Another Handbag & Gluten Free Cooking

Do you love the beach?

I know I do!!!

So does the young girl

that I made

this bag for.

Her mom wanted to give her

a gift and she

asked

if I could make a bag with

the color of aqua

and a beach

theme.

So I searched, and searched

for fabric and

found this.

Then I added bamboo handles

which I just love.

This was fun to put together,

although,

I say that for all my bags.

I just love seeing

them come

together,

piece by piece.

My Gluten Free Cooking:

I made some Gluten Free Shrimp Scampi!

MMMM, was it ever yummy!

I used these noodles

which is like Fettuccine.

Sauteed the Shrimp

in garlic

and some spicy herbs

and made a

fresh

homegrown salad and

that was

dinner.

Then I made a Flour less

Chocolate Cake or

Tarte Au Chocolat

Served it with a Cherry Sauce

and had a cup of

Trader Joe's

Organic Coffee.

Now for some time I have been

looking for a

delicious Gluten Free

Oatmeal Cookie

recipe.

I'd say about 8 months ago

I found a recipe

that said it

won awards.

Now I SWORE I saved that

recipe,

but could not find it

ANYWHERE!

I searched online for it again

and it was

nowhere to be found. I was

quite

discouraged.

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE

oatmeal cookies,

but my tummy

doesn't agree.

Now my stomach is really

acting up,

and it seems I may have

H. Pylori

AGAIN!!!!

My symptoms seem to

be the same.

So after alot of research

and reading

I didn't realize

you can get it again!

So, my research

has led

me to

understand,

that I have to completely

AVOID:

Gluten

Wheat

Dairy, mainly cow, especially processed,

Soy, (which I avoid anyway)

so basically

NO LIFE!

Well, not really,

thank goodness for so many out

there who patiently

post GF recipes,

dairy free recipes,

and

they are so willing to share them.

I also love

the

Living Without

website and magazine.

So many

recipes and ideas of healthy

living for

sensitive people like me.

Why can't I just be

normal?

I was grocery shopping on Monday,

and it took me

twice as long to get the right

foods

because I have to read

EVERYTHING.

Food right now

makes me sick.

My breakfast consists of a fruit smoothie

made with

Almond Milk

and I add

Aloe Vera Gel that comes

in a bottle.

For lunch, something

light

and GF.

Dinner, is a veggie or salad,

with chicken or light

fish,

and rice.

I have to be so careful now.

I never would of

thought

I'd have to do this.

Organic food,

Gluten Free Food,

Dairy free,

although I do buy

Goat's Milk for

my

Organic, Decaf Coffee.

OK, enough complaining,

I'm sure

many of you out there

understand.

So here are my delicious

cookies

Last night I heard my DH

getting into

my Cookie container

then I hear

this,

"Mmmmm, these are good"

I wanted to jump

of my seat

and snatch it out of his

hand and

say

MINE!!!

But I didn't, mainly because

the recipe

made plenty,

and I would like him to

eat

healthier as well.

But its a good thing for him I had

plenty to share!

If you'd like

this

GF Oatmeal Cookie

recipe,

leave me a comment

with your

email if you'd like.

Have a great

Day!

It's VERY HOT HERE TODAY!

UGH!!!

Handmade Handbag..other goodies

So I've been busy, busy, busy,

working in my

craft room, trying to get some

things done.

My dearest friend, Valerie and her

Hubby celebrated

an

anniversary and I wanted to give

her something

special

so I made her this

and here's a close up

But I'll tell you something, I

will

NEVER

sew a satin ribbon on a purse

again!!

It slid here and there, it wanted

to pinch

and

it was getting pretty

FRUSTRATING!

But

it was for my dearest,

best friend

so I did it for her and she

loves it.

I'm glad!

Then I've been altering clipboards

as well

 I made one for my

mom

and then I made another

one,

just because

I really do enjoy making these

and I have

a few more to make.

I enjoy cutting

the paper

and trying to find

paper to compliment it

as well

then adding the

ribbon

to

make it even

more pretty!

Today was a good day!

I met a very sweet

young lady

all

the way

from

Ambert, France.

We spent the day together,

she's a friend

of a

friend

and we got to talking

about so

many things

She had lots

of questions about America

and how

Americans do things here.

We compared

cultures,

which

was fun

and it is amazing

how different

things are.

Let's just

say,

I'm ready to move

to the

countryside

of

France.

I

keep asking my

DH

to see if his company

needs him to

move

to France, or UK, or

how about

just Europe?

Well,

Evidently not!

STINK!!!

But she talked

about the

open markets there

and how they

cook

everything fresh

each day.

Very healthy,

no fast

foods,

she never even heard of

frozen foods

before,

I had to explain that to

her.

The look on her face

said it all,

how

GROSS!!!

LOL

But I did get to go

to a

Mennonite Market today

and

purchased some beautiful

berries,

and a large beautiful Melon

and

the largest

spring onions

And although

it rained most of the day,

we had a nice

time,

I love hearing her speak,

love the french

accent.

And I was able to purchase

fresh produce

right from our

local farmers,

hmmm,

what should I do

with all these

lovely

berries?

Maybe some warm

crepes

for breakfast?

Sounds

good!!

Au Revoir!!

Summertime Fun!

(Isn't she lovely?)

This is one of many reasons

of why

I

LOVE

summer!

Seeing things come to life.

A week or so

ago I went out to my garden

and started

taking pictures. I try and

do this

every year.

Then I keep a journal

of what

NOT

to plant next year

or what to

do differently

next year.

Below are many of my

pride and

joys:

Since I've taken this picture

my veggies

have grown quite a bit and I've

been able to

make a delicious organic

salad

Its amazing how delicious

food tastes

when you grow it yourself.

I really enjoy

going out there and picking

part of our

meal.

I also have been able

to use some of

my homegrown Herbs

I marinated some chicken

with fresh

Rosemary

and then grilled it, MMMMM!!

Now on a

different story,

do you remember this?

After a terrible rainstorm my back

porch

looked like this the next morning.

Well

after some phone calls,

and insurance

calls,

we now have this

a new beautiful, sturdy, better quality

porch roof.

Not only is it pretty, but we gained more

space,

we can enclose it down the road,

you can walk on it,

the guy who

put it on demonstrated

that part for us....lol

but we hardly

payed

anything for it.

Insurance payed for the majority

of it.

How wonderful!

We also gained a new family!

Well, that

didn't last for long,

would you like to meet

Oscar?

Say hello Oscar, don't be shy

When I first saw him on our back

porch, I just

about screamed

because I thought

it was a rat!

It was so exciting for me,

because,

I am a City girl, and although

I've seened

more animals living here

than ever,

I've never seened a

baby possum.

But I have seened them as

adults and

honestly'

they

scare me

half to death.

So although Oscar was cute

he

HAD TO GO!!

So we trapped him in a

pet carrier,

drove him

to the woods

and set him free.

Now I have to explain first,

there was no

mama

around.

It turns out, my neighbors

down the driveway

found an

adult Possum

partly under their shed

and

wondered where it came

from.

It looked like it was

hit but didn't

die instantly so it

crawled down

to their shed

and try to crawl underneath

it but didn't make

it, and it

died.

How sad!

I did tear up as I was

telling

my DH about this.

I am an

animal lover

but I don't mess with wild animals

at all.

But then after Oscar was

taken to a new home,

two more appeared.

DARN!

So we trapped them

as well.

Then,

last thursday night,

Possum NO. 4

Oh my, what in the world!

How many

did she have??!!

While my DH was busy snapping

pictures, I was trying

 to lure

him into the carrier.

It worked!

We dropped him off, came home

and OMGosh!!

This insane.

Possum No. 5

No time for pictures,

need to trap

NOW!

Here's my DH taking

the last

one to

its new

home

When we took the first one

out here

I was actually emotional,

I felt so bad

but I knew we couldn't keep

it around

they get big and not so nice.

But by the time

No. 4 & 5

came around, I was getting

annoyed.

But they seemed ok

moving into

their

new home.

Whew!

I think that's done now.

Haven't seened

anymore

since that last one.

Adventures of

living in the

country!

We went to NYC to visit

my family

on Memorial weekend

and had a blast.

love walking around

the City(Manhattan)

and we

walked around

Jackson Heights, Queens

where

alot of the

Indians, from India

live.

That was so much fun.

But on our

way back home here to PA

it was bittersweet

as always.

I LOVE NYC but I don't

see

myself living there again

unless I

had to,

but it is still hard to leave

mainly

because I miss my parents

so much.

But I took some

pictures as we were driving on

the B'klyn Bridge

I really love taking pictures

of this

bridge.

It brings back many memories.

I've walked this

bridge

so many times.

But when

we got to the

Holland Tunnel

we got

pulled over by the Police.

Evidently,

you CANNOT

take pictures of the Tunnel.

He had me

delete that

picture and wanted to see

of what else

I took,

he saw the Bridge and

said that

was ok.'

Because of Terrorists

reasons,

no

pictures of the

Holland Tunnel.

That was new to me,

How embarrassing,

sorry

Officer.

Won't do that again.

So heads

up,

don't take pictures

of the

Holland Tunnel.

Well, there goes what I've

been up to

for the past few months.

Now its

cold and rainy

and I may

just do

some sewing today.