Rhode Island el 9 y 10 de julio

Vamos a continuar lo que pasó en Rhode Island.
el 10 de julio

En la mañana fuimos a la playa - Horse Neck - en el estado de Massachussetts.











Pasando por las dunas hay una playa limpia y súper entretenida.










Hoy hicimos una castilla de arena... y Jonathan de nuevo observando la naturaleza de la región...











En el agua con "La Viuda Alegre" - Sonja











Paola con Mami... Jonathan, Gabby, Anna y Paola con Omi Sonja. :)

Después de la playa, fuimos a la Universidad de Brown, localizada en Providence, RI.










Mirando la arquitectura linda de Brown... edificios antiguos al lado de edificios modernos. Que bonito!










Jonathan le interesa ingenería... vamos a ver.










Gabby y Anna en el coche de gua gua.

Entremedio de la playa y Brown, los niños jugando con Uki y Leo.

Rhode Island en julio 8 y 9

Rhode Island con Omi Sonja y Tía Carolina!

Primer Día - 8 de julio
Después del vuelo, Sonja nos llevó a Ben & Jerry's - una heladera en Providence. Jonathan, Gabby, y Anna encantaron el helado... pero Paola estaba durmiendo. Eso es lo que pasa cuando no tomes una ciesta en el avion. :)











Después de la heladera, algo verdaderamente dulce pasó... Ellos vieron a Carolina por la primera vez en 5 años. Paola todavía estaba durmiendo.










Mas tarde almorzemos en el jardín...










Y fuimos inmediatamente a la playa... La Playa "RISD"










Corriendo en el pasto... haciendo sirenitas en la arena...










Jonathan admirando la naturalesa en la mar... peces, cangrejos, piedras, conchitas, corriendo hasta que estaba cansado... que placer!











Por fín, todos juntos!












Adios playa... por el momento

Día número dos:
Buenos días Jonathan, Gabby, Anna, y Paola (miren que Paola le gusta dormir entre los colchones de las camas) :)










Los niños y yo adoramos dormir en un cuarto juntos así, es como ir de camping!

How to make Gluten Pot Pie

1. Make the Gluten - recipe from "Cooking by the Book: God's eating plan as unfolded through scripture - Marcella Lynch "Gluten is the protein of wheat" - it is a meat substitute.

Place 8 cups whole wheat flour in mixer - slowly add 3 to 4 cups water. Mix and knead well for at least 5 minutes (this develops the gluten, very important)

Take dough out of mixer and place in bowl. Cover the dough with cold water and let stand for anywhere between 1 hour and overnight (I cover it with a cloth). This loosens the starch.









Wash out the starch in the sink by kneading the dough under running water.
Before washing:









During the washing, it appears as if it's going to fall apart... keep going

The milky substance is starch. If you had to, you could save it and use it to starch your clothing. Place in water bottle and spray. Keep rinsing.









After the starch is gone, then you see these small brown pieces... that's the wheat germ... same stuff you buy at the store to put on top of your icecream or yoghurt. You could dry it out on a pan in the oven and store.

You are left with the protein. I lay it down on a cutting board and cut it out like "stew meat" sized pieces. Actually smaller... no bigger than 1 inch cubed.

2. Season the gluten

Savory broth (for light chicken-like color)

1 quart water

1 Tbsp nutritional food yeast flakes (I use Brewer's Yeast)

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp. celery seed

1/4 tsp sage

1/4 tsp thyme

1/2 tsp cumin, ground

1/2 tsp coriander, ground

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp tarragon

1/4 tsp rosemary

1/2 tsp turmeric

2 Tbsp turmeric

2 Tbsp corn oil

1 tsp chicken style seasoning

Combine all ingredients into large cooking pot. Bring to boil. Drop cut pieces of gluten into broth and reduce heat so gluten simmers but does not boil rapidly (rapidly boiling broth produces tough gluten steaks). Simmer gluten in broth for 45 minutes to 1 hour.

See how it absorbs the water! Afterwards I usually dry it out in the oven so it's tougher on the outside, but this day I didn't have as much time...

3. Gluten pot pie: Recipe from "Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook" Substitute Gluten for Chicken...

Pastry for double-crust pie:

2 cups all-purpose (or wheat) flour - 1/2 tsp salt, 2/3 cup shortening or lard - mix until it becomes pieces the size of small peas. Add 6 to 7 Tablespoons cold water (I put cup filled with water and ice, take Tablespoon and start measuring out into bowl of flour mixture) - Divide dough in half.

Potpie:

1 10-ounce package frozen peas and carrots (or fresh)

1/2 cup chopped onion

1/2 cup chopped fresh mushrooms

1/4 cup margarine or butter

1/3 cup all-purpose or whole wheat flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon dried sage, marjoram, or thyme, crushed

1/8 teaspoon pepper

2 cups chicken broth

3/4 cup milk (or 3 T powdered milk and 3/4 cup water)

3 cups cubed cooked seasoned gluten

1/4 cup snipped parsley

1/4 cup chopped pimiento

Prepare pastry: set aside. Cook peas and carrots according to package directions; drain. In a saucepan cook onion and mushrooms in margarine or butter till tender. Stir in flour; salt; sage, marjoram, or thyme; and pepper. Add chicken broth and milk all at once. Cook and stir till thickened and bubbly. Stir in drained peas and carrots, seasoned gluten, parsley, and pimiento; heat till bubbly.

Roll pastry into a 13 x 9 inch rectangle. Place over the 12 x 7 1/2 x 2 inch bakng dish. Pour in gluten pot pie mixture. Place 2nd rectangle pastry on top. Flute edges of pastry and cut slits in the top for steam to escape. Bake in a 450 degree oven for 12 to 15 minutes or till pastry is golden brown. Serves 6.

Enjoy!

mayo II - May II

Our computer has been down for a long time... Danny fixed it last Saturday, THANK YOU DANNY! I'm processing some tomato sauce and so I thought I'd write a bit on the blog while keeping my ears out for popping quart jars... :)

May was super busy... for many reasons, but the most important reasons were because:

1. It was Danny's 36th birthday and Mother's Day
2. Jonathan's was promoted from Elementary School to Middle School.
3. Gabby was Star of the Month and earns light green belt for TaeKwon Do.
4. Anna is finishes Pre-K and has has been accepted to a great Kindergarten school. She also is accepted to swim team and gymnastics.
5. Paola is cute and loving as usual. Growing up so much each day. ALMOST potty trained!

1. May is Danny's birthday and Mother's Day. Funny how June is Father's Day and my birthday. There is balance in our relationship that way. :)

For Mother's Day, Danny met me at work with this bouquet of flowers and took me out for lunch. After the utter shock and embarrassment of the whole situation, it was fun having him there! I resisted the urge of trying to plant the flowers in dirt ASAP to see if they would take root. Instead, I kindly accepted his loving gesture and we had a wonderful time. We appreciated the flowers as they were with us. Thank you sweetie!

For Danny's birthday we gave him a book of rare coins and bought him a silver dollar that will some day hopefully be worth money, while presenting him with breakfast in bed and treated him like a king all day.

Here are some of the younger Primary Children preparing for a Mother's Day song. So cute!

2. Jonathan is an official 6th grade Middle Schooler!

Can you believe that Jonathan's starting MIDDLE SCHOOL in August? I can't. Someone pinch me please, We're the parents of a Middle Schooler! Ack! The festivities started with Field Day. 5th grade Dual Language came away with the 1st place trophy! That's what happens when you're together for 6 to 7 years, you learn how to work well in your group.

Ari and Jonathan Deova and Jonathan

Winning the cup!

Other festivities included Regal Ranch, Karl Young, Willow Pool, and last (but not least!) promotion from 5th grade to Middle School! Go Jonathan!

Here he is with family and his 5th grade teacher. It was a tough year, but Jonathan grew in leaps and bounds and is now seeing the benefits of his rewards... just as Meg in "A Wrinkle Through Time" this year was Jonathan's year to grow into himself... and I think he's done a fine job... however... now that he's mastered Elementary School life... of course it is now time to start all over again and begin a new adventure... called Middle School!

Proof that he was promoted! :)

3. Gabby elated to learn that she was Star of the Month for the month of May... last month of the year! She's been waiting to be picked for so long! At home she is our star every day!

Here is our mild mannered Gabby... earning a lt. green belt?! Yes, she has found an appropriate aggressive outlook that she loves! Gabby has been whizzing by fast in TaeKwonDo... can you tell she's related to Uncle Matt? In one month she went from Orange to Yellow to Lt Green Belt... You go girl! Master Giambi has high hopes for Gabby and she's ready to take on the challenge. :)

Here she is... a little nervous at first... victorious at the end! Anna watching very closely of course...

3rd grade Dual Language also came away with 1st place trophy to Field Day (what can I say, Dual Language is the best place for kiddos!)

Lorraine, Gabby, Janet, Angie, and Natalia... ready for a run! Gabby dropping the final cup of water, filling the bucket to overflowing! Yeay!

After Field Day, the 3rd graders had the wonderful opportunity to spend a week in their classrooms in tents! Fun!

4. In May, Amy was my fun brain... with Jonathan and Gabby's schedules and other stresses tugging on me, I really appreciated Amy being the fun one organizing field trips for Pre-K and helping me to just get out of the box I was fixated in. Once in May we went to the San Jacinto Monument and had a WONDERFUL time exploring nature and learning more of the History of Houston and Texas. http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/spdest/findadest/parks/battleship_texas/

Relaxing during lunch... Anna taking pictures of energetic Drystan and of Alex holding a baby praying mantis (that was so neat! Praying Manti are so cute when they're little!)

Kayle, the allosaurus. Paola, 'la traviesa'.

Exhausted on the way home. Kayle and Paola are so funny together!

Another fun trip Amy organized was at Memorial Park and walking around the grounds of the Houston Arboretum and Nature Center. http://www.houstonarboretum.org/

Dragonflies and frogs... Now this is my kind of place!

Alex, future biologist (or paleontologist - he has an obsession with dinosaurs!) He reminds me a lot of Jonathan when he was younger... And afterwards, finding a really neat park to hide under the shade and make new friends while eating lunch and playing in 100+ degree weather.

Anna attended some getting-to-know you Kindergarten socialization activities at her new school. Here she is among the crowd.

Some more big news! She made the swim team this year! Here she is swimming her complete lap ("The Test") and cute Paola cheering on her big sister. Paola will miss Anna so much next year!

5. Here's Paola - watching, absorbing, supporting, loving others around her. We're so glad to have her in our family! Here she is watching Anna stretch during the beginning of swim practice. Can you notice she's not wearing a diaper!? She's (almost) officially potty trained! Yeay!

This movie was taken during Field Day. Here she is entertaining herself quite well... and look how she handles the older child pushing her on her way up the ladder. She can definately handle herself. She is ready for Kindergarten already... too bad she isn't old enough yet.

Well, spagghetti sauce has been processed and is cooling (smells so yummy... I feel good that there are fresh yummy veggies for the children to eat this year... Anna eats foods we make, and so I'm eager to see if she will eat the spaghetti sauce... she loves the salsa we made Saturday!)... and I hope you enjoy the month of May. With Paola awake now on my lap, I bit you farewell... and hopefully soon, good night.

:)