The Evil Egg?

Have you ever noticed how when you try to type with a band-aid on your finger it makes you feel like you are missing an extremity?  Yeah, I'm dealing with that.  The wild jungle cat clawed me while I was sewing something for the boys earlier today.  I didn't think they would treasure the memory of mommy blood as much as the memory of what I was making for them...so, Buzz and Woody band-aid is now my friend.  And, the other thing is why do cat scratches hurt so bad?!  Oweee for days!  

Well, to fill you in on the business of last week.  Those pretzels...oh those pretzels.  They were absolutely horrid.  I wish I were coming back to say that they were fantastic and that I am the pretzel master, but no.  I was so mad!  I threw out the first batch.  I followed through on the second because it seemed more hopeful...but in the end it was just not worth my time.  And, all that I can say is that I miss the stretchy, bendy, loveliness that gluten creates when trying to make something like a pretzel.  You can't exactly twist a pretzel when it keeps cracking and breaking....  womp, womp, womp. 

I did try a bread mix this weekend (tried a mix because I didn't have all of the flours I needed).  This was pretty successful in some aspects because I did haul out my bread machine.  I haven't done that in a while. It was really fast, but I kind of missed being involved with it.  I really like to make bread by hand - I "know" what it is doing better if I can feel what it is up to...does that make any sense at all? But, this mix had a lot of eggs in it.  One whole eggs and four egg whites.  A LOT of eggs.  Unfortunately, we are pretty sure that our Captain America may be having a reaction to all of those eggs.  We had breakfast for dinner the night before...with eggs.  Then I made that bread, which he gobbled up.  (He loves fresh baked bread!)  He was doing just fine until a little while after he ate the bread, but then the storm hit.  A great big stinky storm and a horrible, horrible diaper rash.  His tummy trouble is a big reason why we are on this adventure, but now we are curious if there is more that may need to be eliminated.  

We go to the doctor tomorrow.  I'm hopeful that things will be moving onto the right track and that things will just get better!  

So, the quest for a good bread continues, with caution.  I found this chart about the nutritional value of different flours, which I have been very curious about since starting all of this.  I know that a gluten-free diet can cause a lot of weight gain if handled incorrectly.  Personally, that is something I'm not too fond of.  I was very surprised about how many calories were in some of the most popular gluten-free flours, which just so happen to be the ones that are used most frequently in commercially sold gluten-free foods.  It sent up a red flag for me to be very aware of which flours we are using and what we are buying. We need to fill our diet with other things (not carbs), which we should be doing anyways....I'm just not always very good at it.  : )  I do struggle with the fact that, yes, that cookie does indeed sound far better than that apple.  Especially when wild banchees are running around screaming and yelling, thinking they may be starving to death before I can get that apple cut into slices.  I don't know if that has ever happened at your house...but it frequents mine. 

Speaking of banchees, Captain America is up from his nap and Little Transformer and Mr. Yeti will be back from a birthday party shortly so I'd better scoot...  

We'll see what this week holds!  : )