I am a Mormon stay-at-home-mom of six. Yeah, I know, "that's a lot of kids"! Sometimes it truly is A LOT. Most of the time it's not. It's simply put...our normal. On my page you'll find spiritual thoughts, tales of trials, happy moments, recipes, funny stories, and more. Enjoy!!






Friday, November 22, 2013

Food dyes....in strange places

It was a nice day to be out of the house...cloudy, windy, and freezing!  Brrr! We even went back to the house to grab a warmer coat and hats and mittens.  Yup...it's cold.  We enjoy going to kid's resale shops with our friends... and then going to craft stores like JoAnn and Michaels.  Today was no different.  Once we enjoyed searching the racks at Children's Orchard we entered JoAnn.  *sigh* yarn!

Part way through our adventure, Miss Ballerina asked to go to the bathroom.  We happened to be right next to it...SCORE.  When we were washing hands, that quiet little voice whispered that I should check the label on the soap; which was on sale with a cute sign next to it. It was some lemon scented soap that was bright yellow.  It made the entire bathroom smell delicious...which says a lot.  Guess what the last ingredients were...RED 40, BLUE, and YELLOW.  ACK!!!

I washed my hands, and since they were out of paper towels, I ended up wiping them on my jeans.  Ugh.  But...oh well.  Then Littlest Miss said, "Hands!" She wanted to get in on the hand washing fun!  But after reading that label there was no way I was going to wash her hands with that soap.  So, I just rinsed her hands.

We exited the bathroom and began looking at the yarn selection again.  A couple of minutes later Littlest Miss started acting like her bottom hurt or something hurt.  I picked her up and tried to console her and instead of getting happier...she got more upset, agitated and angry.  Her poor mood escalated until I could barely hold onto her.  She thrashed and threw her body around in pain.  I flipped her over and looked into her eyes...her pupils were tiny...constricted.  Somehow that hand soap had affected her even though it was on my hands and not hers.  She never touched the soap directly.  Wow.

I quickly paid for my yarn and made a bee line for the car.  I buckled her screaming, thrashing form into her car seat and got out the baking soda.  I added the baking soda to her sippy cup of water and shook it up.  But she refused to drink it.  I needed something to get her to drink the water.  I remembered that I had a small container in my purse that was empty.  I took it out and poured a little water into it.  She happily sucked down the water from the tiny cup.  After about 4 small cups of baking soda water she started to calm down.

Not only do I have to be aware of all the different types of food that have food dyes but I also have to be aware of hand soaps.  I stopped into the health food store on the way home and grabbed a bottle of hand soap that would be safe for her little hands.

I never realized how difficult it would be to keep a toddler away from dyes.  They are everywhere.  I found them, yesterday, in mayonnaise.  REALLY??? They couldn't make it without?  Crazy!!!

We are now home...relaxing...and enjoying the happy baby.  *huge sigh*

My quest continues...to make sure my home is as dye free as necessary for my little one to be as happy as possible.


Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Yummy Delicious Cranberry Muffins!

I love it when an idea turns out wonderfully!  I LOVE to bake, but going gluten free makes baking a bit intimidating.  I've learned a little bit about it and have tried some new things. So, I'm getting more confident.  Here is a recipe I altered to make it gluten and dairy free.  I hope you all enjoy these deliciously soft and moist muffins! The original recipe was found here.

GF/DF Cranberry Lemon Muffins

2 cups GF flour mix (see other recipes for my favorite one)
1 tsp xanthan gum
1 1/4 cup sugar
1 heaping Tbsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp lemon peel (in the spice section in Walmart or you can use fresh)
1 Tbsp flax seed meal
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 cup sour Almond milk (1 Tbsp lemon juice in measuring up. Fill to 1 cup mark with Almond milk)
2 eggs beaten
1/3 cup coconut oil, melted
1 cup cranberries, fresh or frozen

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Grease muffin pans or line them with paper muffin liners. Combine flour, xanthan gum, sugar, baking powder, salt, lemon peel, and flax. Mix well.  Make sour milk in measuring cup. Set aside. In separate bowl beat eggs with a fork.  Add lemon juice.  Mix well.  Add sour milk.  Mix.  Add milk mixture to dry ingredients.  Mix until just moistened. Add melted coconut oil.  Mix. Fold in cranberries.  Fill muffin cups to 3/4 full.  Bake at 400 degrees for 13-15 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.  Don't over bake.

I hope you and your family enjoy these as much as my family did.  My friends, who are not gluten free, loved them as well.  That says a lot to me.  Gluten free can and will be delicious!  I just have to make it so!