My first gluten free cookies.

I love to bake.  There's nothing better than the smell of homemade breads, cookies or pies coming from my kitchen.  Which is all the more reason this gluten free change is giving me some trouble. 

I've seen online all the recipes to combine rice flour and all kinds of other things together to make a flour like alternative to bake with, but I don't want to go to the expense of that until I see if Josh has any improvement. 

I have resorted to....a box mix.  Now, I actually do use cake mixes some, but I always add to them to make them taste more homemade.  Seeing how gluten free baking is totally new to me, I decided to listen to the good folks at Betty Crocker for this batch of cookies.

After following the directions on the box, here's what I had:

A disastrously crumbly mess.  The box did say mixture would be crumbly, but really?  I had my doubts.  I squished crumbs together and place them on my baking sheets.



Don't be grossed out, my cookie sheets are clean - they just get a lot of use.




I baked my squishy cookies for 13 minutes @ 350. 

Imagine my surprise when they actually looked, and more importantly, tasted good.  We enjoyed them with a glass of milk.  Josh was relieved.  When I told him earlier that he would be taking his own snack to church, I think he imagined a lunch box full of brussel sprouts.  I'm trying my best to show him we're just making a few changes to help him feel better.  We will still have a very normal life.  Well, normal for us.

Cookies!
Charli



Don't forget to stop by Trinity tomorrow for the yard sale.  Over 20 families in one place.  Hope to see you there.

Slow Cooker Rice Krispy Treats

What?  Did you say Rice Krispy treats in a slow cooker?  Why yes, yes I did. 
I've wanted to try this recipe for almost a year now when I first read about it here.

Here you go:



Ingredients:  Cocoa Krispies, marshmallows, margarine




Grease inside of crock with margarine.




Layer in one bag of marshmallows.




Top with 6 cups of cereal.




Cook on high for 1 hour & stir.




Press into pan and cool.  Cut into squares.

 Super easy.  And, surprisingly enough, the crock was not really sticky afterwards.  I put it in the sink to soak and then in the dishwasher.

Next time I'll let Josh or John make this on their own.  John likes to cook.  I've asked him before if he wants to be a chef.  He said no, he wants to be a fry cook when he grows up - like Spongebob.  Dream big, little man.

I love my Crock Pot.
Charli 

Menu Plan Monday for June 6th

It's Monday again.  Our gluten free mixes are here from Amazon and we are beginning our gluten free adventure today.  We went to Giant Eagle in Morgantown yesterday to peruse the GF offerings and picked up a few things to try.  I'm defiantly going to have to keep a price journal now, this stuff is expensive.  Thank goodness we should be getting some produce from the garden by the end of next month.  That should help the grocery budget some.  I've decided to list our breakfast & lunch,  just to keep me on track this week.

Sunday:  BBQ chicken, broccoli, & salad
Monday:  Steak, corn on cob, & salad
Tuesday:  Cabbage Rolls in the crock pot, mashed potatoes, & applesauce
   *This isn't my exact recipe, but it's close and I love her tip to avoid boiling leaves.
Wednesday:  BBQ Chicken and Cornbread casserole and watermelon
Thursday:  Foil tilipia, baked potato, & salad
Friday:  Sweet chicken lettuce wraps, baked sweet potatoes, cottage cheese & peaches
Saturday:  Spaghetti, salad and garlic cheese biscuits

I'm substituting Pamela's biscuit mix for my normal baking mix.  Hopefully it works well.
For breakfast I have

• Strawberry banana smoothies
• Peach smoothies
• Rice Chex
• Banana nut muffins and yogurt
• Cream of Rice - adding cocoa powder & stevia to try to make it like Coco wheat

For lunch:

• Leftovers - including steak salads
• Chicken nuggets and fruit
• Baked potatoes and fruit

I'm still stuck on what to fix for lunches.  We're big sandwich eaters - especially peanut butter & honey.  I'm going to try making some bread with a couple of different GF bread mixes I picked up.  Hopefully, we can find one we like.

So, are you having anything good at your place this week?
Charli

I'm linking up with Organizing Junkie here.  Check it out!

Menu Plan Monday for May 30th

Good morning!  So, my freezer food did save me some time & money at the beach last week, but in all honesty, we ate out every single night.  It was very nice, and so delicious.  A real luxury for us.

Back to reality.

We vacationed with our friends and their daughter.  They are also both nurses, although he is an Advanced Practitioner, which is kind of like a P.A (but better, because as we all know - nurses ROCK!).  Sorry, I got a little off track there.

Anyway, Josh has been having stomach problems for almost a year.  He's been on numerous prescription and non prescription medicines without a huge improvement, as well as a hodge podge of other non specific complaints and no weight gain.

After spending the week together, he suggested that maybe Josh has a gluten allergy or sensitivity.

Deep down, I had been wondering the same thing for a while now.  I really believe that it is a confirmation that it's time to make a change in our family's eating habits.  I'm taking the week to research online and read up on gluten free menu's and ideas.  I already read a couple of sites like Lynn's Kitchen Adventures and A year of slow cooking that are gluten free.  I'm also going to talk to my friend Patricia at Health Naturally (I just love that little herb lady) and see if she has any advice. 

With that in mind, here's this weeks menu:

Monday:  Cheeseburgers, seasoned baked potato wedges, salad, watermelon
Tuesday:  Chicken fajitas, salad, peaches
Wednesday:  Foil tilipia, baked potatoes, green beans
Thursday:  Lasagna, salad, garlic bread
Friday:  Homemade pizza, peaches
Saturday:  Chicken fajita salads
Sunday:  Leftovers

We stopped at a fruit market on the way home from Nags Head and picked up some beautiful peaches & strawberries.  I've already made some into smoothies and frozen them for a quick breakfast.  We also bought some huge, sweet Vidalia onions that I'm going to grill for our burgers today.
 
Next weeks menu will be a little different.  I'm going to implement our gluten free plan then.  Say a prayer that this is the answer for Josh.  I want so much for him to get well and to avoid a huge GI workup when we go back to the doctor. 

 I've already ordered some Pamela's baking mix off Amazon that had good reviews.  I think I'll do OK with lunch and dinner, but I'm at a loss at what to make for breakfast.  Josh's favorite breakfast is cereal, CoCo wheat, pancakes or french toast.  I have no idea what I'm going to fix. 

If you have any advice or suggestions for gluten free living, I'd love to hear from you!

Thanks,
Charli

I'm linking up with Organizing Junkie for Menu Plan Monday.  Check it out!