thanksgiving pie recepies

we are gluten and dairy and egg free over here. yep we are hit hard by the allergy stick, but we manage. actually i think we are doing great. it has been a learning experience for me and trying recepies has not always been fun, or tasty. but i am getting the hang of things. i would like to share with you our favorite pumpkin pie recepies. after all what is thanksgiving without pumpkin pie?

PUMPKIN PIE (chips book)
1 prepared, unbaked pie shell
1 pkg (12 oz) tofu, silken, firm
1 can pumpkin
1/3 cup honey
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp allspice

1. preheat oven to 350 F.
2. place all ingredients in blender. blend until very smooth.
3. pour mixture into unbaked pie shell.
4. bake 1 hour or until filling appears set.
5. chill pie. serve and enjoy.

PUMPKIN PIE ( more choices book)
2 uncooked pie shells
1 can (29 oz) pumpkin
4 TBS cornstarch
3/4 cup water
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 tsp salt
2 tsps cinnamon
1 tsp ginger
1 tsp cloves
1/2 cup Soyagen (soymilk powder) OR non-dairy creamer powder
2 1/2 cups water
1cup all purpose flour (we use gluten free blend)


1. preheat oven 425 F.
2. in small bowl, wisk cornstarch and 3/4c cool water until disolved.
3. empty pumpkin into large bowl. add cornstarch mixture and mix well. add sugar, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves. mix well
4. mix together milk powder of you choosing and 2 1/2 cups water until disolved. add to pumpkin mixture. mix well. add flour and mix.
5. pour pumpkin mixture into two 9" pie shells.

*if baking both pies at once, place one on bottom rack of oven and one on top rack. place aluminum foil over each pie loosely. halfway through baking time, exchange pies position in the oven.

*if baking only one pie, place it on lower rack of oven and place foil over top rack to prevent the crust and pie top from over browning.

BAKE for 15 min at 425 F, then lower temperature to 350 F for the remaining 65 min. then remove foil and lightly brown crust for 10 min.


well there you have it! let me know if you try my healthier versions of the thanksgiving classic pumpkin pie.
hope your turkey day is enjoyable and memorable!
thanks for reading...

i have a new job!

yes, i have been far too busy for far too long. no, things are not slowing down, yet...but i thought i would let you know a bit about my new job. i am the technical theater specialist for the Treasure Valley Community College! i have an office, a computer, a phone with my own extension! and i have KEYS!

i also get to host regular shop hours where i supervise students in the construction of the sets i design. COOL, right? this is a very fun job for me. i am getting to do something i enjoy very much and am getting paid to do it. all the people i work with love me, they really do.

i get to design lights, sets, and audio for concerts and plays at the college. this is a photo of this year's Young People's Concert : Magical Mystery Tour of the Great Beyond  i ran the sound, designed the lights, and ran the power point presentation for the seven showings of this concert.

right now i am working on a play. "Heaven Can Wait" i designed the set and painted the floor, i also designed the lighting for the show. i will have pictures of that soon.

just wanted to let you know why i have been rather silent, there are not enough hours in the day when i try to squeeze in blogging too. the play runs this week, then i will have more time again. the house needs attention, and so does my family. guess the house will have to wait! 

thanks for reading...

learnin how to be a man

daddy-0 was changing the oil in papa’s lil red car. Jam was  helping. he got into the tools and tried to eat them. how else is he to get to know which tool is right for the job?

he also made sure there was no damage to the papa’s car, he made a free inspection.



Yah loves the rachet. “it makes cool noises” (a girl after my own heart) but she did not want to hold the rag.

okay, see you again in 3 months or 30,000 miles.
thanks for reading…

sweet little piggy toes

a few weeks ago, Ehm asked me to help put her sandals on. when i put her foot into the shoe, she screamed like i was killing her loudly protested. after a close inspection of the shoe, i decided there must be something wrong with her foot.
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sure enough, the big toe was gray on the side. weird. i tried again to put on the shoe, *insert more screaming* but it was no use. i finally just snatched her up and put her into the car with shoes in the diaper bag just in case.
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later that night she kept saying owie, owie, foot. i could not figure it out. so i looked at her foot again to be shocked by discover her in-grown toenail. yes, my dear sweet baby not yet two years old, has an ingrown toenail! What?
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compelled to ease her discomfort, i got out the clippers and rooted around skillfully got to work. there was putrid green and yellow pus oozing from her sweet toe after i clipped away some of  the skin. *you need to know i have had several ingrown toenails myself, so i know how to remedy this sort of owie* while i was torturing helping my sweet baby girl to feel better, she was SCREAMING (yes, in all caps. my ears are still ringing.)
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ever the one to stick her nose into other's business concerned for others welfare, Yah came into my room to see why her sister was so upset. i explained about Ehm's toe and Yah was disgusted enthralled to find out all about it.
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i fixed Ehm's toe and after about a week, it was all better and there was no more protesting about wearing shoes. *insert awe and applause for a job well done*
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just yesterday, Yah told me her foot hurt....yep, you guessed it now she has an ingrown toenail. What? i did not realize ingrown toe nails are contagious. don't come to my house for a while. Yah's poor toe was bright red and festered, i went to get the clippers and she asked me "what are you going to do?" *whimper*
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i reminded her of little sisters toe and what i did to fix it. "oh No, you are NOT going to do that to me." she said in total seven year old defiance.
"yes, i am" i said in the "i mean business" tone that every nurse has used with Yah. i got the clippers and the hydrogen-per-oxide and was about to reach for her foot, when Yah screamed said "wait, wait, wait, i have something i need to ask you." what. "if you just leave it alone, what will happen?"
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your foot will turn into one big oozing, bleeding sore and then dad will cut it off with a saw well...i will have to take you to the doctor and they will give you several shots in your toe and then he will cut on your toe with a knife and then he will poke down inside it with medicine and it hurts really bad and you will scream and cry.
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now Yah's eyes are bugging outta her head and she decides to let "nurse mom" fix her foot. this is going to hurt, but try not to scream, your brother is sleeping and he doesn't feel well, ...and we don't want to scare your sister.
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Yah was very brave and let me fix her toe. she did cry, but not much screaming. then it was Ehm's turn to wonder what mom was doing to big sister. when she understood what was going on, she took off her sock and said "foot owie" (her foot is fine) i thought it was so funny that she needed a band-aid too.
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the kids are staying at grandma and papa's house tonight, as daddy-o and i both have to work. when they got to our house to get the kids, Yah told papa:
"guess what, papa? i finally have my very own in grown toe nail! mom fixed it and put on a band-aid"
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well, isn't that an interesting thing to be proud of?
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link up your true story and play along with all the fun!

thanks for reading...have a great tuesday!

summer blueberries…yum?

i got some blueberries for the kids to have. Ehm has never had them. her reaction was not what i was expecting. she got a tart one right off the bat, and she made the cutest face.

but she tried again after spitting that one out. and she loves them. the 3 pound package was gone in about two days. those girls can pack away the berries!

how do you feel about blueberries?
what kind of berries do you like?
as always; thanks for reading…

favorite GLUTEN FREE "flour" mix

we are gluten free here too,  i have yet to find a bread mix that we like, i mix all my own flours, and it is well worth it. we do not like any of the bean flours (garbanzo, fava, soy) most mixes contain at least one of these. 


our favorite flour mix is easy!

3C milo (sorghum) flour

3C potato starch

2C rice flour - brown or white

1C corn starch or corn flour (not corn meal)

mix well makes 9C store in the freezer and use where ever recepie calls for "flour"


thanks for reading...

busy, busy, busy!

just wanted to let you all know... i am still alive and well. i have a new job, and things are hectic right now. getting settled is taking longer than i thought. i am still reading or trying to read all your posts. i will try to post about my new job soon and you will understand the chaos that is our lives right now...trust me, you will love it. i do! this is really all i have time for right now. "see" ya all soon! thanks for reading...

p365 August part 1

yeah, well i decided waiting till the end of the month to post my p365 is just NOT going to work out. it takes too much time, and then windows live writer gets upset trying to post so many photos all at once. i did finally convince wlw to get the job done, but i will try to make it easier for my self too. i decided to post every 5 days or so. that would make six p365 posts in a month. that doesn’t sound like too much does it? i would hate to have become a bore.
aug. 1
daddy-o and i got to have our night at the hotel. his mom is the head of the housekeeping department and she had rose petals put on our bed,

and swans by the hot tub. she also left coke and root beer in the fridge, and cookies and doritos on the counter. how nice is that? thank the Lord i have such nice family. daddy-o and i had a great time just being together and we went out to dinner at a local irish steakhouse.

aug. 2
when we came home from our “get away” this is what we saw
everyone was in our pool! they were having a great time. Ehm was motoring all over in her life jacket. and papa was throwing Yah and Baba into the water. they loved it and begged for more.
aug. 3
we played inside because it was windy. Ehm wanted to wear her brother’s vest and HAD to have it zipped.

a big wind storm came through and there were black clouds over us. but town had an orangey pinkish glow. it was cool and creepy at the same time. almost looked like a fire. then it rained big drops.


this is “rose bluey” Yah saved her allowance for three months to get fish, tank, and accessories. she is very proud of rose (don’t tell her “rose” is a boy) and feeds her every night. she is responsible for cleaning the tank and telling mom or daddy-o when she needs more water. i am hoping to give her freedom and empowerment by having her be in charge of something.

aug. 4
that loose tooth from july? well it finally came out. you can read more about it and our tooth fairy traditions here. (aren’t you proud of me? i can put a link in my post. i have been dreaming of this for a while now, and windows live writer has a handy little button so i can. wow, i’m so cool!)


a big thunderstorm came through. it was amazing. i went out for about 15 min. and got some great shots. the storm lasted well over two hours. it also started three grass fires in the area.


aug. 5
this is what i heard while i was trying to sleep.

this yellow crop duster has been our “friend” for the last eight years. he flies over and “buzzes” our house. i know it isn’t on purpose, he is just doing his job. sometimes he seems to turn right over our house after every pass!

well, this isn’t too bad, right?
thanks for reading…

hello, tooth fairy?

that loose tooth from july?

well it finally came out!

when i was little, i always put my tooth into a cut glass juice cup, then put it in the window so the tooth fairy could see my tooth and bring me some coins. i asked my grandma if she still had one of the juice cups that we could have for our tooth fairy cup. she said that they had all broken a few years ago. we went to the thrift store together and we were able to find the same style cup for 25 cents! how cool.
the story goes: you put your tooth into the beautiful cup, then put some water into it and set it in the window. the moonlight will shine down into the cup and reflect the white of the tooth out the cut glass like a beacon for the tooth fairy to find.

this is the only time all summer Yah has been ready for bed before it is dark. and she even refused to finish the movie we were watching so she could go to bed before the tooth fairy came.
we all know that if you aren’t asleep by midnight, then the tooth fairy will have to come back on a different day. there are so many children around the world loosing teeth, if you are not ready for her, she does not have time to wait on you.

when you are good and asleep, then she will come and leave a gold coin and an indeterminable amount of money in the cup. depending on the size, cleanliness and shine of the tooth of course.

and we all know fairies leave behind glitter when they walk. you can see a fairy trail here where the tooth fairy was. sometimes, there is even glitter in the cup!

what are your loose tooth and tooth fairy traditions?
thanks for reading…

Week 29 - “Funny, Silly Faces” and “Pets” Photo Challenge Fun!

yea for this weeks theme! you may not know that my mom is one silly lady. the kids call her mema and she is a goof ball when around the kids. this last week mom came over to share her adventures she had during this last week in the big sky state (MT). we have a pool at our place and the swimming goggles were on the table. now Yee Yah had removed the rubber parts, you know the part that actually keeps the water away from your eyes. i knew it would be long before mema did something funny with those goggles, i went for the camera and waited for her to do her magic. i was not disappointed, and neither were the kids (you won’t be either)

the funniest part was that she kept right on with her story as if nothing were any different and this was just some “normal” thing to be doing. well my mom is NOT normal, and you know… i’m glad.

it is one of the blessings of family that you can afford to be stupid with them.

i have lots of fun memories of growing up a single child, with this crazy lady for my mom. yes, she is silly, weird, and fun. she is mine, and i love her.

how bout seeing more funny, silly faces? go to i heart faces to get you funny bone fix.

this week is also pets. Yee Yah saved up her allowance for three months to get this fish and tank and fish supplies. it is her pet and she is the only one responsible for the well being of the fish. she has named her ( i know it is a him, but trying to convince my 6 yr old that seems impossible) “Rose Bluey” because rose is a pretty name and she is blue. here is rose bluey happy in her tank.

have a great week! and as always,

thanks for reading…

July 365 my summer in photos i heart faces #30

I am always chasing down one of the kids with the camera. One of the few occasions when I had left the camera at home, my husband turned to me and asked, aren't you going to take a picture of that? I have learned not to leave my camera in the car, memories are forever lost; and cameras get stolen by the bad guys that drilled a hole in my door. Always take the camera with you, even if you don't plan on using it, you never know what cute things those kids are going to do, and what memory you will be able to forever hold on to.
so there are lots of people doing project 365. i don't know the rules. i am making my own as i go along... i am going to take a photo each day for at least 365 days. i will post them, although not more than once per week (i just don't have the time) and i plan on commenting on what happened that day or about the photo. so i have a thing about starting in the middle of a month and waited till july to start. i thought this makes sense as it is also the start of a new fiscal year for many companies...
i think this will be fun, although i am having some trouble getting all these pics to behave the way i want them to in this post.
the best way to start anything is with family, so here are the babies meeting Grandma GG for the first time. she is 97 and is visiting from CA. we had a great time while she was here. don’t know how much longer she will last. at Granny and Gramp’s house. the girls are playing under the mountain lion (cougar) rug. they had tons of fun chasing Gramps around the house. “just like a lion dance!”

Jam playing in the park while mommy took some other little boy’s pictures.

this is the new kitty. she is so sweet. her name is maid Marion, but i call her baby.

on independence day all decked out.

my sparkler. sparklers are my absolute favorite!

Ehm declaring independence from clothes. i hope this isn’t a sign of things to come…



my place of employment

what i see in the morning when i get home from work

she has learned to drink the milk from the bowl

must pat bottom of bowl to get every last drop out

need to lick underside of bowl to be sure some cereal goodness hasn’t leaked through

yes, i love cereal, can’t you tell?

yes, this is my clothes line, these are just ordinary pants on the line, but just to the left the sprinkler is going…yep everything got soaked. i am trying to get the baby pants to grow into daddy pants no luck so far. maybe they need more water…

first night camping, s’mores are a must. Yah burns her mallows on purpose. yuck!

pretty bike downtown McCall


ice cream alley open till 10 for dancers yea!

danced at the ice rink, nice and cool ahhh

flower from hen and chicks

silly Baba kept making faces so she could see them on the LCD screen. goofy kid

beautiful Payette lake

double rainbow on the way home cool right?
work in the daylight

field growing 4 types of lettuce, looks funny to me. this is just down the road from my house

my fortune, not that i had Chinese food, just the cookie. still not sure what the unexpected event is…maybe “soon” is longer than i think

daddy-o got the pool ready for Yah’s party

invitations to the mermaid party

fluoride treatment. no complaining , she is very good for the dentist and hygienist

in the creek at Albertson’s park. the water is cold. mom and Yah had a fun time at the park by themselves

at the train depot. she is so beautiful

the pond was amazing, lots of fish too

sunset

what i see before i go to work

i did it!

in the front yard


where is ehm? she loves to play peek-a-boo with this hat. looks like holly hobby

my mom workin out. go mom!

this gal stayed at our hotel for her honeymoon and let me take a pic of her in the dress

irrigation pipe across the road from my house

i pass this ditch on my way home. i like the tall grass weeds

she tried to pull this tooth…

no it did not come out on this day, but the string slipped off and she was sure surprised

getting ready to go

ehm loves the animals

8 months old by gate number 8

look! see the sheep?

funny how they both sleep the same way. this actually happens a lot, even when they are in their beds, they will be in the same pose.

i think these are garlic flowers, i know they are not onions…just not quite sure. just down the road from our place

grain ready for the harvest

this is part of our view. fields and the hills

well this has been our July in review, hope you enjoyed coming on this photo journal journey… have a great week and check out all the other summer vacation photos over at i heart faces.



thanks for reading…