Of Life and Lemons

Gluten free? How hard can that be?

I come from a long line of bread lovers. Dinner rolls, biscuits, pancakes, muffins, and big, fluffy, freshly baked loaves of bread slathered in honey and butter--I love them all. I also love to bake (my maiden name is Baker after all) and breads are one of my specialties. 

Still, I didn't panic when Ariel's recent blood tests came back showing a high sensitivity to gluten. Sure, it'd be a challenge to go gluten-free. But the main thing was, we'd finally discovered the cause of all her tummy pains. 

"Just think of all the new foods we can try!" I told my eight-year-old, assuring her that this culinary adventure would lead us to all sorts of new and delicious discoveries. "And we're in this as a family," I promised. "If there's something you can't eat, none of us will eat it."

But it didn't take long for all of us to feel frustrated. The first thing I learned was that the gluten protein sticks around, getting into every nook and cranny in the kitchen. That meant things like the toaster would have to go. And, of course, all the flours, cereals, pastas, condiments and other gluten-contaminated foods in our cupboards and fridge, which would also have to be washed out before I could restock with gluten-free foods. With our son's 3rd birthday party only two days away, we worked like mad to purge and clean our kitchen from top to bottom, while I tried not to worry about how I was going to make the birthday cake. 

Now take away eggs, cane sugar, mushrooms and whey...

To complicate matters, eggs, cane sugar, mushrooms and whey protein showed up as other culprits on Ariel's test. It didn't take me long to discover that many gluten-free foods contain at least one other ingredient Ariel can't have. My first shopping trip took ages. I'd take down a product, scan the ingredients list, and have to put it back on the shelf. Suddenly, I had a very keen sympathy for all the millions of other folks with dietary restrictions. This was going to be really hard!

Over the next few days, we realized that salad dressings, ketchup, chocolate, and a multitude of other foods were now off limit. "I can't eat anything anymore!" Ariel wailed when she realized she couldn't finish her Easter chocolates, enjoy her favourite creamy cucumber salad dressing, have regular ice cream in a cone, or roast marshmallows over the fire this summer. "When it gets to the point where I can't even play with my Play-doh, that's just ridiculous!" she sobbed.

Secretly, I began to despair a little too. There's gluten in EVERYTHING! But I determined not to let it get the better of us. After all, most of the foods we were giving up weren't that great for us anyway, or I could simply make my own version. Besides, our new diet would reward us all with better health. Millions of other people have given up these foods; we could do it too.

This calls for some culinary creativity!

As it turned out, our first gluten, egg, whey, mushroom and cane sugar-free feast at Graham's birthday party was a smashing success. The chocolate birthday cake was delicious and nutritious--moist, rich and dense like a brownie, with cooked beets for added sweetness. Luckily we can still have dairy in moderation, so I made the vanilla frosting out of cream cheese and whipped cream sweetened with Xylitol (a fruit sugar that's also good for your teeth). The icing was delicious, held its shape at room temperature, and was ridiculously easy to work with. 

Riding on the success of our first attempts at the new diet, we've adopted the motto: "It's not a matter of giving up foods, merely of substituting with a healthier version."

I admit that so far, the gluten-free breads we've tried are dry, crumbly and not very tasty. My gluten-free pancakes were an expensive disaster that remained gooey inside no matter how long I cooked them. I still have no idea how we'll ever enjoy hot dogs or hamburgers again in a lovely, soft bun. Sandwiches just aren't the same on rice cakes, and I don't even want to think about life without the occasional trip to Dairy Queen. And yes, chocolate is a major problem--the only kind I've found with no cane sugar costs $5 for a teeny, tiny bar and doesn't come in any flavours.

But the benefits? Ariel's horrible, constant tummy pains disappeared within a couple of days on the new diet, along with her sudden bouts of fatigue and crankiness. Graham's mysterious eczema-like rash that he's had since birth is gone. My own stomach pains are gone too. And we all feel energetic and just plain clean inside. 

And I'm having a ball experimenting in the kitchen. It's fun making things like ketchup, salad dressings and crackers that we used to buy ready-made. I'm discovering all sorts of wonderful grains like amaranth and teff, and we are so in love with creamy, cold-pressed coconut oil it's not even funny (ever tried a little spoonful with a drop of honey? So decadent it's impossible to believe it's good for you!). I never would have discovered the wonders of guar gum without these dietary challenges (just toss a bit in runny salad dressings or fruit sauces and voila! Thick and creamy.). And almost everything we buy now is organic, whole and additive-free.

And the chocolate problem? Today, I whipped coconut oil, raw cacao, vanilla, coconut sugar, maple syrup and natural peanut butter into melt-in-your mouth chocolate morsels that the kids declared better than anything we can buy in a store. See recipe below. Sinfully delicious, yet packed with nutrients. (Did you know raw cacao is loaded with zinc, protein, iron and magnesium? Maple syrup is nutrient rich too.) I can't wait to play around with variations. I plan to buy some fun chocolate molds and experiment with melted unsweetened chocolate, too. 

And so, dear friends, the moral of the story: 

When life gives you lemons, make organic, freshly squeezed lemon-aid sweetened with unpasteurized local honey. You'll be shocked at how much better it tastes. And best of all, you'll be rewarded with increased health and happiness--the value of which cannot be measured. 

Chocolate Peanut Butter Morsels

1/2 Cup organic, cold-pressed coconut oil, slightly softened

1/2 Crunchy natural peanut butter (or any other nut butter)

1/3 Cup coconut sugar 

1 Tsp. vanilla 

3 Tblsp. raw cacao (or cocoa powder)

Maple Syrup (sweeten to taste)

Whip all ingredients in a bowl until thoroughly blended. Sweeten to taste with maple syrup and mix well. Drop into small balls onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment, silicone or waxed paper (or refrigerate until dough is slightly firm, then shape into balls. You can also flatten with a fork for a pretty appearance). Refrigerate until firm and enjoy!

Variations: Add coconut, dried cranberries, nuts or extracts like mint or rum. Experiment with different nut butters, or omit nut butter altogether. Try sprinkling with maple sugar, sea salt or pressing a whole nut into the centre of each ball when soft. You can use regular sugar, or any sugar substitute like Xylitol or date sugar.

Bing's Bunk Gets A Lift

Goodness me, April was a busy month! But not too busy to squeeze in a small interior renovation that greatly enhances the functionality of our tiny camper.

The Problem: A narrow upper bunk and no place to sit

Bing has a great layout, with a front bunk where our kids will sleep--Ariel on the top and Graham on the bottom--plus a side dinette that converts into a double bed. As you can see in this before shot, the upper bunk is very narrow, and is tucked right against the sloping wall and window, making it feel narrower still.

The upper bunk is removable, but there was nowhere to store it inside the camper. Since it's hardly practical to store the bunk outside all day long while camping, the lower bunk was pretty much unusable as a couch. That left only the dinette for seating, which is fine when the weather is great and we're mostly outdoors, but not so comfy when everybody wants to cozy up inside.

The Solution: Pull the bunk away from the wall, and add brackets to store it against the ceiling during the day

My clever husband, Doug, engineered the whole modification and had the project done within a couple of days, with very little cost. Here, he's installing the new supports for the bunk. As you can see, he's installing them out from the front wall about six inches. This will make the bunk seem wider, even though the actual sleeping surface is the same as before.

Above: Do you see the ledge that runs under the window? When Ariel is up in her bunk, she'll have a little "pocket" about four inches deep at her bedside to store books and toys in.

Below: As you can see, when we remove the upper bunk, Bing feels really spacious inside, and the lower bunk becomes a roomy "couch" big enough for the entire family plus our small dog, Higgins. The cushions from the upper bunk become the back couch cushions.

Here's the bunk installed on its new supports: 

Top view of the upper bunk, out from the wall a few inches: 

Installing the bunk out from the wall creates a nice storage ledge beneath the window for Ariel's toys and books:

The next step was to build new brackets to hold the upper bunk up against the ceiling. Doug left enough room to tuck pillows and bedding up there, too. Talk about handy!

And finally, to make Ariel feel safe and secure, we added a guardrail. The rail is part of the vintage bunk bed set they sleep on in the house (Doug and his brother used them as kids at the family cottage on nearby Salt Spring Island!). We took the bunk beds apart because the kids have their own rooms, so this guard rail was just stored in Graham's closet, unused.

Doug put the rail on hinges so that it folds flat for storage. 

Voila! Two happy little campers.

If only I'd thought to snap a picture of the bed installed against the ceiling and the couch set up before we took everything out for painting! But you Glamper girls have vivid imaginations, so I know you can picture that one, last detail.

Next up: Bing gets whitewashed!!

How We Nearly Gave Up Bing

The last few months have been tumultuous for us, and precarious for Bing. Twice, we pretty much made up our minds we'd have to sell her. Twice, we suffered broken hearts. Then we came to our senses and made a pact: no matter what happens, even if Bing sits forever in the driveway, we will never sell her. Not while our kids are young, anyway.

Here's what happened:

Way back last fall when I came down with a raging case of Glamper Fever, I knew our current vehicle, a 2007 Mazda 5, would be a major obstacle because it doesn't tow. Anything. Not even a garden trailer. We'd only bought the car two years prior, and switching cars seemed frivolous to say the least. But, I had a dream, and pretty soon, the entire family shared my dream. We determined to make it all work, and went ahead and bought Bing.

Then our dog, Higgins, got sick. He swallowed one little fruit pit and next thing we knew, he'd undergone emergency surgery, developed an inflamed liver, and suffered a spinal arthritis flare-up that sent him into full body crisis. We spent our entire Christmas vacation listening to scary words like CANCER down at the vet's office, terrified we were going to lose him at the tender age of 8. Fortunately, our beloved pooch healed up just fine--liver, arthritis and all--but our bank account was severely injured. (Yes, Higgins is SOOOO getting a paper route this summer!!!)

Enter Bing Crisis Number One. How could we afford to keep her? Shouldn't we sell her to recover some of the vet expenses? How'd we ever think we could afford a camper anyway, not even counting the vehicle problem? My daughter and I spent one entire, miserable day just wandering the house in tears. It was not good. For both of us, the end of Bing meant the end of THE DREAM. I'll never forget Ariel wailing, "Mommy, do you mean that dreams don't always come true? How can our dream not come true?"

Oh, boy. I know life teaches some hard lessons and children must learn to make sacrifices. But seven is an awfully tender age to be faced with the harsh reality of something as terrible as a failed dream. And I needed Bing. She seemed to fulfill a lot of different needs in me; the need for my own space, the need for something of my very own to nurture and share with my family, the need to give my children some beautiful memories, the need for the personal challenge of doing things on my own. And the need to do something for myself without the guilt or regret that mothers often feel when they indulge in a little soul nurturing. Doug and I had a heart to heart and resolved to keep Bing.

The New Year carried on and we suffered another couple of minor unexpected setbacks; still, we started our search for new vehicle in earnest. We got out the LemonAid and the Consumer Reports and all the other used car guides to find just the right vehicle for towing Bing. Since our little glamper weighs in at only 2000 lbs. GVW, we knew we didn't need a truck. And since we're a one car family, we needed something small enough to whip around town without guzzling too much gas. The 2008 Ford Escape turned out to fit the bill. It has an excellent safety record as far as we can tell, tows 3500 lbs, and is affordable. We started hunting Used Victoria and all the other listings for used cars nearby.

We found a lovely, lady-driven model with 106,000 km on it, a clean bill of mechanical health, and a nice price tag. We bought it and drove it home. We could finally tow Bing! We couldn't stop pinching ourselves.

Five days later the Escape's transmission blew up. Enter Bing Crisis Number Two. As the hefty repair estimates rolled in, we again went into despair. The only affordable path we could see was to fix the Escape, sell it, and sell Bing. We hadn't sold our Mazda 5 yet, but its value is the lesser of the two vehicles, so the numbers crunched in its favour. Again, we faced the loss of dreams and a household full of broken hearts. I went on the Glampers on the Loose Facebook page and poured my heart out.

"Don't sell Bing, even if she just sits in your driveway!" "We're rooting for you!" "Keep your chin up, honey, it'll work out!" All those lovely ladies chimed in. They were right. Bolstered by so much support, I blew my nose and got down to the business of Making Bing Work.

The previous owners of our Escape got wind of the troubles and phoned right away, offering to pay half the repair bill. I will forever love them for it, because it made all the difference. We were still out of pocket, but the blow was lessened now, and it no longer made sense to sell everything. Bing was here to stay.

And so, now we see things a little differently around here. We have a brand new transmission--all the better to tow Bing with, right? We have new enthusiasm for the work we need to do to Bing--and her mini renovation is well underway. We also know how much this little glamper means to us--ALL of us. I think she means more to us than we even realized. We will never give her up for a little thing like a financial crisis.

And best of all, my daughter has learned a lesson I think will support her for the rest of her life:

Dreams really do come true.

Edible Dragons

In the spirit of getting a little more adventurous, Ariel and I decided that every time we visit the grocery store, we'll try something new. Some ethnic dish, maybe, or an exotic spice, or something wild and crazy from the produce aisle.

Sometimes our palates are less that pleased, but often, the "new" food becomes a family favourite. Such is the case with Dragon Fruit (or, as it's more formerly known, the white-fleshed Pitahaya).

Glamour Fruit

Ariel adores dragons, so anything related is an obvious choice for her. The idea of eating something from the cactus family fascinates me; plus, we think the Dragon Fruit is especially pretty. It looks kinda like a hot pink pineapple, though smaller and less prickly. And when you slice it open--Surprise! Inside, is milky white flesh dotted with tiny black seeds similar to a kiwi.

The skin has almost a rubbery texture, and peels easily, which means it's easy to prepare and makes very little mess. I like that in a fruit. We're fascinated by the contrasting colours, and, being pink kinda girls, we're still trying to figure out how to use that pop star pink skin as fabric dye.

At first glance, the fruit appears a bit dry, but is juicy as a melon when you pop a chunk into your mouth. The flavour is very delicate: mildly sweet with a little hint of tartness here and there. The tiny seeds add a nice little  crunch.

My husband doesn't think much of the Dragon Fruit, but the kids and I give it two thumbs up. It's an inexpensive, easy-to-prepare delicacy that's pretty enough, well, to eat!

Entomology Art

 My daughter's fascination with all things that squirm, wiggle, slime and crawl began in toddlerhood. I remember her at the age of two, sitting in a lotus pose in her carseat with a squirming ant pinched delicately between the thumb and forefinger of each hand. Whenever I'd hear, "Mommy, can you please hold these for a minute?" I'd first look for tiny legs wiggling out from between the cracks of her little fingers before I'd agree to hold whatever she was clutching. 

Recently, my husband found a beautifully intact (dead) dragonfly on the deck of the ferry he works on, and brought it home for Ariel. Later, she found a large moth that had died with its proboscis extended, which she spent hours examining with a magnifying glass. Eventually, an assortment of tiny wings--some bird, some insect--found their way into her collection, along with a piece of wasp hive and a pretty yellow moth. 

Dead insect wall art may not be everyone's cup of tea. But Ariel wanted to hang hers on her bedroom wall, and we knew that storing them in paper cups and old light bulb boxes wasn't the most reliable way to keep them safe. 

Here's what I did:

I bought three, inexpensive shadow boxes from a crafts store and punched out the plexiglass, then washed them with watered down Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Paris Grey for a lovely, weathered wood effect. The frames are roughly (translate: cheaply) made, but I didn't bother sanding the wood because I liked the rustic look created by the raised grain.

The frames didn't have hangers on the back, so I used my small staple gun to attach a bit of ribbon for hanging.  I didn't bother to paint the entire back of the frame; only the parts that show when you look at the shadow box from the front.

I used a lovely scrap of oatmeal coloured silk to cover the wooden frame backing. I simply cut a square piece one inch larger than the backing, and attached it with fabric glue-tape. Then I very carefully attached the dragonfly to the wooden backing with a straight pin. I did the same for all three frames, attaching the smaller insects and wings with a tiny dab of hot glue, using tweezers to arrange the most delicate specimens without damaging them.

I inserted the backings into the frame and voila! I like the look of them. They are little bits of  Mother Nature's perfection, with Shabby Chic appeal. To me, the rough, muted grey wood looks sophisticated paired with the silk, and the ribbon gives a little pop of fun colour, like robin's eggs in a nest of twigs. 

My only complaint: the slight rippling of the fabric, which appeared when I put the frames back together. Next time, I'll use more glue-tape to adhere the fabric firmly in place.  

I think they'd look smashing in my dining room, but then again, not everyone likes to look at bugs while they eat. Perhaps I'd better stick to shells...

So, bugs on the wall: Ick or Art? I suppose, as with so many things, it's all in the eye of the beholder.

In Honour of International Women's Day: A Confession and A Challenge

It may seem an odd confession to make on International Women's Day, but I'm afraid that in some ways, I'm not a very good feminist.

Let me explain. I believe every woman and girl should be loved, cherished and respected for the way she enriches this world, no matter where she lives or what path she chooses for her life. I am committed to raising my daughter to believe, right down to the core of her being, that nobody can ever hold her back from creating her own future. But do I always set a good example?

In my house, there are definite blue and pink jobs. Most of the time, it's a division according to my husband's and my particular talents, which makes sense; in fact, to recognize each other's strengths and weaknesses and work together accordingly forms the foundation of any good partnership. Doug's great at fixing the plumbing, while I've got a knack for managing finances. He doesn't mind taking out the garbage, while I don't mind giving the kids a bath. But there are times when I wonder: do I hide behind my so-called weaknesses to get out of doing distasteful tasks? I could learn to renovate the garage, but I don't know much about home repairs. Plus, I absolutely hate measuring things. Is this just a shameful excuse?

In my professional capacity as a freelance journalist (and formerly financial office-type), I hide behind nothing. I don't let gender or insecurities get in my way. I am ambitious, I set goals, and I do my best to achieve them. I'm not afraid to flex my intellectual muscles; to jump in and get my brain cells dirty.

But when it comes to fixing a leaky toilet, or changing the oil in the car, or installing a baseboard heater, I step back and let the men in my life do their thing.

What holds me back? I'm small for a grown up, and not very strong. I get scared easily when it comes to physical things (I didn't even ditch my bike training wheels until I was eight years old!). I get frustrated and embarrassed when I can't do something simply because...I just can't. And some things are boring or tedious or distasteful to me. Like everyone else, I have things I'm good at and love doing, and things I'm lousy at or just plain hate.

In Grade 9, I was one of only two girls who signed up for woodworking class. The project for the term was to make a side table with one drawer. Failure to complete the project meant an F grade. Our teacher pulled us girls aside and told us if we found the side table too hard, we could make a lamp instead and be graded the same as all the boys who completed their "harder" project. I was furious! How dare he be so condescending? No way was I taking the easy road; I'd show him what girls could do with a few board feet of lumber!

Near the end of term, I was sadly behind and in danger of failing the class. My problem? I was deathly afraid to use the big machines. Maybe it was the slideshow of horrible, machine-related injuries our teacher showed us at the beginning of the term by way of safety training. But I couldn't get near the table saw.

I chucked my self-respect to the wolves and meekly asked if I could, after all, make the lamp.

As it turned out, I adored making that lamp. I had no fear of the lathe, and loved shaping my laminated blocks of wood into something beautiful. I loved seeing the wood grain appear as I chiseled and sanded the curves until I could hold my design in my hands. I drilled a hole through the centre, wired it, added a matching lampshade and turned my project in. I got an A in that class and gave the lamp to my mother for her birthday.

Was this just a matter of working within my talents and abilities, or did I simply wimp out? To this day, I'm filled with equal parts shame and pride whenever I look at that lamp.

And this is where Glamping comes in.

I think the biggest reason I've taken to glamping so passionately is that it challenges me to get comfortable outside my comfort zone; to pick up my power tools (no table saws, though) and fix up my trailer myself. The dangling carrot is that I get to pretty up my very own playhouse exactly the way I want!

The whole idea is that it's a girl thing. Grab your toolbox, girls! Says MaryJane Butters, the Mother of All Glamping Sisters. You don't need a man's help to refurbish your vintage trailer or drive you through mountains and valleys to get to that glamping rally halfway across the country! You can park your trailer like a pro, pump your own sewage, fix a flat tire along the way, and set up the prettiest darned campsite anyone's ever seen! This glamping thing is all yours; don't let anyone tell you how to do it!

I feel like someone waved a magic wand over my head and said: "I hereby grant you permission and the physical ability to do what you've never done before." I'm not sure I've ever been inspired quite in this way, but I'm determined to this glamping thing all by myself, pink jobs, blue jobs and everything in between. Like my turned-wood lamp, I think I've found a way to master stuff outside my realm of comfort in a way that simultaneously allows my talents to shine. I'm driven by a need to prove to myself that I won't back down, won't give in, won't wind up sitting in the passenger seat forever after while my husband parks the trailer. There's a whole lot of character development going on here, thanks to this whole glamping thing and all my Fairy Godmothers out there who are already doing it. I can't wait to see where it takes me.

From Canada and Australia to Europe and all across the United States, Glamping Sisters are doing it for themselves. Three cheers for every blessed woman out there.

Have Bucket List, Will Travel

Do you have a bucket list full of places you'd love to visit in your glamper? 

Ours is filling up fast. By the time our glamper is ready to roll, we might need a bigger bucket! 

Here's a travel destination to get us started:

Tofino, Vancouver Island, BC

From our home in Sidney on the southern tip of Vancouver Island, the small, coastal town of Tofino is only a few hours' drive north--ideal for newbie glampers like us. The wilderness here is just about as Beautiful British Columbia as you can get! Ever heard of Long Beach? Or the famed West Coast Trail? Or Pacific Rim National Park? Well, this is it! Orca and grey whales, hot springs, and the wide open Pacific ocean...Mother Nature doesn't get much better than this. Hey, don't forget your surf-board, baby!

MacKenzie Beach. Photo used with permission from Bella Pacifica Campground.

Bella Pacifica Campground had me at the first glamper-themed photo on their too-cool-for-words website. We'll be right at home there--I'll even bring along my guitar for a little campfire croonin'. At night we'll fall asleep to the sound of the big surf crashing on the sands of MacKenzie Beach...

Photo used with permission from Bella Pacifica Campground

and first thing in the morning we'll race to see who's brave enough to test the cold waters first. Surf's up!

Photo used with permission from Bella Pacifica Campground

Photo used with permission from Bella Pacifica Campground.

Good thing my kids are homeschooled, 'cause we'll probably want to stay awhile!

For more information (and gorgeous photos) visit: 

http://www.bellapacifica.com/