Gluten-Free Indulgence

Since going gluten-free in January, I spent the first couple of months replacing my wheat with other flours and corn products.  In March, I decided to become more naturally gluten-free, since gluten-free products will not help you lose weight.  However, every now and then a craving pops up.

Here's the result of a sweet craving (the before pic):

I picked up this recipe from Fast and Simple Gluten-Free, and it hit the spot!

Chocolate-Chunk Skillet Cookie
Makes 4-6 servings.
If you're a fan of warm, gooey, fresh-out-of-the-oven cookies with oozy pools of chocolate, then this one's for you.  This one-pan favorite is best served topped with melty vanilla ice cream.  Grab some spoons and dig on in.

1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 large egg or 1/4 cup egg substitute
1-1/2 cups Kumquat's Gluten-Free All-Purpose Flour Blend or gluten-free all-purpose flour [I used Andrea's.]
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1-1/4 cups semi-sweet chocolate chunks
Vanilla ice cream, for serving

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Melt the butter in an 8-inch ovenproof skillet over medium heat.  Remove from heat.  Stir in the brown sugar, sugar, and vanilla until combined.  Add the egg or egg substitute and stir to combine.  Add the flour, baking soda, and salt and stir until smooth.  Fold in the chocolate chunks.  Bake for 25 minutes or to desired degree of doneness.  Serve with vanilla ice cream.

My notes: I removed the cookie from the oven...it was good and brown, but when I stuck a spoon in it, it appeared raw.  I decided to throw it back in the oven for another 5 minutes, which wasn't needed.  It's a gooey, cookie-doughy cookie.  Just let it set for a few minutes after you remove it from the oven, spoon it onto a plate or into a bowl, and top with ice cream if you want to cut some of the richness.  This is a rich cookie!!  A little goes a long way.  Easy peasy!

Repurposed Cards

After I lost my Grandma a few years ago, one of the strangest finds in her boxes was an envelope with all of my Valentine's cards from my class at school from probably first or second grade.  I must have taken them to her house to show her, and they somehow stayed there.  :)

It was fun to go through the cards and see the "signatures" of my former classmates, but admittedly I don't hold onto things unless they have a special meaning to me.  I decided to reuse the few that I really liked and were still in good shape.  Using some holiday patterned paper I already had on hand, along with my stash of cardstock, this is the outcome.

Fun, retro cards!!  I also think this could be a cute idea for using any leftover cards your kids have from their classroom parties.

More Scarves...

The rest of the birthday and Christmas scarves I made...

I think Jack was getting a little jealous of the yarn...

Christmas Projects

Yes, I survived the holidays and a week of snow days and am here to tell about it!!  I worked on a lot of projects over the last month or so...mostly scarves for Christmas and birthday presents. Since the kids had an extended Christmas break, I also managed to do some card making and scrapbooking.

I wanted to show off my school spirit scarves for my daughters and my niece.

For the first two, I used this pattern.  It's a fast one to make, and I think the ruffle look is cute!

The next one was something different for me, and I absolutely loved it.  Pattern is here.

The snow has melted for now, but I have plenty of projects in case we have another wave of cold and snow.

Sauerkraut Success!

My first batch of kraut took seven days to complete.  Considering how hot it got outside all of a sudden, which means the temp in my house got warmer, I kept watching it like a hawk to see if it would finish sooner.  Nope...on Day 7, the brine dropped as the recipe said it would.  

I have to say I love the taste...I'm not sure if it's because the cabbage was cut into larger chunks than what you buy in the store or what else it may be, but I like it.  I'm not too ashamed to admit that while I was cooking dinner tonight (and really wanted a little snack) that I enjoyed nibbling on sauerkraut to get my tangy, salty fix.

I prepped my second batch tonight after dinner.  :)

Fermentation?

For several weeks, I've been toying with the idea of trying my hand at making sauerkraut.  Fermented foods are supposed to be excellent for the old GI tract...and well, my gut needs all the help it can get to feel better.

I had a head of cabbage from my produce co-op pick-up that I needed to use, and after some more searching, I found a couple of recipes for making a small batch.  Between this site and this recipe from the More With Less Cookbook, I gave it a go.

From the different things I've read regarding making a small batch, the fermentation process will take 3-10 days.  This is Day One:

Do You Have a Plan? (Pinterest-Inspired)

I love to organize and be organized!  Since school started again this week, we're working on getting back into a routine.  One of the things I swore I was going to do was to have some type of board that would allow me to write the schedule for the week in order to help keep the kids in the loop (and avoid the constant questions of what we are doing when).

I found this great idea for a dry erase frame on Pinterest and knew I could create something similar to make me happy.  Since the kids are in school all day, I don't need a lot of space just to fill in what days we have volleyball, cross-country, etc.

Using some great patterned paper that I had on hand that would work with the Haitian color scheme in my kitchen, I put this together.  I didn't quite get it hung on the wall, since I didn't realize that I needed a level for this frame (and everyone's already in bed).  That will be my task for tomorrow...