bye bye bread

My baby is now 9. Where has the time gone?

I’ve been having a hard finding a flour less chocolate cake recipe. I’d been using this recipe but every time I made it, I didn’t temper the eggs well enough-resulting in some unfortunately chewy pieces in the batter. The flavor was excellent-and if tempering eggs is no problem for you, I recommend that version as it requires the much cheaper cocoa powder.

But this weekend, my dear sister Ida had us over to dinner and gave me the task of bringing dessert. My friend Emily, who is also GF, had posted on Facebook a few weeks ago about the Whole Foods Flourless Chocolate Cake she had made for guests. And the best part—no egg tempering!! I made the cake Saturday afternoon, let it cool, and then refrigerated it over night. Sunday, after church, I made the topping and added fresh raspberries as a garnish. The cake was a huge hit! Everyone, young and old, loved it!  I’m already planning to host Thanksgiving dinner just to make the cake again!

Well, friends…

I fell off the wagon. Yes, despite all the success I had going gluten free, I went back to the cupcakes. And brownies, cinnamon rolls, spaghetti with meatballs, subs, etc. etc. I couldn’t tell you, so I didn’t post.

It didn’t happen over night. It started with a well-tolerated birthday cupcake lovingly made for me by a friend. Next, I’d eat a few croutons on a salad when I mistakenly forgot to request them to be held. Next thing you know, it’s this past September, and we are on vacation-and eating wheat based meals 3 times per day! About midway through the trip, I thought I gotten a virus. The fact that it was wheat was the furthest thought from my mind. I thought I had conquered that intolerance, like the milk allergy that came and passed during a pregnancy.

A few more weeks past, and it slowly dawned on me (they do say eating lots of wheat can make you dim!) that my diet had gotten out of control again, and I promptly went to the doctor for testing. FINALLY. Yes, after 2 years of living with this, I will now have an official “Celiac Disease” diagnosis. I think making it official will help me to finally, FOREVER, make the changes I need to make and maintain.

I have fallen victim to blog abandonment. I’m sorry. Please forgive me. I will try to post more, now that school is wrapping up for the year.

Did you see the latest Clickin Moms blog post? My friend and Clickin Moms owner Kendra is giving away a new CANON EOD 5D and some other cool prizes!!! If you aren’t familiar with CM, it’s a great photography forum for novices-pros! I have learned so much on the forum. The members are so helpful!!

About that FAB prize-you just need to comment on the blog to be a random winner. BUT, you must be a member of CM to win. You can join my clicking below. There is a coupon code for 20% off- TREAT. If you are already a member, skip to the text below the banner.

Then go to this blog post and leave a comment:

http://www.clickinmoms.com/blog/?p=1087

I hope a friend (or me, wink wink) wins it!!!

My friend Heather has a very successful tea business, called Garden Party Teas. She wanted a forum added to her site, in order to allow her customers share tea party planning tips and photographs. She asked for my help, and I was so happy to do it, I set it up for her, and designed her logo. Yep…I know, braggy of me to say that. But I just love how it all came together!!

http://www.gardenpartyteas.com/forum/

The girl needs some members. Let’s register, to help her out. What do you say? I love you, Heather!! Best Wishes with your Tea Party business and thank you for including me in the process-it was fun!!

Rebecca

Abbie, Scarlet and I have been having so much fun getting ready for our Mix Pup party this weekend. This morning, we created our swag bags. Every party girl needs a swag bag, right?

First, we created the actual bags. We just bought a 13 pack of plain white bags at Michael’s, and some 12×12 scrapbook paper to decorate them with. We selected hot pink and teal for our color scheme, to match the Mix Pups packaging. We cut out the girls names with our Cricut, along with some puppies from the Going Places! cartridge. Finally, we made little taggies that said “thank you” on the front, and the girls wrote “thank you for coming to our party” on the back. I think they turned out beautifully.

The girls were having so much fun with paper crafts, so they asked if they could make bookmarks with the extra supplies. I let them have free reign, and I think they did an awesome job!

We also made some molded puppy chocolate lollipops. We were in Lititz last week for the Lancaster YMCA triathlon (Anne’s 2nd tri) and stopped by Wilbur Chocolate to get their delicious melts.

There are two different mix pup packs for the girls. So each bag will either contain this:

or this:

So, to wrap things up: each girl will get a two pack of Mix Pups in the swag bag at the end of the party, some information about Mix Pups, a Wilbur Chocolate puppy lollipop, and a handcrafted bookmark. Pretty sweet swag bag, huh?

Tomorrow we will tackle the gluten-free snacks and the game planning!

September 13th is the birthday of Samuel Gee, who first discovered the link between celiac disease and diet.  I challenge you to post on your something on your blog or facebook page if you have Celiac’s Disease or wheat sensitivity…or if not. There have been studies that say up to 80% of the people who have wheat sensitivity are totally unaware. Join me in raising awareness. My life has changed so so so so so much for the better since discovering my illness and changing my lifestyle & diet.

I.am.so.excited!! Scarlet and I were chosen to have a Mix Pup party!!

Mix Pups, via Mommy Parties, sent us a HUGE package of Mix Pups to share with a few friends. Mix Pups are a new toy which will be introduced this fall. I have been asked to blog about the toys, so they sent everything for free in exchange for me blogging about the girls’ experience. But, please know…as always…we will be COMPLETELY HONEST in our review!

We received our MixPup kit, and it was like Christmas morning! I am very impressed with the product, packaging, price point, and play value. I think it will be a great product for solo play or for a group of girls to enjoy together. It is very clever that this company combined the two things girls seem to love the most-pets and fashion! I also love that they are so portable. You know my girls are competitive swimmers, and sometimes swim meets can be very long and boring. Believe it or not, it can be hard to find fun, imaginative, water-friendly toys to occupy them. But, I can totally see all the girl swimmers playing Mix Pups while waiting for their events!

We are so excited to share them with our friends at our MommyParty. My daughter immediately made her guest list, and we are counting down the days until her event. My daughter says, “They are very cute and it is so cool how you can change their hairstyles!”

I’ll share photos of the party later this week! Our menu will include Gluten-Free cupcakes- topped with homemade white chocolate candy dog bones, and an ice cream sundae bar. Completely GF! We have some cute puppy-themed games planned as well. We will be making some hand made Wilbur chocolate puppy lollipops for the goodie bags! Oh, and the best part-all the girls will get their very own Mix Pup!

This post is for my friend Amy. She’s a newly-diagnosed Celiac, who is breastfeeding a Celiac baby girl…the cutest little one you could ever imagine!! My heart goes out to Amy today. She’s trying to think of things to eat. I remember being there. Anyhow, this post is for her, and any other newly diagnosed readers. I will update the ideas with links to recipes as I add them.

1. Grilled Steaks, grilled asparagus and baked potatoes
2. Slow-cooked roast beef with roasted carrots and salad
3. Krispy Chicken, sweet potato fries and green beans
4. Meatballs (I make noodles for hubby) with melted cheese and side salad
5. Beef Barley Vegi soup (I can do barley-I know not all can-please be careful)
6. Turkey Kielbasa, fresh green squash and potato casserole
7. Chicken Continental (with buttered orzo for hubby) and garlic green beans
8. Spanish Stuffed Peppers
9. Greek Chicken and Rice Salad (can be served hot or cold)
10. Cream of Potato Soup
11. Beef Kabobs and rice
12. Ham Slices, mashed potatoes, and mixed vegis
13. Chicken Alfredo (hold the fettuccine on mine, lol-I have it over some rice)
14. Broccoli Rice and Cheese Casserole
15. Minestrone, cheese Sticks, G-free cinnamon raisin bread
16. Buffalo-style Krispy Chicken tenders with celery and blue cheese
17. Louisiana Red Beans and Rice and salad
18. Quinoa and Black Bean Salad with jello
19. BBQ chicken, steak fries, and lima beans
20. Shepard’s Pie
21. PF Chang’s style Asian chicken lettuce wraps
22. Twice Baked Potatoes and broccoli
23. Grilled Chicken Breasts with buttered rice and brussel sprouts
24. Crockpot Ham and Green Beans
25. Chili and fruit salad
26. Chicken Stir Fry and rice
27. Black Bean Soup

When I created this menu, it was my intention to create a “Once a Month Cooking” plan for someone living gluten free. It’s still a work in progress, so I can’t share all the recipes yet. But I am working on them-and I hope to have a shopping list for them at some point as well!

Oh, and please pray for my friend Amy and her sweet one year old daughter!