I am... not so good with yeast and I made banana bread!

Yup, its true.  I'm terrible at baking with yeast.

I don't know entirely why.  I've baked with yeast before, I've managed to make some OK loaves of bread from time to time.  Mostly, when I had a bread machine though.  I no longer have a bread machine, sadly, and don't really have the fundage at the moment to get a new one. 

Not entirely the issue though.

I just don't do well with yeast.  Everything I try, and every tip I try, ends in disaster.  And disasters when you're gluten free can be costly.  Literally, they can cost way too much money!!  So, I've given up on making 'real' bread.  I mostly stick with quick breads (i.e., banana bread, pumpkin bread, etc), muffins, and I have even created yeast-free cinnamon rolls and pizza crust. 

It probably doesn't help that I'm 'fly by the seat of your pants' baker either.  I never write anything down, and just throw a bunch of ingredients into the mixer...  and hope they turn out decent.  Surprisingly enough, it usually works. 

Yesterday's banana bread for instance.  I typically follow my Better Homes & Gardens cookbook.  Its not a gluten free cookbook at all.  I adjust for certain things.  Add a little extra baking powder, try not to forget the all-important Xanthan Gum (seriously, that is REALLY important), get a good gluten free mix.  Make some healthier substitutions.

And make it yummy, of course.

Banana Bread (Gluten free, Dairy free)
Preheat oven to 350*, makes 2 loaves

3 cups gluten free all purpose flour (I use a blend with rice flour, sorghum flour, tapioca flour and potato starch)
1 tsp Xanthan Gum
4 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda
1/2 - 1 teaspoon of Cinnamon (I like a LOT of cinnamon, but that's a personal preference)
1/4 teaspoon salt (I use sea salt)
2 eggs
3 mashed bananas
1 1/2 cups of sugar
1/3 cup cooking oil
1 cup applesauce
optional adds: nuts, raisins

Grease 2 bread pans and set aside.  In a large bowl, combine the dry ingredients except the sugar and set aside.  In another bowl, combine the mashed banana, applesauce, eggs, oil and sugar.  Add the wet mixture to the dry, and stir till moistened.  Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 55 minutes to 1 hour. 


It was sooo yummy.  I should have taken pictures.  I would have, had my boys not eaten both loaves in about as much time as it took to watch their movie!  (OK, so there was a little left that the husband finished off an hour before bed, but still).  It was fluffy and moist, and cinnamony.  The sorghum flour gives it a bit of a multi grain taste, which really helps.  Some time this week, I'll be making animal crackers and graham crackers.  It's so nice to have sorghum flour in the house again!  (I've been out of flour for an embarrassing long time, since moving my options have decreased considerably)

So, for the time being, my recipes will exclude those that include yeast.  At least until I pluck up the courage to try it again.  Though, I have recently read about using the Crock Pot to help your bread rise...  I might just try that.  It would be nice not to have to buy $10 of bread a week!!

Angry Mom

I'm having one of those particularly bad days.  You know, the kind of bad day where you wake up ready to face the world, only to have to slap you in the face and laugh at you?  Yeah, one of those kind of days.  Then everything you do seems to be wrong.  And nothing seems to go your way.

Yup.

At any rate, its also one of those bad days where you start to feel sorry for yourself, or sad for no particular reason.  Maybe its because my kid is in the other room, repeating himself over and over and over and over again for no reason.  And incessantly humming.  And the other child has spent the entire day crying and whining over nothing in particular.  Maybe everyone is just having a bad day, I guess!

Then you realize you have to change your routine, and want to smack yourself in the forehead because trying to get a kid with Autism to change his routine can be...  not fun.  See, with Lovely Husband's new job, came a new schedule.  Which means that he is getting home later than we're used to.  Which is fine - when there's no homework to be done.  But, now there's homework, and the need to switch our nightly routine has come to a head.  Any time after 6 PM is simply too late to get homework done, because it will inevitably end in tears and a tantrum.

So, now its No TV until we've done homework.  But, he has to EAT before he'll do homework.  So, now its after school snack, homework, and then TV time - then dinner after husband gets home.

So, I've spent the last few days in what can only be described as a war zone, in relation to the change in this routine.  Yesterday went considerably better, and hopefully today will be even more so.  But its hard to remain positive when you're being screamed and yelled at. 

At any rate, this is more of a vent than anything else.

At some point, I'll start feeling better.  At some point, it won't be so hard to deal with this change.

Welcome to 2012!!

And guess what?

I quit my super stressful job. 

I miss it.  Sometimes.  When I'm feeling like I *might* be bored.  Mostly, I just miss the people I worked with.  The job?  It kind of sucked.  I am now a stay-at-home Mom.  It's hard to suck at that.  It's still stressful, but not nearly so much. 

But, that means I have more time to BLOG!  Yay!  I know I'll never be famous from my blog, and most of my recipes probably won't turn out for anyone but me.  Because that's my luck.  Heck, half the time when I try to recreate them they don't turn out. 

But my cakes?  My cakes are always awesome.  I'm seriously considering starting a gluten free cake business.  Not sure how much of a market there is in our new city though.  It's fairly small.  Oh, and beautiful.

Oh, I'm sorry.  Did I forget to mention that in addition to quiting my super stressful job I also moved?  Yup, packed up the house, the kids and the dog, and moved 6 hours away from the only state I've ever lived in.  Don't get me wrong, it was well worth the change!  Lovely husband got a fabulous new job working for a great company that's been around for ages.  Lots of growth potential, and gives me the oppurtunity to do what *I* want to do.  And once I figure out what I want to be when I grow up, I'll do just that...

So, the new city.  I won't post the name of it.  I don't need some creepy internet stalker tracking me down, demanding I bake him an amazing gluten free cake or cupcakes.  Nope, not this woman!

Yes.  It is on a lake.  A beautiful, huge, wonderful lake.  That I can see from my gigantic living room window.  I've never lived by a lake before, and therefore intend to be in awe of it for a very, very long time.  I am so enthralled by this view, that I sometimes catch myself looking at it for an inordinate amount of time.  I should probably stop doing that.

Oh, you might have noticed that I also mentioned that we got a dog!  We adopted this lovely lady from animal control in Illinois.  She was dumped on the side of the road.  She's a great dog, and we are very happy to have her!  But, just remember psycho internet cake seeking guy - she's very protective.

At any rate, now that I'm home more, this means I get to spend more time blogging!  Yay for my FOUR followers!  You know you're so excited.

I promise, I will get back to baking.  After all, the big one is in school full time now, and the little one loves to help (as previously noted).  Since I have time, there's a lot I can stop buying now!  Of course, in the last 2 years, gluten free snacks have progressed from tolerable to outright amazing.  Have you tried the ice cream cones??  I can't remember off hand who the maker is, but they are fantastic!  A little dairy free ice cream and, voila.  An ice cream cone that is better than the 'real' thing - because it. is. awesome.  And MY KID can eat it. 

And that is what matters.

You can have your cake...

So, I haven't posted in... well, forever.

But we had a surprise party for my Mom, and I of course made the cake.

And it was the bomb, lol ;).

She's a HUGE Bears fan, obviously. It was gluten, dairy, nut free, vanilla yellow cake, with 'buttercream' frosting, and marshmallow fondant. It really turned out well I think! Mom was quite happy with it at least!

The Bears cake was actually my 2nd successful fondant cake!

As you can see, my eldest requested a Perry the Platypus cake for his birthday a few months ago, and I really think it was, as he said "The best cake ever!"

Making GF Bread

Making gluten free bread can be a challenge - especially when your oldest son tried to help you by getting your beautiful KitchenAid mixer out of the cabinent and drops it on the floor (reminder, I did not ask him to do so, he did it on his own without permission). Said mixer is still out of commission, and will be until we have the money to fix it up...

So, I haven't made much bread aside from our microwavable recipe. I haven't really had the time, or the energy, or the right stuff to do it, lol. So, its a little rough on the old muscles, but I'm getting the hang of it. My goal is to set aside at least one day a week to bake - its not a stringent goal, but its there none the less ;).

Today, I searched the internet for recipes that contained ingredients that I had in the house. I really hope this bread turns out...

If it does, I'll post the recipe!!

I *need* to bake!

But its 'summer' now, and much to hot to deal with the oven, lol. I want to try bagels and soft pretzels again. And cinnamon rolls. How I want cinnamon rolls! Unfortuantly the baby still can't have cinnamon as of our last trial.
I've been getting a little down about being gluten free lately too. I normally am a pretty positive person, and I can handle just about anything that comes my way... but damnit, I want a real pretzel! I want to go to the grocery store and be able to buy anything that sounds good, and forget reading the stupid label! I'm tired of the money we have to spend so I can be safe, and not sick. I'm tired of having to politely turn down offers of food.
I'm tired of having to politely tell the waitress that I can't have gluten, my kid can't have dairy and gluten, and could you please try to not poison me? In not so many words of course... And then have to politely explain that no, I do not and cannot have that toast that you put on my plate, and now I need a new plate.
I'm tired of being polite.
I'm tired of not being believed. I'm tired of the question of "Well, can't you just forget your diet for today?"
I can't forget my diet today. I can't forget my diet anyday. The word diet implies that I'm eating like this to lose weight. I'm actually quite comfortable with my weight. I'm not terribly overweight, and I'm actually right about where I should be - medically speaking. I live like this because it makes me feel better. I like not being in pain. That's the point.
Gluten is not necessary to live, or to be nutritionally right. In fact, since I can't have a LOT of the processed junk, I eat much better than you. You can go to the store and buy whatever your little heart desires. I have to read labels for every single product I buy. My trip to the store probably takes twice as long as the average shopper. The gal who orders the gluten free food for my regular store is starting to recognize me, lol.
I'm not really angry - I'm more or less just disappointed. Life isn't supposed to be so hard, right? You're not supposed to anagonize over what goes into your or your children's bodies... You're sure as hell not supposed to feel guilty when the store runs out of cheese - except your kid can only eat one specific cheese, and the next nearest store that sells it is an hour away.
It's sure as hell not supposed to take all day to figure out what to make for dinner that everyone will eat, and will be safe for everybody.
So for now, I'm just going to breathe. And be polite... Just don't be surprised when I finally crack, LOL!

So Proud!

William has started spelling!

Everytime I turn around, he's asking me "How do you spell xxx?" It's so cute :). I plan on working really hard this summer, and get him reading. I wonder how many other kids in kindergarten will be reading next year? I was reading at that age, I have always loved reading.

He's also making up stories ;).

He's really been making leaps & bounds lately. I can't even begin to explain how great that feels.