It was my Birthday!

I'm so thankful that my husband was home for my birthday. Saturday was my birthday, and the day always seems much better when it falls on a weekend.

I started out the morning with a wonderful breakfast made by my hubby. He made gluten free waffles with GF Bisquick. I also had a mimosa, fresh fruit with dip, and coffee.

We enjoyed football appetizers during the MSU game. For this game we ate skinless, boneless chicken tenders and gluten free bagel chips with cheddar and bean dip.  I'll post more about this dip recipe on a later post. 

For dinner we went to one of our favorite restaurants, Las Canarias. I savored the food so much that didn't document all of the food with photos! But as usual, it was decedent and delicious. We ordered a three course meal with a wine pairing. This is me with my final course, one scoop of coffee ice cream and one scoop of pistachio gelato. 

 The handsome man who made the whole day of food possible!

I love getting free birthday desserts! Even after my ice cream, they brought out chocolate covered strawberries for me. Remember last year when we celebrated my birthday in Dallas? I enjoyed some gelato then!

After dinner we went to a musical at the Cameo Theater. We saw The Marvelous Wonderettes, which was about four girls in the 50s and 60s. Following the show, we had some drinks downtown.

We were able to meet up with some friends I made while Justin was deployed where we danced the night away.

Me & Kara

Labor Day - Three Day Weekend

I love three day weekends, even if I spent most of my time cleaning and working on school stuff. It seems like in both said categories, despite how much you do and get done there is always more that could be done. You can clearly see what a good helper Iivana was too. I rolled up the rug to move it and she thought I created a nice bed for her.

Thankfully, I didn't spend my whole weekend working on my to do list. I enjoyed Spartan football Friday night and had the TV on college football all day Saturday. Yesterday, I went shopping for a little after getting my car cleaned and detailed! It looks brand new. I didn't feel like cooking so I decided to order take away at P.F. Chang's while I was out. I had received an email with a 20 percent off coupon code for the weekend, so I thought I'd give it another try. (I didn't like the Singapore Noodles last time.) This trip I ordered GF Chang's Spicy Chicken.

The verdict: I still wasn't impressed. No veggies, only chicken! It did come with some brown rice on the side. Plus, even with 20% it still cost 12.75! It wasn't bad tasting, in fact I liked the flavor but I just felt like it wasn't amazing. I wasn't blown away. But don't get me wrong, I love the effort that P.F. Chang's makes to accommodate gluten free diners. I know some people who absolutely love P.F. Chang's. When comparing P.F. Chang's and Pei Wei, I think I will always prefer Pei Wei.

Happy Labor Day! Short work weeks are fantastic too.

Summary of Michigan Trip

I need to wrap up my Michigan vacation posts since tomorrow is my actual last day of summer vacation. I officially go back to work on Wednesday to start another year of teaching fourth grade! Plus, I've been working on some fun DIY projects I want to share. So this post sums up some memorable things I did (& that I have pictures of) while in Michigan last month.

I was fortunate that my sister, Jill and her husband allowed Iivana and me to come stay with them for a few days. While they were at work my parents and I took the kids to Potter Park Zoo one day. These two pictures crack me up! Maren is petting the goats and my dad is with Maren in the kangaroo cut out.

 Jett and my mom with the spider monkeys which was his favorite part.

After our zoo visit, we stopped by the MSU Diary Store.

We enjoyed some ice cream.

We went out to eat for Jill's birthday at Ruby Tuesday.

They had a gluten free menu, but it was a chain restaurant. If I'm at a chain, I usually try to pick something that doesn't require a lot of modifications. I'm not sure how knowledgeable the kitchen staff is about gluten free and cross contamination. So I kept it simple with the petite sirloin, a baked potato, and broccoli.

 I was able to attend my sister's annual 4th of July party with my baby, Iivana.

I think I pretty much scarred her for life of being terrified of fireworks. For some reason, I didn't think the noise would scare her because she hears loud planes all the time. But we retreated to the van for safety during their show.

But I still got a glimpse of some of the fireworks.

My niece, Maren was still going strong that night. She was a doll and put on her mama's shoes; she was so proud of herself.

I met up with some friends for drinks.

I tried some new gluten free beer that I don't have access to in Texas. (Thanks to my sister, Kristen for hooking me up!) Here I was drinking Dogfish Head's Tweason'ale beer. I thought it was a wonderfully refreshing summer drink. The strawberries and honey give the beer a fruity flavor that isn't as sweet as cider. I hope they start selling this in Texas soon.

Check these links for other Michigan things from my trip:

• Vince & Joe's
• Fruitiversary
• Crunch Granola
• More Goods from Vince & Joe's
• Yummy Filled Donuts
• Gluten-less Maximus IPA

Gluten-Less Maximus IPA

Still posting about my vacation in Michigan!

One night my mom and I met up with my sister, Julie, to eat dinner. Of course, I had to choose a place to eat that was gluten free friendly. I searched the Royal Oak and Ferndale area for something that would please every one's palates. Searching consumed a considerable amount of time. I looked for blogs, read Urbanspoon reviews, perused online menus, and even found myself on Facebook. And then it happened...I found out that Woodward Avenue Brewers just came out with a gluten free beer on tap! It is a rare occurrence to not only find a gluten free beer at a restaurant, but to find one on tap none the less.

My mind was instantly made; I wanted to have dinner at the WAB! Plus, it was a week night and we could score happy hour prices.

The beer was made from sorghum, like many I drink. But this beer was definitely different than what I'm used to with gluten free beer. I think because it was an IPA, it had a bitter taste. It had more of a beer (with gluten) taste. With each sip, I loved it more and more. I loved it enough to get a second one.

I assumed by the description that it was all gluten free. I wanted more proof and was searching the Internet to see if the gluten content was ever tested. But I really couldn't find anything about that. I did however, come across a question on Facebook.

Before we went to eat at WAB, I looked at their online menu. I figured if they had a gluten free beer, they would surely have gluten free food. I was disappointed to find nothing about gluten free on the menu; they only had vegetarian friendly items noted. I decided to call before we went to ask if they accommodated GF diners. My call left me a little hopeless, but I REALLY WANTED TO TRY THE BEER! There were some items on the menu that seemed like they could be okay with some rapid questioning. When we arrived, I asked about their tortilla chips, which I learned are made in a shared fryer across the street so those were out. After what seemed like a billion questions, I settled on a salad, the Southwest Chicken Salad. I opted out of the bacon because I wasn't sure, I ordered the salsa for dressing, and I asked what brand of BBQ sauce they use. I felt positive about my menu decision and proud of myself for asking the right questions. (After reading over the menu, I feel they could make some of their menu items GF as a way to expand their market along with their GF beer. If they used GF tortilla chips, a lot of their Mexican dishes could be GF. So take this hint WAB!) It was a nice treat to enjoy some GF beer at a restaurant like everyone else.

Traveling

On this particular journey back to Michigan, we drove. Iivana came with me and it would be too hot during the summer for her to fly. My parents graciously picked me up and brought me back. I got back here Wednesday night. From Texas to Michigan, it is close to 25 hours of driving. With all the car time, eating gluten free while traveling can often be difficult. One thing we did that helped was pack meats, cheese, and fruit in a cooler. We'd stop at rest stops and take a break to have a little picnic. It always takes a little time to get all that food ready, but it is totally worth it because you know your food is safe to eat.

But for people who are in a pinch or didn't plan very well, I always recommend Wendy's. There are options besides just salads! Plus, they have a nice, helpful gluten free guide too. I always get their chili and a frosty.

If I'm feeling extra hungry, I order a baked potato with sour cream and chives.

Their chili is so filling and tasty. I even find it scrumptious on sizzling summer days; as long as you eat it in air conditioning.

I have many more updates to come about my trip. But this post seemed like a perfect transition post, now that I'm back in Texas.

Gluten Free Italian Cheese Bread

Time to catch up! About a month ago I went to Little Aussie and bought some pre-cooked pizza crusts. (Remember the cranberry bread, it was that same trip.) I debated what kind of pizza to make, when I came up with a brilliant idea. Does any one recall Little Caesar's Pizza Kits? My parents would buy the fund raising pizzas, and I preferred the Italian Cheese Bread. I decided to make my own version of the Italian Cheese Bread. 

I started with my pre-made gluten free crust from Little Aussie. I truly believe finding the right crust is half the battle in making the cheese bread delicious. Their pizza crust is thicker than most, while very moist.

I didn't measure, but I used enough mozzarella cheese to cover the area of the crust. The crust was a more personal size pizza so I didn't even use a whole bag of shredded cheese.

Then I used my Italian Herb grinder and went to town turning and cranking to generously cover all areas. Again, it's hard to measure with a grinder, but I probably used about a teaspoon. You can add as much or as little as you want. Then I popped it in the over for about 20 minutes.

While the cheese bread was cooking, I melted one tablespoon of butter. I mixed in about a 1/4 teaspoon of minced garlic that we buy in a jar and keep in the fridge. I'm sure powdered garlic would work too.

The cheese bread should come out with a nice golden hue.

I used a basting brush to spread the butter mixture all over the melted cheesy goodness.

I cut my Italian Cheese Bread, and enjoyed it. I thought my version tasted very similar to the kits we used to make. Plus it was simple to make since I already had all the ingredients at home. I would really recommend trying this if you come across an excellent gluten free pizza crust.

SAWP is Over

A week ago today, was my last day of SAWP, but also my last day of class for my degree. Yesterday I turned in my comprehensive exams. And now I just have to wait to hear if I passed, then I'll get my M.A. in Literacy. 

My last day of class was special because we had a visitor's day and I was blessed to have my parents and mother-in-law in town. They all accompanied me and experienced what a day in SAWP was like. They wrote their own 6 word memoir, listened to pieces, and participated in other demonstrations.

Me & Denise

Dad, me, & Mom

Here is my poem, turned into a digital literacy story with pictures. I shared this on visitor's day. It's about my sister, Kristen and me! I decided to write this poem to describe some of the silly things we did as kids. I figured a poem would be the best genre, because people wouldn't have to totally understand everything I was talking about. But of course it turned sentimental at the end.

I'm also including a video I was playing around with that I made with various clips of Iivana. It was somewhat inspired from 1st writing piece.

After SAWP, me and all my parents went to Fogo de Chao for some good eats! I didn't take any pictures, but if you're interested in a previous experience click here.

Traveling, Birthday, & Food

Well, we hung around the hotel while they fixed the van. Iivana enjoyed looking out the window at the hotel.

She especially liked laying in the bed.

We had a late start on Thursday due to the fixing of the van tire, and spent the night in Indiana. We arrived in Michigan on Friday, July 6, my hubby's birthday. I was even able to Skype with him! I sent him a package for his birthday that included a microwaveable brownie packet in a mason jar with a candle. The brownie mix is gluten free, Pamela's individual packets.

I also filled the package with balloons, an idea I saw on Pinterest. In each balloon, I included money or a note. Apparently I didn't keep track of the money and only sent him $11. His co-workers wondered if there was a significance to the number 11. (No, just a zany wife!)

For dinner on Friday, we enjoyed some Carlo's Pizza, a local place right by my parent's house.

Of course my pizza was gluten free. I ordered mine with mushrooms and green peppers. The crust was thinner, but tasted decent. It must not have been too bad, because I ate half of my pizza for dinner.

Iivana has been adjusting to my parent's house. She has more room to roam around, so we've been trying to think of ways to contain her. She managed to squeeze through the chairs anyways. She is loving all the attention from my mom and dad.

And now I'm brought to today. Sipping on Biggby coffee, I was working on comps for my master's most of the day. They are due tomorrow! Hopefully this will mean more regular updates in my future.