Chicken Strips!

I use a white board to write recipe down my recipe experiments and edit changes as I go. I've had a recipe written on my kitchen white board for over a week now, and I keep meaning to share it! It's been a crazy week of sewing and prepping for the Renaissance Faire tomorrow. We'll be taking some friends from church after first service and I refused to let us go without them being fully garbed. Soooo....yeah.

We went to Ren Faire a few weeks ago and took our little guy with us. Such a cute little one!

After having such a cutie like him, you must understand why I'm so determined that our group needs to all be costumed. ...which means much sewing in little time. 


And oh, how crazy this week has been! With a week that's so busy and packed I like to have quick and easy lunch options. Saffron Road makes some really great gluten free chicken strips that I love-but they are expensive. And one package isn't enough for me AND my little boy. So recently I decided to experiment and see what I could come up with.

And it's been on my white board since then.

Waiting to be shared.

So, before I get side tracked again, I want to share it! (and also because I really want to clean my white board and have it fully available again)

2-3 chicken breasts
1 egg
1/2 cup corn flour
1/8 cup white rice flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp garlic
1/2 tsp onion
1/2 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp pepper

1.  Preheat oven to 400.
2. Cut the chicken into strips of whatever size you want.
3. Mix all dry ingredients together in a bowl. 
4.  Whip egg into a froth, and dip chicken into it, then dipping in to the dry mix. Place on a parchment papered baking sheet. 
5. Bake 12-16 minutes, flipping halfway through. 
6. Serve with tator tots of something else of equal yum!

I've discovered that these also freeze really well. Get a cookie sheet that fits in your freezer, and after dipping chicken in the dry mix place on your cookie sheet and freeze. Bake for 20 minutes whenever you want them!

huzzah for the baker!

So much going on! We're preparing for an event our church is having this weekend for the neighbors in celebration of Easter, we have Easter with our families, and then Renaissance Faire. All in a week's time. Oi. So much to do, so little time!

The recipe I'm going to share is one that I specifically tried in preparation of Ren Faire, so I'm going to focus this post on the Faire.

I'm working on making a cotehardie for the Faire. I wanted something new to wear this year, and a dress sounded fun. (ie, flowy) I found this gorgeous pattern and decided to give it a try. My Mom and I found a whole bunch of light green linen at Salvation Army for an absurdly cheap price, so that's what it'll be made of. The gal who wrote out the pattern and blogged it called one part of the 'never ending eyelets of doom'. Yep, aptly named! That's where I am right now and I'm only 4 in! Ahh, but it'll look good when it's done... If you want to know what it looks like and how to make one yourself, here's the blog that I'm stalking following. ^_^ http://romantichistory.blogspot.com/search/label/cotehardie

We always brought our own lunch instead of buying food at the Faire. Mostly just because it's cheaper, and it's rather fun to walk back to the car, pull out our ice chest and find a picnic table with a group of friends and break bread together in the shade. It's just a lovely experience. Since I've been gluten free, it's more of a necessity than anything else. Get a rotisserie chicken (or roast one the night before), get some cheeses and some bread, some grapes...modern day Renaissance feast! Each year I've looked for a Renaissance-esque bread that I could bake and bring. And today, I've found it!

The original recipe is your normal bread. (ie, glutened) But I've tried making it now gluten free style, and it worked! Huzzah!

First, here's the link to the original recipe, and then I'll tell you what I did: http://www.simplysogood.com/2010/03/crusty-bread.html

Crusty Bread

3 cups TG's All purpose floud

1 3/4 teaspoons sea salt

1/2 teaspoons yeast

1 1/2 cups water

I followed the directions as she listed, mixing the dry ingredients together, adding the water, setting aside with plastic wrap to rise for at least 12 hours. (I waited 16 hours, as I had to wait for my little guy to go down for his nap) I used my Deep Covered Baker (from Pampered Chef) as the tool for baking. I heated the oven to 450 and let it heat in there for 30 minutes as instructed. I deviated from the instructions here. GF will not handle well in the sense of rolling into a ball and being all dandy like glutened stuff is. So I left it in the bowl it had been in, sprinkled flour over it while there, and waited. After 30 minutes of the DCB being in the oven, I took it out, took off the lid, dumped a good spoonful or two of flour on my dough, lifted it and dropped it into the hot DCB. Covered with the lid and put in to bake for 30 minutes. Just shy of 30 minutes into it (27 minutes, to be exact) I took the lid off and let it bake for 15 minutes un-lidded. Took it out of the oven, flopped it onto my cooling sheet, debated for a minute, then tore the bread in half and started taste testing. 

For having only 4 ingredients, it was really good! Wow! It was great with some Earth Balance butter on it. We're going to make some again (after Easter, methinks) and try adding some Daiya or other cheese-like stuff in it to see how it'd be with cheese. So exited for such a simple bread that I can make! Super simple for every day life AND for Ren Faire! Huzzah! Huzzah for the Baker! 

Seriously, you've gotta try it. I'm seriously impressed! If I remember to try it with the cheese sub and it turns out good, I'll do my best to post a note here!

bundt cake!

We survived the plague. I made more than three huge batches of chicken soup and bone broth, forced tons of fluids on the boys, and used lots of lavender and peppermint essential oils. But they're both better!

...and now I'm getting sick. *sighs*

It strikes me as amusing, how masochistic I must be. I take on assignments and odd jobs and projects with no problem, and then panic when I realize how little time I have to accomplish it all. I have two sewing projects to accomplish sooner rather than later, an event that my hubby and I are in charge of some of the activities and we need to plan for, and we're working on slowly remodeling/organizing our garage and laundry room. (laundry room being the fancy term for the guest bathroom that has a washer and dryer behind the broken door) And with all these projects going on, our little one has learned how to crawl and pull himself up to standing.

Somehow I feel like I have no time in the world to get everything done. And that's silly, as I have a full 24 hours EACH DAY to get stuff done! I have horrendous self control these days. And then I complain that I haven't got enough time to get everything done. Today at church we had a guest speaker who was talking about time and how we use it or don't use it. It definitely struck a cord in me. How often do I complain to my hubby that I haven't got enough time-but I got halfway through the book I was reading, had time to peruse Target with my Mom, and aimlessly play with the baby? I could've used that time so much better! Get some laundry started, play with the baby while it's running, work on sewing while he's napping, get dinner started (woot woot for crock pots!), run the dishwasher while running errands... Ugh. Now you now what you can pray for me about!

we took time to really play with our little guy before his bedtime. love that smile!

Yesterday was a busy day. TG had band practice in the morning, we had a wedding reception right after, and then when we got home I had a bunch of cooking and baking to do for today's All Church Lunch. I made a bunch of meatballs and made the most amazing bundt cake. The normals were getting a rare treat of baklava for dessert today, and I wanted cake, so I made cake for us specials. And I've got to share the recipe. It's delicious! (and if I don't share it, I'll likely lose it, and that'd be positively depressing!)

Chocolate chip bundt cake of YUM

• 1/2 cup sorghum flour
• 1/2 cup rice flour
• 3/4 cup potato starch
• 3/4 cup tapioca starch
• 1 teaspoon xanthan gum
• 1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/4 cups sugar
• 1/3 cup coconut oil
• 2 eggs
• 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup coconut milk (buttermilk style)
• 1 package dairy free mini chocolate chips

How to make this YUM:
1.) Preheat oven to 325° and spray bundt pan with non-stick spray
2.) Sift all the dry ingredients together
3.) Pour the cup of milk into a bowl, and add a tablespoon of lemon juice or vinegar to it. Set aside.
4.) Blend remaining wet ingredients together. (eggs, vanilla and oil- and yes, if the coconut oil is room temperature, the wet ingredients AND batter will be slightly lumpy. No worries)
5.) Slowly start adding the dry ingredients to the wet, alternating with the (buttermilk-esque) coconut milk. Blend thoroughly.
6.) Add the entire package of chocolate chips. Yes, the whole package. Stir in gently.
7.) Pour the batter into the pre-sprayed bundt cake pan, and slid into the oven to bake for 50ish minutes.
8.) Once the toothpick test declares it's done, pull that baby out of the oven and let her cool for a few minutes before flipping onto whatever tray or cake carrier you have.
9.) Cool the cake for awhile longer, and then lightly dust it with powdered sugar. Enjoy!

My hubby confessed to eating more than 3 slices today. ...I had more, so I can't really be too perturbed. This is a recipe that if you want to make it chocolatey, it wouldn't be too hard to reduce some of the flours and use cocoa powder to make it chocolatey. Or, if you want it lemony, grate some lemon rind into the batter, and use a bit of lemon juice straight into the batter as well. (and top with a lemon glaze!) This is a yummy cake that is rather simple-and has so many possibilities! If you want a rainbow funfetti type cake, sub out the chocolate chips with a tube of sprinkles. Play with it. Own it. Eat it and don't weigh yourself on your bathroom scale then following morning.

Any creative ideas out there on what else can be done to this cake?

Sickness and peanut butter

It's finally happened.

Our little one has gotten sick.

He almost made it 10 months without any illness! Alas, for my hubby caught a cold or something from his employee, and that made it's way to That Boy. We've been mostly battling just a fever. But still, a fever of 102.8 is still quite a new thing to battle! He's been handling it ok-ish. As long as I'm constantly holding him. And as long as he has his paci. Or is nursing. ...it's been a long few days.

Mama's little sickie

But my hubby is doing a bit better! His fever has been fluctuating a LOT, and all our Tylenol expired ages ago. (we use it sooo often. Our bottle expired in 2009 and we haven't used it since then to even notice!) Thankfully I've been doing more homeopathic stuff, and we've discovered that for sleeping purposes, a damp washcloth with lavender and peppermint essential oils dabbed on it help to reduce the fever and relax him. Huzzah for that!

So what's a Mama gonna do, with two sickies in her house to take care of? How is she supposed to keep functioning?

Well, I've discovered Pinterest. Finally. And I found the most amazing recipe EVER. Averie of loveveggiesandyoga has this amazing, amazing recipe for peanut butter chocolate chunk cookies. And they're naturally gluten free! No flour! I want to share them with my neighbor, but her daughter is allergic to eggs. I'm stubborn, these cookies are amazing, and they MUST be shared! So I altered the recipe.

Behold, the tweaked recipe for egg free scrumptiousness!

1 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup applesauce
1 TBSP vanilla
1 tsp baking powder
4 tsp coconut flour
4 oz dark chocolate bar

1.) Preheat oven to 350
2.) Mix all but the chocolate together well.
3.) Chop chocolate in chunks.
4.) Mix into batter. Pour into a container and fridge it for a minimum of 2 hours. (you can fridge it up to 5 days)
5.) Roll dough into balls and drop onto a cookie sheet that's covered with a parchment paper.
6.) Bake in preheated oven for 13ish minutes.
7.) Cool for 5 minutes.
7.) ENJOY



And here's the original recipe, so you can peruse her blog of yummies! Go make these cookies. Now.
http://www.loveveggiesandyoga.com/2013/01/peanut-butter-chocolate-chunk-cookies.html

Barbeque teaser

I love barbeque. I love Rattler's. But I can't spend money at Rattler's as often as I want. ...so what's a girl to do? Make her own yummy meal!

Originally, I told Mike that I wanted to barbeque some steak. But then I got thinking that steak really should have some good barbeque sauce. Then I looked up online, picked one, and altered a recipe for barbeque. After I made a whole bunch of sauce, I decided that I wanted chicken too, because then I'd have leftovers. Sooo....we ended up barbequing a huge steak and five chicken thighs. So. Good.

Barbeque. Home made sauce. Roasted (caramelized) carrots. Steamed broccoli.

Oh yeah.

I'm not looking forward to when the little guy can eat this food. I don't want to share!

Shall I share the sauce recipe? Or should I keep it as a secret sauce?... I think it's amazing, personally. Like, I'm using my finger to clean the bowl, so I can lick it. Delicious!

Maybe I'll just wait and see if anyone says they want the recipe...leave a comment if you want it!

Coconut!

So...I'm supposed to be on a cleanse diet.

No grains, no sugar, no eggs, no dairy...

Lots of veggies, fruits and meats...

...I feel like I'm dying without my chocolate and carby goodnesses!!!

What's a Mommy gonna do? I've started getting desperate, and been looking up coconut recipes. (for the record, coconut shavings are the most horrible food thing ever. I have texture issues, I know.) Well, dislike for coconut shavings aside, I'm desperate. I've got no problem with coconut flour. Or coconut oil. Or coconut butter. But shavings? Yeah, no thank you.

...so I bought coconut shavings today...and used them...and dude, have I got a recipe for you!

I was originally going to make coconut butter from scratch. But I got impatient and decided I'd just find something to do with coconut meal instead. (10 cups of coconut shavings in a food processor for about 10 minutes will yield some very fine coconut meal, for the unofficial record) I was curious. I was desperate. I made brownies!

Behold, coconut meal!

Similar to zucchini brownies, moist, decadent, and you've no idea that the yum in your mouth is healthy! I made them (with fervent prayers during the mixing, baking and taste testing) and served them to my hubby. He thought they were amazing! He's been doing the same as I all evening-snitching little bites here and there. Thankfully we'll have enough to share in our fellowship group at church tomorrow. Which is good, because that's the only reason I'm really able to make these while on a cleanse! (they have egg, which is a no-no for the cleanse diet, BUT everything else is acceptable!) I ended up making 3 batches of these brownies for tomorrow, and boy, are they good!

Shall I give this recipe? Or shall I hold ya'all in suspense? (for, like, the two of you who still follow a blogger who blogs every month, lol)

Here's the yum!

2.5 oz of dark chocolate (or all but 2 squares of a bar of chocolate)
1/2 cup coconut oil
2 eggs
1 cup coconut sugar (also known as palm sugar. You can use regular cane sugar if you'd like)
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp sea salt
3/4 cup fresh coconut meal (not flour, not shavings. Meal.)
2 TBSP coconut flour

• Pre-heat oven to 350. If not using seasoned stoneware, spray non-stick in a 8x8 pan.
• Melt dark chocolate and oil on stove top in small pan. Stir together, and then remove from heat.
• Once cool, blend eggs, sugar, vanila and chocolate together.
• Add the remaining dry ingredients. Mix well. 
• Pour into pan and bake for 25-30 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean. 

Gah, so good! I'm kinda glad our little one can't eat brownies yet. I wouldn't want to share! But he IS starting solid foods...so the time is coming quickly. Thankfully he's content thus far with zucchini and carrots and whatnot. Assuming Mommy gets her act together in the morning and makes it, he'll be trying out spinach tomorrow! But Mommy needs to make that first...

Well, I posted the recipe, huzzah! Time to crash, as there's a very good chance a certain little one will be waking in a few hours for a snack, and Mommy wants to get some sleep before then! Being a 6 month old boy, he's sure growing fast! *sniff, sniff* My little baby is growing too fast! Wah!

Look! He's even got two teeth growing in! Ayiee!

God provides

Ooh, I never wrapped up the fridge story!

God is so good! The repair guy came out and looked it over, said that it was repairable, but the bill would be just shy of $500. Eeek! But, we need a working fridge. So we told him to order the parts, and we'd figure out a way to pay for it.

God is so good.

A family at church heard of our refrigerator plight, and so very graciously offered to pay for it. Mike and I had to take a moment for humility, as it was something so unexpected, and our pride sure wanted to be in the way. But, when something is so clearly a provision from God, it's a good idea to be thankful and accept!

So our fridge is fixed. So grateful for blessings like a working fridge! And with it being out, we were able to clean the inside of the fridge and freezer. (yuck) But Mike cleaned most of it, so I can't really complain too much. ^_^ My husband is awesome.

 Our poor son is teething. He's got TWO teeth still raising through his gums. His amber necklace has kept the swelling and irritation down, but teeth popping through the gum is still not too fun.  Poor little guy woke up twice last night, in desperate need of his 'baby crack'. Seriously, those Hyland's Teething Tablets are amazing. This would be the worst experience ever if we didn't have them. As it is, it's still difficult at times. Getting stuff done is...occasionally happening. Our poor kitties have been traumatized by Axel's crying. I'm just constantly reminding myself that this season will pass all too soon, and when I'm attending his wedding in just (what will feel like) a few short months, I'll be wishing I could have him as a baby again. And really, I can't complain too much that my son constantly wants to cuddle. Laundry can wait. (for only so long though!) And the Lord has allowed me to live in the times of dishwashers, so we should be relatively good.

 I do miss hanging out with the fluffy kids. And I've been super stressed about some sewing projects that need to be done by Saturday. My Mom and my Mom-in-Love are super, as they've been willing to come play with their grandson and keep him occupied while I sew. (because, really now, what Grandma would say no to time with their grandson?)

 Thinking of the little man, he should be waking up really soon, and I still want to put away my breakfast dishes and pet a kitty!

Unhappy with his teeth-and bedtime

Trader Joe's with Grandma and Mommy!

Reading to Mr. Panda

In everything we say or do, give thanks!

Currently, my weather bug says it's 102 outside, and the expected high is 109. It's been one of those weeks here in Southern California.

   And yesterday, our fridge died.

   Right after we bought groceries.

TBG was pretty concerned (stressed) about how we'd pay for it, whether it be repairs or a new fridge. I was concerned about the groceries being lost. Thankfully the freezer seems to still be working, so it was only the fridge groceries that needed a new home. And our wonderful neighbor happened to have some space in her fridge to house our food until Saturday. (come Saturday, if our fridge is still dead, I'll be moving our stuff from her fridge to my parents fridge, so she can do her grocery shopping!) We called, and a repair guy is coming to look at it this afternoon. During all this, TBG was still stressing, and I'd finally decided that whatever happens, happens, and it doesn't surprise the Lord, and He knows how it'll work out. TBG then needed to leave to help a friend move, and I stayed home with the (fussy) baby. Well, when TBG got home, he seemed much more relaxed, and then told me the good news. An unnamed friend from church had called him, and has offered to help us in the fridge situation. Considering we don't yet know if it'll be something fixable, or something that needs a whole new fridge, that's pretty awesome! We're praying for fixable, but we'll see what happens. Either way, how awesome is God, in providing a friend who's willing to help?! (hopefully it won't be a pricey thing, for all our sakes. But just the knowledge that there IS help, is wonderful....and rather humbling) God is awesome, and involved in even the little details. How can we not rest easy in that knowledge?

   TB has a sunday school sing along cd...that song called, "I've got the joy, joy, down in my heart" has that line about peace that passes understanding. I think that's the best way to describe this. Considering how much of a worry wort I used to be, this is NOT my norm!

  As long as our crock pots, stovetop and rice cooker don't die next, I'm happy. The oven is still....issuematic... but at least our garbage disposal is fixed! Yay for mad hubby skills!

  I'd had the thought yesterday, when the middle of the fridge drama. What am I thankful for? Am I going to get so worked up over this little thing? What do I have that I can be thankful for? I'll share my list:

 1.) Salvation
 2.) My healthy hubby
 3.) Our healthy son
 4.) Our healthy kitties
 5.) My hubby has a job to provide for our family
 6.) We have a roof over our heads, carpet under our feet, and AC that works!
 7.) We have food (just not in the fridge right now!) ^_^
 8.) Our washer and dryer work
 9.) Our two cars work
 10.) The Lord has provided me with random sewing commissions
 11.) My sewing machine works!
 12.) The Lord has also surprised me with some random Pampered Chef opportunities
 13.) My son has healthy lungs

>_> I need to cut this short I suppose, as TB is letting me know that he's still displeased with my food choice of bell peppers yesterday, and that I need to come hug him NOW as his little innards are writhing in discomfort. I'm thankful that I've learned what causes issue though!

Irony

When TBG and I got married, I told him that I didn't want to even consider kids for at least 8 years. He told me that he'd be happy if we had a kid within a year or so. We decided it best to just pray that God change our hearts for the other and bring balance to the kid issue.

After being married for two and a half, almost three years, we got pregnant with That Boy. We were equally excited and terrified. When asked how many kids we wanted in our family, TBG said more than one, but probably four as the max. I wasn't sure, but I figured somewhere between two and four as good as well.

...as time has gone on, and TB has arrived, I started thinking between four and eight. ...at this point in time, I'm thinking around a dozen. Give or take. Literally. A dozen kids sounds fantastic to me. A range of ages, stages in life, older siblings to guide/tease/encourage/torment the younger. A full dinner table, siblings to recollect stories of childhood and crazy things they're parents said or did. I dunno. I just really like the idea of a full quiver of children.

I think TBG is now thinking of praying for a miracle in the terms that his wife comes to her senses.

A new challenge!

Life is an adventure. God is good.

This summer has been full of unexpected expenses. My car's AC compressor blew up. (literally. Blew up. Huge metal shard and all!) That Bearded Guy's truck got broken into at work, and his window got smashed. Our oven is on death's door, as it now is losing it's temperature sensor, and will heat up. And heat up. And heat up. And cookies that were placed in there at 350 for only 3 minutes are smoking as they get hastily taken out... Our fridge is making sounds that don't encourage the heart either, and seems to be going the way of the oven. ....and our garbage disposal felt lonely, and now won't work either.

My perspective on this? God is good. We have running AC in the house. We are healthy. We have money for our weekly groceries. TBG still has a job. I'm still working Pampered Chef (albiet, not very much, anybody need to order anything???) and I'm still sewing. We can afford the roof over our heads. We can afford a new fridge with some creative budgeting. Don't need the garbage disposal-I'll just change my tactics for kitchen sink use. And as for the oven?

CHALLENGE ACCEPTED!

I shall survive FINE without the oven! I will find a way! We have a working stove top! We have a toaster oven! We have a microwave! And, most importantly, WE HAVE CROCK POTS!!!!

Ladies and gentlemen, this is my new challenge, and I will CONQUER IT!! *Bohahaha!*

How will I make cookies? Parchment paper lined on the bottom, high heat, watch to learn how long.

How will I make banana bread? Use my larger crock pot, fit the bread pan in it, bake on high for 3ish hours.

How will I make dinner? BAH! Same as always before! Toss it in and walk away!

How will I make breakfast? I will show you.

With some easy preparation, and my knowledge that I'll be getting up at 1:30 this morning to feed That Boy, breakfast was a cinch. This morning, when TBG got up for work, he had Apple-Berry Crunch for breakfast. Hot, delicious, easy. All he had to do was spoon it out of the crock pot. In a couple days, I plan we'll having banana bread. Wait for that bit of fun!

How did I make this? I prepared all my ingredients before bed, so when I woke up at 1:30, all I had to do was chop my apples, and put everything in! Easy!

Ingredients

• Filling:
• 2 apples, chopped
• 1 package mixed berries, frozen
• 1/4 C. firmly packed brown sugar
• 1/4 C. frozen orange juice concentrate (thawed)
• 2 Tbs. AP GF flour
• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp salt

• Topping:
• 1 C. oats, uncooked
• 1/2 C. firmly packed brown sugar
• 5 Tbs. non-dairy butter, melted
• 2 Tbs. AP GF flour

Path to Yum

Spray crock pot with cooking spray. For filling, mix all together. (I mixed all but the apples and berries, and added those in the wee hours of the morning) Once mixed, add to crock pot. Mix topping, sprinkle over berry mixture. Turn crock pot on to low, walk away for at least 2 hours. Return to eat some yum.

Super easy. Delicious!

Still debating on what I'll make for dinner. It'll either be BBQ chicken, slow cooked and then shredded for sandwiches, or it'll be salsa chicken. If I do salsa chicken, I'll make it with of extra meat, and then I'll slow cook some chicken enchilada's tomorrow night. Oh decisions, decisions!