Say goodbye to Gluten? Whaaat?

No way. I can't believe it! I love wheat! I am doing a trial test (it has only been a week thus far) to see if I am gluten sensitive. My gut feels lighter that's for sure, as well as some of my ailments feel better, by far.

So in searching the web I have found a GF (Gluten Free) chocolate chip cookie recipe (which also uses egg substitute) and I like it. Yum. My sister-in-law says they taste like cookie dough, and who doesn't like cookie dough?

Try these ones from the Food Network:http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/the-chewy-gluten-free-recipe.html

I haven't as yet tried these but I like the pictures….

these are from all recipes.com

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Chocolate-Chip-Cookies-Gluten-Free/

One thing to be sure of, when it says to spray your open - the first recipe does- you should do it, the cookies will spread out better. (By the way - chocolate has Gluten…look for GF)

One more recipe link and then I must go pick up my homeschool children from their art classes….

Gluten free flour for use in breads, pizza dough and hamburger buns from alittleinsanity.com

http://alittleinsanity.com/all-purpose-gluten-free-flour-mix-recipe/

I made the bread, but my flour had some homemade substitutions (I had less to work with in my packages and used my vitamin to turn the tapioca and sweet rice into flour) so it was ok but not quite as beautiful and high as hers. (Dang it all cuz I had just mastered my homemade breads a few years ago! Time to start afresh!)

Here is a list I also found on the internet for gluten free chocolate and candies:

http://celiacdisease.about.com/od/glutenfreefoodshopping/a/GFcandies.htm

Hope you are having fun on your journey…

Always Remembered

This past holiday marked another birthday without Brian. With prayer, and much talking about him over the years, Brian's absence becomes more tolerable. We went to one of the hills we used to go to, ate his most favourite cheesecake and spent time with friends and family that remembered him and honoured him. It was a pleasant day.

Our now missionary boy. 

 Happy birthday to my Brye. He would have been 41.

Our silly and most loveable dog.

My hubby being silly 

Good Golly Miss Molly we have been busy since then! If you remember we had one daughter get married last summer and this New Year's Eve another daughter got engaged! So wedding plans are in full force once again. 

Just over a week ago we sent our one and only son (not including the new son in law of course) off on his mission! (He's in the top picture). Wow. That was really difficult for us. He is serving in the Cordoba, Argentina mission for 2 years for our church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. He was so excited to go, but there were some strong emotions as we all said goodbye for now. He is a sweet and gentle yet strong and loyal boy who will learn so much and rely on the Saviour so much; returning a man in 2 years. Missionaries get set apart. For the time they serve, they no longer listen to secular music, or watch TV (including sports) they can only call home twice a year but can receive letters and emails weekly. Now we leave him in the Lord's hands and eagerly "see" the growth and development of his testimony. Phew.

The paths we take decide our journey…

Merry Christmas Everyone!

My hope is that we remember to be grateful, we have hope for what lies ahead, (even our next life) and we enjoy this season.

Merry CHRISTmas! (The Nativity)

Hard to Make Changes

In the mornings I try to start us off with some scripture study and discussion. Today we discussed "agency". I'm trying to believe it wasn't an epic fail. We watched the following video and then wrote down our own individual goals that we posted in our rooms of things we want to improve upon this week. (How to better use our agency)

The Will of God

Homeschooling is a difficult sacrifice. The love I have for my children and the good days of learning are what keep me going.

However….

December is always a difficult month for me and my girls. Not only is Christmas time hard without Daddy but his birthday is also in December.

I have found that my and my girls emotions get more and more sensitive and therefore easily hurt until they peak at Christmas or sometimes the new Year.

I found and re-read my late husband's journal; this time to my girls. Honestly, nothing bad was said about anyone. His love for us was strong and ever apparent in his life and his words speak from the grave to us now. How he appreciated all the little things in life and lived each moment to the fullest is a testament of his great character.

This is what I hope for my children.

We discussed how they have so many "tools" in their "toolbox". They have a piece of their Daddy coursing through their veins, they have his great example, they have me (a far from perfect example but I am a true and constant in their life), they have a new father figure who cares for their over-all welfare, new siblings and new grandparents who sacrifice for them.

I asked them what kind of a mother and wife they would like to be when they grew up and they said like me. That was touching. I expressed to them how I expect them to be better than me. I hope that their children would be better than them and so on. Isn't that what we want for our future? Children to grow up stronger and more righteous than the previous generation?

That is what lead us to make our goals. (NO, it wasn't a pretty situation. No one liked thinking about changing themselves, only changing the others around them.) This never works, because of agency. We all have our freedom to choose. I can choose what manner of woman I want to be, I cannot make those same choices for my children, but I certainly hope I am putting in my share and more of the "tools" they will need in their "toolbox" to successfully make correct choices that will not only affect those immediately around them, but into the future.