sock monkey aprons and more

I've taken a little break from sewing. We have had a lot going on with our new house project, so my evening sewing sessions have been replaced with early bedtimes this past week. I do still have one project in the works, a bag from the book One Yard Wonders. I am working on this bag as part of my Thursday Night Sewing Club with my pal, Anna.

Speaking of Anna, since I have nothing to showcase this week, I will brag about the darling apron she made for Marcus for his birthday. Charlie is wearing his apron, which Anna made for him a year or so ago. Next to him is not Marcus, but Charlie's friend, Lachlan, who happily donned Marc's apron to make some cookies while Marcus was sleeping.

Why is Charlie looking so forlorn, you may wonder? Well, he was convinced that he didn't like honey... which is what we were using to make these very yummy gluten-free almond flour cookies. His mood lightened when I broke out the chocolate chips, and by cookie-sampling time he was a believer in the tastiness of the bees' sweet nectar.

This was my first big success using almond flour. I won't even describe to you how horrible my first three attempts turned out. Yikes. You can find this gluten-free, almond flour chocolate chip cookie recipe at comfybelly.com, here.

I love sock monkeys, which is why I extra-adore Anna's aprons. Posting the sock monkey aprons reminded me of my only attempt at creating a sock creature...

I made "Wonky" (who was truly wonky!) using the book/kit, Stupid Sock Creatures.

It was a decent first attempt, but when I look at Wee Wonderful's or Sew Much Ado's doll/toycreations, I totally want to try again.

I am still going to make Marcus a cape... someday. I just got a little bit lazy and a little bit overwhelmed by the crazy number of gifts that kid accumulated between Christmas and his January birthday. Whoa. So, I figure he could use a gift-getting break, anyways.

:) Shelly

mac and cheese, hold the gluten

I am actually working on a sewing project right now - it is just taking me an outrageous amount of time to complete because of poor planning on my part. I'm making a very cool bag for my very cool SIL, Amy, but I've been twice stalled in my stitching efforts by running out of supplies: first interfacing over the weekend, then gray thread on Monday. Arghhh! I think I've gotten myself organized now, though, and I should have it all done by this weekend (no sneak peeks, Ams - sorry!).

Anyways, I thought I'd share something with you that I am very excited about... Gluten-Free Mac and Cheese! Charlie asked me to make Mac and Cheese for his special birthday dinner, so I decided to take a chance and do a gluten-free version (that way I could eat it, too!).

Believe me, this tastes much yummier than I've made it look with my archaic point-and-shoot.

I've done a couple of other posts about gluten-free baking (here and here), and some readers have inquired why I am leaving out the gluten these days. About six months ago I found out that I have Hashimoto's Disease, which is an auto-immune disorder that affects the thyroid gland. After my diagnosis, I immediately compiled a bunch of research in order to give myself some sense of control. One of the books I purchased is called Why Do I Still Have Thyroid Symptoms When My Lab Tests Are Normal? (which is an ingenious title because I believe that is the exact question that I Googled when looking for a book on Hashimoto's Disease!). The book's author, Dr. Datis Kharrazian, makes a compelling argument for the link between gluten intolerance and Hashimoto's Disease, suggesting that people affected by Hashimoto's should go gluten-free in order to keep their thyroid hormone levels in balance. So I went for it, and not only do I feel a lot better, I've also had two blood tests in the last six months that show normal thyroid hormone levels - this is either a total coincidence or it means the gluten-free diet is working! I'm hoping that I can just keep it going with my GF lifestyle, rather than having to take a thyroid hormone pill every day for the rest of my life. Fingers are crossed!

Now that I've submersed myself in this gluten-free way of eating, I am noticing that there are a lot of people who are finding themselves in a similar flourless boat. So, I thought maybe some of you would appreciate a little comfort food that can be easily executed minus the flour! Here's the easiest gluten-free mac and cheese recipe ever! (I found this recipe on Allrecipes and made some modifications to it to make it gluten-free).

1 cup Tinkyada gluten-free elbow pasta (or "Little Dreams" which I used upon Charlie's request)

1 cup milk

3 tbsp Bob's Red Mill Gluten-Free Flour

2 tbsp butter

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

salt and pepper to taste

Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain and set aside.

In a microwave-safe bowl, combine milk, flour, salt and pepper. Add butter and cheese, then stir. Microwave for 5 minutes on high, remove and stir (or whisk) until smooth. Microwave for an additional 3 minutes, remove and stir (or whisk) until no lumps remain.

Add sauce to the pasta and carefully toss. Pour pasta into a baking dish. Cover and bake at 350 for 20 minutes.

Yum!

A photo of a finished sewing project is forthcoming, scout's honor.

needed: one masculine apron

I am making slow progress on the scrap coat - "quiet time" isn't quite as quiet as it used to be around here. We also went camping this weekend, which robbed me of all of my sewing time (and left me instead with a huge pile of stinky laundry). The trip was a blast, though. After a long morning of attempting to restore our kitchen and laundry room to a civilized state, I decided we all needed a creative break. So, we made some gluten-free zucchini bread.

Marcus insisted upon wearing an apron just like Charlie had on. The only other apron I have is this very cute frilly apron that my friend, Stacey, gave me a while back as a birthday present. Marcus didn't seem to care, but Charlie was quite disturbed by the fact that the apron was "girly".

I just loved that Marcus was baking with us. Until this morning, he's never had a great interest in helping out with cooking or baking (though he sure loves to pull everything out of the kitchen drawers - child-proof locks on the cabinets are a total joke for that crafty little stinker).

And, it turned out pretty good. We used the gluten-free zucchini bread recipe from Bob's Red Mill (it was printed on the back of the xanthum gum package). The only changes we made were to add some broken pieces of a Hershey's bar (since we couldn't have campfires at the site we camped at this weekend, I have a dangerous amount of s'mores supplies hanging around in our kitchen) instead of the raisins, and to omit the cinnamon (because I ran out). It was still tasty, though!

We journeyed to the neighborhood sandbox while it cooled, then gobbled a good portion of one loaf down upon our return. Yum!

There will be scrap coat progress tonight! I promise!

gluten-free apron

Dear Cold, Gloomy Weather,

I'm not sure if you knew about this or not, but it is, in fact, July. Please usher the rain, clouds, and chilly air away and send the warm, bright sun in to take its rightful place in a blue sky.

Thank you!

I needed to brighten up my day yesterday with a quick, fun project. I bought this material from JoAnn Fabrics quite a while ago with the intention of making myself one of those lovely aprons from this fantastic tutorial.

The bright oranges and airy blue did the trick! I was so happy to make this apron for myself because I've promised myself to start baking again. You see, I used to bake all the time. I loved it. Then I started this gluten-free diet about four months ago. In order to bake gluten-free goodies, you need to use xanthum gum and all different kinds of flour, so I was totally scared off. I did "bake" some yummies using Duncan Hines gluten-free mixes, which are surprisingly delicious (especially the brownies), but I had yet to do any "real" baking... until yesterday.

Inspired by my new gluten-free apron and a somewhat drizzly, yucky afternoon, Charlie and I made some gluten-free banana bread. The recipe is from my gluten-free friend, Lexy, and it is excellent! I've copied her recipe at the bottom of this post, just in case you're gluten-free and interested. It was so much fun to bake with Charlie - something we used to do a lot together!

We put entirely too many chocolate chips in our bread, which made the bread more like a dessert than a sweet breakfast treat. I was very fearful of what Lexy calls the "GF undertone," which is why we added so many. Charlie made sure to polish off what was left of the bag (yes, we used that many chips). Hey, do you like Charlie's apron? I do, too! Anna made it for him!

Marcus got in on the chocolate chip scavenging action, too.

The bread was very, very yummy. I'm no food photographer, but doesn't it just look delicious?!

The boys sure thought it was. Even Chris tried the bread, and he's never one to be super excited about gluten-free food products. He didn't eat much, but he gave it a good review. Thanks, Lexy!

Here's her recipe. I included her commentary because it is both helpful and very funny, just like Lexy.

GF banana bread w/ choc chips recipe

(made this last night - very yummy, worth reproducing, so I thought I'd forward it!)

Mash up 3 medium sized mushy bananas (I freeze them until I'm ready to thaw & use - makes them sweeter) + 2 eggs + 1-2 tbsps vanilla + 2/3 cup brown sugar.

Add dry ingredients (I never bother to mix dry ingredients together first and it seems to work fine): 2 cups of Bob's Red Mill GF Flour (I used about half & half all-purpose flour + bread/baking flour, just because that's what I had, it's probably all the same anyways) + a dash of salt + a healthy dose of cinnamon (I like 2 tbsps at least) + 1 tsp xanthan gum + 2 tsps baking POWDER (not soda).

Mix all together. Add choc chips to make it tasty. Otherwise you can taste the GF flour.

I baked in a greased loaf pan at 350 for 45 mins then at 325 for another 10, and it was PERFECT. A little bit of honey on top of a slice of this, and it is heavenly even a day later.

This is the result of much experimentation... adding oil or extra liquid like apple sauce makes the loaf mushy inside, not enough flour does the same thing, white sugar is not as yummy, need lots of vanilla/cinnamon/spices to cover the GF undertone, and choc chips really make it worthwhile.