Zucchini Bread Love

I tried to make zucchini bread a few years back when I went gluten-free, but it wasn't a great success, so I didn't bother to make anymore.  I got the hankering for a good slice of zucchini bread, so I tried it again.  This time it worked out great!  I made a few tweaks in a recipe that is from the Lion House.

Here is the recipe:

Zucchini Bread

3 eggs                                                                   3 cups gluten-free flour mix*

1 cup brown sugar                                           1 tsp. baking soda

1 cup white sugar                                             1 tsp. baking powder

1 cup oil (I used olive oil)                               1 tsp. nutmeg                                   

2 cups grated zucchini                                    2 tsp. cinnamon

                                                                                ½ tsp. salt

                                                                                1 tsp. vanilla

 

Beat eggs.  Beat in sugar, then oil. Add zucchini.   Combine dry ingredients and then add to the zucchini mix.  Stir in vanilla.  Pour into two greased loaf pans (I used a 7x3 pan).  Bake 1 hour at 325 degrees.  Let cool on a wire rack and then turn out of the pan. 

 *for the flour mix, I used what I had on hand which was:

1 cup of my standard gf mix (2 parts cornstarch to 3 parts rice flour),
1 cup of “Grandpa’s Kitchen Flour Mix” which is rice flour, potato starch, tapioca flour, corn starch, sorghum flour and xanthan gum
1 cup almond flour

 

I also made these into muffins, but I didn’t like the texture nearly as well as I like the texture in the loaf pan.  The longer cooking time helped erase the gritty texture of the rice flour and the almond flour. 

I've got a black thumb, but thankfully my neighbors take pity on me and gift me zucchini from their gardens.  I had some that needed to be used up, so I made some zucchini bread pancakes.  We love to have pancakes for dinner, so I thought that I'd try some of these.  They are quite hardy and really didn't require a lot of syrup.  We used some freshly made peach jam on them and that was very tasty!  The boys liked them- we ate all of them (except for the one that I accidentally burned- no one wanted that one!)  

I just took a recipe from online and changed a few things to be gluten and dairy-free.  I used 1/2 cup of my 3 parts rice flour to 2 parts cornstarch mix and 1/2 cup of almond flour.  Instead of the buttermilk I used almond milk. 

 http://smittenkitchen.com/blog/2012/07/zucchini-bread-pancakes/

Makes 10 to 12 pancakes
2 large eggs
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons light brown, dark brown or granulated sugar
1/4 cup buttermilk or 2 tablespoons each of milk and plain yogurt, whisked until smooth
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups shredded zucchini (from about 9 ounces whole, or 1 1/2 medium zucchini), heaping cups are fine
1 cup all-purpose flour (half can seamlessly be swapped with a whole wheat flour)
1/4 teaspoon table salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground or freshly grated nutmeg
Butter or oil, for coating skillet
In a large bowl, combine eggs, olive oil, sugar, buttermilk and vanilla until smooth. Stir in zucchini shreds. In a smaller bowl, whisk together flour, salt, baking soda, cinnamon and nutmeg. Stir dry ingredients into zucchini batter, mixing until just combined.
Preheat oven to 200°F and place a tray — foil-lined if you’re into doing fewer dishes later — on a middle rack.
Heat a large, heavy skillet (my favorite for pancakes is a cast-iron) over medium heat. Once hot, melt a pat of butter in pan and swirl it around until it sizzles. Scoop scant 1/4-cup dollops of batter (mine were about 3 tablespoons each) in pan so the puddles do not touch. Cook until bubbles appear on the surface, about 2 to 3 minutes. Flip pancakes and cook another minute or two, until golden underneath. Transfer pancakes to prepared pan to keep warm as well as ensure that they’re all cooked through when they’re served. Repeat with remaining batter. Serve warm. Repeat next weekend.

In January

This January my husband turned 40 years old.  Since he was only 4 when he had his golden birthday and his family didn't celebrate it, we decided to make his 40th his golden birthday.  Forty on the 4th works too, right?!  He didn't want a big party, but wanted to do several small parties so that the groups were more intimate. 

His first party was a gaming weekend with a few of his brothers.  David and Chris came to our house and they played computer games, ate food, watched movies and tried out a new card game that Daniel bought for Christmas. 

Paul, David, Seth, Chris and Daniel.  Mark was still in California, much to his chagrin.

Chris and Jane

I was trying to turn Paul's frown upside down. 

His second party was to go out to Olive Garden as a family.  We planned on going on his birthday, but Jane was sick and it took a few days before we could head out.  My parents joined us and we stuffed ourselves silly.  Daniel was even kind enough to not order dessert because I always feel awkward when everyone is enjoying foods that I can't eat.

His third party was to see the movie Les Miserables with our friends Ed and Madeleine Giles.  We both cried during several parts of the movie.  It was beautiful.  I was really glad to have Daniel to hold onto during the war scenes.  I saw the stage production when it came to SLC about 16 years ago.  It was a wonderful experience, but I remember it being quite lewd.  I was glad that they toned down the "Lovely Ladies" to keep it PG-13.  I was young and naïve, but I was embarrassed by things that were happening on that stage.  Here are a few comparisons between the stage and the movie. The stage production was more sexually crude while the movie was more violent. I understood the storyline better and felt the emotions of the songs better with the movie because it was more obvious what was being portrayed (because you could see the faces close up in the movie where the stage version they are far away).  

After the movie we went back to our house for dinner.  We played a card game, well everyone but me and Jane played a card game.  I needed to excuse myself from the group to call my sister-in-law.  I had one of those moments where I knew that she needed to talk.  If I didn't have people over I would have gone over to her (sorry Wendy).  Her mom had a heart attack the day before and she needed to talk.  Thankfully my guests were being entertained by the boys- I'm not sure if they even noticed that I was gone!

Part four of Daniel's big-deal birthday will happen tomorrow night. We are going to go indoor skydiving. This is the part that he is really excited for!  

This January my family turned 14 years old.  I can hardly believe that Daniel and I have been married for 14 years.  We only knew each other for a little over 6 months before we were married.  I have reminded myself time and time again how lucky we are that our relationship is good, strong and healthy.  It seems that I am around a lot of people who are unhappy in their marriage, so I am very happy to be in a great marriage.  Knowing that we didn't know much about marriage before we tied the knot, we didn't truly know what to look for in a partner. I really lucked out.  I am very blessed to be married to Daniel.  Is he a perfect person/husband?  No!  But he is the perfect husband for me. 

Our family has a lot of celebratory events in December and January, so by the time our anniversary comes along, we are partied out.  We have all of the events leading up to and including Christmas, then two weeks later is Daniel's birthday, then two weeks later is our anniversary and then two weeks after that is Valentine's day.  We aren't into big celebrations, so it can be tricky to make things feel important.  We didn't do anything overly special for our anniversary, but we had a good evening together as a family playing some card games and being silly (however, those of us who have names that begin with the letter 'S' were a bit ornery- why is January such a hard month for me emotionally?)

I made some cinnamon rolls that were gluten and dairy free.  They were good for a gf/df treat, but they weren't as good as their gluten counterparts.  I used this recipe: http://www.thebakingbeauties.com/2011/01/best-gluten-free-cinnamon-buns-or-rolls.html
We finished the batch in a hurry, but I was disappointed because the reviews were so good.  The dough was like a biscuit rather than like a pastry/bread.  I really need to figure out a recipe that has workable dough. 

This January I applied for the boys to attend a charter school.  I am really frustrated with our elementary school staff right now.  I had a confrontation with the front office staff about their check-in policy of giving our car keys to the secretary in exchange for the visitors pass.  I've just bypassed the checking in station at the school  for the past 4+ years.  But now we have to walk through the front office to get into the school and it isn't an option for me anymore. I'm not sure why I am so put off about the key issue, but I am.  Other people don't mind as much as I do.   

This January I decided to work on playing the piano daily.  I have a few songs that I am working on memorizing.  I have really enjoyed playing the piano again.  Daniel bought me a piano book with music from the Miyazaki films that our family loves (Ponyo, My Neighbor Totoro, Howls Moving Castle, etc).  The beauty of music is that it is universal.  All of the text is in Japanese, but I can still play the music! 

This January I bought a new sewing machine.  My old one broke in December a few weeks before Christmas.  I had in my mind to make a few last minute projects (like doll clothes for Jane) but when it broke, I took it as my sign to put sewing projects away and just keep the sanity.  It was nice to not worry about any last minute projects!  My new machine is beautiful!  I got it on a clearance for half of the regular price.  It has a lot of bells and whistles and I am excited to do more quilting with it.  Perhaps I will introduce y'all to Big Blue soon. 

Recipes

I've made a goal to try one new recipe a week.  I have used Pinterest as my inspiration source, so I will never run out of options to try!  I thought that I'd keep track of what I've made here on my blog. I most likely will not be posting pictures of the food because I am not great at photographing food.  I don't think that I'd remember to take the picture as we are all sitting down to eat anyhow! Here is a rundown of the recipes I've made so far this month:

Roasted Carrots
http://voraciousvander.com/2011/12/05/the-best-way-to-cook-zucchini-and-carrots/

We had a big bag of carrots that we needed to use up, so I tried roasting them and I loved them.  They really do need to be eaten right away, so plan on pulling them out of the oven right before sitting down to eat.  The carrots were ready to eat 10 minutes before the rest of the dinner was ready and I snacked on them while I finished the dinner.  I ate nearly all of the carrots and the last few were cold and not so yummy.  I'll need to make these again so that my family can try them! 




Blackened Chicken and Quinoa with Cilantro and Lime
http://www.sarcasticcooking.com/2012/03/15/blackened-chicken-and-cilantro-lime-quinoa/

I made the chicken per the directions and we loved it.  The chicken was moist and had a good kick to it.  The cooking spices did cause everyone to cough a bit- I opened a window and ran a fan the next time I made this.  We don't have a vent above our stove. 

The quinoa was okay.  Not my favorite.  It took forever for the broth to cook out.  I put in a bit too much lime juice (Daniel loved it and I really didn't!).  I didn't have any Greek yogurt, so we just used chopped up avocados. 

I made this meal again last night and I used rice instead of quinoa.  We served it with broccoli and it went over quite well.  This is definately a keeper. 


Cinnamon Churro Chex Mix
http://zitzmanfam.blogspot.com/2012/03/cinnamon-churro-chex-mix.html

Before going gluten-free, I used to get those big churros at Costco a lot.  I really like cinnamon and these were delightful.  I loved how crunchy the outsides were and how soft the insides were.  I prefered a churro over a donut anytime.  I still remember licking the cinnamon sugar off of the corners of my lips after eating the last bite.  This Chex mix looked and sounded promising.  I even broke my no-dairy rule for this treat as the cinnamon chips have dairy in them (but oddly enough, no cinnamon).  The chips tasted more like how I remember butterscotch tasting. 

The boys really liked the mix, but I did not.  It wasn't close enough to a churro to deserve the name in the title.  This recipe is not a keeper for me.  I made up a batch of regular Muddy Buddies to eat instead.  (When making Muddy Buddies to be dairy-free, I do not use butter/margarine at all- I put in more peanut butter instead!)

Happy Thanksgiving!

It is really frustrating when I get behind with blogging.  Before I forget what we did this year, here is a rundown of our Thanksgiving Day.

 

 

Jane went shopping with me to get a few things.  She had a blast with the mini shopping cart at Macey's. 

 

 We ate our traditional "Charlie Brown Thanksgiving" lunch.  We ate pretzels, toast, jelly beans and the popcorn was inside of the 'turkey'.  It is a good little snack that fills us up before eating our big dinner. 

We went to my sister's house for dinner.  Kim and Blake live just down the street from us, so we didn't have to travel far.  I forgot to take my camera, so no pictures. 

I spent all day on Wednesday making cranberry sauce (if you haven't eaten home made before, yo are missing out- so much better than the canned kind and it is really easy to make!), sweet potato pies and a lemon merangue pie plus all of the food that I needed special for me (gravy, rolls, stuffing).  The pies were a disaster, so I had to make new ones on Thursday.  Now I know that I can't use more almond flour than rice flour in the pie crust recipe that I made. 

I made all of the special things that I needed and just served up a plate here at home and then reheated it at my sisters house.  It was easier than bringing a ton of small containers.  It was more work than just eating here at home, but I was glad to get together with the family.  It worked out well this time around.

We had a great time at the dinner.  Almost everyone from my family was there.  My parents announced that they are going on a service mission to Nauvoo, Illinois.  They will be temple workers there from April to October of 2013. 

I fell victim to a Black Friday sale this year.  I bought a new washer and dryer.  The set that I had been told was going to be on sale wasn't, so I went for an upgrade.  I have really enjoyed the new set.  The washer has a clear lid on it, so you can see it spinning around.  It makes for good entertainment! 

 

 

Recipes

I have several recipes that people have requested over the last couple of months.  Since I have sadly neglected my blog (more on that in the next post- I promise it is coming before the new year!) I have decided to finally post them now.  It must be the Christmas spirit of sharing.  You know, deck them halls and all that stuff?!  All of these recipes are gluten and dairy-free.  When the recipe calls for butter, I use a dairy-free buttery baking stick, not spread. This time around I used Nucoa brand and it worked beautifully.  (Remind self to call Walmart and Harmons to ask them to start carrying it because I don't like having to make special trips to other stores to get it!) Enjoy!

Below you will find the recipes for:
Oatmeal Monster Cookies
Peanut Butter Squares
Chili
Taco Seasoning
Sweet Potato Pie
Pie Crust
Dairy-Free Cafe Rio Dressing
Ranch Dressing
Blueberry Muffins

From the family party in October:

Oatmeal Monster Cookies
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup butter (1 cube)
2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 cups peanut butter (chunky is best, but not necessary)
3 eggs
4 1/2 cup quick oats
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips

Cream the sugars and butter together.  Add baking soda, peanut butter and eggs.  Mix in quick oats and then stir in the chocolate chips.  Put on a cookie sheet using 1/4 cup of dough per cookie.  They aren't called monster cookies for nothing! You can also make them smaller, just use the shorter cooking time.

Bake at 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes (time based on how big the cookie is). Let cool on the pan for 5 minutes (don't skip this part!) and then move to a cooling rack.  Makes 2 dozen monster cookies. Easily doubles. Can M&M's if not needed to be dairy-free.


Peanut Butter Squares  Warning: These are highly addictive!
2/3 cup white sugar
2/3 cup light corn syrup
1 1/4 cups  crunchy peanut butter
3 cups cornflakes
1 cup chocolate chips

Bring sugars to a boil.  Remove from heat and stir in peanut butter.  Pour over cornflakes in a 9x13 dish.  Gently stir to mix and coat the cereal.  Melt chocolate chips and pour evenly over the cereal.  Chill for 20-30 minutes.  Cut and serve. 


Chili
3# ground beef
1- 14 ounce can diced tomatoes
2- 14 ounce can black beans, drained
1- 14 ounce can red beans
1/4 cup celery, chopped
1/2 cup carrots chopped
1/2 cup zucchini chopped
2 cups pasta sauce (I use an Italian garden variety)
1 cup salsa (I use medium)
1/3 cup white onion
1/3 cup green onion
1 tsp cocoa powder
1 TBLS chili powder
2 TBLS taco seasoning

Brown and drain ground beef.  Add all ingredients in a slow cooker (Crock Pot) for about 4 hours.

Taco Seasoning
1 TBLS chili powder
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper powder
1/4 tsp oregano powder
1/4 tsp powdered onion
1/2 tsp paprika
1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper

Mix together (I usually double or triple the recipe) and store in an air tight container. 
This makes enough to season 3 pounds of meat


From our Thanksgiving Dinner:

Sweet Potato Pie
4 ounces butter, room temperature
2 cups cooked and mashed sweet potatoes
2 cups sugar
1 small can (5 ounces, or 1/2 cup plus 2 TBLS) evaporated milk (for dairy-free use almond milk)
1 tsp vanilla
3 eggs, beaten
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 prepared pie shells

Mix potatoes, sugar and butter until well blended.  Add vanilla, eggs, milk and cinnamon; mix well.  Pour into the prepared pie shells. 
Bake at 350 degrees for about 1 hour, until set.  Makes 2 pies

Pie Crust (based on recipe from Gluten Free Easily)

1 cup GF flour mix (I use rice flour/corn starch mix)
1/2 cup almond flour
1 TBLS granulated sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 TBLS milk (I use almond)

Sift flour, sugar and salt into a 9-inch pie plate.

In a separate small bowl add mix oil and milk stirring rapidly with a fork until the oil turns into little droplets.  Pour milk and oil mixture over dry ingredients and mix. 
Pat crust out with hands, trying to make the thickness the same throughout.  Extend crust as high as you would like it oh the sides of the pie plate. 

Bake per your recipe.  (If the recipe calls for a cooked crust, I bake it at 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes)

Miscellaneous Recipes

Dairy-Free Tomatillo Salad Dressing (Cafe Rio)
1/2 cup green taco salsa (main ingredient tomatillos)
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 tsp minced garlic
2 TBLS lime juice
1/2 cup cilantro
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper

Mix everything together in a blender, chill and serve!

Dairy-Free Ranch Dressing
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 TBLS lemon juice
pinch salt
1/4 tsp Italian Seasoning

Combine ingredients together in a small jar.  If it is too thick, add more lemon juice to thin.  Chill and serve.


and last, but not least, because this recipe seriously made my Christmas morning happy, is the:

Blueberry Muffin  (recipe from Gluten Free Goddess)
1 cup rolled oats
1 cup warm milk
1/4 cup Spectrum Organic Shortening
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 cup GF flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
 2 eggs beaten
1 cup blueberries
Crumble topping

Crumble topping
2 TBLS oats
2 TBLS brown sugar
2 TBLS shortening
1 tsp cinnamon
rub together

Add oats to milk and let soak for 20 minutes
Beat together the shortening and brown sugar in a medium bowl
Add oats to the shortening/sugar mixture

Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl (flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon)

Scoop the oat mixture into the dry mix, mixing by hand

Add eggs and then add the blueberries

Scoop into 12 muffin tins lined with paper liners

Sprinkle with crumble topping

Bake at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes

If using frozen blueberries, time may need to be increased by about 5 minutes
Check for doneness with a wooden pick

A Happy Thanksgiving

Thursday afternoon our turkey was ready to eat, so I buttered some toast, pulled out the pretzel sticks and jelly beans and our Thanksgiving lunch was ready! 

Last year we started a tradition of having a "Charlie Brown Thanksgiving Lunch".  It is a perfect little snack to eat before having the big dinner.  (Since we usually have dinner a bit earlier than normal dinners, we don't want to eat a big lunch.)

Seth, Cody, Mark and Paul ready to eat!

Jane finished off the drumsticks!

The turkey was so much fun to make. It is made of one large and two small paper bags. It is easy to make and I think that it has made its way into our tradition. When I cut open the top and the boys saw the popcorn inside they were super happy! We had a lot of fun asking someone to pass the turkey when we wanted to eat popcorn. 

Our Thanksgiving dinner was delicious!  This year I purchased a turkey breast and cooked it in the crock pot.  It turned out really moist and perfect!  I made my own cranberry sauce and it was wonderful!  It is a lot of work to make everything for the dinner, but I was able to do a lot of preparation a few days before, so I didn't feel super stressed out making everything and I actually enjoyed the solitude I had in the kitchen.  (How do people who only have one oven survive Thanksgiving in their kitchen?- I was so grateful for my double oven on Thursday!)

After dinner we went over to my sister's house for dessert (Thanks Kim!). I made sweet potato pie and a lemon meringue pie.  I had never made a lemon meringue before and the first one didn't turn out well at all- it was a lemon soup with fluff on top.  I made a second one and it was beautiful!  It was just the right mix of sweet and sour.  (I used Alton Brown's recipe) Lemon meringue pie is really easy to make dairy free!  I tried out a new pie crust from Gluten Free Easily and it was exactly what I have been looking for!  It is a press-in crust, so I don't have to try to roll it.  Gluten free pie crusts are notorious for being really crumbly and difficult to work with, so I am really happy to have found a good crust recipe!   

Jane sat down in front of the tree and watched the train go around at Kim's house.  She was really good not to bother the train or the tree.

Jane discovered whipped cream in a can and she loved it! 

Because Kim lives really close to me and Daniel had stayed home because he wasn't feeling well, I took Jane home, put her in bed and went back over to Kim's house to visit.  It was a nice, relaxed day. My belly is full of good foods and my heart is full of gratitude for my family. 

Their Friends are Hysterical

The other day I posted about the joys of having tweens in the house.  One of the last reasons was "Their friends are hysterical".  That line rang true this week and I was so glad that I had a fresh perspective on friends because it helped me make some fun memories. 

Mark's friend Taylor was over here and they were playing a computer game together.  For whatever reason, they were talking to each other in a British accent.  It was a terrible British accent.  They slaughtered the accent, but it was kind of amusing.  They did pretty good with the accent considering that all they have as models for a British accent is Harry Potter, Monty Python, and the Gyco Gecko (okay Gecko is Australian, I think, but at times the boys sounded like this).

I was in my sewing room listening to them and I started to get kind of annoyed by their crazy talk, but I remembered that "their friends are hysterical" and I was able to enjoy listening to them.  When they would break out of character, I would chide them and tease them.  I was truly enjoying this crazy British accent thing that they had going on. 

Dinner time was approaching and I gave them the warning to get things wrapped up.  When they discovered that we were having sloppy joes, they informed me that it was too bad that Taylor couldn't eat over.  I told them that if Taylor called his mom and asked to eat over using his accent, that he had my permission.  Taylor got the phone and used the thickest, boldest accent yet to get permission from his mum.  We all had a good laugh about the phone call- he was awesome! 

We had a distinguished guest at our table that night and I couldn't have been happier! 

Chocolate Peanut Butter Shake

I didn't know that I had been craving this food until I read the recipe and fell in love.  A wild, passionate, got to have it type craving.  Chocolate and peanut butter quite simply complete each other.  I knew that I could easily change it to be dairy-free.  I was thrilled that not only did I have all ingredients on hand to make this chocolate peanut butter shake, but that I always have these ingredients on hand. (that is a dangerous quality for something that has been quite addictive the past few days). 

This chocolate peanut butter shake is dairy-free, but doesn't use ice cream.  Yes, seriously- no ice cream.  I have found that the dairy-free ice creams out there are expensive and have weird tastes to them, but I eat them because I love and miss ice cream.  Lately, I have been reacting poorly to the dairy-free ice creams I think due to the types of sugars they use or the soy.

This recipe is ridiculously simple to make and uses only 5 ingredients.  Here it is in a rough estimation of how I make mine because I don't measure I just dump things in!  Don't worry- shakes and smoothies are very forgiving foods!  Just taste it and play around with it to make it how you like it.  Sometimes I put more cocoa powder in and sometimes more peanut butter (I found this recipe on Thursday and I have made it at least once a day since!).  You can use cow milk instead of the almond milk, but rice milk didn't work well.   Here is the skeleton:

Chocolate Peanut Butter Shake (Dairy-free)

about 2 cups of ice cubes
2-3 Tablespoons peanut butter
1 Tablespoon cocoa powder
2-3 Tablespoons sugar
1/2-3/4 cup almond milk (enough to cover about 1/2 of the ice)

Blend in the blender until the ice cubes are broken up and the mixture is smooth(ish).  You must have a blender that can handle ice well.  If you can make smoothies in it, it will work.  I use the 'ice cruncher' setting and then the 'liquify' setting. 

If I could eat bananas I would definitely shake things up a bit (get it?  SHAKE things up?  hahaha) and put 1/2 of a banana in it.  It would be really smooth and might even bring Elvis back to life just to try it!  (Did you know that Elvis liked chocolate-peanut butter-banana mixes?  Back in the day I went to a restaurant to get some pie.  It was Elvis' birthday, so they had a chocolate-peanut butter-banana pie to celebrate.  I was in heaven!  It was so delicious.  I was really disappointed that they only made it that one day.  Boo.  But now that I can't eat the banana part or the dairy part, I'm not so disappointed!)

This costs considerably less money than the ice cream version.

Daniel was really skeptical when I told him how I made it.  He tried it and then asked if there was any left in the blender for him.  Try it and let me know what you think. 

Things I Learned or Reconfirmed This Week Part 1

This week we went up to Snowbird to spend some time together as a family. My friend has a timeshare up there that he couldn't use, so we rented it from him. The weather was cold, rainy and snowy, but we had a great time. We went up as a family from Sunday until Tuesday afternoon. We celebrated Jane's birthday and slept in our own beds for two nights. Wednesday Mark received his Webelo's badge and his Arrow of Light with Scouts. Thursday morning the boys and I went back up to the lodge, well rested and ready for more fun. Daniel and Jane stayed at home. That was our plan all along and it worked out marvelously!

Here is a list of things that I learned or reconfirmed this week:

Packing for a trip is exhausting work. I spent all day Saturday and Sunday preparing to leave.

Children will wait until the worst possible time to throw up. Jane projectile vomited all over while we were driving on a winding mountain road, in a pouring rainstorm that rivals a Georgia rainstorm, with no place to stop. I was feeling queasy already, so there was no way that I could turn around to clean up. I threw some tissues back to Mark and he cleaned up what he could. We cracked open some windows (not too far because of the rain) and had to wait at least 5 minutes before we got to a safe stopping place. Poor Jane was crying and upset, but I couldn't help her until we could stop the van.

Spending time together is a great thing to do

Having time alone is therapeutic for everyone. We all searched out our own corner of the hotel room to 'be alone' a few times each day.

Hotels are magical places for kids

Mark and Paul can climb 11 flights of stairs and come back down in 4 minutes. The boys actually preferred to take the stairs over the elevator because it was faster. We were on the 4th floor, but I'm not sure that being on the 10th floor would have changed their minds!

Swimming in a heated pool surrounded by an 8-10 foot wall of snow during a snowstorm is surreal. It just defies logic that you can be outside in a swimsuit and be warm. It was fun and relaxing- until you have to get out.

Sleeping in a full size bed with Daniel isn't as comfortable as a king size bed, but not as bad as I thought it would be. Our king-size Select Comfort bed has spoiled me. We took the full size bed over the queen sofa bed because the mattress was more comfortable.

Wildlife is fun to observe. I never tire of watching chipmunks running around. I don't enjoy seeing them as road kill, though.

I packed more food than we could eat because I didn't want to ration the food.

Swimming makes us hungry. We were constantly eating so I am glad that I had plenty of food (however most of it really wasn't healthy)

My children are noisy sleepers- Jane is the biggest offender.

I like being at home.

Vacations exhaust me

Being sick on vacation sucks. Sunday I had a headache that was promising to get bigger, but I was able to nap while Jane napped and it settled it down. I don't know what I ate that didn't agree with me (I'm guessing the cinnamon pop-overs that I made- I ate too many) but I bloated big time (I looked 4-5 months pregnant) and I was miserable. Then the severe gas and diarrhea set in. I had medication to help me, but it was not comfortable to say the least. After that I got really tired. I wasn't fun company to play with and I felt terrible because I didn't have the energy I wanted to play with the kids.

Sometimes I have to save a memory in my heart because I don't want to ruin the moment by pulling out the camera.

Going a few days without reading the news is refreshing. I'm going to do that more often.

Having a portable game system for the kids (a Nintendo DS) helped keep them from being too bored.

Body wash doesn't make the best hair conditioner. Just saying.

Ski resort food is expensive. Really expensive. We were going to go out for dinner to celebrate Jane's birthday, so we looked online to find menus to make sure that there was something that I could eat. The prices were outrageous! Kids meals were more than double what they were at home. A steak dinner was $35. Ouch. We decided to go home early and eat in the valley.

Having food restrictions like me is a pain. Sometimes I really hate having to plan my food out like I have to. I have the limited choices and I hate having to single myself out when I'm in a group.

Olive Garden has a gluten-free dish that is delicious. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that. Daniel was elated because we were able to go to his favorite restaurant together!

Vacationing with a baby is tough. Planning events around nap times is frustrating. Daniel and I took turns taking the boys out of the room while Jane took her naps. We spent a lot of time in the lobby playing card games, putting together puzzles and climbing the stairs. Having a happy, well rested baby was worth it!

Hotel rooms are not baby proof.

Walking into the house with all of the things still out from me packing is discouraging. I firmly believe that it would be worth hiring a crew to come in and clean the house and change the sheets while I am gone. It would be so awesome to walk into a sparkling clean house instead of random dishes, papers, clothes and toys strewn about. Of course, the bags full of dirty laundry that we bring home would ruin it right away, but still, it would be lovely.

Feeding the Baby

Mark (age 2) feeding Paul

 Paul (age 3.5) Mark (age 5) feeding Seth

Seth(age 6.5) Paul (age 9.5) Mark (age 10.95) feeding Jane  Look at how all of the boys have thier mouths open!  They all 'help' her eat by showing her what to do, it is hilarious! 

One Dozen

Yesterday our family celebrated its 12 birthday!  Daniel and I have been married for 12 years!  We have made our anniversary a family event and we had a fun celebration with the kids last night.  Since we were celebrating number 12, I made a Dozen Dinner.  We had one dozen types of food and one dozen of each food.  Our menu included one dozen carrots, olives, apple slices, orange slices, rolls, turkey slices, pickles, deviled eggs, jello cups and cheese sticks.  We had a dozen brownie bites and ice cream rolls for dessert.  We lit one dozen candles and ate by candle light.  It was a fun little celebration!  I really love my family!

I was trying to think of a catchy title for this blog that used the word 'dozen', but all I could think of was "cheaper by the dozen" and that is not quite what I wanted to say about my marriage! 

It kind of seems unreal that I have been married for 12 years.  I feel so blessed to be married to Daniel.  We are a great team together and I know that we will continue to work well together.  I was thinking back to our wedding day and I cannot believe how naive we were about marriage and life.  We have had some good life lessons and we are a stronger couple because of them.  I'll write more about the life lessons during some of my personal history posts.

After dinner I checked my email.  My sister-in-law sent notice that my brother (Randy) had been in a rappelling accident in Moab.  He was life-flighted to the U of U hospital last night. He has two breaks in his back, a broken tailbone, he broke both legs and both feet.  He seems to be out of risk of nerve damage, but he has a long, painful road to recovery.

I hate how helpless I feel right now about this.  I know that his family is struggling with emotions and trying to spend time with him.  I don't want to bother them but I struggle with knowing how to be involved if they need me.  Facebook and emails are good.  I won't call them unless there is something specific and urgent that they need from me.  I don't want to act like I don't care, but right now I don't know that there is much that I can do.  I really hope that Randy has a smooth recovery.

This is scary.  My post last week about close calls is hitting home again.  (Jane fell down the stairs last week and seemed more scared than hurt.  It was scary and I only had myself to blame as I didn't latch the stair gate but thought that I had.  Crisis averted, but seriously that was a close call) 

Randy and Wendy, I love you.

Year's End

Today I had fun telling the boys all of the fun "This is the last time you have to (fill in the blank) this year".  Mark was excited about his last morning teeth brushing, last load of laundry and last morning chore.  Seth didn't quite understand my jokes and he panicked to the point of tears when I announced during dinner that this was the last dinner I was making this year.  We explained that today was the last day of the year and tomorrow is a new year, but he was really worried until I assured him that we were having dinner tomorrow.

The boys and I went swimming today.  I played tag with them and I had to sit myself out because I was so tired.  Running through water is exhausting.  I'll take the consistency of the treadmill any day.

I took all of the Christmas decorations down and the house looked empty.  I still keep up some winter decorations, but the spot where the tree was felt so cold.   Last year Mark had made a cool snowflake, so I found directions online and made some to fill up the space where the tree was.  I have really enjoyed these fun snowflakes.

Tonight's dinner consisted of pizza and bacon wrapped cocktail sausages (also known as heart attacks on a stick).  We played with the black light and had fun seeing things glow.

After dinner we went outside and lit some sparklers.  My boys had never used sparklers before and I think that they had a lot of fun.  If it hadn't been so cold outside(it was about 12 degrees outside but it felt like 4 degrees), I think that we would have enjoyed them even more. 

Once we were inside and thawed out (and my glasses finally un-fogged) we played a new board game called Sorry the U-Build-It version.  It was fun but the kids were tired.  I think we'll pull it out again tomorrow and play while everyone is well rested.

We decided to try a new dessert out and it was a hit.  Daniel and I made crepes.  They were delicious.  We made a strawberry cream cheese filling and topped it with strawberry sauce.  My dairy-free version was a lemon cream cheese filling.  We all devoured our crepes and determined that it was our new New Year's Eve tradition.  This dessert was so simple to make. 

Well, this is the last post I am going to make this year.

I can't wait to do all of the "you haven't done (fill in the blank) all year!" jokes tomorrow.  I love saying that I haven't brushed my teeth or taken a shower all year.  Daniel's favorite one is that he hasn't made love all year long (which is something he loves to resolve).  He he! 

I love numbers so I am excited to see tomorrows date of 1-1-11.  I am hoping to make some changes with my blog in the future.  I'd like to add some new features and post more of my goals and the progress I am making with my goals.  This isn't a new year's resolution type of thing, more of something that I have been thinking about for the past few months, but haven't implemented.  I'm working on what I want to do and how I want to do it.  Hopefully within the next few weeks I'll be able to put more time into it.

Here is to a wonderful new year.

A New Tradition

A few days before Thanksgiving, I was trying to figure out what we should eat for lunch so that we wouldn't be too full to eat an early Thanksgiving dinner when a song from the Charlie Brown Christmas Album came on.  I thought that it would be fun to have a meal like Snoopy and Charlie Brown served on the Thanksgiving movie.  So, for lunch, we had popcorn, buttered toast, pretzel sticks and jellybeans.  We even made boats out of the napkins. 

The boys wanted to make it more authentic and eat outside like they do in the movie, but I didn't want to set up a table in weather like this:

I think that we have started a new Taylor family tradition!

After our fun lunch, we put on a movie and played around for a while.  Daniel was sick and I was just getting over what I gave to him (and trying to end my short lived love affair with Afrin), so he spent most of the day in bed.  Our plan was to stay here for dinner and go to my sister's house for dessert.  Since Daniel was sick, I spent the afternoon in the kitchen alone making the dinner.  I made everything gluten-free and dairy-free except the rolls.  It was really relaxing to be in the kitchen.  Jane napped during the busy part of the preparation and then the boys played with her while I finished the meal.  Being alone in the kitchen wasn't what I had anticipated, but I enjoyed trying new things and listening to Christmas music.

The food was amazing!  I really enjoyed everything that I made.  The cornbread stuffing and sweet potato pie were by far my favorites, though!   I ate 3/4 of the sweet potato pie in three days!  Sweet potato is my favorite (I got the recipe from a family we knew in Georgia) and I haven't had it for two years.  I was excited to try the dairy and wheat substitutions and they worked out wonderfully!  Daniel sat down with a slice of both pies (one dairy-free and one with dairy)and couldn't tell a difference between them!  That is success!  This year I want to work on perfecting a dinner roll that I can make for everyone!

The boys have been having a lot of fun playing in the snow.  I love having a park with a hill just down the street for the boys to go sledding! 

I realized that I only have one day left to get my 24 days of December (our countdown to Christmas) ready.  I am going to be busy wrapping presents tomorrow.  (I really don't enjoy wrapping presents!)  I know that Wednesday is the first of December, so it shouldn't be a surprise, but since the boys are getting out of school for their off-track time on Friday, I mentally told myself that I had until Friday.  I have the whole month planned out, so I just need to get busy and put everything together!

This weekend I had a great time with the boys.  I am really trying to have a better relationship with them so that I can have a good relationship with them later.  It is hard sometimes to just let them be silly and for me to follow suit, but it has been a lot of fun and we have been able to share more with each other because we are spending time together.  I am anxious about this next month with the boys being out of school until January, but I am also excited!  We have a lot of fun things planned to do as a family.

Anxiety

For the past few years I have struggled with being in places where there are large groups of people.  I tend to get really anxious and feel uncomfortable even when I know that I am in a safe place.  Being in a place where I don't know anyone is sometimes relieving because I can be anonymous and if I need to leave, I don't have to explain to anyone, I can just leave.  I have avoided going to events because I get really anxious before going and sometimes wind up in tears before I go just because I am afraid.  I don't know exactly what I am afraid of, but it has prevented me from doing a lot of things.  I have missed out on a lot of neighborhood lunches, play dates and girl's nights because of this unexplainable fear.

The past few weeks I have had a lot of anxiety attacks.  I seem to do okay at home, but when I go out into the 'real world', I become paralyzed.  Just going to the grocery store has been overwhelming to me.  Not every time, but more often than not.  I don't understand it.  I 'freaked out' the other day when I had the boys and Jane with me.  I could barely see straight and I my ability to think was really cloudy.  I had taken the kids to the park for a picnic dinner.  We were the only ones at the park, but the wind was really strong and the dinner we picked up at Kentucky Fried Chicken on our way to the park turned out to be a disappointment (They didn't give us any napkins, plates or utensils- making the majority of the dinner nearly impossible to eat.  It was highly overpriced too.  We won't be KFC customers again.)  I yelled at the kids, I went crazy and told them that if they weren't in the van when I pulled out, that they would need to figure out their own way of getting home.  I needed to be home NOW and I was terrified.  I scared the boys and upset Jane with how rough I was getting the car seat in the van.  I cried all of the way home.  I told the boys that they didn't do anything wrong, that I was having a difficult time and needed to be home.  They ate their dinner very silently and then I gave them some popsicles and had them go play outside.  I held Jane while feeding her and I sobbed.  Daniel woke up at this time and I had him take Jane so I could go and compose myself.  I couldn't stop crying.  It really sucked.  It took me an hour to calm down enough to go and say goodnight to the boys.  I am so glad that they are patient with me.  I wish that I could be as patient with them.

I am hoping that this is a temporary effect from my hormones still settling down.  I need to be patient with myself.  My baby is only three weeks old.  I have been feeling so good physically that I have been wanting to be more active than I was at this point with my other babies.  I have had good days, okay days, bad days and ugly days in the past three weeks.  Honestly I have had a lot of okay days, but the bad and ugly days always seem like a dark cloud threatening to ruin my good days.  (Tut, tut, it looks like rain!)

Any suggestions for braving through an anxiety attack?

Little Things I Want to Remember

I have posted a lot on here this week and I have a few more things that I want to remember about this week, so I'm just going to do a random thoughts post.  Here we go!

• On our way to taking the boys to Ben's house, we stopped off at the grocery store to pick up some cinnamon rolls for Mark's birthday cake (his request).  I told them that they could pick out a toy.  Mark picked a travel chess set, Paul picked a stuffed frog and Seth picked a stuffed penguin that he named Shadow.
• Ben home schools his daughters, so while the boys were there, they worked at some learning centers.  They had a paper to fill out that asked what their goal was, what they did and what they accomplished.  Paul's paper was really cute.  His evaluations were so honest.  His first station was exercise.  His goal was to do a front handspring on the trampoline.  He wrote "I tried, but I didn't get even one."  His second station was art.  He did a tracing project and said "I didn't think it was good until I colored it".  I just love his honesty and his efforts.
• After the comment from the lady in the elevator at the hospital about how good I looked, I thought that I would weigh myself.  Can you imagine my shock when the scale said that I had only lost 7 pounds?  I just gave birth to an 8 1/2 pound baby, the placenta weighs a few pounds, and I only lost 7?  My body was still really swollen, my shoes were quite tight.  So I had to be patient with myself.  I decided that I need to wait at least one week before stepping on the scale again.  I still can't believe that I was silly enough to weigh myself two days after having a baby. 
• Last week Daniel had some issues come up with work that really upset him.  These issues could have been worked out last month or waited another few weeks, but they decided to bring them up the day we came home from the hospital.  I didn't realized how angry he was about it (he didn't want to involve me with it because I had other issues to deal with) until I came into his office to see him looking online for other job opportunities.  Hello stress!  I got really worried about Daniel's stress level and about our future.  It really sucked.  Things got smoothed out and resolved and Daniel is staying, but it was such lousy timing.
• Daniel worked a lot of long hours the week before Jane was born so that he could take some time off while we were at the hospital.  He was really tired and started getting sick.  He wound up sleep a lot the first few days that we were home.  He couldn't have done much to help me with Jane anyhow, since she was getting up every hour or two to eat.  He still made dinner and took care of me and the house, but he wasn't feeling well.  The problem was that I started to feel really distant from Daniel.  Whenever he gets sick I feel this way because he stays to himself.  I really needed him to be closer to me.  I felt alone and didn't know what to do.  He started to feel better and was back to his normal self, but then my milk came in and I was so sore that I couldn't hug him the way that I needed to to feel comforted.  I have finally gotten my perfect hug and I feel a lot better.  It was just a really rough week for us.  Usually I feel closer to him when we bring home a baby, so it was a difficult adjustment. 
• I knew that I was tired and that my body wasn't handling it well on Thursday when my vision started going crazy.  I was looking at a paper and I realized that I couldn't read it because I was seeing double.  I would see double when I looked at Jane while feeding her.  I stood up to help Mark with something and my vision was really blurry.  I checked to see if somehow I had taken my glasses off, but I was wearing them.  I had to blink really hard a few times to see clearly again.  Little wonder I had my melt down that evening, huh?!
• Paul made the punch for dinner last week.  I have Gatorade powder that I really like, so he decided to make lemon lime Gatorade.  When we sat down to dinner, I took a sip of the punch and it was all I could do to not spit it out.  It was soooooo sweet.  I asked him how he made it and he said that he used 3 scoops of the powder (it only needed 2) and 4 scoops of the sugar (it doesn't need added sugar).  So we had a gallon of lemon lime syrup.  He put 4 cups of sugar in a gallon of punch!  I tried watering the punch down, but it was just too sweet for my tastes.  The boys didn't seem to mind at all though!
• During dinner I started telling Mark and Paul stories about them when they were little.  Seth wanted to know some funny things that happened when he was little, so I told him a few cute things that he did.  It was a fun conversation to have as a family.  We laughed a lot!  
• The boys have been really cute with me and Jane.  Mark has been really cuddly and giving more hugs than normal.  He has been really interested in how Jane eats and how her body is developing.  We looked up information on what her vision is like, and why she gets the hiccups.  It was fun to discover this information with him.  When I was breastfeeding, he would sit next to me and wasn't bothered by anything, but when I said that I needed to change Jane's diaper, he got grossed out and left the room!  He has also been fascinated by my changing body.  He is amazed that my stomach has shrunk and that I have lost weight so quickly.
• Paul has held Jane several times and helped feed her a bottle the other day.  He has been involved, but for the most part he kind of stays back a bit.  He doesn't touch her a lot or clamor to be around her.  He just seems content to admire her from a distance.  
• Seth has been amazed at how tiny everything is on Jane.  He noticed her tiny ears, hands, fingernails, nose, mouth, etc.  He commented that every day she gets more hair.  He has been a super cute kid with Jane.  When she cries (which isn't very often) he will run over to her and try to sooth her. 
• Seth seems like a giant to me now.  He didn't seem that big last week, but now with a little baby in my arms, I can't get over how big Seth is.  Seemingly overnight, he became bigger and older.  I remember that happening with Mark when Paul was born.  
• I have saved the best for last. Here is a conversation that Daniel and Seth had last night:

Seth:  Dad, I know why Baby Jane can hold still for an hour and not have to move.
Daniel: Oh? Why is that?
Seth: Because Baby Jane doesn't have a lot of hair, but the bigger people, we have a lot of hair so we have to keep moving around so the lice bugs don't get in our hair.  But Jane, she doesn't have to move because they won't go on her head because she doesn't have enough hair. 

How he comes up with these things I'll never know.  What a funny kid!

What a week to remember! 

So, What CAN You Eat?

When I tell people what my dietary limitations are, their faces usually gloss over and I inevitably get the question, "So, what CAN you eat?"  I am going to answer what I can eat, but first I am going to explain why I can't eat what I can't eat.

I usually just tell people that I don't eat wheat or dairy.  But there is more to it than that, it just takes more explaining and usually people just don't understand.  I have what is called Fructose Malabsorption Disorder.  Essentially, my body doesn't break down fructose the way it should, which causes a lot of intestinal distress.  I can eat foods that have fructose, but the food has to have more glucose than fructose to work for me.  In other words, foods that are high in fructose levels (most fruits, honey, high fructose corn syrup) I need to avoid. 

Sucrose is table sugar it is 1/2 fructose and 1/2 glucose.  I can eat sucrose because there is a good balance of fructose to glucose.  I am glad because I have an aversion to artificial sugars.  I have tried many of the different artificial sugars out there and I just don't like the taste/ aftertaste.  Since almost all carbonated soda is either made with artificial sugar or high fructose corn syrup, I don't drink carbonated soda.  I drink a lot of water.  I don't really miss the soda drinks.  

Another food that has a fructose chain in it is wheat, so that is why I can't eat wheat.  It isn't because of the gluten, but because of the fructose.  Thankfully, I don't have to worry excessively about cross-contamination of gluten in my food, so I can eat things that someone with Celiac disease couldn't eat (like oats and wheat-free items that aren't gluten free).

For more information about Fructose Malabsorption Disorder, check out this website: http://avthompson.wordpress.com/what-is-fructose-malabsorption-disorder/ 
or this one that is a bit more serious: http://sites.google.com/site/fructmal/whatis

Okay, so wheat and most fruits are out, and then I discovered that I don't tolerate milk.  I can have some dairy products in limited portions (like if I have a few tablespoons of the Cafe Rio house dressing, I am okay) but I have to be selective as to when to have dairy and still have to limit how often I have it if I want to have a happy intestinal track!

I am also sensitive (possibly allergic) to bananas and walnuts.  They burn/slightly swell  my tongue when I eat them, so I avoid them.  I can eat other tree nuts without problems.  I discovered that bananas and walnuts fall into the same category as latex in the allergy world, but I haven't had a problem with latex.


So, what can I eat?

• All meats (as long as they are not coated with a wheat base- such as the coating on chicken nuggets)
• All vegetables (potatoes in all forms-chips, tater tots etc., corn in all forms- corn starch, corn tortillas, etc., broccoli, lettuce, etc)
• Some fruit in small quantities (lemon, strawberries, blueberries)
• Eggs
• Rice

This list seems small, but it includes a lot of foods.   Basically I eat a lot of whole foods.  I don't eat much that is packaged.  I have to make a lot of my own salad dressings, gravies and sauces, but a lot of times they taste a lot better than some of the store bought items. 

A few typical meals for me:

Breakfast:

• fried eggs and ham
• omelet with spinach, sausage and salsa
• cereal with rice milk- Kix, Chex, 
• hash browns, scrambled eggs, bacon
• eggs Benedict (fried egg and ham on a wheat free English muffin or waffle covered in a mock hollandaise sauce )

Lunch:

• Cobb salad
• peanut butter and Jelly sandwich (on a wheat free pancake)
• grilled chicken with rice and vegetables
• beef tamales with rice, beans, salsa and guacamole
• left-overs from dinner

Dinner:

• Stir fry (with wheat free soy sauce)
•  lemon pepper chicken with rice
• taco salad
• tacos with corn tortillas (hard or soft), beans (refried and black) seasoned ground beef and salsa
• chicken noodle soup (use rice based noodles, or wild rice)
• chicken (the rotisserie from Costco is wheat free!) with broccoli and potatoes (love it with tater tots!)
• breakfast for dinner- wheat free pancakes, hash browns, scrambled eggs etc.
• pizza- wheat free crust with sauce, sausage or pepperoni, spinach, avocado, and pepperoncini

As you can see, I don't go hungry, it is just that eating out is difficult.  At other people's homes, at social events (church, baby showers, family events, school, or city programs), or at a restaurant that I have limited choices.  A lot of restaurants are able to accommodate my needs, but my choices are limited.  Most burger places will replace the bun with a lettuce wrap, most salads are okay to eat, breakfast foods are pretty safe. 

Sometimes I get really frustrated with my dietary limitations.  I feel left out a lot because I can't eat 99% of what is offered at a function.  However, that frustration is nothing compared to the frustration I had before discovering what was causing my headaches, intestinal distress and overall ill health.  I have to plan ahead when going places to make sure that I have food available to me that I can eat.   I have to exhibit a lot of self control when I go out, but it is getting easier to not eat the foods that use to tempt me because I don't feel good when I eat them.  When I am able to see and feel the benefits of only eating foods that my body can tolerate, refusing the 'bad' food isn't difficult. 

Belly Jean

Lately Seth has been transposing the initial sound of words.  He was talking about all of the belly jeans  (instead of jelly beans) that he found at the egg hunt at preschool.  It is quite innocent and cute.  I remember studying this in my phonetics classes in college, but I can't remember the term.  He has done this to a few other words (like pooth taste), so I was just mentioning it to Daniel and Mark.

Mark found it to be amazing that Seth could do it without thinking.  He started transposing letters to see if I could figure out what he was talking about.  It was kind of a fun exercise for both of us.

Saturday afternoon I took the boys grocery shopping with me.  I seriously had a wonderful time with the boys.  They were being very helpful and we had a lot of fun hunting down the best deals and picking out cereals.  The most fun, however, was on the ride to the store.  We were switching letters of store titles and city names.  We decided that Jouth Sordon (South Jordan) sounded like a Star Wars character and that Baco Tell (Taco Bell) just sounded weird.

When we came past the Food Mart we had a great laugh!  I asked if anyone wanted to eat dinner at the Mood Fart and it has now become a catch phrase in our house, even though we decided that it doesn't sound appetizing at all!

While in the store Mark was switching the letters on the cereal boxes and when he asked if he could have some Porn Cops, I stopped dead in my tracks for a second trying to figure out what he was talking about.  Apparently Corn Pops doesn't work so well, but I had to quickly (yet discreetly) explain why he shouldn't say that one loudly.

Our family has a favorite jelly bean.  It is the Hot Tamale Jelly Bean.  Or is that the Tot Hamale Belly Jean?

Things That I'm Excited About

I've been in a pretty downer mood lately, so I thought that I'd make a list of things that I am excited about to help me be happier.

• My (or Jane's) quilt has been quilted and I love it!  
• Now that it is quilted, Madeleine is going to come down and help me bind it!  
• I found some maternity pants for $10 (Ross is awesome!) and they fit great (after I hemmed them)
• I am getting material together to make some little dolls called Black Apple dolls.  My friend showed some that she made on her blog and I fell in love with them.  
• I HAVE to go to Hobby Lobby to get more ribbon and felt for the dolls.  
• The 5th (and final) Fabelhaven book came out this week.  
• I am sharing the book with Mark, but I get it during the days and after his bedtime, so I'll be done over the weekend.
• I am about 1/3 of the way through the book (600 pages) and I started yesterday!
• I finally bought new pots and pans.  Daniel and I have been talking about getting new ones for a year now.  I found some that I liked and had a 20% off coupon, so I got them!
• The boys are doing really well with their piano lessons.  
• We figured out a better system for piano practicing.  It use to be 10 minutes a day, but they would spend most of the time dinking around on songs that weren't part of the lesson.  So now their practice consists of 3 times through each song in the morning and 3 times through each song in the evening.  They don't complain about it, they still practice about 10 minutes a day, but this is so much easier on everyone!
• I love that we have a digital piano because we can control the volume of the piano.  The boys can still practice even if someone is asleep. It is beautiful!
• I finally figured out what to put in the apothecary jars that I made in January.

  

• I have a picture of me that Seth took to show off my belly

 

•  I had Seth take my pictures.  When I reviewed the pictures, he had chopped off my head in all of them!  This is the face he gave me when I looked through the pictures:

•  I get excited to pick Seth up from preschool.  He is always in such a great, happy mood and I am genuinely interested in what he did at school.  He is such a fun kid!  He said that he scared a girl at school.  How?  He made funny faces like these:

•  A face only a mother could love!?
• Daniel and I are going out to eat today- just for dessert!  (we are going to the Cheesecake Factory- they have a Godiva Chocolate Cheesecake that is wheat free!  It isn't dairy free, obviously, but I can tolerate the side effects of dairy far easier than I can the effects of wheat)
• I'm excited about the chocolate!

Frustrated

Last night I had a brilliant idea to aid my ice cravings.  Lately I have been putting the ice cubes in the blender, dumping the ice shavings into a cup and putting in some lemonade (homemade lemonade- but not freshly squeezed).  I thought that it would be wonderful to make small ice cubes out of  the lemonade and then shave the lemon ice. 

 

I needed a small ice cube tray, so I headed out to Walmart to pick one up around 9 p.m. last night.  The parking lot was really crowded.  The west entrance was closed and guarded by employees and policemen.  A news truck and a radio truck were parked in front. 

 

I should have listened to my gut and just left, but I didn’t.  I wanted an ice cube tray.  No, I NEEDED an ice cube tray. 

 

I found a parking spot near the front and went in.  That is when I found out what all the hoopla was about.  Twilight.  The DVD came out last night and people were lining up to get the DVD and hopefully sneak a peek at a few of the actors from the movie. 

 

To each their own, I thought, as I made my way towards the kitchen  isle.  There was a stinking road block.  People were lined up in the isles 4-5 people wide and it went from the electronic department to the house goods department, completely blocking my access to the ice cube trays.  I was so upset.  I was irritated.  Come on, people, this is a store where people actually want to buy things, but they can’t because you are sitting on the floor in the isle  blocking access to half of the store so that you can buy a movie that you have already watched. 

 

I could feel my heart rate elevate.  My eyes were burning with hot tears.  I just want a freaking ice cube tray people.  I started feeling disoriented and angry.  This pregnant woman had to get out of the store before a melt down occurred.   

 

The fumes stopped by the time I got out of the parking lot.  Luckily the grocery store nearby had the tray I was looking for. 

 

I am sitting here with my cup of shaved lemon ice.  It is delicious. 

 

The news said that 5000 people were at the store last night for the DVD.  Ha!  I smirked.  The store only had 1000 DVD’s.