Potato Salad, Cupcakes and Frosting! GF.

A couple recipes that are completely GF without altering the orginal recipe(as long as you check all ingredients!)

I got this recipe directly from the food network. The first time I made it - I loved it. I am not a big Potato Salad person; however, it tastes a little different than a generic potato salad. Easy and quick to make. I have made it with BBQ ribs and sausages so far. It was suggested for beach BBQs. Which means I need to go to the west coast and use this at the beach... I think. ;-)

The second time I made it I thought it had too much pepper and mustard. So maybe be careful to be sparing in those ingredients.

Potato Salad Ina Garten (off food network)

Ingredients

• 3 pounds small white potatoes
• Kosher salt
• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 1/4 cup buttermilk
• 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 2 tablespoons whole-grain mustard
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh dill
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup chopped celery
• 1/2 cup chopped red onion

Directions:

Place the potatoes and 2 tablespoons of salt in a large pot of water. Bring the water to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes, until the potatoes are barely tender when pierced with a knife. Drain the potatoes in a colander, then place the colander with the potatoes over the empty pot and cover with a clean, dry kitchen towel. Allow the potatoes to steam for 15 to 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a small bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, buttermilk, Dijon mustard, whole grain mustard, dill, 1 teaspoon of salt, and 1 teaspoon of pepper. Set aside.

When the potatoes are cool enough to handle, cut them in quarters or in half, depending on their size. Place the cut potatoes in a large bowl. While the potatoes are still warm, pour enough dressing over them to moisten. Add the celery and red onion, 2 teaspoons of salt and 1 teaspoon of pepper. Toss well, cover, and refrigerate for a few hours to allow the flavors to blend. Serve cold or at room temperature.

On another note I also made vanilla cupcakes with butter frosting. AMAZING! What I loved about all the recipes I am throwing out there today, not a single one is altered. All these are GF straight up. Of course check your individual ingredients!

CupcakesI used the Betty Crocker Gluten Free Cake Mix - Yellow

1 Bag mix
2/3 Water (I used buttermilk - and I have also used 2% milk)
1 Stick room temperature butter (1/2 cup)
2 Teaspoons GF Vanilla
3 Eggs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Beat/Mix bag mix, water (or milk), butter, vanilla and eggs. Bake for cupcakes 18-23 minutes. I always go till the max and sometimes a minute or two longer. Personal preference.

Frosting: Fluffy Vanilla Frosting (directly from Martha Stewart's Cupcakes pg. 302)

I am starting to love Martha's cupakes book, at least for frostings, more than I like the Joy of Cooking - which in the past was my icing staple.

1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter (I did 3/4 or 1.5 sticks butter)
1 pound (4 cups) confectioner's sugar, sifted (I did 1/2 pound or 2 cups)
1/2 teaspoon pure GF vanilla extract (I did 1/2 teaspoon - maybe more of 1 teaspoon GF vanilla)

Using electric mixer beat butter on medium-high speed until pale and creamy - about 2 minutes.

Reduce speed add sugar 1/2 cup at tim, beating and scraping down bowl as needed. Martha estimates this should take 5 minutes and that they frosting will be very pale and fluffy. (I did not bother timing myself - but this is most likely accurate).

Add vanilla and beat until frosting is smooth.

What I LOVE about this recipe is the frosting can be stored for up to ten days and just needs to be re-beaten when used. I have not tried this, but I will at some point - I am sure. This is a great frosting for using food coloring on.

My Women Who Rock

Today I am thankful for my mom, my aunt Vickie and my sisters. Four women that know how to have a good time, who are constantly there for me and I miss a ton! Thank you ladies for being wonderful!

There are many, many things I love about my mom, aunt and sisters. Here are 12 of them. A little late for mothers day, but I am a free spirit and believe that mothers/aunt/sisters day – can be any day!

1. They are all fearlessly vivacious women - they live out loud as women - no coyness, no pretense.

2. They are stalwart in their beliefs. They do not need approval.

3. They always have my best interest at heart and are always supportive - even when I change what I thought I was going to do with my life for the 100th time.

4. My mom and my aunt LOVE to read/listen to audio books. I got my love of literature and writing from the woman who would recite at the kitchen table the Jabberwocky and Poe. Of course she did these recitals to the point that we would all ask/beg her not to. And mom – it is okay if you do stop – we get it. ;-)

5. My mom, my aunt and my youngest sister love to get their nails done and they understand the meaning and importance of make-up. The fact is we love it!

6. My aunt knows way more about film than I do and loves to talk about it. I love to hear what she thinks and try to remember the movies she suggests – though I often forget. My mom loves the old movies - which sometimes I can stomach. And my sister loves films of various directors, procedures and actors she follows. I can never keep up with any of them, but I try!

7. They have amazing energy (especially when combined). Don’t all sisters though?

8. My aunt will tell me the “fun” stories about my mom. The same stories that my mom still will not admit too!

9. They love make-up! (Did I mention that already?) And they share that love through the mail. I have to admit that there is nothing as exciting as getting my aunts free trials of make-up – so awesome! In fact, I got some recently for mothers day. Highlight of the week for me.

10. They are all independent women. My mother is an intensely strong woman. This lady puts me to shame. She went to night school, after working all day and THEN came home to take care of two young children. She also kept a clean house and got a healthy dinner on the table every night (salad and veggies included). You go mom! I know you did not think anyone noticed, but I did.

11. They inspire me.

12. My mom and aunt show how important a sister bond is.

Mothers, Daughters, Sisters we rock! I am more than blessed to carry on the matriarchal tradition with two young daughters of my own.

Love and Hugs Ladies!

PS - Mom I got the earrings... sooooooo beautiful! Wearing them right now and missing you!

Happiness as a Goal: “Is it getting better or do you feel the same?”

Picture of the day: My man and... his man. To clarify - the picture is not related to the post. I just really like it. I want to make sure important people get a little face time on here!

I am reading The How of Happiness, A New Approach to Getting the Life You Want by Sonja Lyubomirsky. This sounds soooooo very self-help and as a result I never would have bought this book before this move. However, I am coming back to the bay for part of the summer at least, if not longer, and I will be taking a UCB course in psychology from one of my favorite UC professors. The course is on happiness and this book is required reading. Thus, I thought, why not get a head start? I want to be happier and I am reading plenty of books on happiness anyway. At the end of the summer I will try (assuming our home is FINALLY sold) to go to a woman wellness retreat to do more yoga and meditating. If you are interested email me! I would love to share the experience.

The author is a very reputable social psychologist at the UC Riverside campus. She has spent her career studying human happiness. She wrote this book to get some of the scientific research to the general public. In light of the new cultural fad of happiness self help – like “the Happiness Project” by Gretchen Rubin – Lyubomirsky wants to get some valid researched concepts to achieving happiness out there.

Part-One of the Book Wrap Up.
Happiness can be broken down into a pie chart:

1. 10% Circumstances: This includes money, martial status, locale etc.

Many people over-assume how much life circumstances influence their happiness. People (like my man and myself) assume that more money, better jobs and relocation have a larger impact on happiness than they actual do. In Raising Happiness by Christine Carter it is pointed out that money does not factor into being happier, BUT when you do not have enough to cover the necessities it leads to unhappiness. Therefore after covering the basic necessities money does not continue to influence happiness. Neither does beauty or relationship status.

2. 50% Set Point: Also known as, genetics.

There is an individual set point based on genetics; however, it only accounts for 50% of happiness. To be fair this is a lot. It is not the end all. If you are predisposed to be less happy than the next person it just mean you need to work on that crucial 40%.

3. 40% Intentional Activity: What we can change with, what Lyubomirsky says is, “how you behave, what you think, and what goals you set every day of your life.”

Here Lyubomirsky refers to the serenity prayer. A prayer I have in my cell phone. It is one that I am not in ‘substance’ need of, but possible subsistence need of. “G-d, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.”

The prayer (in my opinion) is beautiful and one that is applicable to anyone – especially those looking for how to increase the 40% of malleable happiness in their lives. Knowing what we can change (intentional activity) and what we can not change (genetics and a good deal of environmental/circumstantial elements). Most importantly, we can not change other people - only ourselves.

So… I am going to run with that 40% and accept the 60% that I can not control – nor do I have any desire to try.

The Zoo: Spending Time One-on-One

I follow my friend’s blog the simple life. I have her blog on my side bar. I am constantly in awe of her ability to take and apply parenting strategies to her family and do it so well! She is articulate, organized and structured. I wish I could be half as organized. I can make lists to stay on task and this works well most the time. Sadly, I am the person who leaves their cell phone in the fridge and can not find it for a couple days in a row. This of course leads to my mom assuming I am dead and e-mailing 20 times in a singular day panicked. While I am admitting my flightiness it might be a good time to confess that I drift off in the middle of most conversations. I have a friend that laughed when I confessed this. She said, “I noticed!” I did not realize it was so obvious. Sigh.

A month ago my structured lady-friend posted on sibling rivalry, at my request! I appreciate this immensely. One of her suggestions to alleviate sibling rivalry is increasing one-on-one time with children in the family. This appears SO simple! Well, for some of us. Others of us think about it, how great it is, and then get distracted by something else…

I am not consistent about one-on-one time. In the past my one-on-one time has been limited to very simple tactics. I switch off which child I lie down next to at night to help them sleep (this doubles to stop the goofing off thus getting them to sleep faster). Another simply tactic is if one daughter has a play date at our house I focus on the other daughter. Usually this means playing a game or, more often than not, cooking/baking. Play dates at our house often lead to cookies, cupcakes and muffins.

In fact, most my original gluten free baking happened while Beezus and her best friend played with dolls in our sunroom. Ramona and I would be hard at work in the kitchen making sweets. I do think this has been a great trick at keeping peace during play dates, combining cooking with kids, and just plain creating fun memories.

Today my lucky Ramona went to a birthday party where she got to see a play of “Beauty and the Beast” done by a local private high school. One of the girls in the play was a babysitter we have started using. (In fact one awesome change in our lives since being here – we have at least three reliable babysitters!)

Conveniently this gave Beezus and me four hours of undisturbed time – which I originally planned on using towards errands. As we were getting ready to leave this morning Beezus stomps her foot and says, “I do not want to go grocery shopping while RAMON gets to go to a birthday party.” This statement was accompanied by folded arms and a tilted head, not to mention a haughty tone.

It was in this moment that I remember the local zoo was having a Cinco de Mayo celebration, complete with music, arts, crafts and a piñata. Therefore… right after dropping off Ramona at her birthday party we skipped our chores. We grabbed some GF treats at the local super market and went to the zoo! Beezus’s father, who had been away on business for most the week, got into the airport earlier than expected took a taxi directly to the zoo and spent most the day with us.

While I was out I started to think, get distracted, by all the chores I needed to do with what I call, "the running list". Geeze, later in the week I need to, later in the month I need to, still have not picked a book for book club, what will I make for dinner... In the meantime I was missing that Beezus was telling me all about her new video game. Then I remember the mindfulness practice I have been doing – which insists we stay present in the moment and appreciate it. I started asking Beezus questions about the game, instead of thinking about chores. I kept interested, involved and we had a good discussion.

Today my oldest daughter – a girl who is very anxious - smiled, laughed and talked freely. I very rarely see her just plain relax and today she did. I could tell how truly special she felt. When kids are babies they give that special smile to their parents effortlessly and it just so pure. As they get older, I am finding, it is harder to get that smile. Today was full of them. It felt great and Beezus felt special and important!

When my girls reconnected at the end of their different adventures there was no fighting they simply sat down and recanted their days. It was sweet to watch.

Today I am grateful for the simple life's author. I am grateful for the great weather. It was 60 and it was hot! It felt like 80 outside. I am grateful for the mariachi band, the GF ice cream chocolate bar treats, my man meeting us at the zoo (so we did not have to cut the day short to get him), the merry-go-round and chocolate strawberries!

Mindfulness and Meditation

No one is as peaceful as this cat. She is an inspiration to us all! ;-)

I am taking steps to freeing my mind from negativity and stress. This month, in addition to continuing my own research on happiness and continuing to implement practicing happiness in activities, I am now diving into the world of Mindfulness, meditation and Buddha!

Mindfulness is essentially practicing an awareness, specifically a visceral awareness of the present. The Mindfulness meditation is focusing on the act of breathing and/or pausing to objectively recognize meandering thoughts and refocusing the self on the present moment without judgment.

According to many experts in the psychology field “Mindfulness” practices leads to a reduction in stress, neurologically speaking, which also of course equates to behavior and thought processes. In Raising Happiness Christine Carter cites studies which indicate that people who practice mindfulness exhibit “more intense and frequent pleasant and positive emotions, heightened sense of self knowledge, which is a key component to self control, greater empathy and attunement with others” as well as being “more self-confident, outgoing… (and) less stressed out, anxious and depressed” not to mention “ cultivating an emotional balance” (p. 133). Carter equates meditation to be a part of the “holy grail” to happiness. It is not an exaggeration to say that many psychologists are agreeing with her as study after study pumps out support for this holistic practice.

To aid in my amateur attempts at meditation I have started reading the book the mindfulness solution: Everyday Practices for Everyday Problems by Ronald D. Siegel, PsyD. This book delves into the Mindfulness practice in the Buddhist tradition. Siegel points out that Mindfulness is beginning to become a regular part of well respected psychoanalytic/therapeutic practices. It has started being utilized in therapies. It is been credited with helping alleviate mood disorders, eating disorders, anxieties, phobias, OCD symptoms, mourning losses etc. Obviously alleviate is NOT cure; however, Mindfulness practices are very helpful.

To paraphrase my comprehension so far the main principles are:

1. Everything is temporary. Mindfulness revolves around the concept that there is a need to accept that nothing lasts and that our resistance is futile. No just kidding, that is Star Trek. Our existence is temporary and we should not resist this notion. Embracing our moratality is fundamental.

2. Clouding our minds with worries about the future and the past are detrimental to our happiness. Often depression, anxiety and other mood disorders have reoccurring negative thought patterns. People who suffer with depression are more likely to remember negative events than positive ones, remember criticism more than compliments, more negatively judge themselves and precieve interactions with others more negatively etc. Mindfullness is great and aids in alleviating some of this disordered thinking because it practices resetting the mind to the present, not letting the mind slip to past negative memories or future negative concerns, and as part of the practice there is no judgment placed on “slip ups”. In essence Mindfulness could be considered a little cognitive behavioral therapy.

3. Mindfulness focuses on the present moment and in meditation on self awareness and breathing.

As I learn more about Mindfulness and see its effects in my own house I will continue to post.

My first attempt on record:
The first night I tried mindfulness meditation I brought my lap top to bed. I played a free meditation (learning/teaching) podcast. I felt a little silly and still do; however, I am very seriously looking for peace and this has a promise to help.

My man spent the whole time being the way grown men can be, when they forget they are (in fact) grown up, he kept burping (among other bodily noises) and giggling. I think I had to start the pod cast over at least ten times and it was very hard not to laugh and stay focused. But as research suggests, laughter brings happiness in and of itself, enjoying the frustration and even immaturity was a nice way to keep in mind happiness can NOT be too serious an endeavor (by nature). I felt, at the end of the twenty minutes (more like an hour after all interruptions), if I can meditate through that I should be able to meditate through anything.

Adding to the list of Gratitude: Soap and Toilet Paper

Last night we all linked hands as we began to go around the table and state what we are grateful for. Halfway around our family circle of four my man asks, "have you girls washed your hands?"

Beezus and Ramona glanced at each other and smiling, guiltily, said in unison, "no". My man gave me a look, which I knew meant I was going to regret some little tidbit of information he was about it enlighten me with.

The sun is out sometimes here now. This is very nice. It is not necessarily "warm" by our California standards, though I find it uncomfortably warm when I try to sleep at night. My understanding is our blood thickens in colder climates and colder weather seems warmer. So, 60 degrees is some how warm enough to sweat by.

In any case last night my man decided to BBQ. He has in fact done this a few times in the last couple weeks. We have even started BBQing honey and cinnamon glazed pineapple. Super yummy! These reoccurrences in BBQs have led to my youngest Ramona missing family friends from NorCal. I had to stop cleaning the kitchen/getting ready for dinner and give her a hug while she "let it all out". It was hard to see her so upset. She did manage to recover and...

Ramona and Beezus played in the backyard while my man BBQed. It was a good to hear their voices and laughter outside throwing a ball around for the dog. Of course this leads to me explaining that our yards are very communal out here. All the neighborhood homes dump into one large yard. Our families section is fenced off, mostly for our dog. So as not to impose on the greater good – our section of fenced off space is rather small, which leads to playing fetch being a little messy. If you have dogs you might know where I am going with this. Basically you can not be sure that muddy ball (we have had a lot of rain too) might not have had just mud on it. And the kids had not washed their hands since being inside…

We took a gratitude break to wash all our hands very heavily with soap! Meaning... mommy is grateful for soap. Yeah! This gratitude reminded me of our first night going around the table and saying what we were grateful for. I thought I would share the list for fun:

Me:
1. Chocolate Strawberries
2. Having no in-house construction.
3. Book Club Ladies
4. Blogging/Writing/Creative Outlet
5. Summer

Beezus:
1. Cookies tomorrow (When we made sugar cookies together).
2. Playdate with a new friend.
3. Popcorn
4. Easter Egg Hunt (This was still a ways off at the time).
5. Disneyland

Ramona:
1. Cookies tomorrow (Again, the sugar cookie experiement a couple weekends ago).
2. Classroom friends at school
3. Toys
4. Easter Egg Hunt
5. Strawberries

My man:
1. Live in a stable environment (he was being wordly and referring to our gov.)
2. Soap (which I now emphasize with even more!)
3. Deodorant
4. Dinner
5. Toilet Paper

The girls got a kick out of his list. Maybe why the first night had so many giggles!

Parenting Blunders, Sigh

A picture of me reading a book on raising kids the Easter bunny left me/I could not help but buying. Oh the things parenting books do not bother to go over, because the author assumes some things are obvious! Phuff, silly book.

At one point, in all my mommy brilliance, I decided it would be cute to claim that a fairy sprinkled dust on a snack of fruit I was putting out for my toddlers. In reality I had sprinkled some cane sugar on strawberries for the kids. Toddlers are so young and cute and willing to believe that a fairy really did fly in. For me, apparently, this is too tempting and… fun, right? I had this wonderful image of Tinker Bell coming in and leaving some magic on a tasty treat for the kids.

This became a sensation, and at first I felt a true sense of parenting accomplishment. That special type of accomplishment we mommies get when we felt we have inspired a new family tradition. A tradition these lucky kids will grow up to pass down to their own kids or at least talk loving of to their friends as they get older. Gee, I remember how my mom would pretend that fairies would dust our food with sugar when we were young. Sigh.

Well, years later and my kids ask for “fairy dust” on their fruit. Asking for the sugar is not a problem. I will not always put sugar on their food and they are good about accepting a no. However, as some adults might have gathered already (and those who do not should feel good this has not occurred to them) fairy dust can also be a reference to powdered drugs. And gosh only knows fairy dust sounds a lot like Angel Dust. Cringe. When I first instilled this new tradition I had not started my psychology courses, much less my social welfare course work. I did not think in terms of the abnormal or social deviance... yet.

So now when my kids ask or tell other adults that “mom puts fairy dust on our food!” Instead of gaining a sense of mommy pride, I feel a sense of mommy mortification. I worry that my kids will go to school and bring this up to teachers and I will have social services knocking on my door and I will have to insist, “they MEAN sugar! I swear!”

Of course, I have an overly active imagination and maybe other parents do not raise their eyebrows when my kids giggle over fairy dust. Perhaps this really is an "okay" tradition that will in fact lead to lots of good memories or at least when they are older a lot of good laughs. I can always look forward to that for sure.

In any case the moral of this story is, when you have kids or if you have kids PLEASE think through the cute little traditions you come up with! I wish I had thought that one through a pinch more.