I Don't Know How

I don't know how to keep rolling with the punches life keeps dealing us. To recap the past three years:

• My husband got fired from his job, even though he was receiving awards and accolades for his work.

• My husband moved across the country, staying with friends for nine months, because he got a lower-paying job in a more expensive area of the country.

• I packed up our entire house, moved every box to the storage unit, fixed up the house, listed and showed the house, continued working part-time in the evenings, and still took care of my precious daughters.

• I watched my music studio dwindle to only a handful of students by the time I moved, because no one wanted to start up with a teacher that was leaving.

• We moved across the country to join my husband, only to find a tiny apartment in a not-so-good neighborhood waiting for us.

• The kids hated their new school.

• We hated their new school.

• I couldn't teach in the apartment, so I wasn't able to work.

• My husband was awarded an incredible raise that saved our bacon.

• The girls started a new year at their school, and we were happy with their teachers. They still didn't really have friends, though.

• Our eldest needed to get braces. Goodbye, $5000, which we're still paying off.

• When our front neighbors moved out, their cockroaches moved into our apartment.

• We found an incredible real estate agent through the Dave Ramsey ELP program, worked out a loan with our amazing credit union, and moved into a large rental townhouse.

• I decided to apply for admission to graduate school in music at a smaller school in the area, assuming that they would have an appropriate assistantship for me. I was heartily granted admission.

• I was not offered any sort of assistantship. I turned down the school.

• The air conditioning in the van broke, so we were going to fix it. It turned out to be a lot more involved and expensive than we expected. On the way to the mechanic to find out what to do next, my husband's car lost the clutch. So, the clutch got replaced, at the expense of the air conditioning in my van, all our savings, and the money we'd scrimped and saved in order to attend the wedding of one of my best friends.

• I finally started teaching again.

• I was hired to play for a musical and teach a band camp in my hometown area, which allowed me to purchase a piece of musical equipment I desperately needed.

• The possibility of several more students was dangled in front of me, but those opportunities fell through.

• Now, our second daughter needs braces, and there is no way we can pay for them anytime soon.

• We haven't taken the girls on a vacation in eight years.

• We don't eat out.

• We only go to free movies.

• I have managed to lose forty pounds and gain all sorts of muscle in the past year through loads of hard work and eliminating meat and dairy from my diet.

• The girls cannot take music lessons or dance classes, because we cannot afford to pay for them. We have residual debt from our youth and crises of the past that takes up most of our income.

• I have been trying to gain momentum with my photography, which seemed to finally be happening, and my camera broke.

• I haven't found anywhere to play here yet. I haven't been hired for any gigs in my area at all. I have only met two other clarinetists, and one doesn't even play any longer.

• The real kicker: my dad has cancer.

Yeah, that's been my three years. There are some great things in there, but the bad things that I've listed have only scratched the surface of the mile-long list I could make.

At this point, I could lose my faith, or I could place it more firmly in God's hands. I'm choosing the latter, because I know God has a plan for me. I just hope that plan has some really good things coming soon.

No, Dominos, That's Not Technically Gluten-Free

So, today I get an email from Dominos that proudly claims that they now have gluten-free crusts.  Then, they tell you to read a disclaimer which states:

"Domino’s pizza made with a Gluten Free Crust is prepared in a common kitchen with the risk of gluten exposure. The National Foundation for Celiac Awareness supports the availability of Domino’s Gluten Free Crust, but CANNOT recommend the pizza for customers with celiac disease. Customers with gluten sensitivities should exercise judgment in consuming this pizza."

So, no, that's not technically gluten-free.  While they have the best of intentions, Dominos is showing a lack of research and basic knowledge concerning cooking for Celiac sufferers.  My husband would practically give his left leg to be able to order pizza for delivery again, but he is not willing to take this sort of risk.

If a Celiac were to try this "GF" pizza, which has a fair likelihood of becoming contaminated by wheat flour, the repercussions could be extreme.  Luckily for him, my husband's reaction is GI-related.  My poor eight-year-old daughter would have extreme mood swings for the subsequent six weeks in addition to the GI-related issues.  In short, the consequences outweigh the risk.  By a mile.

While I applaud your effort to help those with gluten allergies and intolerances feel a bit more normal, you missed the mark a bit on this one.

Ouch! Anyone For Leftovers?

Last night, I learned my lesson the hard way.  Again.  This time, I learned that I should always, always taste new ingredients before putting them in my recipes.

Dinner last night was intended to be a soy chorizo and black bean stew, cooked in the slow cooking for eight hours.  Either my soy chorizo from Trader Joe's was a heap spicier than the soy chorizo I picked up at the organic market last time, or I added too much chipotle chili powder.  Either way, the kids and I had to switch over to leftovers or cereal for dinner last night, because the stew made our mouths, throats, nose, and eyes burn.  It was that hot.  Oops.

A good friend suggested adding agave nectar to cut the heat, so I will try that when I re-heat (pardon the pun) these leftovers for my husband this weekend.  Here is hoping that it works.

My Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free Lasagna Recipe Is Coming

As soon as I can catch a moment to myself, I will get my recipe up for a gluten-free, dairy-free lasagna.  It is a huge hit in our house, even with the kids, so I want to share it with anyone else that thought lasagna was a thing of the past with food allergies.  I would love to say that it is casein-free, too, but my non-dairy cheeses put the casein back into their products for some reason.  I am working on a meat-free version, too, because I have discovered that beef, no matter the quality, gives me migraines.

My Mediterranean (Dairy-Free, Gluten-Free) Pizza

Holy moley, Mabel!  This is the best thing in the world, I swear.  We have not been thrilled with all of our pizza attempts as of late, so we decided to alter our course.  This is what we came up with:

This is such a tasty dish, and it was pretty easy to make.  We used a Bob's Red Mill GF Pizza Crust mix for the crust (substituting 3 T water and 1 T ground flax seed per egg), pre-baked it per the package directions, coated it lightly with extra virgin olive oil, sprinkled some Italian seasonings and garlic powder on the crust, placed a layer of baby spinach on top of the seasonings, and covered that with chopped up organic Roma tomatoes, diced feta, and almond mozzarella.  We followed the package directions for baking the topped pizza, let it rest for five minutes, and dug in heartily.

The flavors in this recipe are so amazing, and every single person in our house loved it.  That includes all four little ladies.  All of them!  We are so pleased!!

The 18-Hour Energy Diet

I think this would be a fitting name for an all-natural, organic, mostly (if not completely) vegan diet. If a diet rich in vegetables and fruits and a modest amount of complex carbohydrates were marketed in this fashion, it would be all the rage.

Never, in my wildest dreams, could I have imagined that I would have so much energy that I could barely sit still nearly every day, just because of my diet. My sleep is peaceful, I wake up happy and ready to roll, and I am not "just making it through" the day now. I take my kids on walks, run errands, cook, clean, and work out. This is fantastic!

My next goal is to tailor my vitamins, minerals, and herbal supplements to my diet and health needs and wants. What a blessing it is for the Lord to have opened my eyes. I thank Him every day for showing me the path to health and happiness. May I show Him all the praise through my dedication to treating my body as a temple and encouraging others to do the same.

My Favorite Peanut Butter

We have tried so many different kinds of natural and organic peanut butters in the past year, and we finally found the one to call our favorite: creamy Maranatha Organic Peanut Butter with a hint of sea salt. Love this stuff!