When you can't find what you need locally.....

I've been baking almost all our bread this year.  

I want to start doing more whole wheat and whole grain breads but all the recipes I want to try call for vital wheat gluten.

So,  I shopped at the 2 biggest grocery stores in my town this weekend but neither one had vital wheat gluten.  

Then I turned to Amazon.com.  

I found several sellers with gluten at good prices.  

I ordered this giant can Sunday evening and the friendly UPS delivery man brought it  to my front door Tuesday afternoon.  That is really fast I think.  

Here's my ticket- just $12.59 - no delivery charge as it was covered with our Amazon Prime- for this giant can  about the  same size as a large can of  coffee or  canned fruit.  

I know gluten has a bad reputation and some people are allergic to it with really awful problems if they eat it.  

But if you are not,  then gluten added to your yeast baked goods makes them much lighter.  

Vital wheat gluten also has 35 grams of protein in just a quarter cup.  

Tasty Lentil Tacos

The name, Tasty Lentil Tacos, may sound at first like an oxymoron.  

But it is not.  

I've been making this thrifty and healthy taco filling for years and we always enjoy it.

This is my plate from tonight.  

The lentils are in the middle with fresh salsa made from our backyard tomatoes.

The chips are Mission extra thin corn tortillas- cut in eighths, lightly brushed with olive oil and baked until crisp.  

Jeff ate his lentils rolled in tortillas with the chips and salsa on the side.

Its a simple recipe,  just lentils cooked in chicken broth seasoned with onions, chili powder, cumin, oregano and a little garlic.  

my copy of the recipe-from AllRecipes.com 

but when I looked for a link to it earlier in the week,  the recipe there was a little different.  

See, this one I printed off was rated 5 out of 5 stars by 63 members.  

We are not the only people who Lentil Tacos are tasty!  

Pacifier clips

When we saw grand daughter Andie last week,  she was wearing a patriotic pacifier clip to match her patriotic outfit.  The clip was gift from one of her mom's customers.

The clip is so handy in keeping Andie's pacifier off the floor.

Her parents said they would like to have one "in every color"  

So,  I looked online for instructions to make some.  There are many tutorials out there. 

They are just a short piece of fabric or ribbon with a velcro loop on one end to the pacifier and a clip on the other end to fasten to the baby's clothing.   

I found this pack of ironing board clips at JoAnns for $3.99- with enough clips to make 8
it was the best way  I found to get the most clips for the smallest price  

I made 4
black & white,  green & yellow,  pink and lavender.

They were very quick to make - 

Working my way through a to-do list

Back in April,  I read on Kelly's blog as she worked her way through the Money Saving Mom's 4 week plan for a clean and organized home.  The tasks were things like clean out your fridge and medicine cabinet and air vents and throw away/donate clutter as you find it.

I did many of the things on the list including cleaning all the windows, blinds, ceiling fans and light fixtures.  

But I never did get around to cleaning the tops of the kitchen cabinets.  

Here is Kelly's post when she cleaned the top of her cabinets.  

While Jeff was home and with lots of help from Gavin,  they took care of the cabinet tops for me. 

I had a lot of stuff up there and man, was it greasy and dusty.  

It is has all been washed but I don't think anything is going back up there for now.  

Jeff is standing on a platform but my almost 6 foot husband is having to stand on his tiptoes to clean the tops of those cabinets.

The upper cabinets have crown molding around them and the shelf part is several inches below that.

So displaying things is tricky as they sit lower than the crown molding and there only about 10 inches between the crown molding and ceiling. 

For now,  the cabinet tops are clean and empty. 

 I've looked around on Pinterest for ideas to decorate them but nothing strikes my fancy just yet.  

Any suggestions?  

Possibly the cutest brother shirts ever

My daughter Nina designed and printed these shirts for her nephews.

She has a Silhouette machine that makes the designs and transfers.

She just got a fancy heat press machine that attaches the designs to the fabric in a professional way.  

I think they are wonderful and the new parents were very excited to get them.

Bubby is what Gavin has called himself since he could talk.
When asked what his new brother's name should be, Gavin said "Baby Bubby"
so that is why the shirts say Bubby.  

the backs of the shirts


Nina is working on an Etsy shop.
I'll post a link when she opens it.