Oooops

I just realized today as I was going to make more bread for Abby that I forgot to type in an ingredient on the post I did for gluten free bread a few days ago.  I've corrected it now, but I'm really sorry if anyone has tried the recipe and it hasn't worked out because of my mistake. :(  There should have been an additional ingredient of:

3 Tablespoons butter or margarine (softened)

Oh, my mother-in-law tried the recipe for the GF bread and it turned out well for her too.  The second loaf I made today for Abby turned out as well. 

While we're on the subject of gluten-free baking, here is a recipe for a flour blend that I have been using for Abby's baking.  It doesn't have the exact same texture as wheat flour, but from what I've heard, that's pretty normal for gluten free baking. 

I just mix this up and  use it cup for cup in any of my baking recipes. 

Gluten Free Flour Mix

2 cups brown rice flour (we've used white rice and that works too)

2/3 cup potato starch

1/3 cup tapioca flour

Mix all together and store in an air-tight container.  Be sure to give it a good shake before using to mix it up again.

You still have to add guar gum or xantham gum to your baked goods.  I usually add 1 teaspoon of guar gum per cup of flour used in a recipe.

This makes 3 cups of flour.  That will last us for about 2 weeks with only a toddler eating gluten free.  This recipe is easy enough to double or triple even if you need more flour.  I used it on Sunday to make a cake for my Sunday school class and no one seemed to notice the taste difference.

Happy baking!

February Calendar for GBC

I've just finished putting the calendar together for the month of February and thought some of you may like to see it.  You could perhaps use it as a prayer reminder to pray for us on the days we have things going on.

Like the graphics work?  My husband did most of it.  He's so clever!  :)

(You can click on it to make it bigger)

Playing with My New Toy (and a gluten-free bread recipe)

Oh, wait, that's not me!

Abby and some of her new toys on Christmas morning.  I think she had a gummy bear in her mouth.

GF bread on left and plain white bread on right 

Here is my new (to me) toy.  A lady in our church gave me her old bread maker a few months ago and I have finally put it to use.  Just to let you know, I can make bread the old-fashioned way.   That is one of the reasons why I hadn't used it until now.   After I used it the first time, I was hooked.  It saves SO much time.  I love that I can just start a loaf of bread, walk off, get on with my day, and the machine will beep and let me know when my hot, fresh bread is ready to come out.

I've also found a recipe for gluten free bread for the little one.  I've tried making GF bread by hand, and it was a flop.  Abby seems to like this recipe and both  my husband and I think it's all right too.  I made the GF loaf three days ago and it is still moist and doesn't crumble, too much.

So, without further ado, here are the recipes I've found and tweaked to our liking.

Basic White Bread

1 cup warm water

2 1/2 Tablespoons sugar

3/4 Tablespoon Yeast (I just don't fill the 1 Tablespoon measuring spoon up all the way)

1/4 cup oil

3 cups flour (I just use plain-ole-all-purpose flour)

1 teaspoon salt

Dissolve sugar in water in bread pan.  Sprinkle yeast over top and let proof for 5 - 10 minutes.  Add oil, flour, and salt.  Turn machine on to Basic White Bread Setting and walk away!  We prefer the light crust setting.

GF Bread Recipe

1 Tablespoon sugar

1/2 cup warm water

1 Tablespoon yeast

3 eggs, slightly beaten

1 cup milk (we used soy)

3 Tablespoons butter or margarine (softened)

1 teaspoon soy lecithin

1/2 cup buckwheat flour

1/2 cup tapioca flour

1 1/2 cups brown rice flour

1/2 cup potato starch

1 Tablespoon guar gum

1 teaspoon salt

Dissolve sugar in warm water.  Sprinkle yeast over and let proof for 5 - 10 minutes.  Add remaining ingredients in order listed.  Again I used the basic setting with light crust.  I found it helpful to scrap the sides down a few times while the machine was kneading the bread.  I did it two times for this loaf, and I think I should have done it at least 1 more time to help get all the flour mixed in.

Abby is so glad to have her bread again.  She's had it for almost every meal since I made it!

Sunday Soul Winning

On the third Sunday of each month at Grace Baptist Church we have Sunday Soul Winning.  I would like to tell you a few stories from what happened two weeks ago at Sunday Soul Winning.  One of the groups that got sent out together was my mother-in-law and a teenage girl that rides our bus named Chrystal.  As they were heading out together from the church my mother-in-law looked at Chrystal and said, "So, Chrystal, why should God let you into Heaven?"

Chrystal replied that she didn't know why she should be allowed into Heaven.  My mother-in-law then had the privilege of sharing with Chrystal how to be saved and she was saved that afternoon! 

My husband and another man were able to go to the home of a lady who has been attending our church for a few weeks.  At church that morning she had put up her hand during the invitation indicating that she was not yet saved.  My husband hoped that this would be the day he could show her how to be saved.  He went to her home and was able to witness to her.  She didn't get saved.  She says that she has a lot of baggage to deal with first and she just can't get saved right now.  Please pray for this lady.  Her name is Carol.  She still comes to church and my husband says he can tell while he is preaching that she is under conviction, but she just won't get saved.  She reads her Bible daily and in two months has read from Genesis to Numbers and is now reading Deuterononomy (kind of puts me to shame).  Please pray for this sweet lady that she will realize that Jesus is the answer to her problems.

Another group that went out was able to meet a family that has just moved into the area and are looking for a church to go to.  They were supposed to come this past Sunday and didn't.  Please pray that they will come.  They live just around the corner from us, so we have been by to see them once already and plan on doing so again.

A few other good contacts were made that day and we look forward to what will happen at the next Sunday Soul Winning!

Pizza Tacos

They're just so yummy!

Tonight we had one of our favourite easy meals for dinner (tea, as we call it here).  It's so yummy I thought I'd share the recipe with you.  I found this recipe on-line somewhere after I had just gotten married. 

Pizza Tacos
1 pound mince (ground beef)
8 ounces pizza sauce (I make my own so I use about 1 1/2 cups)
Pepperoni - sliced (use as much or as little as you want)
6 flour tortillas (I used 5 flour and 2 smaller corn tortillas)
Shredded cheese

Brown the mince.  Stir in the pizza sauce and pepperoni.

Spoon part of the mixture onto each tortilla and top with some of the shredded cheese.

Fold one side of tortilla over filling and roll up from the opposite side.  Place seam side down (very important) on an ungreased baking sheet.   Bake at 180C or 350F for 10 - 15 minutes or until heated through and cheese is melted.

Enjoy!  Careful, the filling is HOT!!!!!

2012

Christmas 2011

We forgot the camera and had to take this after night church.  That is why we all look a little out of it! :)

2012 - that sounds so space age!  Shouldn't we all be driving flying cars now?  I remember when I was growing up in the 90's thinking that 2000 was a long time away.  Now it's been over 10 years since Y2K.  Unvelievable!

So anyway, back to Earth.  As my mom reminded me the other day, I haven't updated my blog in a while.  Well, I switched over to Google+ because someone kept telling me how wonderful it was.  The only problem I had with it was that I couldn't find my blog on it.  I'm sure it's quite easy to do and if I had time to sit down and play around on the computer I probably could have figured it out.  However, I don't really have a lot of spare time to sit around and figure new computer programmes out.  So, I figured out how to delete my Google+ account and go back to the plain ole' Google.  Ahhhhh . . . a sigh of relief, something I'm familar with.

Now, what's been happening since October?  One major thing has been occupying our time especially mine.  At the end of October I was diagnosed with Graves' Disease.  Graves' Disease is a type of hypertyroidism.  Basically, my immune system was attacking my thyroid and then my thyroid would work over-time to protect itself.  This lead to increased heart rate (114 beats per minute resting), increased metabolism (losing weight very rapidly), increased hunger, hand tremors, hair falling out, insomnia, extreme fatigue, and hormone issues that left me feeling like I was going crazy.

The doctor did blood tests and found that Graves' Disease was the problem.  He proceeded to put me on medication to slow my thyroid down.  They've found that there is a medicine that if taken for 2 years can cure your thyroid and you won't have any more problems with it.   The problem is that this medicine only works for 40% of people that take it.  I was not in the 40%.  The side effects that I had were a supressed immune system and a rash all over my body.  I ended up in the emergency room because of a high fever and the rash.  There we met another doctor that was more specialized in this disease.

A week after the emergency room episode I had an appointment with the doctor we met there.  They decided to give me anithystemines to help with the rash, but they didn't help.  You could no longer see the rash on my body, but I was so itchy.  Like uncontrollably itchy.  I couldn't sleep and I wasn't functioning very well.  The doctor then decided that I need to have my thyroid destroyed.  This is done by using radioactive iodine.

Nearly a month later I had an appoinment with a specialist who did some tests on my thyroid.  He asked me right there and then if I wanted the radioactive iodine.  We said yes knowing that this would be the best solution for me.  He took me into a little room, a nurse came in with a little glass bottle with a straw and told me to drink.  I did and that was the end of my treatment.

That was on 19 December.  For three days after I was quite sick.  Thankfully my mother-in-law was off of work and able to look after Abby.  On the fourth morning I woke up with more energy that I had had in a long time. 

This week has been so good.  Each morning I wake up feeling rested and have so much energy throughout the day.  My house is finally getting clean! :)

So, why am I telling you all of this?  Do I want you to feel sorry for me?  No, I know that there have been a lot of people praying for me and I wanted to let them know from a first-hand account how it all happened.  Also, I want to thank all of you that prayed for my family and me.  We couldn't have made it through all of this without your prayers.  It was such a blessing knowing while I was going through this that there were people praying for me.  I can't tell you how many times I cried and thanked God because I felt so loved by people.  So to all of you who have been praying for  us, thank you.  You are loved and appreciated!