It’s sweet Saturdays: 06/29/19. Good Saturday morning ya’ll!! I hope everyone’s weekend is off to a great start 🙂
On this particular sweet Saturday, we’re getting ready to have a birthday dinner for Bre. I still cannot believe my first born is 23 years old. Man, do I feel old!!
Even though it’s been about six months since she graduated college, I love this pic of her. It was one of the proudest moments of my life, and now my beautiful, smart, and talented daughter is getting ready to start her career and I couldn’t be happier for her!
In the fall, she will have her own classroom as a kindergarten teacher and I am just so thrilled for her! The kids are gonna love her (as all kids do–we call her the kid and animal whisperer) and it’s so cool seeing all the stuff she’s collecting for her classroom.
Bre will be working at a Title 1 school, which is a school where most, if not all, of the kids come from very low-income families and can’t afford to send their kids to school with the proper supplies needed. She signed up for a project funding program called Donors Choose, which raises money for the classroom supplies needed. Within 7 days, she had raised all the money needed to fund her project for school supplies!!! I am so happy for her and for her students. Those students have no idea what a great teacher they’ll have this coming school year👩🏫!!!
MY WEEK IN REVIEW
As per the usual these days, I hear from Brandon every Sunday now as he’s in the RCU “ship.” The navy has an acronym for darn near everything, haha! RCU stands for Recruit Convalescent Unit. He finally was able to see the doctor and get his MRI. They found a stress fracture in either his tibia or fibula (he couldn’t remember which). All this means is 6-8 more weeks of boot camp, going through rehab until he finally gets cleared to take the final PFA (physical fitness assessment) and graduate. His spirits are still up at least, but when he gets out he’s definitely gonna hit up Chick-Fil-A and a great pizza place, haha!!
My mom, Bre, and I went to see Toy Story 4 yesterday and it was by far my favorite of all the Toy Story movies! Scott says it’s funny that three grown women are going to a cartoon movie, but we are die hard Disney fans and we don’t care what anyone thinks. We laughed our way through the entire movie and I can’t wait until Brandon gets to see it (he always loved Toy Story, especially Buzz Lightyear).
WHAT I POSTED THIS WEEK
Gluten Free Lemon Drop Cupcakes — talk about a lemon explosion!! These cupcakes are for the lemon lovers.
Gluten Free Red White & Blueberry Cupcakes — these may just be my favorite cupcakes to date! The blueberry compote filling with the strawberry swirled buttercream makes for one berry terrific cupcake 😉
WHAT I’M LOVING THIS WEEK
I’m buying a watermelon today and making these watermelon fries with coconut lime dip. This sounds so good!! I love reinventions of foods we all know and love.
Simple sesame noodles by the one and only Ree Drummond are definitely on my radar, but of course will be made with gluten free spaghetti. One of my favorite flavors is sesame oil!
It’s been a hot minute since I’ve been to a Japanese restaurant, so this Japanese restaurant style ginger dressing is something I didn’t know I was craving and would love to make myself.
MOST POPULAR POSTS THIS WEEK
- Ultimate Gluten Free Cinnamon Rolls
- Gluten Free Hawaiian Rolls
- Gluten Free Flour Blends
- Incredible Gluten Free Yeast Donuts
- Gluten Free Artisan Bread
I hope everyone has a terrific weekend and stays cool if you’re in the heat wave like we are😎🌞🔥
Hi Kim! I was just in Virginia Beach last week for a couple of days. My daughter is a government employee at Dam Neck. She was on vacation so my husband went up and took care of our grand dog. His birthday was Wednesday so I drove up from coastal NC to surprise him. I had spent the end of last summer as my daughter had a test in AZ and she came back but had to return to AZ for another test till the middle of November and my husband went back home to deal with hurricane damage. All of this is to say I came to learn my way around Virginia Beach a bit. You were talking about Japanese food and I love it too. I spent many years in Hawaii and Okinawa as my husband is a retired Marine and so was my Dad. Now I go to the Vietnamese restaurant here and found one down the road from me. Have you tried them? I like the Pho and since it is made with rice noodles and I can have Spring rolls I’m a happy camper! I’ve only been diagnosed with Celiac disease for two years but in many respects I’m still feeling my way around eating again, especially baking. I will be making many of the things I’ve seen here especially your breads!!!! Yum the don’t look like the horrible bread, for the most part, that I’ve found in the stores. There is a gluten free baker here but she only does certain days at different places to sell her bake goods, I will track her down though! I did back a banging angel food cake before Easter. It gave me some confidence to bake again.. Anyway I’ll let you go as this had gone on long enough! You have a faithful follower for sure. Oh, and glad to hear you son is doing better and will finish his basic soon. I know you will be happy to see him. Take care.
Hi, Cyndi! It’s such a small world! I pretty much grew up here in VB after living in Spain and other places when I was really little (my dad was Navy). He finished out his Navy career at Dam Neck, and I live about 5 minutes from Dam Neck!! Haha! What does your daughter do for the government?
I’m going to have to try some of the Pho and other places and see if they cater to Celiacs because a lot of them have the risk of cross contamination, at least the sushi restaurant I used to go to did. They weren’t very knowledgeable about gluten, but as time goes on I think people are becoming more aware, which is good for us.
Thank you for your kind words about my son. I’m looking forward to whenever I get to see him again. He’ll be sent to Charleston, SC (where we used to live when I was very little) for Nuke school and at least he’ll be close enough that I can drive down there to see him every now and then.
Take care, Cyndi!
Hi Kim, It’s funny but last year when I was there I stayed at Katie’s friends house which backed General Booth and just off Oceania. That was great cause all I had to do was cross over Oceania and I was at the commissary! Katie wears several hats but they all are involved with testing and parts. Thrilling stuff. But the testing is pretty cool.
Yes restaurants are getting better at cooking for us but it still depends on who is in the kitchen doing the cooking. As for the Pho at least in my case I have never been sick eating the Pho or the spring rolls. I also have tried the grilled chicken and rice here in Jacksonville. The Pho is only broth, a combination of meat, rice noodles and they bring basil, cilantro, bean sprouts and jalapenos. I also usually have the Vietnamese Iced Coffee. It is a bit calorie intensive but I like it. I think the one closest to you would be Pho 79. I thought it was 69 but looked for it on google and I was wrong, It is not quite as good as mine here but still good and something we can eat. They might not be clued in to celiac people and language might be a problem but you can ask about flour they use for other things. Also ask for someone who speaks English as you have questions.I know they do use wheat noodles and I would ask if they use different water to cook the wheat and rice noodles. There is at least one other Pho restaurant , Pho 78 I think, in town but right now I couldn’t tell you where it is. Anytime we eat out we take a chance on getting sick. I have been in the same restaurant on several occasions and not get sick then the next time boom! I eat out less than I used to. But I bought an Instant Pot and an Air Fryer. I love the instant pot but haven’t used the air fryer yet. Anything to make cooking at home easier and tasted better. I am going to try friend chicken in the air fryer. I love Pinterest and am building some good recipes. That’s why I love your blog and was so glad to find it. Also have you heard of the fat head bread? What the heck, I’m going to try it too. I just get so blah about eating, trying to feel “normal” again. Oh well. I am alive and this is easier to live with than a lot of things. So I guess all I can do is carry on!! *L*
Wow, I love Charleston, SC! My husband did some testing down there several times. (Katie got her job in a round about way from him) Also we have just done same vacationing there, We’re about in the middle, here in Jacksonville, NC, between there and Virginia Beach! So it’s easy for us to go either way.
Oh, I also loved reading your Disney blog. I was there several years ago, 2015 I think, and a couple of years before the diagnosis but surprisingly didn’t get sick once in almost five days. Now I think how crazy that was. The next year I went to Universal and the same thing. Not that I’m complaining! I had a blast at both places and it would have been awful to get sick and not able to enjoy myself like I did! Anyway it’s always a crap shoot when we ate. I have even been sick eating at home and I have not been able to figure it out. I have an app that reads the bar codes on thing and a kindle app book that tells you if things are safe maybe not or definitely not safe. They have been life savers for sure.
Ok, again I’ve written a book! *L* Take care .
I’m gonna have to check out the Pho place right down the street from my house. I didn’t even think I could ever eat at a place like that because most of those places use a lot of soy sauce, but I’m gonna do what you said and talk to someone who speaks English and ask them.
I have an air fryer and instant pot, too! The air fryer is wonderful!! I haven’t used it as much as I should so I need to start using it again. I made apple chips in it and they were so good!! They got super crispy. I should try something like fried chicken in it as well.
I have heard of fat head bread. I don’t know what it’s all about, though, so I should check that out.
I can’t wait to visit my son in SC! We used to live there when I was very little and my dad was stationed there, but of course I don’t remember any of it. My parents say they loved it there and my husband was recently there for work and he said I would love it there, too!! It’s not too far, so I’m glad for that.
If you ever get a chance again, you should try Disney again. That’s when I get to really enjoy myself and not worry about cooking for myself (as I do for pretty much every meal I eat at home) and still be safe with eating. They really do take care of us gluten free people there, and I love being able to sit back and allow them to cook for me. Haha!!
Take care, Cyndi