GF Dingle PIes

These were quite yummy but I did forget the Xanthan Gum. Oh well. I have plenty of filling so I can try again tomorrow.

It was good to finally get to Karate class tonight. We did super-slow-mo katas and I think I finally got Ichi. Woot! Been having trouble with those big turns and getting those low stances LOW. It also helped to have Sensei Komez right there to watch. I realized she drops her stance a bit right before those deep turns. Aha! I know I still need TONZ of practice but it sure feels better now.

Th-th-that’s all folks. I’m getting to bed on time tonight! More new recipes tomorrow. And eventually I will also post some of the homeschooling things I’ve been up to lately. LOL!

Gluten Free Pizza!

Thought I’d comment on the GF recipes we used yesterday. They were all awesome!

The Quiche went pictureless as it disappeared too darned quickly. We did the crustless version. It was very good! And we’re not really quiche people, so that was a surprise.

Since breakfast was more of a brunch, we skipped lunch and had pizza for dinner.

Wow! This was our best GF pizza ever and I think it is because of 2 things… 1 resting time for the dough and 2 longer cooking time. AFter I mixed the ingredients, I let it all sit in the mixer bowl for about 30 minutes (covered in a warm spot). Then mixed it some more with a bit more water. Bob cooked the crusts for 20 minutes on regular baking cycle (not convection) This may be more due to our oven than anything else so YMMV.

The result was a crispy crust that was completely done through… no gooey center and no collapsing!

Oh! I used this recipe from Living Without but substituted this flour blend with garbanzo flour (because it has become a cupboard staple here).

Here’s the recipe for the Deep Chocolate Meringue pie. I substituted the above flour blend for he AP flour indicated. The crust was a recipe from the back of a Bob’s Red Mill rice flour package. Here it is. It cracked a lot but otherwise worked fine.

Hope your Pi Day was delish!

For Pi Day:

• Quiche
• Irish Cottage Pie
• Pizza Pie (gonna use pizza crust mix)

Rest of the week:

• Beef & Guinness Pie
• Corned Beef (on sale at Gerbe’s) & Champ
• Boxty & Dublin Coddle
• Dingle Pies (GF crust)

The waiting was hard. We got there at 8:30 and didn’t compete until after noon. Gah! But such is the way with these things. Sam and I were competing at the same time of course so there are few pictures of either of us.

There were 4 women under-black-belt competitors. One was older than I, one was in her 20s I’d guess and one in her 30s. They were all great to compete with and easy to talk to. Really helped me relax and just enjoy the competition. At points during sparring there was even laughter. Great group of women!

My Kata scores seemed decent if I remember correctly. 8.50 being the lowest and 8.7-something the highest. I noticed that the 8.5 judge scored everyone around that point. I remember doing my presentation, stepping back, taking a breath… then I was done. Somewhere in the middle my mind fell into a black hole and my body just went on auto pilot.O_o Sam confesses to have the same experience so maybe this is normal. LOL!

Sparring… still can’t believe I did that. The idea terrified me back in college but now it is almost fun. I certainly got hit more and harder in the dojo. LOL! Yesterday I had to remember I was not there to be nice. Inside the ring it is “business.” Outside the ring we’re all friends and family. Man! that seems to weird to type. Again there was that unconsciousness of movement where it was almost like my body knew better what to do than my brain did. One time in particular I don’t remember thinking “throw a ridgehand” but that is what I saw my right hand do. Is this normal?

At first they weren’t going to have us really compete against each other as there was one white belt (me), one green, one orange and one blue. But in the end I competed against the orange in kata. She took first and I second. Her kata really was crisp. (but I kiai’d louder ) And I sparred against the orange and the green. Won both matches and took first in sparring. Yeah, hows that for weirdness?

Afterward we and a couple other families met for a celebratory icecream. Much thanks to those moms for helping me wrangle Jessie. She had a couple run ins with boys who were not playing nicely but by the end of the day they were all playing together and calling each other friend. Ugh!

Jessie was even telling me that she practiced her presentation with a “judge”…??? Not sure at what point this happened (when my head was turned apparently) but a big “thank you” to whomever sat and listened! She is really gunning to take classes.

Today I am stiff and sore but no unpleasantly so. My hip even feels pretty good. Maybe I can convince the kids to go to the ARC for a swim later today (and I can get into the hot tub). MMmmmmm!

Sensei had us thinking about practical applications of different moves. We worked on the open/closed fist drill again. I like how he asks us to analyze  the what and whys of the moves. Even though I rarely know either.  I like too that there can be more than one “right” answer.

Then we paired up to work on blocking punches. I am learning that I can take a much harder hit than I would have guessed. Granted this is from someone who is not trying to hurt me. However I’m confident that if he felt a harder punch was needed to get my attention… I’d have a nice bruise to remind me of that “lesson” within the lesson.

My first tourney is just one week away. Eeeekk!

4C water and 3 bullion cubes
2 eggs
1/4 tsp ginger powdered
2T corn starch

Optional:
chopped green onion

Beat eggs, set aside. Mix 3/4 cup of the water with starch, set aside. Put remaining water & bullion in pot. Add ginger.

Bring pot to a boil and using a fork, drip in egg. Shake starch mixture and add to pot. Stirring carefully until thickened. Add green onion if using.

We like to ladle ours over rice.

You can use broth if you have it on hand. If so, you may want to add some salt or other seasonings. I usually have one or the other on hand. Found a good deal on WF bullion cubes not too long ago so that is usually what we use right now.

Delish and frugal too!

I need to work on the low stances in fukyugata ichi and my turns into them. Also need to look a little more intense during presentation. I’m coming up neutral. That’s not bad, but intense is better. Intense “sells” you to the judges. I feel funny doing it that way but will do it.

Did quite a bit of sparring. Amazing what a workout that is! I don’t realize I’m even breathing a little hard until I hear “break!” I’m “boxing the ring” well and hitting targets consistently. Yay me! Wish I was more conscious of it. But in this context “just doing” is better than thinking, no?

When sparring with Sensei I feel like I”m waiting for that other-shoe-to-drop. ‘Cuz I know eventually he’s going to ramp it up and really make me work. I gotta figure out how to block and counter his hook kick! Something besides punching his backside.

Felt more comfortable in the ring. Even weathered my first “injury”… a fat lip. (no mouthpiece yet) Sam got to watch and according to him I look quite fierce even though I swear I was smiling… not fiercely… just an I’m-having-fun sort of smile. Maybe that will work to my advantage in two weeks if I can manage it there.

So, I’ve got things to work on and I’m looking forward to them.

I finally picked up a copy of Lingua Latina Per Se Illustrara and it has shed some revealing light…

I’m not doing an effective job teaching Latin. :\ Or not thoroughly according to Sam’s worksheet answers. But if you have him translate the chapter in the book, he can do a pretty good job of getting the jist of it. He can certainly memorize the vocab easily enough.

So, as I type this, I am thinking it is perhaps a case of not enough practice exercises utilizing the chapter’s focus points…? There is something I can do to be more effective anyway…

Loosing my focus now. Barb, of Harmony Fine Arts fame,  had some good information on creating rubrics in her recent blog post. Mebbe that will help.

Enough of that for now. Off to make pancakes! Did you know it is Pancake day?

Worked on hip rotation tonight. I don’t have it quite right. Must practice more! Sensei says it is because women hate to make their butt jiggle. LOL! I don’t think I have a problem with that because at 42… EVERYTHING JIGGLES. Seems to me that it is more my lack of balance at full power. If I really put everything into it I end up off balance. (shrug)

Sparred for the first time. Weird. Fun. But weird. Didn’t do as bad as I thought I would. Managed to land a few and not hurt my sparring partner in the process. Go me!

Feeling pretty good with Fyukugata Ichi. Did the full presentation tonight. When asked what I thought I did right, I said I remembered all the moves but Sensei had a look that seemed like he was saying I forgot something. Speaking of forgetting, I forgot to ask what that look meant. LOL! Other than that he was very complimentary. I’m so bad at taking compliments! Makes me feel like I have to do more afterward to really deserve them. Hmmm… not explaining that right. Oh well. Moving on.

Sunday is Panther Practice. Will be a two hour thing… first hour for the kids… second hour for the adults. Man! I can’t believe I’m going to do this tourney NEXT MONTH.

Feeling much better now. Karate kicked my funk all away. And with that I am going to bed so that I can get up and prepare lessons for the day. I’m hoping that if I leave them until morning I will get my lazy butt outta bed on time.

On Sunday I got all meat prepped with marinades and into the freezer so mealtime prep has been a cinch and the meat has been extra yummy.

1. Fooshi rolls (see picture) or “faux sushi” IOW, no raw fish (sadly), tamagoyaki, egg drop soup
2. Oyakodon & rice: Changes: calrose rice, fewer eggs and chicken broth rather than dashi.
3. Coriander Teriyaki Steak with stir-fry veg over rice
4. Soy Glazed Chicken with stir-fry veg over… rice
5. Beef Bowl over… you guessed it, rice (a repeat recipe)
6. Teriyaki Chicken, sesame green beans and… more rice
7. Potstickers, rice and egg drop soup

Will get links up soon…. errr… soon as I can. Taa Daa!

Forgot to add the jobusai (freezer/fridge stash for lunches): Carrot Kinpira, honey mustard salad pickles and Spinach with sesame sauce.