GF Cheddar Biscuits

I am home sick from work today and by home I mean at my parents' house. Calvin is writing an important test for work (something to do with banking?) and then off to Toronto (something to do with a concert?). While he's away, and Mom isn't home from work yet, Angela is taking care of me and she's doing so by making "chicken noodle soup." While she works on that, and in between me needing a couch-lie because my stomach is so unsettled, I am whipping up some gluten free cheddar biscuits.

Before you get started, review how to make gluten-free flour mix here:

http://myideaofhappiness.blogspot.com/2010/11/gf-shortbread-recipe.html

Recipe:

1. Preheat oven to 450F.
2. Add 1 T lemon juice to 1 c cold milk to make a fake buttermilk.
3. Whisk together

• 2 c GF gluten free flour mix
• 2 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp each: baking soda, sugar, salt
• 1 cup grated cheddar cheese

4. Pour 1/2 c melted butter or margarine into the soured milk, then pour those both into the dry ingredients. Mix all together.
5. Scoop in large clumps (16 or so in total) onto a greased cookie sheet or two.
6. Bake 10 minutes.

The Very Best Gardening Books...

... or, the very best gardening books that my library has to offer, would be a more suitable name.

Fresh Food from Small Spaces - RJ Ruppenthal

 This book goes way beyond growing vegetables in the city. It was my first in depth look at urban beekeeping and chicken raising. Yes, it did convince me to adopt a duck but don't tell Calvin. The book is a great guide to gardening in small areas like apartment building balconies, cozy backyards, fire escapes and even abandoned areas that you don't own (guerilla gardening). I found some of the information only pertained to southern, warm climates so keep in mind if you're from Ontario like me you'll have to adjust.

Carrots Love Tomatoes - Louise Riotte

I'm actually still waiting to read this book but just about every one who's anyone recommends it. It goes into the relationships (beneficial and harmful) between various garden crops. This year I'll be growing the classic companion planting combination: the Three Sisters. The theory goes that if you grow corn, winter squash and pole beans together they will each benefit the others in some way. Corn provides a pole for the beans to grow up. Beans bind nitrogen into the soil. Squash provide pest control and insulation through ground cover. 

Four-Season Harvest - Eliot Coleman

Finally, a Zone-5 specific book to teach me gardening techniques specific to my cold climate. This man believes (and has easily persuaded me) that you shouldn't just plant seeds once a year and harvest them when they're ready. Rather, you should practice succession planting. This is where you plant new seed every two weeks or so and enjoy multiple harvests. Using cold frames (built up boxes with glass on top) he eats fresh produce all year round.

You Grow Girl - Gayla Trail

Probably the most visually appealing book that this subject has to offer, Gayla does a great job at plainly, and interestingly, explaining a wide range of gardening topics with no risk of losing your attention. From planning a garden, to starting one, to caring for it, reaping the benefits and then winterizing, she has it all. She also throws in a lot of her creative flair with instruction how to paint your pots, make fancy seed posts, brew up herbal tea and use old garage sale junk to make your backyard look great.

Putting Food By - Janet Greene, Ruth Hertzberg, Beatrice Vaugman

My reaction to this book is equally 'inspired' as it is 'entertained'. The book was probably written before my parents were born and uses some hilarious language. It is the ultimate guide to preserving food. I don't plan on using the guide to canning wild game or collard greens, I will remember the tips on sauerkraut and stewed tomatoes.



Lastly, if you would like heirloom, organic seeds for this growing season I am doing group orders through Quarter Master. The packets are $3 each and I prefer pre-payment but depends how well I know you. Varieties can be found at www.cottagegardener.com and will be sent/ready for pick up in May.

Grow Your Own: Stevia

When I think of the good qualities of a sweetener what comes to mind is: cheap, delicious, natural, low calorie, non-cavity-promoting and, well, sweet. Stevia is all of these things and more. It's a bushy green plant you can grow yourself and when the leaves are dried they are incredibly sweet like sugar. They make a great addition to tea, lemonade, even baking. Everyone should grow it. Here's how.

Obtain stevia seeds - I've seen them at most hardware/camping stores.

Start them indoors if you plan to start your season before frost. If it's already, say, mid-May then you can direct sow. Keep your seeds a good 10 inches apart because it spreads. It can also grow high, over a foot at least, so consider trellising.

Water, but don't over water. Stevia's roots grow shallow so they'll need a shower often but too much water will be worse than not enough. It also doesn't need much nitrogen in the soil so don't grow it around beans or peas, and don't throw old coffee grounds near them, but do add compost to the soil. Compost is a gardener's best friend.

When tiny leaves have formed, hand pick them and keep them in a metal tin to dry. They can then be ground further into a powder and used to sweeten just about anything.

For sweetening 2 Tbsp of ground stevia = 1 cup of sugar but of course if you're baking your wet/dry ingredient ratio will have to be played with a little, as with your oven's temperature.

In an old family-sized pickle jar add 2 teabags, a few lemons, sliced, and a dash of stevia leaves. Fill with water to the top and leave in the sun. Nothing is better.

Pregnancy Series: Morning Sickness

For me, weeks 5 to 12 were an emotional roller coaster. It had nothing to do with feeling ill prepared to be a parent or deciding how to tell family or wondering how this would change my career path - my emotional turmoil was entirely food-related. Let me explain.

For those eight weeks I experienced some pretty intense nausea. This didn't mix well with the fact that I was, for the first time, a university-educated nutritionist with a nutritional-need-blackhole growing inside of me. The requirements seemed astronomical. I'm supposed to get my recommended daily intake of calcium while being entirely sickened by the thought of dairy? I often called Calvin crying on my lunch break, over a plate of quinoa or lentil soup begging to know why God would want me sick when my food intake is at its most important. No reassurance from friends would help - I felt like a failure.

Well here's the truth: you can only do the best you can and your growing baby's needs are much greater father along into pregnancy when you're mostly likely feeling a lot better. These tips helped me immensely:

1. You feel the most sick when you're the most hungry: eating something (even small) will make you feel better. I kept a box of saltines beside my bed to munch when I first woke up and it worked.
2. It's actually nutritionally preferable to eat many small meals during the day (keeps your blood sugar more stable) so rather than attempting a giant plate of lasagna with salad and garlic bread, plan out your day with some salad here, some veggies and hummus there, and see how much your day improves.
3. Ginger! This is nature's greatest nausea remedy. Try it in any form - fresh or ground for cooking, tea bag for steeping, lozenge... I will even suggest cookie.

For 99% of mamas-to-be this won't last long, so buck up and think of the positive side of things. My prayer was constantly: "Despite my sickness may my little one grow and be happy."

Pregnancy Series: So Your Test is Positive...

It would be an understatement to say I'm thinking a lot about pregnancy these days. A quick look at my library account would concern any man. For that reason I'm going to blog a little about pregnancy for those who might be interested. I think it'll be a series but I don't promise. Gardening season fast approaches and I suppose as long as I'm growing something I get excited. Grow Your Own, Part One: Babies? Anyways, here goes the introduction. It's a quick guide to your first steps after finding out that your pee stick has a plus sign on it.

When I took my first, and so far only, home pregnancy test, conditions were less than ideal. I happened to be locked in the bathroom at Calvin's band practice, surrounded by one girl and six guys. It was really late at night which typically means I'm functioning at 5% of usual capacity. It was also about half a week before our big vacation to Florida meaning roller coasters, hot tubs, coffee, staying up late and possibly sampling the US's beer offerings. But in the end, the earlier you know the better so that you can make an appointment with your health care provider. They will:

1. Confirm if you're actually pregnant, although I hear when done right a home test is 99% accurate.
2. Give you some sort of advice that may include a prescription for supplements.
3. Refer you for ultrasounds in the coming weeks.

I suggest that making an appointment is the second thing you do. The first thing you should do is choose one person to tell - the father would probably be a good choice. If you're not in good with him, maybe your mom or a best friend. Someone else needs to know at this point. That being said, my advice would be for only that person to know right now. The more people you tell early on the messier it becomes if something doesn't work out. My doctor recommended waiting until week 12 when I had an ultrasound to finally tell everyone. That worked out perfectly.

The next thing you should do is look into what you need to give up, and what you need to start up. I've got a mini-guide to that on one of my last blogs.

Then sit back and relax. You don't have to worry about paint colours, car seats or middle names until much farther along. Taking it easy is the best bet now. If things are stressing you out, make a list of them and deal with them later. If your friends already know, delegate things to them - they'll be happy to help if they're good friends. My friend Ashley offered to bake me a rhubarb pie at any time that I crave one, day or night. I guarantee I will take her up on it.

Pretty soon after finding out you're pregnant you'll begin dealing with symptoms, the craziest of which being morning sickness so I'll devote my next blog to dealing with that. I'd love to write more about what you're interested in so if you have a suggestion - email me or comment on this post.
Thanks.