Thirty-One Gifts: New Lunch Bag Review

For people with celiac disease or any other type of food allergies, bringing our own food with us everywhere is part of daily life. I don't mind bring my own food everywhere we go, because I rather not be a bother. I want to enjoy the company of those around me, instead of making them feel bad that they didn't bother to make something for me to eat. Plus if we are at a party, I may never know until we get to the party what we can have and what my daughter will want to eat. I can try to predict what she will want to have, but I'm usually wrong - all the more reason to bring our own food just in case she is being picky.

For the last few years I've been carrying our food in the same travel insulated bag: a black Enfamil formula bag that I got at the hospital the day my daughter was born. It was great when my daughter was smaller. It held a bottle and homemade baby food really well, ice pack and all, but as she started to eat more and the need for me to bring two meals everywhere it became obsolete. We have other insulated lunch bags, but they could only hold meals for at least two people and the walls were very thick, so they took up space, but they didn't have much space inside for food. If we ever wanted to go on a picnic we would have to bring two lunch bags for just the three of us. Between diaper bag and purse, adding two lunch bags to the load was becoming a bit too much.

About a month ago I won a gift certificate from Thirty-One Gifts. I've heard of them, but didn't even know what products they carried. I was excited to see that all of their products were tote bags or home good type stuff that are very cute and super chic. I really like that this company is based on Christian morals. The name of the company is after Proverbs 31, which is about the ideal Godly woman (if you read it please note that she has help). This is another one of those home sales companies, but it's good to see this one has a solid foundation. This company may only be several years old, but I can see them being around for a long time. They have lots of great products, and changing fashions will keep their items fresh. They also have stuff for the men in your lives. Maybe one of these days I'll get one of their aprons with the CTC logo.
 
So, when I was looking at their catalog for the first time, I was kind of in the market for a new purse until I came across the Thermals section of the catalog. I knew what I wanted. I got the Thermal Tote, it's 9.5 H x 14 W x 4.5 D. The walls are insulated and are great for keep things hot or cold, plus they are thin so I can really cram stuff in there. There is a nice big pocket on the front, perfect for napkins or stevia packets. It folds up flat for easy storage too, no big bulky lunch bags taking up space in my pantry anymore.

Two meals worth packed for a picnic, with room to spare.

 I love the fact that I can choose my own fabric and I even got our initial embroidered on the front too.  I got the Circle Spiral fabric because it's bright and funky, and I like funky. I thought the bright fabric would be great if for some reason we ever forget it some where. I could easily identify it from far away, plus it has our initial on it so that will help if I ever have to report it missing. They have several different kinds of thermal totes, in all different sizes so you can choose the one that best fits your family. I'm so excited that I got mine just in time for the holiday season, this will be perfect for all of those Christmas parties.

What I Decidied to do (in respose to Tuesday's post)

If you missed the post that this is in response to you can read it here. 

So I went to MOPS. It was ok. The classroom teachers for the kids didn't know what gluten was, but they said my daughter did a good job of her snack. I'm not sure what they meant by that since it seems that she ate very little of her snack, but they did say she ate her own snacks. She seemed to have a lot of fun in her class, so that is a big plus. I only had fruit to pick from which is ok, but not great since I had to skip breakfast to get there on time. It was fun and all the ladies seemed really nice and it was nice to reconnect with some friends that I haven't talked to in a long time, but I'm not sure I'll be back.

My biggest complaint is that there was too much focus on fun and socializing then prayer and spiritual growth. They didn't even pray over the meal. I find that a turn off if MOPS is suppose to be a Christian organization. The last MOPS I was a part of wasn't great about that either, but at least there was prayer for the food. As a a mom I find social time and fun things to do away from my kids relaxing and rejuvenating, but I want my spirit to be fed too. That is why I joined a Bible study after my last MOPS experience. I'm sure their are MOPS groups that focus on God more then others, I just wish they all did. I know part of the whole MOPS thing is to witness to moms who may not be going to church and in hopes that they will make the church that MOPS is hosted in their home church, but if their is no Christ in a Christian moms group then what is the point?

If any of you out their go to MOPS I hope that your group has a good balance of fun and God in their meetings, but if not and it is more like what I keep running into I hope that maybe their is something you can change or suggest to bring God back into more of the focus of your group.

The reason I wish God was more the focus of these groups is because as a mom I find it very difficult to find quite time in my crazy noisy day to read my Bible and to pray, so that is why I wish these mom groups would make this the focus. Relationships with other moms is important but my relationship with God is the most important relationship I could ever have, so why can't I find a moms group that feeds both my desire to connect with other moms while feeding my desire to know my Creator better? I'm going to try out another moms group tonight at my church. I think the focus of this group is how to find that quite time as a busy mom and how to teach our children about God at a tender and young age. Which I think will be awesome because these have been questions I've been asking so many parents and haven't found the answers to yet.

I think getting connected in a group that can be your support in life and in growth in God is supper important I hope you all can find a group that meets both of those needs and if you aren't in one yet, I encourage you to find one.

National Celiac Disease Awarness Day- Food for Thought

Today is National Celiac Disease Awareness Day and I felt like a heel of a blogger to not have any content to write in honor of our big day. Then as the day went by and something came up that now has me typing away just a few hours before our national awareness day is over, but hopefully it will be food for thought that will spur changes necessary in time for next years Celiac Disease Awareness Day.

Today I was invited to go to a MOPS group that starts tomorrow. I was once apart of MOPS and even involved in the leadership of this group at my church almost 2 years ago. When I first went I was pregnant with my daughter and hadn't learned about my healthy issues with food yet. When I left the group my daughter was turning one and I was just beginning my new life style and my daughter's issues with gluten were still unknown. If was difficult those few months when I was still attending MOPS and had gone GF. I was on the planning committee by then and I remember requesting that everyone who brings food put a list of what was in each item they brought. My request fell on deaf ears.

Please understand I have nothing against MOPS, I'm just using this as an example.

When I left MOPS I joined another women's group that was a Bible study. I really enjoyed that group. I loved sitting with women who were well seasoned in their years and gleaning from them all sorts of Biblical and motherly wisdom. It was a small group and it was easy for me to just bring my own food for me and my daughter and no one raised an eyebrow if I just had fruit on my plate. The childcare class was small too and it was easy for me to control her diet while in that class. The people who watched the kids were often my friends who already are aware of her dietary guidelines. I had already gone to great extent to educate the children's minstry department at my church on gluten issues and what was ok to give my child for snack time, you can read more about that here. However, this other group is currently on break for the next few months till a new teacher is found.

So here I am faced with an invitation to join another MOPS group at another church. As much fun as the last group was and all the great friendships that blossomed from my last experience I find myself hesitant to even try this new group. Why? I really don't want to take the time to have to educate and fight with childcare givers at another church over what gluten is. Yes, their is a chance they may already know this and be prepared, but I am really willing to risk it? Do I really want to pass 3/4 of the buffet table because I can't eat hardly anything there? Yes, I could educate so many people on celiac disease and spread the word; however, I find myself afraid of what kind of response I will get.

As great as the information and choices we have available to us in this modern day when it comes to our food availability, certain social situations still make me nervous. Another example is that me and my husband want to homeschool our kids. As I read about how some schools are make it a rule that only school lunches be eaten to ensure that all children get a healthy lunch, I cringe at the thought. No homemade sack lunches? What will kids with food allergies do?! It just adds to the reasons why I want to homeschool my children, besides religious reasons.

Am I really willing to keep my daughter from makes new friends and have new fun experiences all because I'm worried about her getting glutened by sharing a snack with a new friend? Have I really become that over protective mother?! Some of you may understand my concerns. I know my non-gluten free friends wouldn't understand, but then again they don't have to deal with three days worth of runny diapers if their child eats one gold fish cracker.

So I have a dream! I have a dream that one day little gluten free kids can sit side by side with non-gluten free kids and share a snack that will be healthy and nutritious for both of them and no one will get sick. I have a dream that schools and churches and daycare centers will already be well educated and prepared to serve gluten free and other allergy free foods to children without segregation. I have a dream that parents and children who live a gluten free life style will no longer get odd disapproving looks from strangers at the check out lane. That those who eat gluten free and non-gluten free can dine and celebrate in harmony without anyone feeling left out or singled out. That their will be freedom!

Ok, I got a bit cared away, but I'm not off base. We have come a long way, but we still have along way to go. My dream is that someday when I mom of a celiac kid gets invited for a play date or takes their child to school for the first time that they won't be any dietary fears whatsoever. Whether or not I will try out this new MOPS group tomorrow is still uncertain. I have so many reservations that it almost doesn't seem worth it to go because of my fears, yet what kind of pioneer of the celiac disease would I be if I didn't give it an honest try. Who knows I might be pleasantly surprised. If I do go, I'm bringing the Glutino pretzels for snack time, just in case.

Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Yeast Free, Gum Free Bread in a Bread Machine

 Man can not live by bread alone, and thank goodness that is true, especially for us Celiacs. The enemy, the challenge, the long desire for... bread. When first going gluten free I kinda gave up on bread. I wasn't about to spend a lot of money on pre-made bread that tasted like nothing and was hard as a rock. I tried many recipes at home with and without yeast to try and come up with something that worked, only to fail. Even if I perfected a recipe once, it would fail the next time I made it, even if I did everything the same.The reason why I try to make yeast free bread is because I notice the different in how I feel when I eat gluten free bread that has yeast verses ones that don't, so that is why I insisted on making yeast free bread. While some pre-made breads that are kinda new on the market are very good, I just don't care for the yeast in them, more like the yeast doesn't care for me. It wasn't till my sister started sharing her GF adventure online and shared with me, and the whole world, her bread recipe that I finally got GF bread to work every time I baked some. It works and it is very yummy. You can see her recipe here. Please note that her loaf is smaller then how I make it. I don't care which way you make, it's good healthy bread either way you slice it (ok bad joke, but I couldn't resist). I live at high altitude, nearly double at what my sister lives at, so going without yeast almost seems suicidal for where I live, but I've made it work in almost all of my baked goods. I have three secrets for making yeast free bread work.

The Baking Fairy
The first secret is the bread machine, or as I have named it: The Baking Fairy. I would struggle almost weekly trying to make bread, desperately wishing I had some magical creature to come to my rescue like the elves and the shoemaker. Then for Christmas my mom bought me a bread machine, aka The Baking Fairy. I have the Oster Breadmaker. It does not have a gluten free setting, but what I have found it that you really don't need one. I know that there are machines that come with that setting, but I think it is just an advertising gimmick. I've seen some bread machine box mixes that state to NOT use the gluten free setting and I figure it their test kitchen has gone into the trouble to make a bread mix work in a bread machine without a GF setting, then why bother paying for that extra feature. I use the Sweet setting on mine and I've seen other blogs that say you can use the Express setting as well. I'll tell you why I use the Sweet setting instead of the Express on mine here shortly.


Gum Free Baking
 The second secret to my bread is what I use instead of yeast and gum. I use chia seeds. This in kinda a new idea in the GF community. Many bloggers have dropped the gum and picked up flax or chia seeds. I use chia seeds because I already use flax in this recipe and too much flax isn't always good. The great thing about chia is that it is very healthy and adds lots of great nutrition, plus it does the most amazing thing when wet: it gels. It is this gelling power that the chia seeds perform that create the stability I needed this in this recipe. The technique I use with the chia seeds is one I haven't see yet preformed else where. It is listed with the wet ingredients for a reason and that reason is it needs liquid to gel. So pay attention when coming to this part of the recipe.

You can use gum in this recipe if you like, it does work well, but for those of you what to get away from gum or find them too costly this is a great alternative. Chia seeds I know can cost a pretty penny too, but if you can buy them in bulk that is the best way to do it. I get them from the bulk section of my health store. I get just a handful and it only costs me a few dollars. I keep them in the fridge and a little bit really does go a long way.


Who Needs Yeast?
The trick with using chia seeds or gum in a yeast free recipe is to understand that the gum or seeds in a way replaces the yeast. I use the Sweet setting on my machine because I need the rise time that is programed into that setting. Now a long express bake setting might be long enough, so feel free to try it. The reason why I want the rise time for my bread is that I need that amount of time to allow the seeds and flour to soak. The seeds or gum help stabilize the dough and the rice flour also soaks up the liquid; thus expanding the dough and creating a very nice rising affect lot like yeast. This works surprisingly well. This is something my sister stumbled upon, I just use the machine to do the waiting and soaking for me. I've a very impatient person, if it was left up to me I would start baking too soon.

The third trick to not using yeast is in the eggs. This isn't an egg free recipe and here is why. Eggs when beaten, create lift. I noticed this when I was watching Italian cooking shows. The ones that always made their own pasta almost always used the same ingredients: flour, eggs, and water. They would let their dough rest and it would double in size. Now how could a dough without yeast rise? I will tell you, it's the eggs. Now naturally their is yeast every where including the air, you can't get away from it, but the eggs do a fair job of creating lift in yeast free dough. By mixing the eggs with oil their is even more lift created. It's kind of like making Japanese omelets. They mix their eggs with oil and they create the most fluffy omelets ever. So I took this concept and put it into my bread and it works. This really is a simple recipe, it just has a lot of unique chemistry involved.

I hope you all enjoy this bread like we do. My daughter and husband always have to get the first slices. 

Bread
Dry Ingredients
1/2 cup brown sugar (not packed)
2 cup brown rice flour
1 cup millet or sorghum flour
4 Tbs tapioca or potato starch
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cream of tartar
1/2 tsp salt
2 Tsp flax seeds ground in coffee grinder (measurement before being ground)

Wet Ingredients 
2 tsp chia seeds  ground in coffee grinder (measurement before being ground)
2 eggs beaten
4 Tbs vegetable oil
2 cups max of milk or dairy free milk

In a large bowl mix together the dry ingredients with a whisk, make sure the brown sugar is broken up and mixed well in with the other ingredients. 

In a small bowl beat the eggs, add the oil and continue to beat until well mixed. Add the ground chia seeds and stir. Once chia seeds are added you have just minutes to put everything together, because the seeds start to gel immediately.*

Add the egg and chia mixture to the bread machine pan, add the dry ingredients next slowly and make sure it is level.  Place pan into bread machine and start machine at the setting that is right for your machine. Add 1 cup of the milk or dairy free milk, add a few Tbs at a time until bread is the right constancy. It should be wet, but not soggy, but wet enough to that there isn't any patches of dry ingredients. Scrap the side of the machine during the mixing stage to make sure all of the dry ingredients is incorporated. Once done baking, remove form pan right away and let it cool. I like to store mine in a plastic bread bag with a paper towel wrapped around the bread. 

*If you are using gum instead of chia seeds, just add 2 tsp of gum to the dry ingredient and mix. Their is no need to add it to the eggs if you are using gum.

Sunbutter Sugar Cookies

 

Being GF and in this economy is tough.  I'm very thankful that I found out about Celiac in this modern day when there are so many products and information that is out there that helps make living with this disease manageable and even enjoyable. I wish products still didn't cost so much and maybe by the time my daughter is old enough to leave home that the price of GF products will have come way down so they will be more affordable for her. But in the meantime things are tough. I try to keep meals simple to use very little ingredients, that are easy to make and avoid having to buy a lot of specialty products. Which is why you've seen simple recipes and more product reviews, because I don't have a lot of money to make elaborate meals or baked goods using 15 ingredients. This is good news for those of you just starting out with being gluten free or those of you who are also broke like me. 

However, I have found comfort in simple reminder from more simple times - the great Depression. Here was a time when many people found them selves on hard times. My mom and I have talked a bit about the Water Soup her mother would talk about eating frequently as a child. After some research I learned that this soup was basically a vegetable soup, but without broth, just water for the base, hence the name. I think about the meals that were made from this time period and the recipes that were passed down. They were simple, meat and potatoes kind of simple. Not a lot of of fancy cooking, just the basics that life requires: protein and vegetables.

In hard times I also find it interesting what people need to feel secure. My mother in law use to tell me when she was newly married with young children that she always felt alright if she had flour in the house. I asked her once what she use to do with it when she didn't have much else in the house; unfortunately, I didn't get much of a response to that question. When times are really tough I like to always have Pamela's Baking Mix in my pantry, I guess that is my gluten free version of flour. I also must have rice, soy sauce, and eggs. I can at least make fried rice with those ingredient. I can also make pancakes with the baking mix water and eggs. I also have a since of security when we have toilet paper in the house. I told my husband once "Forget flour, you're screwed if you don't have toilet paper." You can have all the food in the world but if you don't have toilet paper then you're really in a terrible situation.

With all the things that are happening in the world I wonder what people grab out of their house when disaster strikes. With all of the earthquakes, wars, hurricanes, floods and such; I wonder if I were in those situations what would I grab? Obviously, I would want clothes, important documents, maybe even a photo album or two and my family, including the pets; but, what about food. If I lived in a part of the world or country that didn't have much in the way of allergy free food would I also have a supply of food or would I just give up and eat whatever to survive? I wonder how many people living on the streets would benefit from soup kitchens or church pantries that would supply allergy friendly foods. I wonder if there is a great enough need in the country and the world to supply these types of food items for when disaster strikes. Is there a family some where on the East coast that has been displaced by the flood water of hurricane Irene that are having to bypass parts of the buffet table at a local shelter because of extreme food allergies that could cause death. This is something I pray about that maybe I can help change this or that someone has already though of this and is taking care of families in these situations.

 From now on I will try to donate what I can, even if it is one item at a time, to food drives so that people like us will not go hungry because of their limited diets. I did this two years when our church did a Thanksgiving food drive where they gave us lists of what one family would need to have a complete Thanksgiving meal. I took the list and decided to do an allergy friendly organic meal. I bought everything on the list from my health store. I wished I could have bought more then one meal that was allergy friendly just in case there were more families out there that would appreciate the extra step  of an allergy free meal. I know I would. Even a person with diabetes would benefit from an organic gluten free meal. Since then our family hasn't been able to afford being able to do this, but I still try to give something, because something is far better then nothing. 

So to try to tie this all into the recipe that I am posting in this blog, I wanted to make a sweet snack for my family. I didn't have a lot of ingredients to use, and I like simple. I also want something I knew my daughter would want to eat. She is very picky about her food, even cookies. Sometimes having a picky eater when money is tight can be painful (all the more reason to try to do what I just suggested above). So this recipe I used the basic sugar cookie recipe from Pamela's Products. I wanted to use Sunbutter because I didn't want to use all of my butter (Earth Balance) on this one recipe and I wanted some extra health benefits for my family. The Sunbutter gives this recipe some great protein and it's something we don't go through very fast so I don't feel bad using much of it in one recipe. I also chose to use honey too because I'm trying to get away from refined sugar and I was also out of sugar. I added the colored sugar because it is something I had on hand for cake decoration, and I knew my daughter would love the different colored cookies, plus it's just fun to make things special for those that I love.

Sunbutter Sugar Cookies
1/2 cup Sunbutter
1 cup sugar or 3/4 cup honey
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla 
2 3/4 cups Pamela's Baking Mix
Colored sugar sprinkles (optional) 


Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Mix together Sunbutter and honey or sugar together. Add the egg and vanilla and baking mix. Beat until well combined. Use a tablespoon or cookie scoop to drop the cookies onto parchment lined baking sheets. Space cookies 3 inches apart, because they will spread out a bit. Sprinkle colored sugar on to each cookie if you desire, cinnamon sugar would go great too*. Bake for 12-15 minutes, they are done when edges are golden. Move to cooling rack to cool. Makes 1 dozen.

*The original recipes said to use egg whites to make the sugar stick, but I found that it wasn't necessary with the Sunbutter, because it makes it sticky already.