Musings from a Busy Mom

I am heartbroken.  Every year I fly off somewhere and enjoy almost a week with my MOPS sisters - working, learning, playing, and worshipping at our convention.  It truly is an amazing week and reminds me why I am still a part of MOPS.  But every time I return home, I wonder if I should ever leave. My son has Asperger's Syndrome, an Autism Spectrum Disorder, and Tourette's.  He does not handle big changes well, and my absence is huge to my children.  After all, as a homeschooling mom I am constantly with my children unless I have a Mom's Night Out, a weekend retreat, church, or a MOPS event.  When I return from an event like MOMCon I learn that my son has been wetting the bed, has been stemming, has not been able to focus, and his tics have gone into hyperdrive.  I cry every time I return home after being away for more than a few hours. This year I thought I would be proactive about MOMCon.  I started preparing my children early this week for my departure.  I thought by

It has been a long time between posts, but during this time I have perfected some recipes that I will post soon!  Keep a look out!

My family agrees - this recipe is a keeper, even if we ever go back to eating gluten products.  These are the best waffles I've ever made.   Sara's Gluten-Free Waffles 3 cups Sara's GF Baking Mix 1/4 cup sugar 2 eggs 1/2 cup melted coconut oil 2 cups milk Mix GF Baking Mix with sugar.  Make a well and pour in melted coconut oil and eggs.  Mix oil and eggs and start incorporating into dry mix.  Slowly add milk.  Add 1/4 cup to each side of waffle maker and cook until golden brown. You may have to cook them a little longer than regular waffles. Makes 12 waffles.  Can also use this recipe for pancakes. Please note, these are best fresh.  While the children didn't mind the frozen then toasted ones, they were not as good as the ones we made yesterday.

I have two gluten-free flour mixes that I have found work best in most of my baking.  I have an 'Artisan' mix that works well as an all-purpose flour, and I have a baking mix for cookies, biscuits, and such.  When using these blends, my family has found the gluten-free baked goods to be as good as or better than their wheat-based cousins.   Since we are still relatively new to eating gluten-free, it was important to me to find things that we really like.  We have never given up bread products - this was not an option for my bread-loving husband, so we have never entered into the "anything that looks like bread... is better than nothing" phase. Sara's GF Biscuit/Baking Mix : 6 cups garbanzo bean flour  4 1/2 cups white rice flour 4 1/2 cups brown rice flour 6 TBS baking powder 1/4 cup sugar 3 TBS + 2 tsp xanthan gum or guar gum 1 TBS cream of tartar 1 tsp salt Sara's GF Artisan Mix : 6 cups Brown Rice Flour 4 cups Potato Starch 3 cup Al

Now you can bake your cookie and eat it too!  I discovered a delish chocolate chip cookie recipe.  My children find them delightful, and because of the flours I use my youngest dubbed them 'vegetable cookies.'  But they taste nothing like vegetables... they taste like all the goodness a chocolate chip cookie should be! Sara's Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies : 1 cup sugar 1 cup packed brown sugar 2 eggs 1 cup butter, softened 1 1/2 tsp GF vanilla 1 3/4 cup Baking Mix 1 1/4 cup Artisan Mix 1 tsp baking soda 1 tsp salt soy-free chocolate chips to taste Cream the sugar, brown sugar, butter, eggs, and vanilla. Add everything else except chocolate chips and mix well (about 30 seconds in mixer). Stir in chocolate chips. Drop by rounded spoonfuls (or Pampered Chef scoop) onto cookie sheet and bake at 375° for 10-12 minutes.  Devour.  But be careful... these are rich enough and filling enough that more than one may be just a little too much. And

I am in love.  It's name - graham crackers.  Well, not really, since they have no graham flour anywhere near them... so perhaps I should call them 'mock graham crackers.'   One thing everyone in my family loves is graham crackers.  A few years ago we had to switch to an organic brand to avoid soy, and those were even better.  Yesterday I went on a search for a gluten-free brand, and when I saw the price I decided I'd try to make them instead.  I looked at a few recipes, and they are all very similar, yet using different flours.   Well, if you've been reading my blog, you know I have to take it on as my own and create my own recipe.  If I'd ever known how easy these were to make, I would have never purchased graham crackers from the store. I was going to video blog this recipe so you could see how easy it is, but I am already receiving requests from friends for the recipe, so I decided to put the recipe out there and I may video it later.  Don't let th

For quite some time my family's favorite bread has been a recipe from King Arthur flour .  We used this bread for everything - for sandwiches, for french toast, a slice with dinner, and even as a snack with honey (well, butter for me, please; I am the only one in the family that does not like honey).  And, yes, I was a flour snob and kept King Arthur flour on hand.  So it was obvious, at least to me, that it was my goal to make a substitute for this bread using gluten-free ingredients. Today I braved that daunting task.  When my daughter came in the kitchen asking what I was making, I joked that I had no idea; we'd see when it was finished.  However, I was quite proud of the texture of the dough and how well it was working.  I prayed this would work.  I suddenly had high hopes.   When the bread was almost finished, I peeked in the oven.  My heart fell.  This recipe that I managed to put together was an epic failure.  I knew the dough did not rise as much as I thought it sho

My first attempt at making gluten free biscuits was a hit!  The family really enjoyed them. I had wondered when we started on this gluten-free journey if we were going to suffer and be miserable with the lack of bread products.  Yes, I know they are not the best foods for you, buy I have a carb-happy family.   Well, I am happy to report that we are not suffering... much.  I have been able to find some suitable replacements.  I have always taken liberties with recipes - changing them and making them 'my own' to suit my tastes and those of my family.  However, I never imagined I would be coming up with my own gluten-free recipes.  I just have not been satisfied with most of the recipes I have tried.  God has truly blessed me in these efforts.    I am making our own bread, pasta, granola bars, and, as of this morning, biscuits. My children commented the other day that they prefer the gluten-free recipes over what we were eating.  This is pretty big to me.  I would have

If you have ever tried to go gluten-free, you know the frustrations of finding good bread - and it is even harder to find a good recipe for homemade bread.  I have not found a loaf pre-made at the store that we enjoy, and at $6-7 per loaf, I wanted to make my own.  I found some good mixes, but again, we were talking around $6 per loaf.  I also wanted to make sure I knew that I knew the ingredients because I have a child who is allergic to soy.  So for the past month I have been on a journey to find a good gluten-free, soy-free bread recipe that would not make us regret living without wheat.   While the children and I like the bread I made last time, my husband just thought it was 'okay' (for that recipe, check my pinterest page:   So I took the package of a pre-packaged bread mix that we enjoyed last week and looked at the list of ingredients in order.  I then attempted to replicate that bread mix, but with a couple of changes and substitutions for my preference (for ins