Ready-made GF Cookie Dough

I was at the Save-On-Foods grocery store earlier this week and noticed that Pillsbury has gluten-free options.  Excitedly, I bought the Gluten-Free Pillsbury Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough and the Gluten-Free Pie and Pastry Dough.

The dough felt a bit on the greasy side, but it was quick to scoop out of the container and pop them onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.  I baked them in the oven for 12 minutes at 350F and they came out soft in the centre and slightly crispy on the edges.  My son didn't wait for them to cool completely before devouring one.  It tastes ok to me (which means it's sufficiently sweet enough for my sweet tooth and the rice four taste isn't too strong) but because they're so quick and easy to make, I would probably buy them again if I get a cookie craving and didn't feel like making cookies from scratch.  I'll give the pie crust a try next week and maybe use it for little tarts or something.

November 24, 2014: Follow up about the pie/pastry dough.  I used the Pillsbury GF Pie/Pastry dough to make 3 5-inch chicken pot pies.  It was easy to roll out but did fall apart a little when I tried to transfer them into the pie pans.  I cooked the filling on the stove top (cream of mushroom soup, with celery, onions, mushrooms, broccoli, peas and chicken), baked the shell of the pie crust at 400F for about 10-12 minutes, added the filling and covered the pies with dough, then baked for another 15 minutes.  It tasted ok (or as my husband likes to say "interesting" - turned out better than he expected - so it was edible), but it did leave an undesirable after-taste in my mouth.  I think we probably won't be using this dough again any time soon.  Sorry I didn't take any pictures.  I was running behind schedule, started making dinner late... and the kids needed to eat.

Lego panda

I rummaged through my son's room to gather some black and white pieces.  Here's my first attempt at creating a Lego panda.  I don't really have much time to build (uninterrupted) as I'd like but hopefully I'll find some time to make revisions or build different versions later.

Here's a link to my Lego moc page: http://www.mocpages.com/moc.php/398362

Baby peed in the potty

Is it too early to think about potty training with a 2 month old baby?  I've read a little bit about elimination communication and wanted to try it with my first born, but was only able to poop train early and pee-trained closer to 4 years old.

I noticed that my baby was grunting and making a face so I took her and held her over the toilet.  She thought that was weird, then got tired of being there.  I asked her to pee and she peed.  I think it was a complete fluke... but I'm tempted to try again just to see if we can repeat it another time.

I've read it's not a good idea to just wing it.  But I don't feel ready to commit to a full-out attempt to do this properly.  I guess we'll have to see how it goes next time.  At least the next time I can hold her properly so that she's more comfortable.

Duplo Activities

Been busy with my new baby and preschooler.  We saw the duplo inspiration videos earlier this week.  Isaac loves the Ramps and Crashes, Biggest Bridge and the Marble Run video.  After that, Isaac wanted to make his own ramp.

It gave me some ideas and spurred me to do some building.

For a quick fun activity with kids - we made duplo bowling pins and a little lane for it.  I might want to try creating a lane with gutters next time.

This morning, I decided to build my version of a spiral train track.  It's 3 levels high and used 3 bridge halves to ramp up to the top of the spiral.

Garlic Festival 2012 @ The Sharing Farm

Yesterday morning we parked the car at Spul'u'kwuk's Elementary School.  Isaac checked out the school playground (he loves exploring new places) and had a lot of fun.  After we walked over to the Sharing Farm in Terra Nova Park to attend the Garlic Festival.

There were some booths set up in the front, a vegetable/garlic/plant market, garlic ice cream, some cooking demonstrations, and some music performances.  Isaac made a bee-line for the garden in the sharing farm and walked to the end.  Daddy and Isaac walked on through a field to watch airplanes take-off and land.  There were picnic tables and benches in the "viewing area".  He also had a chance to pet a grasshopper.  I walked back to check out the market and picked up some bok choy plants and a gai lan.

Daddy and Isaac tried out the garlic ice cream.  Isaac exclaimed that it was "Delicious", but Daddy wasn't so keen on the flavour.

Today, I picked up a couple of planters/pots for the vegetable plants.  We potted the avocado seed and transplanted the vegetables into a planter and pot.  Isaac helped to water the plants.  I think it's too chilly for the avocado to stay outside, so we're keeping them inside, but the vegetables are staying out on our balcony.  I damaged some of the bok choy roots when I was trying to transplant them, so we'll have to see if they'll survive.

Update: August 25th - One of the gai lag leaves look like it's withering.  And some of the bok choy leaves are flopping over/ going limp.  I have them on the balcony under the sun.  I've been watering them about every other day.  I don't know if they need more or less water or something else.

A lesson about seeds

August 5th: I was eating an avocado for breakfast this morning and I popped out the pit for Isaac to touch.  Then I thought... why don't we just try to germinate the seed to see what happens?  Isaac was excited about the idea.  I looked up a couple of websites with some suggestions and I decided to wrap up the seed in a wet paper towel and keep it covered and stored in a dark place (by Isaac's bath tub).

I guess we'll have to see what happens.  Either it will get mouldy and rot or a root will grow in 2-4 weeks.  This could be interesting.  :)  I was almost tempted to buy a little ceramic pot (with drain hole) so that we can plant it somewhere... but I'll hold off just in case this experiment fails.

I'm pretty bad at taking care of plants so the chances of this working are quite low.  I just think it's a good opportunity to show Isaac how seeds grow (and the bigger picture of where some food comes from).

Update:
August 14th: We checked on the seed and it looks like it's formed a crack on one end.  I think we've been trying to germinate it upside-down, so I've turned it around and put the crack side on the bottom of the container.  I guess we'll have to see if a root starts growing from the crack in a few days.  I wasn't really expecting too much, so we don't have a pot or soil to plant it in yet...

Update:
August 20th:  I stopped by a small flower shop in Kerrisdale today looking for a cheap plastic pot.  The lady was so nice, she transplanted one of her flowers and gave us the pot for free.  I think there might be a root growing in the crack, so we planted the avocado seed into a pot with some potting soil.

Update:
September 11th: I kept the avocado in the washroom because it was the room with the highest humidity.  I checked on it today and there was a shoot growing out from the top! We had started germinating an additional avocado seed, but I forgot to check on it and it looks like some sort of hold or fungus was starting to grow on that one, so I don't know if it'll survive or not.  It had a root growing out from the bottom.  I moved it out to a pot with a little bit of soil.  I guess we'll see what happens.

I'm a high FSHer!?!

This morning I woke up remembering part of my dream.  I was at the top of a steep slide and there was a bear at the bottom in the water below.  I spoke to the bear and said hello to it softly.  Then someone else in my dream provoked the bear and it turned angry and tried to climb up to chase us.  My heart was pounding.

I used to remember my dreams when I was younger.  It was interesting to remember one from this morning.  It might mean nothing, but bears symbolize introspection being chased by one means there's an obstacle I need to deal with.  The critical side of me supposes that this sort of generic meaning can applied to anything in anyone's life at any point in time.  But regardless, it does mean something to me.

I took a cd3 blood test and my FSH number was high (15.3 IU/L).  The FSH measure the amount of follicle stimulating hormone in my blood.  Having a high number COULD mean that I have a low/poor quality ovarian reserve.  From everything I've been able to dig up on this so far, it means I'm likely a bad candidate for fertility medication (though this isn't the route I'm currently considering so I doesn't bother me so much).  However, there are also other possible reasons for having a high FSH that I'll need the dr to investigate.  I will be repeating this test next month to see what the numbers are.

At the end of the day, it's a big numbers game and the odds are a bit stacked against me.  I'm still ovulating regularly according to my BBT charts (and 7dpo progesterone level), but my body might be stimulating fewer antral follicles per cycle so the dominant follicle(s) are chosen from a smaller set and generally it's not as good as if I had more to choose from.   I still believe that I can get pregnant, but it'll take longer to find that "good egg".  And of course, there's still the 20% chance that everything goes right and the egg gets fertilized.  There are a number of women other there with high FSH who are able to get pregnant naturally through timed intercourse and deliver a healthy baby, so there is hope.

I will be requesting an Antral follicle count, AMH, FSH and E2 whenever I next see my gynaecologist.  It's frustrating to know that I might have problems and yet not be able to get an appointment to talk to her about it.  It's tempting to try to get a referral to someone else, but there will be lag time getting an appointment with any specialist either way.  I've borrowed some books about infertility and hope that something there helps me understand more what all these numbers mean and what I can do about it.


Update: I was able to conceive naturally on that cycle with my FSH at 15.3.  I'm currently 13 weeks along.   I've had 3 scans so far and things are looking good.  So if you're reading this and you have a high FSH, don't give up hope.  It can still happen for you.