celiac

Gluten Free Cake Mix Waffles

Hey, y’all. 🙂

Our newest Christmas yard ornament. 🙂

That cactus will not stop leaning. I’ve yet to get a good pic at night so here’s what it looks like in daylight. We always have to explain this so…the snow woman is tubing the Guadalupe complete with belly button ring / bikini and beer. 🙂  I added that piece kinda as an homage to my Mema who 1. loved Christmas yard ornaments so much and 2. loved tubing the river. The beer label used to say Old Milwaukee…again, in her honor…but it’s faded.  Yeah, I know it should say Shiner or Lone Star to keep with the theme…but it’s never going to say that.

Do y’all think I have a problem? 😉 That’s a drawer full of post Halloween Frankenberry.

If you know me in real life…if I showed up somewhere in these what would you think? 😉

But speaking of…ModCloth, how do you know what I’ve looked at if I haven’t signed into my account?  I’m not sure I like that.  I was searching clothes but I know without a doubt I wasn’t logged in.  Then the next day this showed up in my email and I had looked at every single one of those dresses.

Have y’all seen this at Target?  How hard was it not to buy that Strawberry Shortcake? When I was a kid I couldn’t have Strawberry or her friends because of their smell. I am so allergic to any kind of perfume-y type smell. So no Shortcake gang for me.  That’s ok though because I more than made up for it with Smurfs. 🙂

Buggy number 1 of toys for CPS children. 🙂  Just a reminder…if you’re doing any sort of charity type shopping most of the organizations want the items turned in soon. 🙂

Ok so I know I’m kinda crazy late to this but I searched for gluten – free versions online just to read some reviews and couldn’t find any with pics.

Cake mix waffles.

I had bought that King Arthur gluten – free cake mix and a box of their gluten – free flour.  I hated the flour. So much. As you run your fingers thru it you can feel the rice bits.  It’s definitely not a super fine blend. At all.  So then I was scared to use the cake mix because I hate to be able to feel the rice bits in the finished cake.

Solution?  Test it out with waffles.

Y’all that cake mix was amazing.  Silky smooth.

When I was looking at recipes for the waffles I decided on the one where you just make up the cake mix like it says on the box but then cook as pancakes or waffles.  I weighed out half the box of cake mix (11 oz) and then halved all the ingredients. I got 7 waffles out of that amount.

These were so good.  Everyone loved them.  What I would do next time though is use my regular pancake / waffle recipe and sub the cake mix for the flour and the dry ingredients.  Also…for these I just used a store bought tub of cream cheese icing (melted a little bit).  Next time I would mix up a simple powdered sugar / milk drizzle.  The icing combined with the sweetness of the cake mix made these way too rich tasting for breakfast.  And if I’m saying something is too sweet…y’all know it must be super sweet. 😉

King Arthur gluten – free cake mix,  you definitely have a spot in my pantry. 🙂

I’m not in a randoms mood today but one more time… Blue Cross Blue Shield, you suck.

Those links link to local stories about cancer patients who will no longer be able to use some of the best doctors in the world.  People come to the medical center in Houston from all over the world…but BCBS customers right here IN Texas won’t be able to use them.

I really don’t think I would ever go back to BCBS after this.  Like I said before…it’s one thing if these insurance companies want to limit what they offer to those using tax incentives.  But for those of us straight up paying out of pocket?  This is ridiculous.  I’ve moved to United Health.  It’s more expensive but I get to keep all of my doctors…even the big deal scleroderma specialist I don’t see til next month.  I would not have been able to see her if I’d stayed with the crappy HMO plans BCBS is offering.   Which of course…they do not care.  They want our monthly premiums but they don’t want us to actually use the benefits.

Have a good day and I’ll see ya soon.  🙂

 

Recap and Randoms

Hey, y’all.  Hope you survived the holiday weekend.  🙂

Since I had to rejigger my ingredients I spent a good part of Wed mixing up all the gluten – free dry ingredients I could ahead of time…

Cooked a turkey breast in my pressure cooker and let me tell y’all what I did…see that blob that looks like ketchup? It’s not.  It’s homemade apple butter.  I mixed up some salt / pepper / onion powder and a little dry chicken broth base plus a couple of tablespoons apple butter and a tablespoon mustard.  I slathered it all over the top / bottom of the breast.

Wrapped it up tight and into the ice box for about 24 hours.

Pressure cooked on high for 25 minutes and then let the pressure release naturally instead of forcing it to release.  The flavor was amazing.  I decided to try that combo because I always slather mustard / seasoning mix all over / inside and then stuff my big bird with onions and apple slices.  I wanted to try to recreate that flavor with the breast.  Mission accomplished. 🙂

This is what I used to cake mix for…apple cake.  It wasn’t all that great so I didn’t get an after shot.

I made gluten – free green bean cass and left the fried onions off a small portion for me.  Mama B took our family dressing recipe and made me a gluten – free version that was so ridiculously good.

The meal turned out really well esp for having to change plans.  Everything was gluten – free except the pie crust (which I didn’t eat) and Mama B made gluten – full dressing for everyone else.

The next day I whipped up some of my most favorite gluten – free whipped butter cookies.  They’re good but I have to get some fresh cup4cup. I ordered some today so hopefully it’s here in a few days.  The whole time I was eating wheat this year they had cup4cup in our local grocery store.  Now that I have to eat it?  Of course they’re not carrying it anymore and it’s back to ordering it.

49* in the middle of the day (Sat).  I pulled out the UGG boots. 🙂  I don’t care if you think UGG boots are silly. 🙂  I ordered another pair on cyber Monday.  Oh y’all know y’all did it too…used the deals to shop for yourselves. 😉  I ended up getting pretty much all of my shopping done and got some pretty good deals…but can’t really talk about them here since most of the recipients read here.

Look at that bottom pic.  That’s bubbling with a gluten – free pancake.  You might understand then why I had such high hopes for these. They turned out to be the most vile tasting thing I’ve had in ages.  I couldn’t get the taste out of my mouth for several hours.  I picked them up at HEB because they had a store coupon and because Kirby Lane is one of Sister B’s fav restaurants.  Big mistake.  It might be a fabulous gluten – full place but gluten – free?  Yuck.

Got the tree up and decorated.  Love it so much.  🙂  Decided to do all red and white this year. I’m looking for a different skirt but not having any luck.

 

Randoms:

  • Media, I’m gonna need y’all to start labeling these horrible people exactly what they are…Christian terrorists.  Just like their Muslim counterparts they don’t speak for every or even the majority of Christians everywhere but it’s time to start identifying them as exactly what they are.

 

  • I’ve been to Planned Parenthood two different times in my life.  Guess what?  Just because some people are too stubborn and / or intellectually challenged to actually research and decipher the statistics for themselves it doesn’t change that fact that far more people use PP for well women, well pregnancy and well baby care than they do for abortions.  So while you’re advocating violence in the name of life just remember your violence could very well end up killing a LIVING breathing baby doing nothing more than getting his / her well baby checkup.  So much pro life, y’all.  Said with all the sarcasm and disgust in the world.

 

  • Remember this post? I was very passionate about not supporting organizations (specifically the Salvation Army) that support domestic abusers. A reader contacted me and told me that the Salvation Army also actively supports anti-gay organizations.  I truly did not know that.  Some of y’all know that my favorite day of the year is when I (and Mama B) go shopping for the Angel tree kids and elderly each Christmas.  At first I was a little bit torn because the trees are primarily for disadvantaged children who most likely have no idea what religious hate even is.  But I like to practice what I rant about so I decided to no longer support the Salvation Army in any way.  Instead I went around to several churches in my own little town and found a way to do basically the same thing.  I’ll still be helping children and their families but without also being in any way associated with the Salvation Army.  If you’re someone who feels the same way…call around to the churches, the chamber of commerce or you local newspaper office in your own towns. Even if they don’t have an organized angel type program they all know someone in their church and / or community who can use a little help.  🙂  Somebody reading this will no doubt contact me and say “but texas girl…churches hate gay people too”.  Uhmm no.  Every single church around doesn’t spew hate.

 

  • It’s time for me to switch over to Christmas music here on the blog but I really need somebody to tell me what Chris Janson is saying about a Yeti something in his song Buy Me A Boat.  I mean my idea of roughing it is a 3 star hotel instead of 5  😉 so I don’t really have a need for a cooler.  The only way I even knew Yeti = some sort of cooler is because I see people buying them / putting ice and beer in them in the Bucees parking lot when I’m getting my ‘medication’…aka crack coke…aka coke icees.  😉 But still…I must know what he’s saying.

 

  • Can y’all believe that removing gluten was all it took to stop those awful blood spots?  I haven’t had one new spot since I stopped the gluten and most of the ones I already had…cleared up within days.  My arms haven’t been this clear for this long since mid July.

 

  • There are a few more hours left of giving Tuesday.  Did you give?  If you’re looking for a good cause I know they’re all good but this is where I donated today…The Lotus Project.

 

 

Ok that’s enough for today.  I have a Dr’s appointment Wed and then one more in a couple of weeks.  After that hopefully I can be done with Dr’s and tests until mid January when I’m going to see some big deal scleroderma specialist at the medical center.  🙂

Y’all have a good week. 🙂

 

Happy Thanksgiving + Health Developments

Happy Thanksgiving. 🙂  Don’t all little girls celebrate Thanksgiving by putting a hat on a turkey and letting it look in a mirror? 😉

So…where’ve I been?

I’ll just go ahead and put this here…

So…yeah.

I went to the gastroenterologist for something else and left with this. 🙁  If you can’t read it…it’s Celiac confirmation.  The blacked out stuff is personal information + what I originally went in for and don’t want on the blog.

I can’t believe this.  I’ve lived most of this year eating pretty much all the wheat around because we (me and my other dr’s) thought the original 2013 diagnosis was wrong.  The gastro thinks that reintroducing gluten is directly related to some of the health things I’ve been going thru for the last several months.

I was in such denial I even took multiple pregnancy tests to try to account for all the bloating.  Because ya know it’s so much more likely for the woman who hasn’t ovulated in several years to be pregnant than not able to eat donuts. 😉

Anyway…I’ve been dealing with this…clearing out the cabinets…changing up things for Thanksgiving meal…getting reacquainted with cup4cup…and being a little bit mopey.

But if I’m completely honest with myself…I know it’s something I have to do and just the week and half-ish of no gluten has changed my health in dramatic ways.  Those awful blood spots on my arms are even healing up really fast.

I don’t wanna dwell on it too much more right now.  Obviously I’m gonna have to go back to cooking everything gluten-free but I’m not sure how much I’ll put on here.  I mean I’ll post pics of stuff but I don’t think I want to go back to posting a bunch of recipes.  At least not until I’m feeling a whole lot better and have the energy to do so.

Those of you who know me in person…”I told you so” will be accepted til midnight tonight.  😉

Hope y’all have the best Thanksgiving weekend with those you love. 🙂

Be safe on the roads and in the malls and I’ll see ya next week when hopefully I’ll get this space back to normal.  🙂

Let’s go old school with the music today while I ask…Is tequila gluten- free? ’cause I think I’m gonna be needin’ the bottle.  😉

 

Hodgepodge Catch-up

 

Hey, y’all.  🙂

First before I start with the hodgepodge…for any family members reading this…Mama B’s Dr visit last week was great.  She doesn’t have a tumor or anything else scary.  🙂

And me?  Well…I’m still alive.

Feeling better but still not 100%.

This week I did start cooking a little bit for the first time all month.

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That looks awful but it turned out quite delicious. 🙂  A pot of pressure cooked short ribs.

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Crushed pretzels / brownie batter / salted caramel.

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Layered.

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Swirled.

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Baked 350*.

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One tiny molten section in the middle.  My fav.  🙂

This is a great idea for some salty / sweet / crunchy in one pan but for some reason about 25% of my pretzels were soggy while the rest of them were perfectly crisp.  Have no idea why or how to fix it.  It was all eaten though.  🙂

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Knowing me y’all probably think the brownies were my favorite food from this week but you’d be wrong. 🙂  This was my fav.  Again the pic looks off (and I seriously need to get back into the habit of taking pics because I forgot to get ‘after’ pics)  but I made up a batch of icebox dough and used part of it to make a hamburger / cheese stuffed roll.  It was the best.  🙂  And now I’ll use the rest of the dough for pizza.

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Went out for Lent fish Friday.  I had the grilled fish tacos.  That’s a corn tortilla.  Plus guac / salsa / sour cream.

Did  y’all see this on Kelly & Michael this week?  You put in your birth date and it tells you the number one song the week you were born and the week you were conceived.

Mine were Rod Stewart’s Maggie May (the week I was born…which I already knew) and Dawn’s Knock Three Times.

Sister B, I did yours and yours where Top of the World (the Carpenters) and Roberta Flack’s Killing Me Softly.

I think we can all agree I got the better songs.  😉

I did my whole family and Papa B’s birth song was Smoke Smoke Smoke that Cigarette.  And for real I can imagine ’em all lighting up right there in hospital.  Ick.

Oh and let’s see what else…

The most shocking thing this week?

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The movie theater in my little town is showing 50 Shades.

What?

This is a town where far too many people here are your typical Sunday mornin’ Christians.  Ya know…church on Sunday mornin’…horrible people Mon – Sat.  Racist / sexist / judgmental / homophobic / basically all your ists and ics.  A good portion probably think the segregated 50’s was Shangri-La.

They didn’t even show The Help in this town.

Yeah, seriously.  Too much like looking in a mirror.

But 50 Shades?  Well let’s all head on out for a girls night.  And then hop on a church pew in the morning and pass judgment on everybody else.

Me and Mama B wanna go covertly take pics of all the hypocrites.  😉

Too much?   😉

Don’t worry ists and ics.  I’m not gonna turn this space into a small town The Dirty.    But oh how some of you temp me.

Anyway that’s all for today.

Have a good weekend.  See y’all soon.  🙂

I’ll leave y’all with my birth week song.  Which I actually love love loved long before I ever knew it was my birth week song.  Check yours out and see if you felt the same way about yours. 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

Hey, Y’all

Sorry I didn’t get a post up last week.

Last week was just plain hellacious.   Mama B had a cat scan order for 2 months and getting that scheduled was a mess.  Finally we were able to get it done last Thursday.   She’s got another appointment next week so here’s hoping it goes better.

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I was so frustrated with all the nonsense…at one point I had to go sit out in the lobby…watch the fish and just breathe.

Let’s see…what else did I do last week?

Well …

I made some spicy wings.

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Made some crispy green beans…

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These were so easy and so good.  I just seasoned some fresh green beans with salt / pepper and a tsp of spicy Macadamia oil.  Then baked at 400* til they got crispy and a little charred.

I got a delivery…

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Y’all know that I gave up soy a long time ago.  Until last month pretty much the only soy I ate was in the form of mayo and I’d even cut my consumption of that by about 70%.  When I started Whole 30 eating I found Tessemea’s on the Whole 30 site.  Most of their products are paleo / Whole 30 approved.  There is zero soy in the mayo.  AND it’s actually really good.  All of their stuff is ‘clean’.  The only downside I find with any of it is that you’re supposed to icebox the dressings / marinades and since they’re made with olive oil (the good tasting kind not extra virgin) they harden in the cold.  You have to wait for them to soften or sit them in some warm water to speed it up.  They say it doesn’t damage the product at all but still it’s annoying.

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Right now these are my two favs.  I take about a 1/4 cup of the mayo and about 2 tbsp of the zesty southwest ranch and mix it together really well.  Then put back in the icebox to let the flavors meld.

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Then I use it like a dipping sauce for beef and chicken…kind of like the dipping sauce at a steak house.  Or even as a creamy dressing on a salad.

Oh and one last update…

I’m still attempting the sewing thang.  It’s…interesting.  🙂

You know how we have all kinds of vanity sizing in store clothes?   Well patterns don’t do that.  So if you’re a size 10 in regular clothes you’re like an 18 or 20 in patterns.  I didn’t know that so I have a bunch of wrong size patterns and wrong amounts of material.   But it’s all just practice right now so it’s not that big a deal.

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Right now I’m working on the shorter dress on the left.  I’m stuck now though because I don’t have an iron.  I know.  I’m gonna go get one tomorrow.

It really is a little comical.  First I didn’t have the right color thread.  Then I didn’t have a zipper.  Directions, y’all.  They’re there for a reason.  😉   As I was cutting out the pattern I did stop and wonder how may patterns my Mema cut out / sewed on that same table.  Hopefully she’ll send me some mojo.  🙂

Besides the sizing issue with patterns…the other thing I’ve found frustrating is this pattern is clearly marked “see and sew” and “Yes it’s easy”.  Uhmmm no.  No.  It’s not any of that.  Mama B is an experienced seamstress.   She even thought the directions were way too confusing for a novice.  But anyway…I’m still giving it a go.  Maybe someday soon I’ll have something to show for it.   🙂

Hope y’all are safe / warm and well.  🙂