Ten Big 'Killers' in the United States

 Interesting to note that while the noise in government these days is to ban guns because they are supposedly a major cause of death and injury in the United States, actual statistics seem to indicate an entirely different story.

Tobacco Use

529,000

Medical Errors

155,000

Unintentional Injuries

118,00

Alcohol Abuse

107,400

Motor Vehicle Accidents

34,435

Unintentional Poisoning

31,750

Drug Abuse

25,500

Unintentional Falls

24,790

*Non-Firearm Homicides

16,790

Firearm Homicides

11,490

*According to the FBI, the #1 weapon used in violent crimes . . . is a baseball bat.

Given the thinking/reasoning about proposed legislation regarding gun control, shouldn't baseball bats be considered, too? Also heard that a lot of baseball bats are sold in the UK which has strict gun control. They play that much baseball there? We don't need a nanny state. No matter what gets banned, people intent on evil will find a way.

Cookie Baking in Comic Form?

 My daughter seems to have encompassed my slight baking addiction in her recent comic. She has grown to be an expert at catching mood and expression in her comics so no one is ever quite safe from her pens, markers, and computer.

Mastered Crackers!

 Time on my hands and half a bag of flax seeds looking for a place in life . . . I was back into my new cookbook for cooking wheat free and discovered this very easy cracker that only has ground flax seeds, some sesame seeds, Parmesan cheese, oil, egg, and water. Super simple with not too much clean up as you roll the dough out between two sheets of parchment paper. I 'improved' the recipe with a sprinkle or coarse salt over the top before baking. Another idea would be to run the pizza cutter through the dough before baking to make it easier to break into pieces. About that one, obviously missing cracker on the left? I don't know anything about it . . .!

Baking wheat-less bread - my first loaf!

Although I hadn't yet received my order for the required flours needed for this recipe, I did have the whole ingredients on hand so ground them up in my super blender. The flour wasn't exactly right but close enough.

It smelled amazing while it was baking and even though my loaf pan was a bit too big, it still rose nicely and I have a teen son anxiously waiting to slather some butter on it and try it out.

Very productive afternoon researching gluten-free recipes for some of our favorite foods. Found some great ones and will post them or their links after I give them a try.

Christmas isn't over!

 I love our neighbor across the street from us. He doesn't follow the modern norm of putting up Christmas decorations the minute the leftover Thanksgiving turkey is put away. No, he decorates his yard and home a day or two before Christmas and they stay up until the Feast of the Three Kings or there about. It is so sad that all of December is spent celebrating Christmas and just when the Octave of Christmas begins, so many people end it and the Valentine cards show up in the stores and people start planning for that.

Christmas begins the day Jesus was born and how much we and our children would miss if that was it as far as it went. There is so much more than just the Bethlehem scene to consider. What about the murder of the Holy Innocents? Herod's worry about a possible claim to his earthly throne? The Three Kings, their meeting with Herod, and their vision about not returning to Herod after their visit with Jesus and His family? Too many parts of an important history are left out.

To me, the saddest part of Christmas is all the trees dumped by the curb for trash pick up before the end of Christmas Day. Mothers sigh with relief that all this fuss is done for another year. Holiday visitors have long gone. All many have is leftover Christmas treats and forgotten reasons for the season. If Christmas lasted as long as our frantic shopping for it, we'd certainly be a happier people.

Happy New Year!

Well, 2013 has successfully dawned and I have neither broken nor started my resolution for this year yet. I will claim to be ahead of the game at this point!

The last couple of weeks got us all off schedule and I'm looking forward to resuming my projects and having a generally predictable time plan. I know, we make our plans but God makes it happen . . . or not. I'm sort of learning to be flexible!

Although I did pretty well on making Christmas gifts ahead of time in 2012, I'm starting even earlier so I don't sit there the night before Christmas and hurriedly finish up quilting and crocheting projects.

Lots of prayer required to see us through the coming year. While the government unsuccessfully deals with massive monatery math problems, we will see our taxes rise and the onset of obamacare hit our paychecks. More cost and less care as the math never has worked on that agenda.

We are praying for a change in the economy as two of my three college graduates still haven't found work. One of my children has to live and work in another country in order to even have a job.

We are trying to keep an optimistic view point but are cutting back on spending and making do. I wonder when the politicians will realize that when taxes go up, buying tends to go down which, basically, leaves things pretty much the same with no real improvement.

Anyway, we are starting the New Year, dressed in our Sunday best and attending Mass. No matter what the outcome of the year, God has blessed us with a new year to try and make better.

Wheat-Less New Year's Resolution?

Happy New Year to those of the world who are already into 2013 and an early one to the people who are still in expectation of the arrival of 2013.

I've never made a New Year's Resolution that I've kept for more than a week but am going for another try for the soon-to-be-here 2013 - a change in diet and how I provide for my family's meals. Right now, I am doing pretty well on that score as eating out is a treat and my children actually prefer eating at home. I watch the fats and every dinner plate sports a protein, carb, and fresh vegetable.

As I posted last week, I recently picked up and had to purchase Wheat Belly Cookbook by William Davis, MD. I was not so much fascinated with the idea of giving up wheat but the fact that this book provided recipes that were not 'weird' or overly healthy and 'green'.  I was treated to a plate of 'health' cookies when people started making changes in their diet and they were not tasty and didn't look like anything a person should voluntarily eat. Needless to say, I opened this book with some apprehension. Much to my surprise, the recipes were appealing with the only thing missing from them being wheat products.

The book begins with a history of wheat and the 'whys' of omitting them from our diet. Many of the problems listed, were happening in my family to one degree or another. My husband has always had digestive issues and a lot of what I was reading hit home. We decided to slowly start replacing wheat in our diets with thoughts of eventually going totally no wheat and see how things go.

Needless to say, I already have some of the suggested 'flours' on order and was delighted to discover that they weren't overly expensive. I did my research and according to my finds, Nuts.com seems to fit the bill for us. Just Google it on-line if you want to check it out. I was impressed with both their inventory and the fact that an e-mailed question was responded to within half a day.

The food item that gets eaten the most in households is bread. I decided to start there and incorporate that into our meals first of all. It was a win/win for me as I enjoy baking and love trying out new challenges. This is the recipe from the book.

Basic Bread
1 1/4 cups blanched almond flour
1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons garbanzo bean aka chickpea flour
1/4 cup ground golden flax seeds
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
5 eggs, separated
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 tablespoon buttermilk
1 tablespoon xylitol or 4 drops liquid stevia or to desired sweetness

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 8 1/2" x 4 1/2" loaf pan.

In a food processor, combine the almond flour, garbanzo bean flour, ground flax seeds, baking soda, cinnamon (if using), and salt. Pulse until well blended. Add the egg yolks, butter, buttermilk, and sweetener and pulse until just blended.

In a large bowl and using an electric mixer on high, beat the egg whites until soft peaks form. Pour into the flour mixture and pulse until the egg whites are evenly distributed but do not run the machine at a constant speed. Spread into the prepared pan and bake for 40 minutes, or until a wooded pick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Remove and cool completely on a rack.

Per slice: 158 calories, 7 grams protein, 7 grams carbohydrates, 12 grams total fat, 2 grams saturated fat, 3 grams fiber, 200 mg sodium.

Recipe from Wheat Belly Cookbook by William Davis, MD., page 225