In the last year, I’ve had outpatient surgery, attended to my father who had open heart surgery, worked between 45-50 hours a week, and a whole host of other things that are a part of life.  It’s been one heck of a ride and I’m not done yet.  I just started taking Microeconomics and so far, so good.  I managed to pass Macroeconomics with an A, but the professor graded on a curve.  I can only hope that this one will, too.

Back to the books before getting ready for work.  Playtime is over.  I believe I’ve used my time wisely.

Makes enough dough for four 1-pound loaves

• 2 cups brown rice flour
• 1-1/2 cups sorghum flour
• 3 cups tapioca flour (also called tapioca starch)
• 2 Tablespoons yeast (can be decreased but you will have to increase the rise time)
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt
• 2 tablespoons xanthan gum
• 2-2/3 cups lukewarm water
• 4 large eggs, whisked
• 1/3 cup neutral-flavored oil or olive oil
• 2 tablespoons honey or sugar

Mixing and storing the dough: Whisk together the flours, yeast, salt and xanthan gum in a 5-qt lidded round storage container. Combine the oil, honey and water, set aside.

Dump the eggs into the dry ingredients and then stir while you pour in about 1/3 of the oil and water. (Unlike our wheat dough we do not add all of the liquid at once and stir. lf you do that it will result in lumpy dough. Continue to stir while you pour in another 1/3 of the liquid. The dough will start to come together in thick dough. Add the final 1/3 of liquid and stir until the dough is nice and smooth. Cover with the lid, but do not snap it shut. Allow it to rest on the counter for about 2 hours. Place into dough in the refrigerator and store for up to 7 days.

On baking day take the bucket from the refrigerator. The dough will be quite fluffy still and you want to try not to handle the dough too much. Just like our other dough the trick is to keep as much of the air bubbles intact as possible.

Wet hands to remove 1-pound (grapefruit-size) piece of dough from the bucket. The dough will be quite scraggly when you take it out, just place it on a piece of parchment paper. Use wet hands to smooth out the surface of the dough. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and allow to rest on the counter for about 90 minutes. lf your kitchen is very warm you may only need about 75 minutes.

Sorry, no picture

• 1 cup Garbanzo Bean Flour
• 1-1/2 cups White or Brown Rice Flour
• 1/2 cup cornstarch or potato starch
• 3 tsp Xanthan Gum
• 1 tsp Salt
• 2 Tb Sugar
• 1 Tb Yeast, Active Dry
• 2 Eggs, room temperature
• 2 Tb Vegetable Oil
• 1-3/4 cups Water, room temperature
• 1 tsp. Vinegar, room temperature

In a large bowl mix the first 7 ingredients together (garbanzo bean flour through yeast).
In another bowl blend together the water, eggs, oil and vinegar. Add wet ingredients to the dry mixture; blend well. Spoon
bread dough into the breadmaker bucket.

Set control for basic white bread and start.

Finished loaf should be about 5 inches high.

Yield: 1-1/2 lb. loaf

Recipe submitted by SparkPeople user MOMMYRN2. (Opens in new window)
Number of Servings: 12

• 1 cup quinoa, rinsed
• 2 cups water
• 1 package (6 oz.) fresh baby spinach, torn
• 1/2 cup Cranberries

Dressing:

• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons orange juice
• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon maple syrup
• l garlic clove, minced
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/8 tsp pepper
• 1 green onion, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans, toasted

In a small saucepan, bring quinoa and water to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 12-15 minutes or until water is absorbed. Remove from the heat; Fluff with a fork. ‘Cover’ and let stand for 10 minutes.

In a large bowl, combine the Warm quinoa, spinach and cranberries. For dressing, in a small bowl, Whisk the oil, orange juice, vinegar, maple syrup, garlic, salt and pepper; Stir in onion. Pour over quinoa mixture to coat. Sprinkle with pecans.

Source: Healthy Cooking Magazine (Opens in a new window)
3/4 cup = 171 calories, 9 grams fat, 136 mg sodium

4 servings. Prep/Total time: 30 min.

• 6 oz. uncooked G.F. pasta
• 1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts cut into thin strips
• 3 tsp. olive oil, divided
• 1/2 cup fresh broccoli florets
• 1/2 cup sliced fresh mushrooms
• 1/2 cup cherry tomatoes, halves
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 can (14 oz.) water -packed artichoke hearts, rinsed, drained and halved
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp dried oregano
• 2 tsp. potato starch flour
• 1/4 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth
• 1/3 cup white wine or additional reduced-sodium chicken broth
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley
• 1 tablespoon shredded Parmesan cheese

Cook pasta according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a large nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray, cook chicken in 2 tsp oil over medium heat until no longer pink. Remove and keep warm.

ln the same skillet, cook and stir broccoli in remaining oil for 2 minutes. Stir in the mushrooms, tomatoes and garlic; cook 2 minutes longer. Add the artichokes, salt and oregano; heat through. Combine the flour with broth and wine until smooth; stir into the pan. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 1-2 minutes or until thickened. Add parsley and reserved chicken.

Drain pasta; add to chicken mixture and toss to coat. Sprinkle with cheese.

2 cups= 378 calories, 8 grams fat, 668 mg sodium
Adapted from Healthy Cooking Magazine (Opens in a new window)

• 1 cup black beans, rinsed and drained (You won’t taste these!)
• 3/4 cup (1-1/2 sticks) butter
• 3 ounces unsweetened chocolate
• 3 eggs, room temperature
• 1 cup sugar
• Pinch of salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1-1/2 cups chopped walnuts, divided

Place a rack in the center of the oven. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Coat an 8-in. square baking pan with cooking spray.

Puree the beans in a food processor until smooth. Measure out 3/4 cup. Reserve the rest of the bean puree to use in a soup, dip, or other dish.
ln a heavy, medium saucepan over low heat, melt the butter and chocolate, stirring occasionally. This can be done in a microwave oven. Set aside until cooled to room temperature.

In a bowl, using a hand mixer on medium speed beat the eggs. Add the sugar and salt. Beat on high speed until the mixture is ivory colored and glossy, about 5 minutes. When the beaters are lifted, drips should linger on the surface for a few seconds before disappearing. Beat in the chocolate mixture until well combined. Beat in the bean puree and vanilla extract. Mix in half the walnuts. Spoon the remaining walnuts over the top, pressing them lightly into the batter.

Bake for about 45-50 minutes, or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool completely in the pan. Cover and refrigerate 6 hours or overnight.

The Essential Best Foods Cookbook by Dana Jacobi
16 servings, 249 calories, 19 grams fat, 5 grams protein

12 servings. Prep: 20 min Bake: 20 min.

• 1-1/2 cups mashed ripe bananas (2 to 3 medium)
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 cup fat-free plain yogurt
• 2 Tablespoons plus 1-1/2 tsp. canola oil
• 1 tsp. g.f. vanilla
• 1/2 cup millet flour
• 1/2 cup sorghum flour
• 1/2 cup tapioca flour
• 1 Tablespoon ground flaxseed
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 tsp xanthan gum
• 1/3 cup chopped walnuts

In a large bowl, beat the first six ingredients until well blended. In a large bowl, combine the flours,  flax, baking powder,  baking soda and xanthan gum; gradually beat into banana mixture until blended. Stir in walnuts.

Coat muffin cups with cooking spray or use paper liners; fill three-fourths full with batter. Bake at 350 degrees for 18-22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.

Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack.

1 muffin = 191 calories, 6 grams fat, 32 grams carbohydrate, 2 grams fiber, 4 grams protein. Diabetic Exchanges: 2 starch, 1 fat
Source: Healthy Cooking Magazine (Opens in a new window)

Made with GF noodles

5 servings. Total Prep time: 30 min.

• 6 oz. uncooked G.F. pasta
• 2 tsp. cornstarch
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/4 cup reduced-fat creamy peanut butter
• 1-2 tablespoons G.F.soy sauce *Bragg’s liquid Aminos
• 1 Tablespoon honey
• 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
• 1/8th tsp. ground ginger
• 1 lb. boneless pork loin chops, cubed
• 3 tsp. sesame oil, divided
• 2 medium carrots, sliced
• 1 medium onion, halved and sliced

Cook pasta according to package directions. For sauce, in a small bowl, combine cornstarch and water until smooth. Whisk in the peanut butter, soy sauce, honey, garlic powder and ginger until blended; set aside.

In a large nonstick skillet or wok coated with cooking spray, stir-fry pork in 2 tsp. oil or until no longer pink. Remove and keep warm. Stir-fry carrots and onion in remaining oil until crisp-tender. Stir the sauce and add to the pan. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened.

Return pork to the pan. Drain pasta; add to the pan and stir to coat.

1 cup = 376 calories, 13 grams fat, 358 mg sodium
Adapted from Healthy Cooking Magazine (Opens in a new window)

The recipes made in the class:

• Quinoa Wilted Spinach Salad
• Banana Nut Muffins
• Crusty Boule
• Walrus Bread
• Chicken Artichoke Pasta
• Asian Pork Linguine
• Black Bean Brownies

All were very tasty and I’ll post them out on the blog soon!

For the past three weeks, I’ve been attending an orientation class.  I learned several beneficial things during the orientation, and things that will be used in the future.  I’m attending an online university, you see, and I had to learn all about Blackboard and other nifty things that they’ve put in place for us long-distance learners.

All was going well until they threw the bunch of us into small groups and gave us a project to do.  We were supposedly stranded on some island and had to find a way off the island, taking only 25 pounds of items with us.  We had to explain how we got off the island, the items we took with us and how we survived along the way.  I’ve done this particular exercise before, but, of course, not with this particular group of people.  And boy, was that fun!

Fortunately, there was another Type A personality in the group and we both logged in right away to get started with the project.  We had 1-1/2 weeks to work on it.  Four days later, the other two people in our group stumbled into the discussion room.  By then, Type A and I had already divvied up the tasks and started doling them out to the latecomers.

By the time they showed up, we had a week left for the project.  Needless to say, they didn’t care for the way we were running the show and one of them made snide remarks in the general discussion forum to the rest of the class.  They actually posted that they felt others in the group should be understanding while they stood back and just observed for a few days, to get a feel for how the group was working together.  What the…..I had flashbacks of being back in not highschool, but grade school.  The other latecomer was a bit more professional about it and ended up pulling their weight, but both of them were extremely tardy with their responses in the group discussion, sometimes not logging in for 1-2 days.

Yeah, I could’ve done without the group project.  I learned nothing there, except to be reminded, once again, how many people don’t take responsibility for their own actions.  They’d rather fault someone else for their own shortcomings.  That’s what I deal with at work every day.  That’s life.  I don’t like it, nor do I want to be graded on it.  Fortunately, neither of the two latecomers are in my first two real classes.

I have no doubt that I’ll succeed in college, but I do have doubts about how difficult it will be, and how will I get everything done that needs to be done while still maintaining my sanity.  The last time I attended college (in classroom, not online), I was working a full-time job and a part-time job as well as taking care of a house on my own.  I lasted 1-1/2 years before nearly having a nervous breakdown and having to withdraw from school.  That was nearly 20 years ago.  My circumstances are much different now – I’m only holding down one full-time job and I have someone to help me with running the house.  (Thanks, honey! This is what being married is all about!)

And so, follow along as I begin this journey to obtaining my Bachelors degree in Accounting.  I promise you, it won’t be as dry and boring as some perceive the subject of accounting to be.