exemptions. Connect with other “Compacters” in Atlanta, to share resources.
The Principals and Exemptions of The Compact

* #1 Don’t buy new products of any kind (from stores, web sites, etc.)
* #2 Borrow, barter, or buy used.
* A few exceptions – using the “fair and reasonable person” standard — i.e., you’ll know in your heart when you’re rationalizing a violation:
o food, drink, and necessary medicine (Try to purchase from Natural Foods Warehouse, Life Grocery, and avoid Walmart like the plague)
o necessary cleaning products, but not equipment
o socks and underwear (I can buy cute ones for me as I’m trying desperately to lose weight)
o clothes for the children (we have a new 4 month old son, but I prefer consignment/used/donated and our 2.5 year old daughter is in bizarre sizes sometimes 12 and 18 month, but with a size 7 shoe??)
* Utilitarian services (plumbers, electricians, auto mechanics, veterinarians, dog/house-sitters, fire/paramedics, dry cleaners, house cleaners, etc.) — Support local and encourage used parts (rebuilt transmission, salvaged headlight unit, etc.)
* Recreational services (massage, etc.) & local artisanal items – Good sources for gifts, but should not be over-indulged in for personal gratification
* Charitable contributions
* Plants and cut flowers – Whenever possible, cultivate from free cuttings or seeds. Ok in extreme moderation when purchased from local businesses (this will apply when we get a house, but I do have friends who have LOVELY gardens)
* Video rentals – we are forced to stay away from the public due to William’s RSV and 6 weeks is a LONG time to only watch what is available on free public tv

Hello world!

Hi! My name is Elizabeth. I am a mama to two small children, a miniature dachshund and a parakeet. I am usually an active member of my local LLL group and our local Catholic parish (both of these have been kaiboshed by my youngest child’s recent RSV complicated illness). In a few more weeks I won’t have to be a hermit anymore once the contagious phase of the RSV passes.

We practice a lot of attachment parenting principles that I was first introduced to at a local LLL meeting and as time has gone on I have been more open to trying greener and more holistic and natural things. We started our family with the idea that we wanted to be frugal and healthy, that has turned into organic eating, cloth diapering, ecological breastfeeding, stringent recycling and decluttering (oh my!). I am about to move to family cloth for my daughter and myself.

We are currently in the process of trying to find a nice starter house.

Due to my nurslings’ intolerances, I am gluten, dairy, soy, egg, corn and peanut free. I will probably post recipes from time to time that we think are fabulous, but as always, these things are a matter of perspective.

Thanks for checking out my blog.

Elizabeth

Salisbury Steaks

For dinner last night, we had salisbury steaks, mashed potatoes (steamed plain potatoes for DD and I), and green beans. It was a pathetic dinner as I usually serve two veggies, a starch, a protein. There was plenty of dessert though!

So….

Salisbury Steaks – Makes four “steaks”/patties

1 pound ground beef (I used ground chuck)
Equivalent of 1 egg (I used EnerG egg replacer)
1/4 bread crumbs (I like Hol Grain’s brown rice crumbs for savory things like this)
2-4 tablespoons of rice milk
Onion soup mix packet (half into patty mixture, half into sauce)
Pepper to taste
1 – 2 cups of water (if you like a lot of gravy/sauce, use more)
1 tablespoon of your thickener of choice (corn starch, flour, xanthan gum, guar gum)
1 cup of mushrooms sliced, or feel free to use canned
Dash of turmeric (if you so desire)

Mix together egg replacer in the bottom of your bowl, then add the ground beef, rice milk, bread crumbs and 1/2 of the packet of onion mix. Ground pepper to taste. If you are using brown rice bread crumbs, DO NOT put them onto your egg replacer as the crumbs turn into a nasty paste. Try to place on top of the meat. Combine. Form into a circle and divy into fourths. Fry in pan till browned on both sides. I do not grease the pan as the meat is fatty. Place the patties on a plate and drain the fat off. Add the water, reserved onion soup mix, and mushrooms. Allow to lightly boil and add your thickener. When thickened, replace your patties and cover. Cover and continue to cook for about 10-15 more minutes.

Serve with your choice of starch.

I have been known to stretch this by simply using 1 1/2 – 1 3/4# ground beef and slightly increasing the amount of bread crumbs (maybe add an additional 1/8 cup) so that I can make 6 patties.

Turmeric: I have been reading and hearing great things about turmeric so I have been adding a dash of it to all of our savory meals. You don’t have to add it and it’s something I’ve only been doing recently. The turmeric doesn’t add much flavor if you only add a dash so you might not even notice it; my husband and toddler certainly don’t.

Brown rice bread crumbs make things very moist and tasty, much moreso than traditional wheat crumbs which simply don’t have the same effect. Of course, they’re twice the price…

This afternoon I’m making an attempt at chickpea nuts. We’ll see how that goes. If it goes well, I’ll post the recipe.

Liz

Red beans and rice recipe

This is most certainly not your Louisiana red beans and rice. This was made by my Nana growing up and sometimes when she would stay with us I would get so excited that I would eat it 3 meals a day!
So here goes.
Red Beans and Rice – Serves 6
2 cups dried red kidney beans, soaked overnight then drained
1/2 cup packed brown sugar (I use light)
2/3 cup ketchup
2 tablespoons prepared mustard
1/2 medium onion finely chopped
4 slices salt pork or 1/8 pound fatback

Throw all in crockpot and cover with water then cook on low for 6 to 8 hours or until beans done to your liking. If you leave the pork unsliced, then you can easily fish it out when the food is done cooking. Otherwise, you might want to chop it up into small bits prior to putting it in the crockpot. Thicken the cooking water with flour, corn starch, xanthan gum or guar gum after cooked. Serve with rice or rice sticks (Asian rice noodles).

Be aware that only Lundberg brand organic rice is corn free. So make sure that you check your sources!

This recipe is gluten, dairy, soy, egg, corn and nut free.