News

Some of you may have noticed that I've not been as active on this blog in the past - say - 4 months. There's a very good reason for that.

I'm about 5 months pregnant.



We're expecting our 2nd son (another boy! so excited!) around Thanksgiving.

Many people have asked why I waited so long to tell. I just told my Facebook followers less than 2 weeks ago! Well, I'm just weird like that :) At this point, if you saw me in person, I am clearly pregnant. But I'm still slowly telling people. I waited a long time to tell with Bear (I showed much later with him). I'm also sure that having a miscarriage in January added to my hesitation, as we found out we were expecting again less than 8 weeks later.

I've been feeling great - so good, in fact, I was sure I was having a girl! Women who have had lots of children often say they can tell by the characteristics of their pregnancy whether or not it's a boy or a girl. But since my diet is completely different than when I was gestating Bear (we're wheat-free, dairy-free now and a lot more raw foods!), I think that has contributed to my health. I had to give up green smoothies for the most past for the first 16 weeks or so because they made me sick. Very strange since I had no other aversions except for coffee (which happened with Bear as well). I still have to be very careful when I drink them because they make my blood sugar crash, which makes me nauseous.

So that's the big news :) I'll still be posting recipes and updates, and there are already plenty of recipes to surf on this blog. And I'll be sharing with you my birth plans (VBAC!), as well as processing my last birth and what we'll be doing differently this time.

Now - off to the farmer's market!

In Vermont

I'm in central Vermont, on a family vacation, so I've been trying to scope out the local food. Thus far, I have not had much success. They are about 2 weeks behind in their growing season because of the rain and dreary weather, so all I've successfully scored that I know is local is some strawberries.

I will write a follow-up post on some of the local fare. I'm looking forward to the farmer's market on Saturday, even though we leave on Sunday. Also, I've joined Twitter. My name is also Oceanskater on their if you want to follow me, and I've added a Twitter badge to my blog.

Our Neighborhood's First Farmer's Market

Saturday was this year's first farmer's market! I could not have been more excited. I love being able to walk less than half a mile to the village square and get fresh produce that was often picked within the last few hours! I also love being able to support local farmers and businesses by purchasing their goods.

This year, there are 4 farmers (last year, there were only 2) and lots of vendors. One of my best finds was a huge head of red leaf lettuce for $1.50. I also bought organic bok choy, strawberries, fresh mint, and a funny looking cucumber.

I also found a gluten-free, dairy-free baked item! I was talking to a new vendor who had lots of delectable looking treats, and mentioned I couldn't eat wheat or dairy. He said the lemon bar is made with almond flour and even had an ingredient list to double-check that there was no dairy or soy. And it was really good! I loved being able to share it was my son (and my husband, who loves anything lemon). Be sure to look for them if you're in the area; their name is Baked Orchard.

They had a clown and Bear kept popping his balloons and then crying. Poor guy! So his dad made him a "balloon" out of an empty, unused dog waste disposal bag :) Very creative!

Gluten-free Pigs in a Blanket

I made pigs in a blanket last week for fun, and they came out quite well!

"Pigs" in a Blanket
2 cups baking mix
1/3 cup + 1 tablespoon Earth Balance soy-free margarine
2 ½ teaspoons gluten-free baking powder
1 egg or egg replacer
1 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup water

I also added :
1 tablespoon nutritional yeast (for a "cheese-y" flavor)
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

Mix the above ingredients to make the "batter".

Then:
6 hot dogs, cut in half & boiled (I used chicken dogs)

I put about a tablespoon of the batter on a greased cookie sheet and flattened it. I did this 12 times, and then put the half dogs on top. I put about another tablespoon & a half of batter on top of the dogs and sort of mushed it together with my fingers.

Before the oven:

I baked it for about 12-15 minutes at 400 degrees F and then served it with fresh salad with my lemon mint dressing. Yum!

Here's the cooked evidence (don't mind the blur; it's an iPhone photo):

Gluten-free Baking Mix

People often ask me what I use for my standard gluten-free baking mix. Here it is:

Baking mix
2 cups brown rice flour
1/2 cup potato starch
1/4 cup tapioca starch
2 teaspoons xantham gum

I make big batches of this. Then I use this for my bread (measure out 2 3/4 cups, and then use another 1/2 cup of flour, generally buckwheat, garbanzo or sorghum) & for biscuits & cinnamon rolls.

Soy-free Earth Balance Margarine!

I'm loving Earth Balance's new soy-free margarine! It took me a while to actually find a store that carries it, but it was worth the effort. I still using coconut oil as a butter substitute, but it's nice to be able to spread something on my bread. I even used the margarine to make the pizza dough for my Rancho pizza, as well as pigs in a blanket this week. Recipe to follow!

Pumpkin Seed Milk

I think there's some sort of line in the crunchiness sand that one crosses when they start making their own raw milk.

I've crossed that line.

Pumpkin Seed Milk
1/2 cup pumpkin seeds
10-12 dates

Soak these for 8 hours or overnight. Then drain and put in a blender.

Add:
A few dashes of salt
3 cups purified water
1/4 vanilla bean or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (use alcohol-free), optional

Blend like crazy. I blend this on 8 in my Blendtec. I'm told it doesn't need to be strained, but mine did. Strain through a strainer with small holes or through cheesecloth. Save the pulp and add to baking (like banana or pumpkin bread!). It makes about 4 cups.

I used vanilla extract for the 1st 2 batches, but it tasted artificial to me. This last batch, I left off the vanilla, and it tastes great. I have some vanilla beans coming in a few weeks. I'll trying adding it back in then.

I think I should make a quiz. "You know you're a crunchy foodie when...." Any ideas? I have one! When you start guessing the temperature by the state of your raw, unrefined, virgin coconut oil :)

Lemon Mint Salad Dressing

Yesterday, we had a pick-up for our buying club. I got some amazing fresh produce, including some beautiful yellow bell peppers (which are #3 on the Dirty Dozen list) and fresh mint! I figured a big salad was in order and so I whipped up a batch of this raw salad dressing in my Blendtec.

Lemon Mint Dressing
1/4-1/3 cup lemon juice (about 2 lemons)
2/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/3 packed cup fresh mint (about 1 ounce)
2 cloves garlic
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
a few dashes of pepper

Blend in a blender till blending (that was fun to say), and put it on a fresh salad.

Wow, is this good! It brings me back to my days of working at Aladdin's Natural Eatery; I really miss their food! They had a very similar salad dressing, except it used dried mint. Yum!

Walk For Hunger

On Sunday, May 3, the Simonds' family will be participating in Project Bread's 2009 Walk for Hunger.

Why are we walking? Because many Massachusetts families are seeing their monthly income stretched beyond capacity. They are forced to go without food in order to pay their rent, utility, and medical bills. The demand for emergency food has never been greater with pantries and meal programs supported by Project Bread serving 43.4 million meals last year alone. Hunger is not just an urban problem — it exists in nearly every community throughout the state.

The money that we raise by walking as much as we can of the 20-mile route will directly help hungry people. Since we will have Bear was us, we are aiming for 5-10 miles. Funds raised through the Walk support more than 400 emergency food programs in 128 communities statewide.

Who is hungry? Hunger affects more than 522,000 people in Massachusetts, including the state’s most vulnerable citizens — children, the elderly, the disabled, and the unemployed.

Please donate to our walk to help us make a difference and reach our family fundraising goal. Thank you for your support of us and of hungry people.

About Project Bread
As the state’s leading antihunger organization, Project Bread is dedicated to alleviating, preventing, and ultimately ending hunger in Massachusetts. In addition to organizing the annual Walk for Hunger and supporting emergency food programs statewide, Project Bread also advocates systematic solutions that prevent hunger in children and that provide food to families in everyday settings.

Boston Exodus Training and the Protestors

Earlier this week, Alive in Christ (the ministry I direct), Park Street Church (the church that hosts the ministry) and Exodus International (the organization of which Alive in Christ is a member) hosted a Boston training event for pastors, ministry leaders, seminary students, educators, and counselors on how to respond to the issue of homosexuality with biblical truth and compassion.

We knew there was a protest scheduled during the day, with well-known speakers and gay activists attending, such as Wayne Besen and Arlene Isaacson. We had several protesters come to the meeting and stand up in the middle of speaking sessions to "demonstrate"; I'll spare you the details :)

One side of the room we were meeting in is completely covered in windows. Outside the windows is a historic cemetery that tourists walk through. A group of probably 20-30 protesters came up to the windows to scream loudly at us through a bullhorn and try and take pictures of the attendees. They shouted some mantras, such as "Exodus, Exodus, Quack, Quack, Quack! You can't change gays; that's a fact!" and "Ex-gay, no way! Don't believe a word they say!" It's fairly clear from those two statements that they really have no idea what we were talking about in the training or the even the mission of Exodus. That is even more clear if you watch some of the footage of the continued protest and the words of the speakers.

As I was thinking about the anti-Exodus protesters leading up to the conference, I realized they are sort of missing the point. The problem in their minds is Exodus; if they could shut Exodus down somehow, the problem is solved. But Exodus didn't form for the sake of Exodus; Exodus was created because people all over the United States were seeking out this type of ministry. People were not satisfied with the label of "born gay" that was slapped on them.

The protesters need to realize that shutting down Exodus will not change the need - the need in people's heart for a different answer, for a different life. They may not experience that need, but that will not change the fact that thousands of others, like myself, desired to be obedient to what we saw in God's Word and what we felt He was calling us to do. And when we were willing to surrender that area of our lives to God, when we were willing to do whatever it would take to walk in obedience to Him, what He gave us in return was far better than anything we could ever have imagined.