1. Think whole foods like fruit, instead of your typical ooey-gooey, high-sugar desserts. CHOCOLATE-COATED FRUIT PARTY PLATTER (source: "Get The Sugar Out" by Anne Louise Gittleman) 4 oz. unsweetened chocolate squares 1 T. unsalted butter (coconut oil is a great substitute for butter - and if you are avoiding dairy because of lactose, the higher the fat content of a dairy product, the lower the lactose - butter has very little lactose) 1/2 c. unsweetened apple-juice concentrate 1 t. natural vanilla extract 4 c. fruit (whole strawberries, bananas, navel oranges, kiwis, etc.) Spray a baking sheet with a vegetable cooking spray (or cover with parchment paper or Release aluminum foil); set aside. In the top of a double boiler, over simmering water, melt chocolate and butter, stirring occasionally; remove from heat and cool slightly. Whisk in juice concentrate a little at a time until chocolate is smooth; add vanilla extract. If mixture is too thick, add a little more concentrate until it thins out. Dip ends of fruit into chocolate mix, twirling to coat lower half of each piece of fruit; let excess drip back into pan until all chocolate is used. Place fruit on prepared baking sheet; place in freezer 10 minutes to set chocolate. refrigerate until ready to serve. Makes 12 servings of 3 pieces each. --------------- Marinated Fresh Fruit Kabobs Marinade: 1/2 c. honey (agave nectar or no-calorie substiute) 1/4 c. water 1/4 c. lime juice 1/4 c. orange juice Fruit: 1 c. honeydew melon balls or cubes 1 c. watermelon balls or cubes 1 c. cantaloupe melon balls or cubes 2 large nectarines or peaches, cut into cubes 8-12 bamboo skewers In small saucepan, combine honey (or substitute) and water; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer 5 minutes. Stir in lime juice and orange juice. Cool completely. Combine fruit in medium bowl. Pour marinade over fruit; toss gently. Cover; refrigerate 1-2 hours to blend flavors. When ready to serve, place about 12 pieces of fruit on each bamboo skewer. 8-12 kabobs ------------- Instead of Apple Pie... Orange Sauced Apples 3 T. agave nectar (or other sweetener) 1 T. cornstarch 1/4 t. nutmeg or cinnamon or apple pie spice 1 c. orange juice 3 cooking apples (For French Apple, add some raisins.) Combine agave nectar, cornstarch, spice, juice, and blend well. Stir in apple slices. Over medium-high heat, bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat. Cover; simmer 5-10 minutes or until apples are tender and sauce is thickened, stirring occasionally. Serve warm. You can top this with sprinkles of crunchy cereal, homemade sugar-free granola or nuts to give it a "crust". 2. Check your local library for cookbooks on the subject. Here are a few that I have in my library that would have appropriate recipes in them. Have your library get them through inter-library loan if they don't have them on the shelf. The "allergy" cookbooks have recipes for frosting/fillings that are dairy-free, as well as other dessert items. -The Complete Food Allergy Cookbook - by Marilyn Gioannini -How Sweet It Is...Without The Sugar - by Jean C. Wade -The Allergy Self-help Cookbook - by Marjorie Hurt Jones -Stevia (Naturally sweet recipes for desserts, drinks and more!) by Rita DePuydt 3. If you can use agave nectar (a natural, low-glycemic, honey-like sweetener), I have many recipes you could use. If you are dealing with Candida, then that requires a whole different approach to foods and agave nectar wouldn't be a suitable sugar substitute. I've used agave nectar as a substitute for "sugar" for many years now. An easy way to use agave nectar is as a substitute in recipes that use honey as a sweetener. "Sugar-Free" is a bit broad. Do you mean free of white table sugar, since things like concentrated fruit juices are also full of "sugar"? White flour and white rice raises blood glucose as quickly as white table sugar, if you are avoiding "sugar" for blood sugar problems. It's easy to substitute agave nectar for sugar in recipes. Muffins and other quick breads also make great "treats" and snacks. Make up batches of mini-muffins and freeze them. 4. Tortillas are a great substitute for yeast-free bread. They can be used for quick meals, including wraps. They are also fun and easy to make at home. 5. Nut milk and rice milk is a great substitute for milk and is easy (and much cheaper) to make at home. Personally, I avoid soy, since it's high on the list of allergens. If it's lactose in milk you are avoiding, then Whey Milk is a great substitute - www.wheymilkusa.com. -Grainlady

Keeping room is just an old-fashioned term for a small seating area off the kitchen, usually with a fireplace. Some people have a kitchen table, as well as a few comfy chairs, maybe an ottoman. I'd like the table by a window, personally...and the little seating area by the fireplace. It really depends on your lifestyle. Do you entertain a lot of people, on the holidays? If there's not enough room for everyone in the kitchen (with all the cooking/baking, etc.) it might be nice to have the separate game table/dining table in the living room, for extra dining space. The keeping room is smaller than a family room or great room. Usually it's just a space to sit by the fire and visit with people in the kitchen. The main living area would not be in the kitchen...but many people with small children like to have all those functions in one big space. That explains the popularity of the 'great room' concept. Again, it all depends on how you live and what works best for you and your family :)

My husband has divided the developmental stages into useful names: floppy stage (baby can't sit up on their own), potted plant stage (can sit up in a Bumbo and eventual high chair. Throwing and spilling to be expected), the start of the long baby suicide watch stage (starts with crawling/scooting and progresses to cruising and then walking), tantrum stage, and then pee/poop on floors/wall stage (potty training). We have two boys ages 7 and 11. When your kids are young you want them within eye and ear shot. When they're a baby that means they may room in with you for awhile until they move to the nursery, Room for a bassinet next to the bed and dimmable lights are useful along with a place to put a changing pad and diapers in your bedroom and a comfortable chair for nursing/bottles/rocking. A lot of people want the nursery next door but baby monitors exist for a reason. If the room is next door then both parents are woken up during night time feedings instead of one sleeping and one tending to the baby. Eventually you'll also want to have marital relations again and that will be awkward if there's just a wall separating you and your child. I recommend at least a hallway separation. In our current home the master bedroom is at the bottom of the stairs and the bedroom we used as a nursery was at the top of the stairs. It worked perfectly. Eventually your child will move into baby suicide watch stage. Baby proofing an entire house is a major pain in the butt. For that reason I recommend choosing a baby proofing zone that can be closed off using baby gates and/or doors that's within eye and ear shot of the kitchen and a bathroom. Basically you're creating one large play pen Make sure doorways are built for the easy installation of gates (wide ones are harder to gate) and that doorknobs, cabinets doors, etc are chosen that are easy to baby proof. Design a fireplace surround that's easy to baby proof. We ended have to put a big, ugly cage around our's because our kid kept trying to crawl into our's to eat the rocks and impale himself on the grate. Carpet is good for babies but if you prefer hard surfaces try to choose flooring that isn't very slippery. You may not have to baby proof everything (we didn't have to install toilet locks for example) but this is how you can make your life easier. Make sure there's also space for toy storage that's easy for a young child to use so he or she can help clean up. It doesn't have to be permanent. In the kitchen designate a drawer for eventual use by the child so he or she can safely get his or her own dishes. Choose a potty training bathroom close to the kitchen and living room and make sure it's easy to clean and has room for a step stool in front of the sink and toilet. Choose a scrubbable wall covering so you can easily clean off pee, poop and/or toothpaste. Eventually the kids won't be on baby suicide watch stage and will move to toys that hurt bare feet stage such as Barbie high heels or Legos. Once they move to that stage you want a room that's away from you that has a door you can close to contain that mess. At that point toys aren't allowed in the family/living room anymore. Don't bother to fit it out with built-ins, etc until you're actually using that room. Even then, keep the room as flexible as possible.

1. Privacy I live in a city, so this kind of backyard set up and proximity to neighbors is not at all unusual or perplexing to me. I have a gangway between my house and the neighbor's, where our dining rooms face each other and have put segments of trellis up in intervals with vines growing up to give some privacy. It is the city, we know we see each other, but with the trellis there is neither a wall nor our faces in their window. (See my pics below.) This was super inexpensive - salvaged trellis, yard sale planters, the I even got the rhodies from a landscaper who was pitching them into a compost pile. I think you could do something similar at intervals on the left side of your deck corresponding with the neighbor's window locations. You could plant flowering vines or tall evergreen shrubs in yours. It is nice to have greenery peeking through to the neighbor's side as well because they get to enjoy a bit of your greenery and not just feel like you have a trellis in their face. 2. Create the illusion of privacy When living close to neighbors, privacy is somewhat a state of mind. You have to create a space of your own where you can block others out mentally. Hanging lanterns or zig zagging stings of lights can really do wonders for delineating a space and making it feel like your own. Also create a sense of space by adding some color cohesion to the furniture, planters, and other materials you bring on to your deck. Also, getting out there and using it helps to claim the space as your own. The more time you spend out there, the more your neighbors will look away to give you privacy outside. 3. Kid space I don't know how much you love to garden or how old your kids are. I personally would put containers along the side of the deck to grow plants in, and use the back dirt area for a playhouse for the kids and/or a sand box. Get a cheap one off of craigslist. Use it until they outgrow it, then see what you want next in the space. A more grown up club house? It just seems like the perfect place for kids to feel far away and on their own even when they are not. I'd also get one of those outdoor toy boxes that doubles as seating to put on the deck area and store outdoor toys in it. Leave a lot of the deck space open for play - my next door neighbors have a patio the same size as yours and the kids have been playing some kind of tether ball out there all day today. They do ring toss, hopscotch, even ride trikes. You'd be surprised how much kids can do in a small outside space with the right games and toys. 4. Adult space Find non-bulky stackable seating so you can rearrange it for adults to sit outside and chill, and also stack and move it out of the way for kid play. Keep one slender rectangular table off to the side that you can use as a bar or pull out to side at when you want to eat out there.