Even better… Back To School coupons have begun to appear! Any coupon on that goes through at least mid-July can be used in the Back To School sales. I have BIC pen coupons that don’t expire until July 31! Keeping those for a super sale run in July.

One last thing before I go. There are lots of cat and dog deals out there. Go to Target’s a get the Target coupons to add to printed and newsprint coupons to make them even better!

recipe from Betty Crocker App

Makes 8 servings

Ingredients:

3 cups of cooked white rice

1/2 cup raisins

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 can (14 ounces) sweetened condensed milk

1 can (12 ounces) evaporated milk

1 Tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions:

1. Spray inside of slow cooker with cooking spray.

2. Mix all ingredients except sugar and cinnamon in cooker.

3. Cover and cook on low heat setting 3-4 hours or until liquid is absorbed. Stir pudding.

4. Sprinkle pudding with sugar and cinnamon. Serve warm.

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This is a great recipe to use up excess rice. It developes a skin on top as you cook it just skim it off or stir it in, your choice. This maybe an old fashioned recipe but it is a great warm desert, breakfast, and way to be sure you use up all your leftovers. And GLUTEN FREE!

Join in the Linky with your Gluten Free, Allergen Friendly recipes, ideas, and tips!

about 12 quarts of pearl onions for under $5!

I decided to can the onions. I wanted to add a pickled item to the pantry for better balanced health. I am a strong believer in adding some acid (vinegar/pickling) to you diet, in moderation. Also I am blessed with 4 kids on the autism spectrum and 2 are strong sensory cravers.  They crave strong flavors like pickling and hot. By canning and pickling my own onions I could be sure the onions were gluten free and allergen free.

I found the recipe for Onion Pickles in the Ball Blue Book guide to preserving

14 half pints or 7 pints

Little hands helping me peel the onions!

4 quarts peeled pearl onions

1 cup canning salt

2 cups sugar

1/2 cup mustard seed

2 1/2  Tablespoons prepared horseradish

2 quarts vinegar

7 small hot red peppers

7 bay leaves

Sprinkle onions with salt; add cold water to cover. Let stand 12 to 18 hours. Drain, rinse, and drain throughly. Combine sugar, mustard seed, horseradish, and vinegar in a large saucepot. Simmer 15 minutes. Pack onions in hot jars. leaving 1/4- inch headspace, Cut 2 small slits in hot peppers. Add 1/2 pepper and 1/2 bay leaf to each half-pint jar. Add 1 pepper and 1 bay leaf to each pint jar. Ladle hot liquid over onions, leaving 1/4- inch headspace. Remove air bubbles. Adjust 2-piece caps. Process half-pints and pints 10 minutes in a boiling-water canner.

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If you know me then you know that I just had to mess with the recipe.

First, even though I have kids with intense tastes, I didn’t want to add the peppers so they weren’t added. I made sure the horseradish was a fresh local brand. I also found that half-pints were not a good fit for pearl onions, so I canned pints. Make sure that when you can the onions that you get out all the bubbles I used the blunt end of a clean skewer to jostle the onions and be sure the bubbles were out.

You can use Onion Pickles on salads to add some zest. Eat them raw. Add some yummy zing to your meals! Have fun with a new product.

Canned Onion Pickles

Deep Breathe. I talked to my level headed hubby. Then took a spin around my house in the wheelchair,  no problem, and no toes or cats hurt. Finally I prayed that I could find ways to work around my new level of mobility and be a good mommy and homemaker. The Lord provided abundantly.

Here is a picture of my canning set-up. Pre-planning was the key to this operation! I had a round table near the stove to help hold ingredients at first and later the jars. I also had a large cooler set next to it as additional ‘table’ space I could easily reach from my chair.

I had my jars warming in the wall oven. The lids and rings were in the water slowly heating. I had the large water bather set up and warming up on the back burner.

Was canning easy? No. I had to devote all my energy into canning on those days. I had family to help, but even then I was exhausted. Crockpot to the rescue or a my blessing of a hubby would step in and make dinner.

When you have only so many spoons you have to decide where and how you are going to spend them. Canning was a worthy way to spend my spoons. I did make sure to talk to hubby before we canned to let him know that I would be using all my energy just to can. He understood and agreed that canning our produce was well worth it!

Wondering about the SPOON talk? Here is a great story by Christine Miserandino called The Spoon Theory. I highly recommend you go and read the original story. It’s not too long. The jest is.. spoons=energy. If you have a chronic illness then you only have so many spoons to use per day.

One weekend of canning filled jellies, jams, syrups, pie fillings, and pickled veggies of all kinds. Saving our family’s budget a tremendous amount.

Today I am sharing my Gluten Free Bread Machine recipe! Since gluten free breads are so sticky I love using my bread machine rather than kneading it out by hand.

Gluten free, casein free bread machine recipe

Makes a 1 pound loaf

Ingredients:
1 Cup Warm Water
1 tsp. Apple Cider Vinegar
3 Tbsp Vegetable Oil
2 Eggs (warmed to room temperature)
2 Tbsp Sugar
1 1/2 tsp Yeast

2 1/4 cups Rice Flour
2 tsp. Xanthum Gum
1 tsp. Salt
1/3 Cup Dry Milk ( I use Dari-Free)
1/2 tsp Dough Enhancer (optional)

Prep:

Put the eggs in a bowl of warm water. It will bring them up to temp in no time.

Put the water, sugar, and yeast into a bowl to ‘wake up’ while you mix up the dry components.This activates the yeast.

Put the rest of the wet ingredients into the bread machine pan, including warmed eggs.

Now mix up the dry mixture and put it on top the liquids. Then pour the yeast mixture on top.  Start the mixer. Watch over it the first couple of minutes. After the middle is mixed gently scrape down the sides and leave it alone.
Walk away and await the delicious smell of fresh bread!

Look at that perfect slice! It’s not crumbly. It can hold up to peanut butter and jelly!  A loaf doesn’t last long in our house.

The one problem is this bread does dry out fast. That is fabulous is you are making dressing or french toast. Just make a loaf or two and slice the night before. In the morning you will be ready to go!

I would LOVE to see your gluten free recipes and adventures. What do you eat at home? What are your biggest GF, CF, SF, DF questions? How do you stay contamination free while out?

I know that generally it is accepted knowledge that grocery stores have a 3 day inventory.  That is no longer true. I had a long talk with a person in the distribution of grocery stock to large grocery store chain. Over the past few years this level of restocking has changed.

-Refrigerated materials, fresh produce are under that some as little as one day stock.

-Other items like cans are being cut to a 2 day back up.

Why?

-Gas prices have caused renegotiation of contracts with companies, and truckers. The self-employed truckers are the ones that lose out hard in this scenario.

-Fines verses gas prices- There are times when it costs less for a trucking company to pay for a late delivery then to pay the gas to get the truck there on time.

-Is the money there? – You like to think that your local grocery store is doing fine but often they only have a slim margin of profit and it is not steady. One of our local stores began remodeling and stopped less than a quarter of the way through. They ran out of money.

You need to have the store in YOUR PANTRY! Then you can shop at home. Restock from the grocery store, garden, or warehouse store. That gives you a cushion to provide for your family through a grocery store/ shipping disruption. The wise course of action would be for us to take a careful accounting of what we would need for at LEAST 2 weeks and fill that in immediately. Including things like toilet paper, soap, toothpaste, etc.

Proverbs 31:25-27  She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come. She speaks with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue.She watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness.

The wise women is confident she can clothe and feed her household.

I was raised in farm country where you just sucked it up and got it done. I learned not to ask for help. I learned that a home that was not clean, presentable at all times, and a well decorated home meant the homemaker was failing. It has taken me just as many years to unlearn those deceptive and hurtful myths. As a homemaker with special needs I now know there are times no matter how much my mind wants me to finish the dishes or laundry I can’t. I am having to learn how to run a home all over again and try to stave off the guilt from my upbringing of aloof self sufficiency.

Ask for help. If you are a parent your children should have age appropriate chores. Toddler can help you with socks (matching) or sorting towels, etc. Older children can do dishes or help by vacuuming. Teaching your children a good work ethic through chores and other household responsibilities will make them a better adult.

If you need to reach beyond your immediate family consider your church, MOPS groups, other community assistance groups are made to help. Be specific and say, could you please help me clean all the dishes and wiped down the counters. Or I can’t mow my lawn and talk to a local boy scouts group. You will often be helping them as much as they are helping you!

Homes are meant to be lived in! A home that is well lived in doesn’t have to be pristine. Love your home. Love the level of cleanliness you live in. Such as I don’t mind blankets and pillows lying around or piled on the couch because of our disease we often have to lay down and rest. I will not allow food and drinks into the bedrooms or outside the diningroom/kitchen area to keep down on messes. You make some rules like that for your home and stick to it.

Do what you can when you can. Some of us are dealing with chronic illness in ourselves or a family member and face it there will be times that keeping the house from burning down is an accomplishment at the end of the day! Then there are those lovely times when peace settles over the house and you can squeeze in more.

Take that lovely pic of me sleeping while waiting for the water bath timer to go off on my pizza sauce jars. I gathered everything I needed prior to the run to the produce market. We got home and the family helped me each in different ways. The canning went smoothly because I had it planned like the a military strike. 1, 2, 3, 4… right down the line what to do and who would help. Still it takes a lot out of me but I got done what I could when I could, and the results of that day are in my pantry and loved by all.

Get It Done has taken a new turn in my life of special needs but it still happens. I need to stay open to asking for help. Adjusting my internal dial of what a home ‘must’ look like. Doing what I can while I am able. The biggest thing I have had to learn…

I AM NOT A FAILURE AS A HOMEMAKER!

NEITHER ARE YOU!

We are walking a new path together. I hope to enjoy the twists and turns with many new friends that understand what it’s like to stumble but have the courage and gumption to get back up and keep on going!

I have been working hard behind the scenes putting together a radio show called,

Special Needs Homemaker

The Lord has blessed me with an abundance of knowledge and hard-earned experience in the special needs arena. I have special needs as do my 5 kids. Our life didn’t stop YEARS ago when we found out we were dealing with these special issues. It’s not going to stop now!

New Show Every Wednesday!

Join Heather Laurie, Special Needs Homemaker! Time to talk about prepping for those of us that deal with special needs, including food allergies like gluten sensitivity to peanut allergies, chronic illnesses, or a child/family member with a long-term health problem. We may have to think out of the box or make a whole new one but we are not giving up! I am dealing with special needs issues myself as are my children, including autism. I welcome you from my home in the hills with my passel of kids and a love to learn, learn, learn all about how to make my home and future more secure and self-sustaining!

My goal is to help you and me create a better, healthier, and more secure home for our families. Whether we have to find a way to get around our chronic pain, or deal with an adult child with autism, or even gluten-free prepping in a world designed to urge you to store wheat berries.

I hope you enjoy the beginning of gardening season! Time to start seeds!

25 pounds sweet potatoes, peeled, and cubed

I cooked the potatoes down slowly overnight in my large roaster with enough water to just top the cubes (keeps the potatoes from burning).

25 pounds of sweet potatoes cooking down

I stirred and mashed the potatoes down until they were mostly smooth.

freezable containers ready to go

Here is the recipe as per ONE meal.  This is originally a Better Homes and Garden recipe that I have tweaked over the years.

2 pounds Sweet Potatoes

1/3 cup Sugar (watch the sugar level carefully some batches of sweet potatoes have a higher sugar level then others)

1/4 cup Butter

1/4 cup Rice Milk

2 Eggs

1 tsp. Vanilla

TOPPING: (The topping can be put in a Ziploc and freezer taped to the top, or just keep the ingredients on hand for when you are ready. Along with the cooking details.)

1/2 cup packed Brown  Sugar

1/2  cup Chopped Pecans

1/4 cup Rice Flour

1 Tblsp Butter

Cook at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes (if defrosted)

After mixing the ingredients portion out the recipes

I sized it up to match the 25 pounds of sweet potatoes. In the end the batch cooking worked so well I sent hubby back for 30 pounds more! Considering the price is .25 cents around Thanksgiving compared to the $1.29 it is now in early March. I would rather buy a year’s worth of sweet potatoes and freeze them.

I turned a batch into sweet potato casserole. Then I cooked down a batch for mashed sweet potato. The mashed sweet potato can be used as a straight sweet potato side dish or as a puree for baking.

Have you ever batch cooked?