Homemade Peanut Butter

So as I was writing the last recipe I realized peanut butter is so easy to make at home just like applesauce! An everybody must have!

We started making our own when we lived in Oregon at whole foods or Fred Meyers. They had a section where you'd choose you nuts the put them through the machine with oil, and boom fresh peanut butter!

So I decided to start making my own from home once I was having a hard time finding true GF peanut butter I could eat. And it was amazing!! I used it for a GF peanut butter cookie that was just to die for! (I'll have to post that too!)


Ingredients
15 ounces shelled and roasted peanuts or of your choice. (I've used honey roasted which was good too!)

1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 1/2 teaspoons honey
1 1/2 tablespoons peanut oil or vegetable oil

Directions
Place the peanuts, salt and honey into the bowl of a food processor. Process for 1 minute. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Place the lid back on and continue to process while slowly drizzling in the oil and process until the mixture is smooth, 1 1/2 to 2 minutes. Place the peanut butter in an airtight container and store in the refrigerator for up to 2 months.

Yummm!! No junk added!

Homemade applesauce

I don't know if many people make this at home, but I do know they should! Applesauce is SOOO easy to make at home and tastes so delicious fresh. I started making mine when I began making all of the baby's food, but kept it up for all of us. It has nothing but apples, water and cinnamon in it. As good as it gets no junk or sugar added!

For a smaller batch I use 3-4 (for a bigger use 6-7) apples of choice. I love using Golden Delicious! Cut and dice up in smaller chunks, Add the dices and a finger tip width of water in a sauté pan. Sauté for about 15 minutes, add a dash or two of cinnamon while cooking and stir.

Pour sautéed apples and leftover water in food processor or blender and blend! You can pulsate for chunky or purée for smooth!

Presto! Yummy right???

GF buffalo chicken pizza

Yummm!! Buffalo chicken and purple onion pizza. Spicy and delicious!

Crust
-I made the pizza crust with Bob's Redmill Gluten Free Pizza dough mix. The package makes two 12' pizzas or one 18 inch pizza. I made it in an actual pizza pressure cooker type machine we just got! Only had to cook it once with all the toppings for 14 minutes.

Sauce
-1/3 cup Franks original redhot and 1/4 franks buffalo redhot

-Grill chicken, then sauté up in the Frank's sauce on the stove.

After making the crust, spread it out on the pizza maker (or oven pizza pan), add chicken and sauce, chopped purple onion, reduced fat mozzarella cheese (as much as you desire).Then cook for about 14 minutes.

*If your using a traditional oven refer to the back of the Redmill's bag :) You have to bake it without toppings for 7-8 minutes then again with topping for 18-25 minutes.

*NOTE: If you've never made GF pizza crust at home make sure when spreading it on the pan or pizza maker use water on a spatula to spread the crust. Or else it sticks like glue and is super difficult to work with. As you can tell I learned through trial and error ;)

This tasted better and more like "real" pizza crust then some places now serving GF pizza crust, which seems to be super fluffy and moist.

Gluten Free Penne!

Yummm, Yummm, Yummm!!! Last nights dinner: Trader joes brown rice penne pasta and my homemade pasta sauce from my previous post! Tasted so good and the hubs didn't even taste a difference! Cooking has always been a love in the last few years and learning new ways to cook can be challenging BUT I've had a lot of support from my family, especially my cousin Katie (our dads are identical twins so were genetically half the same and god does it show!!) Check out her awesome blog! http://livehalffull.wordpress.com/

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Just want to get better..

So lately I've been a little down about my progress. I've been waiting a month now to get into the GI dr to get a biopsy done for this whole Celiac stuff. Well it's finally here today! As much as I don't want to get scoped again I'm looking forward to getting answers. Because I still feel a bit crappy even going off of gluten. I still have horrible tummy aches all the time. But as much as that's still there, the nausea and throwing up has stopped....soooo that is a plus!! I have feeling sick like that!

When I originally went to the dr's for the stuff that had been going on I had a few concerns: my tummy and constant nausea issues (later to be determined as celiac) and a major issue I feel my right leg is numb 85% of the day. It starts at my hip, down my thigh and goes to my foot. No matter what I do it seems to be a constant problem. I've had an MRI of my spine and brain done (to test for MS) a Venus Doppler (to check for a blood clot) and an exam by my dr. He made me do physical therapy for 5 weeks which they found there I had an upslip in my pelvis and it was raised, along with my foot about 3 whole inches higher then my left leg. When they finally popped it back in place I was hoping that would be the cure all for the numbness and tingling in my right side.
I have had no progress in the last 18 months and it's killing me. It keeps me up at night, it hurts to drive and I can't sit for too long without my right side going completely numb and tingly :(

The worst part my new dr (I wanted a second opinion) thinks I need to see a neurologist to clear if it is MS or not, and to simply get to the bottom of it all. I went back to my old dr (confusing I know) bc I couldn't get into my new dr for 3WEEKS and he didn't even try to hear me out just said it sounded like I had a i.t band injury gave me some exercises and still nothing. Oh plus getting into the neurologist they want me to see......6 MONTHS. Seriously 6 f-ing months. Pardon my French but that is so messed up. I'm in pain daily and it's really affecting my everyday life.
Soo yeah I'm hoping more progress is made in the upcoming months bc I'm not too sure how long I can't put up with the pain. But on a positive note I've pushed through the pain to start working out everyday again and that has been helping my depressive moods (compliments of my auto immune and thyroid diseases!) I'm determined to take control of that part of my life again so I can feel better about how rough I feel on the outside, especially running after my cutie patootie :D


Till next time! stay positive!
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Baby "fake out" Mac N cheese

So I made a yummy baby food yesterday for Cj and I have to say it tastes delish! Totally going to do this for the next few years or until he notices :)
I got it out of a cookbook then altered it little like any time I follow recipes :)
You use small pasta stars which I found in the ethnic area of the grocery store, you only have to boil a few tables spoons of those.
For the sauce I sautéed about 6 cherry tomatoes (seeded, skinned and diced) w/ a teaspoon of butter and 1 cup of steamed carrots, 1/3 cup of cheese puréed together. Then mix with the cooked pasta stars! He LOVED it! I really enjoy making all his baby food and watching him explore and be open to all kinds new foods. It's so rewarding to me. It even got me on a kick of how I could develop a line of homemade baby food! Far fetched BUT who knows what the future holds :)

The last two weeks

So it's been about 2 weeks since the Dr called with all the results..still have to wait another 2 weeks for my GI appointment so I can get scoped (fun...not!!) and I can find out about having a biopsy of my small intestines. This also does not sound fun!! But whatever needs to happen so I can get better is fine. I've been through way worse!
Also they can't clear that I don't have MS yet :( I have to see a neurologist and guess what?! The wait for an appointment for a new patient is 6 MONTHS!!!!!!!!!! That frustrates me beyond anything. My hands are weak, my legs have gotten weaker and the numbness and tingling is somewhat unbearable some days.
Now that I'm 95% GF I was hoping to say I was feeling better, but I'm not. Even on the days I have not touched gluten I still get super nauseous, light headed, bad stomach aches and lots of other fun stuff ;)
One thing I noticed too...going out SUCKS!! I find it hard to go and eat anywhere bc no matter how many times I look at labels or read a menu I get discouraged thinking what if it's in there??! Then it makes me miss living in Portland...there was TONS of places that had GF menus. Oh well! Adjustments take time I know. Out of all my health issues tho, I will say this one was the hardest to swallow.
If it wasn't for this sweet innocent baby boy sleeping in my arms and my strong husband I'm not sure where I'd be. It's weird to think about..there was a long time in my life where I never saw marriage and kids in my future. And I knew that all changed when I met my husband. Now I couldn't picture myself any other way. Nothing could ever make me want to be anywhere else in life then with my boys :)

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