Snow/rain day and chocolate swirl gingerbread

I am convinced that my daily motivation to get up and do something is directly related to weather and amount of sunlight.  I have been known, when the clouds part and a beam of sunlight floods into the living room, to jump up and yell 'sun!' and stand in it.  Today started with snow (YAY), but is now just full of rain and I have barely been able to move off of the couch.

At least I haven't let myself take a nap.  Yet.

Today, I worked on some knitting and made some lamb broth from some bones.  And I ate a relatively large amount of snacks.  Today was also another day that I gave in to hunger and had some peanut butter toast.  Maybe its just that I'm too lazy to think up something else, but when I am starving and I haven't planned ahead, at least I always have homemade bread handy!  Now that I've already given in today, I might as well top it off with this dessert that I found on tastespotting.com.

Chocolate swirl gingerbread.

I have no idea how it will turn out, but the pictures alone make me want to go to the trouble of melting chocolate swirling batter.  It even uses whole wheat flour.  That means they are healthy!

Besides, Jon has been out all day in this weather, and he deserves a treat =)

Gluten and hunger

Going gluten free is hard.  Very hard.  I had no idea how much I depended on wheat in my diet.  And I did make a few things that worked out very well, like banana bread and rice-based dishes.  Making baked goods with wheat for Jon led to a lot of temptation, and there were days where there was nothing to eat but a little bread.  At that point, I had to make a decision to go hungry or eat wheat.  If I had more money and time, I would have been able to stick with the diet.  So.  Instead of completely going without, I am making choices.  If I can avoid gluten, then I do, but if I can't, then I shouldn't worry so much about it.  This isn't a diet because of an allergy, it is a choice.

By the way, this is an amazing gf banana bread recipe.

And this is a wonderful egg substitute for when you run out of eggs and still want to bake (I used whole flax seeds).

Gluten-free challenge, Days 2 and 3

Yesterday was my second day on this diet.  I had been quite dissatisfied with Day 1, craving gluten like crazy.  I made some bread with Bob's Red Mill GF Flour Mix, and it ended up burnt and didn't taste good at all.  I peeled the burnt crust off, and it is somewhat decent when toasted.  Somewhat.  I never realized that making bread without gluten would be so difficult!  Yesterday was so much better because I actually ate enough food and even found some gluten free treats out in town.

I woke up feeling amazingly good- lots of energy, not groggy.  Still felt nauseous, just like every morning since high school.  I went out and helped gather up sheep from the field with my friend, and then took town all the summer's electro-net fencing.  I had enough energy to do chores all afternoon.  Jon and I went to the co-op and got some dessert- Jon got bread pudding, I got a flourless vanilla cupcake.  Then we went to a local sushi place and got one roll to split with the leftover soup that was waiting for us at home.  I think that if I can treat myself to healthy and still gf treats and keep my stomach full, this experiment might work =)

Especially since chips are allowed.

Today is day 3, and I have no idea what I will bake or cook today.  But I feel good, full of energy and hope.  Who wants to teach me how to make sushi?

Gluten-free challenge, Day 1

My cookie ideas are going to be an extra challenge now.  I have decided that I will go gluten-free for two months.

This decision comes from a lot of thinking and a tip from my cousin- that going gluten-free might greatly assist  my dreams of having children.  As far as I know, I am not gluten intolerant.  But I have seen studies that may show that not eating gluten can greatly increase fertility.  I don't know what will happen.  I do know that there is a bigger plan out there, and maybe this is my way of being guided.  At the very least, I will have a chance to do lots of experiments with new recipes, ingredients, tastes, and who knows what will happen!

I will be going to the co-op today to get some ingredients in bulk form, and hopefully they have what I 'think' that I need.  There are so many strange flours and starches in gluten-free recipes.  I have no idea of cost or if the store will even have them.  I may end up coming home with a bag of Bob's Red Mill Gluten-Free Flour Mix!

Also, from my last post, here is how to make one chicken last for many, many meals:
Day 1: Roast large whole chicken with tons of root veggies for dinner
Day 2: Slices of chicken with leftover veggies for lunch, chicken marsala pizza for dinner
Day 3: Leftover pizza for lunch, buffalo chicken pizza for dinner
Day 4: Leftover pizza for lunch, chicken soup for dinner (made with boiling the carcass in water, straining broth out, then adding the rest of the meat back in with veggies)
Day 5: Leftover soup for lunch, stretch out soup with more veggies and black beans
Day 6: Leftover soup for lunch.  Leftover soup for dinner.
Day 7: Leftover soup for lunch.  Leftover soup for dinner with extra side dishes (didn't I say black beans are amazing?!)
Day 8: Leftover soup for lunch.  Just over a week with one chicken!

And that is how we keep grocery bills down!

Oatmeal chai cookies with whole wheat flour and flax seeds

Last night, I hardly slept at all.  It was the first night we programmed the thermostat, so of course it was so hot and dry that I couldn't stay asleep on the night before Jon had to get up super early.  This resulted in a migraine, a three hour nap on the couch, and spending the entire afternoon knitting/watching scary movies (not that I don't do that part anyway...).  Sometime during my nap, I woke up to a program all about chocolate, and it highlighted some very unusual flavor pairings.  After my brain cleared up a bit, I had a thought- I love cookies.  I'm hungry.  What recipes are out there that I haven't tried yet?  What about using different flavors that you wouldn't get in a traditional cookie?  I found quite a few new recipes out there, especially on pinterest, and decided to have a go at making some new cookies.

Oatmeal chai cookies

I adapted the recipe from here.

3/4 cup brown turbinado sugar (Demarara) 

1/3 cup plus 1 Tbsp soybean oil

2 eggs (I used free range)

1 tsp vanilla (I used homemade)

1 cup whole wheat flour (I used stone ground)

3/4 cup white flour

1/2 cup regular oats

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt (I used sea salt)

1/2 tsp cardamom

1/2 tsp ground cloves

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 heaping spoonful of flax seed (I used organic)

Because I am a rebel, I don't bother to mix things separately, and I used my Kitchenaid.  Set oven to 350.  Mix brown sugar and oil together.  Throw in everything else in the order listed.  I didn't grease my cookie sheet, but you can if you feel like it.  Drop by large spoonful onto a cookie sheet.

Leave lots of room for spreading.  They puff up quite a bit.  Bake for 15 minutes.  Let cool on the cookie sheet for a few minutes.  The very bottom may stick a tiny bit, but they should come off if you're careful with the spatula.  Cool on a cooling rack.  Makes 18 cookies.

The result?  OH my goodness.  Slightly crunchy, yet puffy and cake-like, wonderful oatmeal flavor, hint of spice.  I would definitely increase the chai spices if you wanted a more intense chai flavor, but this is enough for my tastes.

And you would never know that there was whole wheat flour in these!

I think this is a good start to a long project.  I will think up some more recipes soon.  Also, in my next post, I will write about tips on how to make one very large chicken last two people for 9+ meals.

Best ginger cookies, ever.

After lots of research, I have discovered the best ginger cookies I have ever tasted.  Here is a link to the recipe, which was hiding at the King Arthur Flour site all this time.

http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/cape-cod-soft-molasses-cookies-recipe

I substituted veg. oil for the butter (0.56 cups), because that is what I had.  And I added all of the optional ingredients.  I also used turbinado sugar to roll them in and they only took 8 min. to bake.

You're welcome.

And yet another move!

We have moved, again!  This is my seventh place since college, fifth since we married.  To quote Scott Pilgrim, it is a "a long story filled with sighs".  So here we are now, in an apartment with a full-sized fridge and washer and dryer!  If you know me in real life, feel free to ask me where I'm now located.  

There is a large window that floods the living room with light, giving little sunny warm spots on the carpet that make me long to curl up on the carpet and take a cat nap.

For the first time in my life, I have a dishwasher.  I have no idea how to use it.  I think it needs special soap.

I am already enjoying the benefits of doing laundry in a washer instead of the tub.

Basically, we are very happy where we are now!

Tavie is rocking out to Gogol Bordello here, exploring his new environment.

Having a full sized fridge with freezer is suddenly a puzzle.  I have almost forgotten how to buy groceries ahead and make large meals to last all week.  I haven't even touched the freezer yet, except to look inside and marvel at how cold it is!  Food is even keeping longer with the fridge at the proper temperature.

Now that I have the luxury of all these modern conveniences, I find that I am used to not relying on them and hardly miss them!  I'm sure that will change with time- the freezer is calling for some applesauce.  And ice cream.

We are still unpacking the mountain of boxes that ended up in the basement.  I have no idea where any of my books are.

On another note, Jon and I participated in this event:

It was a lot of fun, and I even sold a bunch of my knitted things while demonstrating spinning!  Jon demonstrated stone and wood carving.  We really hope some of the leads that we got follow through for future jobs!

I have neglected this blog lately, but now that we are almost settled in, I will really try to keep up with all of my fall recipes!  I have also discovered the perfect ginger cookie recipe I will reveal in my next post!