Ward Campout

Me Camping in Utah

Our first real camp-out together. We had a mini camp-out before together at October General Conference time, but that was just in our own back yard. One fun thing at our ward camp-out,  I also had a fun time carrying a little girl and chasing her brother with her. They laughed a whole bunch. As we gathered for ward devotional, I led the opening song as I do for the ward every week in Sacrament Meeting. Later, we did some exploring, we roasted s'mores and hot dogs and played games. One game we played a bunch of was Catch Phrase, where on your turn your task is to get someone else to guess your assigned phrase without saying any of the words within that phrase.  I had a fun time helping a young man who didn't know a lot of English. What I love most about camping is the clean air, sounds of nature, and good company. Victor is my favorite company.

Cooking Without Gluten is Different Than Gluten-free Cooking

Janell Moxley

Lesson one: know the difference between gluten-free and cooking without wheat. If your friend want's to keep a regular grocery budget, she will just need to learn to eat different things rather than working hard to substitute what is normal to the diets of those around her. Choose rice and potatoes, rather than gluten-free pasta or bread. Sometimes I enjoy gluten-free bread, yet it is a treat or delicacy rather than a staple.

Lesson two: there is no gluten-free flour that is a straight shot substitute for baking without wheat. Even bleached baking flour and wheat flour hold pastries together differently because the varied gluten levels. Cooking with just rice flour will make your product very crumbly. Buying the gluten-free baking mixes can also be spendy. I suggest looking at the ingredients and making your own. It is less expensive to buy rice and grind it in a clean wheat grinder or Vita-mixer rather than buying pre-ground flour. I mix my own flour (something like half rice, quarter millet, and bit of potato and tapioca flours). When you cook with different ingredients, your product will turn out different--so don't expect it to taste the same (It may still taste good, but it will be different.)