Another week comes and goes...

Well, I just continued to be amazed by the way time goes! Things are are going well still. Several exciting things are going on in my life right now. I am very happy that it is not so cold out here in the PNW. Any day that is above 30 F is a great day for me. I dont do well in the cold at all.

So the project of late has been to make a bread that stays relatively moist, is not high in calories, and makes a good sandwich. Ive tried a couple of ones from Bette Hagman- her Swedish ''Rye'' bread is yeast-free as well as gluten-free and turned out the best G/F bread I have baked. It held up in a sandwich and stayed pretty moist. I also just tried making Oregon bread, and I screwed up the recipe, so it ended up pretty flat, and dried out really quickly. That one was great when it was straight out of the oven, and microwaved well the next day but it became breadcubes for stuffing.

Now I have a sourdough starter fermenting on my kitchen table, and I am thinking of making one of Carol Fenster's recipes for a sourdough French bread. I dont have a French bread pan, but I do have regular ones. I think I might be able to fashion a French bread pan from some aluminum foil and then line it with parchment. I really am looking forward to trying this one, so we shall see what happens. As usual, I will keep you all updated.

I got the time off for coming to Sweden in April, so Im excited!!

pepparkakorna

Uppdatering på hur det gick med pepparkakorna... De blev perfekta! Jag knådade den nerkylade pepparkaksdegen med rismjöl, och sedan kavlade ut den och skar ut hjärtformade kakor. Jag bakade dem i 375 F i ungefär 10 minuter och sedan lät de svalna. De blev spröda och kryddiga! Jag gjorde en sats till, och justerade kryddorna för att få ett lite starkare smak av ingefära.

Vintertid och bakning i stugan

Hejsan! Det kändes som det var dags för ett nytt inlägg- ja dags för att ta på mig mina nytvättade jeans som jag brukar säga!

Jag har velat skriva lite mer men jag har helt enkelt inte haft lust! Jag får vara ärlig- jag har tänkt på det tusen gånger men ibland känner jag mig inte för att sitta ner och skriva. Men jag bryr mig om er och har jättekul när jag får läsa om vad ni gör.

Mamma och jag satte vid datorn ikväll och kollade på flygbiljetter till Sverige. De är fortfarande rätt billiga- under 600 dollar r/t inkl. skatt- så det betyder att det fortfarande finns en chans att jag har råd att åka. Jag skulle nog må bra av att besöka Sverige igen! Det skulle göra mig ju jätteglad! Om jag får åka kommer jag att flylla en väska med muesli, pepparkakor, svenska romaner och andra saker som är svåra att hitta.

Tjänsten har också gått kanon bra. Det är lite svårt i december- det är färre som går i tjänsten, och de flesta går inte heldagar, så jag förutser inte att jag får alla mina timmar denna månad... och jag blir också trött av vädret. Jag är ibland mitt eget hinder- jag blir ganska lätt trött på vintern! Men jag ger inte upp--- jag ska kämpa vidare, precis som ni också gör!

Bakningen har varit en utmaning. Oframgångsrikt har jag provat göra glutenfria pepparkakor- de blir för mjuka och smakar sand. Idag kollade jag svenska celiakiförbundets webbsida och hittade ett recept som verkar lovande. Jag kommer att göra glutenfria bagels imorgon och jag hoppas verkligen de blir ätbara!

Hembakat bröd har också varit svårt att göra. Jag använder en brödmix som är ganska gott men jag tycker att den har för mycket kalorier. På sistone har jag börjat prova olika recept, men varje gång har bröden blivit torra och hårda efter de tas ur ugnen. Jag tror att jag är nära att hitta något gott- de flesta har sagt att det tar tid att lära sig baka glutenfritt.

Jag ska fortsätta baka med glädje!

Jag önskar er mycket glädje, och jag hoppas vi får ses snart!

Its been a while!

Here I am, Im alive and well and have not completely dropped off of the planet. Ive been doing a lot this month and it feels great. Living out here in the sticks is not so bad at all, and we are all having a nice time today. Everyone is off of work today and so the family is at home, and we all have our laptops and computers up and are having a little internet cafe action.

Ive been coaching a group of about 9 kids in singing some songs for some of the older and sick people in the congregation. They are getting pretty darn good at it and we are happy to have been asked to encourage them in this way. We were only girls until one of the girl's brothers decided he would join also. His voice adds a really nice dimension to our already nice, but kind of high-pitched voices.

Work has been great also. Its been busy but not insane and I am happy thats the case. I do secular work only 3 days per week anyway so it can only get that bad in a week! :). It doesnt own my life anymore and I feel like Ive unplugged myself.

Well, other than that, not too much has happened. The cabin is warm and cozy right now, and I am glad for that.

Leavenworth!

Aaaahhh yes, the weekend Ive been waiting for for a very long time is finally here. Every October, our family spends a 3 day weekend up in Leavenworth. Im really excited that we all get to be together, having fun and not worrying about anything. I know that I will be relaxing, drinking coffee and wine and having delicious breakfasts out. Glorious!

Ill make sure to post some pictures when I get back!

See ya!

Äntligen!

Hej alla!

Jag tar på mig mitt par tajta jeansbyxor (som heter svenska språket!) och skriver lite om vad jag har gjort de senaste månaderna. Det har varit mycket!

Jag jobbar sedan våren som massageterapeut hos några sjukgymnaster i en klinik i staden Tacoma. Jag trivs verkligen där!! Vi är åtta sjukgymnaster och två massageterapeuter, och vi har jättekul på jobbet tillsammans. Våra patienter säger att de känner sig en del av våran familj. Det är jättekul!

Nyligen har jag flyttat ifrån staden Tacoma till det lilla samhället Vaughn igen. Jag hyr ett litet hus som är riktigt sött och mysigt. Jag jobbar fortfarande i Tacoma, men bara 3 dagar i veckan. Det är perfekt eftersom hyran är billig!

Annars har jag börjat njuta av hösten. Jag äter squash, bakar, gör grytor och ska göra årets första sats vinglögg på söndag. Vinglögg går jättebra att göra hemma- och det är ett måste när man bor i ett land där folk inte ens vet vad glögg är för något! Nu gäller det också att hitta riktiga pepparkakor. Här i USA går det att köpa Nyåkers och Annas, men jag försöker få tag i Semper glutenfria pepparkakor.

Ja, glutenfritt har jag ätit i nästan en månad nu och jag känner mig HUR MYCKET SOM HELST bättre! Smärtor i magen ökade ständigt under våren som sommaren och jag kunde inte gå upp i vikt (alltså blev jag för smal). Blodprovet för celiaki var negativ, men läkaren sa att jag kunde prova kosten eftersom man kan få falska negativresultat. Skillnaden är verkligen som natt och dag! Jag har till och med gått up 2 kilo, och kunnat bilda muskler! Men jag vet att om jag ska få en riktig diagnos måste jag äta gluten igen och sen ta prov, osv. Fy! jag vill verkligen inte göra det. Jag tror jag väntar ett tag iallafall.

Nästa helg blir det en kort semester i Leavenworth. Det är en by uppe i bergen som ser ut som en liten tysk stad. Vi ska på Oktoberfest däruppe och ha kul!

Det planeras en Sverigeresa i Febuari för att kolla Svenska Rallyt. Hoppas verkligen att det blir av. Jag saknar er alla oerhört mycket!

Stor kram från ''over here''!

Something in Swedish for you Swedes :)

Ja ja ja någonting för svenskarna skriver jag här... Förlåt om grammatiken är konstig- det har varit länge sedan jag skrev ett längre inlägg på svenska. Språket känns som ett par nytvättade jeans- lite för tajta och hindrande på nåt sätt tills man har haft dem på sig i några timmar!

Skogslivet är trevligt, särskilt nu på hösten. Jag har börjat laga bra mat igen och lagade pizza och kakor åt några vänner! Jättekul!

Å fy... nu måste jag lämna datorn igen för att göra nåt... jag lovar att jag skriver mer senare!

Kram på er alla därborta i Sverige. Jag saknar er!

3 day work weeks rock!

Just started a new work schedule this week- a 3 day work week. I work three 8-hour days now and have the rest of the time for more awesome pursuits. Massage is just such a cool job- I think about how much I like it every day. It can be quite challenging, though. And repetitive strain injuries creep up on you if you are not careful, bit its OK. You learn!

Otherwise, things are going really well. Im on my 3rd week of gluten-free, and I still feel so much better than I did before I started. I keep wondering if my original celiac blood test was a false negative- with such an improvement, maybe gluten intolerance was part of the problem. I have got to get back to my doctor one of these days and tell her... but I dont want to have to start eating gluten again just to get an official diagnosis of something. Gluten free is not the easiest thing to do, and you have to explain a lot. I am really self conscious about it. Im learning to cook a little differently and its going really well. No failures yet!

Life on the KP is also GREAT! Fall colors are starting to come out, and its really awesome to be so close to family and friends! LOVE IT!

Just a little news...

Well, life has been treating me pretty fairly lately! Im really enjoying life in the countryside. It is so easy to sleep here, and I love the beautiful foliage that we are getting out here right now. I love to go for walks or runs and take it all in, its so beautiful!

The job is also going amazingly well- I learn new things from each person I work on. Massage is such a cool field to be in because you are learning and getting better with each patient you treat. Getting one's license to practice is just the beginning of learning, not the end. Amazing!

Well, Im sitting here eating my gluten free coffee cake. Yes, *gluten free*. In short, my doctor suspected me of being intolerant a while ago and had a test done which came back negative. In my desperation to not have gut pain so often, I tried the diet (which she recommended like two months ago!) and it actually has helped A LOT! I read that sometimes a blood test will give back a false positive, so that must have happened. I feel much more energetic and happy. Honestly, its been two weeks, and not eating gluten has not made me feel deprived at all!

It just takes being creative!

Heres a link about gluten intolerance

http://www.womentowomen.com/digestionandgihealth/glutenintolerance.aspx#sensitivity

A new life! A new recipe!

Well, after a few weeks of crazy packing and preparing, I have finally made it out to my new cabin on the Key Peninsula. I have really started to enjoy living out here, in close proximity to all the people I love and grew up with. Being close to family and friends is really so important for me, and I am very thankful I got the opportunity to move out here.

Here is the main room- this side of things is the living room part, and then there is the fireplace/bed area which is on the other side.

Magic happens, though, in the KITCHEN!!! My kitchen here in the cabin has what most kitchens have, a stove, oven, fridge, sink, cabinets, etc. There is more counter space here than there was in the apartment, about equal storage space, but I really do miss the gas oven/stove!

Heres the recipe with which I broke in my new kitchen. Its my own recipe, and since I have a couple dietary restrictions, feel free to substitute the wierd stuff out for normal stuff!

The recipe for the filling is as follows: get this together

1 bunch of spinach or 1 bag of spinach

15 mushrooms

1 yellow onion

a couple cloves of garlic

cooking sherry

5 eggs

almond milk (or regular)

earth balance buttery spread

SAUTE the onions together with the garlic and buttery spread. Use as much fat as you like in it- but using the spray stuff will rob you of good flavor. I did about a tablespoon of buttery spread.

When the onions get translucent, add the mushrooms and about 1/2 cup of cooking sherry. Turn on medium-low and simmer.

While that simmers, wash your spinach and make your crust. You will need to make a pie crust of whole grains. Mine was made from half buckwheat flour, and half Cravings Place pancake and waffle mix (based on rice flour).

Put the pie crust in a pie plate or casserole dish, depending on how much you want to do.

OK, so now you have your pie crust; and your mushrooms, onions, sherry, and garlic are happily bubbling away. Time to make the quiche-ey part of it.

Blend:

2 cups of almond milk, 5 eggs, a clove of chopped garlic, some salt and pepper and a little handful of spinach to turn the mix green. Blend until smooth.

Put the mushroom and onion stuff in the pie crust plate, and pour the egg mixture over it. It will be GREEN!

BAKE@ 350 for about 1/2 hour, or until the thing is slightly browned and the middle is set. Cool for a couple of minutes, and DIG IN!!! It looks like this:

anniversary party, drumming and bean flour pancakes!

Well, my friends, it's been a whirlwind week.

I have been moving all week, which is very exciting and at the same time pretty stressfull. And today we siblings threw our parents a 25th Anniversary party which turned out awesome. It was nice because people respected me and did not try to micromanage me! I hate it when people tell me how to do stuff that I already know how to do!

Tomorrow I am moving into my cabin. Finally... yes, at long last Ill be there! I really cant wait.

And... I thought Id be able to finish this blog before I got too tired but... I think thats going to be hard.

I ate SOOO much today. I had some lovely corn chips with guacamole, some really great gluten-free brownies made by our buddy Cher, all kinds of random servings of food all day and night. There was also a chocolate cake with strawberry mousse filling. Ive got to learn how to make those gluten free brownies. As far as I know Im not gluten intolerant, but the texture of them is just SO good. Gluten free flour is slightly more ''gritty'' than regular flour, and so it gives what you cook with more of a texture. If eating gluten free wasnt so dang expensive, Id probably buy cookie mixes and stuff all the time because I love the way it tastes!

Speaking of gluten-free, I had some bean flour that I made breakfast pancakes with the other day and they turned out great! But I forgot to wash the pan well the night before (after I made spicy stir fry) so they had a certain unexpected heat!

I also played the drum set today... and totall rocked the garage off its foundation. AMAZING!

OK I guess I stuck it out a little longer than I thought!

kitchen skills!

Tostadas are so good... I ended up having to go to my parents again tonight to pick up something I had left there, and since I must always be cooking, I made tostadas!

For those who are unfamiliar with Tostadas, they are a Mexican treat made with corn tortillas, beans, chicken or vegetarian protein, onions and green bell peppers.

Here are tostadas according to Haley

You need these things

about 15 small corn tortillas- I use just soft ones... you can probably use the hard ones, although they are not really the same.

2 cans nonfat refried beans

4 large chicken breasts- boiled and shredded/ vegetarian chicken type stuff, shredded

1 green bell pepper, cut into short, thin strips

1/2 onion, cut into short, thin strips

1 pack taco seasoning

some water

FRY the onions and bell peppers so that they get a little floppy

ADD the chicken to this, and toss in the taco seasoning and add a little water to give it some moisture.

SIMMER this mixture until you are ready to use it

SPRAY some Pam or put some oil into a large skillet.

COOK the corn tortillas until they are pliable

SPOON some beans onto each tortilla, then add some of the chicken mixture

TOP with some cheese if you do eat dairy

BAKE in a warm oven for about 5 minutes, just to heat everything up

SERVE with a nice green salad and a BEER!

EAT with TONS of salsa on them, and sour cream if you want.

The new place!

Well today, I finalized the deal on my new place. I am so stoked and excited about it. It is a studio type cabin, with light wood laminate flooring, nice sized kitchen, bathroom and living room area. There is a den for the bed or for use as a small dining area depending on what you want. There is even a small fire place with a glass window so you can see the cozy fire place on a cold winter night! OMG there is just so much about it! Its going to be SO perfect for me.

I will post pictures of it in early September!

recipe time again!

OK! Just made something I didnt think would fly- oatmeal in a crock pot! This is super nice to wake up to now that its starting to get a little chillier in the morning.

The difference between this oatmeal recipe and ones you may have done before is that you use STEEL CUT OATS (not rolled!!!!!) and use the crock pot as a double boiler!

This recipe serves two- its all my tiny crockpot would hold!

1/2 Cup STEEL CUT OATS

1 1/2 Cup water

dash of cinnamon

dash of vanilla extract

MIX these two together and evenly devide between two medium sized coffee mugs with handles.

THEN fill your crock pot about 1/3 up with water.

PUT cups in the crock pot- the water level should be OK for the cups to sit in it like sort of a bath- and for the water to not run into the oatmeal mixture.

COOK on LOW for 8 hours. Mine was on from 9.30pm to 7 am... so thats like 10 hours almost.

GO to sleep.

WAKE up and eat your nice, chewy, hearty, healthy, steamed oatmeal!

Now Im gonna go for a run... gotta keep training for that 10K coming up!

tankar för dagen

Ja, här är lite poesi... det heter Jeopardy Categories....

Some poetry... this style is called Jeopardy Categories

arms, legs, necks

the spine

wonderful creation

hurt

healthy

sighs

snoring

jerking back to life!

... nämen det här är svårt! jag kan ju inte skriva poesi när jag är så här trött...

... men det är hur det går när jag ska beskriva exakt hur jag känner vid ett visst tillfälle

Just nu är jag

trött

öm i armarna

sömnlös

glad att få flytta till ett ställe ute på landet

lite nervös för kommande arbetsdagen

glad för att jag är frisk och har vänner

det kommer bli kul när jag får flytta in i mitt lilla hus på landet! Äntligen ett ställe där jag får grilla, spela min fiol och prata högt med vänner långt in i natten!

Börjar sakna Karlstad och Stockholm igen också!

Im moving!!!

I am so excited! Ive been entertaining the thought of moving out of town for a while, and finally the opportunity has presented itself! Im going to rent a cabin out in the woods, reduce my working days to 3 days per week, and persue more satisfying things in the free time. Ill still be working where I work now so things will be fine in that department!

This cabin is quite small- but its the fact that I no longer will live in a box in town that has me so happy. I will have my own space, a yard, a place to BBQ, the possibility of late, loud nights of chilling out with friends without angry neighbors... breathing room for lack of a better descriptor! The more I think about it, the more right it feels. And Ill be close to the family and most of my friends!

It may take some adjusting, but Im willing to give it a shot. Im making a promise to myself that I will live there a full year before deciding to move again. I think thats healthy and reasonable. I was here in T town for only 6 months, so it feels kinda lame to pull up my roots and start over, but it wont really be starting over as much it will be returning to the familiar.

Fun times ahead, Im sure!

kontakter

Dagen har burit med sig många trevliga överraskningar. Jag har haft kontakt med en släkting och två vänner från Sverige idag. Ann-Marie ringde idag helt slumpmässigt, precis som jag gick in i mina föräldrars hus. Jag kännde igen numret som visades och svarade genast! Släkten mår bra och alla gör sin sak bra. Min kusin har flyttat till Ängsbacka i Molkom för att kunna lugna ner sig lite- hon har drivit eget företag ett par år och jag förstår att hon blir utmattad en hel del. Hmm.. sen hörde jag ifrån två vänner i Karlstad och det var också kul för det kändes att man tappade kontakted med dem efter ett tag.

Ja, vad kul när man har ett nätverk av vänner på avlägsna ställen!

vad betyder det att vara hemma egentligen!?

Ordet ''hemma'' är ett interessant begrepp. Vad betyder det att vara hemma? Jo... för mig och kanske många andra betyder det inte bara att vara i sitt eget hem utan mycket mer. Först och främst bor man i sin kropp. Vi kan inte göra någonting utan en kropp, och samtidigt tror jag inte att vi ÄR våra kroppar fast vi bor i dem. Men allt som vi är och gör är bunden till en fysisk hjärna, och det kanske innebär att vi ÄR på något sätt våra kroppar! Vem vet!

Hemma betyder kanske också den platsen på jorden vi befinner oss på! Jag är hemma i Tacoma, snart ska jag vara hemma i Vaughn, jag har varit hemma i Karlstad och Stockholm med!

Men hemma är också där en känner sig hel och fri att vara sig själv- här i Tacoma känner jag mig hemma... det är rätt skönt här. Och när jag flyttar till Vaughn nästa månad kommer jag också vara hemma för där växte jag upp!

Vad tycker ni?

what a CROCK! a little bit about crock-potting

I love my crock pot. I have NEVER had anything I put in there not turn out extremely good. Last night I threw chicken broth, brown rice, asparagus, kale and green beans in there quite haphazardly and the result was the most interesting and beautiful risotto-like creamy soup imaginable. I wish I had a picture of it. It was seasoned with the chicken broth and I also added a packet of chicken-rosemary soup mix to it.

1/4 cup rice

2 or so cups of water/broth

1 cup fresh chopped kale

10 asparagus spears

1 cup frozen green beans

vegetarian bacon (didnt really add so much flavor, but still OK. Id maybe use a ham hock if you are a meat-eater)

Cook on low for like 8 hours. Make after you eat dinner and turn on around 10.30 pm. When you wake up the next morning, you have lunch and dinner covered!

The rice absorbs the water and gets really thick and creamy, and the veggies stew together and become really delicious. Id bet if you added butter to this it would be super good, and even better for you than this version.

I just threw the following in my crock pot in the hopes of a hot breakfast:

1/3 cup brown rice

lots of cinnamon

2 cups vanilla unsweetened almondmilk

1/3 cup sugar

a generous squirt of vanilla extract

It will cook on low for about 8 hours and hopefully be ready for me to eat for breakfast. I am not in the mood for cereal tomorrow... it will be drizzly and its rare that I get to eat a hot breakfast. ITs good for the soul.

Sunday plans

I have plans for Sunday, and they do NOT involve baking anything of any kind! Im out on the KP again today at the parents house and I dont want to have a hectic day tomorrow after I get home. I am going to Fred Meyer to stock up on a couple basics... almondmilk, cooking spray, butter, veggies for stirfrying or roasting, some falafel mix, etc. I dont want anything complicated! Simplicity is beautiful.

I have a few projects to start. The first is to make a seahorse of wool for my mom. She likes the little felted animals I make now and then and I think a seahorse would compliment the octopus and mermaid of clay pretty well.

The second is to do my bible studying. Im reading a book about the Acts of Apostles. Its very inspiring to see how these ''spiritual giants'' in the Bible had really similar concerns to what we have today.

Id also like to do some financial planning tomorrow, to see if I can simplify life and get by on less. I have a nack for wasting time when Im at home, so I will need to practice structuring my time a little better in order to get things done!

So thats that.... now Ill get back to my weekend!