Organizing-Life

carrot cake ~ gluten-free

This is actually one of my favorite cake flavors. I am not a big cake eater…although I love to decorate these pastries. Carrot cake, spice cake, and gingerbread with boiled frosting are my favorites any day. These dense, moist, spicy cakes just satisfy the tongue and the tooth.

I have been reluctant to try much gluten-free baking beyond cookies since my weird chocolate cake experiments. But this recipe developed by The Culinary Institute of America had the secret…egg whites. Egg proteins really create the structure of the cake pastry as the gluten proteins take a backseat. Folding in those egg whites whipped into soft peaks made all the difference between a fluffy moist crumb and a rock hard doorstop.

This recipe is labor intensive. It required three separate ingredient bowls, draining carrot juice, separating eggs, and two 6″ cake pans to bring to life this gluten-free delight. (Can I brag about my cake pan collection sizes 6″ to 14″? But really, who normally has 6″ cake pans?) It took about an hour to make the cake batter which seems entirely too liquid to bake into anything delectable. And it took 48 minutes in my burns-hot-electric-oven to bake the cake. The recipe then calls for letting the cake cool entirely in the pan. When I took turned the cake out, it seemed as if the bottom were a bit soggy, like well, the cake cooled in the pan; condensation pooling under that delicate layer. But now I think the moisture retention was intentional and adds to the tender, if a bit spongy, texture of this very good gluten-free carrot cake.

In my opinion, this recipe could use a few more spicy additions like more cinnamon and perhaps ground cloves?? It was a bit bland. And the frosting needs a bit more of that smooth cream cheese tang and a bit less sugar. Oh that toddler desert sugar buzz before bath and bedtime, not so good.

I found Gluten-Free Baking with The Culinary Institute of America at my library. (Always a good idea to try out the recipes before buying the book.) Although the introduction to Celiac disease diagnosis in the first chapters scared my socks off (I am not medically diagnosed), I am eager to try a few more recipes from this publication. “Cheers” from the gluten-free blogger who ate carrot cake for breakfast this morning.

a bit of baking

Yummy gluten free chocolate chip cookies is from Gluten-Free Girl’s recipe .

Yes, chilling the dough for 36 hours is worth it. I tasted a batch after 3 hours and then did the next batch after 36 hours. The difference in taste and texture is worth the wait.

Sorry about these slightly weird pictures. It is really cloudy today and I missed my morning sun opportunity because I dropped my camera Friday morning and the lens broke. AHHH. After a considerable amount of sticker shock, we decided to keep our 18-105mm upgrade. It is a wonderful lens, but I am still a bit worried about the body of the camera, although the camera tech said that it was working okay. I can’t even blame this one on the kids. 100% my oops. A very expensive oops. Ahh well, it’s just money.

bagel nostalgia

I was baking this morning to use up some of the 5lbs of King Arthur bread flour I have left over. Having switched to a gluten-free diet, I was feeling a little nostalgia baking up these bagels.

Cinnamon sugar and poppy-seed…my favorite.

Even so, I didn’t feel an urge to rip open that chewy crusty outer and tear off a piece of the soft steamy center to pop into my mouth because the stomach ache that would ensue would certainly make the whole thing not worth it. These are going to my husband’s office-mates tomorrow. Enjoy…oh, the recipe I use is here.

coca, sugar, xanthan gum…no flour please

Oh, it has been a while since I spent half the day in the kitchen. I used to live to create sculpted special occasion cakes, covered in home-made fondant and hand-painted gumpaste flowers. At the end of the day, you wonder where the time whisked off to…why your knees and back ache, why your fingers are purple and sparkly, and who is going to get diabetes from all the sugar.

This time, my toil in the kitchen was to test out some gluten-free chocolate cakes for my husband’s birthday, in the hopes that we might discover one with a moist tender crumb that I have heard only exists on planet “wheat-gluten”. Even armed with The Cake Bible by Rose Levy Beranbaum, and after studying a few favorite GF blogs like GlutenFreeGirl and Elana’s Pantry, it still felt like I was launching my space shuttle on a maiden voyage to some unknown galaxy far, far, away, to seek out and test new gluten-free cake recipes.

My counter looked like this…

…yes, a calculator, a pencil, and a kitchen scale are most definitely part of how I bake…

And then the results…third try…

I had an idea that I wanted to bring out the starch in the recipes and substitute only a little bit of gluten texture in hopes of achieving a similar life-form to a normal wheat-flour cake. (Thank you Rose for that chemistry lesson.) The first cake try is even, dense, didn’t rise, but didn’t dome….the crumb is okay, a bit dry, and bland. Conclusion: it needs some elastic gluten properties and some other kind of sweetness, perhaps agave nectar or honey for added complexity?

The second one, whoops…didn’t know xanthan GUM does that…it well, gums. I put WAAAAY more than needed and really, the batter just balled up and wouldn’t release. We didn’t taste this one…I am thinking it will taste like Nerf.

The third try…I thought we are on our way to something yummy here. I added a smaller portion of xanthan gum, changed up the gluten-free flour blend and came out with a much smoother batter texture that ribboned correctly. You know, when you lift the mixer paddle and the batter falls back into the bowl in ribbons…well this looked just about right…maybe a teeny bit less xanthan gum yet. It did dome and it did crack slightly on top, and then sunk in the middle. Perhaps I over-beat the batter, or the oven was too hot? (Mine loves to burn hot. An oven thermometer is like a best friend.) Well, the sunk top was just not enough bake time…when I trimmed the top, it was like a molten-lava cake should be. I just hadn’t set a course for molten. The crumb was dry but very, very fine. However, regular chocolate frosting makes this one taste very much like the real thing. The only problem is I am a cake snob, and I want the CAKE to taste good too…not just have the frosting cover it up.

I am thankful I took organic-chemistry in college (thank you Prof. Mundy)….who knew gluten-free is so challenging. I guess I could just buy a boxed mix, or better for my health, give up eating cake all together?

P.S. Apologies for the few Star Trek lines in there, I grew up on Spock, Bones, Jim, and The Next Generation. Oh, and I didn’t include recipes here because I wasn’t totally happy with the results…if you are seeking a GF chocolate cake recipe, e-mail me and I’d be glad to send you my third iteration for a stepping off point to start your experimental cake baking.

what january looks like…

a dolly quilt for Sydney’s birthday-to-be Waldorf doll and wooden bed…shhhh it’s a secret. This one is a Chinese coin style and measures 26″ X 21″ with a cotton batting and hand-stitched binding.

January dolly quilt

a little bit of thrifting, some picked by me, and some treasures collected by Sydney (an avid thrifter in the making.)

another thrifting find, Come Follow Me by Gyo Fujikawa who is one of my favorite child book authors. (The Oh, What a Busy Day was given to us by Ammy.)

A little bit of upside down.

A make-shift garage which doubles as a letter desk organizer…

Gluten-free yummy blueberry muffins, with sugar on top…

An ominous January sky…though on a 56 degree day.

Gratitude for a hint of warm weather in the middle of winter.

And wonderful mud puddles for jumping in.

That is January here at home.

cooking once a month

So, yesterday I tried it. I borrowed the book, Once-A-Month Cooking Family Favorites by Mimi Wilson and Mary Ann Lagerborg from the library, and well, jumped in. Sunday evening, I perused the book for yummy, wheat-free, super easy to make recipes. Instead of following the author’s meal plans (they have a four and two week cycles already laid out of your) I planned my own. (I wanted only dishes I could thaw, dump and bake, or make in the slow-cooker, and serve.) I checked my pantry, went shopping, and started chopping, cooking, and bagging on Monday.

I had planned to make 14 dishes, or a two-week cycle. I realized when I got home from shopping I hadn’t gotten a couple of things I needed so I ended up making 12 dishes.

Long story short:

:: My counter was a chaotic mess trying to prep ingredients, or have handy ingredients, all 12 recipes called for. Solution: I need more counter space (I just used my island cart/counter.)

:: I was a bit overwhelmed with the amount of prep to get it all bagged. Solution: follow the meal plan in the book, it is all laid out for you. (I did type up a “prep plan of action” similar to that the authors furnish in the book, but there are still so many recipes, I couldn’t remember what needed what, and if I could put the dried thyme back in the cabinet or if I was going to need it again in two recipes.)

:: They kids amazingly behaved themselves, and I was able to get through a lot pretty quickly. I only ended up cooking, bagging and freezing 12 dinners for 3 hours.

:: I realized halfway through that the authors weren’t kiddingwhen they suggested, calm background music, a cooking partner, and good shoes to keep your back from hurting. Solution: I donned flip-flops with a little cushion to them (we don’t normally wear shoes in the house), put on a kids-TV show with music, and made a mental note that my husband can help next time.

:: The portion sizes noted in the book are for linebacker football stars. The portion sizes are HUGE.It might have been that I purchased really large chicken breasts, but still, there is no way our family could eat what they write is two portions. So, I guess this book will see us through the teenage-I-want-to-eat-everything-that-is-not-nailed-down years. Solution: I should have just divied up the recipe into two bags for two dinners. I think that these 12 dishes will actually be enough food for a month.

:: The aromas are amazing.I think that some of the spices are a little hyped because freezing and then slow-cooking kind of saps out some of the flavors, but I am hopeful that these recipes are going to be really tasty. My daughter, who is the adventurous eater, is going to love some of these new dishes. My son, will probably not try any of these. At least now I only have to prepare one dinner, and not two. Solution: have something handy to snack on while you are cooking, and have a glass of wine on hand too!

:: It wasn’t hard to find gluten-free recipes and the book has an entire gluten-free meal plan. Most dishes don’t involve wheat, although you have to be in-the-know about which condiments do contain wheat, like soy-sauce.

The end result, 12 dinners done, and ready to be eaten, and a HUGE sense of accomplishment. I even had a bit of time and energy left over to start a pair of cable-knit mittens for my son’s pre-school teacher’s Christmas gift. I am definitely cooking once a month again.

BTW: the mitten pattern is by Judith Swartz from the book Interweave Presents Knitted Gifts: Irresistible Projects to Make & Give by Ann Budd.

what I’m doing

I am feeling kind of low on energy these days…I think it is a hormone thing. So, I am knitting a lot since that means I can sit and be restful, and I am entertaining a new “once a month cooking” philosophy. The days before Christmas are going to slip by quickly, and this little Santa’s helper is going to need all the hours she can get to finish handmade gifties and presents. I first learned about this concept from Marci at Overcoming Busy when she guest posted on Mandi’s blog Organizing Your Way. The gist is, prep the dish, freeze it, thaw it when you need it, and the pre-dinner prep time is minimal. I think I am going to need fast, easy, and budget friendly dinners this coming month. This book even offers gluten-free recipes. Wish me luck.

As for Thanksgiving, this year we are going to have an abridged version. Our family is leaving for a beach vacation this Friday, so I am gathering swimsuits and sunscreen, and not stuffing a turkey, and home-cooking cranberry sauce and pies. My in-laws are holding a gathering at their home (they are also vacationing with us) and we will be bringing purchased pies. If we are still missing the traditional meal, I can home-cook something when we return. What are you up to these days?

handmade linen wine bag

With the holidays around the corner, I am pulling out my Christmas list and deciding what I am making for whom. Many of our friends like wine, and although I am not a wine drinker, I think a nice bottle is a simple, easy, and less pricey host/hostess gift. This holiday season I might include a handmade reusable touch to our family’s gift: a linen fabric wine bag.

Here is how to hand-make a beautiful, unique gift bag of your own.

Need:

linen cloth for bag and complementary color linen scrap (the finished embroidered label will be 2″x 3″ but use a scrap that is a bit larger to fit into an embroidery hoop)
matching thread
fabric scissors
fabric tape measure
slide ruler
straight pins
disappearing ink fabric pen
an iron with a steam setting
embroidery thread in two complimentary colors
sewing needle
tapestry needle
embroidery hoop
grommets and setter (optional)
fabric glue (optional)
ribbon, twine, raffia, other tie material (about 18″ length)
sewing machine

How to:

1. Cut (2) rectangles of linen cloth for bag, each 20 1/4″ x 8″.

2. Align short edges and pin bag pieces with wrong fabric sides together. Start at a long edge of the rectangle and machine stitch on three sides with a 1/4″ seam allowance; leaving one short side open.

3. Turn piece “inside-out” and press seams open with a hot iron on steam setting. Starting at the same long end of the rectangle, and machine stitch on three sides with a 1/2″ seam allowance; leaving the same short side open. (You just created french seams that make the inside of the bag look finished and neat.)

4. To create the square corners at the bottom of the bag, with bag still turned inside-out, flatten the bottom, and create a triangle with the side seam at the top corner of the triangle. Measure 1 1/2″ from the top corner (side-seam) with the slide ruler and mark this bottom line of the triangle with a disappearing ink fabric pen. (If this is confusing, go here for a picture tutorial, just don’t cut the corner off; simply mark your triangle with the ink pen.) Machine stitch along your marked line, back stitching at the beginning and end. Repeat at other corner.

5. Fold the corners up so that they lie vertically along the sides of the bag. Hand tack the corner to the side seam allowance at each side.

6. Turn bag right-side out but do not press. Measure 4″ from the top of the bag and 2″ from each side seam and mark for grommet or button hole placement. Create grommet holes or sew button holes. (Button holes should be approximately 1″ in length.)

7. Mark the message you choose to embroider on the label linen fabric with a disappearing ink fabric pen. In one thread color, embroider your message. Cut out the label to measure 2″x 3″, lightly fray the edges, and hand stitch to the front of the bag using a complimentary thread color and a running stitch. (You can use a tiny bit of fabric glue at the edges of the label to keep the piece from fraying further.

8. Fray the top edge of the bag slightly with a straight pin. Insert your gift bottle of wine, thread the ribbon through the grommets or button holes, and tie up the top of the bag.

Stay tuned for more gifty and gift-wrapping ideas. Enjoy your holiday season!

Getting To a Simple, Frugal, Healthy Life

Tyler and Lake Welcome new subscribers! I hope you (and of course all my loyal readers) find the info here at Organizing-Life interesting, compelling and useful. Lately I have been feeling that life has been getting too complicated. Too many possessions are cluttering my home. My children are relying upon the television for constant entertainment, and I feel too cooped up in my suburban house, low on energy and away, from the sun and fresh air. I decided to do something about it and with my partially obsessive nature to achieve perfection, the journey to achieve a greener, simpler, more frugal, healthy life seemed overwhelming and impossible. So here is what I did:

:: I read a ton of other blogs about wonderful families growing real food, cooking real meals, examining their spirituality, decluttering their budget, and changing their perspective about what REALLY matters in life.

:: I was definitely inspired.

:: I choose the easy tasks, or perhaps the most fun, and decided to simply start.

Usually I have a plan of attack, a logical analysis, and triage method to prioritize and categorize the project…but here, I simply started. So, the next project you do, would you begin without a map, merely a vision, and simply start?

This is what I chose to start with on my quest to get to a more simple, frugal, healthy life with my family.

:: Miracle Cloths - I invested in two sets of cloths. (The investment wasn’t that much, about $8 a set.) This cloth cleans without harsh chemical cleaning solutions. It’s unique fibers catch dust and dirt and hold it until you rinse it out. I got one for mopping my floor (I tuck the miracle cloth into my Swiffer Sweeper mop and I don’t have to pay for and throw out Swiffer refills), one for cleaning the rest of the kitchen, one for the bathroom and another for each kid at dinner time, and one for our flat-screened LED TV. (I wasn’t compensated in anyway to give this glowing review.) I think these cloths are the greener and more frugal way to go when you are cleaning your home.

:: Homemade Toys - Toys are all smooth plastic these days. Remember when you had real wooden blocks, hand-stitched cloth dolls, and metal trucks? My kids are finally old enough to “play pretend.” So I decided to project a little of my “always wanted when I was a kid” stuff on them and chose to sew felt-play-food for my daughter, and sew a roll-up pouch “garage” for my son’s favorite cars. Maybe building him a garage would be a good idea. (He takes my dishwasher silverware holder and uses that as a garage until I tell him to give it back.)

:: Sew Dish Cloths, Pot Holders, and Dinner Napkins - I feel we use too many paper napkins and paper towels. None of them are recycled and it is like throwing money in the trash. Since I like to sew I figure this will be an easy, frugal kitchen and dining solution that will save trees and cash.

:: Sew Produce Bags - I don’t like those thin plastic produce bags. I have trouble re-using them because they get dirty or wet inside and are hard to clean out. And they make my food rot in my fridge. I don’t understand why I need to use plastic bags at the farmers market when I chose to buy there to reduce our fossil fuel consumption in the first place. So, I am sewing some lightweight produce bags out of unbleached 100% cotton muslin cloth and decorating them with some stamped designs. (And if you know of a discount organic fabric distributor, PLEASE let me know!)

:: All Natural Toothpaste - Commercial toothpaste makes me gag. I don’t like that foamy stuff. But I believe oral health is directly linked to the general health of your body. A while back there was a local news story about an inner-city child who didn’t have access to dental care and therefore couldn’t take care of an oral infection that spread to his brain. A scary scenario indeed. Anyway, I need to like brushing my teeth for me to do it for the recommended time, so I decided to go all natural. I got a new tooth powder that has a lemon/lime taste, is baking soda based, and is all natural. It tastes good, isn’t foamy, and doesn’t contain chemicals. Yea!

Are you choosing to change parts of your life? If so, what have you chosen to start? Leave a comment here and share with me! I want to know! And of course with other readers. Happy Organizing!

P. S. This is along the lines of an earlier healthy living post, but I wanted to share that I started a workout routine with my husband. I never thought I’d like huffing and puffing next to a guy, but he makes me laugh and his presence pushes my competitive nature into gear. I find it is fun, rewarding, and refreshing to exercise with him. I think my post said something like, “to increase my energy level I am going to simply start moving: get out with the kids and get away from the computer.” Well, this workout isn’t quite the “easiest”. Have you heard of P90X? We are doing this. The instructor is a little crazy. But our goal is to work together for better health, and that beach vacation in November to Cancun. My arms really hurt right now but my fingers can still type “Mexico, here we come!”

Organizing Your Health – Is Brown Better?

534408448_8a565a2f00 brown bread 2757297399_182eb9d697 white bread

Photos by: Iban

In trying to get my health in shape, and help my family eat and live healthy, I have been experimenting with some unrefined, unprocessed ingredients. Or, should I say, less refined and less processed. Anyhow, I am continually amazed at what I have been trained to see as “food” and what Real Food actually looks like.

My mom always told me, “the deeper the color, the healthier it is for you to eat,”- generally. I thought those deep red gummy worms looked pretty good to me. She always was a big proponant, and I was always in protest of, dark leafy greens. She said they were the most nutritious veggie out there.

Have you ever noticed that the foods at the conventional grocery store literally pale in comparison to those on TV, or those at the farmers market, or those from your garden? Grocery store tomatoes are pinky orange. The 25 lb box of Romas from the farmers market I processed this weekend was deep red. Grocery store lettuce is a spherical ball that is white and pale green. Where as spinach straight from the garden is dark green. It is intense like a green crayon. Why is it that we are accustomed to seeing paler veggies and lighter hued fruits and think that this is acceptable and healthy?

I baked chocolate chunks cookies with my son yesterday and added a few different ingredients this time. Instead of bleached granulated sugar, I added unrefined whole organic sugar. I bake a lot so creaming butter and sugar in my Kitchen Aid mixer is a no-brainer. But I peaked in to see how it was going and was surprised to see the mixture was a deep olive/brown color. Even the recipe instructed me to “beat until PALE and fluffy.” This wasn’t going to be pale. And to make the cookie even darker, we added unbleached, unbromated organic all-purpous flour. My son actually called it dirty and didn’t want to add the yummy chocolate chunks to the dirty mixture! They baked off fine, the texture was great, and so was the taste. (I think the cookies are even a bit sweeter.) And my son was glad to munch on a few “dirty” cookies. They came out looking as dark brown as they went in the oven, and they look nothing like the milky tan little-elf brand cookie. I am surprised that I actually expected cookies to be pale colored too.

I was processing peaches this weekend too. (I did a lot of work with fruit.) I peeled them, diced them, and packed them in a light syrup (2/3C sugar to 1C water) in Ziploc bags that were bound for the freezer. (Peach pie in January!!) Again I used the unrefined, whole organic sugar to make the syrup, and the liquid turned BLACK!! I was so shocked, and thought, I can’t possibly put this on my peaches! I ended up adding about half the syrup and the peach mixture did get darker. But I figure if it is under a double crust, or under some kind of crumble, no one will know what color it is.

I am continually amazed at how conditioned I am, and my family is, to believe that the food we see in boxes, in pale hues, and in cans is actually Real Food. I can’t wait to have a garden so I can show my children where real food does come from. I wonder what they will think of brown bread vs. white bread, and hand pressed apple juice in a canteen vs. the reconstituted stuff in a small cardboard box when the get to school and their peers are eyeing their lunches. I am hoping that if they are confident that they like the food they are eating it will matter a bit less.

What do you think about the colors and textures of your food? Are you noticing a difference between conventional and “healthy” foods? Leave your comments and thoughts here for others! Happy Organizing.

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