Comfort Food

Fall is here and it is time to break out the soup recipes and other comfort food. Ham and beans is always a good meal for a fall day. We made cinnamon apples and a new gluten free cornbread recipe. It was all so delicious.

Gluten Free Corn Bread

1/2 C. butter, softened 1/3 C. white sugar
1/3 C. masa harina 2 TBSP heavy cream
1/4 C. water 1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 C. cornmeal 1/2 tsp. baking powder

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a medium bowl, beat butter with an electric mixer until creamy. Beat in the masa harina and water until well combined.

Put the corn in a blender or food processor and coarsely chop on low sped. Stir in the corn and the cornmeal into the butter mixture. In another bowl, mix together the sugar, cream, salt and baking powder. Combine the two mixtures until well blended. Pour the batter into an uncreased 8X8 pan.

Cover the pan with foil and place into a 9X13 inch pan with fill and place into a 9X13 inch pan filled 3/4 inch high with hot water. Bake in preheated oven for 50 to 60 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of the cake comes out clean.Remove small pan from water and let sit until 10 minutes before serving.

Pumpkin Bars with Cream Cheese Frosting

1 bag Pamela's Classic Vanilla Cake Mix
3 eggs (2 beaten, hold 1 back from beating)
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional)
1 cup canned pumpkin
1/2 cup sugar or 1/3 cup agave
1 teaspoon allspice (cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg)

Measure out 2/3 cake mix and set aside, Combine remaining 1/3 cake mix with 1 unbeaten egg and butter until crumbly. Spread in bottom of a greased 9X13 inch pan. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes.

Combine reserved cake mix with pumpkin, sugar or agave, nuts, eggs, and allspice. Mix and pour over crust. Continue baking for 15 minutes. Refrigerate. When completely cooled, frost with cream cheese frosting. Keep refrigerated until ready to serve.

Cream Cheese Frosting

8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups powdered sugar, sifted

Mix all ingredients and frost over cooled bars.

BSU Pumpkin

I decided to paint my pumpkin this year. It took me all week to get this BSU football player done.

This is our second tournament of the season. Luckily this was in Boise, ID. We did not have to travel far.

Our first game was Saturday morning at 10:15 a.m. We played the Kickers from Nampa, ID. We won the game 5-0.

We played game #2 later Saturday at 4:30 p.m. We played a Rush team from Boise. It was an exciting game. At half time it was scoreless. About 5 minutes left in the game Rush scored a goal on us. The referee should have called off sides, but he missed it. It was 1-0 and our girls were tired. One minute left in the game Rush scored again on us and the game ended. The girls played their best and we were all proud of each and every one.

Game #3 was played early Sunday morning. We had a 9:00 a.m. start and the temperature outside was 32 degrees. Luckily there was no wind and that made it feel a lot warmer. We won the game 2-0. We won second place in the tournament. Not bad for a young team.

Linder Farms

Today we took the girls to Linder Farms in Kuna. We went on a tractor ride and got to pick the perfect pumpkins. The BSU corn maze that took us all about one hour to find our way out.

Panama City Beach, FL 2009

Once we made it to Panama City Beach, FL and saw the ocean we knew that it was all worth it.

One day we had rain and decided to go to the mall. I found great deals at JC Penney and bough the girls some school clothes.

We went to Hunt's Oyster Bar and I ate my first oyster! It was o.k. but I doubt I eat another.

We love the ocean and the sand is like sugar. This is a wonderful place.

We spent a lot of time swimming in the pool. Kennedy did so good swimming. She was able to do two forward and backward somersaults under water.

Our Flight to Florida

We left Idaho at 7:00 a.m. October 2, 2009. It was a Friday and we were given airline buddy passes from a friend. Flying standby with a 5 year old was a challenge. It was an even bigger challenge hauling all of her food through the airport. Our doctor gave us a note for the airlines to allow us to bring Kennedy food on the trip. We made it to Phoenix and then our day went down hill. We watched 5 flights to Charlotte, NC leave Phoenix and we could not get on. All of the flights were full and had no room for us. 7 hours passed and I was starting to get frustrated. We were told there was a chance we were going to have to stay the night in Phoenix or Charlotte because there were no other flights into Pensacola for the day. We had missed all the connecting flights. They were telling us that we may not even make it Saturday! I called Kevin and he was able to find cheap airline tickets from Atlanta to Pensacola. We were able to get on a flight to Atlanta at 6:00 p.m. Kevin reserved us a hotel room by the Atlanta airport and by the time we made it to the hotel it was 11:00 p.m. We were exhausted and had no clothes! Our bags were in Florida and we were not. We slept in our T shirts and woke up the next morning at 6:00 a.m. (4:00 a.m. Idaho time). We ate breakfast and off to the airport we went. We made it to Pensacola, Fl around 8:30 a.m. We were 16 hours late, in dirty clothes, and ready to hit the beach.

Breakfast Baked Potato Skins

If you have leftover potatoes from dinner the night before use them for breakfast baked potato skins in the morning.
Ingredients:
4 large baking potatoes, baked
3 TBSP. vegetable oil
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/8 tsp pepper
8 oz. cooked and crumbled breakfast sausage
1 1/2 C. cheddar cheese

Cut potatoes in half lengthwise: scoop out the pulp, leaving a 1/4 inch shell (save pulp for another use). Place skins on a greased baking sheet. Combine oil, salt, garlic powder, and pepper. Brush oil mixture over both sides of the skin. Bake at 475 degrees F for 7 min; turn. Bake until crisp, about 7 more minutes. Sprinkle sausage and cheddar cheese inside the skins. Bake 2 minutes longer or until cheese is melted. Serve immediately.

Karleigh's Soccer Game

Les Bois girls played Capitals. First half we were down 1-0 and we ended up losing 3-0. Karleigh is getting to be a stronger player and there has been so much improvement within the last week. Les Bois foot skills is far better than any team we have played. We need to not focus on the wins, but on the development of the soccer skills.

Gluten Free Flour Tortillas

2 C. Gluten Free All-Purpose Flour Mix
1 1/2 tsp. xanthan gum
2 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt
1 C. warm water

1. Add the dry ingredients to a large mixing bowl and mix the ingredients thoroughly.

2. Add the cup of warm water to the bowl and mix the dry goods into the water with your hand. Mix it all together until no longer dry.

3. Separate the dough into 8 pieces and roll each piece into a ball. Place all but one of the dough balls back into the bowl and cover with plastic wrap until you're ready to work with them.

4. Sprinkle surface with a bit of rice flour and then roll the ball into a circular shape. Get as thin as possible.

5. Place tortilla onto a hot griddle and let it cook approximately 1 minute-or until it has started puffing up and the bottom side is developing brown spots. Flip the tortilla and cook the other side.

Guest Book girls

The girls were beatiful at Amy and Kyle's wedding. They were in charge of the guest book table. When that was over it was all fun and games.

Can't put down the soccer ball

Karleigh took her soccer ball to the wedding. It ended up getting a lot of use and kept the kids busy until the dance started.

All of the second cousins at the Stringer Wedding

All of the girls had so much fun playing with each other.

First Season Soccer Game

Well the official soccer season is off and running. We ended up having a tournament before having a league game. Kevin is out of town this weekend. He is in Warren, ID ridding dirt bike's with the boys. We had a nice girls weekend and enjoyed Karleigh's first soccer game.

This is how we travel

It is not as easy as it use to be. Traveling with a child and food allergies is not easy. We did a lot of homework before we left for Seattle. We took a convection oven so that we could heat up Kennedy's meals if we needed to. It worked out great. We went to Trader Joe's and bought groceries as soon as we got to Seattle. Our hotel room looked like a grocery store. We had our refrigerator filled and a large cooler. I am sure the maid was wondering what the heck was wrong with us. Kennedy took along her food to the restaurant and ate with us. The night we went out for pizza with the team I cooked Kennedy her pizza, we bought at Haley's Bakery, and she took it and ate it. It was a successful trip.

Starfire Soccer Tournament-Seattle, WA

Kennedy Playing In The Rain

Game 1 on Saturday at 11:00 a.m.

Game 2 on Saturday at 4:00 p.m.

Game #3 on Sunday at 1:00 p.m.

Our first soccer tournament took us to Seattle, WA for Labor Day weekend. What a great way to kick of the soccer season. Karleigh played three soccer games within 29 hours. Her first game they played in their white jerseys. We tied the game 1-1. The second game we played on Saturday was on a turf field. Big difference from the normal field they are use to playing on. That game also ended in a tie 1-1. Sunday was a different story. It rained all day and by the time it was our turn to play the field was a mud pit. It rained the whole game and at one point Karleigh was pushed down and sheanded on her back in the mud. YUCK! Luckily our hotel had a laundry service and we were able to wash her uniform before heading home on Monday. I am excited to watch these girls grow over this soccer season.

Old Spaghetti Factory

We did eat at The Old Spaghetti Factory in Tukwila, WA. It was only 2 miles from our hotel. They had gluten free spaghetti noodles for Kennedy. She loved the salad and the spumoni ice cream.

Haley's Corner Bakery

We found a gluten free bakery in Kent, WA. What a great treat for Kennedy to be able to go into a place and pick out anything she wanted. We got a take and bake pizza so she could eat it throughout the weekend. We also got cookies, muffins, bread, carrot cake, and banana bread. It was all YUMMY. If this bakery was in Boise I think that it would thrive. While we were there we noticed several people coming and going. Haley's Corner Bakery is a must if we ever go back to Seattle.

Amy's Bridal Shower

Today we had Amy's bridal shower party at Aunt Cathy's house in Boise. Michel had made some earrings this summer in Cascade and has been so excited to give them to her. Grandma Michel was there and we all had a great time. Three weeks until the wedding.

Calvary Chapel BBQ

What a great way to end our weekend. After getting home from Three Island we unloaded the trailer and headed to Julia Davis Park in Boise. Calvary Chapel Church had their annual church picnic. Face painting, cotton candy, snow cones, games, astro jumps, music, and baptism in the river. God is great and I am so glad to be part of a wonderful church.

Great Basin Blues Festival

Today we went to Mountain Home for the Great Basin Blues Festival! John Nemeth was there and it was great. We danced all night and by the time we got back to our trailer at Three Island we were all tuckered out. It didn't take us long to fall asleep tonight.

BINGO Cards have gluten.

After talking to Kennedy's teacher yesterday about having Kennedy in her class she wanted me to ask her doctor about playing BINGO in school. She usually plays BINGO in the mornings with cereal. I can provide her with Kennedy's gluten free cereal but she questioned using the cards because there will be other kid's playing with their cereal on the them. After I talked to Kennedy's doctor she had said not to play on the same BINGO cards. The school is going to make copies of the BINGO cards and laminate them. Kennedy will have her own set of cards and will never have to worry about cross contamination on her BINGO cards. God has sent an alert teacher for Kennedy this year and I am thankful to have her.

No more Play Doh for Kennedy

Play Doh has wheat in it. I knew that and have let Kennedy play with it as long as she washes her hands after touching it. Her new Kindergarten class plays with Play Doh and the teacher was concerned with having it in her class. I called the doctor and she said that if we can guarantee she does not touch her mouth while playing with it or have a open cut on her hand then it is safe to play with it. So I have bought Colorations Dough of the Internet and have bleached a few of Kennedy's toys to take to school. The teacher plans on keeping Kennedy's dough separate and she can use her own tools to play with.

Girls Weekend

Kevin had to go to Salt Lake this weekend for work and so we had a all girls weekend. Friday I came home to London(our beagle) carrying around a mouse that she must have caught in our back yard. The girls freaked out! Saturday we went school shopping, played with Play Doh, and watched Race to Witch Mountain. Sunday we spent most of the day playing outside. The girls played in the play house while I did yard work. After all the playing they needed a pedicure so that is how we ended our weekend.

Crazy Soccer Week

Well this week we have got a true taste of the life of competitive soccer. Karleigh has had practice every morning and every night! We have spent 3-4 hours a day at the field. Luckily Karleigh has really enjoyed playing on this team and she has already improved so much. She is one of the youngest on the team as most of the girls are already age 10 and 11. Karleigh will be turning 9 at the end of August. It looks like the girls will be ready for the Seattle tournament in 3 weeks.

Wahooz Play date with Espy

Today Kennedy had a play date with her friend Espy. We took the girls to Wahooz and they had a great time. They played air hockey, climbed in the jungle gym, and played a lot of video games.

Gluten Free Pizza at Chicago Connection

We took Kennedy to the doctor this afternoon and it looks like the bleach is working. She has told us to discontinue the oral antibiotics and see what happens in 48 hours. We will continue the soaking for the next few days or until her chin heals. Tonight Karleigh is spending the night at a friends house so we took Kennedy to dinner at Chicago Connection. Yummy Gluten Free Pizza.

Bleach Bath for Kennedy

Kennedy's chin does not seem to be healing as expected. I put a call into her doctor yesterday and today they called me back. Kennedy has been on oral antibiotics for 5 days and of course it is upsetting her GI system. She wants to look at Kennedy tomorrow and possibly give her an IV antibiotic. I guess that because of her celiac and IGA deficiency that avoiding oral antibiotics is heavily indicated. That would have been good to know 5 days ago. So until we see her tomorrow we are suppose to soak her chin in 1/4 C. bleach water and warm water. Kennedy is such a trooper.

Normal EEG

Today I called the neurologist to see if they had any cancellations and maybe get Kennedy's EEG results sooner. The nurse told me that the EEG had come back as normal. Thank God. Now this is one more thing that we can rule out for Kennedy.

Gluten Free Chicken Peanut Sauce Noodles

1-8 oz. jar Thai Kitchen Peanut Satay Sauce

4 0z. Thai Kitchen Rice Noodles

5 oz. sliced water chestnuts

lettuce

1/2 C. shredded carrots

1 tsp. sugar

1/2 tsp. salt

1 red bell pepper

1 cucumber

cilantro

1/2 c. peanuts

2 sliced chicken breasts

Saute chicken breast in olive oil. Mix together chestnuts, carrots, sugar, salt sliced bell pepper, cucumber, peanut sauce, and peanuts. Boil rice noodles and set aside in cold water. When the chicken is done add mixed ingredients and saute with chicken for 3-4 minutes. Put lettuce in a bowl and add noodles, chicken mix, and cilantro.

Weekend in Cascade

We had another great weekend in Cascade. Perfect weekend to play on the jet skis at the lake. We spent all day Saturday and Sunday on the lake. I hate the idea of summer coming to an end. I will miss all the great times we have had this year with family and friends.

Huckleberry Picking

There are so many huckleberries this year. We went to New Meadows today and picked until we could not pick anymore. The girls had a lot of fun riding the four wheelers.

What a crazy day! I took Kennedy's stitches out of her chin today and noticed that the redness was getting larger. We were planning to head to Cascade after Karleigh's soccer practice tonight. We dropped Karleigh off at practice and decided to go to a quick care clinic to have her chin checked before we drove to Cascade for the weekend. One hour of waiting at the clinic and we left and headed to another clinic down the road. Kennedy and I waited to see the doctor and Kevin had to go pick Karleigh up from practice. Finally saw the doctor and he agreed that she should be on an antibiotic and faxed it into the Sav On Pharmacy on Eagle Road so we could pick it up on our way out of town. Oh if it was only that easy! I went into the pharmacy to pick it up and the pharmacist was not able to guarantee it was gluten free because the manufacturer was closed and she could not verify the filler ingredients to be gluten free. She says to me, "You can take the prescription and take the chance that it has gluten in it or wait until tomorrow and I can call the manufacturer to make sure." WHAT!!! Like I could give Kennedy something without knowing it was gluten free. So by this time the dogs had been in the back of the truck for 3 hours and we were itching to get out of town but we had to head back to Kuna and wait until morning to get her antibiotics. As we were driving home I noticed a Walgreens and Kevin pulled in. I went in to ask if they had the gluten free antibiotics. The pharmacist looks through the ingredients and asks me, "Have you ever known gluten to be in liquid form?" WHAT!!! Uh, only beer, lotion, liquid soap, and a ton of other products!! By this time I was about ready to have a nervous breakdown!! The other pharmacist came over and had a little more knowledge. She phoned her friend who was a pharmacist and found out that in deed there could be gluten in the antibiotic. She recommended waiting until morning when she could manufacturer. The next morning we got up and drove to Walgreens. Yeah, the antibiotic was gluten free and we were on our way to Cascade.

Camping in Cascade, Idaho

Well today was a better day camping. Kennedy could not get her stitches wet so her and I went on a hike. Kevin took Karleigh and her friend, Abby, rafting. Fun was had by all.

Kennedy's first stitches

Well it was another wild and crazy weekend in Cascade, Idaho. Kennedy was riding her bike around the campground when I heard her screaming. I ran up to the hill and found her beside her bike. I knew that her chin was cut bad enough that it needed to be sutured. We drove to the Cascade Medical Center and they had a doctor on call. Kennedy was so brave and good for the staff. We told her that when we got back to the camper she could have a gluten free brownie.

Pamela's Yummy Zucchini Bread

2 C. Pamela's Mix
2-1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. Salt
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 C. brown sugar packed
1/2 C. white sugar
2 eggs 1 tsp. vanilla
2 c. grated zucchini
1/4 C. oil
1/2 C. walnuts or pecans chopped (optional)

Preheat oven to 350. Grate zucchini. Reduce moisture by squeezing zucchini in paper towels. Set aside. Whisk together Pamela's Mix. cinnamon, salt, and nutmeg. In a separate bowl, beat together eggs, oil, and sugar for one minute on medium. Stir in vanilla. Add dry ingredients to wet and mix together. Fold in grated zucchini and nuts. Spoon into greased 8"X4" loaf and bake for 55-60 minutes, or when inserted toothpick comes out clean. For muffins: fill greased muffin tin 2/3 full and bake for 30-35 minutes.

Kennedy's EEG Test

Today we took Kennedy to St. Lukes Hospital in Boise for an EEG. It is a test that measures and records the electrical activity of the brain. The electrodes are attached to the head and hooked by wires to a computer. The computer records your brain's activity on the screen and we will be able to tell if Kennedy has epilepsy. We are hopeful and praying that the neurologist will have good news for us next month when we get our results.