I am great at collecting ideas on pinterest. I am so-so at actually doing anything with them. This week, however, I’m on a kick implementing one after another. The egg yolk glossy hair trick did not go well. Neither did the soap-scum remover, clearly intended for a glass door not tiles. But the gluten-free chocolate chunk vitatop knock-off muffins I threw together last night? Amazing. They could fit into just about any diet with slight alterations if needed (e.g sub out yogurt to go nondairy). As is they are wheat & nut free. We are talking delicious and nutritious, ingredients like oats, greek yogurt, and applesauce, stats like 95 cal, 3 g fat, 4 g sugar for a HUGE muffin (half that for a normal sized one), moist, chocolately, delish. Check out the blog, whip some up, and amaze yourself. You will not be sorry.

Triple Chocolate Chunk Muffins by Dashing Dish

Every time I bring the kids grocery shopping, something extra ends up in the cart, whether it’s fruit they chose, a snack they beg for, or a treat for me since I’m suddenly exhausted corralling everyone along. On my last grocery excursion with kids in tow I let Zach pick out whichever peanut butter he wanted (because sometimes he sees other brands besides the best – JIF – and wants to try them) and he happened to see a PB alternative he wanted to get for Bryce to try. And thus we stumbled upon wowbutter, peanut-free, tree-nut free, even dairy- egg- and gluten-free.

Its claims are outrageous, including:

WOWBUTTER: Bridging the gap between allergic and non-allergic students in order to provide a healthier, safer, more united and happier school environment!

I mean, it’s not going to save the world, but I would agree with another statement:

WOWBUTTER is the only product with a taste, texture and nutrition just like peanut butter.

It really does taste like peanuts. I don’t know how they do it, with just “Non GMO Toasted Soy, Soy Oil, Granulated Cane Sugar, Monoglyceride (from vegetable oil, prevents oil separation) and Sea Salt.” It provides protein, fiber, and no transfats, it tastes good, and it really does taste like peanuts. Did I say that already? I’m still surprised.

Oh – and most significantly, because the rest would be moot otherwise – Bryce loves it.

Less than a year ago Zachary broke out in a strange rash that started on his scalp and had us and his pediatrician totally mystified. Our dermatologist took one look, however, and recognized it as guttate psoriasis. Uncommon, but since (plaque) psoriasis runs on Jason’s side of the family it wasn’t totally left-field. Now fast-forward 10 months later and here I am with the same type of pink, scaly marks on my arms and sure enough, doc diagnoses me with guttate psoriasis too. This means it has been in my genetic makeup for 30+ years without surfacing and the culprit who tainted my son with the affliction is me! In general, it is a condition that is cyclical and can remain dormant for prolonged periods, and doesn’t pose any real threat other than being unattractive. Here’s the part that has me curious, though. Psoriasis is an autoimmune disease. So just like food allergies, there is a trigger set off in the body to overreact to substances it thinks are harmful (but are not) and treats the body as if it’s under attack when it’s actually not. So I’m just curious about the connection and how it all works in the body. I doubt we will have answers in our generation, at least not enough to keep up with the complexity of the human body. Truly, we are fearfully and wonderfully made, designed from the start by God (Psalm 139:14-16) yet experiencing the effects of a sin-cursed world.

Not a real upbeat post here, huh? Well, no, not if our hope is in this life only! How about woohoo for those glorified bodies God is preparing??? And in case you’re wondering what will our glorified bodies look like, Randy Alcorn would like to answer that for you here. He concludes with, “Inside your body, even if it is failing, is the blueprint for your resurrection body. You may not be satisfied with your current body or mind—but you’ll be thrilled with your resurrection upgrades. With them you’ll be better able to serve and glorify God and enjoy an eternity of wonders he has prepared for you.” One day disease and deformity and deterioration will cease and health, wholeness and never-ending life will be the new norm!

Allerbling – fun name, first of all. And secondly, highly practical. My friend, Emily, sent me a link to their website a couple years ago and I bought a bracelet for Bryce immediately. He was 3-years old, recently diagnosed with a dairy and egg allergy added to his nut allergy, and we were looking ahead to situations such as a week at Maranatha, where he would be supervised by college students and fed snacks daily. He was a little young to trust to communicate his allergy or to evaluate if something was safe, and just writing down or telling the person at check-in seemed inadequate. So we trained him to show the child care workers his bracelet (which he loved and was so happy to wear! made him feel special I think) when it was snack-time, so they could remember about his allergies and confirm the snack was safe. I also checked in ahead of time to see what was being served, read the ingredients, and make contact with someone in the room familiar with food allergies and label-reading, but this was a good double-check. He still chooses to bring it to school, kept primarily in his backpack, but he’ll slip it on occasionally too. There are so many things he can’t have that others can that I kinda like when there is something he has that others don’t, even if it’s a bright orange rubber bracelet.

Some friends and I carved pumpkins Saturday night:

We saved the seeds and I roasted them up:

1. Sort seeds from pulp; strain.

2. Boil in heavily salted water for about 20 min (until they turn gray).

3. Preheat oven to 300F.

4. Oil baking sheet or dish (one with a lip all around if you don’t want to start a fire and/or lose all your seeds).

5. Toss seeds in oil and spread so they are pretty much in a single layer.

6. Roast 40 minutes, stirring every 10-15.

I did one batch with olive oil and sea salt and the other with butter and cinnamon sugar. I loved them both and it occurred to me they are allergy-friendly and actually pack some hard-to-get-in-your-average-diet nutrients (e.g., manganese, magnesium, iron), so bonus! Here’s an article from Whole Foods on their merit, in case it will sway you:  Pumpkin Seeds Are Healthy

The seeds actually make it worth the mess and bother of carving. I was going to have the boys paint their pumpkins this year to avoid the whole carving thing but this weekend changed my mind. I wanna get in there and get some more seeds!