Thursday, October 31, 2013

Happy Halloween!

Be sure to check those candy labels for gluten! Have a fantastic Halloween!


How to have a safe, gluten free Halloween! (Link)



My Halloween Costume 2013
OFF WITH THEIR HEADS!

 


One of these things is not like the other one

I don't eat much GF bread, mostly because it sucks. I was extremely hungry for something hearty and I came across these babies.


They looked delicious and I had a fantasy of Red Lobster Cheddar Bay Biscuits. I've never heard of Chebe brand, but it was all fancy, expensive and I was starving....so I bought them. 


I cooked them exactly as directed on the package. They didn't quite come our as advertised. 



They were flat. Not sure...here is another angle..


I cooked them as directed for 30 minutes & didn't want to cook them any longer because they were so hard. 

So here is the DL (down low) The flavor is very good, but they are very thick, dense and pretty firm while still warm. You could use them as a discus after they have cooled off. 

I certainly would not buy them again. 





Tuesday, October 15, 2013

Winner winner chicken dinner!

This was a fairly simple meal and my family loved it. I made rosemary chicken, mashed cauliflower and sautéed spinach. This is a naturally gluten free and low carb meal. 

First, I took boneless, skinless chicken breasts and put them in a gallon zip bag. I added enough olive oil to lightly coat them. Seal bag & mix around to get them all coated. 

Next, I took several sprigs of rosemary from our garden and used my kitchen scissors to snip leaves off into the bag. I used quite a bit of rosemary. Seal bag & rub the rosemary around on the chicken. After that, I took the chicken out & sprinkled both sides with GF lemon pepper seasoning. 

Tonight I used our much loved Traeger (smoker) to cook the chicken. I cooked it on high, about 15 minutes on each side. The chicken was very moist and flavorful. 



You could also grill it or bake at 350° for 30-40 minutes, depending on the thickness of your breasts. 

We also had mashed cauliflower. While the chicken was cooking I steamed some organic cauliflower. I used 2 small heads for 4 people. I steamed it till it was very soft. Some people boil their cauliflower before mashing it, however that can make you lose a lot of the valuable nutrients of cauliflower. 


Here is the deal about mashed cauliflower. It's cauliflower, not potatoes. So don't expect them to taste like potatoes. 

There are a lot of recipes out there for mashed cauliflower. For mine, I took the still hot cauliflower and used a hand masher to mash it up. I added salt pepper & granulated garlic to taste. While still hot, I added in about 4oz light cream cheese. I used a hand mixer to blend it. You could also use a food prossesor. 


I am thinking next time I will use garlic, Parmesan cheese & Italian seasoning. Yum!

My super quick and easy vegetable is sautéed spinach. Spinach cooks down a ton. I used two large bags of spinach


I heated up a tablespoon of coconut oil on med/high (7-8)  in a large skillet. I added two heaping tablespoons of jarred minced garlic. Then, add 1/2 of a bag of spinach. Stir often to wilt the spinach. Then that is cooked, continue to add 1/2 bag of spinach at a time, then cook down. I usually add a bit more coconut oil when I start adding the second bag of spinach. When I have cooked down all of the spinach, sprinkle a bit of lemon juice and stir in. All in all, it only takes about 6-7 minutes to cook down the spinach. 

Voila, tasty dinner and not a ton of effort! 




Monday, October 14, 2013

Free font to help people with dyslexia read better

I have a child with dyslexia and was interested to come across this free font called OpenDylexic.  The font is bottom heavy to keep your brain from rotating them around.  It also differentiates between l (lowercase L) and 1 (the number one) better than most fonts.

My research shows pretty good user reviews.  I tested it with my son & he loved it. This is what I showed him.  This would be appropriate for middle school-adult. (Answer at bottom of post)




I created this test for younger kids, approxiamently 1st-2nd grade: (answer at bottom of post)



Here is a link to information about the font:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/07/open-dyslexic-free-font-dyslexia-abelardo-gonzalez_n_1946372.html

A link to download the font for free:
http://www.dafont.com/open-dyslexic.font

And instructions on how to download it onto your MAC:
http://www.fontspring.com/support/installing/how-do-i-install-fonts-on-my-mac

How to install font onto Windows PC:
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-vista/Install-or-uninstall-fonts

Installing fonts into other operating systems:
http://www.dafont.com/faq.php

Answer to reading example.
 Example 1, OpenDyslexic is the 2nd font.
Example 2, OpenDyslexic is the 3rd font.