A Recipe for Flappy Mama Arms

I am going to talk about something many of us ladies hate to bring up.  Men might even cringe or possibly reflect on the fond memories of the ladies in their lives.  Yes, I am going to talk about our arms, not the whole arm, but the little flappy thing in the back of our arm that happens as we get older despite all the babies we lift and the work we do.  All of us frown at the thought of flappy arms and swear to firm them up after our kids get older, next summer, or for the New Year.  I don’t lift weights like I should, but I do exercise and to my horror, I noticed that I am developing the flap on the backs of my arms.

Instead of crying over it and making promises that I know I can’t keep.  I decided to take another try on gluten-free flour tortillas, a challenge that I intend to conquer.  Why tortillas, you ask?  Well that flappy arm is the benchmark of an auntie, a grandma, or a mom that takes me back to when the women in my family made tortillas.  So I plugged in some music, (I could have turned on the TV to a novella too, but not my style), tied on an apron and got to work.  As I was working, I thought about why we get this flap when we women work our arms so much.  We lift babies, prepare meals, clean, and work out when we find the time.  Heck, rolling out tortillas takes some effort, but I distinctly remember that flap on my aunt’s arm going flappety flap as she would roll the rolling pin and flip the tortillas in effort to make them perfectly round.   My own mother used to joke about her arms and flex her bicep claiming that she isn’t going to get that flap and I dare not mention if she has or hasn’t. 

I have come to the conclusion that it should be a marking of pride and it sure is nice to get hugs from ladies with flappy arms.  Well it’s nice to get hugs from any arms.   Now I am not saying quit exercising. We need to protect our bones from deteriorating and our hearts need some physical exercise, but our hearts also need a hugging kind of workout not the ShakeWeight kind. (That thing is goofy.)  I know we read all these magazines that have strappy tops and dresses and tell ourselves how much we wish we could wear those things, but hate our arms.   What I am saying is flex that bicep and let the arm hang low with pride, you deserve it and it really is a thing of beauty and great memories.  It is one of the reasons I love to cook.  

This week’s challenge…Bake something new and seasonal.  You will know what goes in it and feel good about eating and sharing it.  I had all these apples from my apple tree and made apple butter.  I worked out my arm flap cranking the food mill.  I also tried another recipe for Gluten Free flour tortillas and had the most success so far.  Other ideas include zuchinni bread, peach cobbler, pecan cobbler, corn and zuchinni fritters. Or try tortillas.

GF Flour Tortilla Recipe (It still needs some tweaking)

1 ½ cups of brown rice flour

1 cup of potato starch

2/3 cup of a fat (I used butter which was tasty, but lard, or oil may work well here) I would guess you could use shortening or margarine, but I don’t endorse manufactured trans fats

2-4 tbls of warm milk or water

2 tsp xantham gum

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

Combine dry ingredients then cut in fat with hands.  Add the milk one tablespoon at a time to help dough to stick together and add more if needed.  Knead into a lump and it will feel like play doh.  Grab a small ball and place on rice floured surface.  Get a small rolling pin dusted with rice flour and roll it out as round as you can to 1/8 inch thickness.  This is the hard part.  Use a spatula to scoop the tortilla and place it carefully on a heated skillet.  I use a cast iron.  Let the surface get a little bubbly and flip it like a pancake.  Leave it on for about 30 seconds, remove and place on clean towel.  Eat them immediately because they didn’t keep well.  I will work on that and repost.

P.S.  Rolling GF dough prevents the flappety flap of the arm because it is a slower process and there is no gluten to fight with. 

Tummy Tonic

I am so glad to be home.  We went to Wichita, Kansas for my son’s national track meet and I was expecting green grass, cooler temperatures, and some rain, but these poor folks are experiencing a terrible drought with record temperatures.   We didn’t see a day under 110 degrees the entire time we were there.  Not good weather to have a huge track meet!  Kids were collapsing on the track after their run brown grass everywhere, and the Arkansas River, which is usually filled bank to bank, was a trickle of water. 

I was really hoping that I would have some unique and different foods to report back on this blog, but nothing really impressed me all that much. I was really disappointed in their Gluten-free choices.  Upon doing some gluten-free restaurant research, we found that gluten free friendly really meant that my husband could have only about two salads on the menu.  I did find a gluten-free blog, but it was towards the last day. We did find a pretty decent pizza place that deserves some kudos—The Wichita Pizza Company. We also ate at a great barbecue joint across the street from a grain elevator.  Both restaurants were locally owned and in probably the not so popular sections of town.  This really got me thinking…

There are so many corporate restaurants in the nicer neighborhoods, but I do believe that there are a lot of people who search out the local holes in the wall only to be disappointed.  I would expect that various municipal chambers of commerce would assist more local small business owners become more viable in the more desired neighborhoods too. 

 I see this in Albuquerque as well, but I do have to say I am biased because I know my town and I don’t see this as often, but I have to say some of my favorite restaurants are in what is termed,  the war zone.  Although, I have to report that there are many people in the “war zone, who are aiming to make this a sought after part of town and I hope the city of Albuquerque is helping them.  I can definitely say that some of my least favorite parts of town are flooded with corporate restaurants and I stay away because they really hurt my tummy with all their processed salty fare that they make us ingest.  When I think this could be a whole other topic on its own and I might go on about it another time.  

I felt icky when I got home and I had to eat some beans and rice and a tonic salad to calm the icky. 

Refreshing Summer Salad (Sorry no picture)

1 half a large cucumber

1 small tomato

A handful of shredded lettuce

A half a lemon

2 tablespoons of plain yogurt

A few basil leaves, parsley, fresh mint or dill

Salt and pepper to taste

Dice veggies and place in bowl.  Place yogurt in bowl add lemon juice and seasoning and combine with veggies. 

A weekly challenge for you…

Yogurt is known for its entire tummy calming and gut cleansing properties because of the live bacteria cultures inside of it.  It is known for treating many intestinal ailments including diarrhea.   It is rich in protein, calcium, and B vitamins. It is also delicious both savory and sweet.  According to the International Journal of Obesity, consuming yogurt each day does help you lose weight.   It is a great alternative to milk for those who are lactose intolerant.

Try using yogurt in breakfast, snack, lunch and dinner. Tell me what you made.

I have lunch up above and another hint is that you can use it in place of mayo in a lot of dressings.