He's found his passion!

One of the best things about moving into a golf course community is the fact that Kyle has found a sport he not only LOVES, but is good at. Kevin is a very seasoned golfer and has been playing since he was a teen. He started taking Kyle out to the course around age 3 and through the years he has played a couple times a year with Kevin. Now however, Kyle plays golf 2-3 times a week. (thanks to a very affordable junior program) Additionally he has been taking advantage of the free golf lessons that are being offered for youth to the residents of our community this Summer. The lessons are every Thursday morning from 11-12. We can't believe the fact that they are FREE, however they encourage you to play often on their course.

Kyle has tried many sports through the years from baseball to Karate and has never really found his passion until now....and it is wonderful to see. He is SO passionate in fact that he is going to go out for the HS golf team this upcoming school year. Also, it's been a great way for him and Kevin to spend more quality father/son time and for the past few months they have been golfing almost every weekend together. These pics were taken this past week when I drove Kyle around the course so he could play. I really enjoy going out to the course with him and watching him play.

Another great day out on the course!!

Live Life "Lucky" Layout

This is a layout that we created at our team meeting a couple of weeks ago. We used the Lucky Workshop on the go kit and pretty much everything that comes in the kit. My favorite part of the entire layout was using the Bingo acrylic stamp set. I love the set because you can change the letters to name your bingo card whatever you want as well as put whatever numbers you want. It is so versatile and Bingo cards are very popular right now to add to your layouts.  I love our Workshop on the Go kits because they have everything you need including instructions, to create a layout and some cards.

I used some "vintage" pictures on this layout of Kate and Kyle back in 2002. Kate is almost 13 here and Kyle is 7. They were climbing in a huge tree near our house. Aren't they cute!? I started seriously scrap booking in 2004 and have a family scrap book for each year since. Now however, I'm going back further and scrap booking the years prior to 2004. So I will be sharing lots of these fun pics of the kids when they were little going forward.

Don't you just love this paper? The colors really lend themselves to masculine layouts and cards or in this case, two kids is a tree!

There are two different ways you can get it.

1. Purchase the paper packet HERE

2. Purchase the entire Lucky Workshop on the Go Kit HERE

3. Purchase the Bingo acrylic stamp set HERE

Recipe: Vegetarian Lasagna (gluten free)

Before I share this incredible recipe, here is an update on my gout. As I discussed in a previous post, I was diagnosed several weeks ago. I'm happy to report that my recent(first) big flair up in my foot and big toe joint is considerably better. It's still not completely back to normal, but it's getting there. I attribute my healing totally to the considerable changes I've made to my diet. There is a huge long list of foods that I can't eat and because of this I've had to get really creative when it comes to meal time. Fruits, veggies, gluten free, yeast free bread and pasta, sunflower seed butter, rice protein fruit smoothies and non fat dairy products make up what I eat including lots and lots of water. I'm limiting chicken and fish to no more than twice a week and then only 4 oz. once that day. The hardest thing for me to give up has been sugar and chocolate. The first few days was horrible, which made me realize that I was eating WAY too much sugar to feel as if I was detoxing to get off of it! Now I only use sweet leaf stevia sweetener which is the only approved sweetener for gout patients. It is completely natural and you can find it in all the grocery stores now. A brand name you may recognize is "Truvia". My "sugar fix" now consists of the stevia that I put into my smoothies and sprinkle on my rice cereal. The other day I had someone offer me individually wrapped Dove dark chocolates. I thought to myself "too little pieces won't hurt, right?" WRONG! Like when I ate the tomatoes, the next morning my toe joint was flaming red, with the swelling considerably increased again. My body is apparently super sensitive to any and all sugar and chocolate so I guess I'm done eating it. (sad face!) As I said before, I am turning this health problem into an opportunity for myself to get healthier and loose weight. I'm happy to say I have lost 3 pounds per week since I had to change my way of eating to rid myself of the gout attack I've been in to hopefully prevent or lesson future attacks. This almost makes up for the fact that I can no longer eat chocolate!!

I'm really excited to share this recipe with you, which I developed from two recipes I found on line. It turned out absolutely perfect and Kevin, Kyle and I all loved it. I've totally modified it to be completely safe for gout patients,  however you would never know if you tasted it that it is completely gluten free and made with all non fat/low fat dairy products. It is rich, creamy and very satisfying. Of course if you don't have the dietary restrictions that I do, you can certainly replace the gluten free lasagna noodles for regular lasagna noodles and use regular cheese instead of non fat and whole milk instead of 1%. If you are at all concerned about watching your calories however, I say use the non-fat/low-fat dairy products, you will never miss their higher fat counterparts. Because tomatoes are a problem food for me, I made this with a white sauce.

Here is what you will need:

2 c. non fat ricotta cheese
1/2 c. grated Parmesan cheese
1 tsp. dried basil leaves
1/2 t. dried oregano leaves
1/4 t. pepper
6-8 lasagna noodles (regular or gluten free)
1 cup grated low-fat mozzarella cheese
6 cups diced veggies (I used carrots, butternut squash, summer squash, zucchini and broccoli) use the veggies you like!
2 tsp. olive oil
2 garlic cloves, pressed or crushed
1 medium onion, finely chopped (I buy it pre-diced and use a 1/2 c)

There are basically three separate components of lasagna. The noodles, the filling and the sauce. I like to start with:

THE NOODLES
Most all stores carry gluten free noodles now. I found Pasta JOY organic brown rice noodles at Sprouts Market. I've also seen them at Albertsons. In general I've been really pleased with any brand's brown rice pasta. It is almost identical in texture and taste to regular pasta. Following the directions on the side of the box, boil the noodles and drain. With brown rice pasta it is important to rinse the pasta after it is drained to the large amount of starch that accumulates in the water. Inevitably one or two of the noodles will break, which is why I suggest making a few extra. I did not, and ended up piecing together noodles!

 After rinsing the noodles, lay them out on wax paper that has been lightly sprayed with non stick spray. (let them sit there until ready to assemble lasagna)



FILLING
 
The filling consists of a layer of veggies and ricotta cheese. To prepare the cheese layer, mix ricotta cheese, 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, basil, oregano and pepper. Set aside.
 

 I was thrilled to find this packaged collection of veggies at Trader Joes. I forgot to take a pic of it before I chopped up the veggies, but here is what the package looks like for your reference below. It came with larger pieces of zucchini, butternut squash, summer squash, and carrots. It even came with 3 whole cloves of garlic. Two of these packages provided about 4 cups of diced veggies. I also cut up approximately 1 cup of brocolli into very small florets.Not pictured is the bag of organic cut up broccoli florets that I also purchased at Trader Joes. Additionally I like to use pre-diced onions (pictured above) I measured out 1/2 cup for this recipe and put the bag in the freezer for future use. Pictured above is 1/2 of the diced veggies.

 Heat oil in a large saucepan. Saute garlic for 1 minute, followed by the onions, and the rest of the veggies. Gently saute on low-medium heat  for 10-13 minutes or until the vegetables are softened.
When veggies are softened (not mushy), remove from heat a set aside.

WHITE SAUCE

This white sauce is not only easy to make, but it is delicious. Here is what you will need to make it:

1/3 c, butter
1/3 c. brown rice flour (or all purpose flour if you are not gluten free)
1 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. ground nutmeg
3 c. 1 % milk (or 2% or whole if you wish)

 To prepare the white sauce, heat butter in one quart saucepan over LOW heat, until melted. Whisk in flour, salt and nutmeg.  Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until bubbly; remove from heat.

Whisk in milk, heat until boiling, stirring constantly until bubbly. Boil and stir on minute. Be sure to keep heat on low this entire time to prevent scalding. The sauce should be thickening up. It should be slightly thick, if it gets TOO thick, add in a small amount of milk. Cover and keep warm.

ASSEMBLY

With non stick cooking spray, spray the bottom of a 9x 13 casserole pan.

Place three of the cooled lasagna noodles in the bottom of the pan. If you have broken lasagna noodles, just piece them together like I did above!

Next spread out 1/2 of the ricotta cheese mixture.

Followed by 1/2 of the veggies.

 next, spoon or pour 1/2 of the white sauce over the lasagna, being sure to cover all the veggies.

 Complete layer one with sprinkling 1/2 cup of the mozzarella over top. (add more cheese if you want to!)

 Repeat all the layers, ending with the remainder of the white sauce covering all the veggies and the other 1/2 cup of the cheese sprinkled over top. Bake in a pre-heated 350 degree oven for 35-40 minutes or until the cheese is slightly browned and lasagna is bubbling.

Your final result will look something like this!!! This recipe proves to me that comfort food can be gluten free, vegetarian and low fat! I will be making this often.

ENJOY!

A trip to see Kate

Two weeks ago Kyle and I decided to take a road trip to see Kate in her college city. It was great to see her! Much to our surprise however we found that she had decided to go brunette! In my opinion Kate would look great no matter what her hair color, however I admit it is hard to get used to Kate's darker hair. She has always been the quintessential blond haired blue eyed girl. Her reasons for the change make sense though...as she has gotten older her natural hair color has gotten darker. Therefore the cost and time commitment of up keeping the blond hair has become more and more challenging. This will be a lot less maintenance for her. So for the tme being anyway, Kate has a new look!

Here is both the kids standing on the patio of Kate's apt. I ended up with a nasty cold on the 2nd day of our trip, and stayed in to rest while Kate and Kyle went out to lunch, bowling and to a movie. Wait a minute...is the same two kids that used to fight like cats and dogs while growing up? It's so great to see them spending time together!

Something else new at Kate's was the addition of two new pets. Kate is a big time animal lover and works at a pet store part time while attending school full time. She has had her sweet dog Lily for over a year now and we all just love her! I wasn't sure HOW I felt however, (nor was Lily!) about her two new pets....RATS named Remie and Rupert!

 It was a crack up to watch little Lily flitting around and following Remie as  she explored. Ears straight up and eyes bugged out...Lily was totally on guard with the rat!

 Funnier still was the fact that Remie could have cared less about  Lily's little barks and panting as she nervously followed her around and came face to face with her! That is one brave rat! The truth is that Lily wouldn't hurt a fly.

Here is Kyle holding Remie and Kate holding the much smaller and younger Rupert. Remie and her cage with all the accessories came to her free when a customer walked into the pet store and donated the rat and cage back after her daughter failed to take proper care of Remie. (when this happens  any of the employees are welcome to provide a home to the pet)  Kate had a rat in her Sophomore year of high school named Sydney that she adored and who sadly died of a a respiratory infection. After spending some time holding and playing with Remie in the store, Kate found her to have a similar personality to Sydneys so she took her home! A few weeks later while at work she went back to the baby rat cage to get a "feeder" rat for one of their boa constrictor customers. Kate said she picked the little rat out of the cage and she said she was sure the little guy was staring at her with a look that said "save me!". Kate didn't have the heart to sell this feeder rat to the snake owner, so she "hid" him with the intent of paying for him later and taking him home as a playmate for Remie! So that is how Rupert came into the picture. Since then Kate has asked one of her co workers to please go get and sell the feeder rats to the snake customers as she just doesn't have the heart to do it herself!

The reality is that it won't be long before Remie and Rupert multiply and Kate has baby rats on her hands to deal with. Luckily for her, her boss has multiple rats and has promised to take any and all babies from her to raise and or sell as pets. (Kyle has first dibs on a baby rat for his own pet)

Truthfully rats are very smart and fun pets. The tails are the only thing that really creeps me out and I never hold them. Kate and Kyle enjoy them though! I don't mind Kyle having a rat down the road as long as he cleans the cage weekly and keeps the cage locked! I don't want any escape artists!

While visiting Kate, Kyle had the opportunity to see his good friends Wyatt and Steven who were on their Spring break. I got to spend quality time with my friends in the city as well. It was nice to get away!

Recipe: Swiss Steak (gluten & grain free)

Every once in a while I'll try a new recipe and it will turn out great...really great. THIS is one of those recipes. It comes from the classic cookbook THE JOY OF COOKING, which is the first cook book I ever owned and it was given to me as a 20th birthday gift. Over the years I've made many things out of this book with great success including my family's all time favorite, Chicken and Dumplings. Kevin and Kyle are both meat and potato kind of guys so this dinner was right up their alley. Honestly, they went nuts over it. I liked it quite a bit too. The meat cooks slowly in your oven on a low temperature in sauce which produces extremely tender meat. These braised steaks, referred to in England as smothered steak, are best made with beef bottom round or round steak.

Here is what you will need:

2 pounds beef bottom round or round steak, 3/4-1 1/4 inches thick, excess fat trimmed (if possible use grass fed, organic, locally grown beef) I buy all my meat from Whole Foods.
1 t. garlic powder
1/2 t. salt
1/2 t. ground black pepper
1/2 cup all purpose flour (if you are gluten free you can use rice flour...if you are on a grain free/Paleo diet you can use Tapioca flour) ie: Tapioca flour is an approved Paleo starch
2. T olive oil
1 c. diced onion (I buy frozen diced onions)
1 c. chopped carrots
1/2 c. diced celery
2 c. beef broth
4 T. (1/4 c) tomato paste
1/2 t. italian seasoning
2 bay leaves

**Use organic on all of the above whenever possible.
*A large, deep ovenproof skillet or Dutch oven (I used a dutch oven)

Prepare the veggies. Set aside.

Cut the meat into individual steaks.

Mix together the garlic powder, salt and pepper in a small bowl.

Sprinkle the seasonings evenly on both sides.

Dredge each steak into the flour, covering both sides. Shake off excess.

Cover the bottom of the pot (ovenproof dutch oven or deep skillet) with the 2 T. of olive oil.

Sear the meat on high heat. 4-5 mins each side.

Carefully remove the browned meat with a spatula, keeping the floured coating in tact with the meat. Cover with foil to keep warm and set aside.

Add the veggies to the pan drippings remaining in the pan. Stir, on medium heat, loosening up the browned bits and combining with the veggies for 1-2 min. Reduce the heat and cover the pan.

Cook, stirring occasionally, until the veggies are softened but not browned, 5-7 minutes.

Measure out 2 cups of beef broth and add the 4 T. (1/4 c.) of tomato paste and the italian seasoning.

Wisk together until smooth.

Pour the sauce over the veggies, stirring to incorporate.

Add the bay leaves.

Return the meat to the pan. Push the steaks down into sauce. Cover.

Place pot into a prepared 325 degree oven. Bake for about 1 1/2 hours. Check for doneness at about an hour and fifteen minutes. It is done when the meat is fork tender. Mine was done at 1 1/2 hours.

After taking out of oven, remove and dispose of the bay leaves.

Spoon the sauce over each individual steak when serving. I served this with mashed potatoes and green beans. If you are on a Paleo Diet like I am you can serve this with a green salad and mashed sweet potatoes or any other Paleo approved sides. 

Enjoy!!!