family memories

scratch & grain cheesecake brownies

Hey, y’all.

I’ve been having a really rough time with all the health stuff. 🙁

Last time we met I told y’all about the bone infection and the 6 months of antibiotics I’ll be taking. They are brutal, y’all. I’m taking 3500mg a day. My stomach and digestive system in general is a complete mess. I can’t keep anything really solid down at all.

Guided injection into my sacroiliac joint. My doctors have been trying to get me seen for several issues while I still have insurance. So in the middle of all of this bone stuff I’ve also been seeing a joint and pain specialist for some ongoing joint issues. They promised me that two guided steroid injections wouldn’t cause the same weight gain issues as ingested steroids.

Yeah, no. 🙁

In the 6 days between injection one and injection two I gained TWENTY pounds. From my face to just below my abdomen I puffed up like a water balloon. Of course a good chunk of that is fluid (that’s already coming off pretty easily) but still it’s so frustrating given how hard I’d been working for the last year.

And then the hits just keep coming. Tuesday of this week I went in for the first follow-up for the bone infection and he gave me some additional bad news. During the diagnosis phase for figuring out the bone stuff they ran so many tests and I had multiple scans and an MRI. Well all of the tests results were finally back in and one of scans found a lesion on my frontal cortex. The ENT thinks it’s probably lupus related (and a former rheumatologist did think I probably had some mild CNS lupus once before).  They’re in the process of getting me back in to see the neurologist and I’m just hopeful that they will be able to see me before the end of the year when I’ll lose my insurance.

I’m so scared, y’all. 🙁

 🙂

If you follow me on insta …and I’m sorry for the lack of posting there too…you know the brightest spot in the last couple months was birthday week trip to my most favorite place. 🙂

Take me back…please. 🙂

Now…the chocolate.

Have y’all seen this? scratch & grain gluten free baking kit.

All ingredients color coded for easy follow instructions.

Y’all this is the best boxed treat I’ve had since having to go gluten-free in 2013. The only place I’ve ever seen them is Target. I don’t know what kind of voodoo they’ve got going on with the flour in the brownie mix but it is perfect. Perfect fudgy texture.

Also…if you go to Target looking for it be careful. scratch & grain has other mixes and not all of them are gluten free.

Now…that brings me to this. Keto and lchf are completely out the window for the foreseeable future. I can’t do it. I tried going back on keto this week and I thought I was going to die. And I’m not being overly dramatic here. What these antibiotics are doing to my stomach…I just can’t fight thru it without some starch to buffer them. If you can do it. Great for you. You’re much stronger than me. But guess what? There’s no prize for that. 😉

My goal now is to get the real steroid gain off and then just maintain my losses from keto. If I can do that I’ll consider it a win.

In the meantime I will enjoy indulging in some gluten-free treats and I’ll share when they’re worthy…like these brownies. 🙂

Today would have been my pappy’s birthday. It was super bittersweet this year. He loved him some ‘stros baseball. I’ve written about this before but for the last 2 years of his life I saw him every single day. Each day when there was a day game we’d sit and watch it. Today was the parade. Papa B and I both cried for him a little more than usual. I also had some crack coke.  An Icee…he always used to call it my crack coke. 🙂

Allrighty…that’s all for today. Y’all have a good weekend and I’ll see you soon-ish. 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

Key Lime Pie

Hey, y’all. 🙂

Hope y’all are well.

I’m finally feeling better. Finally finished all the antib’s for the staph infection. Those things were rough on the stomach.

So this week I made…

…a pizza. Using gfJules of course. I used my recipe and her flour (but her pizza mix is really good too). Ps. it didn’t shrink up…I just didn’t make enough dough to fit that size pan.

 😉

I’m totally sick of the Colin Kaepernick flag / anthem junk but I’m feeling better so let’s pause for a little rant shall we…

Some people are so focused on the symbolism of a piece of colored fabric that they’re (purposely of course) ignoring the very real issues inspiring the protest. People are DYING right here. Right here in this great country…not in war…RIGHT HERE.

Just because this is the greatest place in the world doesn’t mean we can’t be BETTER. We don’t get to rest on greatness when MILLIONS of people in this country are being disenfranchised (and worse) every.single.second of the day. MILLIONS…African Americans…Hispanics…Muslims…the LGBT community…women…it goes on and on and on. We’re supposed to be better than this. But as usual instead of bothering to listen to the very real problems they change the topic and start whining about a piece of fabric or screaming about the military.

Are some people seriously so cognitively challenged that their brain can’t entertain two separate topics at the same time? You know…it IS possible to be angry about cop murderers while still supporting the GOOD cops. It IS possible to support those who join the military while still abhorring war. You CAN love this great country and still want us to DO BETTER.

For the record…I put my hand over my heart every time I hear the national anthem even in my home when there is no one around. But if you have a reason for not doing that yourself…then I totally support that too. Because THAT is what this country is SUPPOSED to be about. Not forced assembly or sing – song time. Oh and Ps number 2: The flag belongs to ALL of us. Not just the military.

Oh one more thing then I’ll move on…ya know what I find a kazillion times more offensive than someone choosing not to stand / sing? All the people wearing flag do rags and tube tops. A sight which can be seen every single week at white trash conventions all over the country…aka Nascar races. Funny how it’s totally cool for them to disrespect the flag by putting it on their bodies while chugging / spilling who knows what all over it.  But whatevs. Garbage in garbage out, y’all.

Weight loss tip for the long weekend. 😉

Speaking of…do y’all have big plans?

Here’s another recipe perfect for squeezing out these last few weeks of summer.

1 cup flour (regular or gluten free…I used gfJules). 1/2 cup sugar. 6 tbsp soft butter. 1 egg yolk. 1 tsp vanilla. Beat for about 2 minutes. Double or triple as needed.

Baked about 8 minutes in the convection oven.

Key lime pie filling.

Layered like banana pudding in individual bowls. I forgot to get a pic of the Whipped Cream and garnish on top.

So have y’all seen this Margaritaville Key Lime Pie filling? It doesn’t claim to be gluten – free but the only questionable ingredient is modified food starch…which they don’t specify the origin of…but no one in the Texas Girl household reacted to it so I think it’s  just corn.

Anyway…when I was growing up I lived on the Texas Gulf Coast and one of our family fav restaurants was a little shack right on the water and right across from the Naval Base. They had the BEST key lime pie. I still dream of that pie. This was the closest taste to it I’ve ever had. I don’t know if you’ve seen a lot of KLP recipes but almost all of them use Sweetened Condensed Milk. Which if you know me you know I’ve been known to drink out of shot glasses. 😉 So I love that taste…but not in Key Lime Pie.  I’ve always known without a doubt that the KLP that haunts my dreams didn’t have it in it. After tasting this I’m even more convinced. Another thing they used was a butter cookie shell. I was going to do that…thus the cookie recipe above…but I didn’t end up with enough cookies to make a pie shell so I decided to do individual servings layered like banana pudding. They were perfect.

Anyway…this was really good and our Walmart is clearancing the pie mix right now.  If you like KLP I highly recommend giving this one a try. They also have a coconut pie mix. I picked it up too and will maybe try it this weekend.

Y’all have a great / safe long weekend and I’ll see you soon. 🙂

 

 

German Chocolate Brownies

Hey, y’all. 🙂

Is it 10 million degrees where y’all are?  It sure feels like it here.

Even so I did do some cooking this week.

If you read the old blog you know that fig preserve making day is one of my most favorite days of the year. 🙂  I guess because of all the rain we had all winter / spring…this year’s figs are out of this world good.

That second to the last pic is to show y’all what I’ve been doing with Glutino crackers to make them more palatable for me and for the non celiacs in my life.  I melt a little butter. Brush it all over the crackers and then bake at 325* in the convection over for just a couple of minutes. They don’t get soggy at all and once they cool off you can store them in a Ziploc bag and they stay super crisp for weeks.

Up next…

A batch of my Mema’s shrimp pasta salad.  I used that Barilla gluten – free pasta (macaroni size) I wrote about a while back and hands down they made the best gluten – free batch yet. I’ve tried other gluten – free pastas with this recipe and they are awful compared to this (actually all other gluten – free pasta is awful compared to the Barilla).  I’m so scared they’re going to stop making it.

I didn’t have any gluten – free croutons made up so I used crushed up Doritos on top.  No need for croutons anymore. 🙂

I know some you only stop by here for my political thoughts / rants but today I’m gonna hand the mic to this awesome 14 year old boy…and by extension his parents.  In EVERY way imaginable y’all are doin’ it right. 🙂

 

Now to those brownies…

First let me say that for a full brownie pan you should double the amounts listed below. These are thin because we don’t need a full pan in the house right now due so some blood sugar issues of others in the house and I couldn’t find my smaller pan so we’re just having thin brownies. 🙂

2 oz German Chocolate and 6 tbsp Butter. Melt completely and cool.

1/2 cup Flour gfjules of course plus 1 cup Sugar and a dash of Salt

Add melted Butter / Chocolate plus one Egg and a splash of Vanilla. Super easy.

Spread into pan and baked at 325* in the convection over for about 23 minutes.

If you’ve never used German Chocolate for baking…go get you some right this minute. 🙂  This is like brownies on crack…just how I prefer my crack I mean brownies. 😉

Ok that’s all for today.

Hope y’all are having a great weekend and are staying cool.  🙂

See you soon.

 

Cream Cheese Chocolate Chip Cookies

Hi, y’all.  🙂

Before I get going today I have to use this space for some family memories. Non fam y’all might wanna scroll. 🙂

Sorry if this blows the margins.  Tonight these 4 ladies are all together again up in Heaven.  Mema’s sister aka Papa Bear’s Aunt and Godmother passed away this week. 🙁  Her name was Lillie Mae and she was a super sweet lady.  That’s a picture of a scrapbook page I made. It’s pics of the 4 sisters and their Mom thru the years.  You can’t really see it without having a big view but to pick out LM all you have to do is look for the one person who was smiling in literally every single one of the pictures. 🙂 That’s how I remember her. Always smiling.  She was a ceramicist…is that a word?…ya know…she had kiln and made ceramic stuff.  When I was 3rd / 4th grade-ish she gave me two molds…one was a teddy bear and one was a miniature bowl and pitcher set.  I would pour / paint them and she would fire them for me.  I would put them in Meme’s beauty shop and her clients would buy them.  Pappy matched all the money I made that summer and I bought my first designer purse.  Yes I had a designer purse in 4th grade.  She also made these little ceramic Christmas trees and gave all 3 of us (Mama B, Sister B and myself) each one.  I went around to their trees and took out enough of the red and green lights so I could have an all red and green tree.  It’s had its inside power source changed many times but I still have it. 🙂  Anyway she was just a cool lady and will be missed by those who knew and loved her.  Good healing thoughts go out to her immediate family and caregiver L…and super good thoughts to B and AR her daughter and granddaughter.  They lived in the same town as her and put in the day to day time with her. I know it’s one of the hardest things in the world…being the one who watches parent / grandparent slowly leave…your heart breaking a little more every day but still getting up and doing it again the next day.  Y’all did her right and good.  🙂

Ok let’s lighten this up a little bit…

While I had the family story scrapbook out the rest of the fam was looking at it too and…

…do y’all see that lower right hand corner?  That’s 2 pics of King George.  They were like “is that George Strait?”  Uhm duh he’s my imaginary fam. 😉   Seriously that’s been in the book for 13 years and y’all just noticed it?  Also if you’re blacked out in these pics it’s just for the blog I didn’t black you out in the actual book.

Have y’all seen these?  Gluten free. Women owned. I don’t know how the Girl Scouts haven’t had this pulled.  These are so close to Thin Mint’s it’s crazy. I found them at Cracker Barrel.

Look at that stretch. 🙂

Made some hotdog buns with gfJules flour.

 🙂

Now to the title of this post…

4 oz Cream Cheese, 1 stick plus 2 tbsp butter, 1 cup of sugar. I did half white half brown.

1 egg.

Vanilla.

2 cups (270g) gfJules flour, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp baking powder, pinch of baking soda, 1 bag chocolate chips.

Mixed, portioned and into icebox overnight.

Baked at 350* for 12 minutes in the convection oven.

This dough was so0000 good.  And the cookies baked up and tasted good too but they are very soft.  As a household we like cookies that hold up to cookies and milk. These do not.  But taste wise the cream cheese really does take chocolate chip cookies to another level.  It was totally worth it for the dough alone and I’d definitely make up a small batch again if I had leftover cream cheese. 🙂

That’s all for now.  See y’all soon. 🙂

 

 

Another Keeper

Yesterday would have been my Meme’s 96th birthday.  I’ve written about her here and here.  As a way of keeping their memories alive I always make certain foods on my loved ones birthdays / aniversaries / etc.  Normally I’d do some chicken fried steak in her honor but I just don’t have the energy for that right now so I stuck with chocolate chip cookies.  And let me tell y’all…they were fabulous.  🙂

These weren’t just any old cookies.  They were malted milk chocolate chip cookies. Recipe at the end of post.

The tan-ish color stuff is the malted milk powder.  I’d never used it before.

Forget what I said on Monday about making the apple dumplings right away.  Make THESE right now. They were so delicious.  And I think made a perfect tribute to my Meme.  🙂

Along with my love of cookies, chicken fried and cooking in general she was also 100% responsible for my love of Elvis.   Happy Birthday, Meme.  You were the very best. 🙂

Malted Milk Chocolate Chip Cookies 

1 cup (2 Sticks) softened Butter

3/4 cups Brown Sugar

3/4 cups Sugar

2 Eggs

2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract

2 cups All-purpose Flour

1 1/4 teaspoon Baking Soda

1 1/4 teaspoon Salt

1/2 cup (scooped…don’t level off) Malted Milk Powder

1 bag Milk Chocolate Chips

Directions

Preheat oven to 325*.

Cream butter.

Add sugars and mix til fluffy.

Add eggs and vanilla and beat until combined.

Sift together flour, malted milk powder, baking soda, and salt.

Add to butter mixture til combined.

Add chocolate chips.

Bake for 8 to 12 minutes.  I used the convection oven and it barely took these 8 minutes so keep an eye on your first pan to gauge time.