Rudi's Sandwich Bread

The last couple of weeks have been a difficult couple of weeks for one reason: fresh honey. And fresh honey requires nummy toast. And I haven't been eating toast because of my gluten-free diet. It has been a sad couple of weeks. So, yesterday, I went to the local food co-op determined to find some more gluten-free products. In the freezer section, I found a section with gluten-free bread... What kind should I pick? There were 6 different flavors from 3 different brands.... So I did a little eeny-meeny-miney-mo and Rudi's Sandwich Bread was the winner. The bread slices looked REALLY small, but so did the rest of the bread. I went along and finished my shopping (which included tons of different new flours... I'm so excited!). I got home, put the kids down for a nap, and myself down for a nap (which I wish I was doing right now!!). When I got up from the nap, I remembered the bread. It was perfectly thawed, so I threw a piece in the toaster, and set about making myself some peanut butter and honey for the top... Oh my! The toast came out of the toaster, got slathered with some butter, and then the peanut butter honey. Perfection!! I was so afraid it was going to be something better off used to feed the pooch, but it was really good!! John even liked it! So next time you're shopping for gluten-free bread... Rudi's is really great!! I even made a sandwich from it today and still pretty darn good!

Starting a Gluten-Free Life...

Two weeks ago, I started on a new adventure in my life. I cut all gluten out of my diet. It hasn't been as difficult as I thought it would be. Many restaurants now have gluten-free dishes on the menu, which helps a lot! I went shopping in Spokane last weekend with my mom, sister and aunt and was able to stay on the gluten-free diet the whole time. I ate a gluten-free dish called Pannini with Marinara sauce and a chicken breast at Red Lobster. While not the best dish I have ever had, it wasn't bad for being gluten-free. I had a gyro salad at the Pita Pit that was nummy. The best part of all of this is that I am feeling SO much better!! I have more energy, less headaches (which were an every day occurrence, and don't feel like I am going to keel over if I don't get a nap. I made the best discovery this last week though... Gluten-Free Bisquick. I made waffles from it on Thursday morning and they were a huge hit. Seriously, the best waffles I have ever had. The Big Boy ate 2 whole waffles by himself and the Little One ate one. So good! Tonight, we had these Garlic Biscuits... http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/gluten-free-cheese-garlic-biscuits/781e1a42-c051-4ab9-bd5e-ac38c7588bc0 And we had homemade spaghetti sauce on rice noodles.

My Homemade Spaghetti Sauce

1 lb ground beef, extra lean
1/2 medium onion, diced
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp basil
1 tsp parsley
1-14 oz can tomato sauce (I used organic)
1-14 oz can diced tomatoes (I used home canned tomatoes from our garden... NUM!), drained
1 small can sliced mushrooms, drained
1/4 cup sugar

Brown the ground beef with the onion. Add the rest of the ingredients and bring to a boil. Serve over noodles.

BumGenius OS 3.0 diaper giveaway from Diapershops.com

I love my cloth diapers so much. It helps when you have good places to order. One of my favorite places to order is Kelly's Closet. I just placed an order there today for 2 packages of Rockin' Green and received a free one-size cloth diaper! I am so excited. They always do a great job filling my orders and getting them to me quickly. Right now, Diapershops.com is giving away free cloth diapers. They are giving away 6 BumGenius One-Size 3.0 diapers when they reach 5700 followers. I hope I win!!

Monkey Mae Says...

I follow a blog called Monkey Mae Says... It is a blog about a baby and her Mommy Chick and has lots of fashion tips. I love it! It is written from the baby's point of view. It helps that the baby was in my due date group and is close to the same age as my Little One. Anyways, today is their blogoversary and they are having a giveaway!! Go to: monkeymaesays.blogspot.com

She is giving away some great nail polish AND they are having another giveaway when they reach 200 followers :D

This week has been incredibly busy, stressful, and thankfully a new week has now started. We are still trying to get our house ready to sell, which keeps us busy. I am just hoping we can find a house we love when the time comes!! I have eaten out a lot lately and today was the first day I have been home all day for over a week. It was so nice! I managed to get 4 loads of laundry finished and the dishes mostly done. And I am making potato soup for dinner... Mmmm!!! Just a warning though, I love bacon so it has a lot. You can definitely cut back on that.

Potato Soup

8 slices of bacon, cut into 1/2" pieces
4 medium potatoes, peeled and cut into cubes
8 baby carrots, sliced
2 stalks of celery, sliced
2 cups water (or enough to cover)
1 Tbsp chicken bouillon
4 cups milk
1 Tbsp butter
1 Tbsp flour

Fry bacon pieces in the bottom of a large stock pot until crispy. Take bacon out and place on a paper towel to soak up extra fat. Remove all but 2 Tbsp bacon fat from pan. Dump in potatoes, carrots and celery and saute in bacon fat for about 5 minutes. Add water and bouillon. Boil for 15 minutes or until potatoes and carrots are tender. Add milk, bring to a boil. In a small frying pan, add butter and melt. Add flour and cook until it is light brown (very light). Add to soup. Cook until thick. That is pretty much it!! Sprinkle bacon over the top of the soup. You can also add cheese if desired.

The new cloth diapers...

When Nate was a baby, I had every intention of cloth diapering him. All I knew about though was the standard prefolds. They had great velcro covers, but I was pretty much clueless. I had no idea what I was doing. That was only 2 years ago. I cloth diapered him for about a month off and on, just folding the diapers in the covers. No pins. I was not impressed. When he was almost 2, we did another jaunt with cloth diapers, only this time, I went way old-fashioned... with diaper pins and rubber pants. I actually liked this better. At least the diaper stayed in place. Then I found out I was pregnant again...

I really wanted to be able to do cloth diapers again. But I was really turned off by the prefolds and covers. Luckily, I found a forum all about cloth diapers on Fertility Friend. It made it so much easier for me to understand! As I read, I learned a lot of things I did wrong. What, you aren't supposed to put in dryer sheets? You aren't supposed to use that detergent? I also learned about the new and improved generation of diapers. Pocket diapers, all-in-ones (AIO), all-in-twos (AI2), and fitted diapers. PUL, wool, and fleece covers. Most didn't even use covers. I also found patterns for diapers. This was right up my alley. I ordered a bunch of fabric and off I went. I made a ton of pocket fitted diapers. I made a bunch of pocket diapers. I made inserts. I knitted wool soakers and longies. I made recycled wool soakers. It was awesome. Then the baby came...

For the first 2 months, I was overwhelmed with recovering and adjusting to the new baby. So sposies it was. But when he was 2 months old, I started pulling out the cloth. I LOVED it! I learned what I liked (BumGenius 3.0 one-size (BGOS), hemp fitted diapers at night with a Bummis or Motherease cover), what I could live with (my homemade fitted pockets, wool, and Fuzzibunz one-size), and things I couldn't stand (some diaper covers). My stash now consists mostly of BGOS, hemp fitted diapers, toddler prefolds, and hemp prefolds. I love my Motherease and Bummis wraps. I actually like doing diaper laundry now too. Especially after I discovered Rockin' Green detergent. I was washing in a regular detergent and my microfiber inserts were getting majorly funky smelling. They smelled like really strong iron. I could get rid of it if I stripped them every other time I washed them and if I washed them with baking soda. It was getting to be very exhausting and using a lot of water. Then I decided to try Rockin' Green. I "Rocked the Soak" the day I received my sample in the mail. I used the Cherry Lemonade scent. It worked great!! My inserts started absorbing more and the best part of all is that they didn't stink anymore!!! I used the Rockin' Green from then on until I ran out of my sample. I was debating whether to order more. I didn't want to spend that much money. So I went back to my other detergent. Within 2 washes, my inserts reeked again. *sigh* I ordered a big bag of Rockin' Green this time and just got it today. I got unscented this time and am going to "rock the soak" tomorrow. Who'd a thunk I'd like washing diapers?

More big boy thoughts...

"Mama, look! That truck has a house!!" (it was a truck with a camper on it...)

When I told him he was a good boy today, he asked me, "Where is the bad boys?" Then he thought a second and said, "Maybe driving tractors and trucks!" (This explains why he likes to be bad...)

When an ambulance drove by today, he yelled, "Look mama!! An ant truck!" (I don't know why he calls them that, but we can't get him to change it!)

What's for Dinner?

Tonight, I had big plans for dinner. Okay, so maybe not. My sweet husband ended up making frozen burritos and a canned ham sandwich for dinner while I was painting behind the fridge. Delish! So, since I am sure you already know how to make those or at least don't want to know, I will share one of my favorite recipes with you...

Chicken Noodle Casserole

3 cups egg noodles
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 big can of canned chicken (or 1 big chicken breast, cooked and shredded)
1 tube of saltine crackers
1/3 cup butter, melted
1/3 cup shredded parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 2 1/2 quart baking dish with cooking spray. Boil the noodles according to package directions. Drain. Mix hot noodles with cream of mushroom soup, 1/2 can water, and chicken. Pour into baking dish. Crush saltine crackers. Pour melted butter over crackers and mix. Add parmesan cheese to crackers and mix again. Spread over noodle mixture. Bake uncovered for 30 minutes. Perfect!! Serves: at least 2 adults and 1 kid... LOL! Probably more like 6 if you served reasonable sizes...

The big boy says...

This week has been a little traumatic for my big boy. We have been packing up things and moving them to storage while we prepare to sell our house. He's been out of sorts to say the least. I think he is also hitting a growth spurt. But man, he has been SO funny lately. Here are some examples...

We were driving in my grandpa's truck and he noticed the handles above the doors. "Look mama, I have a handle above my door. So does daddy and Eric. You no have a handle... what da heck?" (I was laughing so hard at this one... I didn't know where he got it... until I caught myself saying it... a lot!!)

We were going to Moscow for his playgroup this week. He kept asking me over and over and over, "Where we goin' mama?" "We're going to play with kids." "Oh." This was repeated at least 100 times in the 20 minutes we took to drive to town. Finally, he asks again. "Where we goin' mama?" "I don't know, Nate, where are YOU going?" He thought for a minute, then said "Costco." (can you tell we REALLY like Costco?)

He loves it when his brother is up. He goes up to him and says, "Hiya baby! Whatcha doing?" When Eric is on the floor, he goes up to him and tickles his belly, saying, "tickle tickle Eric". Eric thinks it is hilarious. I love belly laughs.

Tonight, I was painting my kitchen. Nate really really wanted to help. So I gave him a little foam paintbrush with very little paint on it. (I know I am brave to give a 2 year old a paintbrush, I figured we're selling the house anyways and it WAS behind the fridge...) He is happily painting on the wall behind the fridge, saying over and over, "I a painting boy! I a painting boy"

I'm sure there is more. We've gotten a lot of "whatever" this week, and a ton of "whaaaaat?" I try really hard not to laugh. But I fail miserably...