Runts and Raw Gluten Free Vegan Granola

I called the office that is supposed to be reviewing my application to get my green card current, the other day. They said they were working on applications submitted last September, and that I should call on the 15th to see if they moved on to October (I submitted my application Oct. 2). I wait. But I believe the waiting time is not wasted, it's a time where God prepares. I have been studying scriptures, and there is this overwhelming theme that runs through the lives of every single believer, and that is God's overwhelming love, that causes those of us that are His children to birth perseverance. None of my spiritual ancestors escaped long bouts of waiting for the Lords promises. It is a time of much growth. But I must be honest, not all of me is thrilled with this.

The sun is heating up my home, and I have one word for how that is.....GLORIOUS! I have these big south facing windows, and the sun overwhelms my whole main floor. I love it! I am basking in it, right now....all my little seedlings are loving it. I just got a batch of seeds I ordered from here. So I will be planting some more.   

The baby chick drama continues. There is a runt, ironically she is the one that I named and am bonded to. Did you know baby chicks poop, and if the poop sticks to their bottom, they can die? Yah, I didn't know that either. But if you should happen to need to clean the bottoms of baby chicks, do it without much water anywhere else, because getting them too wet, can also kill them (the dramatic temperature change can be too much). So I learned two things about baby chicks and I think that it's through mistakes that I will learn. That runt is still alive, and for that, I am grateful. This is what I must deal with every single day...Lexi.

We have all been home for the past few days, the kids and I. I have noticed that I have developed a strong sweet tooth. It is a bit concerning, since it's a new thing. But I am watching the whole craving take hold. It is strange. I am also going to be buying a whole bunch of probiotics today. My whole family needs it. There is a yeast infection, a few colds, and 2 of us who have taken anti-biotics. Now, I know that they are expensive. But I think a doctors visit costs way more, and provides a lot less help. So off to Sunshine foods  we go.

As a result of that sweet tooth, though, I decided to make some granola. This recipe is my great excuse to never buy that store bough cereal. It's such a widely consumed food, and it breaks my heart. Cereal has no real nutritional value, but worse than that, it is where most of the Gmo's are put, and that is just not ok for our kids to be consuming.

This is what I made, it lasted a whole morning, then it was gone. All my friends out there who have dehydrators...this is the time to use em! You can also put the granola in the oven at the lowest temp setting, and check every 5 minutes, till the moisture is gone from the granola....

Gluten Free Vegan (but of course) Granola

2c gluten free rolled oats
1/2c of whole flax seeds soaked in 1/2c water for about 10 minutes
1c crushed cashews soaked in water for about 20 minutes
1/4c maple syrup
1/4c coconut crystals
1/4c hemp seeds (if you have em, which I did)
1/2c raisins
1/3c melted coconut oil
1/3c shredded coconut flakes
1/2t salt
2T vanilla extract, I highly recommend making your own, such a easy task!
1/2t almond extract

 let all the ingredients that need to be soaked...soak...then mix, once mixed spread in the dehydrator let dehydrate a few hours then flip. I hope you enjoy it, as much as we did...I will be making more...Yum!

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Baby Chicks Drama and Gluten Free Vegan Zucchini Chocolate Chip Muffins

The other day a small miracle occurred in my house. We all sat down together and heard about our day. We do this thing around our table, when we eat together (it's not every night that we eat together, but it's a lot of nights), where we all take turns sharing our favorite part of the day, and our least favorite part of our day. Sharing was not the miracle, neither was the eating together....the miracle was what was on the plates. Every single plate had the SAME meal!!! I made some of that gluten free vegan pizza, the other night. I decided to skip making gluten crust and just make the gluten free....it was the easier choice...I made a pizza with a white sauce (always my favorite) and the traditional red red. Both came out tasty and my mouth had a party. I believe I ate almost the whole white sauce pizza by myself. So I took a picture of my momentous occasion, so that I could remember it.
I know that in most households one meal is made and that is it, but I have really not been that way. I make smoothies as meals in a second, and I believe, they are the more nutrient dense then anything I prepare, so I usually offer it to my kids as an alternative to the prepared meal. Isaac, my oldest, loves them. Since he has textural food issues, it is his favorite meal!

Today we went to a "church". I put that in quotes because I believe that a group of believers that intimately know and live together, and express Christ, qualifies as a church, more than a group of people who, out of tradition, gather together every Sunday, with smiles and greet each other, barely knowing what is going on in the life of the people that they greet. (<-Is that a terrible run on sentence?). But it was very good to be around other believers and listen to a sermon that was just the Word, with it's proper context. I think it will be a place that we begin to serve.

I have been watching my little foster grandbaby, because my foster daughter, got all 4 of her wisdom teeth pulled out. It is a strange thing to be watching over a baby, again. It's funny how instant, all the things I learned as a mom, come flooding back. It's about naps, food, diapers, and doing laundry. He's a great little boy, and somehow, it is incredibly easier, this time around. Maybe it's easier because he's not mine, permanently.

We got 9 baby chicks yesterday, and the chick drama began. First off, they are soooo flipping cute! But one of the chicks decided that it was a bully, and it never changed it's ways. This baby chick would go up to the lighter colored Buff Orpington's and peck at their eyes. It was awful! These helpless little chicks would get dragged around by their eyes, to the point of bleeding. When we finally had enough, Toby made up a wire cage to stick on top of our bully, so that she could see the others without being able hurt the other chicks. This made her "cheep, cheep" with a thunder that continued through the entire night. In the morning we would let her out, only to stick her right back in, because she'd bolt for one of the other chicks, to peck their eyes. She was unrepentant, but hated to be segregated. I sent her to my aunt Tami's to try her home, only to have her come home, because she pecked the eyes of her chicks, as well. Our bully's thunderous "cheep, cheep-ing" finally ended, as I returned her to the feed store I got her from.

But with baby chicks, I have to monitor all the chicks, all my kids, and one terribly troubled dog! Lexi wants so badly to "play" with them. Her tail wags, and she stares at them, pretty much the whole day! Fun!

When I came home today all I wanted to do was hang out in my kitchen. I made a couple of gf pizzas, a pot of Hungarian Mushroom soup (I am a creature of habit), and a couple dozen of these muffins. I routinely make up recipes for muffins. I absolutely love to use zucchini to soften my muffin batters, it is my favorite way to make a great batter. I doubled this recipe. Prepare oven for 350.
*I grind my own grains/seeds, I highly recommend it to everyone, either with a vitamix, or a mill, it saves so much money, and it's great to have rice as rice...or as a flour, etc*

Gluten Free Vegan Chocolate Chocolate Chips Muffins

1/2c garabonzo/fava flour
1/3c sweet brown rice flour
1/3c quinoa flour
1/3c buckwheat flour
1/3c melted coconut oil
1/4c ground flax (I use my coffee grinder, since my grinder would get no other action, otherwise)
1/2t salt
3t of baking powder
1/2t baking soda
2/3c coconut crystals
1/2c or so of chocolate chips
1c of coconut milk (add 1T of apple cider vinegar)
1small zucchini or half a medium/large one, you can grate it in your batter
*I blend the zucchini with half the mixed coconut milk*

Mix the dry ingredients first, add the wet, then add the chocolate chips... Bake for 20-24 minutes...My muffins take 22 minutes ;)Isaac ate 5 of them, right out of the oven. 


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Gluten Free Vegan Pizza! And the Alaskan SUN!

I woke up with a sore throat this morning. But even that can not bring my spirits down. This time of year a favorite of mine. The sun comes out, FINALLY! We have endured the long cold winter! The sun heats up my house, and the threat of the need for high priced heating oil, doesn't seem so menacing.

Most of my seedlings have been planted! The other night, my husband helped me set up the dirt and packets, and stuck them all under our lights. I planted several different kinds of tomatoes, broccoli, collards, kale, chard, squashes, zucchini, cabbages, melons (I'm gonna try to grow them in the greenhouse, peppers, basil, and my favorite of all fruit...cucumbers!! (yes, it is a fruit! not vegetable).
This is what my starting set up looks like:

Nothing fancy, in my living room. We got the shelves from a store and Toby mounted up the lights above. In a couple of weeks they will all spout and look the same! So remembering to label is an important thing (I have forgotten, or thought, hey, I'll remember). Isn't it crazy how all that food, starts so small?

I will order some more seeds and plant some more, as the seeds arrive. The food that goes in the ground is not accounted for. That is the potatoes, beets, carrots, peas, onions, and radishes.  Those I have to wait to plant, because they go in the ground. June 1st is when that can happen.

Yesterday we had some family that have become dear friends, come over in the morning... this is what they brought with them. I thought, yaye, we can make tea. But they didn't just bring it with them, they gave it to us. I can't tell you how much I love this tea kettle, because it would go on and on. On it's own, the kettle is one of the coolest kettles, but the fact that Lauren brought it from her house, and it was hers, well that just makes this kettle even more special.

So I look at it and think of my dear friend Lauren, every time I make my tea, like this morning. Best. Tea. Kettle. Ever. Okay, I'm done discussing the matter.

We eat a lot of pizza in my house.  Whenever I make breads, I save some of the gluten dough to make pizza. I have had the hardest time finding a gluten free dough that hold well. I finally caved in and got a recipe that has starch flour (which just turns to sugar in the body). This dough holds up great! and I love that I can have pizza, it's been a very long time! My gluten bunch all liked the gf pizza, so because I know they are such tough critics, I know this recipe is worth posting...

I cannot for the life of me remember where this recipe came from...bummer! but I am pretty sure it's from Bette Hagman. If you don't know who she is, let me enlighten you. She is an amazing gluten free bread chef! Probubly the original. She is not vegan, however. So I modified the recipe, slightly. This makes a meduim sized pizza, for a large, I'd double the recipe:

-preheat oven to 425

One Good Gluten Free Pizza Dough!

1/2c of potato starch
2/3c of sweet brown rice flour
2T of powdered rice milk
1T of yeast
1/2t salt
1/4c of flax ground
1/2t sugar/agave
1t olive oil
1t apple cider vinegar
2/3c of water

mix ingredients together.... spread over prepared pizza pan (I love my stoneware) and bake for 10 minutes....pull out pan and top with any topping you love! I love to get zucchini, in place of pepperoni, spinach, and canned artichokes....with daiya....yum! But you can use whatever you like! I added artichokes and smoking hot jalapenos.... bake another 20 minutes....Enjoy!













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