Exactly…
So can you tell me who my son is dressed up as?
My kids are so looking forward to Halloween since it is October now. And rightly so, LOL. Who doesn’t like trick or treating.
Anyhow, for the last four halloweens I have dressed my kids up in the same themes and this year will be no different. Last year they were Izzy, Jake and Cubby from Jake and the Never Land Pirates, the year before we had Tinkerbell, Captain Hook and Peter Pan. When my youngest wasn’t quite a year old — he was a horse and my daughter was an Indian Princess and my other son was a cowboy. And when there were just two kids I had Dorothy and the Lion. So I LOVE THEMES. This year we’ll have Elsa, Olaf and ….. does this even look like the character I am going for????
My mother-in-law Sherlyn and I spent about 4 hours working on this tunic. I recommend never working with faux fur… it is horrendously messy like a shedding animal. ACK! Anyhow, she did the sewing machine work and I did most of the hand sewn work on this outfit. Hope it looks like the character it is suppose to look like.
Italian Sausage, Garlic and Basil Pasta Gravy
I don’t normally buy sauce in a jar just because I can make it better and it is more affordable if it is homemade as well.
Add a caesar salad to go with your pasta and you have an awesome dinner!
Italian Sausage, Garlic and Basil Pasta Gravy
30 oz tomato sauce
6 oz tomato paste
8 oz mushrooms
1 lb Italian sausage, sliced
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp dried basil
4-6 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp salt
Heat a deep skillet or medium heavy bottomed sauce pot over medium high heat. Add 1 tablespoon, 1 turn of the pan, extra-virgin olive oil to pan or pot. Brown sausages 2 minutes on each side, transfer to cutting board. Slice. Add back to pot with garlic, mushrooms, tomato sauce, tomato paste, basil and salt. Bring sauce to a bubble, then reduce heat to a simmer. Simmer sauce until ready to serve over your favorite pasta.
Pumpkin Muffins (just like eating a cupcake)
With fall in the air — and pumpkins ripening on the vine in my backyard — it makes me think of making pumpkin muffins. Add a little cream cheese frosting and you are in heaven!
Plum Jelly
I was going through the fridge and tossing questionable containers when I came across several baggies of Chinese Plums. They
had been sitting in the refrigerator since we picked them weeks ago. It was either toss them, too, or make something immediately with them.
I love Plum Jam and was — yeah I can do that. So I had a little over a pound of plumbs. The kids and I had already pitted them, so all I needed to do was chop them up.
Unfortunately – I made a HUGE mess of the kitchen with this little batch of Jam. I placed them in the food processor, yet it didn’t chop as fine as I wanted. Next I pulled out the Blender and pureed them instead. Perfect!
When I tossed the pureed fruit, water and sugar in the pot and started to boil — I noticed there was what looked like nuts in the mixture floating to the top. AGH! There must had been a pit in one of the plums that we missed — so now I had to get out the sieve to retrieve the pit particles. Unfortunately that meant my jam will now be less chunky as well. Oh well, it will still be really tasty nevertheless!
To give your gluten free baking the extra protein and bounce it needs….
I was having a great conversation with a friend of mine this morning about adding protein powder to gluten free baking to give her bread more fluff, bounce, etc. This comes from my findings awhile back when my husband wanted me to listen to a Science Friday segment on Baking Bread by a American Test Kitchen Chef.
Of the whole segment about 3 minutes were dedicated to Gluten Free Baking. And what I learned was amazing. It stated that wheat flour is spongy because of the “protein content” and that Gluten Free Flours lack that amount of protein.
As an example:
Protein Content: Wheat flour contains slightly more protein than rice flour, with 16 grams per cup, compared to 9 grams per cup in rice flour. Wheat flour contains a protein called gluten and rice flour does not contain that gluten at all. (info researched from http://www.livestrong.com).
To help add extra protein to your Gluten Free Flours it was recommended to to build your flour protein up by adding gluten free unflavored protein powder, eggs or even milk powders including buttermilk powder.
So the next time you make bread — just add a little extra protein and see the difference!
Fried Shrimp Tacos…
I had a bunch of shrimp left over from making my Sushi dinner last night and decided since I won’t be heading to the Mexican Restaurant for Girl’s Night Out as planned, I will have it come to me instead. So I made shrimp tacos for dinner. 
I guess you learn something new everyday
My husband is allergic to MSG… and with us being Gluten Intolerant it is recommended to stay away from MSG because if you are Gluten Intolerant than most likely you are MSG intolerant as well. Anyhow, I came across this article about ingredients that have “Hidden MSG” on the labeling and I actually had no clue.
“Toxic hidden MSG ingredients buried in popular items:
Autolyzed Yeast Extract (Hidden MSG)
Textured or Hydrolyzed Proteins (Hidden MSG and GMO)
Hydrolyzed Corn (Hidden MSG and GMO)
Modified Starches (Hidden MSG or Possible GMO)
Natural Flavors (Possible Hidden MSG)
Disodium Inosinate or Disodium Guanylate (MSG enhancers)
The additives Disodium Guanylate and Disodium Inosinate are not added to a product that doesn’t contain MSG because they are considered expensive additives that are ineffective without MSG ingredients. The presence of Disodium Guanylate or Disodium Inosinate in a product is a strong indication that a product contains hidden MSG.”
You can read the article for yourself at: http://foodbabe.com/2014/03/23/if-youve-ever-eaten-pizza-before-this-will-blow-your-mind/
Sushi craving….
My daughter suggested I make sushi for dinner tonight sometime last week since my parents were going to be in town. I LOVE SUSHI! She knew there was no way I would say no. Sushi is rather easy to make — but the prep work is what gets you. Since my family loves the specialty rolls you find at Sushi Restaurants it means we no longer can eat out. Imitation Crab is filled with Wheat. Tempura Shrimp or Tempura Rolls in general are Wheat and therefore a no no for our Gluten Intolerance. But no worries I make really great rolls at home. I spent hours on the perping. I made three batches of sticky rice in my rice cooker than added seasoning to give it that yummy sushi flavor.
Then I sliced cucumbers, avocados and green onions. I used salmon, shrimp and fresh crab for my fillings.
I made several sauces to drizzle on the rolls which included Teriyaki, Unagi and Yum Yum.
Sushi Rice:
Ingredients
1.5 cups sushi or short grain rice
3 cups water, plus extra for rinsing rice
1/4 cup rice vinegar
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
Directions Place the rice into a mixing bowl and cover with cool water. Swirl the rice in the water, pour off and repeat 2 to 3 times or until the water is clear. Place the rice and 3 cups of water into a rice cooker and cook according to your machine. Combine the rice vinegar, sugar and salt in a small bowl and heat in the microwave on high for 45 to 60 seconds. Transfer the rice into a large wooden or glass mixing bowl and add the vinegar mixture. Fold thoroughly to combine and coat each grain of rice with the mixture. Allow to cool to room temperature before using to make sushi.
Camping adventures…
We came home a day early from camping ’cause well… it snowed on us the 2nd night there… even though 1st night it rained on us. But last night… HOLY MOLY it hailed — then started to rain — then thunder was so loud it shook the tent trailer THEN it poured harder. Thennnnnnn it started to snow! Fun, fun Times!! And because it was Opening Season for Deer — there were a bazillion and one hunters with their rifles and side arms EVERYWHERE. Yeah, we left a day earlier than planned.
Despite the weather — we had a fun adventure. We even went Geocaching. Didn’t realize there is a farm up by Highland Lakes — and the cows and horses are free range and walking around.
The kids with my mom and husbandOur View from our Tent Trailer
Free Range Cow
My Husband and I
My Dad and the kids
My 11 year old Lab Molly
Free Range Horse
Scary Face at the River
What we woke up to
