Sugarless. Pancakeless.

November 12, 2011

I have cut sugar completely out of my diet for 3 weeks. I mean ALL sugar. That includes all grains which turn to sugar in your stomach. Oy vey! Thankfully, I can have small, occasional amounts of fruit.

My favorite meal is breakfast and after a couple of weeks I've been really missing pancakes and the like.
In my ponderings on how to get around this, I considered almond meal.
Google turned up with some pancake recipes like this one (I couldn't find the one I used again but it was very similar. Shoulda pinned it :) using only almond meal for 'flour'.

Not too shabby. They definately tasted like almonds and were an interesting texture, but for being pancakes, I was eternally grateful. I did cheat a little and add a tiny bit of maple syrup with the strawberries and blueberries that I heated up in a saucepan for topping. But hey, real maple syrup has minerals in it so it's good for you, right?

The almond meal doesn't dissolve like flour so each pancake was a little different in texture based on how much liquid to almond ratio I got in my little ladle.

I wouldn't consistantly substitute these for regular gluten free pancakes that use grains such as rice and oats, but they were a worthy substitute in my time of depravity.

Bon Appetit!

On The Line

November 10, 2011

Wonderful vintage date... thingy.

I have received some great Birthday cards this year! Here's how I displayed them in my cubicle at work.

Got alot of people stopping by to check them out (especially the 'Freddie Murcury' one!)

Hang them on a 'clothesline': string with mini clothespins. Works great for photos and Christmas cards too!

P.S. It's finally looking like fall here!

Delicious Autumn!
My very soul is wedded to it and if I were a bird
I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns.
~ George Eliot

Fun times, Birthday Times

November 7, 2011

I had a wonderful birthday this year.
Birthdays are a pretty big deal at my house. I never thought much of it until I started finding out that not everyone has such extravagant birthdays. Usually we stay up way too late the night before a family member's birthday so they wake up to a house full of decorations. Now that I am the only one of my siblings left at home, birthdays are a little more low key... compared to how they were.
My mom did a superb job this year. So light and cheery! Taking advantage of our City Sukkah frame that had not been taken down yet!

She made me such a lovely breakfast!

Fruit & cheese kababs and fresh squeezed orange juice included!

She got very creative with DIY gifts. (LOVE)

She stenciled me an apron with a Julia Child quote

Matted and framed a painting that I had done as a kid

It was sweet, personal, and all around home grown. What could be better?

~*~

The weekend of my birthday, my dear, sweet, wonderful boyfriend took me horseback riding for the first time. My mom grew up with horses and talks about them all the time. I feel like I know about horses and how to ride... but somehow I missed the actual riding experience until my 24th Birthday! I travesty that was remedied beautifully. :)

I even got to meet some wonderful friends for dinner. What a satisfying Birthday. I'm happy.

Thank you!

Love, Caitlin

Time is Ticking

I'm going to have some seriously retroactive posts pretty soon. I haven't been able to upload the pics form my camera as of late..

Go Speed Racer! Go!

  This post should be dated Oct 31... but I've been busy.

My family is crazy about dressing up. We jump at any excuse to do so and tend to go all out. I can remember more than one situation as a child where I was embarrassed because I was the only person dressed up... or the person who dressed up the most. Now I just own it.

Steven however, has not worn a costume since he was 8 years old. This fall, I wanted to have a couple costume but didn't want to intimidate him with something too out there. I brainstormed up quite a list (with a little help from google searches... although they were much less helpful than I had anticipated) with good ideas for years to come.

Ths year, I decided on Speed Racer and Trixie. Not the most exciting costume for me, but I wanted Steven to feel comfortable. And awesome.

I think he did. Eveywhere we went people shouted "Heeeey Speed Racer!"

(My photos are not that great of quality due to poor lighting... but you get the idea)

He already had the helmet. We got his pants at the dickies outlet store (they were a little too big but he didn't want to try them on at the store. Silly), His shirts and red socks are from Target and I  cut out of fabric, backed with iron on and affixed the yellow G. He refused to wear a red neck scarf. I compromised on that. I already had some yellow leather gloves that I had gotten at Target a couple of years ago that he was able to squeeze his hands into. He wore black TOMS.

I got my shirt at Forever 21 and cut off the sleeves, sewed in the sides a little, and added the ties using the sleeves I had removed. I wasn't perfectly pleased with the ourtcome but it was alright. I got my red pants at a thrift store. They were originally from Forever 21 as well. Trixie wears capris but I was working with what I had. Found my yellow bow at a booth in the mall... would be easy to make though. Trixie sometimes wears white gloves but I didn't have any.

I looked at the closeup of her face and did my makeup like hers. Black eyeliner with 3 large lashes.

I poufed my hair and flipped it out on the bottom.

And there you go. Speed Racer! Go!

Picnic Weather

We don't get much of a fall in Texas, but the couple weeks of clear cool weather is simply delightful. A wonderufl respite from the oppressive heat of summer and the biting chill that gusts in with winter.

Right now, it is picnic weather.

Steven and I have our favorite tree at the Botanic Garden and endeavor to spend at least a few moments on a blanket under 'our tree' every Sunday.

This past Sunday we paused for but a moment in our picnic paradise with some Starbucks treats. But the Sunday before that, we had a delightful repast.

Garlic Beemster cheese, Buttery Wheat crackers (for Steven. I don't eat Gluten you see), roasted almonds, Sweet potato kettle chips, and some wonderful berries. I got a Metro Spearmint water and he opted for a Jones Soda.

I had never had Beemster before and we both loved it!

I put a blueberry in the center of some of the raspberries which was very delicious.

My reccomendation for you: GO on a picnic!

Ready for COLD!

I'm laid up in bed (again) this morning. This time it's bowel cramps.
However, I shall make use of this 'down time' to update as I have not had time to the last few days.

I am very impatient for cold weather.
I'm ready to pull out my sweaters and pack up my t-shirts for good! Every morning when I get dressed I have to tell myself repeatedly not to dress too warmly!

As a testament to my eager for the cool, amidst the papers that cover my desk, each representing a task, I found myself snipping snowflakes.

Work

I'm going to try to perfect the art of the paper snowflake before real ones begin to drift and swirl.




Love, Caitlin