How did everyone else’s weekend go?  On Saturday, we hit the apple orchard and picked 7 pecks of apples.  The kids helped me get apple slices in the dehydrator.  Later this week we will be working on apple sauce (spiced, smooth and chunky) and cardamon apple butter.  Yum!  I am such a squirrel… gotta get my stores set before winter!  On Sunday we cheered Daddy on as he ran the Twin Cities Marathon.  Run, Daddy, run!!

 

Today at Laura’s Menu Plan Monday, it is time for Canadian Thanksgiving.  Besides her regular weekly menu, she also has her Thanksgiving plan up.  Nice!

This weeks Gluten Free Menu Swap is hosted by Gluten Free Goodness.  The theme ingredient is pears.  A few weeks ago I was lucky enough to get some free pears and posted a slow cooker pear butter you might like.  Wednesday I will be  posting the dairy-free caramel I make with coconut milk.  It’s good on apples and pears!  

                                 

One more thing I want all the gluten free people to know about is someone I met out at the Gluten Free Culinary Summit, Kathleen Reale.  She is launching a new site called BeFreeForMe.com that will provide free gluten free and food allergy coupons and samples both in quarterly mailings and on the website.  Here is an article featuring her new venture.  You can sign up now (your information will be kept confidential) and you will be contacted when the site is live, which I believe is October 15, 2008.  Kathleen owned another business that distributed coupons and provided product samples for supermarkets.  Now that she has celiac her focus has switched to gluten free foods. I thought I would let you all know about this, because we all know the price of food is going up and up, and how hard is it to get a coupon we can use for the foods we eat?  I am really excited about this new service.  I love getting samples and coupons!  I also love how she took something so many think of as a negative thing (gluten intolerance) and turned it into a great positive thing for others using her past experience.  Thank you Kathleen!  

For the entire week/ongoing project:  Drying apples, making apple sauce and cardamon apple butter/prep for an upcoming class…  Also, make sure I have at least 2 cupcakes in freezer to thaw and decorate for wedding on Saturday, or I have to bake some up…

 

Monday: orchestra day/bake mini banana donuts

            Forbidden Chicken and spinach salad

 

Tuesday:  piano lessons

Curry Butternut Veggie Soup from my freezer with Honey Oat-Millet Bead courtesy of Ginger Lemon Girl (I’ll be posting my dairy free version with an extended rise tomorrow, thanks to her kind permission.  You HAVE to check her blogs out!  On Tuesday, I will have my version of this fab recipe, but also links to her blogs and links to some of my favorite enties and recipes from her sites.  She has an amazing gift.)

 

Wednesday:  volunteer in elementary school library/IEP meeting

                Chicken with fennel and Red Onions and quinoa pilaf


Thursday: Volunteer in Kindergarten classroom/Junior Girl Scout meeting/post some sort of slow cooker apple recipe

            Crock Pot Fajitas to use up the last of the peppers from the garden with all the fixings and a salad

 

Friday:  Mom’s Bible study/take 3 cupcakes from freezer and decorate when thawed for tomorrows wedding

                Trying a different recipe for Pizza (also, make 2 personal sized pizzas for tomorrow with heart-shaped pepperoni) with spinach, caramelized onions, roasted peppers, nitrate-free pepperoni, though I may need to make a gluten and dairy free version of this.

 

Saturday:  Bring mini pizzas and cupcakes to wedding for girls (they will at the kid’s table where pizza is being served).  Mommy will eat well before-hand and bring a power bar or two in her purse, just in case.

I love going to the apple orchard!

We have an advantage over other families… we can get the apples that are way up high with a little teamwork.  

My big boy always tries to eat as many as he picks!

Comments from my old blog:  

 

Tuesday, October 7, 2008 – 12:48 AM
The apple picking looks fun! You gave me an idea – to make apple butter with the abundance of apples I have here (even though its spring where I am!)

Tuesday, October 7, 2008 – 05:25 AM
great photos!  I’ve never had pear butter, sounds delish