wheat free update

First, though,  some vacation pics, since I never posted any:    

Our 20th summer at Blue Lake in eastern Washington.  The boys invited a friend  to come this year.  Dasha’s a delightful young lady and the 3 of them had a marvelous time (in case you couldn’t tell.)

We are still (mostly) wheat free around here.  The benefits are huge, so it’s a permanent thing.  Little things like losing many of Logan’s temper tantrums and big things like clear skin and significant weight gain for Ryan (example:  as of March 1, 2013, he’d been with us 7 1/2 years and had gained 21 pounds.  Between March 1 and July 19—while we were wheat free—he gained just over 4 pounds.  We LOVE that!) have been wonderful! Surprisingly, it’s not as hard as I would have expected.  I’ve found a great all purpose flour substitute and (by accident!) discovered that it generally works as a substitute in my everyday recipes.  Actually, we discovered it when I used my favorite wheat based recipe for pizza crust and grabbed the wrong flour container.  Made it up with wheat free flour and it worked quite nicely.  As a matter of fact, the general consensus that it’s BETTER with the wheat free flour!  Not bad.  Cornbread last night using my regular recipe and wheat free flour was just as delicious, and no one would know it was wheat free.   Just the way we like it to be.  Once in a while we find ourselves in a place where wheat free options aren’t doable, and it’s okay. Ryan’s got a nice little patch on the back of his neck that gets itchy when he gets too much wheat.  Fortunately, it gives plenty of warning, and we’ve not seen him return to the ‘covered with eczema’ state of our wheat eating days. 

I’ve heard from people who’ve tried wheat free for one person and talk about how hard it is.  I can’t imagine doing this for only one person!  It had to be an all or nothing thing around here.  I’m not a short order chef, and I can’t imagine trying to manage meals with and without wheat.  Fortunately, we’re not dealing with a life-or-death situation here, and if we get some wheat it’s not going to make anyone immediately ill.  That certainly makes it easier.  Nevertheless, we all eat wheat free.  In the long run, we’re feeling healthier because of it, so it’s been worth the learning curve.

Now, to tackle the ongoing issue of developmental delays.  And get started with another school year.  Another day…and another post or two. 

Celebrating!

My parents will have their 50th anniversary in December.  But because no one wants to have a fun party outdoors in December, we chose to honor them the first Saturday in August.   The weather was perfect (not too hot, not too cool, and no rain!), the location was lovely, the food was delicious, and the turn-out of people who love Mom and Dad was amazing.  

		Anniversary pictures VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

This is just a small portion of the pics from the day.  The family shots were fun…it’s the first time ever all 18 of us have been together in the same place at the same time.  To help identify the grandkids, in the picture of my mom with her granddaughters, from left to right it’s Hailey, Mom, Emily, and Tori.  All the girls are mine.    In the picture of my dad with his grandsons, from right to left it’s (back row)  Ted (Pam’s older son), Alec (Chris’ older son), Dad, and Brent (my oldest son).  Middle row:  Nick (Pam’s younger son), Logan (my middle son), and Ryan (my youngest son).  Sitting on the grass in front is Sam, Chris’ younger son.

Enjoy!!