We tried two new products that I wanted to mention. The first were Gluten Free vanilla cookies with chocolate cream by Glutino. My kiddos really liked them, my husband thought they were pretty good. I liked them. I'd really like to get away from processed stuff, so we probably won't buy them often, but they were pretty good. Yesterday I made Ancient Harvest quinoa-corn blend pasta. My family really liked it. I thought it had a good taste. The noodles fell apart though, so it wouldn't be good for a pasta salad. It would be good for a goulash though. I'll probably use that product again.

I haven't really had very accessible Internet access for about a week, so I haven't been able to update my blog. Monday night I went to a gluten free baking class. I would highly recommend it for anyone who lives in Aurora or anywhere in the Denver metro area. It was one of the Aurora Parks and Rec cooking classes at the kitchens at Expo. Everything we made was really good. The first recipe was Lemon-Glazed Blueberry Muffins. They were more like cupcakes because they were very sweet. I brought one home to my husband and he and my two older kids tried it and really liked it. I really liked them, too. The next recipe was Date Nut Bread. It was probably my least favorite, but it was still pretty good. I brought some home, and my family really liked it, so I'll probably be making it. The next recipe was Flourless Chocolate Cake. The was really tasty. The amazing part of that recipe is that it is made with BEANS! You absolutely could not tell though. It was actually pretty healthy except for the sugar in it. It had beans, orange juice, eggs, bittersweet chocolate, brown sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder and baking soda. I also brought a slice of this home and everyone liked it. The next recipe was Corn-Chipotle Biscuits. They were fabulous. I told the instructor she made my little Southern heart so happy! They quite a kick to them because of the chipotle chile powder, but you could use a different chile powder - or less - or none. The recipe called for one cup of amaranth or sorghum flour. We used amaranth, but the instructor said that sorghum flour is good for biscuits because it is "fluffy." We ate all of those in class, so there weren't any to bring home. I'm going to make them with a potato-chipotle casserole tomorrow night though, so I'll test them out on my family then! The last recipe was a Gluten-Free Pizza. The crust was the best gf crust I've tasted (out of threee). It was quite good, and I think my family will really like it. I'll probably try to make it this weekend.

I've made a few new recipes lately. Last night I made Two-Step Southwestern Stew with brown rice and Earth Apple Torte. They were both great. The torte was amazing and my family went back for seconds. The stew was quite good, too - plus healthy and easy. It had onions, canned tomatoes with chiles, kidney beans, hominy, zucchini, cumin, and cilantro. Tonight, I made Garlicky Grits Cakes with roasted red pepper tapenade and Tempeh-Potato Breakfast Patties. My kids liked both recipes. My husband wasn't crazy about the grits cakes but liked the patties. I liked them both, and they will probably make a regular appearance at weekend brunch. Tonight I made Bob's Red Mill gf brownies. I put chocolate chips and pecans in them and made a chocolate topping for them. I really, really liked them! My husband didn't think they were "cakey" enough, but I don't like "cakey" brownies. I like gooey brownies, and they were gooey - especially with all the chocolate I put in them! So far, Bob's Red Mill products have proven themselves to be quality products.

My mom is doing really well on a gf diet. Her doctors are taking her completely off one medication, and cutting two more in half. We are all waiting anxiously to see the results. She is moving a lot better with a lot less pain and that is exciting and encouraging. We talk everyday about the new products and recipes that we are trying.

We've tried a few more gluten free products. Last night we tried a product from 1-2-3 Gluten Free for biscuits. They were nasty. Yuck. Tonight I went to a gluten free baking class that rocked! I'll have to write about it tomorrow though because my son is very clingy tonight and won't let me type! My parents tried Namaste's cookies and said they tasted pretty good, so we're going to put those on our list to try.

Bob's Red Mill chocolate chip cookies

We tried another Bob's Red Mill mix. We tried the chocolate chip cookies this time, and they were good. They weren't fantastic. They were a little dry, but they were good. I think they'd be good dunked in a little soymilk. I also made Quick Green Chile Soup Stew which is quick and easy and vegan and gluten free. I stepped on the scale this morning and I've lost five pounds! Woo hoo. I don't think I'll make 35 by 35, but I'll take what I can get at this point!

We tried a couple of new gluten free mixes. We made the pizza crust from Deby's bakery, and it was pretty good. I think I would let it bake a couple of extra minutes next time, but everyone liked it. You do have to plan ahead a little for it though because you have to mix it, then let it rise, then spread it, then let it rise, then bake it, THEN put all the toppings on and bake it again. It was pretty good though. I also made a chocolate cake from Bob's Red Mill that was really good and quite easy to make. You really couldn't tell that it was gluten free. I made a simple sugar frosting for it, and we really enjoyed it. Last night, I was really tired from cleaning carpets, so we had a simple dinner. We had a garden salad with romaine, dried cherries, tomatoes, green peppers, carrots, Baco's, and dressing; fried tofu with some wheat free soy sauce, canned pineapple, corn tortillas with salsa, and potato chips. Sort of a weird dinner, I suppose, but it was tasty and everyone ate! We also made a commitment to start walking/running as a family. My husband and I have noticed that our older two kids are fast runners (especially our son), so we thought we'd start having our daily exercise together as a family. We just walked last night. Dh carried our youngest son in his Mai Tei, and I carried our youngest daughter on my back in my Bei Bei. We had a good walk. Also, I am going to start reading my other gluten free book that I bought. I can't remember the name of it right now. I am going to send my mom my other book called Going Against the Grain. It's an okay book. She has a lot of good information about different medical tests in it that would be good for someone who was going the medical route. Her information about gluten grains is very good, but the rest of her nutritional information isn't very good at all. There tend to be two schools of thought when it comes to how our ancestors ate. One school is that they ate tons of meat and supplemented it with the fruits and veggies that they gathered. The other is just the opposite. I very much believe the latter mostly due to all the nutritional research that I've done. When you read her book, you get the feeling that she believes humans existed on incredible amounts of meat and should eat almost that much now. The amount of meat would make even the most die hard Atkins followers sick to their stomaches. Anyway, I wouldn't recommend the book, but if someone wanted to read it - I would definitely say to read it very skeptically. The info on grains is good, the rest is crap.

My youngest daughter was feeling pretty yucky yesterday, so the pizza is on for tonight. Instead we had soup last night. I used Imagine's Potato Leek Soup (dairy-free) for the base, then chopped up onions, carrots, and potatoes, and added a can of corn. It's very thick, so I had to thin it and add pepper and salt. We had corn tortillas with salsa as well.

We tried Bob's Red Mill gf bread machine mix and it wasn't too bad. The kids and even my husband liked it. The mixture was way too wet and turned out kind of heavy, so I'll have to watch that next time since I couldn't add flour to it! I made an Indian dish last night with rice. I had a jarred dopiaza sauce and I cooked potatoes and carrots, added garbanzos and the sauce. Apparently it was pretty good. I went to a knitting class and my husband left it out on the stove all night, so I had cereal for lunch. Grrrrrrr. That was supposed to be our lunch today, too. Oh well. Tonight we are trying another gluten free pizza crust. We tried Namaste's before, but it was pretty gross. This one is from a local gluten free bakery called Deby's. Hopefully it'll be better.

Okay, the gluten free diet is going pretty well - now that I can cook again! We tried Bob's Red Mill gluten-free pancake mix, and it was pretty good. Some gluten free stuff is gritty and not that great. I really liked this though and so did my family. We had pancakes with peanut butter, apple sauce, and maple syrup and tangelos. For dinner I made refried beans. We had tostados with beans, soy chorizo, lettuce, tomatoes, salsa, and hot sauce and a salad. I planning on making dahl, rice, and spinach salad (with red onion, walnuts, and mandarin oranges) tonight for dinner. My parents are doing well on a gluten-free diet. I'm so glad. They said they don't have as much pain which I am thrilled about.

Well after crushing my finger in the van door and having to rely on my husbands cooking for a couple of weeks (his specialties are frozen pizza, sloppy joes and nachos) we are back to eating healthy again. My parents are doing a gluten free diet now, so they are helping me stay on track. I went shopping yesterday and got a cart full of healthy foods. I also found a type of soy chorizo that is wheat free! Hooray. I'm trying to mostly stay away from processed stuff and "replacement" food, but was nice to find that. We had some last night in scrambled eggs. We also had some yummy honeydew melon, homemade guacamole and tortilla chips. Not the healthiest meal but not too bad either. I was exhausted after running all day yesterday, so it's lucky I did open the fridge and tell the kids to fend for themselves! LOL. Just kidding, of course. Tonight I am making a vegetarian chili that is really yummy. It's cold and snowing here today, so it is a perfect day for chili. Tomorrow I am planning on making BBQ tofu, steamed broccoli, mashed potatoes, and a salad.