Dog and Her Pig

I think my dog is beautiful. (Just as beautiful as her puppy days!) She watches me with that blue eye, never taking her eyes off me as I do things around the yard. I was trying to get some decent shots of baby lemons from my lemon tree this morning, but I wasn't satisfied. I looked at her and thought maybe today she'd let me get a good shot of her.

She is a dog who loves toys, and tears through most of them. We have only a handful of super-tough squeaky, bouncy toys that our dogs have not demolished. This little piggy is not a durable rubber dog toy. In fact, she could tear through that rubber in seconds if she wished. But for some reason she doesn't. She doesn't treat it like her other toys. It's almost like a baby. She carries it around in her mouth, sometimes for half an hour or more without dropping it. She doesn't play tug-of-war with it. She doesn't bite on it. She sits with it, and I think that's precious.

She let me photograph her with Piggy today.

I hope you find beauty in your day.

Why I'm sharing this: http://mamameglutenfree.blogspot.com/2012/02/beauty-in-eye-of-beholder.html

Butterfly and Blossoms

We had a glorious morning with little to no wind today. I know that won't last long around here this time of year, so I took advantage of it and spent some time walking around the neighborhood, deliberately finding beauty in my surroundings.

I took enough photos to last a while for the bad, windy days if I need them. Do you seen signs of spring where you live yet? They've just started popping up here and there where we live. The other day I noticed that all these beautiful blossoms were coming up on certain trees around the neighborhood. I captured some today, with bees buzzing around and just a couple of butterflies. I guess this means we'll have more butterflies soon - yay!

Our elm trees were beginning to sport little green dots the other day and they are suddenly much larger. All around me, life is starting push through again. So many springs in the past, I've just noticed bare trees and then suddenly there are leaves and green is all around us in the air. I missed all the tiny buds. Not this year. I'm noticing the little shoots and buds so I can be in awe at their full glory later.

I liked the contrast of these bare limbs next to a tree beginning to bud - interesting that the upper part of the tree has larger green spots than the lower branches. This is what many of the trees look like right now but it will soon change. I'm looking forward to capturing these changes this year.

Find beauty in your day before it ends!

Why I'm sharing this: http://mamameglutenfree.blogspot.com/2012/02/beauty-in-eye-of-beholder.html

Dove In Flight

So I didn't get a photo post done yesterday - the first day I missed since beginning this project. I still found beauty in many things, though.

I may not get a photo taken today, either. We had "family church" at home this morning with our youngest not being well, and are making it an entire day of relaxing (with the exception of yard work on my husband's part). In a few hours, we'll be popping popcorn and watching old shows together again. I love that time as a family.

It's another windy day (do you live in an area with horribly windy, dusty months of spring as well?) and my allergies just really make me want to stay inside. So I'm enjoying beauty in little things like expressions on my children's faces. And of course, the birds at our feeders. (Maybe I will get a photo, after all.)

I wanted to share this photo I took a few days ago. This dove was watching me carefully and wasn't sure of me and my camera way down on the ground below. I was ready when it decided to take flight and thought it was beautiful as it flew away. This particular type of dove is actually a bully to the other birds around our area, and when they are near our feeder I try to shoo them away. They aren't native to our area and cause problems for the doves that are native (and more shy, so I have yet to get a good photo of one). But I found beauty in one the other day. They are beautiful, if bullies.

Why I'm sharing this: http://mamameglutenfree.blogspot.com/2012/02/beauty-in-eye-of-beholder.html

Please find beauty in the rest of your weekend!

Baked Quinoa Millet Breakfast Pudding

Some of you may remember how much I like baked oatmeal. And you may also remember how much I like the spiced quinoa millet hot cereal from a few weeks back. I got it in my head that the two styles must somehow be combined for one glorious breakfast and wasn't disappointed.

I call it "pudding" because it has a taste very similar to bread pudding. I may even add some vanilla to it next time. Serve it as a breakfast, snack or even dessert. It packs a punch full of protein, fiber and nutrients. If your family is anything like mine, they will gobble it up quickly with "ooh's" and "ahh's" and promptly ask for seconds - if there are any seconds to be had.

The thing that is so great about this is you can make the quinoa millet hot cereal for breakfast one day and you'll more than likely have enough left over (plain, no spice) for making this another day.

Projected prep time (already having the cereal cooked): 5 minutes; Projected bake time: 35-40 minutes
(Printable recipe)

3 cups cooked quinoa and millet cereal (see this recipe)
2 eggs
1/4 cup vegetable oil (will try 1/3 cup applesauce next time) (Edit: I don't like the applesauce version as much, but love it with organic extra virgin coconut oil)
3/4 cup milk
1/2 cup packed pure dark brown sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. kosher salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine all ingredients until well-mixed and pour into 8x8 baking dish. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until done. Refrigerate leftovers.

Enjoy!

It's another windy day today and my throat is feeling a little scratchy from all the dust. I don't think I'll be venturing out again today, so I'll share a photo of beauty from a sunset the other night. It only was beautiful for about 10 minutes, but I enjoyed it while it lasted.

Find something beautiful in your day today.

Why I'm sharing this: http://mamameglutenfree.blogspot.com/2012/02/beauty-in-eye-of-beholder.html

365 Project - February!

I did it! I have successfully found beauty in each day so far since I began this trek to try and help my health with finding beauty and something to be thankful for each day.

Above is a screen shot of my 365 Project for February. You can view it larger here: http://365project.org/mamamegf/365/2012-02

I realize that some of the photos I shared each day were taken the night before, or maybe even a day or two before in a few cases. But even in those instances, I found beauty all over again in that photo that day. And I have been faithfully searching for beauty and something to be thankful for each day, no matter how nasty the weather. Sometimes it's just a little something around the house or a look on a daughter's face. I may not have captured it that moment in a photo to share, but I captured it in my heart.

So today's photo of beauty is a compilation of many of the photos I've taken of the beauty I've found recently. As I've stated before, the 365 Project only shows one photo each day and some days I've shared more than one on the blog. While I didn't index them on the recipe/subject index, they have been archived under the monthly posts on the sidebar. If you wish to see all of them, you can find them through those archives.

I hope you're finding beauty in your days.

Why I'm sharing this: http://mamameglutenfree.blogspot.com/2012/02/beauty-in-eye-of-beholder.html

Wicked Good Mac and Cheese

Happy Leap Day! Do I have any Mitford fans among my readers? (I know at least one is in my sweet friend Ginny.) I could get lost in Mitford any time, day or night. And have ... many times over. I'm a huge Jan Karon fan and have read every single "Father Tim" book available and some of her children's books, too.

So it comes as no surprise that I also have her Mitford Cookbook & Kitchen Reader and flip through the pages often - if for no other reason than to relish a bite of Mitford in my mind for a quick pick-me-up to my mood.

If you are familiar with Mitford, then you also know what a very good cook Puny is. This macaroni and cheese is adapted from Puny's recipe found in the above-mentioned cookbook. I've altered it to fit the needs and tastes of my family. I named it "wicked good" because it's quite wicked with its richness and unbelievably good in its taste. It's not healthy by an stretch of the imagination, but I like to think it's better for you than the old baked mac and cheese version I used to make with Velveeta and other cheeses. Maybe.

The girls had been asking for macaroni and cheese for a while recently - it had been quite a spell since I'd last made any form of it - so I decided to make it for our Valentine's Day entree. Obviously I didn't take the time to make great photos out of this dish - but I wanted you to see the new casserole dish my sister gave me for Christmas. Isn't it sweet?

Projected time, start to finish, a little over an hour
(Printable Recipe)

1/3 cup unsalted butter, plus a little extra
1/3 cup brown rice flour
3 cups milk
1/2 cup sour cream
4 ounces cream cheese, cut into pieces
2 tsp. kosher salt
Pinch ground nutmeg
1 1/2 tsp. dry mustard
Pinch cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp. black pepper
4 cups shredded Colby jack cheese
1 pound gluten-free elbow macaroni or shells, cooked al dente according to package (I used Tinkyada, and always use the energy-saving method. It works best)
2 slices fresh bread (I used Udi's multi-grain), broken into small pieces

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 3-quart baking dish and set aside.

Cook pasta according to package, drain and set aside when finished (you might want to lightly toss in a little olive oil). You'll want to keep the pasta a little al dente, so check it several minutes earlier than the package says to cook it for.

While pasta is cooking, combine 1/3 cup of butter and brown rice flour in a large saucepan over medium heat.  Whisk until smooth, then slowly add milk. Continue to stir with whisk until mixture is smooth and thickened.

Add sour cream and cream cheese, whisking in until combined and smooth again.

Add salt, nutmeg, mustard, cayenne and black pepper. Whisk lightly until mixed well. Stir in shredded cheese.  Season more to taste if necessary.

Add macaroni to cheese mixture and gently mix together. Pour into baking dish.

In a small bowl, melt a tablespoon or two of butter and toss with bread pieces. Sprinkle over top of macaroni.

Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until bubbling nicely.

Enjoy!

On another note, today's photo of beauty is actually from last night. Yesterday's post mentioned how terrible the dust and wind were yesterday. That is true, but sometimes dusty days bring beautiful evenings with the sun. It covers the sun just enough to give the sky an incredible hue.

Go find beauty today!

Why I'm sharing this: http://mamameglutenfree.blogspot.com/2012/02/beauty-in-eye-of-beholder.html

Finch Faces

It was a horribly nasty, windy day outside today. I had no desire to walk around in the dust and wind but the finches delivered their beauty to my window.

Cherry (or Reddy or Tomato) and Brownie visited the window feeder for a while and then decided to hang around on the branches nearby. They gave me several good photos, but I think this one might be my favorite.

I hope you found beauty in your day today.

Why I'm sharing this: http://mamameglutenfree.blogspot.com/2012/02/beauty-in-eye-of-beholder.html