Running Again Day One and Why I love running

I started running again today.  One reason I have been less apt to run lately is because I don't have a smartphone anymore. In an effort to save money I got a really cheap phone with an even cheaper plan. I loved to see all the data I got from my runs at Map my run. It shows you how far you go, the pace, elevation, and splits of a mile.

Its funny how when you first start to run again after a hiatus you think you can go really far. Like today, after pretty much not running for 6 months. I was thinking oh maybe I'll go out an run a 5k with hills in 80 degree, humid super sunny weather. I made it 2.22 miles with half walking because of the heat! And I solved the gps dilemma by stealing my husbands phone for a half and hour.

I love lots of useless information. One thing that I love about running is that I see places I never would have seen otherwise. Especially if I go on a trip, running on the trails or through town, I get to see the real deal. I get to see or rather smell the turkey farms,the RV parks, the historical homes, the shops the wild grapevines, the boardwalk, the 80 year old man who passes me or the old barn.

Family

So since the spring time I feel like I've been bombarded with babies. Farm Babies at the zoo, people being pregnant, baby giveaways on blogs, royal (kate middleton's) baby, baby fever facebook posts

To me it symbolizes adding another to the family. Not necessarily by having another ourselves. Nick and I have always wanted to adopt. Even before we had Kairi I felt like our adopted kid was a part of our family. What I didn't expect is not being able to adopt. We looked at many agencies and they will not accept us either because I am not 30 or because we do not make enough money, being that we already have 2 kids. Right now I know we do not have a lot of space either, we have a 2 bed one bath with 2 girls and ourselves. Most agencies also put more emphasis on the people without kids or ones that cannot have kids. I understand that too, We have 2 beautiful girls and I am thankful. But in my heart of hearts, I know we have one that is waiting for us.

Even getting a coffee and I am again reminded that our family is not yet together. I have always wanted more than 2.  I think one reason we didn't have more right away is because I was sick with Kairi. Intraheptic Cholestasis of Pregnancy and Hypothyroid while Pregnant doesn't sound fun to me. One option we are considering right now is Fostering. We actually have an information meeting next week. I've been reading blogs about fostering. It's not all roses and sunshine. There is heartbreak, loss but also a lot of love. One great information source for Fostering is about.com. They have a 5 week information class online that you can subscribe to by email or just read online. http://adoption.about.com/od/fostering/a/greatfosterpartindex.htm Pray for us while we think about being a Foster family for a child. I know it is a big step, if we decide to take it.

Gluten-Free Brownie Mix at Aldi? Heck yes :)

I was at my local Aldi today in MN and they had gluten free mixes. I know right, who wants to pay $5+ for brownie mix. Not this girl.

I was very excited to see that its only $2.99. I think that's the cheapest I've seen for gluten free brownie mix anywhere.  They seem like they are selling pretty fast too, I mean I was at Aldi last week and they didn't have any gluten free mixes. The first thing that I noticed when I started making the mix was how much cocoa was in it, (a lot more than the competition not to name names BC).

 Some of the most delicious gluten free brownies I've ever had. Thanks Aldi, I'd love to see some more gluten free stuff in the United States.

Gift basket from California Delicious {winnings}

So I won a gift basket from http://www.mommyscraftobsession.com/2013/06/california-delicious-gift-baskets.html  I thought just for fun I'd review it. I got the gourmet meat and cheese gift.
http://www.californiadelicious.com/category/gourmet-food-gifts/california-gourmet-meat-and-cheese-gift.html
Here is how it arrived.

I sent a gift message to myself.

It came shrink wrapped and with a bow.

I looked at all the ingredient lists and these are the things I can eat/use to the best of my knowledge are gluten-free.

Clair de Lune Brie, Smoked almonds and the Beef Summer sausage. Oh and of course the non edible things like the cheese knife and the cheese cutting board.

My Hubs and Children get to try the 3 pepper water crackers, honey mustard nuggets and hot sweet mustard (has wheat in it).

And the cookies Chocolate Almond Biscotti and Beth's Chocolate Chip Cookies.

 All the food had bags inside the boxes so I gave them to the girls to put in their play food box.

I bought some gluten free table crackers so I could try all of the gluten free things in the basket I won. The smoked almonds were delicious. I thought it taste like bacon flavored almonds.

It tasted like a gluten-free gourmet lunchable. Thanks for the Giveaway!

Betty Crocker Cookie Mix- Gluten Free

When I go to any store Betty Crocker Gluten free are usually one of the only choices I have.

One thing I found weird is that you actually mix together all the ingredients before you put in the mix. And yes I mix with a fork. I think I got that form my mom.

The dough if very crumbly and I had to smash it into the tablespoon to keep the shape.

I love these rounded measuring spoons they are great for rounded cookies.

I use parchment paper for all of my gluten free cooking, without it everything seems to stick. These take the full 10 mins or else they are mush for my oven anyway.

So far this is the only gluten free chocolate chip cookie that I've tried but its good, They taste like regular cookies. They do not freeze well though.I tried that once and they taste super buttery... but in a bad way.

Preserving our Mulberry Harvest

We have spent a lot of time this summer picking mulberries as seen here.
http://gettingbacktorandom.blogspot.com/2013/07/mulberry-tree-and-backyard-foraging.html
We were getting so many I didn't know what to do with them. My two ideas were save then for smoothies by freezing them and the internet suggested drying them in a dehydrator. We tried both

I'd have to say the Frozen one looks way more appetizing than the dried one. Plus the fact that freezing only takes like 2 hrs, and drying takes up to 36 hrs!!!  After the trial we froze the rest of them on cookies sheets so they didn't stick together and wax paper for easy clean up, and we just had a bunch.

Our Harvest so far. 

And since I let my kids go barefeet in the backyard this is what we get

Berry Feet

An InLinkz Link-up
Add your link to a webpage about Mulberries. Mulberry recipe, picking or preserving Thanks!

Erbert and Gerberts Gluten Free Subs- Review

I don't know if its because I haven't gotten a sub in so long or if it was just that good. I loved the Gluten free subs at Erbert and Gerbert. I had known there was one in my hometown for about 2 years but I never walked in the store. Probably because I had never heard of the place. Last week I saw that they had gluten free subs from Savvy Celiac http://thesavvyceliac.com/. I HAD TO GET ONE.

This is the Comet Morehouse. I had wanted to order a Flash but the cashier told me that, that sub is not totally gluten free :( 

Also I has a cheddar broccoli soup, that was marked Gluten free on the sign, but after looking at it online it says that its not gluten free. I haven't had any reaction yet so I assume its a different soup than the one with  the information online. Always ask which soup/which toppings are gluten free, and make sure that they use different gloves and don't contaminate. The franchise that we visited was pretty dead, we were the only ones there so it wasn't hard to watch how they were preparing it.

Verdict: The sub was delicious, I'm thinking they used Udis bread because it tasted very similar. The soup was disgusting. Maybe it was because it tasted so much like cheese...I don't like the strong smelly cheese taste. I told Nick that it tasted like Nacho cheese sauce with a little broccoli mixed in. (Not enough though) I saved it to put on a baked potato or use with tortilla chips for nachos :)

Potholder Loom -Montessori Toys

We bought a Weaving toy for the girls. It says ages 6+ but Hayli could do it. Kairi (4) didn't have the patience to try.

I had one of these weaving kits when I was a kid and I just love it. The one I had was plastic and I didn't have one of the metal hooks to make it easier. The plastic one that I had the grooves on the side broke off. I definitely recommend the metal one though. I even had to "try" a few loops.

In about a week, she is almost finished with her first potholder.

I'm so proud of her. She's had so much patience with it. Its not perfect but I know that beautiful first potholder will get used. 

We got ours from http://www.harrisville.com/product-p/fp.htm

This is not an endorsed or sponsored review, All opinions are my own.

Mulberry Tree and Backyard Foraging

Do you have a mulberry tree by you? Did you know you can eat them? I personally love this time of year, The first few weeks of July because we have 2 mulberry trees in our shared backyard. The girls love to be able to run out back to eat them.

I just give them two bowls and let them have at it.

Kairi is the eater, Hayli is the berry saver. Maybe this will have some affect on their future spending habits? I'm not sure

Lots of Berry Faces and Purple Hands

Yay, Backyard Foraging. We even knocked down some berries for the Bunnies. Not really on purpose though.

Having a Hypothyroidism in your 20's

The thing about getting a chronic disease in your twenties is you lose that sense that no one is sick, death doesn't happen for a long time and getting old will happen much later. Having a prescription medication that isn't for just a week makes me feel like a senior citizen.  People my age generally don't understand about aches and pains. They are just finishing college or starting their careers at 25. I was diagnosed at age 25. We (My husband and I) were figuring out how to begin our lives as a  family. I went through a period of grieving the health I assumed I would have for a longer time . It is now something that I don't take for granted. Health is extremely important to me as is what I eat.

When I was a kid I read the Babysitters club books and I just loved the character Stacy. She had diabetes, and for some reason I wanted it too. I wanted to faint and HAVE to eat sugar, that sounded great to my 10 yr old brain. I didn't understand what diabetes really meant, the finger pricking watching how much sugar you eat etc. Not that Diabetes is the same as Hypothyroidism, it isn’t. They say thyroid is the easiest to treat, yet it takes a long time to diagnose. I also think it takes a long time to feel normal, and not want to just go take a nap.

Sometimes I imagine what it would have been like 300 yrs ago, Kairi my second daughter would have been stillborn from Intraheptic Cholestasis of Pregnancy, I would have died 2 or 3 years later from thyroid disease. I guess I’m lucky I was born at the right time and the right place to have survived, and I feel blessed. I also think of what I'd have to do in a zombie apocalypse, I mean I'd have to tear out pigs thyroid gland dry it crush it to survive. Or I guess raid all the pharmacies.

I've realized that I can live with this disease now that I'm gluten free and have iron and vitamin d regulated, it doesn't drastically change my life day to day like it did in the beginning, untreated. That year was hard for all of us. My whole family, the worst is that I didn't feel like myself, I'm one of those people who like physical labor, I like mowing the grass, running far etc. I couldn't do those things, I got really anxious running, which previously released stress. It was like having mono for a full year! Though I've never had mono, but I heard it saps your energy.

I would tell all thyroid patients, it will take you at least a full year to feel completely normal, with the right treatment for you. Even longer if you didn't find the right medicine or treatment right away, give yourself time to feel better, don't expect everything to change in a day, you didn't get sick in a day, it got gradually worse....well....most of you. There is no absolutes with Thyroid diseases.

Read more about my Thyroid Journey here

http://gettingbacktorandom.blogspot.com/2013/06/my-thyroid-journey.html

My New Blue Door

My Girls have been at VBS all week and I've had a project of my own. Painting and Stickering the Front door.The color I went with was a color match to Martha Steward Living Azurite.

The sad part is that I bought a quart and probably could have gotten by on one sample, which is only like 3 dollars. I also found a DIY blog that did a Moroccan privacy screen with contact paper on Pinterest so I thought I would try it. Heres a link http://7thhouseontheleft.com/2011/08/window/#.UcxVg_m1EfU They also have a stencil pdf on that site that I used. http://7thhouseontheleft.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/7hl_windowstencil.pdf The first day of VBS I did a lot of cutting.

Like two movies worth of cutting. Until I had about 72 patterns cut out

I tried it out on the door because I wanted to see what they looked like.

I don't know if you can tell but they had a lot of bubbles. So I decided to wait until my husband (Who does vinyl stickering at work) to come home to help me out. His suggestion was to use soap and water under it so that you can move it around and a vinyl squeegee thing to smooth it out.

WARNING DO NOT USE SOAP with CONTACT PAPER! It doesn't seem to work as well as with vinyl. It left soap drips

So if you decide to do it that way try with just water and let it dry for a couple hours and see if it drips. I do like the overall design with the stencil though. When I get the gumption again maybe I will start cutting.

Heres the stencil from inside the house, much more privacy.

Before:

After:

Our New front door