Cheesy Potato Alfredo (Gluten Free Scalloped Potatoes)

I wanted scalloped potatoes for dinner.   I didn't feel like taking the time to experiment with making the usual white sauce with gluten free flour.   So, I grabbed a jar of Alfredo sauce from the pantry (I don't know if all Alfredo sauce is gluten free, so check your labels.) and poured it over the sliced potatoes.  Sprinkled that with a generous layer of shredded jack and cheddar cheese and threw it in the oven (covered until the last 10 minutes) at 400* for about an hour.   So easy, but that was the best scalloped potatoes!  Would have been  good with some ham or sausage too,  or shrimp would be really good!  

  It might be a bit more difficult to eat gluten free, but for an experiment-in-the-kitchen nut like me, it can be kinda fun too!

Going Gluten Free

  About a month and a half ago, I finally took the plunge and eliminated gluten from my diet.   It has been amazing the difference it has made in how I feel!  My fibromyalgia has especially improved, and I have had almost no headaches, which, is a really big deal for someone who suffered from almost daily headaches for years!
   As I have started on this journey, I have enjoyed experimenting with favorite recipes, discovering new ways of making old things.    Friends have asked about my recipes, so I thought I'd start sharing my successes here for all my gluten free friends to try too.
   This first installment is a fabulous bar cookie recipe originally from www.crazyforcrust.com.   If you like peanut butter and chocolate, you will love this recipe!

Peanut Butter Chocolate Cookie Bars 

Ingredients:

   1 cup peanut butter

   1 cup sugar

   2 eggs

   1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk

   2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, melted and cooled

   1 teaspoon vanilla extract

   1/2 cup chopped nuts

Directions:

   1.  Preheat oven to 350*.  Line a 9x9 inch baking pan with foil and spray with cooking spray.  Set aside.

   2.  Mix the peanut butter, sugar, and 1 egg in a large bowl by hand.  Spread into the bottom of the prepared pan.  Bake for 12 minutes.  While crust is baking, make the filling.

   3.  In medium bowl, stir together the melted and cooled chocolate with the sweetened condensed milk.  Add remaining egg and vanilla.  Stir until combined.  When crust come out of the oven, spread chocolate mixture over hot crust.  Sprinkle nuts evenly on top.  Return to oven and bake an additional 20 - 25 minutes until the top bounces back when you touch it.   Cool completely and cut into bars.  Enjoy!!!

Saying Goodbye

I am not home yet.   "Everything is okay in the end.  If it isn't okay, it isn't the end."  Unknown

The Flower

A tiny seed,

A drop of rain,

Then clouds away,

Sun shines again.

A spot of green,

More rain and sun,

Brand new flower,

Has just begun.

Stretching tall,

Up to the sky,

Flower's growing,

Reaching high.

A bit of color,

On top of green,

Lovely flower,

Can be seen.

Lots of sun,

But not much rain,

Flower dies,

But feels no pain.

Small brown seed,

Cold dark earth,

Snow is falling,

Seed waits birth.

Spring has come,

More sun and rain.

A tiny seed,

Begin again.

New Year's Thoughts

  Once again, I am thinking of changes.  (Seems to be a popular topic in my thoughts lately!)  With the dawning of a new year, though, I am thinking more of changes that need to happen, rather than changes that are happening, or have happened.  Changes that I wish to see in my own life and heart.   Looking back at the old year, I see much in my heart and life that was not as it should have been.    Of the 365 days of 2011, many (okay, most) were not used as productively and efficiently as they could/should have been.  Far too often the thoughts of my heart were focused on the troubles around me, whether real or perceived, rather than on my precious Lord and Savior.   Too often I found my focus inward rather than outward and upward.   Too many hours were spent on idle, worthless time wasters when they could have been spent doing something productive and useful.
  This year, I am determined, will, with the Lord's grace, be different.  Fewer idle moments, fewer selfish thoughts and attitudes, less time spent worrying about what I cannot change anyway.   More time spent with my Savior, more time spent for others, more words of encouragement.   As I think about it, it all seems so overwhelming, and I am reminded that "sufficient for the day is its own trouble", and I must not "be anxious for tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself."

Giving Thanks

"Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you."

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

  Have  you ever stopped to think about thanks?  I mean, really think about it?  God's been working in my heart about being thankful, truly thankful.  How many times a day do I say, "Thank you," and yet not really mean anything more by it than acknowledging that someone has done something for me, most often something that it was their job to do. ( The cashier at the store hands me my change, I smile, say, " thank you," and go on my merry way. )  But how thankful am I, really, on the inside, where it counts?  How often do I say, "thank you," and really mean, "you did your job satisfactorily, common courtesy  obligates me to acknowledge your efforts"?  

  Even when it comes to my prayers of thanksgiving, am I really thankful?  How often are my thanks to God just words, because the Bible says I'm supposed to be thankful?  Is my heart thankful, or am I saying "thank you" to mask a heart of discontent?  So often I say prayers and words of thanks, while in my heart I'm complaining about all the things I don't have, or the things they didn't do.  

  More and more I am realizing that discontent is more than just being discontent, it's a lack of being thankful.  When I am truly thankful for all that I do have, I will cease to be discontent because of what I don't have.  When I find myself complaining and discontent, if I stop and think about something I am thankful for, my discontent will vanish, my complaining will cease, the true rejoicing will start, and the prayers of thanksgiving, real thanksgiving, will soar heavenward.  And it won't stop with me, my thankful spirit will begin to rub off on those around me as His joy ripples ever outward to the world around me.

   Oh, Lord, make me truly grateful!

Auntumn

  It seems I've been thinking and writing a lot about change lately.  I guess that's because life is all about change.  Without change, there would be no life.  Without change, the caterpillar would never become the butterfly, Winter would never become Spring, the greens of Summer would never become the rich golds and crimsons and browns of Fall.

  Sometimes we want change, even long for it, other times we fear it.  We fear change because change means things will be different, no longer known.  We long for change because we dislike what is and wish for something we think will be better.
  Today, I am thinking of the changes that have been occurring in my heart.  Specifically, the change of being willing to accept the lack of change in my life.  There are many things I would wish to be different, but they remain the same.  Foremost in my mind is the often painful fact that I am still single.  I am learning to accept this fact, while still trusting that my Father will one day change it.  Sometimes accepting the lack of change can be harder than accepting the changes.  
  The changes in my heart take place as I learn to look to Him for all that I need.  He alone is able to give the love that I long for.  He alone will love me without fail.  He alone will be faithful completely and never disappoint me and leave me wondering what happened to love.  He alone will truly never leave me.
  Sometimes I wonder why it is that I feel like I need more than what He is giving me.  Isn't He supposed to be all that I need?  I don't know the answer to this question.  I can only trust Him, trusting that if I needed the answer, He would give it to me, clinging ever closer to Him.