Swedish Meatballs - Gluten-Free, Lactose-Free Version

I love Swedish Meatballs but since I have issues with gluten and my husband has issues with lactose, they are not something that either one of us can enjoy without suffering the consequences.

Over the last year, I have been tweaking the recipe my mother uses to make a lactose-free, gluten-free version and I think I have finally come up with a recipe that I am happy with.  It is flavourful, rich and decadent.

There is one ingredient that I should explain - I put in 1/4 cup on plain apple sauce in the gravy.  I realize this may seem odd but when I was looking at the list of ingredients on the Ikea Swedish Meatball sauce, I noticed that there was apple powder listed.  I realized this was the slight sweet, tangy edge that my sauce was missing.  When I added the 1/4 cup of plain apple sauce, I was amazed at the extra depth it added.

So here is my tweaked recipe.  I apologize but I have no pictures.  There was none left after tonight's dinner and since I have been adjusting this recipe every time I have made it, I really didn't expect tonight's version to be THE one.

Gluten-Free, Lactose-Free Swedish Meatballs

Meatballs

1 lb ground beef

1 lb ground pork

1 onion, diced

2 tbsp. olive oil

½ cup gluten free, dairy free panko

2 large egg yolks

½ tsp. ground allspice

½ tsp. ground nutmeg

Salt and pepper to taste

Gravy

¼ cup vegan margarine

1/3 cup rice flour

4 cups beef broth

¼ cup plain apple sauce

¾ cup heavy lactose free cream

¼ tsp. ground allspice

¼ tsp. ground nutmeg

1 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce

1 tsp. Dijon mustard

2 tbsp. chopped parsley for garnish (optional)

Combine beef, pork, panko, eggs, spices and onions in a large bowl.  Season with salt and pepper.  Mix well.  Roll into 1 ¼ - 1 ½ inch balls.  Add oil to large heavy sauce pan.  Cook meatballs in batches until all sides are brown - about 4 to 5 minutes.  Transfer to plate.

Gravy – Melt butter in the bottom of the same sauce pan that was used to cook the meatballs.  Whisk in rice flour and cook until lightly brown – about 2 minutes.  Whisk in beef broth and cook, whisking constantly until slightly thickened.  Add in apple sauce, cream, spices, Worcestershire sauce and Dijon mustard.

Stir in meatballs, cover, and reduce heat to simmer until meatballs are cooked through.  Stir at regular intervals.

Serve with potatoes or rice or gluten-free egg noodles.

A litte creative time....

I am sitting here watching it snow once again and wondering where the heck spring is.  I am also wishing I was back on my retreat being creative instead of staring at a large load of laundry that needs to be folded.

Last weekend was my Spring scrapbooking retreat.  I spent 3 days playing with paper, glue, ink and not worrying about a thing.  I love retreats.  They are a dedicated time to be messy and let myself go. I don't really worry about how much I get done but this weekend I was surprised by how productive I was.

The little loops of black are feathers that I tied in a loop so the barbs spread out.  The background is mandala pattern stamps that I had picked up earlier in the day.  I don't know what it is about new supplies that tend to jump start your creativity but they do.

I also bought these fantasy eye and butterfly stamps when I picked up the mandala stamps:

I decided not to do a layout but just something that could be put in a shadowbox frame instead.  The wings of the feathers are popped dotted to add more dimension.

Sometimes is it a good idea to dig into your old supplies as well.  I was looking for anything that was a sword.  I really wanted to emphasize the Legend of Zelda theme of his shirt.  I went through all my ephemera and embellishments to see if there was anything I could use.  I, then, dug into my dies.  I had completely forgotten that I had the Spellbinders Heraldry dies...and low and behold, they were absolutely perfect for this layout.

I toned down the pattern on the paper with some gesso and used matching paper from the same line to coordinate a more monochromatic layout.  Tim Holtz's swirls die is one of my gotos.  I find I reach for that die with almost every layout that I use flowers.

I am starting to channel my friend Michelle with this layout.  Her style is streamline and elegant whereas mine is over the top and heavily embellished.  It is nice sometimes to break from your style and try something different.

At the retreat, we do a make and take.  I don't know what it is about me but I have a hard time doing the make and take as is.  It is like I can't colour inside the lines.  This was this years make and take:

I like the colours of the paper and strangely enough I ended up using this paper for a layout about my son not my daughter.  I had to make it my own and this is what I ended up with:

Now that the kiddos are older, I find that I want to use "young" paper - cutesy, kawaii and silly.  I could use older pictures of them but there is a perverse pleasure in using them for teen layouts.

I really like what Doodlebug has been putting out lately.  It is very kawaii.  Whenever I see it I pick up whatever they have and usually multiple sheets of it.

That is all I ended up making but for me this is quite a bit.

Have a Happy Saturday!

Time Slips Away...

Time slips away so quickly and lives get so busy.  Blog posts become lower priority items and the next thing you know 2 years has gone by.  I rarely craft anymore which I really miss.  I basically get two weekends a year that I dig all my supplies out, load a choice selection in my car and head to my scrapbooking retreat 3 hours away from home.  I am far enough away that I can concentrate on being creative but close enough if anything major happens, I can be home relatively quickly.  If I didn't have these weekends, I think I would have gone insane long ago.

My next retreat is coming up soon and I am so looking forward to it.  I am already digging through supplies trying to figure out what I want to take and what I want to work on.  I don't tend to get much done but I am always happy with what I manage to get finished.

My last retreat was in November and I managed to get 4 layouts done.

This one is of my father doing a demonstration in the forge for Pioneer Days.  Using a lot of metal embellishments and twisted wire made sense for this layout.  It is also a cleaner layout than my usual style.

This next layout is more me - lots of layering, fussy cutting, flowers, die cuts and embellishments.  Basically, the more the merrier.

When we were home last, we did a session of family photos.  This one is of my mom, me and the kiddos - three generations.  There are three lady bugs incorporated into this layout.  When I was growing up there were always three wooden lady bug magnets on my mothers fridge.  It just seemed right to add them to this layout.

Every retreat, everyone is given the same paper to use in a challenge.  It is always fun to see how everyone does something different with the papers.  The next two layouts are made from that challenge paper.

Two very different styles of layout but both are "fan" pages and are using photos taken at ComicCon.

Hopefully, it will not be two years before I post again.  I have started bullet journalling but I am using it more for keeping track of my life than being creative...although, I can't resist every once in a while adding doodles, embellishments and some kind of over the top decoration.  In many ways I am hoping that it will lead back to more scrapbooking and card making.

Have a good Saturday.

A scrapbooking retreat....

Last month, I attend a scrapbooking retreat at the Timber House near Brighton.  I haven't been doing much the last year or so and I was hoping it would jump start me back into being creative.  It was a beautiful location.

Surprisingly, I did not get down to the beach until Sunday.  I arrived in the dark on Friday night (not really that late since the sun sets at 4:30 pm at this time of the year) and I worked until Sunday morning.  I basically took breaks to eat, sleep and do a bit of visiting.  Overall, it was a very productive weekend and was just the kick in the pants that I needed to get started again.

I worked mainly on layouts and playing with some multimedia techniques.

I have one more layout at I started but is not yet complete.  I figure I will get to it during my Christmas holidays.

Today, I am concentrating on designing and doing up my Christmas cards.  I am enjoying making them again but I forgot how long it takes.

Have a good Sunday.

Time for A Change

I haven't had a chance to do much crafting in the last few months.  The new job, although very interesting, is also very time consuming.  The learning curve is huge but that is to be expected with a new job.  I am hoping that as I get more of a handle on the job that I will carve out some time to dig back into crafting again.

I figured that a good place to start digging back in was to refresh my blog.  It was feeling a little dated and cluttered.  With Spring coming soon, a clean, fresh look was needed.  I have also been decluttering my drives and filing my photos away.  One of the gems that I found buried with in layers of folders are some old card sketches that I did back in 2011 and 2012.  I figured I would repost a few here.

Have a good Sunday.

Happy Halloween!

I have spent the last week making costumes.  Yesterday, my darling daughter wanted something like she would wear to dance.  I wanted something that covered her a bit more.  It all started with the hat she wanted to wear and we went from there.

Today, she wanted to out as CleoCATra.  We have spent the last week putting this together from an old table cloth and lots of materials from the Dollarstore.

My son couldn't seem to decide what he wanted...just that he wanted to wear a mask.  I don't like them wearing masks when they are out at night.  I found a half mask that I thought would work and would not obstruct his view.  Out of that mask came the idea of making a voodoo priest.  Thankfully, he liked the idea.

All in all, I like these better than the store bought ones.

Happy Halloween.

Art Journaling

After a very busy summer with the kiddos, I only have a few art journal pages to show for any remotely creative activities.  Most of the summer was spent exploring, lazing in the sun and just enjoying ourselves.

I currently have two art journals on the go.  One is a larger A4 format book and a smaller mixed media sketch book.  The first three are from the sketch book and the two pager was done in the A4 book.  In the art journals, I try to use up any scraps that I have left over from scrapbooking and I have a lot of left over scraps from over the years.  I just can't seem to throw anything away.

I also received my Foldio2 which I backed on Kickstarter.  It is a foldable light box that uses LED lights.  I really like it because I can fold it down quickly and easily.  It takes up very little storage space.  The only drawback is that it is a bit too small for photographing 12x12 layouts.  I have managed to gerry rig a solution to make it tall enough but it is wonderful for small objects.

It comes with various back drops but I find that I tend to use the white one the most.


For all the Canadians, Happy Thanksgiving.  Our turkey is in the oven and it smells wonderful.

It Has Been A While

I started a new job last fall and after being home for 6 months, it was a big adjustment.  Learning a new job, a new organization and working with new people is both stimulating and tiring.  It has been a period of adjustment for everyone.  I am afraid that my crafting has suffered because of it.

Other than the occasional art journal page, I really haven't done much in the last 6 months.  I keep thinking that I will start a layout, a card or a window box frame arrangement then end up doing an art journal page.  They are addictive.

Things are starting to settle in and I am hoping to post here more often....Stay tuned and Happy Thursday.

Fall

I love the Fall.  I love the smell of the leaves, the cooler days, and the bright vibrant colours.  I love the photos that I get of the kiddos with the leaves as a back drop.

This photo was taken last year when the leaves were just starting to turn.  I made the kiddos go to a local park with me and do all kinds of artsy, fun and wacky photos.  There is no journalling on this layout.  It was done just to satisfy my need to create something yesterday. 

I started with some modeling paste and stencils to create texture.  I, then, stenciled a design using distress inks.  I wanted to put more modeling paste over top of the inking but not have the ink bleed through so I spray some matte fix over the inking.  It kept the subtle smudged feel that the distress inks gives when you apply it with a sponge applicator without the bleed through when you apply a wet medium over top.

The papers, I pulled out of my scrap bin.  Most of these were left over from making cards or other layouts.  The only new piece of paper that I either cut into or mucked up was the cardstock base.  The leaves are from Dollarama.  They are leftovers from the wreath that I made for our front door this year.  The crocheted flowers were made for me by a fellow scrapbooker and were part of a RAK.  I really wish I knew how to crochet.  These are really cute.  There are also bits of Prima embellishments, ribbon flowers from Fabricland, dollar store bling, and old book paper.  I just kept adding little bits until I had a layering that was appealing.

I am trying to decide if I am going to work on Christmas cards, start a new layout or continue working on the Christmas decorations that I am making for my mom and sister-in-law.  Either way, today is going to be a creative day spent playing.

Have a creative Thursday.

Happy World Card Making Day

Card making was my first foray into the paper crafts.  This was before I had my kiddos.  My cards were fairly simple often with a stamped or embossed image.  When they arrived, I made all of their birth announcements but it wasn't until I started to scrapbook that I really got into card making.  It was a way to use up all my scraps but it was also an excuse to buy all these great embossing folders and dies.

Over the past year, I haven't been making that many cards and if I do make them, I often forget to mail them to their recipients. *blush* My family can attest to this.  I don't know how many times over the last year or so that I have handed them their cards 6 months after the date.  I was always bad before but never this bad.

So to celebrate World Card Making Day today, I am going to try to make more cards and get them into the mail box going forward.

I have even managed to make two cards.  One is using up scraps of Graphic45 papers and stickers from some of the art journaling I have been doing lately.  The second is made from bits and pieces of paper from the very bottom of my scrap bin.  I am sure they have been in there for a few years at least.

Since I am feeling creative, I think I will go back and see if I can either make a couple more cards or maybe even a layout.

Happy World Card Making Day!

Art Journal Page

Another art journal page is done.  I had to abandon the page that I started with the black gesso.  I couldn't seem to get it to flow nicely.  It was creating a mental block preventing me from doing anything else.  It wasn't until I decided to abandon it completely that I was able to move on to something else.  Now that the creative juices are once again flowing, I figure that I will come back to it in a few months with new eyes.

This is the double page that broke the mental block.  I started by priming the page with a thin coat of gesso.  After that coat dried, I used a spatula to apply a thick uneven coat to provide texture.  Stenciled modeling paste added further texture.  After adding tea stain, inks, tissue paper, etc. to the background, I add pieces of ephemera from my scrap basket.

I am contemplating spending sometime making different hand made paper flowers....maybe a wall hanging or a framed piece.

Have a good Monday.

Paint Speckles

Paint speckles were the start for this art journal page.  It is not a technique that I have used very often so doing it as a background for an art journal page is a good way to work out the kinks for use in other projects.  Once the background was done, old book paper called out to be used and it was just a hop, skip and a jump to old treasure maps.

The map was stamped on the book paper with Archival Ink and Distress Markers were used to colour in the image.  All the left over bits and pieces from the previous art journal pages were used up on this page.

I have already started another page which I have slathered with black gesso.  I have never used black gesso before so this will be interesting.

Happy Tuesday.

Back to Art Journalling

After one layout, I am back to another art journal page.  Actually.....I started this one while I was working on the layout.  It was something to do while I was waiting for things to dry.

I was playing more with the texture paste that I made.  I was trying to see how much fine detail that I could get out of it.  It is still a bit too runny so I will cut down on the amount of water that I added to it for the next batch.

I used Graphic45 Botanical Tea and some Rebecca Sower Nostaligiques stickers that I found digging through my stash.  I have had these forever.

My cup of tea, once again, ended up on the page.  I am also trying to use up some old rubons that are starting to dry out.

I have already started the background for my next page set.  An old toothbrush and acrylic paint have made an appearance on my work surface.  Once again I am waiting for stuff to dry....maybe I should start another layout.

Happy Sunday.

A Layout....A Layout...I actually did a layout....

Happy dance going on over here.  I finally did a layout.  I bit the bullet yesterday afternoon and dug out a photo of my son from a couple of years ago and went from there.

The tie dyed paper is "colour diffusing" paper that I picked up at a local education supply store.  It is interesting paper to play with.  I used Dylusions Ink Spray and Adirondack Colour Wash sprays on it.  I, then, took a squirt bottle filled with water and created water blotches to help diffuse the ink more.  It is doubtful that the paper is archival but since I ended up using transistors, bits of wafers, and semi-conductors on the layout, I wasn't really concerned with the longevity of the layout.

Another technique I tried was to make my own texture paste with glue, white paint and talcum powder.  I followed the recipe on Gabrielle Pollacco's blog.  I ended up adding a bit too much water as you can tell by the arrows but I corrected it by adding more talcum powder so the dots turned out much better.

One other goal with this layout was to use some of my older stash up.  I ended up digging through some old Basic Grey papers that I haven't looked at in a couple of years to find this distressed numbered gem.  The background graph paper is from Scenic Route.  I must have bought at least a dozen sheets of this paper back in the day and I think I might have one more sheet of it left.  It is one of my favourite basics.

My dining room table is once again a creative mess.  I have another art journal page on the go and I have a few more photos that I have pulled out to work on.  Looks like Mojo has come for a visit and tends to stay awhile.

Happy Friday.

Things You Notice

I finished off an art journal page just a few minutes ago.  As I was standing over it, I thought that it looked pretty good.  I was happy with it so I proceed to take pics of it to post to Instagram and to my blog.  It wasn't until I was editing the photo that I noticed that it wasn't what I wanted.  My fluid free-flow edges that I was hoping for were not there.  On the right hand side of the page, I had managed to create a straight edge in the combined image.  How come I did not notice this while I was stamping or while I was humming and hawing over it, trying to determine if it was balanced or not.

I find that tends to happen to me quite a bit.  I have a certain perception of a work as I am working on it but it tends to change when I view it through the filter of a photo of the work.  I don't know if it is a mental block or if it is just the change of perspective that allows me to view the work differently.

I am not going to change this page at this point since I think leaving it as it current state is a good lesson on perspective.

Basically this page is mostly just playing with different stamping techniques and mediums.

I think I am going to take a break from art journalling for the rest of the day.  I think it is time to try my hand at something else.

Happy Thursday.

Best Intentions....

What do they say about best intentions....I had so many plans for the month of May.  I was finally going to take some time while the kiddos were in school and I was off work to get a number of things done around the house.  Alas, it was not meant to be.  The cold that I caught at the beginning of May is still lingering a month later and even though I have started on my to do list, it is woefully incomplete.  I think I have come to terms that it is going to be an ongoing battle instead of one all out conflict.  Whatever I manage to get completed is more than I had the day before.

Crafting has been slow as well but I have managed to make some headway.  I have finished an art journal page and started another.  For this page, I wanted to avoid the really wet mediums, such as paints and sprays, and went with layering inks instead.

I recently acquired a new Prima 12x12 stencil with a city map outline.  Using different colours of distress inks, I made it the central point of a two page art journal layout.  Another new Prima 12x12 stencil that resembled wood was used to add another layer of inking.  As much as I was avoiding wet mediums, I gave in for some sprays with a wonderful new Memory Box stencil.

I also dug out the modelling paste and a Prima 12x12 butterfly stencil.  Once the modelling paste was dry, I rubbed on Inka-Gold in green, blue and gold.  Pencil outlines helped to have the butterflies popped out a bit more.

Lots of bits and pieces of fussy cutting came next.  I was drinking coffee with cream today so the "tea rings and splatters" are actually diluted walnut ink.

I am trying to use up my scraps and old papers with the art journal.  Not being totally successfully with this but I am trying.  The new Graphic45 keeps tempting me -- especially the Botanical Tea collection.  As you can see, some of it snuck in here.

I am currently working on another page.  This one is messy.  Lots of gel medium, collage, gesso, sprays and inks.

Have a good Monday.