Gluten Free Dairy Free

I am considering starting a separate recipe area for gluten free dairy free recipes. Since starting this eating change, I feel TONS better. Yes, I am still trying to avoid other foods like soy, yeast, eggs, sugar, peanuts, caffeine, alcohol, tomatoes, corn, eggplant, and peppers. However, sometimes those are inevitable and I don't think my body has a horrible reaction to them. Mostly, I think dairy (possibly a couple others) is my main culprit! Finding out what are the culprits are one of the biggest successes. Once it is figured out, then dealing with it is somewhat easy.

Because my recipes are based upon these specifications, I am thinking about making a section of my blog dedicated to gluten free, dairy free recipes. There are blogs (some of them are listed to the right) that have helped inspire me when I don't know what else to cook. It really isn't that hard once you are committed to the new way of eating. However, it is hard sometimes to think of what concoctions I CAN make. Or, sometimes it is just frustrating knowing what substitutions are possible.

One recipe that is gluten free, dairy free that I will post is Peanut Butter Cookies. They do have an egg and some sugar in them. HOWEVER, no milk, butter, flour!!! They are delicious. Thanks to my mom who tried them, we have a new, easy, yummy cookie that staves off any craving!

PS I changed my background to PINK in honor of Lily's favorite book: Pinkalicious

Lily's speech improvments :(

I love that Lily is 2 1/2. Really, it is much easier than the baby stage. I honestly do NOT miss the baby stage that much. However, there are moments when she does something more grown up that I get a little twinge of sadness. For instance, her speech. She used to say, "Hun-gee" for hungry. Today she randomly said, "Hun-ga-wee" There still is no R sound, but she is closer and it makes my heart sad that she is becoming a big girl.

Sometimes, Matt works on her with her speech and it makes me MAD :) because I like her special words. She always called Panera "To-ehwa" Now, because of Matt's assistance she says, "Pa-ehwa" with the P sound. I got after him....She will learn these things on her own soon enough. I love her To-ehwas and To-nanas (bananas).

Lily talks non-stop. Literally, from the second she gets up, to the second she falls asleep (she talks to her babies and animals in bed until she literally falls over), she is talking. AND, if you don't listen, she knows it. She repeats the sentence over and over until you comment on it. I have learned to multi-task at this task, but sometimes it is hard to do everything while listening to her chat.

She is starting to make-believe. At the grocery today, she told me this whole made up story that was completely unbelievable, but I think it was pretty real to her.

While I am bragging, I must write that Matt has taught her all the books of the Old Testament and she knows them by heart!!! It is adorable, endearing, and AMAZING. We must get it on video soon. If I can catch her doing it, I will upload this amazing song she can sing.

Off to rest for a few minutes while I actually have some peace and quiet!

TO-DAY

I woke up yesterday morning to Lily calling my name. I had been sound asleep, so I bounded into her room, no glasses, no robe. I asked her what she needed and she said, "It is TO-DAY" and she pointed outside. She was trying to make the point that she had seen daylight. I told her that it was TO-DAY, but mommy was still sleeping. She told me, "No, it is TO-DAY!!!" I finally realized she wasn't going to entertain herself in her bedroom. So, we ended up getting up. However, I am a little worried that if she gets up with the sunlight, we may be in trouble in the next few months!

This morning, I went into her bedroom and found Ernie and one of her babies each in a pair of her pajamas. She is currently really into dressing her babies/animals in HER clothes. IT IS A MESS though. She rummages through her closet and drawers, gets out all possible options and starts dressing and re-dressing her babies, animals and herself! Many afternoons, she is in different clothes than what I left her in, which creates much more laundry than need be, but I guess I find it too humorous to put a stop to it.

We are still in BSF (Bible Study Fellowship), but it seems as though it is canceled about every other week, since Christmas. I guess it is somewhat nice because it is not so much pressure to get the work done and it is nice to have a break. However, I also miss the consistency of getting together with the other girls and reviewing what we've learned from the scripture/questions. Since schools were closed today, we are canceled for tomorrow's BSF. So, Lily and I are going to have to find something else to do doing our time off.

The picture is of Lily helping Matt make chocolate torte last week.

Well, Lily's snowman is half melted. Bummer! Matt and her have fixed it several times, but it just keeps getting knocked down or melting. She insists that they fix it since there is still snow in our yard!

I checked out my window this morning and realized we have some daffodils peeking up. Then, Lily and I ventured out and cleaned up my herb garden a little bit. My chives, mint, parsley, and oregano have some green starts coming up too! Just a few warm days and they are definitely happy. I am sure it will snow again and they will not be happy. However, for the moment I am basking in the fact that I have some green showing.

Lily is coloring with markers, so I'd better go investigate her. Then, it is off to naptime (my work time!)

Snowman

I am so "behind" on my blog that I don't even know where to start....January was a rough month emotionally, but IT IS OVER. And, I am feeling much better now that it is over. I am feeling much more like myself; more than I have in a long time. I know this is partially due to the year being over and partially due to my health improving. I still have my moments, but I am definitely on the uphill slope of life, I think.

Lily is SO MUCH FUN right now. I wish I could remember all the funny things she has done or said in the past few days/weeks. She is hysterical. A couple of stories that I would love to share for my own sake so I don't forget them.

1. She didn't want to eat her broccoli one night. So, Matt told her to plug her nose like Pinkalicious does. She didn't really get the concept, but she put a couple of her fingers on her nose and pretended to plug her nose. The next morning, I was doing her hair. She is daily a grouch while I am doing her hair. I look down and she is "plugging" her nose. I knew what she was doing, but asked her anyway. She said, "I pushing my nose so my hair doesn't hurt." Inventive!

2. In her book, "Fancy Nancy," Nancy is carrying a tray of parfaits and trips and the tray of parfaits does a "double flip." All of the ice cream ends up all over her and the floor. Well, one morning, we were eating breakfast. Lily was having cereal. She somehow does the splits on her chair. In trying to catch herself, she smashes her hand on her cereal bowl. The milk and cereal go all over the table and her legs end up behind her, stuck. I race over to her and pull her up, she says, "My ceweal did a double-fip." I started laughing and she, said, "Yeah, my ceweal did a double-fip, just like Fancy Nancy does!" I could not believe how quickly she put that story in an application of her experience....

Today Matt and Lily made a snowman. I attached a picture because she is beside herself with excitement about the snowman. I hope it doesn't melt in the next few days. Hopefully it will stay put for awhile, so she can enjoy it. I made them hot chocolate after they were finished. I posted the recipe, if anyone wants it. DELICIOUS!

Matt is watching superbowl, so I am catching up on magazines and emails. I had 670 emails in my inbox that I needed to clean up. Many of them are about Daisy or from last January and February. I am grateful to have all email-support, and cannot make myself delete those emails quite yet. I ended up making a folder for them, but need to get rid of the rest of the emails that I just have never deleted. I just haven't had the gumption to do much this last year....But I am getting some pep in my step back!