Thursday, October 14, 2010

A busy season (and I’m still here!)

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I’ve had an incredibly busy season around here the past few weeks. Actually, I quite literally bitten off more than I could chew!

I’ve been teaching a bible study, attending another, substituting for Daniel’s class, planting my fall garden, learning to cook without gluten (more on that later), and trying to maintain my sanity while keeping up with all of my usual chores… WHEW! I’m still here. Tired, but here.

I must tell you that I feel incredibly blessed. I have wonderful friends and family (thank you to those who asked about me!), a little homestead in the making, and access to good nourishing food – truly a blessing.

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Last week, one of our girls laid a gigantic egg (look at the top middle photo above) that had a double yolk. It was destined to become an egg and cheese sandwich. So, so delicious. And, I’ve been absolutely delighted to find out that giving up gluten didn’t mean I had to give up bread.

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I was frightened at even the thought! We LOVE brownies, muffins, and bread. LOVE. LOVE. LOVE.

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I’m now soaking ALL my grains (even though they’re gluten-free) and it’s made a tremendous difference. Before, I would soak if I remembered to, but not always. (Shame.) I just didn’t understand how truly important and necessary the process was. And I’ve been sick not realizing that it could be SO EASILY remedied. Now, I’m meticulous in the kitchen. It’s made a difference in my health. You can read about preparing nourishing foods here. (Do yourself a favor and check out the link.)

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I’m making bread (I’ll be trying sourdough with gluten free grains this week) and crackers and yes, BROWNIES! All with gluten-free grains. It wasn’t as hard as I imagined it would be, and I’ll be sharing my new favorite recipes with you soon. I’ve long loved lacto-fermented veggies such as sauerkraut, but now I’m learning to enjoy kefir (thanks Diane!) and kombucha as healthy additions to my diet. I feel better than I have in a very long time.

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Here on the homestead, life is good. God has blessed us with a few fall tomatoes (with more vegetables forthcoming), fun times spent together in the great outdoors (now that it’s finally cooled off a little!), and hope for the future. Did I mention we’ll be getting goats soon? Oh, my goodness!

7 comments:

The Mac's House said...

Really interested in the gluten free cooking, so I'll be looking for that post.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE that color blue, which brand is it?

Teri

had to chuckle the verification word for me tonight is: looni (is that trying to tell me something?) :)

Melissa Price said...

Teri, I laughed out loud at your word verification! Too funny! The paint color is from Martha Stewart - Faded Ink. I'm in love with the color, too! I have to give Martha credit... her paint colors are truly superior, IMHO.

Unknown said...

so good to hear from you again Melissa. I'm very interested in what you are doing with your gluten free cooking, I'll go and check out the link.
Goats!!! I really want goats, my good friend started off with 2 then the next week grew to 15 LOL

Melissa Price said...

Sue, you're cracking me up! I'm a little intimidated about the goats, but I hear they're pretty low-maintenance... if you can keep them in the fence. ; )

Diane@Peaceful Acres said...

Great to hear from you Melissa! And I'm so glad that going gluten free is a welcoming experience. And I hope it makes a huge diff in your health. Whatever you do you MUST try the Tropical Traditions coconut flour brownies!!!!!! OH YUM!!! The very best I've ever made. And I have a cookie recipe I'll send you. I'm not gf now but have been extensively for yrs. I do try to stay with sourdough since it's a ferment, but have let up a lot in my eating habits, yet still quite restrictive.

I have a MS paint that hasn't gotten on the wall yet, but I hope it turns out as lovely as yours! Take care.

Melissa Price said...

Diane, thanks for the encouragement! I'd love to have your cookie recipe and I'll be sure to try the brownies. I'm hoping that in time I will be able to tolerate the sourdough as well. I love it so much! Hope all is well in your neck of the woods.

Maura @ Kisiwa Creek Photography said...

Hello Melissa,
You certainly have been busy on your little homestead. Love that paint color too! You've got my curiosity up about gluten free cooking...I did look up that web site but I was in a rush so I will go back again and check it out. Sounds very interesting. I'm glad you're feeling better. Have a wonderful day. Maura :)