I've been asked quite a bit lately about gluten-free baking, and so thought I'd share some good sources for recipes/baking tips.

--------Here's my favorite gluten-free site:

 http://glutenfreegirl.com/recipes/

She's got great recipes and explains everything in a easy-to-follow fashion. Also (somewhere on the site!) explains the importance of ratios when you are trying to decide what non-wheat flour to use. This is very helpful, since often the flours are heavy (not to mention expensive) & it's so disappointing to make something that just ends up in a big gooey mess!

---------Sometimes it's easier to use gluten-free baking mixes, especially if you don't want/need to buy a bunch of flours. I love using "Pamela's Pancake and Baking mix", it has a great mix of brown rice flour and almond flour, which gives a nice flavor to pancakes. I've also used it for carrot cake-following the muffin recipe printed on the package, and adding 3/4 c. Carrots (cooked & ground up in the food-processor), 1/2 c. Walnuts, 1/3 c. Coconut, 1/4 c. extra liquid (milk or water), 1/3 c. golden raisins, following the package baking directions, but baking it approximately 30 minutes (or until a toothpick comes out clean).

----------Also "Domata Living Flour" is a great pre-made flour mix that has the xanthum gum in it so you can just use it one-to-one in flour substitutions. It's great when you need a lighter flour for baking things you want to rise well. I've had good success using this one for biscuits or scones.

----------This site has some great recipes from the Nutrition Program at Bastyr. I like how they use a wide variety of ingredients, and often explain the health benefits of the ing. they've used. It also has some good recipes for cooking for someone who's avoiding dairy, and I think all of the recipes are vegetarian.

http://www.bastyr.edu/recipes

con mi nuevo coche--gracias a mis padres!

more Mt. Blanca & some of the Sangre de Christo range

Mi casita! I share a wall with another apartment, but I have a whole private yard for my pup, Ruby to play in & some great south-facing windows so I can enjoy the sun! I'm hoping it stays cooler in the summer & warmer in the winter like adobe should! I'll post some interior shots once I have things arranged inside a little more to my liking : ) It's definitely got some charm!

Public health alert!

This one is for my former housemate Daphna! (and--I might add, which the Bonham family might get a kick out of--this is a kitchen cleaning tip that I learned from John!)


Kitchen threat #1: Your kitchen sponge. When participants in a study from NSF International (an independent public health organization) swabbed various items in their houses, the kitchen sponge was by far the germiest. In fact, it harbored 150 times more bacteria, mold and yeast than a toothbrush holder. "You pick up bacteria when cleaning, but because you rarely disinfect that sponge between uses, germs multiply," says Rob Donofrio, M.S., Ph.D., NSF's director of microbiology. While the majority of germs they found won't make you sick some, such as Salmonella and E. coli, can cause serious illness. The best way to de-germ your sponge: microwave a wet sponge for two minutes daily and replace it every two weeks. ------------------------------------------------

& just for fun & because I love histology--any guesses what kind of cells these are &/or what body part they came from?

for everyone who's ever helped me move a couch...

Recognize this pink couch from high school & the first two Bethel years? It had an early end when Bethel stopped allowing students to store furniture at the dorms over the summer...sigh!

Currently, the couch-of-choice is this one, in a yellow paisley/floral with an excellent hide-a-bed for my "extra bedroom"! Kudos for Rusty for helping me move it not once, but twice!

I was searching for decorating inspiration & found this advertisement for a different floral version of my couch!

Some warming recipes for the wintertime!

 I thought I'd share some recipes that I've been enjoying lately--chopping veggies is a great way to take a break from reading!

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This one's from a former housemate, Adam. I love it in the winter--especially when I used to work at the pizza cart on those days when I needed a break from eating too much pizza! It's a great way to get your fresh veggies in & it's got your folic acid & the dark leafy greens for fiber & cancer-fighting benefits! And your avocado with the good fats! The amounts on this one are just kind of approximations--sorry--so, you might have to kind of adjust things a bit to your taste!

Massaged Kale Salad

 -one bunch Kale
-five to seven green onions
-1/2 c. lemon or lime juice
-generous amount of salt
-1/2 c. walnuts
-1/2 c. dried cranberries
-(added when you are ready to eat:) 1/2 mashed avocado
or  goddess dressing (I like Annie's Naturals) or just eat it plain!

Chop the kale and the green onions, put in a large bowl. Add the lemon juice & generously salt the kale. You use your hands to "massage" the greens to break the kale down a little--or, if you are like me & always seem to have some little papercut on your hands--get a wooden spoon and just mash the kale a bit to the sides of the bowl.  Add the walnuts & cranberries. You can eat some right away, but I like it best when it has a chance to sit in the fridge overnight--it kind of wilts the kale a little. When you are ready to serve/eat, you can also add some mashed avocado or goddess dressing! If it doesn't have enough flavor, add some more lemon juice or salt! : ) 

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This one is a favorite of mine that's pretty easy to do in the crock pot & I love to stick the extra portions in the freezer for lunches during the week! (thanks to Mama Ruth & Grandma Ella for this recipe!)

Apple Curry Chicken

-1-2 chopped onions
-2 chopped apples
-32 oz. chicken broth
-1 can cream of mushroom soup
-1 cup light sour cream
-1-2 Tablespoon curry powder
-3-4 chicken breasts, cooked & chopped up


Cook & chop up the chicken breast. Stick in fridge. Throw the chopped onion and chopped apples in the crock pot on high. Add the chicken broth. Leave til cooked through (the onions and apples should be translucent--probably about an hour). Add mushroom soup, sour cream, curry powder, and cooked chicken. Let cook til bubbly. Serve with rice!

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Carrot Ginger Coconut Soup

-5-8 carrots, chopped
-1 apple (or pear), cubed
-1 small onion, cubed
-1 med red potato, thinly chopped
-1 red bell pepper, chopped
-1-2 T olive oil
-2 teaspoons fresh ginger, peeled & minced
-32 oz chicken broth (or veggie broth)
-1 can coconut milk
-2 teaspoons sugar
-salt to taste


 Chop your veggies! They can be kinda rough, as they'll get pureed later. In a large pan, saute all veggies in olive oil til cooked (I like start with the potatoes til mostly cooked; then add onion, carrots, pepper & apple; and in the last minute, the ginger). Puree your veggies with the chicken broth in your food processor/blender--you'll probably have to do in several small batches & maybe don't use all the liquid! Pour into pot, add the coconut milk & sugar and salt & heat up on stove--this one's kinda thick, so stir pretty regularly. This recipe also tends to taste better after it's sat in the fridge a few hours--the flavors blend a bit!

Deer Alert!!

Today I glanced out the window & saw these guys in the community garden that's on the other side of my yard! Five deer in not a very big fence!

Being a good dog-momma, I immediately woke Ruby up, showed her the deer through the window & let her into the yard : )

I made it to Alamosa!

Here's a close-up of the building most of my nursing classes will be held in.  For those of you who can't quite make out what it says, that's "Adams State Normal School," apparently it used to be a school for training teachers...umm not sure what that says about teachers : )

So, I survived the drive, the puppy did great, thanks in part to some sedatives from the vet, she mostly just curled up & slept on the passenger seat!  I left Portland Monday afternoon (Jan 9th), went through the entire state of Oregon, Idaho, Utah and into Colorado where I almost made it into Alamosa on Wednesday night, but couldn't do the last mountain pass in the daylight, so finally got to my apartment Thursday noon...

...and found that one of my heater's had broken so the place was freezing and my pipes had frozen and burst in both the kitchen and bathroom! Welcome to the Valley! (...I should add that my landlady was great & very responsive.)

 

So-far my classes have been going well. There's 24 students in my class, we're a pretty diverse group, from all over Colorado, a few from other states and even some students who have been in the US for a while, but grew up internationally (Vietnam, Ethiopia, Cameroon, Mexico...we've already started talking about needing to do potlucks!). We're classified as sophomores, so I'll have 2.5 years here, with summers off (which can be used to work as nursing assistants or do internships in), which I think will be a good pace to fit everything in.  I'm on a block system, so we'll just take one class at a time for 3-5 weeks so we can concentrate on just cramming in one thing at a time. Right now I have Pathophysiology in the morning, and then reading for it the rest of the day! I love that the focus in my classes has changed from "you have to memorize this for nursing school..." to "ok, I know we're going through a lot, and we'll keep building on it, but this is going to make you good nurses..."

I'll post more photos of my house & such when I can hook my camera up, but here's a few from around the town. I love all the adobe houses, and am happy with my little adobe "casita," hopefully it will keep the heat in during the winter and out during the summer like it's supposed to!



















 here's one of my neighbor's house, (which I think is a very sweet house!)




and here's some more of Adams State College (apparently we will soon be graduating to the name Adams State University, since we've been growing & have lots more Grad programs now!):

another of the building where my nursing classes are:





there's this cowboy statue out front



and here's our gym:






  my mom was asking about bears in town

and look, we even have a nice new football stadium!


Anyways, hope that gives you a little idea of where I'm living : )