it can be done!

About 2 weeks ago, I bought all purpose gluten-free (GF) flour and had my husband stir up our first batch of GF cookies. They tasted great, but turned into a crumbly mess. At that point I was a bit noncommittal to this whole gluten-free idea, but after a couple of weeks on it, Rachel seems to be making less night time trips to the bathroom. With that realization, I feel energized to give this whole idea more time, money, and attention. I have asked some questions, looked at a kids GF cookbook from the library, bought more flours, and today attempted my first 2 GF recipes.

We do have priorities and at the top of the list is a gluten-free taco shell. Rachel turned her nose up at corn tortillas, so we gave this recipe a try.

Mock Flour Tortillas

Ingredients
1/2 c. brown rice flour

1/2 c. rice flour

1/2 c. potato starch flour

1/2 c. tapioca flour

1 T. xanthan gum

1 t. salt

3 T. shortening

3/4 c. hot water

Directions

In a large bowl, combine flours, xanthan gum, and salt. Add shortening and cut with a pastry blender or fork until crumbly like breadcrumbs. Add water and stir with a spoon. Form into a ball with hands. Divide the dough into 12 balls. Press with a tortilla press or rolling pin, with lightly oiled plastic wrap on both the top and bottom of the dough. Preheat ungreased griddle to about 400 degrees, if electric, or until a droplet of water dropped on the griddle crackles. Cook tortillas until bubbles form and the bottoms are lightly browned. Turn and cook the other side.

While time-consuming, this was an easy recipe to make. Most of my tortillas did not turn out very round, but the samples we tasted were very good. Taco night, here we come! The tortillas are waiting in the freezer.

Next we tried sugar cookies. These were awesome! I could not even tell they were gluten-free, and the kids gobbled them up.

These were leaving the plate faster than I could take a picture!

Old Fashioned Sugar Cookies

Ingredients

1/3 c. margarine

1/3 c. shortening

1 c. rice flour

1 t. xanthan gum

1 egg

3/4 c. sugar

1 T. milk substitute

2 t. baking powder

1 t. vanilla

1/4 t. salt

1/2 c. tapioca flour

1/2 c. potato starch flour

Directions

In a large bowl, beat margarine and shortening together until creamy and well combined. Add rice flour, xanthan gum, egg, milk, baking powder, vanilla, and salt. Beat until thoroughly combined. Add tapioca flour and potato starch flour. Beat until thoroughly combined. Cover with plastic wrap and chill 3 hours. Roll out cookies and use cookie cutters, or for round cookies, place by teaspoonful on cookie sheet and flatten slightly. Bake at 375 degrees for 7-9 min. (depending on cookie size) until edges are firm and bottoms are very lightly browned. Cool on wire rack. Keep unused dough in the refrigerator until ready to use.

This is not an inexpensive way to eat, so I'm also trying to come up with creative ways to save money and use less carbs for Rachel in general. Thankfully, she loves meat, fruits, and veggies. Popcorn and baked potatoes are great for snacks, too. Still waiting to see if this will help her with joint pain, but if urinary tract issues are clearing up, I have to wonder...

Rachel takes the lead by a slim margin

This tops the charts for the sickest fall we have ever had! After both kids had over 20 missed school days last year (that was each!), I thought we were a shoo-in for a mild winter in terms of illness. At this point, haven't they had it all?

Now, only 50 days into a new school year, my kids have managed to make sure at least one of them is home with me at least half the time. Micah has missed 13 1/2 days, Rachel 14.

It's been a tough fall for Micah because of allergy issues which have led to sinus infections. He finally went to see an ENT and had a CT scan yesterday. We go back for the results next week. My hope is now that everything froze, he'll be healthier. But when you've been sick as often as he has over the past 2 years, it's time to get it checked out.

The news might be a little better for Rachel. After a year and a half of tummy troubles, we think we've narrowed the culprit down to milk. Strangely, it doesn't seem to be all milk, but since we aren't quite sure what she can and can't tolerate, she's staying away completely from now on. The bad news is, it takes at least 4 days for her to get over it every time, which knocked her out for most of this week. We do meet with the Dr. next week to go over all of Rachel's issues and see where to go from here.

Josiah, who won the award for sickest baby, is now our healthy boy. I have to be thankful for that silver lining!!

Now, for that mild winter we were hoping for...

Scratch that. I'd rather learn to take whatever God gives, and lean on Him through it. Sick kids or not, I'm finding that's the best place to be.

cute video

This link dedicated to Rachel, our resident fox-lover.

we tried so hard!

Rachel is sick this morning. But we finally have it narrowed down to milk intolerance. Lesson learned: no more milk chocolate bars!

a new way to celebrate Halloween

This was our first Feingold-friendly Halloween. It was a little bit comforting to read this article printed on the homepage of our daily newspaper and know we are not the only ones who have to deal with food allergies on Halloween. We got lots of great hints from other Feingold families on how to make Halloween special in spite of the fact almost all candy cannot be eaten by two of my children. It made for a different kind of celebrating, but I don't think anyone missed out on the fun!!

Rachel at her school parade.

Josiah loved watching the parade. No, he's not the donkey from Shrek, or Eeyore. He's Jasper the Mule, based on a video we received from Grandma Netta. Eric's mom made this adorable costume.

We've continued the hunt for a reason for Rachel's joint pain, so far ruling out many things but not getting to the root of the problem, so she's on a trial gluten-free diet. Many of her symptoms do match a sensitivity to wheat (celiac has been ruled out by a blood test), but we don't know for sure. It was hard to say no to Krispy Kreme donuts and Fruit by the Foot, but we had some gluten-free brownies and pretzels on hand for her school party. I'm so proud of her! Josiah ate an organic cupcake with naturally colored frosting and sprinkles. I keep these things in the freezer for such an event.

Micah was a dragon (he made his costume himself), Rachel a cowgirl, and of course Josiah the mule.

We were ready for at least a little candy fun! My parents ordered some naturally flavored gummies for Josiah online, and Rachel got a Ghirardelli chocolate bar. Here Josiah is enjoying some approved Jelly Belly candies.

What happened to all the candy? The kids exchanged it for a toy they had chosen a few nights ago. And Eddie, smelling chocolate, is investigating to see if he can find any morsels leftover. Micah is putting Josiah's Lego helicopter together. His "newly hatched" Megablocks dragon is nearby.

I'm a little ashamed to admit that instead of buying candy, we gave away the kids' stash to trick or treaters. Rachel is manning the station with her Little Kinz, which she can't wait to log on when I'm done here!! Next year I have a better idea: Yummy Earth lollipops and Halloween pencils. Even kids with peanut allergies can enjoy those treats!

fearing God

This summer after making the decision to visit the Creation Museum near Cincinnati, OH, we did something I will never regret. After paying an arm and a leg to get in to the museum, we gave another arm to see a planetarium show. Yes, it was expensive. No, we will never have quite that kind of experience anywhere else. This was space from a Biblical perspective!

The part of the show that will never leave my memory was when the narrator began to take us away from our solar system. I don't remember the details exactly (my memory, though certainly taken in by the scene, isn't that great) but it seemed as though every time we moved out, we did so by a power of ten--perhaps based on the size of our own galaxy. Galaxies, massive suns, and nebulae, an expanse which made my head spin, met our eyes again and again. Out further and further, to the very edges of the known (known!!) universe. Then back in again, by a power of ten each time. I lost track of counting how many times we moved in somewhere around 20.

How big is God? This is what I wonder every time I look up at the stars for any period of time. It is all there to see as much as we can with the naked eye--the massive expanse of space, and knowledge of an even bigger God who created it all. It is an amazing thought to consider that same God took on the form of a human body, a body He will retain forever, and entered into one time and one space through His Son to redeem the one thing in all creation that rebels against His authority: man. "What is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?" (Ps. 8:4)

A certain sense of that bigness of God will be with me now for as long as I live. But as I study the book of Isaiah this year, I'm challenged in a new way to consider the magnificent size of God. As He commands nations to accomplish His sovereign plans, as He gives His prophet a glimpse of His holiness, as He pursues His own people in mercy and discipline, as He promises the coming Messiah to take care of a problem so massive they can't fix it on their own, the size of God grows by powers of ten. And that is a good thing, as I come to fear Him by just barely learning to grasp God in my mind as big as He truly is in reality. It will take all eternity to stand in awe of who He really is.

A sense of the holiness and grand nature of God in any soul gives way for more of His authority, holiness, and reverence in a life that beholds Him. Not that that life knows much of this: for a quick glance at a holy God leaves one bowing, trembling, and sick at heart at the thought of being in the presence of such a Being as this. Only by the blood of Christ can such a glimpse give way to life and not death. Yet perhaps there is both: death to the horror of self and the sin that infects it, "Woe to me...I am ruined!" and life in this: "See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for."

I can hardly look, yet it's getting awfully hard to turn my gaze away.

roasted pumpkin seeds

When I was young, we had a tradition of roasting pumpkin seeds in the oven after we carved our pumpkins. My mom used a little butter and some salt, and then you put them in the oven at 300 for about 45 minutes. This year I tried a new recipe for sweet pumpkin seeds, and the kids LOVED it!! It's very simple: some sugar and cinnamon. I made both varieties and they are quickly disappearing, although I have to admit the cinnamon/sugar are my favorite as well.

What good are pumpkin seeds? They are a great source of protein, magnesium, iron, and zinc!