Bathroom Business

It snowed on Friday. A lot.  So what does that mean?  Baking.  I tried to restrain myself and hold strong, but it lasted around five whole minutes.  It was a snow day...not that it really mattered because Little Transformer was home sick all week and what was one more day?  But, I had to jump on the baking bandwagon anyway.  And I have to say, I made some pretty stinkin' amazing cookies.  The best part - I made up the recipe all by myself.  I'm still waiting on test kitchen #2 to report back on how they turned out with "normal" flour : )  I am hoping it is successful on both ends so that I can post the recipe.  For me, it will be my new go-to Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe, because I was too hasty in posting the other one a few weeks ago.  I thought that one was good...but this is better.  I am finding that I need to decrease the fat and increase the flour content in recipes that are gluten-free in order for them to work correctly.  I don't know if it is just because of altitude or because of the lack of gluten?  I'm no scientist...  I like to think I'm smart enough to figure that out, but today it is too much for my brain.  

It was an eventful (?) weekend apart from the 2 feet of snow.  We went mega shopping.  You know how they have the "Family Restroom" at stores now?  Well every single time you need it, someone magically walks in ahead of you.  Always.  Hence my story.  Mr. Yeti and Little Transformer proceeded to the men's room, and I took Captain America with me.  (Dirty looks from women in the restroom.  Of course, because the have NEVER seen a woman bring her child in the restroom with her...and they have never done it themselves).  Anywho...We do what we need to while I am constantly telling Captain America, "Don't touch that....it unlocks the door!  No...that is the trash.  Yucky!  Don't look under the door...blah blah."  Two-year-olds.  The joy.... We wash our hands in the auto faucets (fun!), scream, cry and cover our ears at the hand dryers (not fun), and leave.  We meet up with Mr. Yeti and finally get a cart.  I bend over to pick up Captain America and what to my wondering eyes did appear, but a little wad of toilet paper attached to my boot.  Oh my holy cow I wanted to DIE!!!!!  I wished someone would have just killed me right there! I know my face was as red as could be and I could feel my heart pounding through my chest, so I am sure I looked just fantastic.  I could see/hear a couple behind me talk/whispering about something but I didn't know exactly what....and now I did.  Why do people let that happen?  Even Mr. Yeti was laughing over it.  Not just a giggle, but a full-on back up, point and laugh out loud while putting the kids in the cart.  Pure mortification right there at Le Target.  *sigh*

We also started some preliminary (hopefully permanent) potty training.  I learned with Little Transformer that you can't take any of this too seriously.  We are just going with it, and being glad that he is making it into the potty.  It took us a very long time to get things completely figured out with Little Transformer, and Captain America is much more interested in it.  Maybe he will get it sooner?  We are just a little more laid back with these hooligans on what we see as trivial because it is easier to move at their pace than ours.  We fight many more battles with our sensational kids. The tiny battles just aren't worth it.  Some might be thinking, "But potty training is a HUGE deal!!"  Meh...not in our world.  If we can successfully sit down for dinner for 10 minutes, no one get up, be asked to eat more (or at all), AND use a utensil before any tears are flowing, we have had a successful meal.  All of these must be accomplished to be majorly successful, but I will take two out of four.  Preferably time and eating without being asked...there is a lot to be said for sitting and eating.  But anyways, potty training...I just can't believe I might be without diapers relatively soon-ish.  It makes me happy/sad.  Diaper changes are horrific with him, but without them it means he really isn't a baby anymore.  Wah.  Sad. : ( Then he really is a big, big boy and I can't call him "baby" anymore.  Oh the tugging on my heartstrings.... 

So, anyways...I need to go switch some laundry.  Can you guess what it is made up of?  You guessed it!  Bed sheets and blankets and teeny-tiny undies with Diego, Lightning McQueen and Buzz Lightyear all over them.  Oh yes...and THE blankie, so I must get moving or the world may end....

xo

The Good, The Bad and The Broccoli

You know how everyone has some sort of bad food they always keep in their house?  Always.  As in, you are never without it, no matter what kind of diet you are on, or how much you are exercising, or how healthy you think you are, it is there.  Yeah...you know you have it, and you are thinking about how sinfully delicious it is right now.  Well, my house is never, ever without chocolate chips.  When they are on sale I buy them.  I buy the ginormous bag at Costco.  I love the giant bags because I don't measure chocolate chips for anything....it is more of a dump and, "Oh, yeah that looks...wait...*dump a few more*...okay, NOW it looks good!" kind of measurement, while I eat some, just to make sure they taste okay.  (You don't get really, really good chocolate chip cookies, or really yummy brownies without a few extra chips, you know...)  I think small bags are for sissies, honestly, but I buy them anyways.  I used to buy them more often when I could drive, but now I have this budget police guy following me through the store and giving me looks when I try to buy things that aren't on the list....(ahem, Mr. Yeti).  It makes shopping a whole lot less fun when it comes to me and my bestie, the baking aisle.  Oh well, good for the wallet I suppose...I suppose.

But anyways, what I was getting to with these chocolate chips is that I always have them.  They are like itty-bitty, frozen morsels of sanity for me (yes, frozen.  I keep my chocolate chips in the freezer.  They are way better that way, and no, it isn't up for discussion).  More for hiding my (in)sanity.   That beloved bag of chips is where I go when things are just a little too much....and a handful of chocolate solves it all.  Sometimes it solves all the crying and whining for little boys in this house, too.  Magic little morsels, I tell you.  Magic!  I had quite the little helping today while experimenting with a recipe.  I am kind of a nerd when it comes to baking because I have to figure out the "science" (aka what tastes wrong about it, and bake it until it tastes right).  It drives me nuts until I can get it just right.  So this whole gluten-free thingy + baking is making my wheels turn constantly.  The experiment I had today has me onto something good...and I can't wait to perfect it and hopefully come back to tell you all about it : )

Speaking of good....

I made Peach Pie this weekend.  "Peach Pie?  In January?" - Yes, in January.  I sliced, and sliced, and sliced peaches forever this summer and froze them just for this sort of thing.  I tried out a gluten-free crust recipe and it was interesting. Essentially the same as a normal pie crust recipe, with a few modifications.  I was pretty skeptical of what may happen, and was ready to just bring peach mush (which is what all my work this summer ended up looking like post-freezer and thawing...womp womp) to my mom's house.  The dough was a horrible crumbly mess, but I took all the online advice and rolled it out between two sheets of waxed paper.  That worked great!  The big issue was transferring it from the waxed paper to the pie plate...and not so much the bottom crust as it was the top crust after the pie had filling in it.  That was super cool (not) ...I was shouting, "Don't break!  Don't break!!"  Luckily all the boys were upstairs and I didn't embarrass myself too much ; ) All in all, I think it turned out quite tasty and it looked pretty, however it was a one-day-only sale.  It was absolute yuckiness after the first day....a giant, mushy, mess so next time I will have to find a cure for soggy pie syndrome.

We have been trying out some new recipes and have liked a lot of them.  Not necessarily gluten-free specific recipes, just, "This looks delicious, and it is healthy...and it just so happens to be gluten-free because it is a vegetable! Let's eat it! Yay!" kind of a thing.  Most of them are coming from a wondrous land called Pinterest.  (If you haven't visited this wonderland, climb out from under your rock and take a gander.  You don't know what you are missing!  You will get sucked in, and you will probably hear Darth Vader say, "Come with me to the Dark Side!" but along with his voice you will see unicorns and rainbows and sunshine.... It is an odd combination of danger and excitement/joy/awe.)  Tonight we ate Awesome Broccoli and that is my new name for it.  Captain America didn't eat it, but Little Transformer kind of did, and Mr. Yeti said it was good.  Therefore broccoli became Awesome Broccoli, and I will be making it again.


This is the original recipe, but I kind of changed it to what I had.

Awesome Broccoli

1 Big Bunch of Broccoli
Olive Oil
Minced Garlic (Fresh or Dried...I used dried because I was lazy)
Onion Powder
Kosher Salt
Pepper
Lemon Juice

Parchment Paper or Foil

- Wash your broccoli that morning, shake it out and let it set out to dry.  Or don't wash it.  Either way.  Your germs.  You just want it to be dried thoroughly.

-Set oven to 400.

-Cut broccoli into small florets and place into a medium/large sized bowl.  Toss with olive oil (2-3 Tablespoons)  Sprinkle generously with salt, pepper and minced garlic.  Sprinkle a bit of onion powder on, as well.  Toss to coat.

-Dump out onto the parchment/foil covered baking sheet and spread out evenly.  Bake 20-25 minutes, stirring once.

-About 5 minutes before you are ready to serve (or take out of the oven), drizzle a tiny bit (1 tsp or so) of lemon juice over the broccoli and another pinch of salt, and stir again.  Return to the oven for a few more minutes.

-Eat.  Say yum.


Alright, it is laaate.  I need to go to bed because the craziness will begin again all too soon.  'Night all.

xo