Brownies

Okay, I have worked out the kinks in the brownie recipe. I will admit that they are a little on the dry side but I haven't been able to fix that without causing the brownies to fall in the center after they are done baking. But they are egg, dairy, soy, flax seed and gluten free.  This is a really hard combination to achieve when baking.

Brownies

Dry Ingredients

1 1/2 cup Rice flour
1 1/2 cup Oat flour
1/2 cup Tapioca or Arrow Root Starch
2 cups Sugar
3/4 cup unsweetened Cocoa Powder
1 teaspoon Baking Powder
1/2 teaspoon Salt

Wet Ingredients
1 cup Water
1 cup Olive Oil
1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract

Other
1 cup Walnuts

Directions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl. Mix wet ingredients in a small bowl. Pour wet ingredients into large bowl with dry ingredients. Add Walnuts and mix. Pour in an 8x12 inch pan and bake for 25-35 minutes.

Side notes: I don't use an electric mixer for this recipe. I use a rubber spatula. If you aren't using an electric mixer just make sure the dry ingredients are well incorporated with each other. Also, I don't oil my pan before I use it. The brownies will be crumbly and you will need to use a metal spatula to remove them from the pan any way.

Also, why are both of these utensils called a spatula? It is very confusing in the above paragraph. I changed it to a "rubber" and "metal" spatula (even though my "metal" spatula isn't a "metal" spatula it is hard plastic.....just saying)

What's in a name?

Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner.

Those are powerful words. They pack so much meaning and even can illicit an emotional response.

There are specific foods for each words.

Muffin = Breakfast.

Sandwich = Lunch

Grilled Chicken = Dinner

But why?  Why must we eat specific foods at only those specific times?

Hello World. My name is Sheila and I have abandoned all preconceived notions of breakfast, lunch and dinner foods.

Yes, I serve my children leftover grilled chicken and vegetables for breakfast. I pack my children muffins and granola  bars for lunch most days.

I will admit that Dinner generally stays sacred but that is only because the few actual breakfast foods we can eat are generally saved for breakfast and lunch. Plus, I don't have a good bread recipe so I don't make bread very often.

Vow = Sooner or later I will perfect my bread recipe. (but for now it is edible at best)

 

Disney World with allergies and sensitivities.

The mention of Disney World in my last post got me to think about our Disney trip.  I wanted to mention a few things that most people don't know and Disney World doesn't widely advertise.

Did you know you can take food into Disney World? Yep you can. If anyone asks just tell them you have food allergies. Yes, I told them allergies not sensitivities. I did not want to go into the details and I am sure the person at the gate didn't want me to go into details either. We never bought anything but water when we were at Disney World. Even then we would all carry in a bottle of water and refill it from drinking fountains. But a couple of days it was hot and we just wanted cold water so we bought cold bottles of water a few times.

We rented a house near Disney World from Home Away. I am not recommending their site 100% but it worked for us.

We drove to Disney World. So I could pack coolers, specialty foods, pots, pans, and utensils. I packed all the can't live without specialty foods that I didn't want to risk not being able to find.

I goggled all the grocery stores in the area and printed maps and addresses to each one. (Don't get hung up on finding the chain you use locally. I really liked Publix but I had sticker shock from the price increase of the foods. However, they weren't much more than the super Target and were a better quality.)

Before we went I created a meal plan for each day that include snacks. The meal plan included the days we were driving to Disney World and home.

I then planned which days I would go shopping and created specific shopping lists for each shopping trip. I planned when I would bake or cook. This takes considerable amount of time so don't overlook allowing yourself time to cook and bake when planning where you are going that day.  A couple of days I made two meals and put the leftovers in the fridge so the following night I wouldn't have to cook.

We had a blast. The trip did require a lot of work for me. A couple of times I started a little pity party for myself. It would have been so much easier to just buy food or go out to eat. However, I tried not to let the pity parties last very long. I do need to accept the restrictions food sensitivities place in my life and stop comparing what I am doing to everyone else. This is a work in progress for me.

So Disney World is possible and it can be fun even if you have food sensitivities or allergies.

Affermation on being thankful!

Please don't take this blog post as being preachy. I am writing it for myself to remind me to be thankful.

I am struggling with shopping. I am struggling with my weight loss goals. I am struggling with not eating foods I shouldn't.

I need to remember all the times my children were sick. The days and days of them feeling miserable and laying on the couch doing nothing but watching T.V. in a daze.

I need to remember all the trips to the doctors office. Repeatedly over and over for the same infection. More and more antibiotics that got stronger and stronger.

I need to remember that even the times my children were "well" they were sick. So many times we couldn't do something because Benjamin had a headache or just didn't have the energy to leave the house.

The countless loads of bedding I washed.

The medication my children use to take every. single. morning. I use to make little towers out of the pills and inhalers to entertain my children. Why did I think this was a good thing?

Benjamin's mood swings.

Benjamin's tantrums.

Benjamin pretending to trip over nothing and pretending that he was hurt just for attention (so I thought - yep, a lot of guilt over this one still).

Worrying that I was raising a sociopath.

The trips to the emergency rooms with 105+ fevers, and one trip with a really low temperature.

The nights I would lie awake worrying if this round of medication was going to work. What would happen if they ran out of stronger medication to give my children before they got better?

Sitting beside Zachary's bed watching him sleep because he was struggling to breath with asthma and pneumonia.

What do I have now? 

Zachary is 13 years old and is 5' 9" tall. In the last 2 years he has been on antibiotics one time for strep throat. He has no large patches of warts on the bottom of his feet. He doesn't have problems with nocturnal enuresis anymore. Zachary hasn't had pneumonia since 2012. Zachary doesn't take any medication. Zachary has gone from being obese to a healthy weight.

Benjamin is 12 years old and is 5' 5" tall. I really don't remember the last time he was on antibiotics. I would guess it is pushing 2 years. Benjamin only has mood swings and starts to loose control when he is reacting and then he recognizes it and asks for help. Benjamin is full of energy and I have a hard time giving him enough physical activity. Benjamin rarely has headaches anymore. Benjamin has gone from being obese to being on the skinny side. I make sure he gets as much to eat as he wants. BUT I do not encourage him to eat more (that one is hard for me - and, honestly, he isn't skinny it is just my distorted body image). 

AND FOR THE GRAND FINALE.... In 2014 for the first time ever I didn't have to use all my vacation days for sick children and we got to go on an actual vacation. We went to Disney World.

I need to remember these things and let them motivate me.