Busy Life and New Life

We are in the middle of a very busy month right now! Right now my parents are visiting. It's so good to be able to spend time with them. They live out of the country, so it's only every couple of years that we get to visit like this. The kids are loving the time with them, and I am enjoying some extra help with everything! I have enjoyed cooking special gluten free goodies for my dad. And I plan on sharing some recipes when I can get to it! :)

In a couple days we will be travelling back 'home' to attend a conference, at the end of which my husband will receive his degree in Theology. Then we will enjoy a week of vacation there before we return back here to the home base. I am looking forward to all of this, but I am also looking forward to the end of it all when I can get back into my own daily routines and life.

Today was a fun day because I had my first real prenatal appointment! We got to hear the baby's heartbeat for the first time, which is always cool, no matter how many children you have. :) We figured out that I am about 10 weeks along (one week behind where originally calculated, but what I had figured in the first place) and she said the baby seemed to be a little higher than what she would expect for 10 weeks... hm..

So, I will be back in a couple of weeks!

Chewy Molasses Crinkles

I have been looking for the perfect cookie recipe for a few days now. I either wanted a crispy, chewy chocolate chip, or molasses. I LOVE molasses cookies. Well, I didn't have any gf/df chocolate chips on hand, so I went for the molasses.

A couple weeks ago I had ordered some coconut flour and I really wanted to use that in the cookies. So, I have spent the past couple days searching for a molasses cookie recipe that uses coconut flour. I found a few recipes, but they either had other flours blended in, or used a lot of eggs. Not what I was looking for.

So, I got out my handy dandy Betty Crocker cookbook, flipped to the molasses cookie recipe, studied it for a minute, and made some changes! yikes! I am a follow-the-recipe kind of girl, so this was a little scary, but I figured if it flopped, it would at least taste good, and I could crumble it over some coconut milk ice cream or something... :)

I am so pleased to announce that it was a success!! Score one for me!! I'll just post the recipe as I made it to save you from the details and methods behind my madness...

Chewy Molasses Crinkles (gluten and dairy free)
3/4 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. melted butter or coconut oil (I used 1/4 c each)
1/2 c. molasses (I used blackstrap, regular is fine)
2 eggs
3/4 c. coconut flour,sifted
2 teas. baking soda
1 teas. cinnamon
1 teas. ginger
1/2 teas. cloves
1/4 teas salt
granulated sugar

• Heat oven to 375.
• Beat brown sugar, melted butter, molasses and eggs in a large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed. Stir in remaining ingredients, execept granulated sugar.
• Lightly grease a cookie sheet, or line with parchment paper.
• Drop spoonfuls of dough into small bowl with granulated sugar. Roll to coat in sugar.
• Place balls on prepared cookie sheet.
• Bake for 9-10 min.
• Remove from pan to wire cooling rack.

And a couple pics of my girls, because they're so funny.. :)

Baby #4

Yes, it's true - Baby #4 is on the way! We are so excited for this new little one! Yes, I'm one of those women who actually enjoy being pregnant! I love the preparation and anticipation of labor and birth. Call me crazy... that's alright. :)  I'm about 8ish weeks along, feeling.... pregnant.. :)

This will be my first 'gluten-free' pregnancy. And so far, I'm doing alright. My belly has gone into super-sensitive mode, so even the gluten free grains are difficult for me to digest right now. If I stay away from them and any other carbs and sugars I feel pretty good. Although, that is much easier said than done!

I have been so tired this time around. I haven't felt this tired since my first pregnancy. I'm going to start taking some iron and see if that helps. Usually by the second trimester I need to take extra iron anyway.

Well, I will try not to bore you with pregnancy details... But there is my explanation for lack of posts lately! So, stick with me. I'll do what I can. In a few weeks maybe I'll have some more mojo. :)

Still Here!

It has been busy this past week for us here! Hubby and I were able to get away for 3 days this week (woohooo!!!). We went to a couple's retreat, hosted by our mission. It was great to relax with our fellow missionary comrads from the area and get to know them a little better. We usually only see them once a year at the big conference. We had fun singing and sharing, eating, and playing games. The girls went to our neighbor's (good friend) and had a blast. Little man tagged along with us, he did great. :)

Now that we've had a couple of 'recovery' days, time to get back into the routine! But it's the weekend... so I'll start on Monday. :) I really haven't been in cooking mode lately, but, hopefully, I'll have some recipes to share next week.... So stay tuned! ;)