Gluten Free "Spreads"

I have quite a bit of a sweet tooth.  It is not something I am proud of - it just is, so I learn to deal. I deal by drooling over wonderful blogs and cookbooks, which probably is not a good use of my time but alas, I indulge.  I see something that looks so yummy and easy but is full of gluten, I really want to make it over so it is gluten free.  Now I leave the hard conversions to Nicole over at Gluten Free on a Shoestring, because she has some kind of magical recipe converting super powers or something.  Please go and check out her blog because you will be wonderfully woo'd by her prowess.

Any who, I have seen this "spreads" recipe a few times. It is originally from the Pioneer Woman and I'm pretty sure I saw it on her Food Network show.  It also shows up in her "holiday" cookbook that is only sold at Target.  It looked so easy and utterly scrumptious that I just had to make it gluten free.

My first step was to find the recipe fast. Yes I had the cookbook but I'm at my computer 90% of the day so I googled, "Pioneer Woman Spreads" and *BAM* it showed up on her blog too.  I promptly printed it out and took out some butter to come to room temp.

By now, you are probably on the floor laughing from that last paragraph.  I have many sarcastic jokes readily available about the name of this recipe and just realized that my Google search is down right dirty sounding.  I'm so sorry Ree, truly I am - I mean no disrespect! Honest!

Now back to the recipe, two sticks of butter is A. LOT. of butter, so I used light butter. I do not think you can notice a difference at all. I know some people get pretty uptight that light butter is not real and has a bunch of additives but honestly, it's all pretty normal stuff and some ingredients that I already use in gluten free baking so, I'm good with it.  Others find that light butter has too much moisture content and that it can mess with your recipe.  Maybe, but unless you are making frosting, I find that light butter can substitute quite nicely with less fat and calories.

I also have really been digging the gluten free flour blend over at Sarah Bakes Gluten Free Treats.  It consists mainly of brown rice and sweet sorghum flours which are considered whole grain. The flour blend is roughly 70% these two flours and 30% starches, which really is nicer than blends that have white rice as the main component.  It doesn't always work in all situations and that's ok, we have other blends to use for those times.  But for today, I used this blend and it worked great!  One of the main reasons why it worked great is because I aerate the flour with a whisk in the container before measuring.  Then I lightly spoon the flour into the cup and carefully level it with a butter knife.  This ensures that you are not 'packing' the flour blend into the cup and makes for light and fluffy baked goods.

Gluten Free Spreads

adapted from the Pioneer Woman

Ingredients:

1 cup (2 sticks) light butter

1 cup packed brown sugar

1 whole egg

2 cups of gluten free flour blend (I use this one and see note above on measuring.)

1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt

1 teaspoon good vanilla

6-12 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips (I ended up using the whole bag - I know, right?)

1/4 cup toffee crumbles/chunks (I used Heath brand.)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a 1/2 sheet pan with unbleached parchment paper.
2. Place butter into your mixer bowl and start whipping it with the paddle attachment.
3. Add the brown sugar and continue whipping.  It will not look like regular butter and brown sugar will, it's ok - stay with me.
4. Add one whole egg and keep whipping.
5. Add the vanilla and keep whipping.
6. Add the salt and keep whipping.  Mix well.
7. Stop the mixer and put the flour into the bowl and slow start mixing the flour in.
8. Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl.
9. Turn the mixer to medium speed and let it whip for about 2 minutes.  It will turn into a very light and fluffy batter.
10. Pour the batter onto the parchment paper and spread (this is where the name comes from!) it on the pan as uniformly as you want to so that it is about 1/4" - 1/2" thick.
11. Place the pan in the preheated oven and bake for 15-20 minutes (I think I baked it for about 17 minutes).
12. Remove pan from the oven and sprinkle the chocolate chips over the big cookie.
13. Place pan back into the oven for 2-3 minutes.
14. Remove pan and spread (there's that term again!) the chocolate chips evenly over the large baked cookie.
15. Immediately sprinkle the chocolate with the toffee crumble/chunks.
16. Let the chocolate set and the cookie cool before cutting into pieces with a pizza cutter.

ENJOY!  My whole family loved this treat and kept asking for more.  It is so easy and very quick if you are looking for something to hit your yearning belly fast.

Until next time,

J.K. Sasse

HAPPY MAY!

Wow! It's been a super long time since I've written a piece for the blog but man has life been crazy.

As you know I have a full time job, that I actually like, find interesting, and I am always learning new things.  I also get to telecommute from my home office all. of. the. time., which really is a dream come true. With that said, I have been swamped with new business since January while helping other teams out as well, so needless to say, it has been crazy pants.

When it gets crazy pants for me, I have to work out in some fashion.  I am not obsessed nor am I one of those nut jobs that has to work out or I'll die (god forbid).  But I have learned through an injury in February when I had to "rest" that I really need to make time to work out.  It just makes me feel better all around and my mood gets a boost too which helps during stressful work times.  So this has become a pretty big priority in my life, I'm sure my heart thanks me.

We continued with kids activities, dance for #1 and wrestling for #2 and they both were in swimming lessons.  #1 actually has tested out of the YMCA swim program so we are now looking for a swim team for her.  She wants to be in the Olympics some day. #1 also celebrated her first holy communion with a nice Sunday brunch with our family and close friends.  The cake I made for that did not turn out as well as I had hoped, but I did run out of regular sugar and had to use raw sugar.  That may have contributed to it being very dry.

Our other main activity during these MIA months for me was Girl Scouts.  February and March are consumed with selling girl scout cookies. I mean, it is almost every weekend with cookie booths or some other girl scouting event.  This year it completely paid off as our troop was the second top selling troop in our service unit and our girls are going to be honored at our service unit award ceremony next week.  I'm excited to see the girls get this special award in front of their peers, they worked hard and so did all of our troop parents.

March also brought the arrival of our nephew, Brayden Joel.  He is about the most perfect little thing ever.  I hardly put him down the day that we went to visit him for the first time.  I am so proud to be an Auntie again and the kids were thrilled to have a cousin that lives in the same state.  They are already planning sleep overs and all sorts of things with Brayden as their guest.  It's cute to hear them talk about it.  They love him so much.

April brought #2's fifth birthday. It was a doozy I tell you.  We went all out with a Thomas theme again.  I made bright blue frosted cupcakes for the kid party and a Thomas pan cake for the family party.  We treated the kids to a night out at Jumps & Downs, an inflatable jumpy house place with pizza for dinner.  The next day our family and close friends came and I served several different gluten free pasta dishes that I created.  They will make their way to the blog here some day soon. He was so happy with all of his gifts and he received a ton of legos.  I made a special thank you card to go a long with his Thomas themed ones:

For Easter this year we took a trip to Las Vegas to visit our new niece Ella Dawn who was baptized on holy Saturday.  It was a great event and she is such a sweet chubby little girl. We all fell instantly in love with her.  We also had a great time swimming in the salt water pool that had a water fall and hot tub. We took the kids to the strip one afternoon to play games at Circus Circus.  That was a blast and #2 won this huge bear at the game where you throw a softball into a milk can.  A game almost impossible to win and here a little five year old has it in the bag.  To say the least we were all shocked and it was a great moment for our little guy.  I also tried my hand at some other games and won #1 a minion (so cute!) and some other stuff.  They enjoyed it a lot.  We ate that day at Vince Neil's diner and it was great for every day burger/fries type of food.  Later that night, Thew and I went to see La Reve, the dream at the Wynn.  All I have to say is that the Wynn is very beautiful and the show was great.  I had an awesome time out with my sweetie.  

On Easter morning the kids were surprised to find that the Easter Bunny found them all the way in Vegas.  After a breakfast of colored hard boiled Easter eggs, we went to my sister-in-law's church for an egg hunt.  The kids had a blast.  We spent the rest of the day hanging out with family, eating a great meal, having another egg hunt, and just enjoying our niece (even if she did have a blow out onto my white capri pants!!!).

This pretty much brings us up to date.  I'm hoping to be able to post at least a few times a month as I've been baking and cooking up some pretty yummy gluten free meals and treats.  I hope you all had a great first quarter of 2014 and if it depresses you that the year is already a quarter over with, go outside and take a walk or jog, you'll feel better, I PROMISE!

Until next time,
J. K. Sasse

Latest Obsession: Project Life

I have always been a scrapbooker.  Ok.  Maybe not always.  My Aunt Margaret really was the scrapbooker in the family.  She started very early with the super basic Creative Memories concept and kept completely up to date with all of her family memories and adventures.  At the time, I was into making  greeting cards.  I cranked out handmade greetings for every holiday and event there was - stamped, painted, glittered, layered and even popups sometimes.  I was awesome at it and loved it!  However, slowly but surely, she won me over and I began scrapbooking too.

I started out slow, purchased the basics and went to town.  My very first scrapbook was a scrapbook of my solo trip to Europe in my twenties. I look back at it now and cringe. It is so simple and not me. Plus there isn't one word of journaling. But the pictures are in there and the trip is documented.  As a whole, it is a great thing.  After this attempt though, my other attempts have fell very short.

One year my friends and I met once a month to scrapbook.  Honestly, I got nothing done.  I've always had a certain kind of analysis paralysis when it comes to making something permanent like this.  Especially with photos that are expensive to develop/print and then you purchase all this paper, embellishments, albums, pages, and page protectors.  It had to be JUST RIGHT, or well, I just wasn't going to commit. 

Case in point, I have had no issues committing to my husband of twelve years, but do you think our wedding and honeymoon are scrapbooked? Nope.  What if something newer and cuter comes out?  What if I hate it in five years?  In my defense, I did scrapbook our dating year to have out at our wedding so people could view our 'story' but that is it.

Other than my Europe trip and my dating life with Thew, the only other thing officially scrapbooked is #1's first birthday.  She loves that thing and looks through it all the time.  I really want to make more scrapbooks for my kids to look through.  They love looking at all the digital photos of themselves on the computer, just imagine their delight in being able to look at their photos in a scrapbook whenever they want to OR pull out for friends and family to reminisce?

This brings to me a post last week on the "Our Best Bites" blog.  It was all about how Sara captures and documents her family's memories. There are several options listed but the one that struck me was Project Life.  What is Project Life?  The best way for me to describe it is "pocket scrapbooking".  The page protectors have different size pockets in them and then you slide in photos and cutely designed cards to embelish it.  It is quick and easy. People say they get so much done in a short amount of time.  The best part about it?  NO COMMITMENT!  If they come out with newer cuter embellishment cards you can take the old cards out and put the new ones in. DONE.  This appeals to me - seriously appeals to me and my whack-o scrapbooking commitment issues.  If you want to check out project life, you'll need to go to beckyhiggins.com.  Ms. Higgins is the creator of project life and you'll find all sorts of great info on that site.

After doing some digging and realizing that I'd have to now purchase all new albums and page pocket protectors (I have a ton of the original Creative Memory albums, pages, and page protectors) - I started to groan. How much was this going to cost me?  Also the thought of having to print a ton of pictures off at Costco without cropping and adjusting them also left me feeling some of that commitment phobia coming back up like some bad drink I had in college. Then, I saw that Project Life was digital with Photoshop Elements or Photoshop.  What you say?  Seriously.  There are also several digital templates and kits sold by Project Life's digital shop as well as freebies that people have made and blogged about.   Go to Pinterest and search for project life freebies and tons of posts come up.  It made me feel giddy!

I purchased some templates and one kit from the Project Life digital site, downloaded a free trial of Photoshop elements from Adobe and then went to YouTube to see how in heck I could use these things.  You can also take formal project life/photoshop classes at jessicasprague.com though they do cost quite a bit, and I wasn't sure I was ready to commit to that (here we go again!).  I did find two videos on YouTube that were super helpful.  One of them is done by Jessica Sprague and she did a great job - the other one is by an Australian gal who also did a good job.  Here are the links to those:

Jessica Sprague teaches digital Project Life
Digital Project Life Basic Tutorial

Here is my first page - it's a title page, and I was really just trying to figure out to snap everything together and resize things if I needed to - it was super easy:

Now that I know what I'm doing, I have the tools, and some freebies, I'm going to tackle my son's baby book.  I already started with traditional digital scrapbooking so I think it will be a combo pack for him.  I am focused on getting that done this year as well as our 2014 year so I can just stay current.  Once I'm current then I'm going to do my daughter's baby book - she is older and I haven't even started on it yet.  Regardless with what I do with this, I know the kids will be thrilled.

Another bonus with this is that I can print the 12x12 pages and have them developed at Costco. I will then use my current paraphernalia to create the books. I'll adhere the pages to thicker pages and use page protectors to protect it.  I can also use some of my embellishments if I want to on these pages too since the protectors and albums are built for it. These are all vintage Creative Memories and no longer are available for purchase.

I hope this has inspired you to check Project Life out or maybe just start organizing your photos. Whatever it has done, it's a good thing....

Until next time,
J.K. Sasse

Easy Peasy Apple Sauce

I know I have been MIA around here but January is kicking my butt!  Work is crazy, home life is equally crazy, and I have some important events coming up that I can't wait to share with you but it will have to wait.....but I'm excited!!!

Today, I am on all day long conference call (this was my last week as well) and I needed a snack ASAP when they all went to get a quick lunch.  It wasn't my lunch time yet but I felt left out. Of course I wanted peanut M&M's my candy addiction of choice these days but um, I have to weigh in tomorrow, so not an option.

I went into the kitchen and I saw the 2 applesauce packages I bought with a coupon yesterday. They are unsweetened - blech, but I had an idea.  Why not doctor it up with some yummy stuff? I'm so glad I did because this is just way too awesome not to share.....

Cinnamon Sweetened Apple Sauce
Serves 1

Ingredients:
2 individual servings of unsweetened all natural applesauce (can use bulk)
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 packages of splenda
good sprinkle of cinnamon (probably 1/2 - 1 tsp)

Directions:
1. Empty apple sauces into a bowl.
2. Add vanilla, splenda, and cinnamon.
3. Mix well and let the flavors combine a bit.

Eat and enjoy!!!  It really is so yummy and it still counts as a power food because you did not add any sugar!  This is the bestie best best snack ever!

I promise that I have been hoarding up on posts, I just haven't finished them.  I will be back as time allows - so hang in there with me!!

Until next time,
J.K.Sasse

P.S. did you notice the name change on my blog???  I'm still thinking about it.. we'll see how it goes.

Triple Chocolate Cake

Every year for Christmas, my family celebrates the birth of our Savior with a "Happy Birthday Baby Jesus" cake (Baby Jesus cake for short).  We do the whole she-bang, there are candles, we sing happy birthday and everything.  Some of my family members even put a baby Jesus on their version of the cake - I have yet to find one that is food safe, so if you have any ideas, please let me know.

So the dilemma was on, what do I make.  It has to be gluten free, it has to be good so my gluten eating guests will love it and not know the difference but most importantly I had to make it ahead of time since I would be gone the entire day on Christmas Eve.  I asked fellow GF bakers what their recommendations would be and finely settled on a devils food cake from Gluten free on a shoestring. This worked for me because I already had all of the ingredients and it would be a cinch to make.  I did however bake it in a 9 inch round pan and it took three times as long to bake it.  I know it was in the oven for over an hour and then lately because GF baked items can be so finicky, I will shut off the oven and let the baked good sit in there while it cools off, I did this for another 20 - 30 minutes or so.  It really is up to you and your oven.  If you under bake the cake, it will fall inwards in the middle and no one wants that.  So you have to play it by ear and make sure to test it to see if the middle is completely cooked. I do this with a clean toothpick to see if any cake batter is still on it - crumbs are ok because they are baked, but any ooey gooey batter is a definite sign that it needs more time in the oven.

Devils Food Cake Recipe by Gluten Free on a Shoestring

I baked the cake on a Monday and once it was cool, I wrapped it tightly and froze it.  In the winter time in MN, that means I put it out in my garage until I needed it.  This worked fabulously!

I needed to serve the cake on a Wednesday, so I choose to wait on the frosting until that day, but honestly, in hindsight, I did not need to do that and it caused a lot of extra work for me on Christmas morning.  Live and learn. 

I took the cake inside so it would start to thaw slightly so I could split the cake in half.  I started the cut with a serrated knife and then finished it with a nice long piece of unflavored dental floss. It worked like a charm.

Now that I had my two layers, I knew that I wanted to fill it with Nutella Cloud Frosting.  I started with the Nutella Cloud base recipe from Sweetapolita because this gal knows her frosting I tell you and then I changed it a bit because I love Nutella and more of it is always a good thing right?  I also love how this recipe turned out.  I've tried others that were too airy and hard to pipe and that is not the case with this recipe.

Nutella Cloud Frosting

Adapted from Sweetapolita

Ingredients:

1 cup unstaled butter, softened at room temp

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar (confectioners')

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

125g semi-sweet chocolate chopped, melted, and cooled slightly (I used Ghiradelli.)

1/2 cup of Nutella

pinch of salt

drizzle of milk as needed

Directions:

1. Weigh out semi-sweet chocolate into a microwave safe bowl ensuring it is broken up.  Microwave it on high in 30 second intervals until fully melted.  You'll need to stir it often to break up hot spots.  Let cool a bit.

2. In your large mixing bowl with a paddle attachment, carefully place the butter and powdered sugar and start to mix on low until fully combined.

3. Add the salt, vanilla, and Nutella to the butter/sugar mixture and beat well.

4. Lastly add the cooled melted semi-sweet chocolate and again beat well.

5. At this time determine the consistency. If it is too thick add a drizzle of milk until it looks like how you want it.

Now that you have made your filling, carefully put about 1/2 of the frosting in the middle of the bottom layer and spread it evenly across.  Place the top layer on half and use more frosting to fill in the outside edge.  Once complete, cover tightly and place back into your freezer while you make the next layer of frosting.

I wanted this to be festive and oh so yummy. I knew it had to have ganache on top but after filling it, with the nutella frosting, it really needed a crumb coat to hide the filling and the fact that I split the cake open.  The answer?  A simple stiff buttercream crumb coat.  Now butter cream is very basic, but of course, I googled it and settled on this recipe from Savory Sweet Life.  This is another gal who knows her frostings.  I made this on the thicker side with just a drizzle of milk so that it was spreadable. Making it thicker allowed me to only have one coat of buttercream which was awesome.  She also gives tips on how making it thicker is easier to pipe onto cakes and you'll see the design much more easily as well.  Good to know!

Recipe for Buttercream Frosting from Savory Sweet Life

Now that this is made, retrieve your cake from the freezer and put on a nice thin, even coat of this wonderful buttercream.  You'll be so glad that you did and when you are done, back into the freezer you must go!

Lastly, for the ganache, I referenced Savory Sweet Life again with just a slight modification.  I took her recipe and added some *GASP* butter!  Everything is better with butter and honestly this cake has so much already what is a few more tablespoons really?  Again in hindsight, I should have used Sweetapolita's ganache drizzle recipe because this ganache came out a little thick and didn't quite drizzle like I wanted to but man was it still super yummy.

Ganache Recipe

Adapted from Sweet Savory Life

Ingredients:

1/2 Cup heavy cream

12 ounces chocolate (I used semi-sweet by Ghiradelli.)

4 Tbs butter

Directions:

1. Heat heavy cream in microwave until bubbly and frothy.

2. Pour hot heavy cream over chopped up chocolate and mix until melted.

3. Add butter and with a hand whisk, whip until smooth.

Take the ganache and spread a layer over the entire top of the cake after you take it out of the freezer for the final time. As you are spreading have it drizzle down the sides of the cake like shown in the picture above or below.

I know this was a long drawn out deal, but honestly this was worth it.  The cake was a huge hit - my Dad even had two pieces.  It also holds over super well in the freezer.  It's been almost 2 full weeks since I've made the final product and we are still finishing it off.  It tastes just as good now as it did the first day we enjoyed it.

If you have any questions, please let me know and ENJOY!

Until next time,

J.K. Sasse

Happy New Years Eve - 2013

It is the last day of 2013 and I am back to the blog!  I had a really nice holiday and I hope that you all did as well!

For this very last day of the year, I'm going to look back and reflect with gratefulness on a few items that just come to mind this morning:

Living a Gluten Free Lifestyle:
For the majority of this year, my family and I have been leading a gluten free lifestyle.  It has broadened my horizon's in the kitchen and I'm no longer afraid to bake bread or try to convert a recipe.  I'm hoping to share more of my GF kitchen success on this blog in 2014.  It does not have to be scary or strange.  Sometimes, I will admit, it is complicated but knowing others to discuss things with helps.  That leads me to two of my new friends that I met in 2014, Anneke and Donia.  We are frequent fliers over at the Gluten Free on a Shoestring blog and realized that we all live really close to each other.  We started conversing via email and share our GF woes and successes in the kitchen.  It has been a god send to be able to bounce things off of other people and get ideas and technique tips that I may never have tried before.  We hope to all meet in January for a weekend of GF fun!

Good Friends & Family:
I'm always so grateful for my wonderful friends (as noted above - 2 new ones this year!!).  I like making new ones and connecting with old ones.  Which reminds me of that old Girl Scout song, "Make new friends but keep the old, one is silver and the other's gold."  Though we are all so busy, I do try to make connections with my friends as much as I can.  Email, texting, and video chat has made that so much easier.  In fact this year, my sister-in-law and niece joined us for Christmas Eve present opening via face-time.  They could see all of us and we could see them perfectly.  We even had #1 and #2 stand up on either side of the computer screen as my niece was held up for a "cousins" photo.  It was super cute and something we could have never done before without the technology that we have.

Technology:
I think people take this for granted, I really do.  I often reminisce about the '80's and the primitive electronics and technology we had.  We are so lucky today and I'm so grateful for the laptop, tablet, digital camera, scanner/printer, DVR, cable, the oodles of software on these hardware objects, and so on that I use on a daily basis.  Though sometimes it gets in the way, it really makes my life so much easier.

Thew, #1, & #2
These three people will always be the number one priority in my life and I feel that this year we have grown closer as a family unit.  We have taken many trips together, have family game nights, enjoyed going to the movies, baking cookies, reading exciting adventures, and just hanging out together.   We all truly enjoy each other's company and love each other dearly - I will be eternally grateful for this and their presence in my life forever!

What things from 2013 are at the top of your mind today on this New Year's Eve?  Please leave a comment and let us know!

Until next time,
J.K. Sasse

Happy Holidays!!!

So, I've done it again, I've over planned, over committed, over done it this holiday season.  Due to my completely delusional accurate account of time (yes, there are only 8 days until the big gifting 2 day free for all), I am super behind in all of my life including this blog and some things have got to be crossed off my list so that I can keep my sanity.  For now, one of the crossed off items is the blog - I'm doing this, so I can get my kids gifts wrapped and a few cookies baked, while still working full time and carting everyone around to activities and such this week.

I came to this conclusion after reading a magazine article in Savvy (a MN publication) about where you saw yourself on January 1st.  I thought for a moment and saw myself as a relaxed and happy person.  The next step is to figure out, how do you get there.  Make a list of the items you want to do, determine what has to be done and cross the rest off.  With that, the blog did not make my "MUST DO" list, but don't worry - so many other things did not make the list either. So I'll apologize to everyone that I usually bake homemade gifts for too - but I want a healthier holiday this year.  I'll be back hopefully the week of December 30th, so please stay tuned.   

Be safe and most importantly, make your 'must do' list and visualize yourself in the new year. You will be all that more serene for it. A happy holiday to you and yours!!!

Until next time,
J.K. Sasse

Recipe: Iced Peppermint Mocha

Note:  I'm traveling the rest of this week for work, so I'm posting this a day early!! Enjoy!


You already know that I love iced coffee drinks.  They are the bomb!  I also try to stay away from the coffee chains because they can really wreak havoc on my budget.  So instead, I thought why not give these new 'off the shelf' coffee products now popping up all over our grocery stores a chance?  I am in love with mocha's as I just think coffee needs chocolate to taste good - Period. And now that it is the holiday season, I have ditched my pumpkin obsession for all things peppermint!  It is so wonderfully delicious. That's where Starbuck's Via (R) Peppermint Mocha comes into play.

I've actually had a package of this product in my pantry for some time now and I just never really knew what to do with it.  Then it hit me.  I must make my own Iced Peppermint Mocha - but not in the traditional sense. I wanted it icy and delectable.  Viola!  The Iced Peppermint Mocha recipe was created.  I hope you love it as much as I do!

Iced Peppermint Mocha
Serves 1

Ingredients:

1 packet Starbucks Via (R) Peppermint Mocha

1 C Milk (I used coconut, but virtually any non flavored milk can be used here)

1 packet sweetener (I used a stevia/sugar blend - you can use more or less to taste)

Ice cubes

Directions:

1. Fill your magic bullet glass, 1/2 way with ice cubes.

2. Pour in one cup of milk.

3. Sprinkle in the packet of Starbucks Via (R) Peppermint mocha and sweetener packet.

4. Completely blend until you hear that there are no ice chunks left.

5. Sip with a straw and enjoy!

Until next time,

J.K. Sasse

2013 Holiday Favorite Things

A lot of the blogs I follow publish a favorite things and most of them even give all of the items in their favorite things away.  Isn't that awesome?  I however am just starting out, so this year it's just a listing of my top items and hopefully in years to come I'll be sending out a care package to one of my readers with all of the items listed!  Below is a picture of each of my favorite items and under that is a brief description of the item and where you can find them.  Cheers and happy holidays to you all!

1. Kiss Me Tonight by Philosophy is by far one of my most favorite things this holiday season. I slather it on right before I go to bed at night and it keeps my lips so nice and soft.  It is a must have for your bed side table.  I purchased this directly from philosophy.com and right now they are offering 30% of your order - I think it's time to stock up!
2. Gluten Free on a Shoestring's Bakes Bread book.  It has revolutionized the dry crumbly gluten free bread making of your past.  Please purchase this book for all of those GF peeps in your life - they will love you for it. I promise!  It's full color and a wonderful read with lots of tips and tricks.  I got mine on Amazon.com but barnesandnoble.com has it too.
3. Hershey's peppermint bark bells are by far my most favorite new holiday candy this year. The bottom of the bell is a scrumptious dark chocolate while the top of the bell is peppermint white chocolate with crunchy and festive non-perils decorating it through out. SO YUMMY!  I've only seen these at Target, which is ok by me because they have a cartwheel coupon deal going on now so you can save 5% off!  I don't know if they are solely there but I can't even find them on Hershey's site, so off to Target you must go (or they are online too)!!!
4. The World's Softest Socks.  That is all there is to be said.  They are divine and keep your tootsies warm in this chilly weather.  They are the cheapest at Costco where you can get a package of 3 pairs for $9.99 - they are a steal and are completely gone as soon as they come in stock, so run there today!
5. Bath & Body Works Limoncello Soap and Lotion is about the most lemony hand soap and lotion you can find out in the market right now.  I'm so glad I wandered in there this past month.  I have found that most of the shops at the mall have the soap but the online store is sold out!  It is the exact opposite for the hand lotion - all of the stores are sold out but it is available online. I stocked up because I never want to be without this - ever!!!  Check 'em out online or in the stores.
6. Origami Owl holiday charms in a classic bling locket.  I recently went to my first Origami Owl party and purchased a locket with some other charms and then I saw the holiday ones - be still my beating heart - they are so cute!!! So I stocked up and got them all!  Find an Origami Owl stylist on their website to help you out.  These are great for holiday gifts.  The best part is that they come in a small chinese take out container and come with a silk fortune cookie holder to keep them in.  Love this!!

Good luck this holiday season, there are only 15 shopping days left - it was a short one this year but hopefully my favorite things have given you some ideas for those still left on your list.

Until next time....
J.K. Sasse

Holiday Giveaways!!!

It's that time of year!!!  Tons of blogs are posting giveaways because they just love us so much.  Here are a few that I've found that I wanted to share with you all today.  Enjoy!!!

Gluten Free on a Shoestring Big Give Away
If you haven't heard, Nicole Hunn has just published another book.  It is the holy grail of all gluten free bread books called Gluten Free On A Shoestring Bakes Bread and it is a must have for your gluten free library.  I have already received my copy and have been pouring over it.  I will warn you that you'll need some specialty ingredients so please check out her post about what to get before the book arrives (I did not and now I'm waiting impatiently for everything to get here) and also her big give away in which she will be rewarding someone with a state of the art kitchen aid mixer and a Brod and Taylor bread proofer.  I have both a kitchen aid mixer and Brod & Taylor proofer. Both are must haves for your gluten free bread baking - not 100% essential, but they will make your life so much easier.  If we pre-order and order an additional 500 from the publish date of the giveaway, one winner will get a personal day of baking with Nicole.  So go and get your bread book today!! 
Give away ends: December 10, 2013.

Our Best Bites: Our Favorite Things Give Away
Sara from Our Best Bites has listed her favorite holiday items for a give away.  I think you still have time as they have not closed the comments nor announced a winner.  The box will contain all of her fav things right now from fuzzy socks to candies and candles.  Check it out!!
Give Away Ends: ANY DAY NOW! so GO!

UPDATE:  New give away posted today for Kate's favorite things.

Skinny Mom's Gift Guide Give Away
Yep - you read that correct there are more than one and you can enter to win on all of them.  To be clear there are 12 in total including the following: a pet prize, technical prize, home prize, food prize, jewelry prize, baby prize, fitness prize, kitchen prize, women's prize, men's prize, beauty prize, and an awesome wellness prize.  You can enter multiple times for each prize by liking the products on Facebook, following on twitter, entering zip codes, answering random questions, or following skinny mom on Pinterest.  It does take some time to get through all of them but won't it be worth it? Each prize pack is just overflowing with goodies!!!
Give Away Ends: December 15, 2015

Daily Bites: Simple & Crisp Give Away
This is give away highlights Simple & Crisp Dried Fruits.  They are really amazing looking so head on over and read the post.  All you have to do is leave a comment with what you like to bring to holiday parties to share along with liking both daily bites and Simple & Crisp on Facebook and leaving comments that you did so. 
Give Away Ends: December 5, 2013 - SO GO!

Now these are just from some of the sites that I follow regularly. I just googled "holiday blog give aways" and tons of things returned. I think I'll spend some time today entering these just for the fun of it!   Good luck to us all!!!

Until next time...
J.K. Sasse

Book Review: The Divergent Series by Veronica Roth

I picked up the first two books in the divergent series (3 books in total) last summer, they were Divergent and Insurgent.  This whole dystopian phase is going pretty strong right now and frankly it is right up my alley.  I loved the Hunger Game and Matched Series.  Then there is of course the new show Revolution on NBC. I just can't get enough of this stuff, so it was natural when I saw this on the shelf at Target to throw it into my cart. At last this fall the third and final book of the series Allegiant came out and it was flying off the shelves (of my Target anyway). I finally got my hands on it and was very pleased with the results. 

Before I get into the story too much, I have to comment on the writing style. It is a young adult novel as the first two books in the series are told by the main character, Beatrice, aka "Tris", a young girl embarking on her life after the choosing ceremony in a dystopian society - which in a way is a little bit like the whole "sorting hat" deal from Harry Potter, but who's keeping track?  The third novel in the series is told by two voices, Tris and Tobias, also known as "Four", who is the leading young man in all three books.  This was an interesting way to take the final book of the series and even though I enjoyed the content of this trilogy, I think that Ms. Roth could have done a better job with the writing style in the third book.  Tris and Four are so much a like that at many times, I forgot who was speaking.  There wasn't a different dialect that separated them or even much of a thought process at times.  This made it very difficult to follow and I'm an experienced reader.  I wonder how the younger crowd kept up with it.  In my opinion, to date the best person to write in this fashion is Chris Bohjalian.  I've read a few of his books and this is his favorite method of writing therefore he is spot on.  I can always tell who is narrating in the chapter in his books and without much thought about it.  Frankly that is how books like this are supposed to be written.  Check his out if you enjoyed this method of writing.  With all of this said, I believe these are Ms. Roth's first books to be published as she started the series while still a college student - kudos to her!

As a nod to the overall series, I did enjoy all three books and felt like they all contained content that served the story and plot.  Most importantly, I wanted to read them - all of them through to the end - which is unlike my feelings toward the Hunger Games where I thought the third book was misplaced and very difficult to read.  All three of the Divergent books fit together and the story unfolds in each one with the third one wrapping it all up but not in a weird or out of place fashion.  The flow is great and the character profiles build in each one.  Ms. Roth is not afraid to take risks throughout the books which I also really enjoy. I feel today that too many authors are writing just to please readers and book sales - but for some reason I did not feel like this series did that.  She had a definite outcome for her story and characters and she committed to it.  Her blog actually addresses this as many readers were upset with the ending - I however thought it was spot on.

I hate reviews or Wikipedia that essentially tell you the story or have spoilers in them, so I'll just tell you that the characters are strong, it is a new-ish take on a dystopian novel, and a superb read.  Please take the time to buy or check these books out from the library, you will not be disappointed.

If you are one of those types who would rather see the movie than the book, then you will not be disappointed.  Right now, the Divergent movie is set to release in March 2014.  I am a little bit worried about the actress selection for Tris, however.  Shailene Woodley is best known for her performance on The Secret Life of an American Teenager (ABC Family).  Yes, I watched the show - it was a total teenage train wreck and it was on ABC Family which is a fav network of mine.  Shailene was ok but not worthy of a strong, kick ass leading character in my mind, we'll see how it pans out. Theo James on the other hand looks like he'll make a great Four.  I'm excited to see how it turns out next spring!!!

Until next time,
J.K. Sasse

Giving Thanks 2013

Today is the day that I try to slow down and remember how truly lucky I am.  Even though it's Thanksgiving and everyone says what they are thankful for, I wonder how many people put their money where their mouths are?  I know for one that I do not entirely enough - I try but I can do better.  Below is a list of the things I am thankful for and what I can do better to make sure I am thankful for them for many years to come.

I am thankful for....

My Health:  I am overweight and I have been my entire life.  I came out at 10lbs 11oz and as far as I know I've never been skinny without extreme dieting or other health issues going on.  With all of that said, I'm relatively healthy.  I do have thyroid issues and hormone issues but neither of these are caused by being overweight - that I'm aware of.  With that said, I am so grateful that I do have my good health and I'm committed to getting to a healthy weight.  I've already lost 62lbs from my highest weight (without being pregnant) and I've started working out - walking and jogging mostly.  I am going to go to the YMCA on Friday and start a membership.  It is $1 to join and the month of December is FREE!  I've already scouted the classes that I would want to take and have a plan in place.  I'm very excited to add this to my workout schedule.  I'm also committing to eating more fruits and veggies - something that is super hard for me to do. I  want to know why it is so hard and just get to it.  It is after all the cornerstone of a healthy lifestyle.

My Family:  My husband and my children are my everything.  I am so grateful that we all have and love each other.  Even though everyone gets on my nerves at times - they are a true blessing.  I didn't date much in high school (because I was practically related to everyone!) and in college I was so focused on my school work that I just didn't get around to it - I know, lame, right?  So when I met my husband after going on many many 1st dates with random losers, it was like the heavens opened up and a gift was hand delivered to me.  Eleven and a half years later and we are still going strong!  I love him so much and he does so much for me and our kids.  Our kids were blessings that you just never sure will be bestowed upon you and even though they've given us a run for our money in several different ways, I wouldn't trade them for the world.  They are the best children ever and I'm not just saying that so they'll take care of me when I'm old and gray! I want to be more there more for them.  I want to slow down and take more time just to "be" with them.  They deserve it.

My Job and Our Income:  This spans just so many things that I am grateful for.  Both my husband and I have been employed our entire working lives. Yes there have been layoffs along the way, but nothing that lasted over a couple of months and that a severance didn't cover.  We are so lucky to have the jobs and careers that we do so we can support our family free from worry.  I also am so happy that I can use my income to help others.  I donate to a wide variety of funds (you can tell by how much mail I get from random organizations) each year and also am teaching my children to do this by donating gifts at Christmas time to Toys for Tots and non-perishable food items to the food shelf all year long.  These are tangible items that they help me shop for or collect in our home so they can actually see the giving happening.  When they are older with jobs, even though their incomes will be small, I will teach them that the more they give, the more they will have.  We are just so lucky!

Unlimited Food, Shelter, Clothes, and Warmth:  So many people do not have these basic necessities.  I've never had to budget our grocery shopping bill and do not know what it is like to have to choose between fresh fruit and laundry detergent OR worse yet, between food and heat.  Due to my grateful item above, myself and my family have always been covered on all of these fronts and for that I am eternally grateful.  So grateful that when I was at Wal-Mart last week, I saw a young mother with 4 children: 2 girls ages 5&4, a little boy who was just about 2, and a infant little girl - not even 1 yet.  It was about 20 degrees out with a -5 wind-chill.  Pretty cold.  They did not have coats, hats, or mittens.  The infant was dressed in a summer outfit and was covered with a worn thin blanket and the little boy had a short sleeve shirt on with shorts.  The rest of them had long pants, long shirts, and hoodies at least - but not enough to keep that kind of cold out.  My heart broke when I was watching them in line in front of me.  It wasn't until they were out of sight (yep they left the store that way) that I realized, I could buy them winter gear!  I hurried the cashier up who told me that they had just moved here and ran out to the parking lot.  I looked and looked but they were already gone.  I was so ashamed that I didn't stop her before she left the building.  I could have really helped and it pained me that I didn't have the courage to do this small task.  I have never known the cold like those children did that night and for that I am so grateful.  I am going to try to be brave and follow my heart in these situations.  I want to make a difference.

Our Support System:  This will be my last item for today as I plan on continuing this on Christmas Day and New Years Day.  I am so grateful for the support system that my family and I have.  Of course we still have our parents living (except for my mother) and my husband's parents are so good to us.  They take the kids any time they need us to and they are loving and giving - we all adore them.  We have good friends in our community who I know will be at our side.  My daughter (#1) has a friend from early days in daycare that I am very close with and they are a great support to me especially when it comes to having kids, navigating the school system, and other types of kid activities, etc....  We have met some amazing families through our Girl Scout troop that would be there for us in a blink of an eye if anything should happen to either of us or I just needed someone to talk to.  We also have fantastic friends that we've had since childhood.  My husband bowls with a friend from grade school and new friend (that he's now known for 10 years) and I know both of those men would be here for us if needed.  I have a dear friend from all the way back to 2nd grade who is always on the ready for me.  She is a true kindred spirit and I love her dearly.  I also know deep down in my heart that our neighbors and remaining community would rally for us as well. I've seen them do it as tragedy strikes our small-ish town.  They band together to help in a heroic fashion, it truly is amazing and that makes me feel like people here in our little space of the universe are really great people.  For all of these folks, thank you for always being there!  As for me, I want to make sure that people see me as someone that they can turn to for help, support, or a simple chat.  I want to be a part of your support system and I will make it a goal to let them know this.

That's it for today!  I am grateful for so many more things but for now these are the top items that I ponder on a daily basis and thank God for them.  We are truly blessed!  How are you blessed?  What are you grateful today on this bountiful Thanksgiving 2013?

Until next time,
J.K. Sasse

Recipe: Gluten Free Roasted Pears and Cranberries

My Weight Watcher leader gave me this recipe off the top of her head as we were prepping for Thanksgiving. She said it was the best cranberry dish she has ever eaten and since I'm not a huge fan of cranberries (or fruit in general - GASP, I know, right?), I thought, I should give it a try to see if it would change my mind and my eating habits (meaning - girl, you need to eat more fruit!). Originally she said the recipe had a cup of brown sugar and a stick (1/2 cup) of butter or something ridiculous like that. She lightened it up a bit and I put a tad back more in because it is all just fruit for cripes sake. I figure it's a win/win situation here - two kinds of fruit and little bit of fat and sweetness added.  The best thing about this recipe is that it is naturally gluten free! Yahoo!

All you need to do is cut up the pears and pour on the brown sugar/butter mixture.

Roast 'em until they are browning and bubbling.  Then add in your cranberries.  I used these because they are readily available right now and are super delicious -make sure you rinse them well!

 

Once everything is all roasted together it comes out looking like this!

Roasted Pears and Cranberries

Ingredients:
3 Tbs. butter (or light butter)
3 Tbs. light brown sugar - packed
6 Pears - variety of colors, shapes and sizes
12oz bag of Cranberries - rinsed thoroughly

Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Core and slice the pears leaving the skins on (you can peel them if you want but the skins give great color and a health component.)
3. Place sliced pears on a cookie sheet that is lined with non-stick aluminum (you can substitute this with regular foil and cooking spray.)
4. Melt the butter in the microwave and stir in the light brown sugar until completely incorporated.
5. Drizzle the butter/sugar mixture over the pears and place the pan in hot oven.  Roast for 30 minutes or until the pears start to brown.
6. Remove the pan from the oven and add the washed cranberries to the pan - toss completely to make sure the cranberries are coated with the pan juices.
7. Return the pan to the oven and continue to roast 10-15 minutes until the cranberries are soft and they have popped. Don't worry, they do not pop like popcorn so it will not go all over your oven.
8. Pour pan contents into a large serving bowl and toss thoroughly.
9. This can be served warm or cold.  The kids liked it with a dollop of whipped cream.

Enjoy!

Until Next Time,
J.K. Sasse

The Blog Name and Identity

So this week, I was doing some research on how to get more traffic to my little blog and found out that I am indexed on Google but not on Bing.  And don't ya know you need to be indexed on BOTH.  Uh, ok.  What I did find is that there are other people called "The Sassy Lady". With really nice logos and long time blogs. Well, crap. 

I just started this blog a couple of months ago and I'm not really married to the name, so I guess I could change it up but man that is a lot to ask for.  Since my last name is Sasse (the e is silent), it just seemed fun to make a pun out of "Sassy".  However, I'm not really sure I'm a "Sassy Lady".  My idea of a fun night is sitting at home on the couch trying to catch up with my DVR'd shows.  Exciting, eh?  Not exactly Sassy though my personality is pretty sassy and anyone I know will tell you that immediately, so that is why I went with it.

Now, that I'm a whole 2 months in, I'm not sure it fits what I write about or me.  I'm all over the map, kids, recipes, PSAs, crafts (it's coming - I promise!), etc... so maybe something that fits that is better.  The big question is, do I keep the "Sassy" part or leave it out?  I also know how important it is to build a brand, so you can't really just switch every six months and hope to find a following or a brand.  This is going to be hard - I want this to encompass who I am and who I might be.  I'm hoping not only to share with the world on this blog but to find myself a little bit.  I know that sounds so 90's new age, but it's true and heck, I was only in my teens and early 20's in the 90's so I was just trying to survive let alone 'find myself'.  I guess I'll just need to start from scratch and brainstorm (or storyboard for those of you really up on it all).... hmmm.... let's see what I've come up with so far:

Chronicles: I really like this word and for some reason, it just jumped out at me recently.  So if take that to the next level what could I do with it?

Sassy Chronicles: This is good, still has the Sassy, but maybe it's too simple?

J.K. Sasse Chronicles:  Seems kind of long winded and who the heck is J.K anyways?  Is this person just trying to copy J.K. Rowling?  Could this help with web searches though?  Anyone who searches for J.K. Rowling may end up getting my site too - that would not be unfortunate.

Sasse Chronicles:  This at least uses my real last name and people will say "sassy" when they read this no matter how many times I would correct them - that's cool, it gets my name and the sassy across.

Mommy Chronicles:  Yea I'm a mom but that is not all that I am.  I'm so many things, and I'm not sure I'm just trying to reach a 'mommy' crowd, know what I mean?  I'm pretty sure this one's already taken by at least 100 or so Moms.

The Working Mom Chronicles:  Again, yes I'm a working mom, but is that all I am.  I'm pretty sure that it's not and what happens when my kids are out of the house?  How do I keep up that mirage?

The Chronicles: Like I'm the only chronicle out there - yeah, sure.  Delusional party of one.  I'm also pretty sure this one is taken but some big wig somewhere.

Gluten Free Chronicles:  Yes, we are gluten free, but again, this does not define me or what I'm about.  Maybe some day it will or could, we'll see.

Crazy Chronicles:  Well, I'm definitely a little goofy and things do get crazy around here.  It's also fun, but will people think this is a mental health blog?

The Everything Chronicles:  I like this - kind of like an everything bagel.  Which by the way I just tried the everything GF crackers by Vans -super yummy, but I digress.  This is a pretty cool name and doesn't limit me to just one thing.  There is of course already the "Chronicles of Everything" written by a 23 year old Australian.  Which kind of baffles me - how at 23 can you know everything or even chronicle it?  Stop it mean old lady - just stop it.

The Chronicles for All that is Good:  This alone is just way too long!  I'll have to come with an acronym and who wants that?

The Nothing Chronicles: This is an antonym of everything but it just seems so negative.

Chronicles of Sasse:  Which essentially is like the one above, just reworded.  I'm not sure that I'm a fan of the "Chronicles of" wording.....

Wanna Be Chronicles: I am a wanna be or want to be of so many things - but again, maybe too negative.  People also might start thinking my name is Wanna Be.  Not good.

Chronicles of a Jack (or Jill) of all Trades:  Wow - another long winded title.  Enough said.

The Chronicles of All:  This is a little too broad I think and a little 'out there'.

Suburban Chronicles:  Since I'm not a Pioneer Woman, I was wondering what type of regional woman am I.  I guess I'm a suburbanite.  Though technically we are even further out than that but not really rural either.  I'm not feeling this.

What do you think?  If anyone is reading this, please leave a comment and let me know your thoughts!

I'm not sure if I'll settle on something soon but I'm committed to changing in the next few months and getting more of a real site set up.  Stay tuned....

Until next time...
J.K. Sasse

PSA: Coping with a Child Tonsillectomy

There is never a good time to talk about your child having to undergo surgery.  It just down right stinks and it's super scary.  Our little guy, lovingly called #2 on this blog, has had four surgeries in his first 4 years of life.  It never got any easier and I hated every minute of it but it clearly improved the quality of his life, so we went for it. 

Today, I'll speak about the third surgery that he had when he was 3 - the tonsillectomy.  I'm hoping that I can prepare you for what is coming and how to deal with the situation.  Please note however that I am not a medical professional.  You should talk to your Ear, Nose, and Throat physician (ENT) and primary care physician (PCP) about any outstanding questions or issues that you may have prior to the surgery.

#2's story goes like this.  He had chronic ear infections as an infant (starting at 4 months) most likely due to the horrid reflux he endured and being in a daycare center where he picked up many viruses and infections.  By the time he was 8 months old, he had complete hearing loss therefore his first surgery was to put in ear tubes.  This helped tremendously with his hearing- yahoo!  But it had already impacted his development (another post on this coming in the new year - I promise!).  We were doing pretty well, but he continued to have chronic sinus infections through the spring so we went to a children's ENT who recommended having his adenoids removed at 15 months but not the tonsils as tonsillectomies are very difficult on small children due to the possibility of blood draining down their throat and at this age they do not have the cognitive skills to deal with it.  Bleh.  That sounds gross, dangerous, and we were not that desperate so we did not push it.  Honestly, things went pretty well too for most of the next year and a half.  Yes he was sick, but it wasn't anything super detrimental or chronic. 

After #2 turned three years old, we planned our first family trip - on an airplane!! - to Las Vegas for my sister-in-law's wedding.  We were all so excited about it.  The day before we were to leave, #2 started acting a little strange and vomited at dinner.  Hmmm, interesting.  But he seemed fine so we got up early the next day and headed out.  I brought snacks for breakfast and he refused to eat anything except a $7 cheese stick I purchased at a snack stand.  Ok, this was not good but he still seemed pretty ok.  We flew to Vegas with no issues.  Another red flag was when we were enroute to the SIL's house and #2 fell asleep in the car.  He never.ever.ever. falls asleep in the car.  I said to my husband, "this is either a miracle, or he is sick."

He tossed and turned all night and snored like a freight train but we were used to that - he's always snored his entire life - even as an infant.  He woke up with completely crusted closed shut eyes - so immediately, I was relieved, thank god - it's just pink eye.  After we finally found a Dr. that would take children (Vegas - you are very scary in this respect), we found out that he had either strep or tonsillitis as well and the Dr. wouldn't even take a throat culture because he said, "those things are HUGE!"  Once he was on meds, he started to get better and was on the mend. Thankfully his ENT check up was scheduled for when we got back, so there wasn't much else we could do, so we hit the strip like any normal parents with children in Vegas would do.  The rest of our vacation was great!

Fast forward to this ENT appointment after we get back.  I'm not sure what I was expecting but the minute he looked in #2's mouth and exclaimed, "WHOA!" I knew that we were in for it.  Yes, he confirmed that he needed to get his tonsils out.  They were very large and most likely was impacting his sleep, mood, and overall health.  Great.  Here we go!

Thankfully we were able to schedule the procedure to take place in just two weeks.  I was so thankful for this and that's when I started combing the internet and asking people I knew who had kids that had gone through this before for advice.  What do we do? how do we handle this? I will try to outline the best I can how in order to help you manage through this so it is the least disruptive to your family - again remember I am not a medical professional so please run all suggestions by your ENT or PCP.

Scheduling The Procedure

• Make sure to schedule your procedure as early in the morning as you can.  They are not allowed to eat or drink beforehand so you will not want to have them starving all day and begging for food before the surgery. This will just amplify the stress for everyone.
• Ensure the surgery scheduler gives you all the Pre-Operative (pre-op) information and the pre op form for your PCP to fill out.
• If you are working parents, schedule the surgery for a Friday.  This way you'll have all day Friday and the weekend to recover.  This will minimize your time off from work.
• Also note, if your child is under 5 years old, they will ask you to prepare for an overnight stay due the young age of the patient.

Prior To The Procedure

• Schedule and go to your pre-op appointment.  There are different guidelines for each procedure and hospital so please follow the instructions that you got when you scheduled the surgery (the surgery scheduler should give this to you).  Also do not worry about getting into your PCP for this.  They save appointments just for this, so you can get this accomplished during the time allowed.  DO NOT SKIP THIS STEP.  If you do, most likely they will not allow the procedure to take place.
• Pre-register with the hospital. This is painless and super easy. Our hospital called us and it took all of 5 minutes.  This means you do not have to go through all of this when you get there which saves time for you.
• Do your research.  Google the procedure, jot down the questions you have for the ENT and do not be shy about it.  This is your child and you need to be aware of everything that is a possibility from after care to pharmaceuticals that they can have post surgery including dosage and options for break through pain.
• Schedule care for other children for the night before and/or afterwards the procedure.  #1 stayed overnight the night before the procedure at a friends house and they took her to daycare for us since their child attended the same one.  This was a huge stress relief for us.  You need to put all of your attention into the child who is having the surgery and you do not want to wake up other kids to leave at the crack of dawn if you don't have to.
• Back an overnight bag.  As noted above we were told that since #2 was under the age of 5 that we should expect to stay the night due the seriousness of the surgery and his young age.  Make sure to include their favorite blankee or stuffed animal. This always helps with cuddling afterwards.
• Make it fun!  We let #2 pick out new slippers and jammies that he could wear.  We also purchased an after surgery toy for him to keep him happy and busy while we stayed at the hospital.
• Bring toys and activities.  You do not want to have a bored kid in the hospital so make sure to pack an activity bag for those long hospital hours.
• Keep the child hydrated up until the liquid cut off time.  They always say that staying hydrated is the best medicine for speedy recoveries and I believe 'em!
• Bring snacks and stuff for yourself.  Unless you want to eat hospital food or junk from the vending machine this is a good idea to keep you going.
• Bring books, magazines or other things to keep yourself occupied.  This surgery is not long but the last thing you want to do is to just sit there worrying.  This will also help fill time afterwards as well.
• Bring food your know your kid will like. I made sure to bring apple juice and other beverages that I knew #2 preferred just in case.  We did not need to use it but we were prepared.
• Bring all medicine or other items you need to generally care for your child.  Most likely the hospital will not have them if you need specialty items.
• Follow all pre-op instructions regarding medications that the child should not have before hand and food/liquid intake.
• Set up child's room with post op items (see below).  This may have to take place if you are super busy with multiple children or doing this on your own.  You'll want to make sure you are available for your child when you get home instead of setting up his/her room.
• Ensure you have the "ok" post op foods in your home like juice, popsicles, Jell-O, etc... This should have been sent home with your pre-op information.  You'll want to be prepared for when you all come home from the hospital.
• Let your child go in their jammies and put in a movie on the way there if you have this capability.  This was the least disruptive for us and kept #2 calm for the ride into the hospital.

At The Procedure

• Make sure to arrive on time so you can check in smoothly.  This should only take a few minutes since you pre-registered.
• Have your questions ready for the surgeon/ENT.  They should come out and meet with you prior to the surgery - ours answered every single question we had and didn't bat an eyelash at our long list.
• Here is when you get to ask about post operative medication.  Make sure you talk about what kind of pain medication the ENT will prescribe and the dosing.  Ask about the maximum dosing and the minimum dosing.  Ask about how long they should be on the max dose of meds and if you can supplement with anything if there is break through pain.  Do not be shy!  This is your child and the number 1 rule post op is staying ahead of the pain.  Once you get behind it, it will be a nightmare for everyone.
• Also ask about any side effects to the pain medications.  Some are constipating so you might need to use a stool softener - make sure you run all of this by your ENT before giving anything to your child.
• Help your child through any questions that may come up.  We had someone come in and ask #2 what flavor of sleeping medicine he wanted.  This was pretty exciting for him.  Make sure to help answer any questions that any of the staff had.  We had great nurses so it was easy for us.
• Prepare to meet with the anesthesiologist.  The anesthesiologist that will be working with your child should come into the room before hand and meet with you.  They will ask you questions about your child's history with going under and/or any family history with it.  Again we had a great anesthesiologist who answered all of our questions and kept us at ease for the procedure.
• Ask if you can be brought back to see your child through the meds to put him to sleep.  This was SUPER hard for me. I just could not do it without crying or being upset, so my husband went.  Thank God he was of the right mind to go hold him and kiss him as they put him under - it is important that they know everything is going to be ok.  If you are going to cry or freak out then this is not the job for you.  You want your child to remain calm and peaceful during this time.
• Ask if you can be in the room post op room when they are waking up.  Our hospital generally did not allow this, however #2 started asking me for this so I was allowed to go back.  Once I knew everything was ok, I had no issues rushing to his side and cuddling him!!

Post Procedure

• After the surgery, the ENT/surgeon will come out and talk to you about how it went.  Make sure you ask him/her any outstanding questions that you missed before and talk about when you need to make the next appoint for a check up. They should also tell you the number to call if you should have any issues after you bring your child home.  They want to help so make sure to get all of this information.
• Ask what it will take to be discharged.  The ENT/surgeon does not wait around but they do leave instructions on the minimum criteria the patient must meet before your child can be discharged.  We had to drink so much and be eating - which #2 did both of these items the same day and we got to go home!!!
• Ensure that your child is getting the full amount of pain meds at the shortest interval that the ENT/surgeon will allow.  The number rule to a child tonsillectomy is staying ahead of the pain!
• Fill the pain medication and any other prescriptions before you leave the hospital.  This is super important as you do not want to waste time with your local pharmacy that we all know takes five hours to fill an aspirin.  Each hospital should have a pharmacy on site that you can fill your prescriptions.
• Be prepared for lots of cuddling and TV time.  I don't know why but being in the hospital slows time down to a crawl.  I do not understand this phenomenon.  But it's a great time to spend some 1:1 time with the patient before having to go home to other kids and responsibilities.
• Once you are discharged, plan to go directly home.  Make sure you have the discharge instructions and have everything on hand to keep your child hydrated.
• Before you leave, make sure you note the last time that your child received their pain medication in your log (a small notebook or sheets of paper - just have something to write it all down in).    The number rule to a child tonsillectomy is staying ahead of the pain!

Being Comfortable At Home

• Once you are home ensure that you have a pain medication log (see above before leaving the hospital).  I kept a small notebook with the last time that #2 received pain meds in the hospital and then wrote down the next time that he was due to receive meds.  This again was the maximum dosage at the earliest time available.   The number rule to a child tonsillectomy is staying ahead of the pain! DO NOT MISS A DOSE!
•  Keep the log on hand at all times and ensure all adults caring for your child know about it.  It is essential to keep ahead of the pain and by now I sound like a broken record but if you do not do this, your child's recovery will be very painful.
• In order to keep on track with the meds, set up your child's room so that you can sleep with them. Since #2 was so small, I wanted to make sure that I was with him for the first few nights of sleep to ensure he didn't have any issues. I set up an air mattress in his room for me along with an alarm clock that I would set for his next medication dosage.  Yes, this will seem like you have an infant again, but believe me - You want to keep ahead of the pain!
• Keep the sleeping room moist.  Set up a cool air humidifier in your child's room to ensure that his passages and throat remain moist and hydrated.
• Pack a cooler with beverages for middle of the night sipping.  Every time I woke #2 up for his pain meds, I also made him drink some cool water or juice to ensure that his throat was staying super moist.
• Push the liquids during the day - again keep the throat as moist as possible.
• Note that your child will have super bad breath.  This is from the cauterization of the wound.  It is gross and will not be pleasant. Keeping it moist helps - believe me.
• If your child is feeling up to it, let them have soft solid foods like ice cream, Jell-O, and puddings.  Also, feel free to let them have Popsicles, fudgsicles, etc...
• If they are feeling really well (this means you are doing a great job staying ahead of the pain - good job!), then you may want to try some soft but more solid foods like scrambled eggs, watermelon and possibly other fruits like peeled grapes, over cooked mac-n-cheese (which sounds gross but it's super soft), room temp oatmeal, room temp cream of wheat.  Make sure the food is room temp or cooler.  You do not want to burn or aggravate that healing throat.
• Play it by ear for when to introduce other foods.  We did such a good job with the pain control that #2 was demanding regular food by day 3.  We took it easy and introduced some 'new' foods (cut up lunch meat, more fruits and soft veggies) but he wasn't eating anything crunchy  or foods that could scrape his throat (toast, chips, cold cereals, etc..) until at least day 5. We only offered it in small amounts to see how he would do with it.  Just remember, to take it slow.
• Plan on being super low key and staying around home for the first 3-4 days of recovery.  This will ensure a controlled environment that you can keep moist, you'll have the pain meds and log handy as well as beverages and foods that your child can eat.

Other Recovery Items

• Determine when to send your child back to daycare.  We had our surgery on a Monday so we stayed home the entire week, but honestly, he was probably ready to go back by day 4 or so.  He was doing so great because we stayed ahead of the pain and frankly he was getting bored with us. As long as your daycare is on board with giving the pain meds as directed by you and can offer the types of foods the your child is up to eating, then it should be fine to go back.
• Weaning off pain meds is an important topic and something you may want to discuss with your ENT/surgeon or PCP.  We gave #2 the full dosage of pain meds for quite some time and after 4-5 days we started spreading the dosages out to see what would happen and if he could tolerate it. Again this is where your pain med log will come in very handy.  This will also allow life to get back to normal, which will help with everyone's mood!
• We were weaned off pain meds completely by the end of the second week - I think it was around day 12 or 13 but every child will be different, so  you need to assess your situation.
• If you do not keep ahead of the pain you're going to have to use the additional medications for break out pain.  Make sure you add this to your pain med log just like everything else. 
• Unfortunately if you do not stay ahead of the pain your child most likely will not want to eat or drink which will not keep the throat moist and it may also cause constipation.

This was a lot of information and honestly, take it all with a grain of salt because I tend to go super overboard on this type of stuff but there was no way that I wanted to see my baby in pain. I had heard horror stories from friends and read a few on the Internet too.  That was sooooo not going to happen on my watch.  If I leave you with anything from this entire blog post it should be this:

Keep it moist and stay ahead of the pain!!!

Until next time...
J.K. Sasse

P.S. I will keep this updated as I remember helpful tips!