Red Oak Trucks

Red Oak sanitation has painted all of their recycling trucks pink and are now recycling for a cure! All their recycling proceeds will be donated to breast cancer research! We saw a number of the pink trucks out and about today, I just think that is so awesome!

Savings

Yes, Rite Aid has struck again! I got three packs of huggies diapers for 1.98 plus tax! WOOHOO!

Gardening

This weekend I moved the last of the Chinese Loropelatum bushes into our new garden, phew that was hard work! I also moved a bunch of grape hyacinth and daffodils, freecycled what I wasn't going to use. Freecycle is amazing, it's craig's list but all free! It keeps so much out of landfills, and has saved us tons and tons of money by reusing what others have outgrown. I'll try to put together a list someday of what we have received, I could never remember what we have given away it has been so much! I like helping others, and we always appreciate what we are "freecycled"! I really like the fact that when I'm done with an old picture frame or table or couch I don't have to take up space in landfills, I can find someone who will use it!

I love to garden, and am now awaiting delivery of my son's butterfly garden. We ordered from michigan bulb co, so it'll all come bare roots but hey it's affordable! We get 17 plants, various butterfly attracting ones, and I can't wait. I am talking it over with hubby about where to put the garden. I'm considering creating a garden out back towards the middle of our yard, so we can see it from the house and so our neighbors can enjoy it too... but that is a lot of hard work and I'm not sure I have it in me. I have been painting the interior of our house on and off, and that is physically trying on it's own without adding gardening to it! Ah well, it's a great payoff when everything's done - the house will be beautiful and the gardens will be so wonderful in bloom!


*Update 6/6/10
The butterfly garden is coming along nicely! I had to reorder two bee balm and two sweet william plants, but the blue butterfly bush is a foot high and already blooming, and the pink is at least a foot and the thicker of the two. The rest of the plants are coming in nicely, even in the nasty clay they are sitting in! WOOHOO! Come on over butterflies :) Michigan bulb co has impressed me!

Savings again!

Rite Aid ROCKS!

spent: $24.75 on my gift card
saved: $38.30

Bought:
two packs huggies overnight diapers
17 bags/pkgs candy for easter baskets
lysol hands free soap dispenser
$11 darth maul figurine
2 - 12 pks coke
2 - 20oz cokes
bag of Lay's chips
two goody brush/comb combos

Savings

Target -
Spent: $8.67
Saved: $29.33

Bought:
6 pack of socks
20 oz coca cola (my addiction)
3 sobe lifewaters
1 box transformers bandaids
airwick imotion freshener
3 gallons of milk
3 pk 3m scrubbing sponges
crest kids toothpaste

Rite Aid -
spent: $6.60
saved: $31.99

Bought:
2 20oz diet coke
2 frizzease conditioners
1 large jar planters peanuts
1 pkg huggies overnight diapers
1 20oz coca cola
1 always 18ct pads
St Ives body wash
St Ives face wash
I also transferred a script there and spent $15 on copay, got a $25 gift card! Not bad!! I am also owed $7.99 in Single Check Rebates on this, so technically I will make $1.39 plus the gift card. Pretty sweet!


I go to southernsavers.com on a regular basis for help matching coupons, Jenny ROCKS!

The Gluten Free Pantry

The Gluten Free Pantry are my heros. They produce an all purpose flour that I absolutely LOVE!! This is going to be what my cookbook is based on - the principle of using one NORMAL flour. I hate it when I try to find a gluten free cookbook and they try to teach you how to use fifty types of flour. I bought four or five of these books in the beginning (five years ago) and everything I made tasted like hummus, and I very quickly learned I hate rice flour, can't stand flax seeds, and have a severe distaste for anything "flour" that seems like it should be in health food. If I am going to take the time to make a brownie or cookie or cupcake, it had better be sinfully good!!! I have tried and tried using the various flours, gums, etc. out there and I have to say it was just too involved to try to make baked goods that really weren't that great. With the GF pantry's flour I can make anything just like I used to with normal glutenous flour! I just had to preach about them today, they are my favorite people this week. I made peanut butter swirl brownies last week that made my husband drool for more, and this weekend I made double chocolate cookies for my mother that were AMAZING as usual. WAY TO GO GF PANTRY!!!

This recipe I found floating around online and changed it a bit to fit my tastes :)

*as always, if you are making this as a gluten free recipe check your ingredients to ensure gluten free status! I have brands I am very loyal to, but I still check every time I buy a new container to ensure nothing has changed on the ingredient list.

Brownie Layer:
4 oz unsweetened chocolate
12 Tbs butter or margarine
2 C sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 C flour
Peanut Butter Layer:
1 Tbs butter, melted
1 Tbs sugar
2/3 C peanut butter
1 tsp honey (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 13x9 pan with foil, making handles over the edges for easy lifting.

Microwave chocolate and butter on high for two minutes. Carefully stir until chocolate melts. If you need to nuke it another 30 seconds or so this is perfectly fine!

In a medium bowl combine sugar, eggs, vanilla and melted chocolate mixture. Add flour and mix well. Spread into foiled pan.

Mix butter, sugar, peanut butter and honey. I usually throw it in my mixer and beat it until it lightens a tad in color, this seems to make the mixture creamier after baking. Spread it over the chocolate layer in the pan, and use a butter knife or toothpick to marble the top. Feel free to make any fun designs you want!

Bake 35 to 45 minutes or until toothpick inserted near center comes out fairly clean (not dripping!). Drool until cool enough not to burn your mouth and try not to eat them all!

Gluten Free Pork Tenderloin

Last night we made pork tenderloin for my mom's birthday dinner. I covered it heavily in the sauce and oh my was it delicious! We ate an entire pork loin just the four of us. Hubby found a great recipe for potatoes with filling made from garlic, mayo, and asiago cheese - that was amazing as well! I have not been cooking pork that often, most chops aren't the best cuts of meat and they toughen as you cook them. I am repeatedly impressed with tenderloin! YAY! I have a great recipe for an asian orange sauce for tenderloin as well, just excellent. I love broadening our food horizons, and last night definitely did. My oldest even loved it, and he claims to not like any form of mustard! WOOHOO!

Orange Pork Tenderloin

*as always, if you are making this as a gluten free recipe check your ingredients to ensure gluten free status! I have brands I am very loyal to, but I still check every time I buy a new container to ensure nothing has changed on the ingredient list.

Seriously, this seems like a lot of work but it's really not, and the end result is so impressive it's well worth the time you take to make it!

1 pork tenderloin
2 Tbs flour
dash of salt and pepper
2 Tbs olive oil
1 C orange juice
2 Tbs brown sugar
2 Tbs red wine vinegar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. I try to cook this in a 9x13ish glass pan with a silpat under it, just be aware anything with brown sugar in sauces has a good chance of sticking to the bottom of your dish! You can always line your pan with foil to try to prevent that.

Slice pork tenderloin into 1 inch slices or strips, whatever tickles your fancy. Coat pork with flour and place in oiled skillet. Saute pork for maybe five minutes each side at most, lightly browning them. Place pork in your prepared baking dish.

Combine remaining ingredients and pour this over the pork. Bake for 25 minutes or so. The liquid will thicken and the pork will come out oh so tender! It is amazing served over white sticky rice! Course, it would be amazing served over anything in my opinion ;)

Working late

Well, here I sit listening to my twin two year olds scream at their door for daddy. Hubby had to work late tonight (a rarity) and the kids don't want to go to sleep without him! They are currently knocking on their door to see if that will help. Normally we go upstairs, put on sleep diapers and pj's, and say "it's time for bed" - they magically jump into bed and almost every night pass right out without another peep. Except for nights like this. I know I shouldn't complain, I hear stories from friends about how it takes two hours and rotating shifts to get their toddler to bed. This is just hard for me (them!) because it's not the norm! So my oldest and I will sit here listening, until either daddy gets home or they get so tired they cuddle and pass out.

I made a box of gluten free mac and cheese I found at Kroger a few days ago, and man is it nasty. I took a picture, will post tomorrow - the cheese is as runny as milk, and it tastes almost like noodles with milk poured on them. Ew. I am eating them because I have nothing else handy to eat for dinner... but will never again buy a boxed mix of anything gluten free!! On the same aisle in Kroger I also saw a pouch of gluten free biscuit mix. Now this caught my eye, I haven't had a good ol flaky biscuit in years! I picked it up and the first few lines read something about "put in food processor" and "refridgerate overnight". Really, I have to work for two days to make a biscuit?! And did I mention the pouch was $8?! That will be my next project, to create a good gluten free biscuit recipe. Oh once I do that I can make chicken pot pie, biscuits and gravy, YUMM! I am salivating at the thought!

I know how to make an amazing homemade mac and cheese, but sometimes I just want to pop open a box and whip up something easy and fast like normal people!! Why is it that all gluten free boxed dinners are nasty? I know velveeta isn't the cat's behind, but it wasn't bad, was it? Hey, maybe I can use velveeta cheese with gluten free noodles to make an easy mac and cheese...

Enjoy Life Cocoa Loco

STAY AWAY!!! Unless you like unsweetened cocoa I guess... I spent $4.50 on a box of these, only to get home and spit out my first bite. Oh my these are nasty! They taste like unsweetened cocoa with rock hard little oatmeal type pieces in it. Gross. Wasted money! I have however had some food items in the past from enjoy life that I did actually enjoy, this was just not one of them. Really not one of them... ew!

Pork Stir Fry

This is a sweet and tangy dish - if you would rather it be more tangy than sweet, cut sugar in half and add a dash of hot sauce :)

*as always, if you are making this as a gluten free recipe check your ingredients to ensure gluten free status! I have brands I am very loyal to, but I still check every time I buy a new container to ensure nothing has changed on the ingredient list.

3 or 4 pork chops, cut into thin strips
2 Tbs vegetable oil
1 package of frozen stir fry veggies
1 can pineapple tidbits or chunks, drained
1 Tbs cornstarch
1/4 C water
1/2 C sugar
1/4 C white vinegar
2 Tbs soy sauce (I use La Choy)
2 tsp ginger

Heat oil in wok or skillet and brown strips of pork.

Mix cornstarch, water, sugar, vinegar and soy sauce and pour onto pork. Bring to a simmer, and continue to simmer just until sauce starts to thicken. Add veggies and pineapple, and cover for three minutes. I like my veggies crisp, so check your veggies and cook until they are at your desired texture. Excellent with steamed rice!

GLUTEN!

Well, I somehow cross contaminated or blew a crumb into my food last night. Within a half an hour of eating my gluten free mac and cheese (I made myself so I know ingredients were gf) I was reliving my nightmare. Ew. I hate being sick! Within an hour it was over, and hubby rubbed my feet so I could fall asleep. That's really the only way to make the pain stop, to fall asleep. I was fine by morning, dizzy but I think that was dehydration. I hate gluten! That hasn't happened in so long, yet every time it does I feel exactly the same way - like I never want to eat again. Food sucks.

Food

I'm beginning to see why it's hard to stick to a diet for weight loss purposes. I am not necessarily on a "diet" to lose weight, but I have started working out a bit and would like to eat accordingly so I can lose my last ten "baby pounds". The combination of shopping for my family (not me) and being gluten free leaves me with little in the pantry that is satisfying to eat! I want a nutrigrain bar - goldfish - omg one real oreo cookie! However, I can't eat any of those and the gluten free versions that cost a fortune at the store leave a lot to be desired. So I either eat nothing, or I grab a glass of soda which is somewhat satisfying! It's not that I'm eating unhealthy foods, I'm just drinking unhealthy things to make up for the fact that I don't really eat satisfying foods during the day. These are the days I hate having celiac disease - when I can't even eat the healthy foods I want to! It's not about craving fried chicken, chinese food, cookies - I make all of those at home and they are awesome. It's about the healthy grab and go foods like nutrigrain bars! The gluten free versions are at least a dollar a bar and don't even taste like fruit! Ugh! I can make an amazing batch of white chocolate and macadamia nut cookies in less than a half an hour, but I don't want to eat a half a batch of cookies over the course of the next few days - I want something healthy and satisfying - but I can't have that :(

My Honda Pilot

Yes, I drive a pilot - a big black pilot. I had up to this car always driven small cars that were cheap and comfy. I hated the pilot when I first started driving it, but with twins it was a necessary evil. I now lovingly refer to it as the "short bus", it is one of my favorite cars I have ever owned. I have in the past tried and tried with different carseats to install two carseats next to each other, to no avail. So my middle row had a carseat on either end, and my ten year old has been smooshing himself between them. I had to sit between the seats last weekend, and I couldn't believe how oversized I was for that seat. I am 5'4", and am maybe ten pounds overweight - I should have plenty of room in a honda pilot! So I looked into trading in for an odyssey, but it wasn't a good fit. Past experiences have taught me to call a parts dept manager when you have questions about your car's interior, so I did. This man deserves an award in my opinion! He told me I wasn't doing it right if I couldn't get two carseats next to each other in my car, and he was totally right! I had been trying to put one behind the passenger seat, and one in the middle, putting the end one in first. Nope - put the middle one in first and then put one behind the driver, and they fit perfectly! Talk about feeling stupid... ha! There is enough room now for a grown man to sit next to my carseats in my second row, and I am elated. I can't explain my joy at being able to keep my car! I know it has a third row, but it really isn't accessible easily. With two carseats installed you can't fold down the end seat on the second row, no matter what you do, and even if you could the seat doesn't fold flat so it's mountain climbing to get to the back. The back seats are small by nature, and not very comfortable. If you use the back hatch for entry into the third row you can't close the door from the inside, someone has to stand there with a butt in their face until the back passenger is in and close the door for them! Not my cup of tea. So in the end I am back to loving my pilot - and I plan to drive it until it won't drive anymore!!!

Zenni Optical Eyeglasses

Zenni optical has my vote for glasses! These are my new glasses that I ordered with antireflective coating, scratch coating, high index lenses so I don't look like the bottom of a coke bottle, and clip on polarized sunglasses - for $56. Yep, $56 bucks. I have been wearing them for a week and the only thing I can even find that could possibly be called "lower quality" is the black pieces that slide over the metal over my ears wiggle a teeny weeny bit. Not noticable unless you are really inspecting the glasses, and that does not affect wear at all. I am sold! I love these new glasses!! The only thing that threw me for a loop was when you are ordering you need to know the distance between your pupils - and doctors don't write that on your script. You have to ask them to, so I just asked a friend to measure for me, and my glasses are AWESOME!! I hate glasses, and wear contacts most of the time, but these are really growing on me. Excellent. My last pair of glasses cost me around $700, to get the high index lenses, the coatings, everything I have on the new ones, and after a month they had such a scratch across one lens I couldn't drive with them on anymore, and had to watch tv out of the edge of the lenses. I recommend zenni to anyone wearing glasses!!! Now they don't accept insurance, but if you are like me and your insurance covers glasses OR contacts, I opt for contacts and wait for glasses. Well, no more waiting!

WOOHOO!!

*update 3.22.10 - I ran to target today for some freebies, and the target optical center will adjust any glasses from anywhere at no charge. How nice was that?! Now my glasses that were knocked off kilter by a loving toddler storm are nice and straight again. :)

Gluten Free Sweet and Sour Chicken Recipe

Mmmmm - this one was so good, even for lunch the next day it's still amazing! Easy, fast, and yummy - it doesn't get much better than that around here :)

*as always, if you are making this as a gluten free recipe check your ingredients to ensure gluten free status! I have brands I am very loyal to, but I still check every time I buy a new container to ensure nothing has changed on the ingredient list.

1 to 2 lbs boneless skinless chicken, cubed
1 bottle la choy sweet and sour sauce
2 Tbs soy sauce (I use La Choy)
one small can pineapple tidbits, undrained
White Rice (I cook white rice with every asian meal, I love rice)

(Start rice in steamer - should pop when chicken is done! If you prefer different types of rice or different cooking methods, the chicken should take around 10 to 15 minutes from start to finish)

In medium skillet cook chicken until done. In medium bowl combine remaining ingredients, mix, and pour over chicken. Once heated through serve over white rice - mmmmmm!

See, that was just silly it's so easy!

*UPDATE - we have started making this using our chinese fried chicken instead of just cooking the chicken in a skillet, and it is absolutely lovely.

Plumbers

Well, we have yet again supported our local plumbing company, Rooter Plus! Two weeks ago it was the septic tank that needed fixing, and this weekend we fixed the spicket (bibb?) out front so we could wash our cars and water the plants. It feels good to fix things properly, and get it done - it's just hard on the wallet! So many things on that to do list...

Remember When...

I bought some blistex lip stuff today for my chapped lips, and when I opened it the smell brought me right back to my shiny tinkerbell lip gloss when I was five or six! I remember vividly how it smelled, how it felt on my lips, because I felt like a "big girl" wearing lipstick! It surprises me sometimes how a simple smell can bring on such a surge of strong memories. There is a particular antique car smell that I only find at car shows, or if we are by chance behind a model T or A on the street ... and that smell reminds me of how my grandfather's shirts smelled. He was always working on a model A in the summers, and that specific smell makes me smile every time I am near it. The smell of woodstoves in very cold weather takes me back to NY winters, makes me feel like I'm "home" for some reason! I wonder what connects those specific smells to memories in your mind, there is so much in our heads that we don't realize!!! Ha, or probably use as we should ;)

General Tso's Chicken

Mmmmm... hubby made chinese food last night, and it was so yummy! Our neighbors came over to enjoy dinner with us, it was a really fun night. I made white chocolate chip macadamia nut cookies (gotta find a nickname for those) and choc. chunk cookies, and they couldn't tell that they were gluten free at all! That is the ultimate compliment if you ask me. I like fun nights like that, we need to have more of those! I like entertaining, and I love to laugh.

Wow, it snows again! This is our second "stick to the ground" snow this season, which is amazing for us southerners. I have seen plenty of snow in my days, but down south this is crazy! Kids are out playing in it, hubby comes home early, I like this! It cracks me up that every grocery store is out of milk, water, and bread - over two inches of snow falling. Maybe they think they won't be able to make it out for a week? And who would really want milk and bread if they were actually to get stuck inside. I promise, when we used to lose power due to snowy/icy weather we didn't use the milk, no one opened the fridge at all! I love snow, when I don't have to drive in it. I have been in many ditches over the years due to white out storms, which is why I love being a southerner now (and a stay at home mom)! Yep, I'm a convert!

Blogging

So I thought I was going to keep this blog simply for celiac disease info, and start a second blog about other things. I think I'm just going to use this blog as my "for everything" blog. Celiac disease is a lifestyle after all, right?