Yummy drinks for summer

My husband occasionally goes on a "Lemon Cleanse". With his great metabolism he loses weight easily. I have tried this twice: once after surgery because I had a hard time eating solid foods, and another time to challenge myself to see how long I could do it. After two weeks I found out that I didn't really care if I ever had food again; I love drinks.

Anytime I go out to eat at a Mexican-style restaurant I usually end up getting a virgin daiquiri or virgin margarita. At other restaurants I will get a mixture of lemonades such as mango-peach. Yum! I love fun and inventive drinks and I love to mix and match flavors! Whenever I get the chance I try new recipes at home. This being said, over the last six years my creativity has been challenged - and sometimes beaten - due to food allergies. Ugh! That's another story for another day.

Because we are in the middle of May I thought some yummy drink recipes were in order! The first recipe is one of my favorite and it is SO easy. I hope you enjoy!

Old Fashioned Pink Lemonade Recipe
1 1/4 cup sugar (1 cup if using sweetened cranberry juice)
4 cups water (divided)
1 cup cranberry juice (use any kind of cranberry juices)
1 cup lemon juice

Make a simple syrup by heating sugar and 1 cup of the water in a small saucepan until the sugar is completely dissolved.  Remove from heat.

Stir together the remaining water, cranberry juice, lemon juice and simple syrup. Make adjustments to your taste. Chill for one hour or add ice to cool. Serves 6.

Reading an LDS Living edition the other day I ran across this article. It's from May 2014, so be forewarned:  it could be outdated. If you question any of the beverage choices ask the barista at your local "Starbucks":  

"The Mormon Guide to Starbucks"

If for some reason the link doesn't work, here is the web address:
http://lds.net/blog/life/life-hacks/food/starbucks-for-mormons/

For an easy drink you could try this recipe:

Virgin Strawberry Daiquiri
1 oz fresh lime juice (yes, fresh tastes different!)
3 oz frozen sliced strawberries in syrup (or fresh-frozen)
1-3 tsp sugar (your taste)
cracked ice

Fill a blender with cracked ice. Add lime juice, strawberries and sugar. Blend until smooth. You can add a little water if it is too thick. Pour into a chilled glass. If you want to make it look pretty you can garnish with extra strawberries or whip cream on top! Yum!

Musings from my childhood May 2016

If any of you have followed my blog you will obviously notice that I have not written for quite a while. Life. Happenings. Children. Church. Service. Volunteering. Family. Health. Vacations. There are so many reasons or excuses for me not to write.

Everyone's life is full of what they feel is important to them. For me, family is important. Whether I choose to visit with family members, help them, love them, pray for them--whatever I choose to do with my day is how I show what is truly important to me--and I try each day to show a different family member how much I care about them.

Now this is the tricky part: I am one of eight children. All of us are married. (16) All of us have children. At the last count there are  grandchildren 37 grandchildren (53) with 18 married (71) and  18 great grandchildren (89). Both of my parents are still living (91). Only one of my grandparents are still living and she will turn 90 this year (92). Three of my nieces are due with a baby this year (95). That is just my side of the family. My husband and I have seven children and one granddaughter. (Already counted in the above totals.) My husband has three siblings still living that are married (6), his step mother (7) and her son, daughter-in-law and 3 grandchildren (12). That brings to total to 107 people that are close family members. My math could definitely be challenged but you get the picture; you can see how hard it would be to try to show every single member of my close family just how much I care for them daily. This is one of the advantages of modern technology--to keep in touch easily.

Facebook is a great way for me to catch up on my nephews and nieces and their families. Occasionally I have siblings that post something but not too often. Emails are great too--especially if they are from relatives that have no few methods of contact; for example, they may be missions for our church, or volunteering in the Peace Corps or some other organization, etc. Sometimes letters and packages are hard to send, let alone receive in third-world countries. I love getting picture updates!

Texting is also a fun way of keeping in touch; with a simple emoji you can send a thought to whomever you wish. Personally, I like the "microphone" that is a part of my cell phone. I can communicate with others a lot faster than trying to type each letter singularly. I also like to send one-word thoughts, such as "*hug*". I instantly feel warmer inside knowing that the person I send that too will know that I care about them.

Here are two other suggestions of communication: whistling and actually knocking on the door to see if someone could play.

Do you remember the days of "Kick the can", "Sardines", "Hide-and-seek", "Red rover red rover...", basketball, kickball, and other fun games that the whole neighborhood would join in? How about the various ways of choosing who is "It":  "My mother and your mother were out hanging clothes. My mother socked your mother right in the nose. What color of blood came out?" Yes, I know, that is not a good one, but honestly I couldn't remember another off the top of my head.

  

One day my friend Lisa told me that we could make lipstick out of rose petals. This sounded like a brilliant idea to a ten-year-old girl with three older sisters. This is a memory that comes back to me whenever I weed roses. Those were the days of great curiosity and creativity. Sometimes we would play "School" or reenact a TV program such as "Charlies Angels", or we would ride our bikes or run over to the school to play on the playground equipment. (My favorite was the "monkey bars"!) My friend Suzy loved the "see saw"; she loved to bounce people. I would have to say that one of my very favorite things to do when I was younger was to jump on the trampoline; I could jump for hours at a time. I never seemed to get tired. So many fun memories of long ago.

  

In my childhood days my father would let us know that it was time to come in by whistling a few certain notes, sometimes "taps", then start counting to 10. All of the neighborhood knew that we needed to be inside the house by the time my dad reached 10. I remember taking my time coming home instead of running. My dad simply locked the door and I missed dinner. I went to play basketball in the driveway until they were done. As soon as the meal was finished I was told to clean up dinner. This may not seem like such a big deal, but remember that I am one of eight children, plus two parents. We had a "hook up" dishwasher that would work for some of the dishes, but inevitably there would be dishes that would need to be hand washed and dried. No letting them dry in the sink or any such "nonsense" for our family.

Today I don't like to answer the door unless I know that someone is coming over because the person at the door is usually a salesperson. In our community there is a sign that says that soliciting is not allowed but this definitely doesn't stop them; and, of course you have the neighborhood children who are selling something for their school, club or sport programs.  How do you say no to them?

Video games and on-line streaming seem to have replaced the essential play that children were born to experience. I remember playing "Pac Man" when it first came out. As a family we delivered newspapers every day; three routes in the morning and two in the afternoon. For Christmas one year we got the "Atari" game system. This was BIG! We each got a game cartridge in our stocking and mine happened to be "Pac Man". I have a distinct recollection of my mom coming downstairs and telling me and my younger brother that we needed to go outside and play. We were so worried about losing our scores, getting to the next level and, of course, beating the other person's score. She was right though. When we got outside to play I couldn't care less about coming back inside to play.

A lot of the parent's of the families I grew up with still live in the same neighborhood. There is something happily nostalgic about seeing them and how they have changed. I love listening to them talk about their families--the good and the bad. I care about them. One neighbor in particular lived across the street and they also had eight children. They also had a large tree just made for climbing! Every chance I got I climbed that tree all the way to the top. I loved looking out over everything and seeing long distances. Climbing down the tree was another matter altogether; I would have loved to have had a trampoline right under that tree that I could jump out onto! I know that I made the neighbor nervous because she had her husband cut down the tree. I remember coming home from school one day and seeing the tree branches lying all over the lawn. Why would anyone want to cut down such a great tree?! Now, as an adult I totally get it.

Chocolate. Yep! The old saying, "One picture is worth a million words" comes to my mind right now. What I picture is the recipe I found for making a "Double Chocolate Chip Frappe at Home". YUM!!!

This picture is either going to have you going to your cupboards to make this right now, going into a sugar coma just from the looks of things, or looking for ways to make this by any means. As for me, I'll take option one and two. YES please!  This really is simple to make and VERY yummy! Be warned-this will definitely help you with your chocolate consumption!!!

Here is an article I read the other day about health benefits of chocolate-especially dark chocolate!
http://authoritynutrition.com/7-health-benefits-dark-chocolate/

For those of you who don't like to web search, here's the article:

7 Proven Health Benefits of Dark Chocolate

By Kris Gunnars

Made from the seed of the cocoa tree, it is one of the best sources of antioxidants on the planet.

Studies show that dark chocolate (not the sugary crap) can improve health and lower the risk of heart disease.

1. Dark Chocolate is Very Nutritious

If you buy quality dark chocolate with a high cocoa content, then it is actually quite nutritious.

It contains a decent amount of soluble fiber and is loaded with minerals.

A 100 gram bar of dark chocolate with 70-85% cocoa contains (1):

11 grams of fiber.

67% of the RDA for Iron.

58% of the RDA for Magnesium.

89% of the RDA for Copper.

98% of the RDA for Manganese.

It also has plenty of potassium, phosphorus, zinc and selenium.

Of course, 100 grams (3.5 ounces) is a fairly large amount and not something you should be consuming daily. All these nutrients also come with 600 calories and moderate amounts of sugar.

For this reason, dark chocolate is best consumed in moderation.

The fatty acid profile of cocoa and dark chocolate is excellent. The fats are mostly saturated and monounsaturated, with small amounts of polyunsaturates.

It also contains stimulants like caffeine and theobromine, but is unlikely to keep you awake at night as the amount of caffeine is very small compared to coffee.

Bottom Line: Quality dark chocolate is rich in Fiber, Iron, Magnesium, Copper, Manganese and a few other minerals.

2. Dark Chocolate is a Powerful Source of Antioxidants

Have you ever heard of a measure called ORAC?

ORAC stands for Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity. It is a measure of the antioxidant activity of foods.

Basically, researchers pit a bunch of free radicals (bad) against a sample of food and see how well the antioxidants in the food can “disarm” them.

The biological relevance of this metric is questioned, because it’s done in a test tube and may not have the same effect in the body.

However, I think it is worth mentioning that raw, unprocessed cocoa beans are among the highest scoring foods that have been tested.

Dark chocolate is loaded with organic compounds that are biologically active and function as antioxidants. These include polyphenols, flavanols, catechins, among others.

One study showed that cocoa and dark chocolate contained more antioxidant activity, polyphenols and flavanols than other fruits they tested, which included blueberries and Acai berries (2).

Bottom Line: Cocoa and dark chocolate have a wide variety of powerful antioxidants, way more than most other foods.

3. Dark Chocolate May Improve Blood Flow and Lower Blood Pressure

The flavanols in dark chocolate can stimulate the endothelium, the lining of arteries, to produce Nitric Oxide (NO), which is a gas (3).

One of the functions of NO is to send signals to the arteries to relax, which lowers resistance to blood flow and therefore reduces blood pressure.

There are many controlled trials showing that cocoa and dark chocolate can improve blood flow and lower blood pressure, but the effects are usually mild (4, 5, 6, 7).

However, there is also one study in people with elevated blood pressure that showed no effect, so take all this with a grain of salt (8).

Bottom Line: The bioactive compounds in cocoa can improve blood flow in the arteries and cause a small but statistically significant decrease in blood pressure.

4. Dark Chocolate Raises HDL and Protects LDL Against Oxidation

Consuming dark chocolate can improve several important risk factors for heart disease.

In a controlled trial, cocoa powder was found to significantly decrease oxidized LDL cholesterol in men.

It also increased HDL and lowered total LDL in men with elevated cholesterol (9).

Oxidized LDL means that the LDL (“bad” cholesterol) has reacted with free radicals.

This makes the LDL particle itself reactive and capable of damaging other tissues… such as the lining of the arteries in your heart.

It makes perfect sense that cocoa lowers oxidized LDL. It contains an abundance of powerful antioxidants that do make it into the bloodstream and protect lipoproteins against oxidative damage (10, 11, 12, 13).

Dark chocolate can also reduce insulin resistance, which is another common risk factor for many diseases like heart disease and diabetes (14, 15).

Bottom Line: Dark chocolate improves several important risk factors for disease. It lowers the susceptibility of LDL to oxidative damage while increasing HDL and improving insulin sensitivity.

5. Dark Chocolate May Lower The Risk of Cardiovascular Disease

The compounds in dark chocolate appear to be highly protective against the oxidation of LDL.

In the long term, this should cause much less cholesterol to lodge in the arteries and we should see a lower risk of heart disease over the long term.

It turns out that we have several long-term observational studies that show a fairly drastic improvement.

In a study of 470 elderly men, cocoa was found to reduce the risk of cardiovascular death by a whopping 50% over a 15 year period (16).

Another study revealed that eating chocolate 2 or more times per week lowered the risk of having calcified plaque in the arteries by 32%. Eating chocolate less frequently had no effect (17).

Yet another study showed that chocolate 5+ times per week lowered the risk of cardiovascular disease by 57% (18).

Of course, these 3 studies are so-called observational studies that cannot prove that it was the chocolate that caused the reduction in risk.

However, given that we have a biological mechanism (lower blood pressure and oxidized LDL) then I find it plausible that regular consumption of dark chocolate can in fact reduce the risk of heart disease.

Bottom Line: Observational studies show a drastic reduction in heart disease risk for the people who consume the most chocolate.

6. Dark Chocolate May Protect Your Skin Against The Sun

The bioactive compounds in dark chocolate may also be great for your skin.

The flavonols can protect against sun-induced damage, improve blood flow to the skin and increase skin density and hydration (19).

The minimal erythemal dose (MED) is the minimum amount of UVB rays required to cause redness in the skin, 24 hours after exposure.

In one study of 30 people, the MED more than doubled after consuming dark chocolate high in flavanols for 12 weeks (20).

If you’re planning on a beach vacation, consider loading up on dark chocolate in the prior weeks and months.

Bottom Line: Studies show that the flavanols from cocoa can improve blood flow to the skin and protect it against sun-induced damage.

7. Dark Chocolate May Improve Brain Function

The good news isn’t over yet. Dark chocolate may also improve the function of the brain.

One study of healthy volunteers showed that 5 days of consuming high-flavanol cocoa improved blood flow to the brain (21).

Cocoa may also significantly improve cognitive function in elderly people with mental impairment. It also improves verbal fluency and several risk factors for disease (22).

Cocoa also contains stimulant substances like caffeine and theobromine, which may be a key reason cocoa can improve brain function in the short term (23).

Take Home Message

There is considerable evidence that cocoa can provide powerful health benefits, being especially protective against cardiovascular disease.

But of course, this doesn’t mean people should go all out and consume lots of chocolate every day. It is still loaded with calories and easy to overeat on. Maybe have a square or two after dinner and try to really savor them.

Be aware that a lot of the chocolate on the market is crap. You need to choose quality stuff… organic, dark chocolate with 70% or higher cocoa content.

Dark chocolates often contain some sugar, but the amounts are usually small and the darker the chocolate, the less sugar it will contain.

There are of course other benefits to chocolate that I have not mentioned… such as the awesome taste.

This is a post I came across from August 2014. For some reason I had not posted it but had saved it in my "drafts". Definitely a "daft" moment!


We have a few of our children living in one state right now. This is huge for us. For the past five plus years most of our seven children have been living in various states and countries. Whenever my husband and/or I are in their area we try to get everyone together to share at least one meal.

Because we have always been a busy family with seven children I felt it was important for us to share at least one meal time a day together while they were growing up, whether they were eating or not. For 20-30 minutes of time the whole family is together. We could share things going on in life, cares and concerns, joke with one another, whatever. The important point is that we were together. We were united as a family, if only for a small amount of time. That’s a lot to ask for a blended family.

We will celebrate 14 years of marriage this December. There have been some major ups and downs through that time, but to be honest, it has been worth the tears, frustration, upset stomachs and jumbled nerves. Has this journey been easy? Definitely not; I would be a liar to say it has been easy. However, I will say that I have grown more in areas that I never would have otherwise and I have shared some very beautiful memories and times with wonderful people through this experience. 

 

Some of our children and some friends
L-R: Jason, Becca & Karson, Friend, Suze, Rebecca, Me, Mark & Bryan

A few weeks ago I went to visit my family in another state. I usually stay with my younger sister Andrea and her husband Ryan when I'm in town. After many years they have been blessed with two sweet children, Andrew and McKayla. Andrew will turn three this month. What a joy he has been to them and to all of those around him. He has a zeal and zest for life, and has a tenderness and awareness about him, that draws you near. He is an especially good hugger!  This past January they added to their family with a little girl. The joy on Andrew's face when he first got to see and hold McKayla was priceless. He will be a wonderful big brother for her.

While I was there my sister asked me if I would mind making sugar cookies with Andrew. This was not a hard request at all! I love sugar cookies! I love Andrew! I love baking with children! I especially love to make sugar cookies--the different shapes, the joy and thought that goes into making each cookie, the frosting and various colors and toppings-and thinking about the smile on someone's face as they eat one of my cookies, sometimes with frosting dripping down their chins...that is a sweet peace of heaven to me.  I love knowing someone will be happy while they eat one of my creations. 

I love family!  Especially when we get the chance to cook and enjoy each other. As we were cutting out shapes my sister-in-law Jennifer dropped by with two of her girls. They helped us roll out the dough, cut up some shapes and decorated. We had a lot of fun! 

Being with and making memories with my family gives me a tremendous amount of satisfaction and increased love for them. I have learned not to take my family for granted. They have been a wonderful support for me and I have gleamed a lot of wisdom and experience from them. 

I have a recipe from my sister Rowena called a "Valentine Cookie". I decided to try to make this recipe gluten free. To my delight (and to MANY others!) this recipe is 100% DELICIOUS!!!  I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I do! I've also included a frosting recipe I like for these cookies.

Valentine Sugar Cookies

1 cup shortening

1 cup sugar

4 eggs

4 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/3 cup milk*

1 tsp vanilla

4 cups gluten-free flour mix**

Mix shortening and sugar until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, incorporating each. Next add baking power, salt and vanilla. Add 1 cup of the gluten-free flour mixture at a time, alternating with the milk. 

Roll out dough. Use some of the gluten-free mixture on the rolling pin and surface. Bake at 350 for 6-8 minutes. Makes 4-5 dozen small cookies, 3-4 medium to large cookies.

*Almond milk may be substituted for the milk in this recipe. 

**Gluten-Free flour mixture:  

2 cups white rice flour

1/3 cup tapioca flour

2/3 cup potato starch

1 tsp xanthan gum

Mix ingredients together well. 

Butter Cream Frosting

2 egg whites or 1 egg

1 tsp orange extract

1 cup butter, softened

dash salt

3 cups powdered sugar

Whip egg whites until frothy. Blend butter with egg whites then add the orange extract and salt. Next add the powdered sugar 1/2 cup at a time. Use milk (or Almond milk) 1 tbsp at a time if too thick. If too thin, add more powdered sugar.

You can omit the egg whites if you like. This makes the frosting "airy".

I have been thinking of more goodies to make this holiday season and came across one that I discovered last year. YUMMY! I took this to a friend's yearly "Cookie Exchange" and got the "best cookie" award. These are incredible! ENJOY!

***Pumpkin Sandwich Cookie – Land O’ Lakes website

Gluten-free pumpkin cookies are filled with a cinnamon-flavored cream cheese filling in this special treat.

Cookie:

2 cups Gluten-Free Flour Blend (see below)

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice**

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1/2 cup Land O Lakes® Butter, softened

1/2 cup canned pumpkin

1/4 cup milk1 Land O Lakes® All-Natural Egg

1 teaspoon gluten-free vanilla

Filling

1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened

2 tablespoons Land O Lakes® Butter, softened

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon gluten-free vanilla

4 cups powdered sugar

Powdered sugar

Heat oven to 350°F. Combine flour blend, baking soda, pumpkin pie spice, baking powder and salt in medium bowl. Set aside.

Combine brown sugar and 1/2 cup butter in large bowl; beat at medium speed until creamy. Add pumpkin, milk, egg and vanilla; beat until well mixed. Add flour mixture; beat at low speed until well mixed.

Drop batter by level measuring tablespoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake 9-10 minutes or until set and lightly browned around edges. Cool 2 minutes on cookie sheets; remove to cooling rack. Cool completely.

Combine all filling ingredients except powdered sugar in large bowl. Beat at medium speed, scraping bowl often, until smooth. Gradually add 4 cups powdered sugar, beating well after each addition until creamy.

Spread 2 teaspoons filling onto bottom-side of 1 cookie. Top with another cookie, bottom-side down. Repeat with remaining cookies and filling. Sprinkle filled cookies with powdered sugar.  Makes 24 cookies.

**Substitute 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon plus 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger, 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg and 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves.

Gluten-Free Flour Blend: To make flour blend, combine 2 cups rice flour, 2/3 cup potato starch, 1/3 cup tapioca flour and 1 teaspoon xanthan gum. Use appropriate amount for recipe; store remainder in container with tight-fitting lid. Stir before using.

I just noticed that I've been neglecting my gluten-free recipes! This recipe comes from the Land O' Lakes website. Every gluten-free recipe that I have tried from this website is YUMMY!

*Petite White Chocolate Cranberry Scones (Gluten-Free Recipe)

Land O' Lakes Petite White Chocolate Cranberry Scones

2 cups Gluten-Free Flour Blend (see below)

1/3 cup sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon freshly grated lemon zest

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup Land O Lakes® Butter, softened

3/4 cup whipping cream

3/4 cup sweetened dried cranberries, coarsely chopped (or dried cherries & blueberries)

1 1/4 cups gluten-free white baking chips

2 teaspoons shortening

Heat oven to 400°F. Combine flour blend, sugar, baking powder, lemon zest and salt in large bowl; cut in butter with pastry blender or fork until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in whipping cream; mix until dough holds together. Stir in cranberries and 3/4 cup white baking chips.

Turn dough onto lightly floured surface (cornstarch or more GF “flour” mixture); knead 5 to 10 times or until dough is smooth. Divide dough into 4 equal pieces; shape each piece into 8x1-inch log. Cut each log into 4 (2-inch) pieces; cut each piece in half diagonally to form small triangles.

Place scones, at least 1 inch apart, onto ungreased baking sheet. Bake for 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown around edges. Cool completely.

Combine remaining 1/2 cup baking chips and shortening in small microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on MEDIUM (50% power) 30 seconds; stir. Continue microwaving and stirring every 30 seconds until chips are melted and smooth. Drizzle scones with melted chocolate.

Gluten-Free Flour Blend: To make flour blend, combine 2 cups rice flour, 2/3 cup potato starch, 1/3 cup tapioca flour and 1 teaspoon xanthan gum. Use appropriate amount for recipe; store remainder in container with tight-fitting lid. Stir before using.