{Gluten Free} Meal Reviews

Breakfast - Chocolate {gluten free} Chex cereal.
This one was DELICIOUS! I think I prefer to eat it dry as a sweet snack but it was great with milk too.

My rating: A++

{The Bean's} rating: "yummy"

Lunch - Asian Spinach Salad with Soy-Sesame Vinaigrette
This was good. I would give it 3/5 stars. If I were more of a salad eater I'd probably give it 4 stars. I could have done without the onions. I'm not really a fan. The dressing was okay. I'm a ranch girl usually so this was a big change. I'm not sure if it makes a difference but I didn't have any white wine vinegar so I used distilled white vinegar and I only did 2 tablespoons instead of 3 in case it made it taste awful. Over all, a decent meal. I could eat it again but it may not be at the top of my list. But if you are a salad eater, I would recommend it.

My rating: B-

 

Dinner - Sesame Pulled Pork Lettuce Wraps

These were actually really good! The pork smelled AMAZING in the crock pot all day and that made this meal super fast and easy to throw together after work. Obviously pulled pork would have tasted better on a bun with a side of fries but I would definitely do it this way again. I think this would make for a great summer meal especially with the pineapple which was also delicious!

My rating: A-

{The Man's} rating: 4/5 stars

{The Bean's} rating: she ate it

 

{Gluten Free} That's Me!

Well I just finished my first {gluten free} shopping trip and let me just say, it sucked. I seriously wanted to leave my cart in an aisle and walk out to my car and cry. I spent about an hour in the produce section looking for various items that I didn't know existed. I bought an egg plant. The only thing I know about egg plants is that they are purple. I spent forever reading every label in the bulk section to find quinoa only to find it was sold out. Then I couldn't find any plain, {gluten free} quinoa by the rice. I sat in the cracker aisle for another 15 minutes looking for regular {gluten free} crackers. I finally settled on Nut Thins so we'll see how that goes. I also found out that {gluten free} subsitutes like bread and bisquick are TINY and expensive. At this point I am taking things one day at a time. I found a meal plan and shopping list at www.5dollardinners.com. I purchased everything from week 1 of the shopping list and spent twice the amount we usually spend on groceries for the entire month. I haven't looked through all the recipes yet. I can't. I've got tomorrow figured out and an idea for Wednesday. That's all I can handle for now.
I also signed up for an email newsletter at http://www.glutenfreecookingschool.com/. She sends emails almost daily that are directed to people like me that are new to the {gluten free} lifestyle. These emails include tips and recipes as well as some tough love and a look into what happens in your body and how going {gluten free} can heal you from the inside out.
I have also downloaded a couple apps called ipiit and find me GLUTEN FREE. They help you find {gluten free} restaurants and meal choices and alternatives.
My last resource worth mentioning is Pinterest. I've searched for {gluten free} meals a few times. I've come across a few that look pretty good but it mostly brings up {gluten free} sweets, pastries, cookies, and all the other things you think you can never have again when you begin a {gluten free} lifestyle. Even is I'm not to the point that I have the time and knowledge to make most of the stuff, it's nice to know there is hope.
I do have to say that I'm kind of excited for tomorrow's meals. They better taste as good as they look in the pictures. Here's what's on the menu for tomorrow:

Breakfast - {Gluten Free} Chex, I bought three flavors so I wouldn't get bored.

Lunch - Asian Spinach Salad with Soy-Sesame Vinaigrette

Ingredients
 1 bag baby spinach leaves
1 15 ounce can Mandarin oranges, drained
1 red onion, diced
¾ cup chopped walnuts {this was not listed on the shopping list}

Soy-Sesame Vinaigrette
 ¼ cup olive oil
3 Tablespoon white wine vinegar {neither was this}
2 Tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon sesame seeds
¼ teaspoon ground ginger
A pinch of sugar
Dash of pepper

Directions
 1. In a serving bowl, toss together the spinach leaves, Mandarin orange pieces, diced red onions and chopped walnuts.
 2. Pour the soy-sesame vinaigrette over the top of the salad and serve.
 Makes four lunch portions.

Dinner - Sesame Pulled Pork Lettuce Wraps

Ingredients

• About 1 pound BBQ pulled pork, cooked in slow cooker ($1.99 for 1 lb. pork +$.25 for BBQ)
• 3 Tbsp soy sauce - Use GF if GF ($.10)
• 2 tsp sesame oil ($.30)
• 1 tsp garlic powder ($.05)
• 1 tsp onion powder ($.05)
• 1 tsp ground ginger ($.05)
• Dashes of pepper
• Large or small lettuce leaves from the garden
• 1 medium carrot, peeled and grated ($.10)
• Side dish ideas – pineapple, cooked sweet potatoes ($.79)

Directions

•  Place a 2-3 lb. pork roast in the slow cooker. Pour about 1/2 cup water in the base, then pour 1/2 cup BBQ sauce over the top. Cook on low for 8 hours. When done cooking, remove from the slow cooker and using 2 forks, pull the meat apart. Split the pulled pork into 2 meals worth…one for this meal, and the rest for BBQ pulled pork sliders.
• In a small bowl, whisk together the soy sauce, sesame oil, garlic powder, onion powder and ground ginger with a few dashes of pepper. Pour over the half of the pulled pork that you will use for the lettuce wraps.
• Pick and clean a few lettuce leaves…or get some from the fridge!
• Place some of the Sesame Pulled Pork into the lettuce and top with some grated carrots.
• Serve Sesame Pulled Pork Lettuce Wraps with pineapple or cooked sweet potatoes!

 

I know it's going to be a rough road but hopefully it will be worth it. If anything, at least a learn a little bit more about cooking.

 

Thanks to the following for letting me take something from your closets!

www.5dollardinners.com

www.glutenfreecookingschool.com

http://www.ipiit.com/

http://www.findmeglutenfree.com/

www.pinterest.com

 



{Bean} School

As a child being raised in an office {The Bean} has learned many useful skills like using a garage door opener to open the gate, how to drive the golf cart, how to sweep out a unit, and that she must be quiet while I'm on the phone. But a two year old can only take so many hours of watching TV and napping. Just like anyone else, she gets bored sitting around all day with nothing to do. So with back to school time came {Bean} School. Each week we will be working on the name and sound of each letter along with art and craft projects and some sort of experiment or sensory activity. She can already name most of the letters when I point to them which is why I decided to add the sounds.

Week 1 {Aa}
This was the first week so she was still excited to color with me rather then do it alone or make me do it alone. She always really enjoys painting so we did a little paint project. For our experiment we did a sparkly vinegar and baking soda volcano. I got the inspiration for this project {here}. At some point I would like to somehow match our activity to the letter of the week {like S for sparkly or V for volcano} but for now we'll stick with doing whatever we feel like at the time.

Earlier in the day she had gone with me to the doctor where we talked through the experience of them drawing my blood. So when she was painting she kept commenting on how the red paint looked like blood.

Thanks to the following for letting us take something from your closets!

http://preschoolpowolpackets.blogspot.com/

www.activitycoloringpages.com

http://www.jumbocoloring.info/index.html

 

Week 2 {Bb}

During {Bb} week we practiced the sound of the letter B more than the first week. She had picked up on the A sound so quickly and so well she kept saying it for B. We also talked about words that start with B. For our activity we made cloud sand (a homemade variation of moon sand that I found here.) {The Bean} LOVED the cloud sand but it turned out to be super messy. Luckily we did it outside although you could vacuum it up easy enough. We discussed how the sand felt {soft}, how it smelled {good}, how it looked {white}, and all on her own she discovered what it tasted like {yummy}. I only made a half batch since it uses a lot of flour but we were still able to save enough from being spread across the sidewalk to play with it another day.

 

Thanks to the following for letting us take something from your closets!

http://playathomemom3.blogspot.com

http://www.jumbocoloring.info/index.html

Welcome!

After a saddening day when my husband accidently deleted my {old} blog I've finally started a {new} one. Now before anyone says that there are ways to get the old blog back, we've tried. It's gone forever. The end. :( So...

Welcome to my {new}blog!!

About Me

My name is {Whitney}. I am married to the hardest worker you'll ever meet so I often volunteer his services to friends and family. He is my best friend and probably the only person that has seen every side of me and still likes me. We were married in the Idaho Falls Temple on March 1, 2008. We have lived in Twin Falls, ID, Kearns, UT, Ogden, UT and now North Ogden, UT. After trying to conceive for almost 14 months we were finally blessed with the funniest little girl we know. {The Bean} joined our little family on June 6, 2010 after an emergency induction due to preeclampsia. She now stays home with me while I spend my days managing a storage facility.
I like microwaved ice cream, lightening storms, Belgium waffles, German pancakes, Swedish pancakes {okay I like to EAT!}, Desperate Housewives, singing my heart out in the car, laughing with my husband and daughter, crafting, and exercising with my friends at Fit Club.

Focus

My old blog mostly {focused} on my family. Not mostly me and my family. Mostly my family. So this time around I plan on changing that up a bit. I do have one of the smartest, cutest little kids on the planet so I'm sure she'll be making an appearance often but a lot of posts will focus on my interests and life. So posts about my interests will mostly be about crafts and posts about my life will mostly be about my health including my VasoVagal Syncope and suspected gluten intolerance.

Audience

My intended {audience} is really just myself. If you are here reading, yay! Welcome and thank you! But if no one is reading, that's fine too. I spend the majority of my life sitting alone in an office with no one to talk to except a two year old. So, rather then filling my Facebook timeline with every random thought that runs through my weird little brain, my thoughts will live here.

Name

I feel the need to explain why I gave my blog the {name} that I did when it is mostly going to be about me not my family, including my sisters. I come from a family of four girls and no boys. Growing up, we did what all loving sisters did. We stole borrowed eachother's clothes. When I would wear one of those ill-gotten pieces of clothing to school people would often make a comment resembling "Cute shirt. Where did you get it?". To which I would reply, "from my sister's closet". Since then, it has always been a dream of mine to someday open a clothing store called My Sister's Closet. As I got older, I realized that dream was not very likely to happen. So I settled on starting a blog called My Sister's Closet. Turns out, that name and several variations are already taken. So I figured, if this blog is about me I could call it ME and My Sister's Closet. And then I changed it to closets so it didn't sound like I had a weird thing for my sister's closet. Hence the name Me and My Sister's Closets.

And now a note from {The Bean}

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