Cheese Bread {Gluten-Free}

On my quest to cut down our gluten consumption, I came across this great recipe from a blog called Dinners and Dreams.  I finally made the recipe yesterday, and oh my, it was sooo good! I wish I had made a double batch! It's hard to explain them exactly, the recipe says bread, but they're like puffy muffins.  Yum! Brennan loved them too, so it is definitely a keeper recipe for us.  And so easy to make!



Here's the recipe:

Cheese Bread
Ingredients:
1 1/4 cups tapioca starch (I used this one.)
1/2 cup milk
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
3/4 cup cheese (The original recipe called for mozzarella, I used marbled jack.)
1 egg
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon brown sugar

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly grease a nonstick muffin tin.
Blend all the ingredients in a blender until the batter is smooth.
Pour the batter into the muffin tin, filling each section about halfway.
Bake 20 minutes until golden and puffed. Let cool slightly. Enjoy the cheesy goodness!

Reheat leftover breads before eating.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

St. Patrick's Day is a big deal around here. Jason has Irish roots, so St. Patty's is one of his favorite holidays.  Brennan is getting into it this year, too.  (Don't call it St. Patty's around him, he will quickly correct you that it is St. Patrick's!)  We're  wearing our green today, our shamrock decorations have been up for awhile, and we have plenty of green food on the menu for today.  If Jason were home we'd have something a little more traditional, but since it's just me and Brennan, we're going easy. :)

Does anyone else listen to Celtic Thunder?  We all love them.  For your listening pleasure, here is one of our favorite songs.



May your blessings outnumber the shamrocks that grow,
And may trouble avoid you wherever you go.

 

The Deployment Project {Week 9}

So has everyone "sprung foward" today? I switched our clocks as soon as I got up this morning, though it wasn't without some grumbling. Daylight Savings Time...yeah, I'm not a fan.  It messes with my internal clock something fierce. It takes me weeks to adjust. I guess that stems from growing up in the part of Indiana that didn't observe Daylight Savings Time.  Well, they didn't way back then...they do now...they gave into peer pressure, darn it!

Source: lh4.googleusercontent.com via Heather on Pinterest

Yep, I have to agree.

Jason and I have also realized that the time change will give us less time to IM each other everyday. It will be a bummer, but I'm not going to complain (too much) since we do get to communicate at least a little each day.  This deployment is so much better than past ones because of that. Thank goodness.

Well now that I got that rant out of my system, I can proceed with this week's pictures.

 
Remember in my last post I told you about Brennan's Parent Day at school? I found this Sunday evening.  He put all these guys in his chairs so they could listen to him practice his songs.  He had their undivided attention. :)


*Sigh* Some form of this happens every day around here.


While helping me purge my craft stuff, Brennan found a "magic hat," and a wand. He spent the afternoon turning himself and me into frogs, robots, balloons, and foxes.  "Presto, presto..."


Being in the desert, Jason is missing the snow.  Here ya go, my love.


We've been working on learning Turkish.  Yep, I said "we." Brennan has been right there with me listening to the CDs. He calls them "Turkish Letters." I don't know how much he's learning; as for myself, trying to learn a new language with a squirmy 4-year-old in tow is proving interesting.  You aren't supposed to move from one lesson to the next until you feel you've gotten 80% of the previous one. We are still on Lesson 2 and most of Lesson 1 was an Intro. I'm glad we have a lot of time before we have to move.


Brennan has been wanting to see a train all week.  Of course, I came upon this one...right after I dropped him off at school.


On Saturday we tried a jicama.  Brennan didn't like it at all. I found it to be like a cross between an apple, a potato and a water chestnut. Not terrible, but not something I will buy often.

Pictures From Parent's Day

It was Parent's Day today at school.  Brennan has been looking forward to it for weeks.  In the past these days haven't been my favorite events since for some reason Brennan tends to turn into a turkey when faced with an audience.  Other kids won't leave their parent's laps the whole time, mine becomes the life of the party.

He did good today though, I was proud of him. We did miss out on the beginning of the Parent/Kid craft time because as soon as I walked in the door Brennan announced to everyone that he had to go to the bathroom and he needed help, right now!...and then he took off running.  Ha, I'm glad I was there to help, he was in there for awhile. Ahem. :)


Even with the delay, Brennan had plenty of time to show me his cutting and gluing skills. We made a Cat in the Hat hat.  Brennan still hasn't decided if he left or right handed.  He switches back and forth constantly.  He seems to use both at the same skill level, so maybe he'll be ambidextrous?  We shall see in time. I don't ever push him, of course, but in my head I am "Go Team Lefty!" :)


Showing off his finished hat.


The hats all had an obvious design flaw; not one of them fit on the kids' heads!  Oops!


This time around the kids sat on the floor and sang songs about the days of the week, and about how much coins are worth.  They also did some sign language and reviewed their music symbols for us.


Brennan finding the Dog note (D).


Taking a bow.


After everyone found their music note, Brennan wanted to show me all the things on the wall.  As you can see, he had to keep track of what everybody else was doing, too. :)


And that's that. I can't believe it's already March, and the second Parent's Day this year.  This school year is flying by!

A Little Story, Some Big News

How about a story?

Once upon a time, way back in 2009, in an office in Sunny Florida, there was a girl (me) whose job at the time revolved around the internet.  She also loved anything photography related, so when she heard there was a new search engine being launched (bing.com) AND that it was having a photography contest, it was only natural that she go check it out.  The picture of the day at bing.com was similar to this one:

Source: publicdomainpictures.net via Heather on Pinterest

Too amazing not to share, right?  So after some ohhs and ahhs by her and her office friends, things went back to normal, with everyone in agreement that the pretty pools in the picture were beautiful and would be a wonderful place to visit someday.

Three years pass...

In all that time, I haven't thought about those pretty pools (or bing.com for that matter, ha)...

Until now...

It turns out the next big adventure the Air Force will be sending us on is about a 10 hour drive from those pools.  Any guesses where that will be?

How about some more pictures to help?

Source: Uploaded by user via Heather on Pinterest

Source: Uploaded by user via Heather on Pinterest

I already foresee us spending a lot of time checking out places like these.

Source: Uploaded by user via Heather on Pinterest

And seeing these guys. (And maybe even going for a ride!)

Source: 123rf.com via Heather on Pinterest

I can't wait to be able to buy some of these.

Source: foodista.com via Heather on Pinterest

And eat some yumminess like this.

Source: piccsy.com via Heather on Pinterest

Come for a visit and we'll all take a weekend trip here!

Source: Uploaded by user via Heather on Pinterest

Or if you'd rather, we'll go climb around in here.


Any guesses yet?


Here's one more.

Source: globecities.net via Heather on Pinterest

We'll be living near this, the Sabancı Merkez Camii; the largest mosque in the country.


How about now, have you figured it out?

OK, OK, for those of you who haven't got it yet, our next assignment will be...
.
.
.
.
Incirlik, Turkey!

Wow, huh?!

We've had a few days since finding out to research and learn about Turkey, and I have to say it's a little unreal.  It is amazing how much there will be for us to do and see!  The list is huge, and we're already thinking the 2 years we'll be there won't be enough time to take it all in.

On the flip side, it is going to be a HUGE change from what we are used to now. No Chick-fil-a or Super Target down the street, that's for sure! (From what I've read, there are McDonald's and Burger Kings and even a Krispy Kreme in some areas, though.) I've already got some cultural and travel books on order from Amazon, and I plan on learning as much Turkish as I can before we get there.

Thankfully, we won't be moving until closer to the end of the year. We've found it's pretty hard even in the early stages of planning a move when you are 7754 miles apart. Jason can't really do anything or find out too much information until he gets back here.  So in the meantime, we are just trying to learn as much as we can.

So how about you?  Anybody traveled to Turkey or been stationed at Incirlik?  I'd love to hear from you.

The Deployment Project {Weeks 7 & 8}

How about a special treat today?  Seeing that I got a week behind on The Deployment Project posting, I'm going to post two weeks at once. Is that a treat? I'm going to just pretend that it is. :)

We've been doing pretty good. The weather has been up and down, thankfully nothing like some parts of the country have been getting though.  Late last week we were shoveling snow, and today it is 61 and I have the doors open. I'm sure the warmth won't last, but we're enjoying the fresh air while we can.


Brennan's last day being three.


I'm sure your tired of seeing this picture, as I have shared it in a post or two already. I told you it was my favorite. :)


Jason is a bit of a fan of history. If you know him, you realize that is an understatement, so when I found the actual colors of Mount Vernon, I had to get them.  There are so many colors! So now, as long as I stick to the swatches, I can paint any piece of furniture I want, right Honey?


She apparently thought we left that stool there just for her.


Our sink has a hole for a soap dispenser.  There is no dispenser, so it's just covered with a circular plate.  The  plate isn't attached to anything, it just sits on top.  Once Brennan figured out that he can just take it right off, the fascination began with what was in that hole.  I tried to explain he's just seeing the stuff under the sink, but in his mind there is some great treasure waiting to be found down there.


Swim trunks in the bathtub? Why not?


One of Brennan's birthday presents was a star projector.  We have astronomy shows every night.


Apparently, me taking a shower this morning was a bad idea.  While we were upstairs, Chloe was downstairs doing this.  Brennan found hiding in the curtains much more fun that cleaning up the big mess.


One of Brennan's presents from Grandma Brenda.  Who is that masked Little Man?


Living with a boy...  I made my latte this morning, and didn't realize until I was finished that Brennan's Battlebot was right there overseeing the whole thing. Just part of the scenery around here.


This is our newest fun project; growing grass in this little froggie pot.  Brennan checks it every day to see if it's grown. :)


Brennan loves Play-Doh. I love that he loves playing with it, but I do sometimes feel the aggravation of Play-Doh outweighs the fun.  Don't get me wrong, I loved it as a kid, too, but as a Mom, I can't say I'm a big fan.  It's a mess, the containers are hard to open, and the tools it comes with either don't stay together or are hard for a 4-year-old to use. Anybody else feel this way?


My roses went kaput, so when I saw these tulips at the store for $4, they just had to come home with me.  I love the cheeriness they bring to the kitchen.


Brennan checking to see if Daddy's combat boots fit him yet. I think you have a way to go Little Man! Notice that the boots don't match each other. :)

No. 4

Happy Leap Day!  I am happy there is an extra day in this month, just so I can say I got Brennan's birthday pictures blogged in the same month as his birthday. Oh yeah, I rock. : )



Jason and I usually decorate for Brennan's birthday together.  Since I was on my own this year, I just took my time and kicked back and watched the season finale of Downton Abbey while I blew up balloons and cut streamers.  Brennan was happy, so I must have done good.



Oh, and I ended up not doing a pinata.  Brennan never mentioned it once, so I don't think he missed it at all.  With Valentine's Day, Birthday goodies, and my weakness for the Easter candy (that is already everywhere!), we had plenty of candy around here without adding a pinata full.

The decorations were just simple crepe paper streamers, balloons, and a banner.  Brennan had a great time running through those streamers all day.  After all the festivities, Brennan decided he wanted his room to look like a party, so he hauled all those balloons upstairs.  I thought that was a great idea. : )









He loved all his presents.







Especially his package from Daddy.





When lunchtime came around we headed to Chili's for a special birthday lunch.



Brennan was more impressed with his blue birthday slush than he was with his food.



He had a great time talking to our waiter though.





He was beyond excited when they came out to sing and give him his birthday treat.









Mmm...tasty.



Later in the evening, it was time for some cake...



and some more singing...



and some candle blowing.



And then for dessert, we had some White Castle cheeseburgers. : )



Happy Birthday Little Man!