I can eat like a normal person!!!

Just got back from the naturopath where he did a full testing of all my food sensitivities.  I had been really praying that I would get chicken back, tomatoes, lettuce, peanuts and soy. 
...and I got all that and more!
I am getting tired of fish or turkey every day and knew that if I could only get chicken it would make a huge difference in my meals... so got to celebrate that plus getting pork!

Then came the veggies and fruits - got tomatoes and lettuce back - plus blueberries, oranges and peppers!  The only veggie I didn't get back was potatoes which I am totally fine with.  I'm loving my sweet potatoes and yams anyhow and they're better for me.

Then came nuts and seeds - hemp hearts and peanuts are back in the diet baby!  Oh, how I have missed you peanut butter!

I still have to stay away from a few things - alcohol, beef, bison, all dairy products, spicy foods and margarine.  But for the amount that I got back I feel like I will be able to eat like a normal person! 

I can't wait to start integrating these delicious foods back into my diet.  Definitely having pasta with tomato sauce first!!

September 21, 2011, a 9 year Happy Anniversary Treat

I awoke this morning early and was sweetly surprised to find roses and gerber daisies and a hand-made card on the table.  It is our anniversary today.  We already celebrated with dinner out in Vancouver on Sunday, but it's so nice to have a little something to show each other our love. 

I, in turn, made him breakfast in bed....which I realize isn't the best choice for Michael.  For those of you who know him know that he rarely eats breakfast and when he does it's not till he's wide awake.  So waking him from a dead sleep to feast on pancakes with a peach glaze, though thoughtful, may not be the best gift. 

We planned to spend a little time together in the afternoon as he had to head back to work for the evening.  I decided to make a treat ...and not a sugar-free, gluten-free one that I would enjoy, but rather something full of sugar and preservatives and sugar-you know, something that he would love! 

And so here's a quick and easy and special treat for the man you love.

Butterscotch Rum Pudding

Ingredients:
1 pkg. butterscotch pudding
14 oz. milk
2 oz. Rum or liquor
1 skor bar

Grab a package of butterscotch pudding.  Add 14oz. milk with 2oz. Rum (or your favourite liquour).  Rum is what I had on hand, but we have also done this with Kahlua or Bailey's and they are equally delicious.  Mix as usual with a whisk or beat for 2 minutes with a mixer.

Pour into parfait glasses and let set in the fridge.  I made three full glasses with this. 

Then you smash up a skor bar and sprinkle on top.  If you want to be really special, you can melt some chocolate and milk into a little ganache, pour over the set pudding and then add your skor pieces.  This is divine but I didn't have too much time so I omitted this step. 

Then I set two of the cups on the table with my hand-made card on the 9 reasons I love my husband.
He got home and we toasted to our marriage and delighted in our treat.  Yes, I ate it, well half of it, and gave the rest to him.  And the third one is for tonight when he gets home from work - Bonus Points!

Happy Anniversary to us!  Lots of people don't make it this far especially with some of the hardships we have faced but GOD is faithful and He will continue to be.  Marriage is worth fighting for, working on, living in!

Alternative 'Peanut' Butter for those who have kids in a Peanut Free School!

So, last year was definitely devastating when I realized that I wasn't allowed to serve Peanut Butter and Jam sandwiches to Caleb for his lunch everday at school.  It soon became a morning ritual instead but there were still days that I wanted the simplicity of making that kind of sandwich for him.  And so I bought (for $6.50!) a small jar of sesame seed butter.  I didn't enjoy the taste of toasted sesame seeds so much but Caleb loved it.  So for a special treat I would make him that for school.   This year, I decided that I didn't want to go that route but would try making some sort of alternative on my own.

I looked online and found a great recipe for Sunflower Seed Butter.  Simple, can be done in your blender and is literally made in less than 3 minutes.  I can't wait to have Caleb try it!

Check the actual recipe out here at Peas and Thank You. Props to you, Mama Pea!

I ended up using way more than 1 or 2 tbsp. of oil in order to make it smooth, more like 6!  But I also have a blender that was making really scary noises and telling me he wasn't happy to be blending these seeds so I was generous with the oil to make him happy. 

It tastes great!  If you like sunflower seeds, you'll love this!

I am thrilled to have an alternative for Caleb and for me too!  Because peanuts are one of those things that I can't have right now, it's nice to have an alternative to my almond butter as well. 

This is so great to have an awesome, simple and quick recipe at my fingertips at the fraction of the cost of buying the only 'nut-free' spread advertised on the market.  Try it out and let me know what you think!!

How to Marinate a Leg of Lamb

I haven't been blogging much these days because, honestly, I just haven't been inspired to.  But this morning as I was setting to work marinating our boneless leg of lamb for dinner tonight, the inspiration hit....Maybe not everyone knows how to marinate such lovely morsels of meat!  And so I present to you a 101 on marinating a lamb.

This is super easy and these ingredients can be used to marinate chunks of meat, a whole chicken, pork, potatoes, or tonight's deliciousness, lamb!  So if you're not into lamb, don't stop reading, just use the ingredient mix on whatever meat you so desire.

First off, I throw the lamb into a good ol' ziploc bag, you might need an extra large one if you are marinating one with the leg in it.  Or you might have one of those handy tupperware marinating thingamajiggys; those are great too, but I don't have one, so ziploc bags it is. 

Drizzle a good amount of extra virgin olive oil over the meat.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper throughout the bag.  Then throw in a few teaspoons of oregano.  Cut a lemon in half and squeeze the contents in, then throw in the rind as well for good measure.  Press 2 cloves of garlic, I am a garlic addict and so I used 4!  Then my favourite part...  Go into your garden and cut a nice long sprig of fresh rosemary (or 2).  You can cut it into pieces and place in the bag or just use one or two sprigs whole to do the trick. (dried rosemary is alright too but I find it quite sharp and not so tasty to eat.  You can buy fresh rosemary at most grocery stores)

Now if you have the organizational skills do this the night before your feast, you're ahead of me!  The morning of is just fine and as long as it sits for 4-6 hours, it should taste delicious.  The longer it marinates the better- of course.  Now, just set it in your fridge and flip over every couple of hours. 

If it's lamb your cooking, then simply bake at 400F for 20 minutes per pound.  Anything else, cook as usual and enjoy!

Adventures in Camping sans husband

Mike went to speak at a camp last week and so instead of spending the week home alone with the kids with no help around, I decided to be daring and take a trip.  Our first stop was the Shuswap Provincial Campground where me and my friend Kate and my three children piled into the overpacked van to set up camp for two nights.  The first afteroon it took us a few hours to set-up, figure out exactly how this tent contraption worked and by the time we were done, we were hot and ready for an ice cream.  The kids easily agreed to that and we headed off to cool off with our favourite treat.  Yes, I had ice cream and yes, my stomach hurt after.

Came back to camp to make a fantastic meal of greek skewered chicken and turkey, brown rice and raw veggies with homemade goat yogurt tzatziki.  We even managed to make a fire that first night which proved to be quite delightful as we succeeded without the help of the opposite sex or an axe!

Our first night we were exhausted so Kate and I headed off to bed early.  Had a hard time sleeping that first night.  Caleb kept wanting to sneak into the double air mattress that I was already sharing with Abbi.  I finally let him in as I felt bad for the kid - being a sibling of twins he often 'misses out' on sharing things, including beds, rooms, toys.  Most kids would be thrilled they get their own beds, but to him it's tragic.  And so I settled in for a long night's sleep squished between two children who, by the way, are awesome at moving and kicking in their sleep.  

Anyhow, I woke up every hour, it felt like, sometimes to the pitter-pattering of rain.  Then I would lay awake and pray until it stopped because we were too tired to put up a tarp the night before.  When I finally fully awoke, it was coming down hard and we need to jump out of bed to get the tarp secured and all our belongings under it.  When I jumped out of bed I realized I was wet before even heading outside. Not just wet....soaked actually.  Turns out one of my children must have drank a LOT of liquid the night before and decided to let it go in the night all over themselves and me.  And so stinking of pee, the child in question and I headed to the showers and then to a trip to the laundromat - $10 later we had fresh clean sheets, jammies and a comforter and were ready to take on the day.  

Unfortunately, the day was raining and dreary.  We decided to be pioneer women one more time and attempt another fire at lunch as the kids really wanted to roast something.  So we roasted our hotdogs over the fire which was the best part of the day.  Caleb said it was 'Awesome!' and so fun to cook our own food.  

The remainder of the day ticked on as though there were 36 waking hours instead of 12.  We did crafts, read books, played games, had a scavenger hunt, went for bike rides, went for car rides, went window shopping, book shopping, for ice cream again....and then it finally stopped raining in time to eat dinner out on the picnic table.  

A family 'moved in' across the way and had a 6 year old Caleb as well, so they all spent the rest of the night playing and enjoying new friends.  Which they continued on the next morning as well as Kate and I tore down the campsite and with the sun shining, decided it was best to head to the beach before heading back to Kamloops.  

We enjoyed a few hours at the beach and then headed to my friend Sonia's for two days of quiet and rest.  Despite having 5 kids in the house, we had a relatively easy time chatting and catching up in the midst of it all.  The kids loved just playing and staying around the house which gave us time to chat, have naps, plan the next meal.

All in all, it gave me good perspective to go camping without Mike.  I realized that with the help of a friend, I could do it.  Sometimes it's good to remind ourselves of the things we are capable of!  Of course, I did miss Mike and I know that having him around would have made the trip much easier.

So here's to the husbands of the world who pack the vans, unpack the vans, set up camp, make fires and so much more.  And here's to the women of the world, who on occasion get to do all that and more....and survive!

The Help - A book review

First off, I'd like to say I am not a book critic nor do I try to be.  In fact, The Help, by Kathryn Stockett is the first book I have read in a really long time.  Being a mother of three young children, time doesn't always lend itself to me for personal pleasure.  But when we were away at Camp Likely with only one child in tow, I had the time to read the book...devour it is more like it.  I can see why I shouldn't read on a regular basis because I get so addicted that I can't put it down.  Not a great quality with three kids running around.

Anyhow, here it goes.  Both my mother and mother-in-law recommended this book to me and because I knew there was a movie coming out and I would have some time, I decided to purchase it.  It takes us back to a time in Jackson, Mississippi, where coloureds and whites do not have equal rights.  Privileged white communites hire African Americans, of course you won't see that term in the book, to raise their children, clean their homes and work their fields.  This is a standard; there is no thought that life should be any other way. 

Miss Skeeter, a young, unmarried college graduate, is not quite as exuberant as her best friend, Miss Hilly Holbrook, who has started a Bathroom Sanitation Initiative to ensure that all white homes have a separate bathroom for hired help so as to not get any communicable diseases.  She is actually apalled as Hilly's ignorance (though she keeps those thoughts inside as no one wants to mess with Miss Hilly) As time goes on, Skeeter, an aspiring writer, decides to persue an idea of writing a book from the point of view of the Help. 

This task isn't as easy as it seems because what black woman is going to share secrets about their white employers with another white woman?  As fate would have it, circumstances align to allow Miss Skeeter, not one, not two, but a dozen women who are willing to help her with her book. 

Through the process Skeeter learns much about her own outlook on life and grows into a woman who walks against the grain even at the cost of friendship and status. 

This is a wonderfully written book and is definitely a 'must-read' in my opinion.  It made me wonder what I would behave like if I lived in the same town and era.  Would I have been blinded by the ignorance around me or would I be stirred to do something about it? 

I've fallen in love with these characters and can't wait to see the movie, though I know, movies are generally not as good as the book.  Even so, their courage to stand up for truth in the midst of hardship is inspiring and even if you can't read the book, go see the movie.  I'm sure it will inspire as well. 

PS - My favourite part is The Terrible Awful...made me smile, made me laugh!

Why is a Vacation so MUCH Work?

We are planning on leaving town tomorrow - Mike is speaking at a teen camp in a little place called, Likely, BC.  We are heading into a week of retreat - there are no phones, no internet connections, literally NO way to get a hold of anybody on the outside world except through radio phone.  It's lovely.  Caleb comes with us each year (for three years now) as well as our good friends Becky and Travis and their daughter Tehillah.  We have great times playing cards, enjoying the beach, being quiet, watching the odd movie, night game or event.  We don't have to cook or clean, it really is wonderful.

From there we head into Williams Lake so that Mike can preach at Caribou Bethel before we head out to the Shuswap for a family, extended family vacation.  All Mike's fam is coming out for camping trip.  They're coming from Baltimore, Quebec and Williams Lake so we can hang out (hopefully) around a campfire, beautiful beaches and, again, play games and enjoy good food and conversations.

But in order to go away for two weeks, one must plan and pack and pack some more.  We leave tomorrow and I have yet to pack my bags, Caleb's bags, the trailer, the food - in fact the only thing I've really done is pack for the girls, made a craft bag, and clean the trailer.  The amount of stuff still to be done is a little overwhelming which is why I am taking a moment to sit down and reflect....and get a little overwhelmed again!

Not only am I not packed, but I won't get packed because Mike has a huge Youth/Young Adults parking lot party tonight!  We know how to plan them.  There is always something going on here! 

I guess I just need to remember that once all this work is done, it will be all worth it.  We will be away, we will have time to relax, reflect, do crafts, play games, have quality time with our family and friends and retreat...as much as a mother can who has three children aged 4-6 years old. 

So I guess I should get that butt of mine back in gear and get packing, so I can start my vacation!