Farinata

This sounded yummy to all of us, especially since we have very happy rosemary bushes in front of our house. It is time consuming, as it took a long time for my oven to get to 500* in addition to letting the batter sit for a while, but this is a tasty snack. It is free of almost everything, no gluten, corn, wheat, dairy, etc...

450* oven


Ingredients

4 cups warm water
3 cups chickpea flour
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon finely chopped rosemary leaves
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons olive oil
4 tablespoons olive oil, divided
Freshly ground pepper (optional)

Directions

Pour the water into a bowl. Slowly whisk in the chickpea flour until smooth. Let stand at room temperature for 2 hours.I did this the night before and everything turned out fine. Skim any foam off the batter. Stir in the salt, rosemary and 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons of the oil. Heat two 10-inch cast-iron skillets in the oven for 10 minutes. Carefully add 2 tablespoons of oil to each skillet, swirling to coat. Divide the batter between the skillets; it should be less than 1/2 inch thick. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until crisp around the edges. Separate the sides and bottom from the skillet with a spatula and then slide the farinata onto a board; cut into wedges. Sprinkle with pepper; serve.

gluten free, wheat free, oat free, dairy free, rice free, corn free, egg free, potato free, nut free (coconut is in the palm family) CAKE

Today was another dreaded bean day. I hadn't kept up on cooking and drying beans, so I didn't have any bean flour in the pantry, but I did have coconut. I've been meaning to try an egg free coconut cake so today a bare pantry and a hungry bunch got my culinary mind working. This is very yummy! I think if I were to leave out the chocolate, the flax might make it taste a little fishy. If I try it without chocolate, I think I'll add Allspice and or Nutmeg (Number One Daughter and Number Two Son are allergic to Cinnamon)to try and mask the flax seeds. The chocolate did a might fine job of taking care of that for me today. Oven 350*

10 ounces coconut flour (I use unsweetened dried coconut and grind it in my coffee grinder)
1 cup tapioca starch
2 T. flax seed ground in coffee grinder
1 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 Tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1 cup water
1-2 ounces unsweetened baking chocolate (optional)
1 T ground toasted sunflower and pumpkin seeds (optional)

Stir all the dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Add the water and chocolate that has been melted. Stir together in bake in a 8'x 8' baking pan lined with parchment paper. Sprinkle with ground seeds. Bake for 30 minutes, cool, remove from pan and slice.

Coyote Dinner

The only reason we called this Coyote Dinner is because I served it on a platter that Hubby got at the Coyote Cafe in Santa Fe, NM.

3 sweet potoates peeled and cubed
1 can red beans
6 eggs
canola oil
grated cheese (optional)
carrot catchup


Steam the sweet potatoes in the microwave with a small amount of water, covered for 8 minutes. I use a nifty black steamer from Pampered Chef. Drain. Heat enough oil to cover the bottom of the frying pan. Saute the potatoes until some of them begin to caramelize, remove from pan to platter. Scramble the eggs in the same pan, put them on the platter with the potatoes. Heat up the beans, drain and add them to the platter. Sprinkle with cheese and serve with carrot catchup. Hubby ate with us and he used regular catchup. I would have liked to saute onions with the potatoes, but the kids are really not liking onions much. I guess I've overdone it with onions since I can buy a 2 pound bag for 49 cents. Our local grocery store gave onions away this summer when you bought certain items.

goodbye old friend

Well, the television that my parents bought me for Christmas after I graduated from college has died. Calico Kitty was sitting on top of it and she barfed, as cats often do. This time, she managed to ruin something electronic. I've always said that once the televisions die we won't replace them. We will see how that goes. We still have one smaller set, the sound barely works. I want to spend time with the kids, not distracted by electronic media. Hubby has been wanting to exterminate the televisions on and off for years, but he is almost as attached to them as I am. This will be a nice weaning off before we have to go cold turkey. Now I just need to figure out how to dispose of this one...

a new word

Number One Son:

When you and Momma read to me it helps me read because I can rememberize the words!

sick, sick, sick, sick, sick

It has been a challenging few days. Tuesday night, after a big dinner, Number One daughter told me her tummy hurt. I consoled her and gave her some calcium and apologized for giving her a new food. We had been to the Chinese market with our field trip co-op and I found some mung bean noodles with tapioca starch instead of corn, I thought we'd give them a try. Well when the lights were out, she proceeded to regurgitate all the food that she had eaten that day, including the shiny cellophane noodles. I figured she was allergic. That was until Number Two Son shot up in the middle of the night and proceeded to puke all over both of us. Needless to say, we were up and down all night with buckets, towels and several changes of clothes. It seems that many of the kids in our Monday park day group have been getting sick right along with us. Many of them crawled around in the backseat of a police cruiser at the park. What were we thinking?!?!?!Whatever it is it is quick to infect and harsh. Day one got the two little ones, day two, Momma and Number One Son, day three, Daddy. Poor hubby seems to have gotten the worst of it. It is not just the throwing up, this mean little bug sucks all the life out of you. Number One Daughter slept most of two days. Number Two Son hasn't slept or eaten well (Thank God I'm still nursing him!), but he is on the mend, he was in to all kinds of mischief today. Number One Son was supposed to march in his first parade tomorrow, he just threw up again, so I guess he'll have to wait until next year. I know he is feeling poorly, because when I told him he wasn't going, he didn't fuss. He seemed resolved to it. I know that he will be feeling better tomorrow, but there is a 24 hour rule and we won't make it. If I can spare anyone this terrible, nasty experience, I will.

I Surrender All

Ever since I heard this song many years ago, it's message almost haunts me. We have been going to a Life Teen Mass and we have singing it before communion. I really love this song. I didn't know who Brian Littrell was until I went to his website, he was a Backstreet Boy.