Musings from a Busy Mom

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. ...

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 ...

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....

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 ...