A hungry girl kind of day

I haven't had too many full nights of sleep this week. Between surgery, a sick animal, and a brain on high alert, there have been many late nights and not enough sleep. In spite of that, there have been some high points. Getting to spend time with friends, play Battlestar Gallactica and the Top Chef game, and discovering fun things on TV including Hungry Girl!

I found this show on On Demand while trying to make myself tired one night. It was all about pasta and pasta swaps with less calories and less fat. And I love myself some comfort food, and I certainly love it when it has a whole lot less calories and fat!

Hungry Girlfredo

Lunch was corn pasta with hungry girlfredo sauce. The pasta was 196 calories, and then the sauce was a combination of one wedge of light Laughing Cow swiss cheese, 1/4 cup fat free sour cream, and 2 tbls of reduced fat parmesan. Overall, the meal had 315 calories and 5 grams of fat. And it was surprisingly delicious.

Dinner was a pasta swap where the "pasta" was a 1/2 bag of broccoli coleslaw (found  in the produce section). You cook it up in a pan and then,  I added 1/4 of a can of Amy's GF tomato bisque. It was quite good actually. Soft enough, but still a little crisy. I think I might like it better than pasta (*gasp*). And-- the whole meal was 115 calories and 2 grams of fat. :)

I also went out today and bought myself one of the old school air popcorn poppers. I remember it being quite a useful thing in college and now I don't have to worry about getting it everywhere when I cook it on the stove or having to read all the microwave bags to figure out which ones have less preservatives.

I think I will be returning to Hungry girl quite soon!

Simple Soup

"I have a recipe for you, it's so easy, all you do is...", began  Amy (thebargainhunterextraordinaire.blogspot.com )as I was preparing to leave to drive home on Saturday. So, I kept the recipe in my mind until I got home, and I never wrote it down. What's great about it though, is that it IS so easy, you don't have to write it down! But if you do want it written down, here it is:



1 Acorn Squash
1 can butter beans ( I couldn't find that so I used Great Northern beans)
garlic powder
1/2 onion (or onion powder)
1 cup milk ( I used plain almond milk)

I cut the acorn squash in half and scooped out the seeds and pulp. I put the 2 sides face down in a glass casserole dish with some water. Put it in the microwave for 12 minutes until the squash gets soft and you can scoop it right out of the shell. Scoop it into a pan, dump in the can of beans (liquid and all), put in some garlic powder and the onion, and milk and let it simmer on medium heat until onions are soft and flavors get more complex. I stirred it occasionally to check for burning. Then you blend the soup up ( I used my hand blender but I'm sure you can stick it in a regular blender too), and eat! Creamy, yummy, filling.

Thanks girl!

What a treat!

I remember back in 2007 when I first discovered that I was gluten-intolerant several well meaning friends letting me know that PF Changs has a delicious gluten-free menu. Now, this didn't mean a whole lot to me at the time because I wasn't quite aware of just how many things have gluten in them. It took some strange, achy jointed 3 month long flulike symptoms in 2009 due to hidden gluten inside my favorite Chai to make me understand the power of that one little protein composite and it's ill effects on my system. Butternuts, an amazing local restaurant with interesting and varied home-grown gluten free options closed at the same time, leaving GF options at restaurants still available but limited, and often boring. I was beginning to think that complex flavored, delicious gluten free meals were only available at restaurants like wd-50 and Arrows and in my own kitchen.

Until...yesterday. :)

At the end of a long week, it was with a happy heart that I headed off to visit one of my favorite people in Boston. Amy and I braved the wind and cold and visited the Museum of Science. After our trip we went to the Mall next door and I saw a PF Changs. I remember Deanna and Michelle mentioning their gluten-free menu so I was interested to see if it was all they said it was. I wasn't disappointed. I ate Chang's Spicy Chicken and it was so good. I want to drive to another soon to see if that beef and broccoli is equally so. And I have heard quite a few good things about their lettuce wraps. So if anyone wants to take a little drive to a restaurant with 28 gluten-free options at a fairly reasonable price, I am so in!

Cardamom Creations



Cardamom Spice Cake with Chai "Buttercream" Frosting

 Have you ever wondered what spice it is that makes chai taste so delicious? Usually we can identify the clove or the cinnamon, but it's cardamom that really makes chai so great. It is equally as great inside a gluten-free & vegan spice cake.

Last time I attempted something out of Flying Apron's Gluten-Free & Vegan Baking Book I ended up with a thick brick of bread. This time however, I was much more successful. They make their cake a three layer cake, while mine is only two layers due to my only having two round baking tins. The rest of the batter went into cupcake tins, which allowed me not only to have SO much fun playing with my frosting gun while decorating the cake but the cupcakes too! I shaved some unsweetened bakers chocolate on top to make it prettier. The frosting was a chai "buttercream" frosting made with coconut oil, organic powdered cane sugar, chai, cloves & cardamom. Very rich, and very delicious.

It was fun to make a cake just for the sake of making one. I think that the next cake I'll try out of Flying Apron's will be their Coconut Heaven cake.

What good is cake if you can't share it? I was afraid that the snow would ruin my weekend plans, but I was pleasantly surprised. My brother and sister-in-law came to visit with the boys. Kathleen enjoyed the cake, and I was happy to have her to share it with.

In the land of Kush...

This is perhaps the most amazing book I have read in quite some time...maybe ever, save the Bible. Not since Anderson Cooper's memoir did I read a book like this from cover to cover in two days, while managing to go to work, pay bills, and attend appointments.

It is the story of the Lost Boys of the Sudan, and one would think from it's title that it's author would indeed believe that God grew tired of them, and for a little bit in his darkest days the thought did cross his mind. But instead of repeated despair as I read this, I was struck again and again by the joy and grace of God, written into page after page of this memoir.

Oh, it is haunting. The story of this peoples' survival is heart-wrenching and painful...the story of rebuilding that has only nearly begun. My prayer map marker is moving to Sudan this week, as I can feel my heartbeat moving and breathing with this people group as I pray for our world.

Again and again I was humbled by the words of truth in this book as I read, by the courage of survival, and the will to live and love. I think the last half of the book struck me on a new level, as education began to arrive in the refugee camps, and these children, who had not had a childhood, began to learn. Their hunger and thirst for knowledge overpowered my senses, and filled my own heart with understanding like none other.This learning caused John Bul Dau to create a foundation to bring a clinic to his home village and write his story to teach us all. I have been given gifts by that same God to educate His children.

To the God who carried these children through horror, to the God who promised to bring new life to Kush (current day Sudan) in the Bible so long ago, to the God who causes one man to write at the end of his memoir of heart-breaking sorrow and survival : God who has blessed me so many times, has outdone Himself....to that God--my life is yours. Send me where you will.

New Updates: Southern Sudan has voted to secede from Northern Sudan. http://www.neontommy.com/news/2011/01/sudan-tale-two-countries In light of all these peoples have endured, please be praying for this to come to pass and for safety in the transition.

Prime Time for an update

So, I've gotten some queries about my lack of blogging as of late. Some difficult personal stuff followed by a 6 day long silent migrainey dizziness will do that to a girl. Then, when I finally sit down to it, I can't decide which thing I want to blog about. So, as a result, I will try and make this a culmination of all the things that I've been meaning to write down and haven't quite gotten to yet...

In the last 11 days I have:

1. Gone snowshoeing for the first time! ( I wish I had brought my camera as my Mom and I trudged through the snow to the crystal clear beautiful Swift River at Quabbin last Saturday) Snowshoeing is hard! But SO much fun. I hope to go again very soon.

Imagine a 2 and  3 candles right at the end of the red dots

2. Made a cake for my friend Sarah's 23rd birthday. She is a bit of a math geek (math teacher!) and loves her some prime numbers. This birthday was her golden birthday 1/23/2011 all of which happen to be prime...as a result, she wanted a prime number cake-- what you won't see int he picture is the 23 made with number candles at the end of the red dots. I forgot to take a picture with the numbers on :) 

3. Hosted a dinner for some oldie but goodie friends. I've missed them a lot and it was nice to catch up. We tried taking a nice picture of our time together and Steve didn't want to have his eyes closed...so as a result, you have this:

For dinner, I made some chili in the good old crock pot, and while I've made chili before, I need to confess that I really don't like chili all that much. However, I do like this chili! It's really easy: one can of black beans, and one kidney bean can, a diced up sweet potato, onion, garlic, and chicken spinach sausage cooked up with casings removed. The spices were cinnamon, cocoa powder, cumin and chili powder. I pretty much followed this recipe, with a few changes: http://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/browse-all-recipes/slow-cooker-vegetarian-chili-with-sweet-potatoes-00000000049528/index.html. I also made it earlier this week except that I didn't have a can on tomatoes on hand, so instead I used a jar of sun-dried tomatoes, a tad bit of red sauce, and water and decided that measuring out ingredients was over-rated :).

With it, I made some cornbread. This Gluten-Free Cornbread is super easy (even if it did have a bit of sugar): 1 cup cornmeal, 1 cup brown rice flour, 1/3 cup sugar, 2 tsp. baking powder, 1/8 tsp. xanthum gum, 1/2 tsp. salt, 1 beaten egg, 1/4 cup canola oil, and 1 cup almond milk.    Spray the muffin tins with oil and bake at 400 degrees for 17 minutes. Delicious! Crispy on the edges and soft in the middle.

For dessert, I was still rocking the avocado black bean brownies, this time with some FrozenTangy vanilla frozen yogurt, and Stonewall Kitchen's Raspberry Balsamic jam drizzled on top.

My $2.50 steal of flowers to cheer me up in the difficult days!

4. Was truly blessed by the grace of God, and the love of my friends.

Flowers from Jenny to cheer me up in the dizziness :)

                             * Loved * Beloved * Encouraged * Hopeful * Strengthened *

Sweet baby boys

They're here!!! My brother's twins were born on Friday, and they couldn't be more sweet. My sister-in-law and brother were so amazing to watch--they are going to be the kind of parents that love their children with abandon. My sister-in-law taught me all about the 5 S's...shooshing, swaddling, suckling, shaking, and soothing...and then pointed out with love shining in her eyes how my brother was already an amazing Dad. I couldn't agree more.


A friend reminded me last night that we (humans) are the only immortal beings that keep on being born. The angels are all created, God has existed always, and our souls keep on being created. Amazing...

Patrick Anthony



Timothy Raymond