Gnowfglins eCourse

I like to periodically mention the eCourse I help teach, just in case anyone is interested!

Gnowfglins.com is run by an online friend of mine. She has constructed an entire course to teach people how to cook using traditional food preparation methods. The science behind this is fascinating, and she explains it as you go. In just a couple of weeks she's starting a class on cultured dairy - how to make your own sour cream, butter, cheese...pretty interesting and fun!

I have been involved in the current class on sourdough. For those interested, I have converted all of the sourdough recipes in the course to gluten free recipes. And they are delicious! Pizza crust (good pizza crust!), biscuits, donuts, bread, waffles, and lots more. The sourdough serves two purposes - leavening that doesn't require you to use store-bought yeast (which some people are sensitive to), and also reducing the phytic acid content in whole grains which keeps your body from absorbing minerals. This is the way people made bread for thousands of years. They had good reasons for it. :)

If you sign up through the links here, I will receive a small referral fee. Just so ya know. :) I really believe in the information in this course. I wholeheartedly recommend it! Subscriptions start at just $10/month.

Also, one of the most time-consuming aspects of this way of eating, is planning your meals. Though the prep time isn't really longer, it has to be done in advance. That's why Gnowfglins.com developed their handy meal plans. Each week, they send out the recipes for the week, along with a sheet where you can write down all your meals and prep steps for the week. This is a HUGE time-saver, not to mention it takes the stress out of figuring out what's for dinner.

Check out Gnowfglins.com for more information, and subscribe to the blog there - it's great info and I have occasionally guest-blogged. :)

7 Quick Takes

So much to say, so little time...

1. The allergy treatments we're doing with Audrey are working! Praise God! In the past few weeks, she's been able to eat banana, avocado, kiwi, and pineapple with no problems. Amazing. Her skin is healing up and getting smooth again. She still seems to be having trouble with certain spices, and that treatment is a few weeks down the road. Still, we are so happy to see real improvement.

2. Our trial with our former landlord was yesterday, and he didn't come. Therefore, we got a default judgment in our favor. It will still take some time to get our deposit back as we follow the court procedure, but this was a very positive thing. The judge kind of chuckled and said, "Happy New Year." :)

3. The van is broken again...or still. It wouldn't start in early December and we had it towed to a shop for a diagnostic. They wanted $700 to replace the fuel pump so we had it towed back to our house, where the towing guy proceeded to drive it off the truck. Come to find out it had run at the shop too, and they never mentioned that. Nick talked to some friends and they suggested cleaning the battery terminals to make sure it was getting a good connection. He did that, and the van ran fine for two more weeks. Then it quit again. At this point we're thinking it must be the fuel pump after all. Lame-o.

4. Our Christmas/Tessa's first birthday was SO fun. We opened presents at our house, then went to my parents' for brunch and more presents, then came home for naps, then had my parents and siblings to our house for MORE presents and birthday cake. Tess was about done with the presents by the end. And she LOVED her GF carrot cake. I made this one and spiced it with allspice and ginger since Audrey can't do cinnamon. It was very moist and delicious. I frosted it with the first recipe on this page, using coconut oil and coconut milk. Very good.

5. We are staying HOME for New Year's. And there are absolutely no complaints here.

6. I'm excited to get back into a regular routine after the holidays. We have lots of homeschooling projects that will be fun. I also am looking forward to hosting gluten free classes at my house.

7. My Christmas epiphany this year was this: God's not afraid of the dust of everyday life. Sometimes I get frustrated by dirt. I have three small children. There is no way to have everything clean all of the time. Relationships with people are messy. Cars break down. Sometimes our emotions control us when they shouldn't. Sometimes it seems the thing standing between a perfect environment/house is MONEY. But, God didn't send His son to be born to a rich family in a sterile, spotless hospital. He sent him to a dirty stable. They laid Him in a manger that had animal food, slobber and manure caked on it. Think of the germs! And people freak out about homebirth... ;) But none of that scared God. And He understands earth, in a way that is comforting to me.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. I pray God's blessings on you and your families!

The people who walked in darkness have seen a great Light; those who dwelt in the land of intense darkness and the shadow of death, upon them has the Light shined.
Is. 9:2

Noticing

Yesterday, my sister and I went to visit my Gramma at the assisted living place she's at for a few days. This is a long story which I won't tell publicly, but if you are family or something and happen to want to hear the story, I'll be happy to tell you. Message me or something. :)

Anyway, our visit with Gramma was nice, and when we headed downstairs to leave, we walked past the community living room where several of the residents were sitting. They immediately spotted the children and exclaimed in excitement. We stopped and let them hug, chat, ask questions, and talk about how beautiful and cute they all were. (My sis had my nephew, and my three girls were there). One lady in particular, probably in her early 90's, latched onto me and kept talking to Tess and telling me how beautiful "he" was (she was wearing dark purple), and telling me,
"Give him everything. Give him everything you have. Give him so much love."
She was so passionate and purposeful in what she was saying that it brought tears to my eyes. We stood around for a few more minutes, and she said,
"I never had any children, though I would have loved to. We couldn't have children, and they wouldn't let us adopt because I was protestant and my husband was catholic. But we would have been great parents. Oh, how I wish we could have had a child. I wish you were my daughter."
It seemed shallow after that, but we needed to leave so I gave her a hug, wished her Merry Christmas, and she said again,
"Give him everything you have, all the love you can give him. But don't spoil him. But give him everything."

Her words keep playing in my mind, over and over. Sometimes this world is a sad place. That poor woman.

It's so easy to stop noticing. I want to take the time to actually look into my children's eyes when they talk to me. To sit down and hold Audrey when she asks (which is often). To have conversations with people that mean something. To listen for God's voice. I think it's so important not to let the busy work of life crowd out the important stuff. We've been in a challenging season of life, really for most of this year and I'm rather weary. But there is still so much joy to be found in life. What is bringing you joy?

5 Questions for Friday

1. If you could teleport, where would you go right now? Can be anywhere, anytime.

2. Cats or dogs? Why?

3. What are you asking for, for Christmas?

4. What are you most excited to give for Christmas?

5. How do you like your oatmeal?

Guest blog

I have the privilege of guest blogging today at Gnowfglins.com. Check it out!