Sourdough Starter

I know, I know, like I need another project. But this one has an interesting purpose. How would you go about finding a gluten free, dairy free, soy free, yeast free, egg free bread? Yeah, I have no idea either. Well, there is one brand carried by one health food store in town that works.

I was talking to my mom about bread yesterday, and told her about that one brand of bread, and how I thought it was weird that they could do it without yeast. She said it's probably sourdough. So, I did a bit of research. According to this site, sourdough uses yeast, but it's the naturally occurring yeast that already exists on grain. Store-bought packaged yeast is processed on corn or...something else that I can't remember, but since I'm also allergic to corn, I would guess I respond to yeast because of the corn, not necessarily because of the yeast.

A poster on this message board says you can start a sourdough starter with just white rice flour and water, and there is a plethora of gluten free sourdough recipes once you have the starter. Most starter recipes say to use store-bought yeast to start them, and that won't work here. So, here goes nothing. I'm taking an informal poll - do we think this will work? And will it NOT make us sick?

Monday Headlines

I'm feeling kind of quiet this morning... What to write?

1. I woke up this morning, and Nick had done all the dishes, taken out the trash, and filled up the water bottle on the counter. Considering the MESS we left it in last night, that definitely made me smile.

2. Definitely need to quit staying up till midnight watching the Olympics on DVR.

3. Making a roast in the crockpot for dinner. Yummy

4. We have two consultations this week! One's wedding is in December, and one is next June. I also interviewed another seamstress on Friday that looks like a great match. Gotta get enough help in place before our bridal fair Oct 5th!

5. We had a great time Friday night at Robby and Joanna's house, celebrating Kadence's 2nd birthday. I even got to hold tiny Keaton again. So fun. :)

6. On Saturday I'm going to Bekah's house - she's teaching a whole group of us to crochet. :) I've always wanted to learn this kind of thing and just never had the chance. I'm really looking forward to it!

That's about it. Scrubbing the bathtub, teaching an hour of lessons, and getting ready for our consultation tonight are the order of the day! Maybe I'll get in some yoga too?

Random thoughts

It has been drizzling rain since I woke up this morning. Usually I love the rain, but I can't help being sad that summer's already over! We seriously had 2 weeks of 90's out here and that's it. Now we go back into 10 months of cold. Sigh.

My beautiful friends brought me flowers and plants at my last mom's group yesterday, prompted by Joanna. :) So sweet. Thanks, guys.

I have been playing the piano again this week. It probably sounds weird because I teach every week, but I have not played consistently since I moved home from school 4 1/2 years ago. I think God is waking that up in me again, and I'm so excited.

Alright. Gotta go make myself actually do some work today...

A quote from Audrey

I was talking to the girls about lunch today, and Hannah, always wanting to be helpful, asked Audrey if she wanted some turkey for lunch. I could not help laughing out loud at Audrey's response:

"No, Hannah! Don't talkin' to me about turkey!"

Flexible Meal Planning

This system works so much better in my head than traditional "on Monday we'll have (meat) and (veggie) and (grain), on Tuesday, we'll have...

Migraines

I know lots of people who suffer from migraines, some frequently! This article gets into the reasons they happen, as well as some suggestions to make them stop. I haven't read them all, but many times there are also brilliant suggestions in the comments below the article, so check this out if you are a migraine sufferer.

Monday Headlines

Oh, my goodness, where to start?

1. We had a fun weekend Sunday. Yesterday we went to the early service, came home, ate lunch and took naps. Then we went to the pet store in the evening and got Toby a leash and chain collar (because he weighs over 100 pounds, I figure I better be able to control him!), and a Huge tennis ball on a strap that means you can throw it without touching the slime on the ball itself. Everyone was happy, nobody fought, we got enough rest...good times.

2. Audrey twisted her ankle on Saturday. She's walking on it okay, but if somebody bumps it, she cries and you can tell it really hurts. Poor baby. On an unrelated note - she keeps clinching her teeth with her lower front teeth in front of her upper front teeth, and talking like that. It's so weird.

3. We had a traumatic experience last Tuesday that I still don't want to blog about. Our neighbors 3 pit bulls, (yes, the ones I've griped about before) actually attacked Toby. They came running out their front door while we were taking a walk, and went right for him. He had about half a dozen puncture wounds from the bites, and the neighbor came running with a flat shovel to hit the pits until they let go. Nobody could do anything. I had almost given my dog up for dead and grabbed my kids and run. He didn't need any stitches though, just a pain med and antibiotic. The biggest thing is my kids were safe. On Friday I read Psalm 124. Thank You God! We called the county sheriff, but did not press charges, and the dogs are gone now. Our neighbors even paid the vet bill. It was very terrifying, but everybody is okay, the dogs are gone, and I'm so thankful.

4. We had another consult Saturday. This one was super fun, because the bride is really creating her own gown. Money does not seem to be an object for her - she's talking about having hand embroidery done. (Anyone know someone who loves to do embroidery and does excellent work that we can pay to do it for us?) Anyway, just waiting on the sketch and I bet we get a deposit really soon. We also have two others wanting to schedule consults - one is getting married in December so we gotta get moving!

5. On Saturday we also met with a young girl who wants to produce one-of-a-kind shirts and dresses for boutique shops. If you're interested I'll have to tell you the story in person. She is designing her own handbag line that is being produced in Italy. She showed us her very cute and very unique designs and Holly's working on a pattern for one shirt and one dress. It'll turn out fantastic. She also showed us her handmade debutante gown. It was fun and...surreal.

6. We get a date night this week! It's been too long again. I'm excited.

7. Baby Keaton is here! I got to hold him at one day old. SO amazing. I can't believe people start out that small... And Hannah was even smaller!

8. I'm teaching in the evening this week so that Nick can be home with the girls - a challenge at times. I am moving away from classical lessons and toward teaching only people interested in worship improv. I like it so much better! Classical lessons are fun when people are motivated, but the years of work with young kids are just not my thing. Too tedious. It also gives me a chance to refine my curriculum. We're actually working on design layout for my curriculum now. Probably won't release it till next school year though...

9. I postponed my last mom's group meeting last week, after the dog attack, so that happens Thursday. Still sad about it being over on some level, but I know it's the right thing to do. I can still go and hang out!

10. We have had so much rain out here in the past week. Driving home last night there was fog in every valley. With the trees and the fog and the drizzling rain - so gorgeous! Now we just have to dry out the front seat of the jetta - it got left open yesterday. Oops!

11. My Gramma Himes sent me a $25 Target gift card for my birthday, and I just got around to using it last night. I got two new shirts. I haven't been able to buy clothes for myself in a while, so I'm very thankful for just that little amount! And what I got is super cute. :)

OK, I'm sure I could think of more, but I need to go do dishes and get ready for the day. How was your week?

On "The Shack"

Glenn posted a blog that perfectly expresses my feelings about this book, even down to his hesitation to say anything. This is a book I will be skipping. I value too deeply the Holiness of God, the Biblical portrayal of the Trinity, the Church, Biblical submission, and many other ideas, to read something that may confuse those in my own mind, just for a book that makes me "feel" close to God. It's not about how close to God I feel!

I think it's terribly important that we keep our beliefs straight in our own minds, and allow God to teach us things directly from His Word. I hope this doesn't come across too harsh, but especially if you aren't reading your Bible every day, you have no business gleaning theology or comfort from a novel.

So there ya go. Done with the soapbox.

I gotta say...

Maybe I shouldn't be laughing, but the whole John McCain/Paris Hilton ad war is hysterical.