My, oh my!

Wow. I probably shouldn't have, but I just spent some time working on my gluten-free blog, GF2. I cannot wait to start blogging on it.

I am still not ready to share a link, but here is a preview of the custom title I designed and uploaded a few minutes ago:

Kind of snazzy, right?

Blogging breeds ideas

I decided to start tonight's blogging adventure with checking out some enticing links from my reading list. Okay, some enticing links from one of my favorite blogs, Domestic Adventure. Oh, the ideas that flowed in.

one

First, Erin shared this adorable chair.

Which gave me an idea for my son's heirloom wooden rocking chair, which used to be mine. Right now, it looks like this:

 It's got potential, right?

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Next, I followed one of Erin's links to Pinterest and this lovely project.

"Hmm, wouldn't this be an excellent solution for the ever-multiplying projects Brannon brings home?" I thought to myself. I already know which frame I would use to create it!

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Now, for the piece de resistance. A few clicks later, I wound up on Erin's adorable Things I Should Make board. (NOTE: If you click that link, you will be inspired.) Despite wanting to repin everything I saw, I was particularly drawn to this image:

Like manna from heaven, I finally saw the perfect quilt for my son's toddler bed: modern, straightforward, innovative, and best of all, stripey. My husband even approved! 

I have been collecting inspiration fabrics for Brannon's room since appoximately June, but I couldn't decide how to use them. Now, I have a decision, an inspiration picture, and even a pattern! All thanks to Erin's posts, links, and this great blog: Bijou Lovely. I love this quilt!

If you have got a minute, swing by Domestic Adventure and Bijou Lovely to check out more great ideas. If you're a quilter, Bijou Lovely sells the above pattern in PDF format for just 8 bucks!

Time? Work? Sleep? I do not know these things...

Well, GF2 is looking better all the time, but I am sure I am looking more and more haggard. I desperately need to establish a system for spending only a reasonable amount of time working on my blog--especially on "school nights," as we teachers refer to the work week.

Whoops! My husband--the night owl--just got out of bed to make sure I was okay. Time to log out!

Progress!

Tonight, I spent a ridiculous amount of time starting a new blog--GF2: Guilt Free Gluten Free. Unlike this blog, it is designed to help others, rather than simply entertain myself. It is born out of my experiences with and former ignorance of celiac disease and a desire to help others that all-too-common feeling of isolation that often accompanies being the only person who can't eat . I think this blog could really make a difference, and I am proud of it. It is nowhere near ready for publication, but there's progress.  

Eureka!

Tonight I discovered why I have always hated yellow lights. As most three-year-olds can tell you, red means "stop" and green means "go." Yellow, however, means, "Quick! Make a decision!" I hate decisions.

A smattering of gluten-free recipes for the non-chef

If you are intimidated by gluten free recipes that have enormous lists of ingredients including things like guar gum and tapioca starch, have no fear. I, too, think a microwave and a freezer are a hungry girl's best friend, and these recipes cause me minimal anxiety. These are my tried-and-true favorites, each of which features a short list of easy-to-find familiar ingredients and fairly straight-forward directions.

If you are worried about being the only celiac in your household, don't be. Neither my three-year-old son nor my husband have celiac disease, and they clamor for all of these dishes every time I make it. If your family still makes a fuss, I recommend a "try it once" rule: they have to try any gluten-free item at least one before they write it off.

Brand-names are included only if they are the product mentioned is labeled gluten free. All of these recipes have come to me via my mom, who is most definitely a "chef"--some are original, some are not.

Flourless Gluten-Free Peanut Butter Cookies
Yields: about 2 dozen cookies

2 cups peanut butter
1 1/4 cups sugar
2 eggs
small bag of chocolate chips (optional)

In a mixing bowl, cream peanut butter and sugar. Add each egg, one at a time, beating well after each addition. The batter may start out runny. Continue mixing until it turns thick, like typical cookie dough. If you're using chocolate chips, add them now. Roll tablespoons-full into balls. Place about two inches apart on an un-greased cookie sheet and press on each cookie slightly to flatten--use a fork for a more decorative touch.

Bake at 350 degrees for 14-16 minutes or until tops are cracked. Remove to wire cooking racks. Let cool completely.


Gluten-Free Cornbread
Because this cornbread is gluten-free, it tends be drier and crumblier than regular gluten-containing cornbread, but it tastes delicious! My mom uses it as a base to make gluten-free stuffing each year.

Yields: 9 three-inch squares

2 cups cornmeal
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1 cup milk
1/4 cup corn oil or vegetable oil

Combine cornmeal, baking powder, sugar, and salt. Beat egg in a large bowl, add milk and oil and beat well. Gradually beat in the dry ingredients. Pour into a greased 9x9x2 inch pan. Bake in a preheated 375 degree oven for 25 minutes. Let cool before serving.

Gluten-Free Spicy Vegetable Soup:
Pairs wonderfully with the gluten-free cornbread!

Feeds about 4-6 people

1 to 1 1/2 pound ground beef
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup sliced celery
1 diced red bell pepper (substitute other colors if preferred)
2 cloves garlic minced
1 30oz.* jar Prego Chunky Garden Style spaghetti sauce (or similar sauce)
1 10oz.* can diced tomatoes
16 oz. frozen mixed vegetables

*amounts are appoximate--it's okay if the package is a little larger or smaller

Add at end to taste:
1/2 to 1 1/2 tablespoons red pepper flakes (also known as crushed red pepper)
1-2 tablespoons sugar (it cuts the acidity)
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper

Cook beef in a large stock pot, stirring until browned and broken up. Add onion, celery, bell pepper, and garlic. Cook until limp.

Add spaghetti sauce, canned tomatoes, frozen vegetables, red pepper flakes, salt, pepper, and sugar. Cove and cook at least 10-15 minutes or until frozen vegetables are done and soup is warm throughout. Add additional red pepper flakes to taste.

Gluten-Free Apple Crisp:
This one has a bit more prep work, so be prepared to be cutting, slicing, and peeling for a while. It is a huge hit every time I make it, though, and totally worth it. Most people don't even realize it is gluten free!

Yields: 8x8 pan

For the topping:
3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup rice flour (brown works best, but white will do)
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 cup butter or non-dairy substitute, softened

Mix all of the dry ingredients first, and then add the softened butter. Mix thoroughly--my mom recommends using your hands.

For the apples:
4 cups of apples (peeled, sliced, and pared)
2 rounded teaspoons cinnamon
3-4 tablespoons white sugar
3 tablespoons orange juice

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Put the apples in a greased 8x8 pan, sprinkle with orange juice to keep them fresh, and then mix. (If you are out of orange juice, you can leave it out without much of a problem.) In a separate bowl, combine cinnamon and white sugar. Sprinkle on the apples and mix thoroughly. Follow the topping recipe above, and then crumble the topping mixture evenly over the apples. Bake for 40-50 minutes. When it's ready, the apples will be soft when poked.

Have a gluten-free recipe you would like to share? Want to learn more about coping with celiac disease? I welcome any and all comments.

What is a sidewalk salary?

"See a penny, pick it up, all day long you'll have good luck." -Jan from Grease

In case you are wondering, "sidewalk salary" is a completely imaginary term that I coined (pun fully intended) to describe all of the change I pick up off of the ground on a regular basis. Every time I find a new coin, I feel compelled to share the news with someone, and now I can.

Finding change on the ground may seem like an odd thing to blog about, but I swear I have some sort of forgotten-change beacon drawing these coins to me. In the space of two weeks back in 2009, I swore I found about twenty dimes, all of which I felt compelled to pick up, despite the fact that I was about nine months pregnant and could no longer see my feet. After about the tenth one, I became convinced someone was "punking" me--hiding behind the bushes and having a grand old time watching me trying to maneuver around my tummy for the sake of ten cents. I teach freshman English all day long, so you can understand why my brain thought such sophomoric humor was a likely cause of my new-found wealth (and why I feel the need to put words like "punking" in quotes). Seeing that dimes are my favorite coin (I like that they're small and thin, yet worth ten times more than pennies), it is a story that I have never forgotten, and I love to tell.

If you are like me and cannot resist the chance to make a free buck--okay, a free cent or two--then I hope you enjoy watching me rake in nickels, dimes, and pennies via my silly, little gadget.

I win!

As I like to tell my students, I just got into a fistfight with the computer, and I won.

After a recent burst of inspiration and a commitment to live a more project-oriented life, I have decided to throw myself head-first into the world of blogging. Unfortunately, that comes with a risk of concussion (figurative, not literal), frustration and all-round complaint-making. 

Tonight, I spent a ridiculously long time screwing around with the  font, colors, and design of my newly-rediscovered blog. This comes after a week of getting hardly any sleep, doing too much grading, and hauling home approximately 90 essays that will needed to be graded this weekend. A responsible choice? No. An understandable choice? I think so. Emily A. Clark's blog is so pretty and inspiring, and I tend just a little bit towards the perfectionist (and obsessive) side.

Long story short, I finally liked the design, I took the time to start planning out the content of my essay, and the page link was broken. And I mean really broken. As is always the case, I figuratively bashed my head against the computer until I found a work-around to solve the problem. Essentially, it involved making a new page, testing its link, and then recreating the original page. Fortunately, I was able to copy and paste all of the content rather than rewriting it. Good ol' ctrl+c followed up by ctrl+v.

The maddening part? I still don't know what was wrong with original link!