Whew where has time gone????

Wow it's June already!!!! It's hard to believe how fast time is flying by, pretty soon school will be out and the kiddos will be home for summer break. A lot has been happening around here, the first major exciting change is that my mom and dad moved here from Ontario. Man alive am I ever lucky!!!!! I am absolutely loving having them here and enjoying every second of their company. With that comes the start of our farming career!!!!! We have had 156 babies join us, baby chicks that is!!! Johnny calls them his cutes, although the 6 older ones don't look quite as cute anymore. We will see how this venture goes, although I don't know yet how to explain where the chickens have gone to the younger ones........
The weather here has been TERRIBLE!!!!!! We have had so much rain and wind that my garden is completely under water! We are going to have to dig up another location and plant there but haven't done so yet. I cannot wait till we get the crops in as fresh garden veggies are the best!!!!! I am also cooking for another young guy so have been cooking up a storm and haven't had time to blog in FOREVER!
Well I guess I better get back to looking after the kiddos, my 10 min is up ha ha.

jill

This is soooo much harder than I remember!!!!!

Well I cannot believe I haven't even been able to post for over a week!!!!! I am having such a hard time with sickness this pregnancy, you would think by now I would be a pro. I just had the flu yesterday and am only starting to feel a little better tonight. I am so thankful to have my mom and dad here, they have been such a blessing as I would have had no idea what to do with Jim gone and me so sick. God knew that I would need my parents and that is the only explanation how they got here so fast!!!!! I am having all day sickness with this little baby, it doesn't ever seem to end. Hopefully that means it is super healthy!!!! I haven't felt like myself in I don't remember how long so I just hope and pray that I can get back to feeling somewhat normal soon. I have enjoyed not cooking for the past few days as my mom has been cooking for us and I am loving every second of it. I will return the favor as soon as I can!!!!! I really truly love cooking but when everything makes you want to throw up the enjoyment is no longer there.
This baby is going to be worth every ounce of sickness I have to go through there is no doubt in my mind, I just need to keep looking at that picture. Well off to bed I am up far too late!!!

Night,
Jill

Easy Peanut Butter Cookies!!!!

So today we had a couple extra friends over and I had some hungry kids.  I needed a quick snack to whip up so I made my super easy 3 ingredient peanut butter cookies! They taste amazing and are so easy to make.

Peanut Butter Cookies

1 cup all natural peanut butter (the no sugar kind as my kids call it)
1/2 cup coconut sugar
1 egg

Mix together then form into round balls, place on cookie sheet then press down with a fork and bake at 325 until they change color and turn a golden brown. If you want you can also add dark chocolate chips, either way they are delish!

Jill

Oh NOOOOO!

Well I have not been very good at making new recipes, I have been feeling so awful I can't even describe it!!!!! This pregnancy is so different from the rest, I am literally taking anything and everything I am allowed and nothing is working. Hence the reason why I have not been cooking up a storm, nor cleaning up a storm like I originally had hoped to be while Jim is away. I am hoping this will pass soon enough so i can get back to feeling normal again. I did however make a lasagna the other day and the kids just loved it. So here is my recipe!

Lasagna

3lbs lean ground beef cooked and rinsed
1 big jar tomato sauce (I used an organic tomato and basil)
1 500g tub cottage cheese
3 lg eggs
1 tsp oregano
1 cup shredded cheese
6-8 cooked brown rice lasagna noodles

Mix the cooked ground beef with the tomato sauce, put a thin layer on the bottom of a 9 x 13 pan. Place a layer of cooked brown rice lasagna noodles on top. Mix cottage cheese with eggs and oregano and place on top of the noodles. Sprinkle cheese over top then add another layer of noodles. Top with ground beef and sauce mixture and bake at 350 for an hour.

So easy and so yummy!!!

Jill

Salad Please!!!!

So I am really into salads for some reason, all I crave is SALAD ahhhhh! I am going to start trying to find the perfect salad dressing recipe. We don't buy salad dressing as it's full of preservatives and garbage oils etc.... But I am also such a saucy person, I LOVE any dips, dressings, or sauces. I really haven't been feeling like doing much of anything during this pregnancy. I am feeling absolutely exhausted and sick but hey suck it up buttercup life goes on!!!!! If anyone has an amazing salad dressing, or salad recipe that you would like to share that would be awesome! I am not into those fruity types but love pretty much anything else.
Johnny just turned 2, which is so hard to believe. I was just thinking how this was the longest I had gone without being pregnant lol. We are super excited about it but I am already noticing an expanding belly which is far too early for that. I guess my stomach knows where to go ;) Jim is gone for a month so I am hoping to get creative in the kitchen but that may be too much to ask lol. I made Johnny my favorite cake for his birthday and he loved it!!!! He just smiled as we sang, it was the best ever! We got him a melissa and doug puzzle that makes sounds and he loves it.
Well Johnny is up to his usual sneaking into the bathroom to steal the plunger or get into the toilet water so I better run!!!!!!!!!!! Have an awesome weekend!!!
Jill

Chili!!!!!

So I have finally come up with my best chili recipe yet, or I think so anyway. It is made with ground turkey but you could substitute with ground beef too if you want. I have been feeling so crappy with this pregnancy and pretty much want to throw up every second of every day so anything easy is good with me. Here it is, enjoy!!!!

Turkey Chili

2 796ml cans of diced tomatoes (blended into juice)
2lbs cooked ground turkey
1 can dark red kidney beans (rinsed and drained)
1 can regular chili beans (I use pinto)
1 chopped onion
1 chopped pepper (whatever color you wish)
1 tbsp chili powder
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp salt
Any veggies you desire (I use celery, cauliflower, mushrooms)

Cook the turkey, drain then put in pot. Add everything else and simmer on stove until veggies are cooked to your desired texture, we prefer them a little crunchy. Veggies are optional so you could also make it without.

I have tried making a lot of chili as my kids love it and this it the combo that they have liked the most. ENJOY!!!!!

jill

Phew!!!

Ok so my creative genius is lacking at the moment, hmmmm I wonder if it's because I found out a couple hours ago that we are having baby #6!!!!!!! Wow what a shocker! I have been feeling HORRIBLE but thought it was due to this cold/flu thing I have had forever. This morning it hit me when I was making eggs for the kids and needed to stop and find a bucket. Hmmm the last time this happened to me with eggs was when I was pregnant. For whatever reason I always had a hard time cooking eggs when pregnant, I also cannot eat them yucky. I guess I am going to have to do a lot more fritatta and baked egg recipes to get me through. Once I feel a bit better I will post an amazing recipe I have made, for now here is a recipe Kristjan my eldest son made up and the kids love!

Kristjan's egg pie.

8 eggs
1/2 cup salsa
1/2 tsp salt 1/4 tsp pepper
1/2 cup cheese
1/4 cup almond milk or coconut milk

Mix it all together and put it in a greased pan in the oven at 375 until the eggs are set. Enjoy!!!!!

It's the weekend!!!!

Yay it's the weekend!!!! I absolutely love having the whole family home, weekends are the best. I think this will just be a recouping weekend as we have almost all been hit with a nasty cold but are on the mend. John got it the worst of everyone but his fever finally broke this morning so I am so happy!!!! I am actually going out tonight for dinner, my friend Liz is in visiting from BC and so we are going to go out. I love going out to eat, Jim doesn't like it because he doesn't know what they have done to the food but I love not having to do a thing and someone cleaning up after me lol. Other than that we have Church tomorrow then back to the old grind on Monday.
I have been in a rut cooking the same old things over and over again but this week am gonna step it up and find some new things to share. The one ingredient that I have discovered is coconut secret!!!! It is the best thing since soya sauce. I love soya sauce but all the sodium and the fact that it is made from soy we don't use it or like it, even braggs aminos we don't use anymore because it is made with soy. As you can see we are not fans of soy for multiple reasons so we do not use it. Coconut secret is to me an alternative to soya sauce but it tastes even better and a little goes a long way. We substitute coconut secret any place we would use soya sauce or braggs. I bought it online at upapaya naturals and got a gallon jug. I highly recommend it. I have been making a lot of stirfry lately and that is all I use on it.
Well off to do something productive, well maybe not ;). I wish you all an amazing weekend!

Jill

Mmmmmm Crockpot Mexican Chicken Chili

So I am addicted to reading food blogs lol!!! I was looking for an easy chicken recipe and found this one. I changed only a couple things in it, haven't tried it yet but it looks and smells yummy.
http://hobsonhomestead.blogspot.com/2010/12/crockpot-mexican-chicken-chili.html

That is the link to the recipe but here it is below with what changes I made.


Crockpot Mexican Chicken Chili

Ingredients:

• 1 cup salsa verde (Insead I used 1 cup of regular salsa I had made since I haven't ever seen salsa verde)
• 2 celery stalks, chopped
• 1 can Rotel tomatoes (I used 1 946ml can of organic diced tomatoes)
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 tsp chili powder (I doubled this)
• 1 tsp cumin (I doubled this)
• 1 pound boneless chicken breasts, trimmed and halved (I added a couple extra)
• Optional toppings: shredded cheese, sour cream, chives

1. In crockpot, add salsa verde, celery, Rotel, onion, chili powder and cumin. On a whim, I bough Pace Salsa Verde at the store earlier this week. Sure, I'd love to create my own version, but another trip to the store wasn't worth it to me. Here's a good recipe for Salsa Verde in case you're interested in what's in it.
2. Turn crockpot on high and place chicken breast halves on top of mixture. Be sure to push them down a bit in the mixture so that they're basted with liquid.
3. After 3 or 4 hours, check to make sure chicken is cooked. Then shred halves with a fork and serve.


Sounds soooo yummy!!!!

Have any of my kids been this BUSY!!!!!!

Wow is all I can say, John is the busiest kid EVER!!!! I may have said that about other babies previous lol but I don't remember this. He will get into anything and everything! If you turn around for one second he has climbed into the fireplace and is covered in soot or he has the toilet bowl brush out and scrubbing things with it. His favorite obsession is trying to get into the washer and dryer, so we have to keep that door closed. He loves to play with Cassie our dog, well if that means dumping all her food into her water dish or just plain dumping her water all over his own head, or stepping in it and squishing the water everywhere. Phew I seriously can't look away for one minute, although I love every minute of it because he is so darn cute!!!!! Sometimes I want to get mad at him but then he gives you this little look and says hi mommy and then it's over all I say is awwww. Well I wonder what he is into now so I better run.

Jill

MMMmmm Meatloaf!!!

Ok so I have always been trying to come up with a meatloaf recipe that I liked and I have found one!!!!
Here it is!

Turkey Meatloaf (you can use beef if you want or ground chicken)

1lb ground turkey
1 cup of tomato liquified (I put crushed tomatoes in the magic bullet and turn it into a liquid)
1 cup blanched almond flour
1 egg
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/4 to 1/2 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp pepper

Mix all together and put in a loaf pan or an 8 X 8 pyrex dish
Bake at 350 for approximately 1 hour

Enjoy!!!!

Gluten Free Version of Tempura Veggies (you can use cooked meat as well)

So we were craving chinese food so badly but knew we couldn't have it so I looked around for recipes that looked like something that would taste good and I modified it so we could eat it!!!!! The original recipe came from: http://www.celiac.com/articles/22211/1/Tempura-Vegetables-Gluten-Free/Page1.html but here is how I made it! And honestly it was better than I ever imagined!!

This seriously was so yummy!!!!!

Tempura Vegetables (Gluten-Free)
 Tempura Ingredients:

2 cups rice flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

¼ teaspoon sea salt

2 cups cold carbonated water

Vegetable Ideas:

Sweet Potato

Yams

broccoli

carrots

cauliflower

asparagus

mushrooms

zucchini

eggplant

bell peppers

Yummy Dipping Sauce

Ingredients:
(yummy sauce that I served on the chicken and veggie tempura)

¼ cup gluten-free vegetable stock

1 Tablespoon coconut sugar

¼ cup coconut secret (you can use braggs or gluten free tamari also)

1 Tablespoon Rice Vinegar


¼ cup Water

Heat all the sauce ingredients in a small pan until the sugar is dissolved. Set aside to cool.

Note: The thicker the vegetable, the longer it will take to cook. You may want to blanch thicker vegetable like sweet potato before frying. Softer vegetables like mushrooms and eggplant do not require blanching. Also, try to cook like-sized pieces to avoid over or under cooking. I cut my vegetables into approximately 1 inch pieces in length, and ¼ inch in width. Avoid overcrowding your veggies and leave plenty of room to keep them from sticking together. Also if you use meat, be sure your meat is cooking thoroughly before dipping in the batter.

When you drop a batter coated veggie in, little pieces of batter will explode off the veggie outward like tempura fireworks. These pieces indicate that your batter is hot enough. The veggies should cook for 40 seconds to 1 minute and feel crispy when you knock them around. You don’t need them to be golden brown, so don’t wait for that.

To make:

Preheat coconut oil in your pan till it’s about medium heat, you want the veggies to sizzle when they hit the pan. You want to make sure that there is enough oil in the pan so they don’t stick to the bottom.

Combine the dry ingredients in a medium size mixing bowl.

Add the carbonated water and whisk until smooth.

Lightly dip ingredients in the batter (the batter is pretty thick but you want to make sure there is some all over the veggies, you may find you like them with either more or less batter on them) and immediately fry them until crispy.

Drain tempura on a rack or paper towels.

Tempura is best served fresh and hot. It cools really quickly I find!

JUSTIN BIEBER

So we all went to see the Never Say Never movie and believe it or not it was GREAT!!!! I never really knew much of anything about him but seeing how he came to be was so neat. The only problem I foresaw was Jessica getting the dreaded Bieber Fever lol, but she came home and said I wish he was my brother. PHEW!!!! We keep telling the kids that when they are 30 they are free to date, Jessica is the only one who tries to push the age limit to 18. For those of you who know me I LOVE kernels popcorn!!!!! It is a treat that I so look forward too, although I know it is not the best for me so I don't have it very often. I made some popcorn for the kids at the movies (I know you're not supposed to do that but we have food allergies so it's ok in my mind). I have one of those twirly pop things and I use coconut oil, well I found this yummy seasoning by lydias organics, it is gluten free so I thought I would give it a whirl. It was so yummy!!!!!! Here is a list of the ingredients if anyone wants to know what is in it. For now I have found my replacement for Kernels! I hope you all had a fantastic weekend!
Jill

Ingredients: Ingredients: A combination of dehydrated carrots*, celery*, parsley*, sprouted sunflower seeds*, sprouted almonds*, sprouted flax*, sprouted quinoa*, sprouted pumpkin seeds*, kale*, tomatoes*, spinach*, zucchini*, arugula*, radicchio*, lettuce*, dulse*, nori*, ginger*, onions*, garlic*, herbs*, Original Himalayan Crystal Salt & .

The Yummiest Chocolate Cake EVER

Ok so not a word of a lie I just had the best chocolate cake ever!!!!! I found the recipe yet again on Elanas Pantry website and she modified it from another ladies recipe. I thought hmmm there is no sugar or agave or anything in it will it really be that good???? And it is incredible so I had to share! I used dark chocolate chips well a 80% lindt dark chocolate bar cut up when I made it not the white chocolate kind (although I am sure those would have been amazing too).  www.elanaspantry.com

Black and White Cake (Mine was I guess Black Cake lol)
1 cup dark chocolate chips 73% cacao (if you want to use a bar, it's about 6 ounces)
½ cup coconut milk
2 eggs
1 ¼ cups blanched almond flour
½ teaspoon celtic sea salt
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 cup white chocolate chips

1. Melt dark chocolate chips and coconut milk in a small saucepan over very low heat
2. When chocolate is completely melted, remove saucepan from heat
3. Stir eggs into saucepan containing chocolate/coconut milk mixture
4. Next, stir in almond flour, salt and baking soda
5. Fold in ½ cup of the white chocolate chips
6. Grease an 8x8 inch baking dish with oil of your choice
7. Pour batter into baking dish, then sprinkle remaining white chocolate chips over batter
8. Bake at 350° for 20-25 minutes
9. Cool and serve

I think I am getting the hang of this!!!!

Well I am either getting the hang of keeping up my blog or I am procrastinating all the mountain of things I should be doing, either way I have so far been successful at writing. I seriously love writing, it's like me talking to another adult even though I can't see one lol. Things have been great here, incredibly crazy busy but hey that is the life of a business owner/mother of 5 and wife to Jim ha ha ha. I love my crazy life!!!!! So the kids are crazy busy, John had completely changed and is the BUSIEST child ever. You turn your head for one minute and he is in the soot from the fireplace, or floating toys or PS3 remotes in the toilet. His latest obsession is emptying all the water from the water cooler onto the floor, but I got him this time as I went and bought child proof knobs. He tries and tries but cannot get it to work. It's hard to believe that John is almost 2 already, this is the longest I have gone without being pregnant. Yes that means that so far there are no babies on the way for us! Well I have the gym calling me and my kids telling me to get off the computer so I guess my moment of relaxation is over. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend (although I may be the only one reading this so I wish myself a wonderful weekend lol)

Jill

Chorizo Sausages

Ok so here is an amazing vegetarian sausage recipe that I made gluten free!!!! It is amazing, I am not a vegetarian but they are great!!!

1/2 cup cooked pinto beans rinsed and drained
1 cup vegetable broth
1 Tbsp coconut oil
2 Tbsp coconut secret (you can use soy sauce)
2 Tbsp tomato paste
2 tsp. lemon zest (I use juice sometimes)
2 cloved garlic finely minced
1 1/4 cup brown rice flour
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1 Tbsp paprika
1 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
1 tsp. sage
1 tsp. dried oregano

Basically mash the beans until no whole ones are left ( I use my vitamix). Add the rest of the ingredients together with the beans. It is a goopy mixture so I just take tin foil and plop a generous amount in the middle then wrap it up so none can come out. Then place in a steamer and steam approx. 40 min or so. Slice them up and sautee them with onions or alone however you like them. I usually make this recipe X4 so it makes quite a few sausages.

Jill

A whirlwind trip!

Well for those of you who don't know, I took Jim to Vancouver and LA for his birthday/our anniversary/valentines trip ha ha. I booked it literally 2 days before we left, so spontaneous I know. We were looking at the schedule and realized that last weekend would be the only weekend we had to go see Aaron (Jim's good friend and a training client of his) play hockey. Aaron plays for the Canucks and in 2 years we still haven't gone to see him. So I found a flight that overnighted in BC and left the next am for LA. We left at 4:53pm and arrived in BC at 6:02pm having to rush to get to the game for 7pm. It was so exciting to watch someone you know play and at the highest level of hockey. We watched them play and WIN then had a great time going out for dinner with Aaron and Adrianne. I enjoyed adult conversation ha ha. The next morning we left at 6am for the airport and got into LA at 11:15am. Our first stop was definitely LA Ink, or high voltage tattoo, no I am not into getting tattoos but I have watched the show and wanted to see it in person. I was so excited and Jim just let me go in by myself. By the time we were done there we went to get something to eat just over from Rodeo drive and it was time to get going to our hotel. We checked in and went straight to the supercross race. After that we went to the hotel and slept as we were soooo tired. The next morning we left to go to the airport and came home the next night. I have always wanted to be on the amazing race so when we arrived in Calgary with a 4 hour layover I instinctively ran to the counter trying to get home faster, we ended up on a play 15 minutes later. It was a crazy busy fun trip that left us exhausted but it was soooo worth it. I would love to one day go and spend some time in LA but that will be for another year.

Well I better run as the kids are going to be home soon and will want a snack! I will post an amazing gluten free vegetarian sausage recipe within the next couple days!!!!

jill

My Favorite Chicken!!!!

Yesterday was a chicken day for us and I made my favorite chicken dish and thought I should share it!!!! It's super easy and tastes amazing so I hope you enjoy!

Chicken and Mushrooms

Ingredients
1/4 cup coconut oil
1/2 cup onion chopped
1/4 tsp oregano dried
1 garlic clove minced
1/2 to 2/3 cup dry white wine
1/2 to 3/4 tsp salt
dash pepper
2 cups mushrooms sliced
4 chicken breasts (or I just tried chicken thighs last night and they were great!)

Brown the chicken in olive oil over med heat in a cast iron pan. Add onion and cook until soft. Season chicken with salt and pepper and add oregano, garlic, wine and mushrooms, make sure to scrape the bottom of the pan to loosen the cooked bits of onion and to make sure the chicken isn't sticking. Cover and cook over low heat until the chicken is tender and cooked through, about 30 to 35min. Now it's ready to eat!!!!! If you desire you can garnish it with parsley. Serve with a nice salad and some brown rice!!!

I absolutely LOVE to cook and am going to hopefully start trying to create new dishes. Sometimes it's hard to think of new things and you get stuck in a rut so I hope that maybe some of these will be helpful to others.

Jill

Yummy Soup!!!!!

We had the best soup ever a couple days ago so I thought I would share the recipe!!!!

Hamburger Soup
1lb cooked ground beef (or you can use stewing beef)
1 28oz can tomatoes (ground up in your food processor)
1 16oz can tomato sauce
2 litres beef broth
1 tsp paprika
4 tbsp coconut sugar
1 onion chopped
2 potatoes chopped and cubed
celery (how much you want)
carrots (how much you want)

Basically put it all in a pot and cook!!!!

Honestly it is sooooo yummy and so easy to make!!!!!

Bread MMMMMmmmmmm......

So I have officially found my favorite gluten free bread recipe, it is from Elanas Pantry and made with blanched almond flour. I have tried a lot of them but this one is our family favorite! I always make a double batch!!!

Gluten Free Sandwich Bread
1 ½ cups blanched almond flour
¾ cup arrowroot powder
¼ cup flax seed meal
½ teaspoon celtic sea salt
½ teaspoon baking soda
4 eggs
1 teaspoon agave nectar
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

1. In a medium bowl, combine almond flour, arrowroot, flax meal, salt and baking soda
2. In a larger bowl, blend eggs 3-5 minutes until frothy
3. Stir agave and vinegar into eggs
4. Mix dry ingredients into wet
5. Pour batter into a well greased 7.5" x 3.5" loaf pan
6. Bake at 350º for 30-35 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of loaf comes out clean
7. Cool and serve

Makes 1 medium sized loaf of gluten-free bread

http://www.elanaspantry.com/gluten-free-bread-20/

Salmon the easy way!!!

Ok so I know the health benefits of salmon and all that but I HATE seafood. I recently made salmon patties and actually could eat them!!!!! Not that I absolutely love them but for me being able to eat fish of any kind is huge. So here is the recipe!

1LB Salmon (I cook it in the oven at 350 till it's cooked through)
1 egg
1 cup blanched almond flour
1/2 cup chopped celery or onion
1/2 tsp salt
pepper to taste

Put all the ingredients in a bowl and mix together until combined. Form into patties and fry them in a cast iron (that's what I use) pan using coconut oil.

They really are that easy to make!!!!

Amazing Gluten Free Website!!!

One of the websites I have found to be extremely helpful with gluten free baking and cooking is www.elanaspantry.com. This has amazing resources and amazing recipes that I have tried and we all LOVE. I also purchased her book the almond flour cookbook and there are way more recipes in there that are great. Here is a link to one of my favorite snack http://www.elanaspantry.com/breakfast-bars/. The only thing I do differently is we use coconut oil instead of grapeseed oil.

Gluten Free Breakfast Bars
1 ¼ cup blanched almond flour
¼ teaspoon celtic sea salt
¼ teaspoon baking soda
¼ cup grapeseed oil
¼ cup agave nectar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ cup shredded coconut
½ cup pumpkin seeds
½ cup sunflower seeds
¼ cup almond slivers
¼ cup raisins

1. In a small bowl, combine almond flour, salt and baking soda
2. In a large bowl, combine grapeseed oil, agave and vanilla
3. Stir dry ingredients into wet
4. Mix in coconut, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, almond slivers and raisins
5. Grease an 8x8 baking dish with grapeseed oil
6. Press the dough into the baking dish, wetting your hands with water to help pat the dough down evenly
7. Bake at 350° for 20 minutes
8. Serve

Makes 12-16 bars

Another recipe that I have made quite a bit lately is lazy cabbage roll casserole, it freezes well and you can make a whole bunch so there is lots of leftovers for lunch!!!!

4lbs ground beef (cooked and browned)

1 28oz can crushed or diced tomatoes

1 14oz can tomato sauce

1 large head of cabbage chopped finely

1 cup brown rice

2 tsp salt

1 - 2 tsp pepper

28oz of water

Garlic to taste (if you like garlic)

Basically all I do is get my roasting pan, blend the diced tomatoes in my magic bullet then put them in the roaster. Fill the empty can with water and add to the tomatoes, pour in the rice, the tomato sauce, the salt, pepper, cabbage and ground beef. Stir it all up and cook it at 350 for about 1.5 hours. That is it, so easy and it makes a ton!!!!

Here we go again!!!!

Wow I looked at my blog and thought hmmmm I am a horrible blogger!!!!! I love to write and share my thoughts and ideas but actually taking the time to sit down and do so is another story. I have been reading a lot of other blogs and decided I am going to try this again. A lot has changed since I last wrote, first of all we had our 5th child John!!!! He is such a joy and an absolute blessing. We have also gone completely gluten free!!!! We recently took a trip to Chicago to Dr. Mercola's natural health institute and found out that all of our children are intolerant to gluten. We thought we were eating close to gluten free but once you go through the process you find that there are a lot of hidden glutens out there. It has been quite the journey but everyday gets easier and easier and we are noticing huge changes in our children since we removed gluten from their diets. I will post recipes and links to websites and blogs that have helped us along the way! I am really excited about this so I will try to make it last this time lol, although I am not even sure if anyone will read this. I love to write so this is as much for me as for anyone else that may find this useful. So here is to another try!!!!!