Christmas accomplished!

I hope everyone had a great Christmas!  My family was very blessed this year.  First of all I am typing this blog from my new Dell Inspiron mini!  I really wanted a netbook quite badly but I knew it was out of our price range this year.  As luck would have it my husband went to an IT conference a couple of months back and won one!!! He kept it a secret and gave it to me on Christmas Eve.  I'm still not fully recovered from the excitement.  I also got a new camera.  A Canon Powershot.  A big upgrade from my last camera!

Christmas Eve I stayed up late making bourbon balls.  I had a hard time with these as they were hard to form without melting and obviously once formed you have to work fast with the chocolate.  They don't look too pretty but they tasted amazing!  I could've eaten every single one.  I must say I made twice this many but the first batch fell out of the fridge into the floor! :(  I used this recipe for Kentucky Bourbon Balls.  I did use a few extra tablespoons of bourbon and a bit extra powdered sugar to make it easier to roll.  I also put the mix in the freezer for an hour or so instead of waiting overnight in the fridge.  Honestly these were a huge pain in the ass to make but they are so delicious I'll make them again for certain!

Here is a picture of me and my daughter enjoying the finished product.  She wasn't really eating hers, just posing!  They are an interesting creation because straight from the fridge you barely taste the bourbon...let them sit on the counter for an hour or so and you would probably fail a breathalzyer! lol!

Here is a gift I was very excited about!  Mom and Dad got me the cast iron skillet I've been wanting forever and have been to lazy to buy.  I am excited to start cooking with it!

Christmas dinner was delicious and gluten free!  Mom made her famous deviled eggs, sweet potatoes, and mashed potatoes.  I made the cranberry sauce and some Bob's Red Mill wonderful bread mix.  We had ham and turkey!  It was amazing!  The best meal I've had in weeks!  The best part of Christmas was enjoying time with my family!  We spent the day playing Beatles Rock band!  Even my parents were singing along!  Such fun!

Today was the last of our Christmas festivities!  Our friends Jessi and Danielle were to have a party last week but it got snowed out and was rescheduled for today!  It was an all appetizer party!  Everything was delicious.  Just for me they got gluten free crackers and made gluten free brownies!  I was also able to enjoy several of the dips!  I'm so glad I have friends who make special accommodations for me!  I know how hard and expensive gluten free can be so I would never expect anyone to cater to me but they insisted!  I am so very lucky to be blessed with great friends and a great family!

New Year's is fast approaching.  I can't believe 2009 has passed so fast!

Christmas Eve Mayhem!

It's been a crazy week.  Last Friday things were looking good.  We were invited to a party that night, I was getting together with my best friends Saturday afternoon, and we had another party to attend on Sunday.  Well Friday afternoon it started snowing and kept snowing for three days.  Two feet of snow.  We were snowed in all weekend!  No parties! 

Cocoa didn't know what to think of it at first.  He was a bit bewildered.  He grew to accept the snow and almost like it!

Even enough to go for a walk with me!

While snowed in I watched Food, Inc.  I never wanted to eat again!  LOL!

I quickly recovered upon making cranberry bliss bars!  I followed the linked recipe except I used Pamela's Gluten Free baking mix (which is WONDERFUL) and for the icing I only used 1 cup of powdered sugar. Also I skipped the white chocolate drizzle.  Seemed unnecessary.  These are so delicious.  Make them and you will be glad you did!

Well I must go.  We have a get together at my father in laws house in a few minutes.

Fat Girl Spins!

I'm trying to get back into exercising.  My energy is soooo low so it's tough.  I'm getting B12 shots and I take various vitamins every day so we'll see what happens.  I'm still having tests done and going to doctors, who knows when I'll get straightened out.  Luckily today I decided to spin.  Honestly I had talked myself out of it and had even told my friend I wasn't going and then I thought JUST GO!  So I did.  A workout as always!  My legs are already sore!

After spinning I came home and made dinner.  Flounder with crushed popchips baked on top, Annie's Gluten Free Macaroni and Cheese, and a salad with feta, dried pears and cranberries, and ranch.  Very tasty and so quick!  I love quick dinners on gym nights!

My husband is supposed to bring treats in to work tomorrow so I made some Pralines! I got the recipe from Gluten Free Frenzy.  I followed the instructions exactly.  I've never made these before but I have had them in New Orleans.  These tasted like the ones I had there so I guess that's a success.  Too bad I have to give most of them away!  Then again maybe that's a good thing! Not so healthy! 

This is a random dinner from last week that I thought I'd blogged about and then realized I hadn't!  Breakfast for dinner!  Omelet with ham and cheese, Rice Pecan bread with butter and jelly (not a fan of this bread), and vanilla Greek yogurt with raspberries.  I know paper plates are environmentally unsound but damnit they have Burt and Ernie on them!!!  I love Ernie.  Please don't laugh! :P

This dinner was a pork chop sauteed and then simmered in barbeque sauce with a sprinkle of cheddar cheese, brussel sprouts roasted with olive oil, salt, and pepper then sprayed with Braggs, and Lundberg parmesan risotto.  YUM!

Tomorrow I have a doctors appointment and I dentist appointment.  I am so dreading that! :(

Busy, busy, busy...

I've not had a lot of free time lately.  First there was Thanksgiving.  After dinner I had to hit the road for DC and my cousin's wedding.  Bridesmaid duty if you couldn't tell!  I'm on the far right with the goofy expression! Then as soon as I got home I had to head straight to my sister in law's house for dogsitting duty.  So here are some random pictures.

Me and my cousin's puppy Potter.

I've been to my favorite Mexican restaurant twice in the past week.  It's a bit easier to be gluten free there.

Saturday morning was super snowy.  It's actually surprising that we didn't get a real snow before now.  WV is typically snowy from October-April. 

While snowed in I made flourless peanut butter cookies!  Some plain, some with chocolate chips, and some with butterscotch chips.  I liked the butterscotch best.  Basic recipe: 1 cup peanut butter, 3/4 cup sugar in the raw, 1 egg, and a handful of butterscotch chips (if using).  Bake 10-15 minutes at 350.  May need more or less time.  They are a bit finnicky.

Finally got to try Trader Joe's Vodka sauce with some gluten free pasta.  Very, very good.  Leftovers the next day were even better.

Tonight is chili night (unpictured as it's been blogged about before).  To go with I've made Bob's Red Mill GF cornbread mix.  Not bad at all!  :)

So for a basic rundown so far...the GF diet does seem to be helping as much as I wish it didn't (have I mentioned my obsession with scones and cookies?).  So I guess that makes it worth it.  Such a challenge though.  Today I found out my favorite brand of flavored coffee is off limits! Oh well.  I'm going to focus on the yummy things I can eat and not dwell on what I can't have.  I'm finding with a bit of effort you can work around most any recipe and come up with a tasty alternative!