Blueberry Pie

Blueberry pie in the summertime is just divine. The girls, their grandmother and I went and picked blueberries the other day and then went home to bake pie. And it was very good.


Pastry for single or double crust pie
Crumb Topping for single crust pie, if desired
6 cups blueberries, rinsed
1/2 cup sugar
1 tbsp. lemon juice
1/4 cup Minute Tapioca
1/4 tsp. cloves or 1/2 tsp. apple pie spice

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a pie plate with pie pastry and trim the edges. Set aside.

Gently pat the berries dry on paper towels. Toss the berries with the sugar, lemon juice, tapioca and cloves or apple pie spice. Pour into the pie plate, mounding slightly in the center.

For a double crust pie, top the berries with pie pastry. Trim the edges, then roll all around the edges and flute with fingers or the tines of a fork. Make slits in the top crust to allow steam to escape. If desired, brush with egg wash and sprinkle with sugar. Put tin foil around the edges to keep the crust from getting too brown. Bake 20 minutes. Remove the tin foil and continue baking another 20 minutes or until the crust is golden brown and the fruit is bubbly. Remove from oven and cool.


For a single crust pie, roll and flute the edges of the pie crust with your fingers or the tines of a fork. Top the berries with Crumb Topping, distributing evenly. Put tin foil around the edges the keep the crust from getting too brown. Bake 20 minutes. Remove the tin foil and continue baking another 20 minutes or until the topping is golden brown and the fruit is bubbly. Remove from oven and cool.

All Purpose Crumb Topping

This all purpose crumb topping is good on pies, fruit crisps, coffeecakes, muffins, you name it. I like using Sorghum and Chickpea or All Purpose Sorghum blends, but Bob's Red Mill All Purpose Gluten Free Flour Blend works well too.

Go here for Nut Free Crumb Topping.

1 cup GF flour blend
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tbsp. white sugar
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
8 tbsp. dairy free, soy free margarine
1/2 cup finely chopped pecans or walnuts

Whisk together the flour, sugars and cinnamon. Cut in the margarine with a pastry cutter until the mixture resembles small crumbs. Stir in the nuts and toss well. Bake according to your recipe instructions.

She's So Literal

How many times have I read that people on the spectrum think very literally, especially when it comes to language? Yes, yes, I thought - that will be Anna. I can see it coming. When her communication gets better, I'll either be doing a lot of explaining or a lot of laughing. Or both.

Today I took the girls to the park for a picnic lunch. I had forgotten to bring a dessert so I promised Anna a piece of gum (a treat and a sensory fix all in one!). In order to encourage her to finish her sandwich I said "Anna, eat your lunch - there is a piece of gum waiting with your name written on it!". How many times have I heard that expression used before? I thought nothing of it.

Anna looked at me and said "Where is my name on the gum? Can I see it?"

I tried not to groan as Mommy Brain kicked in...here come her questions and my reserves were sapped after a long morning. I said "there is no name written on the gum, sweetie. It's just an expression. It means there is a piece of gum is waiting for you."

Sweetly, Anna asked "what is an expression?".

"It's a way of saying something. Anna, please just eat your lunch, and then you can have the gum."

On a better day I would have tried to tell her that an expression is not literal, it's a way of creating a picture in your mind with the language you use. It's a fun way of communicating. I hope someday Anna finds communication fun. Right now it seems for her that it's a lot of work.

GFCF Meatloaf

Today I tackled meatloaf. I was unsure of how this would fly with the girls. They've never had meatloaf before and they can be very picky about their meat. I am very happy to report that they both liked this dish! The recipe that served as my guide can be found here at Spectrum Hope.

1 package ground turkey (20 oz)
1 egg
1 cup chunky salsa
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 tbsp. fresh lime juice
1/2 cup crushed gluten free rice cereal
1/2 tsp. garlic powder or 1 large clove minced garlic
1/4 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. pepper

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and mix well. Pour into a greased 8 inch loaf pan and shape to fit the pan. Top with extra salsa, if desired. Bake at 375 for 1 hour or until cooked through. Let sit 10 minutes before removing loaf to a cutting board and slicing into 1 inch thick pieces. Serve hot.

Sweet Potato Salad, Take Two

This is another Living Without recipe. I liked the first Sweet Potato Salad I tried so much that I decided to try another version. I nixed the cinnamon and nutmeg in the original recipe because I just don't like any hint of sweetness in my sweet potatoes. But if you think cinnamon and nutmeg sounds fabulous, you can find the original recipe here.

4 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into bite-sized chunks
2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil, divided
salt and pepper
1 small onion, chopped
1 small green pepper, chopped
6 slices bacon, cooked and diced
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, minced

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp. honey
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Toss potatoes with 1 tbsp. olive oil and spread them in one layer on a baking sheet. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake about 25 minutes or until tender. Remove and set aside to cool.

Cook onion and pepper in 1 tbsp. olive oil over medium heat until just softened, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.

Whisk together the balsamic vinegar and honey. Add the olive oil in a thin stream, whisking constantly to emulsify. Set aside.

In a large bowl toss together the potatoes, onion, pepper, bacon and cilantro. Add the dressing and toss to coat. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

I Have a Problem (with Corn)

Can you believe it? I think I have a problem with corn! This is ridiculous. Corn is in everything! It's everywhere! I have been meticulously avoiding corn and corn derivatives for two weeks...all I have to say about this is that it's a good thing I like salads.

So, let me backtrack a few months. I went to the allergist for blood testing to see if there was anything I should avoid besides gluten. I had felt great for months after going gluten free but then randomly started feeling bad again. And up popped a dairy intolerance (in the form of high levels of IgG antibodies to dairy). So I went casein free and after experiencing withdrawal symptoms, I felt pretty good. But I still had random bouts of feeling bad and couldn't pinpoint what the instigator was. So I looked back at the blood test results. Two other foods that registered were cashews and shrimp...both small IgG blips, but they are easy to avoid so I avoided them. No big deal. The other food that registered was corn. Where dairy was high at 10, corn showed up as moderate at 5...whatever that means. The allergist told me to avoid dairy but said corn was not a problem. Phew! I do love tortilla chips, and I decided to listen to the allergist instead of my intuition.

A few months later, the girls and I started having issues with antibiotics and I decided to reduce grains and carbs in our diet. I avoided them more than the girls did because it's easier for me to deprive myself than it is to deprive them, poor kids. After a few weeks of this, plus probiotics, we felt much better. I started adding grains and carbs slowly back into our diet. The girls still have at least one meal a day that is grain and carb free because I think it's probably a good practice to keep. I allow myself just one grain or carb a day (on a good day, though sometimes I cheat). And I noticed that anytime I indulged in some corn chips, the next day I felt bad. Drat.

So I decided to do a little elimination diet. Anytime I slipped and forgot about the presence of corn flour or cornstarch in something, the next day I knew it. I've been vigilant for two weeks now..no corn, cornstarch, dextrose, high fructose corn syrup, corn oil, etc. I've been eating very plainly...meats, fish, fruits, veggies, and any carb or grain that has absolutely no corn in it (well, besides the xanthan gum). For two weeks I've felt good. I will keep doing this until I get home from vacation, and then I will slowly add one small thing at a time back into my diet to see what happens...I will start with Good Seasonings Italian Dressing. But I think I will have to say goodbye forever to my beloved tortilla chips. Sniff.

Home Is Where Your Suitcase Is

Boy, am I ever tired. Vacation does that to a person. The girls and I have been on the road for two weeks before landing at our "home base" for another week before we head home (you know, that place where we actually live). Wherever we were on our recent travels, I called that home. This confused the girls a bit but I kept it up, simply to remind myself that it's great to be able to visit family and friends and feel comfortable enough to call their home our home.

As we were passing from one state into another a few days ago, I started thinking about home. Before I left for college, I could not wait to get away from home. It was time to go! See new things! Meet new people! Do new stuff! Then I got married and eventually left for someplace far from home. And as much as I wanted to leave home when I was younger, I cannot stop yearning to return home now. No matter where I go, I feel like a stranger. When I return home, I feel grounded. Like I'm remembering how nice it is to dig deep into the dirt to find roots.

I want my girls to have grounding roots too. Those roots probably won't be the same as the ones I have, so I need to start growing roots wherever we happen to live. I'm trying to get beyond being sad about this. I'm trying to make lemonade out of some particularly sour lemons. For my girls, I think I can do this. But it will be a lot of work.

Julie's Egg Free Banana Bread

My BFF has a son who is allergic to everything. Really, it's the truth. His allergies manifest as asthma, hives, swelling, horrible eczema...he has an Epipen that goes with him everywhere. His allergy list is: wheat, gluten (including oats, barley and rye), soy, peanuts, tree nuts, seeds, all legumes (beans! peas! yes they make his hands turn blue!), eggs, pineapple and possibly corn and/or rice (elimination diet to commence soon!). He is also allergic to grasses, tree pollen, cats and dogs. But he is the happiest little guy. He never complains or whines about stuff he can't have, and he's always happy about the stuff he can have. So it's a pleasure (and a challenge!) to cook for him. My BFF swears by her egg free banana bread - she simply replaces the eggs with more bananas. I wanted to try this because I had a hard time imagining this bread as anything other than dense and gummy. I should not have doubted her - this bread is fabulous. It's so good that it's hard to keep away from it!

So this recipe is simply My Mom's Banana Bread, replacing each egg with a banana and adding 1/2 tsp. baking powder to the dry mix. I also replaced the shortening with canola oil. I baked it in four small bread pans but it's fine in one 9x5 bread pan too. It will take a little longer to bake and you must let it cool completely before slicing it. If you don't wait and slice it while it's warm, it will gum up on you. But if you wait you will be rewarded with the best tasting banana bread ever. I think I might use this recipe often, even though my own kids don't need to be egg free - they love it!

2 cups All Purpose Sorghum Flour Blend or All Purpose Rice Flour Blend

1 tsp. xanthan gum

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

1/2 cup canola oil

1 cup sugar

4 medium ripe bananas, mashed

1 tbsp. lemon juice in 1/2 cup rice milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 4 small or 1 large loaf pans, set aside.

Sift flour blend, xanthan gum, baking soda, baking powder and salt, set aside.

In a large bowl combine the canola oil and the sugar. Add the mashed bananas and stir well. Add the milk/lemon juice mixture and stir well. Add the flour mixture and beat until the large clumps disappear. Turn into prepared loaf pan(s). Depending on the size of your loaf pans, bake 45 - 60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Turn bread out onto a wire rack to cool completely before slicing.

GFCF Lobster (Better than Christmas)

There are two things I really wanted while on vacation. One is lobster. The other is some Portuguese chourizo (for those who don't know, that's a type of sausage). Well, I also really wanted some Portuguese Sweet Bread and some Bolo too but clearly that is out of the question (drat that gluten). It's been a long time since I've had either lobster or chourizo. Where I'm from, it's pronounced "shur-eese". I think it's a regional thing. Like kielbasa is pronounced "ka-bah-si". And it's always soda, never pop. And the kids get lollipops, never suckers - suckers sound like leeches, and that's just gross. Anyway, where I am now I can find Mexican chorizo without even trying, but it's not the same. It lacks the bite and complexity that Portuguese chourizo has, and I miss that. Or maybe I miss the idea of it...I'm sure chourizo is a heart attack waiting to happen. But it sure is yummy in a grinder (it's never a hero or a sub, it's always a grinder) or tossed on top of a pizza. Yes, I wrote that - chourizo pizza. Yum.

Anyway, I have not gotten the chourizo yet. But last night I had lobster! (And steamers and little necks too! ) It felt like Christmas and my birthday all rolled into one, and still better than that. I've always preferred lobster plain and dipped in butter. Lobster rolls? Lobster bisque? No thanks. Just give me the steamed lobster in its shell, please. But of course butter is now right out. So I thought for a couple of days how I would replace the butter. In the end, I threw together some extra virgin olive oil (the really good fruity stuff) and a pinch of salt and dipped my shellfish and crustacean in that. And it was good. In fact, it was better than good. I didn't miss the butter at all. And now I can go home happy!

Bulk Pankcake and Waffle Mix

This is a Gluten Free Heaven recipe (you can find it here). I've modified it just slightly to make it corn-free.

3 cups brown rice flour
1 cup sorghum flour
1/2 cup millet, amaranth or teff flour
2 cups potato starch
2 cups tapioca starch
3/4 cup sugar (powdered sugar works well too)
6 tsp. baking soda
3 tbsp. baking powder
4 tsp. xanthan gum
3 tsp. salt

Sift together all ingredients. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator or freezer.

Roasted Squash with Thyme

This is an Eating Well recipe (you can find the original here). I used onion instead of fennel because that's what I had on hand, and everyone really liked the result.

2 small zucchini
2 small yellow squash
2 medium onions
2 tbsp. olive oil
1 tsp. dried thyme or 1 tbsp. chopped fresh thyme
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/4 cup thinly sliced garlic

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Quarter squash lengthwise, then chop into 1 inch pieces. Chop the onion into 1 inch pieces. Toss the squash and onion together with the olive oil, thyme, salt and pepper. Spread onto a large baking sheet. Roast for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and stir in the garlic. Return to the oven and roast another 10 minutes or until the vegetables are crisp-tender and fragrant.

Marinated Grilled Flank Steak

This is a Rachel Ray recipe - I only changed a couple of things about it. It's one of the few recipes that popped up for a marinated flank steak that did not include soy sauce as an essential ingredient. It's easy to make and and tasty to boot! I served this over a green salad, but it'd also be good with tortillas and guacamole.

I have a friend who makes excellent flank steak. He grills it over high heat for just a few minutes on each side so it's medium-rare in the middle, and it practically melts in your mouth. The more well done it is, the tougher it will be. This is the first time I've grilled flank steak and thankfully it turned out just great - even Anna ate it, and she's not really fond of beef.

3 large cloves minced garlic
2 tsp. steak seasoning blend
1 tsp. ground cumin
1/4 tsp. salt, if desired
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper (or more to taste)
1 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce (Lee & Perrins is good)
1/4 cup red or white wine
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 pounds flank steak

Place flank steak in a shallow pan. Combine garlic through olive oil. Pour over flank steak. Turn to coat. Let sit 20 - 30 minutes.

Heat a grill to high heat. Grill flank steak 5 - 7 minutes on each side. Remove from grill and let sit a couple of minutes before slicing. Thinly slice meat against the grain and serve.

Sweet Potato Salad

I made this dish on a whim this past weekend, not knowing whether I'd like it. I prefer sweet potatoes roasted and plainly dressed with just a bit of salt and pepper and sometimes a drizzle of lime juice. I'm not fond of sweet potatoes gussied up too much, especially when they are prepared on the sweet side. Just the thought of sweet potatoes mashed with brown sugar and topped with marshmallows makes me cringe. But this dish (a doctored Living Without recipe) for a savory sweet potato salad caught my eye. I like it so much that I think it will become my go-to recipe for potato salad from now on - I like it much better than plain old white potato salad. And sweet potatoes are so good for you! The flavors improve and the cider vinegar bite mellows after sitting over night in the refrigerator, so make this the day before you want to serve it.

4 medium/large sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
2 tbsp. olive oil
1/2 cup red bell pepper, chopped
1/2 cup celery, chopped
1/2 cup onion, diced
6 slices cooked bacon, fat trimmed and diced
scant 1 cup mayonnaise
1/3 cup cider vinegar
1/2 tsp. dried dill or 1 tsp. fresh dill
2 tsp. dried parsley or 1 tbsp. fresh parsley
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Toss sweet potatoes with olive oil and spread onto a greased baking sheet. Bake 30 - 40 minutes or until tender. Remove from oven, set aside and cool.

Combine the remaining ingredients in a large bowl. Add the sweet potatoes and toss to coat well. Adjust seasonings to taste. Refrigerate several hours or overnight before serving.

In Praise of Speech Therapy

I've written about how much I love occupational therapy. But I love speech therapy just as much. Speech therapists are great. They do a lot of different things, but in Anna's case they've taught her to communicate. To this day I'm still in awe of this process. It's really a mind-blowing thing to see that a person can have words and construct sentences but still not be able to use language to communicate effectively, and then a speech therapist intervenes and said person learns how to communicate. If I didn't know better, I'd think it was a bunch of voodoo magic they employ. But I recognize that speech therapists are scientists in their own way. There is a method to their magic (okay, therapy).

So, I've already told you that Anna's speech therapist is fabulous. She knows stuff that I don't. She can do stuff that I can't. She gets what I'm trying to say when I blunder my way through trying to describe something to her. She listens to my concerns like they are important.

The other week, Anna's speech therapist suggested that it'd be good for Anna to get into a group situation to help facilitate free-form social interaction, such as what to do and say when playing a game such as kickball. She told me there are only so many tests she can have Anna take. Anna is doing well on the tests and I gather that it may get harder soon to justify (to the insurance company, not to the speech therapist or to me) the need for continued speech therapy. The tests don't measure pragmatic language skills, where almost all of Anna's difficulties now lie.

I felt a little panicky when she said this. I agree that Anna needs help with the free-form stuff, but I also think she still needs individual therapy. She still needs help with language in a way that I can't seem help her. (Admitting this doesn't do much for my complex, but at the end of the day it's all about helping Anna.) I wanted to throw myself at the therapist's feet and say "Not now! I'm not ready for speech therapy to end! Anna isn't ready for speech therapy to end! She still needs help in ways that my brain is too fried at the moment to describe for you, but trust me, she still needs help!". What I did manage to spit out was something along these lines - Anna thinks differently, talks differently, laughs about different things, uses language awkwardly, and has a hard time interacting with her typical peers. She doesn't actually interact with kids her age, she stands back and watches them intently (which I'm sure freaks them out a bit) and then copies what they do - down to their exact movements and laughter (only delayed by a few seconds). It's a little weird. And she doesn't talk or act like them even when she's mimicking them - she talks and acts a lot younger, which they also find off-putting. So the way she uses language is weird and young for her age, and she has a difficult time interfacing with her typical peers.

But there's more to it than that and I've been trying to put my finger on it. Sometimes it takes awhile to observe things and have a deep-seated concern bubble to the surface enough to express that concern lucidly. It has to do with Anna talking younger than she is. Her typical peers can run circles around her language-wise, and it seems to me that Anna is a little lost. It's not that she doesn't have language - she does. But she's not getting things in context. She doesn't get the gist of things, the give and take of communication. She not only does not seem to understand all the subtle undercurrents of communication, she also does not seem to be picking up the meaning of words and phrases in context. She's not connecting stuff and assimilating it, instead she seems to be stuck at a 3 year old level (in language and emotional expression, which I will write more about later).

So the other week I mentioned this concern to Anna's speech therapist, who lit up like a light bulb and told me it's because Anna seems to be stuck at a "tier one" level of language. Huh. I didn't know there were tiers. Apparently there are three language tiers. The first tier is where the simplest language is...the words that live there are ones like "good" and "big" and "scary". The second tier is where the bigger words live that mean the same thing as the simple words, but with extra padding. Words like "excellent" and "gigantic" and "horrifying". Words that can be picked up within the context of a sentence. This is where Anna runs into trouble. I've forgotten what the third tier is but I think it has something to do with manipulating language to have more than one meaning (like irony or double-entendre) - I can't seem to find much about language tiers online so I will have to ask around. But I can already see that this third tier will be even harder for Anna to grasp. The ways that most of us use and understand language are so deeply ingrained and second-nature that we never have to think about it. Couple that with the unspoken and powerful communication made with body language and facial cues and communication really becomes thorny for someone like Anna, who has a hard time interpreting and using all language - spoken and unspoken - to communicate. Everyone else runs circles around her and then leaves her in the dust. She must feel like an alien in a world she does not understand. Again - Anna is not ready to leave speech therapy. Like occupational therapy, I think Anna will need some form of speech/social skills therapy for the foreseeable future.

So my homework this summer, to my slight chagrin, is to read a lot of books to Anna and give her explanations of the tier two words she does not understand. Not that I mind reading to Anna...it's just that she already asks me all day long what different words mean. All day long. It's almost enough to drive me mad. But I'll read the books. I'll smile and answer Anna's questions. And I will look forward to the day where Anna can read the dictionary all by herself.

Fresh Tomato and Basil Chicken

This is a nice light dish for summer. Serve with crusty french bread or risotto to soak up the sauce and a green salad on the side.

4 small skinless, boneless chicken breasts
3 tbsp. rice flour
1 tbsp. corn flour or potato flour
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
2tbsp. olive oil
2 small shallots, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp. balsamic vinegar or white wine
3/4 cup chicken broth
1 pint grape tomatoes, halved
16 large basil leaves, halved and thinly sliced

Combine the rice flour through the pepper. Dredge chicken in the flour mixture, shaking off excess. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the chicken and cook, turning once, 5 minutes on each side or until cooked through. Remove to a serving dish and keep warm.

Add the shallot and garlic to the skillet, cook for one minute or until fragrant. Add the vinegar or white wine to the pan and deglaze. Add the chicken broth and tomatoes. Simmer one or two minutes or until the sauce is slightly reduced. Add the basil and cook one minute more. Pour sauce over the chicken and serve hot.

Honey Glazed Snack Mix

This is Penzey's take on Chex Mix. The girls really like it!

4 cups gluten free Chex cereal (rice or corn)
2 cups Ener-G pretzels
1 cup walnut or pecan halves
1/3 cup casein free, soy free margarine
1/4 cup honey
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a large baking sheet, set aside. In a large bowl toss together the cereal, pretzels and nuts. Place the margarine, honey, salt, garlic powder and peppers in a small saucepan. Stir over low heat until the margarine melts, then drizzle over the cereal mixture and toss well. Spread on the prepared baking sheet. Bake 15 minutes. Remove from oven and let rest 3 minutes. Spread the mix on a piece of wax paper to cool completely. Store in an airtight container.

We've Arrived, and a Quick Chicken Dinner

We arrived at our destination 4 days ago. The trip was really not that bad - three days in the car and the girls were mostly happy. Although, they were happier to get out of the car and overrun Grandma's house. Dinner the day of our arrival was Pesto Marinated Chicken on top of salad. It's pretty simple and pretty tasty too. I really liked the berries on the salad.

1 batch Cilantro Pesto, thinned with olive oil
1 pound chicken tenders
field greens
strawberries, quartered
blueberries
balsamic vinaigrette or other dressing of your choice

Place pesto and chicken in a large gallon zip bag and toss to coat chicken with the pesto. Place in refrigerator and marinate several hours. Just before dinner, take chicken out of the bag, shake off any dripping pesto and grill the chicken a couple of minutes on each side or until cooked through. Slice chicken and place on top of field greens. Sprinkle berries on top and serve.