Edmonton or Bust!

We had been planning Colton's 4th Birthday for the last 2 months. Our plan was to head to Edmonton and take him to the Water Park at West Edmonton Mall. Jeff has only ever been to Edmonton once and never to West Ed so we figured we would all enjoy it. We asked some family members to join but no one was able to make it except for my parents.
Mom and Dad arrived in Calgary Thursday evening and we headed to Edmonton on Friday morning. Colton started to come down with a head cold Thursday morning but we thought it was just your regular cold and we figured a little humidity from the water park would knock the cold right out of him...NOT! By the time we checked into our hotel room Friday afternoon it was clear that we would probably not be going swimming at the waterpark. He was so plugged up that everytime he tried to breathe or sniff, he would gag. We figured we would play it by ear as to how Saturday would go, whether we did anything or not. Friday night was the longest night EVER! Colton woke up every 20 minutes-1/2 hour b/c he couldn't breathe, he was gagging and he didn't want to sleep sitting up. There was more than one occassion that night that I looked at the little coffeemaker sitting on the table and thought about brewing a pot, seeing as how I obviously wasn't gonna get any sleep. Finally 6:30am rolled around and we were both exhausted...we staggered down the hall to G&G's room and they took Colton so I could get some sleep. Staggered back to bed at 7:00am and fell asleep...8:00am..KNOCK KNOCK..'HOUSEKEEPING'! WHAT?SERIOUSLY?! I didn't know whether to laugh, cry or go out and give the chambermaids a serious tongue lashing! I opted to stay in bed and whimper to myself  b/c I didn't have the energy to get out of bed or chew someone out right then..but I thought 'so help me if I see those ladies in the hallway they would hear it from me!' I did run into the cleaners in the hallway and they both looked very grumpy, so I figured I would let this one go..I wasn't in the mood to argue and I figured they would throw me in laundry bag and send me down a laundry shoot..so I walked by and smiled politely.

 Mom and Dad offered to keep Colton at the hotel to rest for the day and told Jeff and I to head out for a bit for a break. We hit up West Ed Mall to do some shopping. We headed back to the hotel in the afternoon and Colton was still looking peakish and was still pretty plugged up. We headed out to dinner at Eastside Mario's where I was informed that absolutely nothing on their menu was gluten free..not even their garden salad! I had to sit there and watch Jeff devour his bacon carbonara that was 'the best he had ever had'. Everyone else enjoyed a delicious meal and I sat there picking at my plate of lettuce.

After dinner Jeff and I decided to take Colton to the Hospital in Stony Plain, where we were staying. Took about an hour to get in to Emergency and we were put in a little room that was obviously used for putting on casts. Everytime Jeff looked at the cast saw he would shiver and go all pale (funny to watch). We did have the pleasure of hearing all the goings-on of all the other patients nearby. One gentleman down the hall had a major problem with flatulence and it got to the point where it was no longer funny after 2.5 hrs and we were feeling sorry for his neighbors who were probably smelling it! lol Almost 2.5 hours later a nurse came by and asked if the Dr. had been in yet. Jeff and I are sitting there half on the floor and trying to hold each other up b/c we were so tired and Colton is trying to sleep on our laps, we gave the nurse a very tired look and both said 'nope, no Dr.'. Not 5 minutes later this little Dr. came speeding in and informed us that he had no idea that this room existed! EXCUSE ME?! Why would we be put in this room if the Dr. didn't know it was there. Oh well, we received a RX for Colton and we were on our way. Of course all the pharmacies were closed for the night so I knew i was in for another sleepless night. Sunday morning finally rolled around and 6:30 had us pitter- pattering down the hall to G&G's room again so i could get some sleep. I was so happy to be heading home on Sunday afternoon. A HUGE thanks to mom and dad for being there this past weekend, we couldn't have survived without you both!

We did have a little party for Colton(who was feeling much better) on Monday and our friend Delayne came by for hotdogs and present opening. Happy Birthday to my precious Colton!!

Picky Eaters

 We LOVE meatloaf in our house, so I made it a new mission to try and 'healthify' this favorite. I have 2 boys that know every excuse in thebook as to why they can't eat their vegetables. I make it a habit to steam/puree vegetables to hide in meals. The other night I made a crockpot full of ribs and added a cup of puree sweet potatoes to the sauce....they were delicious and the ribs were devoured. Ryan, if you are reading my blog here's a little FYI for ya - there was pureed sweet potatoes in your ribs the other night...hehe

This meatloaf contains 1/2 cup cooked quinoa(mixed into hamburger), 3 servings of vegetables(broccolli, carrots and celery), 3 tbsp real bacon bits chopped up fine and 1/2 cup pureed sweet potato(mixed into sauce on top of meatloaf)

                                                     Quinoa Meatloaf
Mix hamburger as usual with desired spices, 2 eggs, 1/2 cup cooked quinoa (1/2 cup uncooked quinoa in 1 cup chicken broth), dash of GF worchestershire sauce (is there anyone that can pronounce this word properly?), salt & pepper and bread crumbs (for those of you gluten ingesting folks(sniff sniff). Once hamburger is mixed well, pat it flat onto wax paper and make it into a rectangularish shape.

 Saute desired vegetables (carrots, broccolli and celery cut up quite fine) and then place on bottom half of hamburger pattie. I add 3 tbsp of real bacon bits on top of the veggies to unhealthify it. If you are like me, I hate touching raw meat so I find the easier, cleaner way to roll it up. Use the wax paper to make your hamburger into a tight log and then pat the ends in so the veggies don't fall out.

For my topping I use 1/2 cup sweet potato puree, 1/4 cup ketchup, big squirt of mustard and 1 heaping tbsp brown sugar (which could really be made into 2 tbsp by the time I'm done with it) and drizzle over meatloaf.

Dinner....is served!

Monday's Indulgence

Jiffy Drops (aka haystacks or coconut peaks)

2 cups sugar

1/2 cup margarine

1/2 cup milk

Bring the above ingredients to a boil over medium heat and boil for one minute. Remove from heat and pour over the following ingredients:

4 tsp cocoa

1 cup coconut

3 cup oatmeal

Mix all the above together and drop by the teaspoonful onto waxpaper and let set for 5 minutes..then DIG IN!!

These are my all-time favorite cookie. So simple to make yet so delicious! These jiffy drops were my 'Monday Indulgence'...and they are gluten free!

Simple Appreciation

It has come to my attention while perusing through FB each day that there are alot of people out there that need to learn about appreciation and thankfullness. Status after status is about how much the husband or kids annoy you and family situations that you can't deal with. Let me start off by saying that this kind of stuff should not be aired on FB. How would you feel if your husband or even your kids wrote something everyday about what you had done that embarassed/annoyed them? How would you feel if that status was turned around to portray your negative flaws each day?
Be thankful for the husband that loves you unconditionally, the kids that you were BLESSED with and the job that you have that keeps a roof over your head and allows for the luxuries of life. Take pleasure and appreciate  the little things that family/friends and work gives you.The simple things like a smile from your husband or a little pair of arms wrapping around your leg giving you a hug, a boss that says 'nice job' and a family that does not judge you for the mistakes that you make. What if one or all of these things that annoy you were taken away...would they really seem that annoying if you look back....how would you feel? Appreciate the little things in life and the little moments that you are blessed to have.

I know that there are days where I am frustrated with my day, the weather, the kids or family situations, but have a filter when it comes to airing your family situations or annoyances to the public. A negative attitude just keeps you negative and attracts negative attention. Your life can't be that negative all the time can it? Really?

The Wheels on the Bus...

The other day Colton and I were invited to join our dear friend downtown for lunch. So Colton and I hoped on the bus for a little adventure and headed to meet up with our friend on her lunch break. Colton (like most kids) has no filter when it comes to commenting on whatever he sees. The ride downtown was entertaining and he was pointing out everything he saw  and commenting about people on the bus. We made it downtown without any real embarassment and enjoyed our lunch followed by a walk around the mall.
 We caught the bus again and headed home. Colton was more comfortable this time around and he was also getting tired by this point...here are some of the things that came out of his mouth on the way home...

" Mom, can I touch that guys hair?" - referring to the poor man sitting in front of us who turned around and laughed.
" Why is that lady sleeping on the bus - does she live on the bus?"
" That man shouldn't sleep on the bus, he needs to go home to bed"
" I'll ring the doorbell when it's time for me to get off the bus"
" That lady needs to run faster or she will miss the bus"

Thankfully, people were finding the humor in the innocence of Colton's observations and we made it home without any confrontations! : ) However, we did have to sit down once we got home and go over a few rules about riding the bus and that it is rude to point at people...: )

Brefast(as Jeff would call it)

I told Colton lastnight as I went to kiss him good night, that in the morning him and I would have pancakes and choc. milk for 'brefast'. His sleepy little face lit up like a Christmas tree and he said, "oh mom, I love pancakes!"

So this morning, like clock work, he came in to wake me up. He snuggled in under the covers with me and informed me that it was pancake time. He snuggled in a little closer and I felt something cold against my arm, so I looked under the covers and here he had the new bottle of pancake syrup under the covers with us! So we both headed downstairs, with pancake syrup in tow, to enjoy our (gluten free) pancakes..and were they ever delicious! 

This was my plate of pancakes....

This was Colton's...we were joined by his colorful treasure that hasn't left his side since yesterday afternoon.

GF GOODNESS!

I have slowly and successfully adapted to my new 'not-optional' gluten free diet. Cooking is a breeze and I have discovered some really good recipes that my boys will even eat. Baking on the other hand is a trial. I LOVE to bake and I enjoy a challenge when I know how things are to turn out or what they should look like. Baking GF is like baking blind-folded. You can't just substitute rice flour for regular flour and 'ta-da'! No, it is more like, add these 2 different flours, one starch, some guar or xanthan gum and then hope for a good result.  Baking GF is unpredictable (for me anyways) right now and it is driving me crazy! I like to make everything from scratch if possible and it is rewarding to see it turn out and taste delicious. But baking GF you never know how it will turn out and I am getting to the point where I am tired of baking and everything flopping, so I am quite happy to rip open a box of cake mix and go to town. Thankfully I have a mom who has a love for baking like I do, so she sent me some GF cake mixes from the States. Not sure why we can't get this stuff up here in Canada but i will settle for giving my mom a list each time she heads to Minot. Guess what I'm doing this afternoon.....

I love that the box has GLUTEN FREE written right on the front in big letters. No having to stop and read every ingredient on the label looking for hidden gluten. Thank you Betty Crocker for making my week end with a big smile!