Gluten Free Cookie Nirvana

I came across THESE cookies over at Cookin' Cowgirl. My first thought was..."Wow. That girl's a genius. Those. Look. DELICIOUS." My second thought? "But...not gluten-free...better not let LBB see these."


And then it hit me.


Why can't they be gluten free? I've got a box of gluten-free cake mix sitting right in my cupboard, waiting to be used...why not use it for something that looks this delicious.


So, I went out on a whim, like most GF cooking and baking is for me. I figured, what's the worst that can happen? I waste a $5 box of cake mix. Deep breath. Be brave.


But guess what? They turned out.

And they were ever so easy to make.

I followed her original recipe pretty closely, but since the cake mix was smaller, and made of different flours, I kind of experimented as I went. So, here's the recipe:

GLUTEN FREE CAKE BATTER COOKIES

1 box cake mix, 15 ounces (I used Hodgson Mills yellow cake mix)
1 tsp baking powder (for best results, I suggest Rumford)
2 eggs
1/2 C vegetable oil (or more as needed)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 C color sprinkles

Preheat oven to 350*F. Mix cake mix and baking powder in a large bowl. Set aside. In a small bowl or glass measuring cup, mix together the eggs, vegetable oil, and vanilla extract. Mix into dry ingredients. 

Now, here's the tricky part with that tricky GF flour...it took a little bit more oil to make the batter the right consistency. I just added a few drops at a time until I got the dough to look like this:

It should be kind of crumbly but there shouldn't be any dry ingredients left. Translation: if you can mush it together no problem, you're good to go.

Next, add in the sprinkles. This is when it gets fun. :)

Scoop dough by tablespoonfuls onto a cookie sheet, about 1-2" apart. Press dough down slightly with your fingers (otherwise you may end up with domed cookies.) Bake 8-10 minutes until slightly golden brown on the edges.

 Let sit for 5 minutes on the cookie sheet, then transfer to cooling rack. Enjoy with a nice cool glass of milk!

I just have to say thanks to Cookin' Cowgirl for the wonderful, delicious inspiration. :)

This Is How Our Naptime Rolls

That portable DVD player is probably the best $90 we ever spent.

And don't judge...because we probably have the world's most difficult child when it comes to sleeping. :) And if watching 20 minutes of good, wholesome, educational television is what calms him down enough to fall asleep, I'm not going to complain one bit.

Most times he can fall asleep without it, but the days he needs it, there's no sense in arguing the fact.

What tricks do you use to get your little one's to sleep?

Some Rainy Day Fun

Ah, I love Spring. But most of all, I love the rainy days in Spring.

A few days ago, we had a very rainy day...

...and we spent it with a quick morning walk while my little guy wore his Froggie rain boots and Sharkie rain jacket. (Thank goodness for the conveniece store right across the street...I was dying for a Dr. Pepper.)

Then, we built towers with blocks...

...ate lunch with very yummy Alpha-Tots. (Gotta love a great GLUTEN FREE find for LBB.)

And watched a little Veggie Tales.

You can never go wrong with lovely rainy days. We did lots of other fun things that day...like a trip to Chipotle (yum yum yummy yum) and our grocery shopping at Whole Foods (which always makes me a happy girl.)

I love rainy days...there's something so amazingly relaxing and invigorating about them at the same time. So tell me, do you love rainy days? What's your favorite part about them?

Mediocrity

Do you ever get the feeling that you're "mediocre?"

Like you're just cruising along in life, not attempting to do any better, and quite happy that you aren't "as bad as that other person?"

I did last night...and then I talked to my Dear Sweet Hubby, who somehow knows what to say when I am in one of my crazy thoughtful moods.

And now, I realize, I'm not mediocre. Everyday I strive to be a better Mommy. A better Wife. I'm strive to homeschool my little guy to the best of my abilities. I'm on a major kick to feed healthy food to my family. And I even have that little apartment blog that I mostly keep up with. :)

I'm not mediocre. :)

I dream of owning a home, but finally realize that slacking off or killing ourselves to save money isn't going to get us there...it's a slow and steady kind of thing.

I look forward to someday having more children, if God blesses us with another, but I'm realizing that I just need to enjoy the moment, because more children isn't a guarantee.

I can see that every minute of every day is a learning experience...whether it be from the patience I learn when my LBB decides to throw all the magnetic letters off the fridge, or the ability to love (which I'm taught daily...I am a girl surrounded by love.)

I know that I could be doing a lot better with my faith, and I am constantly striving to improve.

All in all, none of that makes me a mediocre person. It makes me a woman who knows what she wants, knows what she has, and is finally content enough to enjoy the moment I am in.

It's a pretty good feeling to know that you're not mediocre. God made each one of so special in our way, and if we are utilizing the talents He has blessed us with, then we are far from mediocre.

So, "shine on." :) Embrace each day for what it is worth, and make each moment something special. Because that, my dear friends, is what makes life so exciting.

Random Pictures from Our Unseasonably Warm Week

It is March, right? I'm beginning to think it may not be, because our days have been filled with balmy temps and sunny skies.

We've even busted out our shorts and flip flops. I do live in the snowy tundra last time I checked...but I'm beginning to wonder! (Not that I'm beginning to complain. No way. This is way too wonderful. Remind me of this post in June when I'm complaining about the sweltering humidity and my increased electricity bill because the A/C is running nonstop. haha.)

LBB is definitely loving the warm weather.

In the past week, we have played at the park (for 2 hours.) Gone for a Nature Walk. Took 3 walks long walks by the creek. Gotten ice cream. Gone on bike rides. He rode his trike. We sat by the lake. And took a semi-hike with Dear Sweet Hubby.

LBB's had a BLAST.

Tonight he got to get lots of outdoors time with his PaPa, GiGi, Auntie, and Daddy. He played with the R/C car. He drove around in his little ATV coupe car. And he even got to mow with his bubble mower...both during the day, and at night...

So, yes, my LBB was the kid mowing his PaPa and GiGi's backyard. In the dark. In his pajamas. While his Auntie followed him with a flashlight. :)

The only bad part about all these newfound adventures outside for LBB? The skinned up knee he acquired on our hike. Despite all our attempts to slow him down (this boy can run like crazy), the only thing that managed to convince him to walk was skidding across the trail. Poor little guy.

But, he got a box of Star Wars bandaids and a new "ow" to show off to everyone he sees. :) Has the skinned up knee convinced him to go a little slower?

Not at all.

He's just as fast. Thank goodness there is lots of outdoors to burn off some of that energy in. :)

Hope the weather in your neck of the woods is treating you well...as for us, we're going to enjoy all this warm loveliness while we have it!

Food, Food

We're in the middle of a "food revolution" here in our house.

I told you I'd write at some point about our little family going gluten free, and now's probably the best opportunity. But first off, I do want to say, that wasn't a light decision we made. Secondly, no, we didn't go and get LBB tested for gluten allergies. Frankly, when we stepped out of our doctor's office being told "He's a tough case to crack" in regards to his extreme behavior, we realized it was up to us to figure it out. We were parents that were unsure why our child was acting the way he was, and completely worried, frazzled, scared, and did I say worried?

We didn't know...was it autism? Aspergers? ADHD? His behavior was so far off the spectrum of normal toddler behavior, and we were extremely concerned. He had daily temper tantrums totaling 15 or more...and we're not talking just a brief flailing and whatnot. I'm talking EXTREME temper tantrums. Imagine some WWE wrestler let loose in your house, and you've got somewhat of an idea of the tantrums we were dealing with. He wasn't focusing. He wasn't listening. If you talked to him, he wouldn't look up. He was barely talking, and what he had been saying was the same things he had been saying for months previous. He was EXTREMELY picky. He was aggressive to the point of being uncontrollable. He ran around in hyper-mode from 3:30 in the morning until 10:30 at night, and then waking up in the middle of sleep screaming in terror. When he was happy he was happy, but when he was mad...boy, was he mad. Not to mention, he's a quirky kid anyways, and those quirks were becoming...uncontrollably obsessive. Pretty much anything that would be a normal toddler behavior, he did to the EXTREME.

"He's a tough case to crack."

Not the words frazzled parents want to hear. So, after a few blood work test making sure he wasn't anemic or whatever, we got a phone call from the doctor saying that the tests that were run came back normal. That was it. Have a good day. Good luck.

So. We researched. We prayed. We read articles. We talked to my mom. (Moms are the greatest.)

And we came across an answer that seemed to be dropped right on our laps. Gluten free/casein free. In Autistic and ADHD children, a diet that is GF/CF free can help alleviate their symptoms. Now we didn't know if LBB was either of those, but we did know it may be worth a shot to see.  We talked to my Mom, who is gluten intolerant, and she suggested we go for it. We wanted to see if it would help.

Now, like I said, we didn't take this lightly. There is a whole slew of critics out there that think that if you don't have some dude with a stethoscope around his neck tell you that your kid is sensitive to gluten or has symptoms of autism or ADHD, that your kid is normal and therefore should be on a normal diet and have a normal life. But at this point, we knew SOMETHING was wrong...we just didn't know what. And we weren't going to wait until he was 6 to figure it out (as his doctor said when discussing ADHD.) 

So, we went on a trial experiment to see if it would help. We switched LBB to soy milk. We saw an improvement within 24 hours. Then we made the jump to gluten free.

And goodness, that is when we saw the changes. LBB was 10 times better with 24 hours. Within a week, he was immensely better. Happier, less tantrums, talking more, etc. And now, a month and a half later, we have seen the effects that food can have on a person.

LBB is still his normal quirky self...that's what we love. But now those quirks are enjoyable. They aren't overshadowed by the tantrums and the extreme behavior. He's on a "normal" tantrum range now.

And if we slip up and give him something with gluten, we know it. (It is definitely hard to see your child want something so much and not be able to have it. Sometimes we cave even though we shouldn't.) His mood for the next day and a half will be nightmarish. And his sleep schedule even gets affected. At this point, he sleeps ALL the way through the night, something that wasn't happening when he wasn't G-Free. If he gets a little gluten, you can bet he'll be up the next 2 nights at 3 am.

Ironically, these little reminders of why we went G-Free come up right when I'm doubting myself and wondering if all those critics are right. As if some random person on the internet knows my kid better than I do. So I cave. I let him have a trigger food. And we all pay for it during the next 36 hours.

Food has such a profound effect on us as humans. Naturally, Dear Sweet Hubby and I have been eating G-Free, too. And we feel better. And ironically, the main concern about a G-Free diet, especially with kids, is lack of nutrients, but our LBB eats much better now than he has since he was taken of pureed fruits and veggies.

He's even gained weight since his 2 year checkup. That's saying alot since he was  nearly the same weight at his 1 year checkup as he was at his 2 year checkup.

Interestingly, our switch to gluten-free has sparked a whole slew of food changes...we've become more aware of what goes into our mouths now. Sure, we slip up and have total junk food days weeks. But, on a fairly general basis we've done a good job of staying focused. We pay more attention to where our food comes from. How it was processed. And what ingredients are hiding out on the label.

With all that being said, would you be interested in me posting some of our findings here and there? Sharing GF recipes or whatnot? Let me know...I always love hearing from the people who took the time to read what I write. :)

Trying to Find a Little Sanity Amidst the Chaos

Dear Sweet Hubby has been working 65 hours a week. LBB has been full of energy and exploring non-stop. And I've been trying to keep up with them, keeping the house clean and orderly, making healthy meals (most of the time), and trying to be the best Mommy and Wife that I can be.

Anyone who is a Mommy and Wife can agree with me here:

Sometimes, that feels impossible.

Lately I've felt that I'm just not doing enough. That I'm not playing enough. Being patient enough. Listening enough. Relaxing enough. Enjoying enough. Praying enough.

You name it. I don't feel like I'm up to par.

And then it dawned on me. I'm trying to do it all on my own. Sure, Dear Sweet Hubby is here for me. Family is here for me. But amidst all the chaos, all the busyness...I've been forgetting to give it to God.

So here I sit tonight. Pondering. Thinking. Praying. Reading.

And I came across this verse:

"Surely God is my help; the Lord is the one who sustains me." Psalm 54:4


I sure could use some "sustaining" right now. When all that sounds good is a lazy day curled up in bed with nowhere to go, but when reality is busy days filled with lots of love and adventure (because I'm not complaining about the days, just the feeling of chaos), I could use some sustaining. When I feel like I've been cleaning up messes from sunup to sundown, only to turn around and find a new one, I could use some sustaining. When Dear Sweet Hubby lets me know he has to work late again and LBB is already set on wanting Daddy home right now, I could use some sustaining.

It's in those moments that I HAVE to remember to give it to God. I have to remember to pray to Him in the midst of the chaos. I have to remember that He is the One who sustains me. He is the One that can take those extra worries away. He is the One that can give me the patience I so desperately need. He is the One that can make me see these chaotic days as the gift that they truly are.

And then?

That's when I can play more. Enjoy more. Relax more. Laugh more. Marvel more. And just plain be in the moment and not constantly trying to take care of 10,000 things at once.

Random Thursday Thoughts

Here's my Thursday:

*Went and bought a bag of Mini Cadbury eggs and a box of the yummy cream filled ones. I'm a happy girl. And walking down the Easter candy aisle smells like Spring. :) My two-year old agrees.

*Yesterday, the bathroom shelf crashed off the wall while Dear Sweet Hubby was getting ready for work...at 5 in the morning. And when it crashed, something fell into the toilet without us knowing. Whoops. So needless to say, it wasn't working. And enter Reason 10,325 why I love renting: one of our maintenance guys came in, fixed it, and all I had to do was tell him what may have fallen down the toilet.

*The Shins newest album is available for streaming on iTunes. Sweet. Not surprisingly, I've already preordered the album to automatically download on March 20. :) I'll be synching my ipod next Tuesday, for sure.

*LBB is seriously enjoying this unseasonably warm weather. Two days ago we played at the park and went for a nature hike (two whole hours of outside time!). Yesterday we went for a nice long walk with my mom and sis. He rode his trike (seriously, when does he keep growing up?). Played ball in PaPa and GiGi's backyard. And even got to go for a bike ride in his bike seat with PaPa and I.

*I thought I lost my Cricut power cord. Only to find it in the Cricut Jukebox storage part. Wow. For once, I put something back where it belonged...that's probably why I couldn't find it. haha.

*Dear Sweet Hubby is opening a new store for the company he works for. We knew he'd be putting in long hours in the weeks before Grand Opening...but I'm still counting down the days till the big day. 9 days. 9 days until things start to go back to a little normal. :)

*Starting and writing my new apartment decorating blog has been very rewarding...it gives me fresh new motivation to look at things in new ways around the house and to work on making our apartment even more homey. :) Stop by! I aim to post daily, although I missed yesterday's. That just means 2 posts today.

www.myapartment365.blogspot.com

And Sometimes I'm Amazed

Well,let me rephrase that.

All the time I'm amazed. :)

LBB keeps growing by the minute. And today, as he worked on an ABC puzzle, we handed him the letter "D", and said the name. Then he said to us:

"D. Duh. Duh. Duck."

Learning letters. Learning phonetic sounds.

Sigh.

1 year ago, I was excited that he was walking running and that he was beginning to talk more. 2 years ago, I was in awe over his sweet smile and waiting for him to roll over.

And now he's on the brink of learning his letters. Asking questions. Learning his colors.

And I'm learning that time goes much too quickly. Much, much, much too quickly.

So, tonight, when it was nearing 11:30 and he was STILL up and not ready for bed, instead of feeling a little too tired to enjoy the moment...I snuggled up with with near 2 1/2 year old, watched Dinosaur Train, and made roaring noises while we learned about Pliosauruses.

It's awesome being a Mommy, no matter how fast the days fly by. :)

A Little Bit of Our Day...

...or otherwise known as "Toddler is Cooped Up and Mommy is Running Out of Ways to Entertain Him."

First of all, 3 time outs in 15 minutes. When you figure that his timeouts are 2 minutes each, well, that's a whopping 9 minutes of non-timeout time. 9 minutes broken down into about 3 minutes of behaving, 3 minutes of winding up to misbehave, and 3 minutes of him hitting me. Sigh. I should've known we'd regret that gluten-loaded soft pretzel at Target today. (Remind me to post about our gluten-free journey someday.)

And, phrases like "Don't hit your activity table with the plastic spoon." "We don't throw dinosaurs across the room." "Stop blowing spit bubbles all over Mommy's jeans." And my favorite: "Watch where you swing your lightsaber."

Ah, the days of toddlerhood. :) They are so wonderful...and yet, so challenging. Most days our house stays pretty darn clean, but today it seriously looks like a tornado went through the house and destroyed everything in it's path. (Despite my constant efforts to keep cleaning.)

He's been playing with his kitchen a lot today, but mostly we've had a pretty lazy day filled with not doing a whole lot of exciting things...but that's ok. We're all entitled to a day like that...I should've known how the day would have gone when I didn't even make the beds. Haha.

Alright. Time to go...I've got a toddler that is attempting to make himself into a bridge between the couch and coffee table. :)

I'm Back!!!

After way too long without a computer in the house, I can gladly say we finally are back in the modern world. :) And while I don't have anything insightful to share right now (and since there is a very sweet, clingy toddler trying to get my attention as I type), I'm not going to write a whole lot today.

But...

...soon I will, and I can't wait!