Over the past couple of weeks, our family has been dealing with a series of head colds. Come to think of it, we may just be dealing with one never-ending cold. The good news is we seem to finally be coming out of it now. However, for a while there, I was feeling nothing like myself and wanted to do nothing more than sleep the congestion away.

Like most people, when I’m feeling under the weather, I crave comfort foods. Most often, I long for a thick and hearty chicken noodle soup. There is just something about it that warms me up and makes me feel cozy from the inside out.

A pot full of comforting goodness.

Ingredients:

4 cups of chicken broth
1/2 cup of butter
3 Tbsp. oil
3 cooked chicken breasts, diced
1 carrot, peeled and diced
2 stocks of celery, diced
1 onion, diced
3 tbsp parsley
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 tsp oregano
1 tsp thyme
3 cups Chickapea penne pasta
Salt and pepper to taste

In a large pot, heat oil and add carrots, celery and onions and saute until veggies are soft and onions are translucent.

Add garlic and saute for 1-2 minutes.

Add chicken broth, parsley, oregano, thyme, salt and pepper. Add in butter and stir until melted and well mixed.

Add diced chicken and parsley and simmer gently for 5-7 minutes.

Stir in pasta and simmer approximately 7 minutes, until pasta is cooked.

And just like that, you have a buttery, creamier version of a typical, everyday comfort food.

So delicious.

We’ve used dozens of gluten free pasta brands, but Chickapea Pasta has quickly become a favourite for our home. Made from organic chickpea and organic red lentil flour, this blend is packed with protein and fiber and full of essential nutrients: complex carbs, thiamine, folate, niacin, magnesium, B vitamins, iron, zinc and antioxidants. It truly takes the everyday staple of pasta and turns it into a superfood. It is also has no added sugar and is made in a nut-free facility.

We have been enjoying both the spirals and the penne, but now we have even more options with the addition of shells! Chickapea Pasta has changed their packaging to move into boxes and added a third shape to the product line.

The whole Chickapea line up!

Chickapea Pasta Giveaway!

To celebrate the launch of the new packaging and new shape, Chickapea is giving away and entire basket of delicious goodies. One lucky reader from each blog will receive a gift basket full of goodies, valued around $75. The contents of the gift basket are as follows:

• 1 box of Chickapea Spirals
• 1 box of Chickapea Penne
• 1 box of Chickapea Shells
• 1 bottle of Kiki Maple Sweet Water
• 1 container of Teatulia Chamomile Tea (30 bags)
• 1 bag (142g) of Neal Brothers Montreal Steak Spice Kettle Chips
• 1 jar of Neal Brothers Organic Roasted Garlic Pasta Sauce
• 1 package (225g) of Budding Nutrition Gut Busters
• 1 package of (84g) Rawnata Vanilla Saskatoon Flax Crackers

In addition to Chickapea Pasta products, other items were kindly donated by Neal Brothers, Avid Gourmet and LCG Foods.

Enter below!

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Disclaimer: As a Chickapea Pasta Ambassador, I was provided compensation and given product. However, all thoughts and opinions are always completely my own.

As a celiac household, we are always on the lookout for great new gluten free products. Having an aunt that was diagnosed more than 25 years ago, I know we shouldn’t complain. The selection of products available has steadily grown over the last 10 years. However, many of the basics are still made from the same gluten free ingredients. Between our bread, crackers, and pasta, we consume a lot of rice flour. So variety and alternatives are always top of our radar.

Chickapea Pasta provides us that perfect alternative, with a gluten-free pasta made from organic chickpea and organic red lentil flour. This blend of only two ingredients is packed with protein and fiber and full of essential nutrients: complex carbs, thiamine, folate, niacin, magnesium, B vitamins, iron, zinc and antioxidants. It truly takes the everyday staple of pasta and turns it into a superfood. It is also has no added sugar and is made in a nut-free facility.

The box of goodies from Chickapea :)

Gluten Free One-Pot Chicken Fajita Pasta

I saw this particular recipe on Tasty by BuzzFeed a while back and have been itching to try it. Our household is unanimously in love with Mexican-style flavours, so I knew it would go over well.

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Ingredients:
3 Tbsp. oil
3 chicken breasts, sliced
3 bell peppers, red, green and orange sliced
1 onion, sliced
4 cups milk (use low fat to reduce calories)
3 cups Chickapea penne pasta
1 cup shredded cheese

Spices:
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 Tbsp. chili powder
1 Tbsp. cumin
1 Tbsp. garlic powder

Grab a large pot and heat oil. Add chicken and cook through. Remove chicken and set aside in a bowl. Add the bell peppers and onion, and saute until soft. Add the chicken back to the pot with spices and stir until well mixed. Add the milk and Chickapea pasta, stirring constantly to prevent any pasta from sticking. Cook for only about 7 minutes  – thanks to Chickapea’s super speedy cook time! – until pasta is cooked and the milk has reduced to a thick sauce that coats the pasta. Add the cheese and mix until melted. Then enjoy the creamy, cheesy goodness.

The dish turned out fantastic and as predicted, the kids devoured it and asked for more.

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About Chickapea Pasta:

Chickapea Pasta was created by Shelby Taylor, a native of Collingwood, ON. She had set out to create a line of products that is truly healthy and easy for busy families. This idea was born out of her frustration in finding better food choices for her own son, but quickly grew after she talked to other families who expressed the same challenges. Shelby took her passion to Kickstarter, where she quickly met her goal with the help of community backers who shared her vision. After over a year of research and development, finding the right ingredients and testing the perfect blend, Chickapea was born.

Buy Organic, Gluten Free Chickapea Pasta:

Chickapea Pasta is already in large demand at health food stores all over Canada. Find a store near you to grab some and give it a try in your home. They will also be expanding in the US this fall through Amazon.com.

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I had the pleasure of meeting Shelby at a conference last year and have had the opportunity to get to know her over the past several months. She is truly passionate about this vision and has so many other ideas to expand her offering of healthy products.

Ideally speaking, our family will be enjoying those new products soon enough!

The post One-Pot Chicken Fajita Pasta. Gluten-Free Version! appeared first on Ideally speaking....

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We wanted to try to do our annual family photo by the tree or wearing Christmas sweaters, but time got away from us. So instead I opted to toss a Santa hat onto one of the photos from our recent photo session and have a little fun with it

Now, being gluten free around the holidays is tough. Especially when you’re five and can easily arrive at the decision of “that’s not fair” at the drop of a hat. Unfortunately, life isn’t always fair and we have had to watch Lilly tear up at the grocery store several times because she can’t make a gingerbread house like all of her friends.

Luckily, there is an incredible bakery in Barrie, Ontario, who was able to add a little extra Christmas magic into our household with their gluten free Christmas tree. Having heard my tale of woe, Warwick Hughes Food Market offered to make one of their trees and leave it in the plain pieces for Lilly to decorate on her own.

She was thrilled!

Deliciously decorating each piece. I think she ate more candy than she added…

Our Christmas Masterpiece :)

A very big Merry Christmas from the Wiltshire crew. May your holidays be ever idealistically cheery and bright.

The post Our 2015 Christmas Card & A Gluten Free Gingerbread Tree! appeared first on Ideally speaking....

While I am still working on the full tour/reveal post, I thought I would share one tiny little corner that was created for one specific part of me – my writer’s soul.

I really wanted to have an area in this room that I could look at and instantly remember some of the many reasons I call myself a writer. I have thought of myself as a writer since I was about 8 or 9 years old, but I don’t always feel like one. While this blog is a beautiful space for me to share stories of my family, reviews and social change, I don’t publish essay style posts nearly as often as I would like. I’m talking about the ones that really allow me to flex my writing muscles and leave me a little bit breathless at the end.

My goal for 2015 is to #ReclaimMyWritersSoul.

This corner of my little personal heaven is set up full of visual reminders to help me with that goal. From my half filled journals to my antique ink well. My Jo doll from Little Women (my favourite book), my gorgeous cast iron Underwood typerwriter and the motivational posters I made. I am a writer nerd and everything on this desk reflects that.

It screams nerd. And I love every. single. bit. of it.

If you are feeling a little blocked in the writing department and are looking for some motivation, I have the three posters I made available below as free downloads. Help yourself and enjoy. Click the link in the caption for the full size of each image and save from there. They are formatted to print out in an 8×10.

Click for full image & save.

Click for full image & save.

Click for full image & save.

Ideally speaking, I’ll make the time for my writing in this room…and maybe even get back to my novel for the first time in 4 years…

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With my days at home numbered, I have felt motivated to get a few crafty projects done.

I started with a cute little candy holder for our front hallway to greet guests for the Christmas season. See the tutorial here.

We recently closed off the opening between our dining room and my study, giving me the opportunity to redesign my favourite room in the house. I’m not quite ready for the full reveal, but I can give you a few sneak peaks.

My pretty home library!

Spray paint mason jars to use around the room. So cute!

And just for fun, here’s an updated pic of my little man, doing his part to support movember

Cole rocking his movember shirt.

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The holiday season is right around the corner. As a busy mom of two now, and my return to work in just a few weeks, I wanted to get a head start on some of my Christmas crafting. We have a very large front entrance at our home. For the past two years we have been here, I have tried to think of more we can do to decorate out there for the holidays. I wanted something that greets the friends and family that visit. I figured a bit of candy could be just the thing.

I give you, the easy DIY Christmas candy holder!

Like every other pinning crafter on the planet, I LOVE mason jars. There is just something sweet and rustic about them and it lent the perfect amount of charm to this project. This Christmas candy holder took me only about an hour total to make and costs under $10 for the materials.

What you need:

• Plaque or large scrap piece of wood – Personally, if I’d had barn board, I think that would take this to a whole new level
• A couple mason jars – I went with two for this plaque size, but you could go larger with more jars
• Twine
• Spray Paint
• Paint Pen – I prefer to use paint pens for better precision when it’s for wording
• Pencil
• Drill
• Stickers or something similar for decoration if desired
• Holiday candy

I started out with painting the plaque. I used spray paint for the sake of time. Busy baby and all. I only did one coat so that some of the wood grain would show through. Once it had dried, I marked out where I wanted to hang the mason jars and drilled two holes. Make sure the holes are large enough to fit two pieces of twine through.

In order to really get the wording to look the way I wanted, I did it out using an app on my iPad first. That way I could use it as a guide on the actual plaque. I started by writing it out with pencil. I highly recommend having a light coloured eraser on hand, since you don’t want eraser marks left on the board.

I then used my paint pen, or in this case, nail art pen…it’s the only red I had on hand. I carefully went over my pencil writing. Depending on how thick you want the wording, you may have to go over it two or three times. I had some very pretty snowflake stickers left over from last year’s Christmas crafting and added a few to give it a little bling.

Next I moved onto the mason jars. I cut long pieces of twine and wrapped it around the top. I tied it on either side. Then added another piece and did the same, finishing the second tie on the opposite side. This gave me two pieces of twine on either side of the jars. I took the pieces of twine on the front of each side and pulled it through the holes. I then knotted those pieces to the remaining pieces of twine on either side at the back of the plaque.

Getting the jars to hang at the same height is the tricky part. Once I had the plaque up on the wall, I had to loosen or tighten the knots accordingly to get the jars hanging evenly on both sides and with each other.

All that’s left to do after that is add candy and enjoy! I added candy canes for now, but will switch it up with other holiday treats over the season.

Ideally speaking, I will be able to keep the four year old away from it before all the candy canes go missing…

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When Lilly was diagnosed with Celiacs Disease at age 2, I was very worried that some of her life experiences would be limited. It has been a learning curve to go to birthday parties, work with the preschool menu, etc. Would she really be able to ever go away to a summer camp, where we are not there to help her make the right choices with her food?

Needless to say, I was incredibly excited to learn that Rudi’s Gluten-Free Bakery™ wants to give children with Celiacs the same chance to go to camp as other kids. Rudi’s is offering 20 children (10 in Canada and 10 in the United States) the chance to spend a week at a summer camp where the food is completely gluten-free through their Happy Camper Scholarship. This is the first year this contest is offered in Canada and while Lilly is too young for camp just yet, it has me very excited for her future!

Winning Canadian kids can look forward to an experience at either the Rod McDaniel Celiac Kids Camp at Camp Kindle in Alberta where campers can take on the ropes course, go hiking, and try new sports, or the Camp Silly Yak at Brigadoon Village Camp in Nova Scotia where kids enjoy swimming, canoeing, hiking and the talent show contest.

Between February 18 – March 18, 2014, Canadian parents* with eligible children ages 8-17, can enter the Happy Camper contest by ‘liking’ Rudi’s Gluten-Free on Facebook and helping their child submit a 100-word statement on what makes him or her special. Winners will be notified by April 1, 2014, to allow them plenty of time to plan for the summer camp experience of a lifetime. So simple!

-Rudi’s Gluten-Free Camping Giveaway-

In addition to the camp scholarships, Rudi’s wants to encourage EVERYONE to enjoy the great outdoors this summer. They are giving away an incredible camping package valued at $250! Enter to win a tent and cooler, so that your family can enjoy nature in style!

Prize: LightSpeed Tent that sets up and tears down quickly, has a large front door and two side windows for ventilation, an extended awning for added protection, and more. Tent sleeps 6. You will also receive a cooler with two insulated compartments for both hot and cold storage, and is made with waterproof material.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
With opportunities like this from a great company like Rudis, it really is the ideal solution for Celiacs children like my daughter, to enjoy the same summer experiences as everyone else.

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This post struck a chord with me. There has been something that I have wanted to get off my chest for a long time and this article really just gave me that last push to spit it all out.

I am positive that I have Celiacs disease. I have yet to be diagnosed, because when our daughter was, I was dealing with a hernia. I got that repaired, spent a few months getting strong again and then got pregnant. My pregnancy has been complicated with risks of stroke, etc. Not that any of that would have mattered, since I am not going on gluten for 6 weeks and making myself sick when I have a baby depending on me to be healthy for him.

So needless to day, my full diagnoses has been put on hold for a while.

Should that really matter to anyone else? No. Should I eat gluten simply because I haven’t officially been told I can’t, even though it makes me sick? No.

Unfortunately, that is not the way that many people in my life feel. Sadly, I actually get where they are coming from. There are a lot of people, especially young girls/women, who are making the choice to go gluten free because they think it will help them loose weight. It is due to them that many of the people I have spoken to are concerned for me. As if I need additional validation against the “fad” that has risen out of the gluten free wave.

Let me be clear, I am not talking about anyone who feels they are gluten intolerant, or parents of children who have had to make the choice due to developmental disorders, etc. If you have a genuine medical concern related to going gluten free, or someone in your household does, then I get it completely.

Some facts about my case in particular:

• Our daughter was diagnosed around her second birthday. You can read all about it here.
• I am the carrier of the gene that was passed onto Lilly. We know that. It is in my side of the family.
• I spent nearly 2 years after Lilly was born with tremendous stomach problems. I was eating horrible food at all hours of the day/night, because I was an exhausted new mother. I wasn’t working out, and yet I was the lowest weight I had been since I was 13 years old…something there does not add up.
• Fact about Celiacs Disease, it can lay dormant in a person’s body and be triggered by a stressful event. Such as a big move, marriage, PREGNANCY, etc.
• When Lilly was diagnosed, I quit gluten along with her. It just seemed easier. ALL of my stomach issues went away! Suddenly I was no longer dealing with excess bloating, fatigue and nausea. Also, some issues I had been having with arthritis in my hip stopped flaring up – a common symptom for some individuals with Celiacs if they have gluten.
• Also when I quit gluten, I gained a good 10lbs. I felt healthier and stronger. I had better colour and my close family stopped saying that my face looked sunken in.

Will I go get a diagnoses one day? Yes, very likely. When I am done with all this hernia (which needs to be repaired again), babies and stroke business, then I will go put myself through 6 weeks of hell to get a little piece of paper and validate FOR EVERYONE what I already know.

I am not asking everyone to go out of their way to make my life easier. I can and have been preparing and bringing snacks and food for Lilly and I when we go places. I am not asking for sympathy for the new lifestyle we have.

What I am asking for is for everyone to kindly butt out of my personal health choices and stop saying the contradicting phrase ‘well, you haven’t actually been diagnosed.” Yes, thank you. I am very much aware.

For now, it is my body, my lifestyle, and I will do what I feel I need to do, to be in the best of health I can be for myself and my family.

Ideally speaking, everyone else will kindly back off.

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I decided to highlight some of the Christmas crafts I did as a special edition of the Pinterest House Project, since this fits the same theme as the rest of the series; bigger house, lots of space for decor, so many ideas on Pinterest!

I want to start with my favourite project. When I spotted this light-up Christmas canvas on Pinterest, I knew I had to make it. First off, it’s beautiful. Secondly, this is my all time favourite Christmas song. This craft was meant for me

I love the way it looks on my mantel. It’s the star attraction!

Once I realized how easy it is to write on a canvas (I used paint pens, by the way. So easy!) I went hunting for some other canvas ideas. That is when I spotted this very cute and simple Believe DIY canvas.

Next up was some plain old painted foam Christmas trees. I found so many beautiful DIY Christmas trees on Pinterest, but didn’t have time to make them all. This was a super easy craft that Lilly and I were able to do together. She did the first coat of paint on each one. I followed up with second coat and sparkles. That was it! Easiest craft of the season.

The next craft was also fairly easy, if you like to paint. I loved the idea of a mobile of clear, painted Christmas balls, hanging in front of a bright window. It took me a bit to find the clear ornaments, but finally spotted them at Walmart in packs of 4. I loved how this turned out. So pretty!

I had bought packages of styrofoam balls last year, with the intent that we would make some Christmas ornaments with them. Being a sewer who hoards fabric…these easy fabric covered Christmas balls seemed perfect. Lilly helped out again with this one. it was as simple as cut, wrap and tie.

We did a whole garland, highlighting these fabric Christmas ornaments from the main entrance way of the house.

I wanted to do a few crafts that were specifically on the cuter side for Lilly. This adorable DIY snowman scene was actually not an idea from Pinterest. This one came from my own flowing creative juices! You can read the full tutorial here.

I also wanted to make something that Lilly could keep in her room. My mom always had some decorations on hand for us to add a festive touch to our rooms. That is a tradition that I would like to pass on. I saw this DIY ribbon Christmas tree making the rounds on Pinterest last year and LOVED it. So very pretty! Given all of the crafts I have been doing for Lilly’s bedroom, I had a lot of ribbon on hand that would match her decor. Many of the tutorials online call for just pinning the ribbon or paper in place. I decided to use hot glue. It took a little longer, but I also feel it will last.

The last craft we pulled together was a DIY advent calendar. This is the first year we have had an advent calendar for Lilly at all. She is starting to understand time and old enough to really enjoy the countdown. With her Celiacs Disease, I always figured an advent calendar would be one of those things we make. I just never know if the chocolate in the store bought ones is truly gluten free. This is the one craft I made the hubby help out with. We used our existing weekly menu chalk/cork board. Lilly so was excited the first morning she saw it!

The last photo shows another idea I got from Pinterest, but it really wasn’t a craft at all. Like most homes, we have a ton of empty vases kicking around at any given time. I loved the idea of filling them with Christmas ornaments for a very quick and easy piece of festive decor. I’ll be doing a bit more of these for the dining room table before family dinner…since right now it is 95% covered in crafting supplies…

Now, while it looks like I got to a lot of crafts this year, we still didn’t even touch doing anything festive for the basement… I will be on maternity leave through most of the holiday season next year and will ideally get even more accomplished! *Crosses fingers for a good sleeper*

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What you need:

• Styrofoam balls in 3 sizes
• Small, flat dollar store canvas
• Toothpicks
• Glue gun & glue
• Ribbon Scraps
• Sharpies – black & orange
• Paint – cream/white and green
• Sparkles – Silver
• Snowflake stickers (optional)

I started off with the canvas base. I wanted to give our snowmen a nice snowy yard to be hanging out on. I gave the canvas a very light coat of green paint. I then added the white paint, making it look more like snow by blotting it onto the canvas. To give it a nice snowy shimmer, I added some sprinkles. I then set the canvas aside to dry.

Next I moved onto making the snowmen. This was the easy part. I simply stacked the 3 different sized styrofoam balls on top of each other, using toothpicks to attach them. NOTE – I did add a dot of hot glue where each ball connected to the next, in order to make them a bit more stable and durable.

Once they were built, it was just a matter of decorating them. I used the sharpies to draw on faces and buttons. I then used my ribbon scraps to make scarfs. I did also take a bit of scrap material and made a hat that I glued onto one little guy. This is totally up to you. Decorate your snowmen however you feel like.

The last step was to add the snowmen onto the snowy canvas base. I used a fair amount of hot glue onto the bottom of each snowman and pressed them firmly onto the canvas. I had purchased some cute snowflake, 3D stickers that I had done nothing with yet. I decided to add a few of those onto the canvas for a little extra something.

That’s really it! Start to finish in likely about 45 minutes. This is definitely a craft that can be assisted with little helpers and makes a very cute addition to your holiday decor.

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