Food, Family, Books

Update on the waffles.
The Gluten Free Bisquick mix is amazing for waffles! I love Gluten Free Pamela's mix for muffins and pancakes; however, I always have to alter the recipes. I have not tried the Bisquick for pancakes or muffins yet. The mix did not need applesauce for waffles. I did use cinnamon for flavor – about a teaspoon. Sadly, my man is not the most adventurous foodie out there. After a bit of begging on his part I did not try the bacon... I will though. It sounds fascinating.

What I did do for fun was chop up strawberries and fry them in a 1/2 a teaspoon of butter and brown sugar. I topped the waffles with powered sugar, cooked strawberries and chocolate chips – very yummy. Next time I swear whip cream and bacon.

Family Up-date:
Beezus is feeling better-ish. After two weeks of illness this is a nice break. We have been looking into planning out our summer. Both these girls are very excited for school to end in mid-May. This morning it snowed, but by the afternoon it had mostly melted away again. Outside constant nightmares of tornadoes I am looking forward to a weather change.

The girls and I have started going to our local library after school and reading books together. I enjoyed watching Beezus tonight pretend present her library book to her imaginary students. What I love about watching Beezus pretend to be a teacher is how each year the body language, descriptive words, pretend instructions or terminology change to more properly mirror her current teacher. It is amazing to catch a glimpse of her classroom played out for everyone in the living room. Very live action role playing. Beezus very much looks up to her teachers each year.

I did quit facebook, again. I have made it at least three weeks? I am happier for it. Not too mention more productive. I miss seeing what everyone is doing, but I will continue to update the blog more often and try to even, gasp, use my phone. ;-)

Books:
I have recently read and recommend Hiroshima in the Morning by Rahna Reiko Rizzuto and Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout.

I found Hiroshima in the Morning on MSN. Hiroshima in the Morning is rather infamous as a memoir which recants the author’s personal journey in Japan researching the aftermath of Hiroshima decades later and how that journey led to her decision to divorce her husband and leave her two young sons. Rizzuto has been highly criticized by the parenting community as being selfish and a “bad” mother for claiming that having an identity as a mother should not be restricted to women that live with their families. She instead insists that she has been a better mother for her decision to live her life more fully and pursue her own passions. The memoir also looks closely at her time in Japan doing research for her book and conducting interviews with Hiroshima survivors.

I liked the book a lot. I find I am constantly questioning what exactly a mother’s role is and what determines/restricts this role. Finding where career, personal development and sacrifices need to made and how to make them and stay happy. Rizzuto has a unique and anthological sense of roles, identity and culture which she tells in an introspective narrative I find fascinating and thought provoking. I also found the interviewees stories memorizing making Hiroshima more vivid than even the photographs that I have seen.

Olive Kitteridge is one of the more deftly crafted character developments I have had the joy of reading. The main character Olive is produced through a series of short stories and through the eyes of various members of her community. This book also delves into the intricacies of marriages, affairs, romances and exploration of mother child relationships. The book follows Olive’s family primarily while still touching upon other tales that include the harsh realities of the adult world like substance abuse, eating disorders, suicides and other forms of dysfunction.

I like short stories, serious fiction and unique characters. Awesome, fast, fun, serious fiction read.

GF Cooking: Supper for Breakfast, Waffles with Whip Cream

A picture of Beezus at the children's museum.

Quick Family Update
Sadly everyone is sick! Yuck. Poor Beezus has been the sickest. She started two weeks ago with a stomach bug, progressed to the flu this last week and then last night we got antibiotics for strep and ear infections! Hopefully she will be up tomorrow for a really healthy pick me up breakfast! Put some meat back on her little bones!

Gluten Free Reading...
I have been dedicating some time to reading up on gluten free baking and I would like to share some of my more recent finds.

The most common complaint I have for muffins, waffles, and cakes in general is how dry the baked product often are. In Living Without’s Gluten Free Holiday Guide, that would be the November/December Issue, their food editor Beth Hillson recommends adding honey, applesauce or yogurt to gain moisture.

The GF Tip:
First of all, yes I am that far behind in my reading and gluten free research. Second, I think adding applesauce, yogurt and honey is an amazing gluten free cooking tip! I have used applesauce often in my muffins and I love the results. The muffins taste better and the kids eat them better. I, of course, follow it up with cinnamon and chocolate chips. However, the chocolate or sugar is not necessary and other ingredients could be substituted for this addition like walnuts, blueberries or both! I highly recommend this. Fruits and nuts add great nutritional value.

The Twist:
To add to my GF tip is a twist I learned yesterday on the food network from Giada De Laurentiis. Laurentiis made breakfast for dinner. Or out here in South Dakota it would be breakfast for supper, since in the Midwest dinner is lunch and soda is pop. The breakfast for supper is one of my absolute favorite tricks to make family suppers less mundane. In fact I already did the same thing early this week. I made gluten free pancakes with bananas on top, eggs and bacon. The pancakes utilized almond flour. I attempted to time the breakfast so my man would walk into the smell of bacon when he got home from work. In my mind, this is the equivalent of flowers and chocolate for a chick. The little “I love you” that married couples need every now and then. ;-)

Ms. Laurentiis made an elaborate meal with several complimentary elements including waffles, quiche and a night cap. The waffles really caught my interest. The night cap did too, but I can not share that with the kids.

What I love about the waffles is that they were made from a Bisquick baking mix! I just want to kiss professional cooks that admit to the simplicity and ease of using a pre-established mixes. For gluten free cooks this is perhaps even more important where mixing different flours together can get tiring and frustrating. The market for GF pre-mixed flours has grown substantially and recently Bisquick came out with a pancake and waffle baking mix. The same baking mix I have in my pantry and I have been dying to try out.

Of course, Luarentiis kicked her waffles up a notch and added the “fun factor”. In this case adding cinnamon and pancettato to her batter and topping her waffles with walnuts. She did suggest that you can use chopped up bacon instead. Below is a link her recipe off the food network website.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/pancetta-and-cinnamon-waffles-recipe/index.html

Tomorrow morning I will combine my twists, tips and my breakfast for supper. I will try out the Bisquick GF baking mix. I will add in applesauce, cinnamon and bacon. I will top it off with whip cream and chopped up bananas.

I think keeping an open mind and including with the applesauce either cinnamon, bacon, blueberries, apples, nuts, whatever excites you.

Hope everyone in CA and SD is having a great day! We are getting snow after having it melted off most the week. Bummer.

The Weather – Yeah, again.

Many people might wonder. What do you DO out there in South Dakota? And the answers can vary.

1. I have gone to one of the local libraries.

2. I have become a member of the butterfly house – where I take photos of butterflies. Facebook friends you know what I’m talk’in ‘bout. I am winking right now.

In fact, the butterfly house has really only helped me realize a macro lens would be nice. My new found, and frankly, distractible, dilettante interest in photographing butterflies has led me to look for local camera shops that rent equipment – which then led me to realize…

3. I have looked for, but not found a local camera shop. I say this tentatively. Perhaps I have missed it. There are nonetheless tattoo parlors and casinos. This makes me think I am supposed to get a tattoo. There are also tornadoes. Have I mentioned that before? This makes me think about photographing tornadoes.

4. I have learned that a robust disdain for the winter is not limited to families relocated to South Dakota. The locals really despise the severity and duration of winter. A poll taken on a popular South Dakota mom internet group site asked what people liked the most about the winter months and the resounding answer was “it ends”.

The local radio station's morning show held a call in session asking listeners to share what they are doing to get through the winter months and escape the seasonal depression. The suggestions where typical "I work out", "I eat", "I clean", "I vacation" etc. This is first time it occurred to me that I was not alone in feeling very "down" as a result of the weather. That in fact the entire community was "feeling it". Without realizing it, I was taking part in an important community ritual.

Thus the cultural anthropologist in me believes it is a form of authenticity to gripe about the weather conditions. I believe this means I have gone through my initial hazing and thus have reached a point of belonging. Like a badge I wear my disgruntlement for the weather. I have survived my first Midwest battle with Mother Nature and I was not broken. I did, nevertheless…

5. Plot my escape. This plot includes organizing, repacking, tossing out nonessentials (make sure I can travel light and rapidly), learning the route to the airport, kissing up to my mom so I can crash on her sofa and lamenting the kids being stuck in school till summer. I joke. Really. I swear I am stronger than -22 degrees.

6. I became a member of the local children’s museum. The museum includes an Imax, an art museum, a theater and camps for kids. The kids prefer the water table. Of course I could buy a cheap water table and put in our back yard – well, if it would not freeze.

7. I took the kids to the local zoo/natural history museum. This is where the picture is from. They have live and stuffed animals there. In Beezus terms they have both the living animals and animal heaven.

A fast Beezus logic recap: When Beezus was younger she determined that taxidermies, especially the ones in the Lindsay Wildlife Museum are where animals went to heaven. She takes the remains as the physical essence of the dead or at least did then. At the zoo out here she was much, much more interested in the gift shop. She is becoming more concerned with being a good ol’American consumer now. Heaven! Phuff that is obviously spending her allowance on gimmicks at the mall.

8. As a family we have started hanging out at the mall once a month. It smells great, unlike the zoo. BIG PROBLEM with malls now. We can not eat anything there regardless of the smell. Gluten issues. All those sweet memories of going to the mall eating a lipid heavy cinnamon bun are gone. To be fair I could never get away with that kind of snack again anyway, but it is worth noting the mall is not a gluten friendly place.

9. I have started to volunteer in local communities. One is a mental health organization aimed at ending stigmatism against mentally ill through education and group counseling for families.

10. I joined a book club. I did give them the disclaimer that I do not really critique books well. Yet, I do like to read. I felt being literate added to the group. The club consists of a group of women with little kids.

One woman’s husband works with my man. We double date. It is not a big deal. It is just kinda our status. I am being casual. Nonchalant. They know of Settlers, but they might not LOVE it, like we do.

My new take on dating, any form, not fun. Playdates, double dates. It is the constant looking for someone you are compatible with and unfortunately the endless interviewing, nervously trying out your sense of humor and finding where the boundaries on politics are established. I just need my pre-established network which has long ago been worn down by my bawdy and somewhat depraved sense of humor and my “fracking” liberal views (someone here described them that way for me - I never swear). By the way…

11. I have not broken down and joined a church yet. This is laziness. Though, it occurred to me recently that churches are FREE karaoke bars. This makes church vastly more interesting. I want to find one with a choir, preferably one that likes blues, lilth faire and rock n roll! Not joking. Free vocal lessons and a community that gets together to sing for fun. Count me in.

12. I have gotten to know my neighbors and our kids now can run between the houses freely to play. It makes my man and I seem old school 1950s style and social.

I will end this post with some good old weather talk. The snow is finally melting. Ramona insisted on wearing her snow pants to school today, even though, most kids are not at this point. Beezus who is ridiculously skinny is almost never cold, was thrilled to ditch her snow pants. Yeah, we might be hitting spring. It is time for lightening storms. Of course that means I might want to take photos of lightening.

Quick Notes on Life

Awesome things about being 30 and South Dakota men.

1. Most awesome thing about being 30 (outside being referred to as old - which is always awesome). I can order a Long Island without getting carded, because I guess I just look THAT old. But the bonus to this is that I also don't get any looks for ordering a "heavy" drink while dining out with my family. I have found that Long Islands are essential for dining out with children... or I guess, really, even most adults I know. You know who you are... Nik.

2. Cowboys/Tuckers/Farmers. There is one great thing I have learned about the men out here. They all are rugged. That's right ladies, you know what I mean, tall dark and handsome. Actually, usually not all that dark, but they wear hats. Baseball hats, trucking hats (which look like baseball hats, but slightly different), and cowboys hats. Cowboy hats for women, at least me, are like knee high boots are to most men, not Nik, but most men.

3. The men out here are not much for words, but the all smile, tip their hat and they even OPEN THE DOORS for me AND my kids (which I feel bad about - cause the kids take sooooo long to get through a door way).

Like, what the what?!

That's right, we got that southern hospitality way up North. Yee Haw.

These are the things I noticed today. Have an awesome night Californians.

An Up-Date to this post:
1. I might have just had a Long Island or two.
2. My humor is always, always meant in a good way! I am loving living in South Dakota. Sometimes I miss home, but this place is also becoming near and dear to me. And I LOVE southern hospitality and hats! (No sarcasm there). Not to mention I am enjoying the break from men of the bay. They can be, oh gosh, how do I say this? Metrosexual?

LOL. Eek! Bay Area boys. So cute! But when a guy is more concerned with what their hair, clothes, shoes look like than I am (which is hard)... Give my South Dakota men anytime!

Tiny Victories

Life has been rough lately. I blame the weather. Maybe also the culture shock of the move and the demanded adjustments. I am finding that everyday it is really important to take the good - even if it is a tiny victory.

Tonight we had one of my favorite meals: White Rice (cooked in GF chicken broth added for taste), Broccoli (simply steamed - though my man has been thwarting my attempts at health by adding cheese to the tops) and Salmon (broiled – my current oven can actually broil – super stoked).

Family meal time is a huge constant at our house. This is the one place where Beezus can ask her philosophical or theological questions – never ending as they are and Ramona can crack jokes and tell us about her mischief. It is the place we discuss God, the universe, molecules, germs, nutrition and what we did that day. I really feel it is where we can all be heard and connect.

This is not me bragging, because this does not necessarily mean that the mechanics of dinner go well. Often the kids dance in their seats. I have never understood why I have to remind my kids to sit all the way in their chairs. It is a little bizarre how often Ramona literally falls out of her chair. Spills happen too often and what one kids will eat, the other often will not. Beezus has an annoying habit of spitting out her food in protest. And the climatic end to the evening, no matter what great conversation we have, is one tired mom with a lot of dishes to do!

Well, tonight was different. My entire family (my man included – who does not like salmon) cleaned their plates. There was no fighting at the dinner table between children. No complaining. No spills! Everyone was entirely in their seats - no falling ove.! Really with two kiddos, two years apart, this is huge accomplishment. I decided, though we don't normally have desserts after dinner, that tonight is an ice cream night! I am also very against fast food (unless we are traveling). I loosened up. There happens to be a DQ near by and the DQ does have some GF options. So I sent my man to grab some ice cream for our family.

My man loves doing all errands as a family. In the past, when he worked at home, this was convenient. Doing errand together meant never having to combat two tiny children at Costco alone. It also meant my man could grab more costco food court pizza - he never seems to get sick of that. However, this time when my man started to pouted a bit about flying solo to get dessert the part of me that is now alone with our delightful children more often (or perhaps the part of me that played single parent for a couple months) had a different take on our old customs. I couldn't help but get my fiery, mischievous side going. I announced to the kids that Daddy needed some company to go get dessert. What wonderful volunteers! Thus, I scored myself about 20 minutes to post a blog in private.

Tally is in my favor tonight.

Scored an awesome dinner, 20 minutes peace AND a dessert for a well done evening. Did not even mind doing the dishes.

Really, it is the small victories that make me smile lately.

My Grocery List

I have been putting off going into the GF (gluten free) food posts. Mainly due to GF food being such a large topic - blech. I have a new concept which should make this easier. Every now and then I am going to post my grocery list. You get to have an up close intimate look at what my family eats now. This should be a great way to dive into what GF foods are out there and where they can be found easily.

Easy Finds. HyVee (or Safeway)

1. Cinnamon Chex Cereal. Chex is one of the few mainstream brands that caters to the GF crowd. The GF variations include rice, honey nut, chocolate and cinnamon. Careful to look close, not all Chex are GF and none of the mixes are. The GF variations proudly state in large green letters on the front of the cereal box “Gluten Free”.

2. Yoplait Yogurt Vanilla. Yoplait is another great mainstream brand that caters for the GF crowd. The individual yogurts state “gluten free” next to their ingredient information. Not all the Yoplait Yogurts are GF, but many of the standard flavors are. Their “parfait” line is not. I haven’t checked their thicker yogurts or their “duets”.

I love these yogurts for me as they up my calcium levels easily as a fast breakfast. I tend to not drink milk much. I personally do not bother with fat-free, but those are awesome as well. I like the individually packed yogurt as apposed to the bulk buy because I can count calories easier.

3. Yoplait Go-Gurts. A yogurt aimed at kids. These are great to pop in the freezer. My kids love them that way. Also, these are super easy on play dates and for lunches. Some moms don’t like the amount of sugar – so there are draw backs to convenience. Anyway, this is our super easy cheat. Also states on the box near ingredient label “gluten free”.

4. Chicken (fresh w/nothing added). Often chicken is enhanced with chicken broth – you need to call in about that – never assume. Right now from Sam’s Club we get the Tysons boneless skinless chicken breasts with no flavoring added. I like that we can get this in bulk and cut down cost.

5. Van’s Wheat-Free Waffles (Frozen Product). Not all mainstream stores will sell these, but many do sell this are a similar brand. Read the labels carefully. I do not personally love this brand. The taste and texture are not great. In fact I do not usual buy these. It is more a matter of convenience and a necessity to have variety early in the morning for the kids.

6. Potatoes. I love the fingerlings – Costco and Sam’s Club sell them. Super fast and easy to cook as apposed to large baked potatoes. Obviously raw potatoes are gluten free.

7. Salmon. I love fish. I love the health factor. You get your fatty acids/Omega 3 and 6s. Very awesome.



Harder Finds. The next part of my list can be found at many general stores, but often needs a specialty store.

1. Udi’s. I LOVE THIS BRAND. If you need GF this is an important brand to know. At least as important to my other favorite Pamelas. Udi’s makes sandwich bread. It is the main reason I have not managed to come up with a decent bread recipe to share with you all and I am thrilled about that! I mean, the bread isn’t perfect; however, it is doable and easily better than anything else out there right now. Most general stores sell Udi’s sandwich bread now. It is hard to find in the store usually. This bread is sold frozen since GF breads go bad faster than regular bread. So check all freezers. In Lafayette they have it in the bakery section in their special cake freezer.

2. Udi’s GF Bagels. You need to go to a specialty store for this product or order online. These are the best GF bagels you can find in specialty arena that are mildly mainstream. Still leaves something to be desired – but it isn’t overly rice-y.

3. Udi’s pizza crust. This product can be found at many mainstream stores, but not all. Again it’s frozen. Glutino is a brand that also does a more substantial pizza crust I like a quite a bit; however, I have not found this pizza crust in South Dakota yet.

4. Kinnikinnick. This is another amazing brand. We got their Cinnamon Sugar Donuts today. We found them at our local HyVee which is revising its specialty foods area. I am super excited to see them again. They also have GF Vanilla and GF Chocolate.

5. Annie’s HomeGrown Gluten Free Bunny Cookies Cocoa and Vanilla – Annie’s also makes a boxes Mac n Cheese for GF diet (I don’t use this much, but when I do I add grated cheddar cheese and butter to thicken it). The cookies are similar to animal crackers/cookies.

6. Organic Quinoa Pasta by Ancient Harvest. Best pasta out there. I have found that it is tricky and just annoying to cook GF pasta. We have WAY less spaghetti than we used to and no Mac n Cheese. The trick I have learned with this particular pasta is to have the water boiling first, to go for ten minutes as apposed to the lower end of the time frame of 6-9 minutes printed on the box and to add a teaspoon or less of butter to the noodles for the last 2 minutes of cooking them. Also, use a much larger pan than for regular pasta and do not stop stirring. Over cooking, under cooking and noodles sticking together are real issues. The pasta does not necessarily cook evenly either. If you get it right though, man this is a great tasting noodle. I have tried to cook their elbow noodles, but I have less luck with that. You will find that fewer problems occur with rice pasta – but we get sick of the rice taste after a while.

Anyway, that was my grocery list for today. Maybe I have finally gone about shedding some light on the GF diet at our house.

TGIF

Long week and we are happy to see the end of it. Maybe it is the cold weather, the longer school days for the kids or having only one car to get everyone to and from their various activities. I think we are just super happy to have a bit of break.

Highlights of the week:

1. This was Ramona’s first week of school; however, you wouldn’t know it. She has a made a best friend, loves her teacher and is completely adjusted to her new routine. Her best friend’s name is Kaylie. I thought that was funny. The kindergartners in general seem very out going.

2. We went to sign Beezus up for Ballet last night. She is very excited and the facility was beautiful and vibrant. There is one large waiting room with two full wall windows to look into. In one room there was a class of kids a year older than Beezus doing a combo ballet/hip hop class. In the adjoining room was an adult Zumba class. The kids were fascinated by the Zumba. I think they both wanted to join. In fact as we waited for the owner to fill out registration information they stared wide eyed and open mouthed. They were quite taken.

3. I will be taking Zumba. My man has noticed a bit of loneliness going on with me. So, he suggested I take the class. He says “you like working out and it looks like the class is pretty social”. I am very nervous and very excited. I guess this is more of future highlight not a this week highlight, but whatever.

4. We are planning a trip back to Sunny California (?). We will be visiting in February to take care of last minutes details with the house. After all the work to get it into selling condition a tree fell on it! Life is just full of surprises. Conveniently this means a couple trips out to the bay. I am going to assume fate played an awesome role in the tree toppling!

5. The Victoria Secrets Semi-Annual sale I wait all half year to stop by hit this week. Even though it was a late at night when I made it out to this sale the store was packed. I enjoyed over hearing the conversations, specifically the church gossip. It’s good to know we have a lively church crowd here. I should have asked which church the hail from.

On to the weekend!