ParentsR.Us

Thank you PF Changs!

Stephanie — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 17:26:11 +0000

I’ve always love PF Chang’s for gluten free dining. They are so knowledgeable and actually have decent stuff on the menu. I was disappointed on my last visit when I learned that the Phillip’s Better Lemon Chicken (my fave!) had been removed from the menu.

The gluten free menu has been expanded and favorites have been added back to it. I can’t wait to head over there! Today, get 15% off your bill with their Tax Relief Savings special!

The expanded Gluten free Menu features new dishes as well as two former favorites*:

• GF Vietnamese Crab Salad
• GF Crab Fried Rice
• GF Asian Tomato Cucumber Salad
• GF Lemon Scented Brussels Sprouts
• GF Caramel Mango Chicken
• GF Dali Chicken*
• GF Philip’s Better Lemon Chicken*

Why I despise WalMart, reason #354

Stephanie — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 02:57:45 +0000

It makes me smile when I count up the years it’s been since I’ve shopped Walmart (just over 7 now ). There’s many reasons why I stormed out of there for the final time in October 2004 and today I read an article on Grist.org that totally hit one of those reason. I’ve not been able to put this into words myself, but Grist certainly did in Is Your Stuff Falling Apart? Thank Walmart. This is a MUST READ article. Go now. Read it and come back here and share your thoughts, it’ll open in a new window for you.

Where once we measured value when we shopped, Walmart trained us to see only price.

Not this girl! I’m so glad to have broken that habit. I used to shop that way. I’d buy things on clearance because, hey, it’s cheap. I’d go for the cheaper item because, hey, it’s saving money. In the end, that money saver would need to be replaced much sooner than the pricier, well made counter-part.

Since 1995, the number of toasters and other small electro-thermal appliances sold in the U.S. each year increased from 188 million to 279 million.

Well of course! You can get that cheap-o toaster and when it breaks and you replace it, you’re still spending less than the more expensive one. Sadly, in this day, you can’t guarantee that the higher priced item is going to last any longer than the cheaper one. How sad is that?! And it’s all due to Walmart and the other stores that have had to stoop to their level just to survive.

Walmart is also a master at getting shoppers to buy more than they came for.

Think about it. You know you leave that store (and a few others, Walmart is not only at fault) with way more than you go in there for. Interesting little study in the Journal of Marketing.

I saw the light, I guess you could say, and I’ve broken my buy cheap, buy more habits. I wish that more companies would refuse to give in to that way of thinking. I’m currently in the market for a stand mixer. I could run to Target and buy a cheap one, but I want a more expensive one that will last me several years (I’m thinking KitchenAid, even though the quality seems to be less than it used to be or Cuisinart). I wish more people would wake up and stop trying to spend less and get more and go back to valuing their hard earned dollars and spending that money on items that truly have value. How about you? Do you shop for price or value?

April is Autism Awareness

Stephanie — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 21:33:50 +0000

The CDC released new stats for austism just last week. Austism now affects 1 in 88 children and is five times more common in boys than girls. That is a 78 percent increase since 2002.

Is anyone in your life touched by autism? I have several friends with children on the spectrum and, while not having or seeking a diagnosis, I suspect one of my children could ever so slightly be one of them as well. There are so many varying degrees of autism. You can not tell an autistic child by looks alone. Some are high functioning and some require a lot of help.

I regret not getting this post written earlier, but it’s not too late. Today is “Light It Up Blue” Day. Wear blue today if you can. If you can, turn on a blue light tonight. Light It Up Blue is in it’s third year of showing support for Autism Awareness. So many people are unaware, let’s work to spread awareness this year so it can be even bigger next year.

Most importantly this month, take some time to educate yourself about Autism. Be compassionate. These kids (and parents) deserve it. Autism Speaks is a great place to learn more about something that affects so many.

Yummy Burrito Pie!

Stephanie — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 18:25:46 +0000

Photo by: Tasteofhome.com

Having three kids in sports now, I’m finding myself busier and busier. I have many friends that are often posting on Facebook about “freezer cooking” or “once a month cooking”, so I figured why not give it a try. I’m getting a little tired of the same old stuff for dinner (mostly because I didn’t plan ahead and we have to throw together a quick meal), we have got to trim our food bill and I really hate to cook.

I spent one Friday evening and one Saturday morning planning out two weeks worth of meals. I wanted to keep some of our usuals, toss in a few things we’ve tried and liked and try a new thing or two. It was exhausting. My method: an excel sheet. Each line has a date, if there’s an activity that evening, I note it on there and then I list out the proposed meal. This way I know I have enough crockpot/easy meals for the evenings we’ll be rushing out the door.

True to form, I didn’t stick to the schedule LOL Now, I had no intentions of sticking to my “this is dinner on this day” plan, but I managed to take 14 meals and stretch it to 21+ days We had a few nights of leftovers, two nights of family visiting and a few nights of “I’m really in the mood for ___”.

Now for the good stuff, what did I fix?! Well, being gluten free I didn’t know where to begin. I hopped over to my favorite crockpot resource and what did I find? Slow Cooker TV Dinners. There she is blogging about exactly what I want to do with some of her recipes. Better yet, some of our likes are on her list! Then my wonderful friend postes a link to a Burrito Pie recipe that her family liked. After reading the reviews and not quite sure if it would freeze, I found another recipe (see below) that I tried and we loved! Another resource that I found, but did not use this month is Onceamonthmom.com who happens to have a gluten free section.

Our dinners: Burgers (Bubba burgers, no bread) and fries; Peanut Butter Pork, rice, veggie; cream cheese chicken, pasta, salad; bangers, mash, spinach; pasta, marinara sauce; chili, cornbread; ham, beans, broccoli/cheese; meatloaf, mashed potatoes, green beans; sausage, rice, beans; burrito pie; tacos; pesto fish, rice, asparagus; honey garlic chicken, black beans, mixed veggies; creamy corn & spinach enchiladas; wings, fries, veggie. The italicized items were all prepared and frozen ahead of time. I will start making large batches of mashed potatoes and freezing them now. It’s so easy and so much faster than preparing the for a meal. Most of these recipes can be found on Stephanie O’Dea’s site Crockpot 365

Burrito Pie

Recipe type: entree

Author: Tasteofhome.com

Prep time: 40 mins

Cook time: 30 mins

Total time: 1 hour 10 mins

Serves: 12

I split the original recipe in half, prepared in a disposable foil dish and froze. Mine didn’t thaw as much as it probably should have so cooking time was increased.

Ingredients

1 pound ground beef
1/2 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 can Ranch Style Beans
1/2 bottle of Taco Sauce (I used a 16ox bottle of Ortega medium)
1/2 can diced tomatoes
1 can black olives (use sliced or just pass the can through the food processor and mutilate them like I did)
Flour Tortillas (I useda bout 6 large brown rice tortillas, no flour here)
Shredded cheese

Instructions

Cook the beef and onion until meat is cooked. Add garlic, cook for about a minute. Drain if desired (I’ve learned I prefer the organic ground beef at Costco, it seems to not need drained).
Stir in beans, taco sauce, tomatoes and olives.
Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer uncovered for about 20 or so minutes.
Now, pretend you’re making lasagna starting with meat mixture on the bottom, tortilla and then cheese. I was able to do three layers.
Cover and bake at 350 for 20 minutes, then 10-15 minutes uncovered.
Or, Freeze it now and bake it later. Thaw in refrigerator overnight. Remove 30 minutes before baking. Bake covered at 350 for 25 minutes and then uncovered for 10-15 minutes.

Notes

While the recipe says it serves 12, my family of 6 devoured this and asked for more!

Ranch Style Beans. If you’ve never had them, you are missing out! I can’t tell you how happy I am to be back in Texas with my Ranch Style Beans. When I was pregnant with my second child in Maine, I had my brother pack some in his suitcase to bring to me! Shortly before leaving Maryland, I found some over in Virginia at Harris Teeter. I’m not sure what I would sub in this recipe, reviews say that refried beans are just mushy. I did find this link that might be helpful if you want to attempt to make your own http://homesicktexan.blogspot.com/2010/03/ranch-style-beans-recipe.html

Cure ADD, ADHD and Depression by eliminating gluten?

Stephanie — Sun, 18 Mar 2012 22:53:41 +0000

Sure!

I read this article, Recover from ADD, ADHD and depression without drugs, on Natural News by Allison Biggar today and I have to say I completely agree! Going gluten free has done wonders for me in so many ways.

I was just commenting to a friend of mine recently about one of my sons. Seven years ago, I didn’t know what to do with him and I actually took him in for an ADD diagnosis. Fortunately, the doctor got busy and never completed the evaluation and I got caught up in homeschooling and decided not to proceed. Recently, we moved from a moldy home to a completely new state and this particular child has made more effort to be completely gluten free. I’ve noticed that he has completely changed. His school work is getting done without me standing over him, yay for staying on task! He seems happier for the most part, though still has his days. I am anxious to see how well he does after a year or two off gluten.

We don’t eat out much and when we do, I only require two of my children to eat gluten free since the other two haven’t shown signs of gluten intolerance. However, that will be changing. This article backs up what I’ve been saying for a few weeks now. Gluten really affects brain function. My intentions are to keep my kiddos gluten free at all times now.

Why are Twinkies cheaper than Carrots?

Stephanie — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 15:53:08 +0000

It saddens me that it cost so much to have a healthy diet in this country. We do the best we can and I still feel we have too much “junk” food, but we can only afford so much. Add in a food allergy and the cost skyrockets. Wouldn’t it be nice if there was some government incentive to eat heathy?!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9cSPearFDU

Corn and Agent Orange?

Stephanie — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 19:39:51 +0000

Why do we even have to think about stuff like this?! What happened to just letting nature be. I just don’t understand why we need GMO’d anything. Oh yeah, that evil little thing called money.

I like reading Natural News, but I also know that things are often blown out of proportion over there. But, in the end, Agent Orange or not, genetically engineered food is not natural and is not what our bodies need in any proportion. I just briefly scanned this article, got irritated and wanted to vent ;)

Dow seeking deregulation of GE corn resistant to 2,4-D, a major component of Agent Orange by Mike Adams of NaturalNews.com

Gluten Free Sugar Cookies

Stephanie — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 17:01:08 +0000

These are good. I’m not a sugar cookie person, give me some chocolate, but I can not stay away from these. I always hesitate when it comes to gluten free baking, you just never know what you’re going to get. I’ve tried things before that people rave about that tastes like cardboard to me. I picked up a box of Better Batter about a month ago. I’ve yet to find a good gluten free all purpose flour, so figured I’d give this one a try. I’ve been looking at the box just waiting for a recipe to try it out on.

Then along comes Facebook. A friend posted about a cookie recipe she had seen previously and one of her friends linked to the Melted Snowman cookies. How cute?! Finally living in a decent house with a great kitchen that I can actually use, I just had to give this a try. I looked at few recipes and then remembered that pink box. Seemed like a good time to bust it out huh?

I’m sooo glad I did. Maybe I’m becoming immune to that gluten free aftertaste or maybe it just (as I hope) doesn’t exist with this recipe. Either way, this is one to keep and reuse and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Gluten Free Sugar Cookies

Recipe type: Cookie

Author: Better Batter

Prep time: 30 mins

Cook time: 10 mins

Total time: 40 mins

Ingredients

2 cups Better Batter Gluten Free Flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
1 large egg, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons milk
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 tsp almond extract

Instructions

Whisk together the flour, salt and baking soda.
In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar.
Add the dry ingredients and mix until incorporated.
In a separate bowl, mix the egg, milk, vanilla and almond. Slowly add to the large bowl while mixing.
Separate into two lumps, cover and refrigerate for at least an hour.
Preheat oven to 350.
On a floured surface, roll out the dough and begin cutting your cookies. Leave some space between them on a greased cookie sheet and bake for about 10 minutes, or until they begin to brown.

Notes

If you’re making Snowmen cookies, you’ll want to ice the cookies first. I just mixed powdered sugar with milk to a desired consistency. Place large marshmallows on a greased plate and microwave for just a few seconds, you don’t want to blow them up too much. Carefully transfer the marshmallows to the cookies and use tubes of icing to decorate as desired.

Gluten Free Chicken and Dumplings

Stephanie — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 13:51:00 +0000

Mmmm. Here is a simple recipe for making gluten free Chicken and Dumplings using gluten free pizza crust for the dumpling portion. Now, I remember in the past making Chicken and Dumplings in the crockpot using flour tortillas for the dumplings. It was pretty good and very easy. I’ve contemplated doing the same with some gluten free tortillas, but something tells me it wouldn’t work so I never attempted it. It never occurred to me to use a Udi’s pizza crust! What a genius idea. I can’t wait to try this. Although, I’ll be crockpotting my version. I imagine I can find the old crockpot recipe I used, sub in the pizza crust and just let it cook as long as needed. I can’t wait to try this- once we’re settled in Texas. Give me a couple of weeks and I’ll give you a review

UPDATE: Be sure to read the comments. We made our own little version of this tonight for dinner and while 3 of the kids weren’t exactly thrilled, it was really good and we will be making it again. You just can’t beat a quick and easy dinner.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBOZxAQvoyM

Traveling Gluten Free

Stephanie — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 14:08:35 +0000

I love vacations. Taking a break, not worrying about the day to day stuff, just focusing on fun. Then comes meal times. For most families, it’s no big deal, but for those with allergies, meal times out of town become nightmares.

At home, I know my local restaurants, I know what I can order and I know the chance I’m taking. But when traveling, I don’t know what restaurants are available, I don’t know how gluten free they are or what they have to offer. I’m the type that likes to know what I’m getting into. I want to know ahead of time if the restaurant can accommodate us and what they have to offer.

Sure, a lot of places can put something together, but just as many can’t or won’t. I hate needing “special service”, I don’t like drawing attention to my dietary needs. Please! If you run a restaurant, be it a chain or a just a simple local place, put your allergen menu online! Having it there at least lets us know that someone in your kitchen is aware of allergens, but it really helps in deciding where to go. If I have another “naked” burger I may scream! I don’t want to have to settle for the same stuff over and over, advertise what your gluten free options are online and with a special menu. I don’t mind asking for a gluten free menu, I love that, I hate having someone come out and rattle off a list to me. My brain does not handle that and I’ll forget everything I was told.

Things I learned:
1. Mexican food is generally a safe bet for anyone with gluten sensitivities. However, with most servers speaking english as a second language, it can be hard to get your allergen across. It’s definitely taking a chance, but probably safer than some other places. However, tacos and enchiladas do get a bit tiring after awhile

2. Rudy’s BBQ in Texas is great! Just remember to say no bread as soon as you step to the counter and watch your bbq being prepared. I had to bring attention to myself (hate that!) because one server dumped brisket off a sandwich onto the cutting table and my server tried to give us that cut of meat. No go! I totally understand cross contact, and that’s a chance I take, but I saw that one and was able to stop it. Nevermind that it took 4 servers to get her to understand she can’t do that!

3. Cheddar’s (Texas), while not having a gluten free menu, did the thing I hate the most by calling out the kitchen manager. He was actually very nice, unlike others I’ve encountered, and he made sure we had a great meal, including putting together a meal especially for my son. A specific menu would have been much more to my liking, but at least I know what to order next time.

4. Graceland (Mempis, Tn) is not at all gluten free friendly. I took a chance, a big chance and thankfully didn’t react too much. It’s best not to eat at Graceland though.

5. Brixx Pizza (Tn, Carolina’s and Va I believe) have a pretty darn good gluten free pizza. They are right on par with zPizza (my favorite), but not quite as good. The pizza could have been cooked a little longer, but we were just so hungry we didn’t really care.

6. There is an awesome little cafe/bakery in Austin- Wild Wood Art Cafe. Yummulicious! If you get the chance, you must try the sweets they offer. The entire place is gluten free and the bread they bake is pretty good.

There was more I wanted to share in this post, but by now I’ve forgotten. Lucky for you, I’m making that trip to Texas again this weekend