summer fun

oh my word, the days are just flying by.

it's not that we are even that busy, but i guess being a family of six is just that... busy when you aren't even trying!

it's been hot here. not as crazy hot as it was two weeks ago, but hot enough that the only thing i want to do is take the kids to the pool and swim! and that's just what we do most days. ben has been working hard to learn how to swim without floaties this summer.

my little fishies...









we still try to fit in treat tuesdays, watercolor wednesdays, and craft thursdays. sometimes they don't happen on the right day, and obviously i don;t always blog about it, but we are still spending time together doing things that are meaningful and important to the kids.

last tuesday we made peach cobbler using peaches from a friend's tree. i think i want a peach tree. my neighbors have one and the peaches right off the tree... amazing! so delicious. now they have nectarines that look just about ripe and i'm crossing my fingers that some of the branches grow about an inch more so they are on our side of the fence. i love nectarines even more than peaches!


peaches cut with skin removed


i love that my kids enjoy helping out in the kitchen


he's the only kid that didn't get kicked out of the kitchen though!


bubbling peaches in a pot


 prepping the baking dish


spreading the dough over the top


happy helper


fresh from the oven


served with a scoop of vanilla coconut bliss


ready to dig in!

this recipe and many other tasty gluten free treats and recipes can be found at gluten free goddess.

Gluten-Free Peach Cobbler Recipe

Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Lightly grease an 8x8-inch baking dish or two large/four small individual gratin dishes.

Ingredients:

About 4 cups of sliced ripe peaches (peeled)
2 tablespoons organic light brown sugar or use raw agave nectar
2 teaspoons tapioca starch

Begin with the peaches:

Pour the sliced peaches into a pot and stir in the light brown sugar and tapioca starch till coated. Heat over medium heat until the peaches start to bubble a little around the edges. Turn the heat to low and cook for eight to ten minutes. This gives the peaches a head start in the baking department.

Meanwhile whisk together:

1 cup sorghum flour (also known as jowar flour) or brown rice flour
1/2 cup almond meal (also known as almond flour)
1/2 cup tapioca starch
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons xanthan gum
1/2 cup organic cane sugar
1/2 teaspoon bourbon vanilla extract


Beat in:

6 tablespoons of light olive oil or melted vegan butter spread
1 egg replacer (I used Ener-G Egg Replacer)
1 1/4 to 1 1/2 cups unsweetened So Delicious Coconut Milk, or hemp, almond, or rice milk

The biscuit dough will come together quickly- don't beat it to death. Just till smooth. It should be a wee bit sticky (not too wet and not too dry) like a biscuit dough/batter.

Instructions:

Spoon the hot peaches into the prepared baking dish.

Plop spoonfuls of the biscuit dough on top of the peaches.

Sprinkle with a little dusting of organic cane sugar.

Bake in the center of a preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes, until the juices are bubbling, and the biscuit topping is golden brown and baked through. Cool for five to ten minutes before serving.

Serve warm.

Makes four servings.

Read more: http://glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com/2010/08/gluten-free-peach-cobbler.html#ixzz2Z9lGAdMR

 the topping tasted like a muffin. it really puffed up and took over. we ran out of peaches way before we ran out of topping. most of us liked this best warm with ice cream. i would love to try the peach crisp she has posted, too.

see, i need a peach tree. :)

treat tuesday #2, 2013 GF series

today's treat comes from danielle at against all grain.

when i think of summer, one of the things that pops into my mind is strawberries. juicy, sweet, delicious strawberries.


when i saw these strawberry shortcake cupcakes on pinterest my mouth watered and i knew it would be one of the first things i was going to make. i ate so many strawberries when i was pregnant with taylor that i developed a rash up and down my arms. my children share my love of strawberries, especially miss natalie. they also happen to love cupcakes, so this recipe was sure to be a big hit.

my benny beans helped me make today's treat. it was actually super simple. in fact, all you need are your ingredients and...

a blender!

a sweet little helper is optional, but highly recommended!







and wa-la! the batter is ready to be poured into muffin tins and baked.

i'd like to note that this recipe says it will make a dozen cupcakes and i only made a single batch, but got 18 cupcakes. i also filled my cups more than the recipe said to. i likely made a measurement error with the almond meal, but the cupcakes were delicious the way they were. when i make these again, i will be curious to see how many i make.



once our cupcakes cooled, we topped them off with italian meringue. this my first attempt at making italian meringue. i followed the recipe from against all grain, using honey in place of sugar.





 

honestly, the meringue was not a huge hit at our house. it had a very strong honey taste, and we love honey, but maybe it didn't quite go with the cupcakes? i am anxious to make it again with sugar. the texture and consistency were perfect and those are just about the prettiest cupcakes i have ever made! i definitely need to make it again.

we left the remainder of the cupcakes unfrosted and ate them as muffins. also quite delicious!

Strawberry Shortcake Cupcakes

Author: Danielle Walker – Against All Grain

Serves: 1 Dozen

 

Cupcakes Ingredients:

• 2½ cups blanched almond flour
• ¾ teaspoon baking soda
• ¼ teaspoon sea salt
• ⅔ cup honey
• ⅓ cup coconut oil, melted
• 4 large eggs, room temperature
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• ½ teaspoon lemon zest
• ½ cup finely chopped strawberries 

Frosting Ingredients: 

• 2 egg whites, room temperature
• ⅓ cup honey
• ¼ teaspoon lemon juice or vinegar
• 1½ tablespoons strawberry preserves (freshly pureed strawberries will work too)

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
2. Line a standard muffin tin with baking cups.
3. Combine the honey, coconut oil, eggs, lemon juice, vanilla, and lemon zest in the jar of a blender. Puree on medium speed for 20 seconds or until frothy and smooth.
4. Add the dry ingredients and blend on high for 30-45 seconds. The batter should be very smooth and contain no lumps. If needed, scrape down the sides with a spatula and blend again for a few seconds until all of the dry mixture is incorporated.
5. Gently fold the chopped strawberries in by hand. Divide the batter evenly into the muffin tin, filling about ¾ of the way full.
6. Bake for 16-18 minutes, until a toothpick can be inserted into the middle and comes out clean.
7. Let the cupcakes cool completely on the counter before frosting.
8. Frosting
9. Once the cupcakes have cooled, make your Italian meringue.
10. Bring your honey to a boil in a saucepan over medium-high heat.
11. Meanwhile, beat the egg whites and lemon juice until frothy and you can just begin to see trail marks from your beaters. When you lift out the beaters, you should see soft peaks.
12. With the beaters or mixer running, slowly pour in the boiling honey in a steady stream. Continue beating for 6-8 minutes, until the meringue is cool to the touch.
13. Gently fold in the strawberry preserves. Put the frosting into a piping bag for a pretty design, or spread onto cupcakes with a knife.

as i said before, i will be making these again. probably sooner rather than later! :) also, danielle's site turned out to be a goldmine of amazingly scrumptious looking GL recipes. i think i have found a new favorite website to follow!

what's your favorite flavor cupcake?

treat tuesday#1, 2013 GF series

our hands are clean and we are ready for some summer treats! this summer my boys wanted to bring back treat tuesdays. who wouldn't, right?!
 
i've read a lot about how the food we put in our bodies can effect us, mentally and physically... short-term and long. i find that it's pretty easy to locate supportive evidence that eating a certain kind of diet can do this or that... pretty much whatever you are hoping to cure or make better, there's a diet out there to make it all better! it can be difficult to sort through fact and fiction, and being that i am not a dietary expert and don't always get the science behind the claims, sometimes i just have to try out something that interests me.

cue this summer's treat tuesdays.

this summer we will be making all things gluten free (GF).

i have been eating gluten free on and off since october and then consistently since march. honestly, i just wanted to see if i felt better for it. i wasn't feeling poorly to begin with, but i was curious to see if i would somehow feel better. i can't say that i feel any different eating a gluten free diet, but i can say that i now feel downright miserable if i eat something with gluten. enough so that i just may be gluten free for life!

i am also curious to see if a gluten free diet will have any impact on the behaviors of my son with ASD and my son who is possibly likely ADHD. having been GF for so many months, my family already gets at least 50% of their meals without gluten. the biggest challenge isn't finding or preparing GF products, it's paying for them (so expensive!) and then there is the convenience factor--eating out GF is especially challenging. try  convincing taylor (autism spectrum disorder) that eating a hamburger without a bun is acceptable, because in his brain, it totally isn't! i can buy GF hamburger buns for home, but when you are out and about and want to spontaneously stop by in-n-out burger, i would be setting myself up for a world class tantrum. no thank you!

so that is the back story on how i came to plan for GF treats this summer... just in case you were wondering!

finally, i am no top-chef. i am handy in the kitchen, but i do not create my own recipes. i scoured pinterest high and low for delicious-looking GF treats. talk about torture during my late night snack-attack hour! i have not previously prepared any of these treats, so i will provide recipes, links to the original sites where they are posted, and provide you will some honest and fair evaluations. let me know if you try something and how you liked it. OR if you have a suggestion for an upcoming treat tuesday, leave a comment and tell us what you would like to see us make!

i hope you enjoy my GF series!

today's treat is not only GF, but dairy free, as well. it's  nothing fancy, but a family favorite. chocolate chip cookies! it also happens to be the only treat i filed away that i had all ingredients on-hand for. no shopping with four kids required. bonus! it comes from michelle at i heart wellness. check out the site for lots of other healthy recipes and more!

Vegan Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 1/2 cup Brown Rice Flour

1/2 tsp Sea Salt

1/2 tsp Baking Soda

1/2 tsp Xantham Gum

1/2 cup Grapeseed Oil

1/4 cup Earth Balance Soy-Free Vegan Butter (melted)

1 tsp Vanilla Extract

1/2 cup Maple Syrup

1/2 cup vegan Chocolate Chips (or more!)

Mix dry ingredients in a medium bowl.

In separate bowl, mix all wet ingredients.

Pour wet ingredients into dry and mix well.

If the dough is too crumbly add a bit more melted Earth Balance.

Fold in chocolate chips.

Bake cookies for 11-13 minutes at 350 F.

 

with lots of little helping hands, i like to have everything pre-measured and set up assembly-line style.


natalie is the youngest, so she helped first.


ben helped next. i also plan out the easiest tasks for the youngest helpers. i really try to keep it as clean as possible! i'm not a neat-freak, but we have plenty of other messes all over the house!


zach started adding the wet ingredients. note: we did not use a separate bowl! it worked out just fine this way. he looks very nervous holding the full cup of oil.


i was happy taylor joined in to help. he said "i'll help if i get a sample." ha! taylor is adding the earth balance spread, which is not melted, but at room temp. this also worked out just fine.


watching the kids helping each other melted this mama's heart. just what we needed after a day of what seemed like non-stop bickering, yelling, and throwing things at each other (them, not me!) 


i showed the middles how to make a cookie ball and let them go at it while i cleaned up the dishes.


fresh cookies from the oven. these came out looking just like they did when they went in.


cooling off for that sampling i promised taylor.


zach suggested we flatten the second set, so they'd look more like "real" cookies. hehe!


time for a taste-test! i had already sampled my cookie, to make sure it wasn't still too hot, and as i expected these are quite crumbly, so the kids ate them outside! yummmm!



here is what the kiddos said about these cookies:

taylor: "edible. tastes like a chocolate chip biscuit."
zachary: "a little crumbly, but not too crumbly. i like them the way they are!"
benjamin: "perfect."
natalie: she wanted more, what more can i say?!

taylor's comment sounds a little rude, but it wasn't intended that way. it was important to him that i use the word "edible" in his review, and while you might be thinking that is a criticism, it's totally not coming from my very literal young man, who is just trying to say "you can eat them!" i thought his description about a chocolate chip biscuit was perfect. these are not sweet or chewy cookies and do have a biscuit quality to them. also, he is a huge fan of biscuits, so this is a pretty nice compliment coming from him.

so this week's treat was a hit! if you plan on making these, i suggest you add more than the 1/2 cup of chocolate chips. we used 1 cup. while that seemed like a lot when the boys were making cookie dough balls, i think the warm, gooey chocolate chips are what binds this cookie together! while we haven't tasted them cool, i'm guessing they are best when eaten warm. i am dreaming about a 2nd cookie served with a scoop of my vanilla coconut bliss ice cream tonight after the kids are in bed. mmmm! i also have a little extra dough that i saved for serving as a topping over vanilla ice cream... homemade chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream! since there are no eggs in the batter, this is a safe cookie dough to eat. love that!

now, go make some cookies!

summer 2012: treat tuesday #1, sunflower seed spread cookie dough bites

good morning afternoon!

today is tuesday. treat tuesday, that is.

i spotted today's treat on a sweet little site called pinterest.  
oh, pinterest.
how much do you love that site?!

so today's treat... Sunflower Seed Spread* Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Bites.
that's kind of a mouthful, isn't it?!

the original recipe created by texanerin, is found here. it calls for peanut butter*. however, since we are a peanut free household , i substituted sunflower seed spread for peanut butter.

you can buy sunflower seed spread almost anywhere these days. we typically buy ours from trader joes or we get the sunbutter brand from target. these two varieties contain some sugar, which the kids prefer. without the kids knowing, i've purchased another brand that contains no sugar and they won't eat it. i think it's pretty good, but it's silly to buy something they refuse to eat, so we go with the sugared versions (3g per 2 tbsp).

baking with sunflower seed spread as a substitute for peanut butter has been easy. the taste and consistency are both great. i've read that sunflower seed spread can turn baked products green due to a chemical reaction, but this has not happened to me yet. just thought i'd throw that out there in case someone tries these cookies with sunflower seed spread and the next day they are green. that would be a little alarming.

so back to the cookies. er, cookie dough bites. if you haven't actually checked out the ingredients yet, you are in for a surprise. these little goodies are packed full of protein and fiber. the main ingredient... chick peas! (aka garbanzo beans, for those of you who are only familiar with this bean as the odd looking thing soaking in what smells like pickle juice at many a resturant salad bar).

what exactly does this mean? well, friends, it means this tasty little treat is not only yummy, but a healthier alternative to your standard peanut butter chocolate chip cookie. it means you can have two for breakfast and not feel guilty!

now for the recipe...

 Sunflower Seed Spread* Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Bites

Ingredients:

• 1 15 oz can chickpeas, well-rinsed and patted dry with a paper towel
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons natural sunflower seed spread (or peanut butter)
• 1/4 cup honey or agave nectar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• a pinch of salt if your sunflower seed spread or peanut butter doesn't have salt in it
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips (i used enjoy life dairy, nut, and soy free mega chips and i added probably an extra 1/4 cup, because well... i like chocolate!)

  
Directions (copied from texanerin's site):

Preheat your oven to 350°F. Combine all the ingredients, except for the chocolate chips, in a food processor and process until very smooth. Make sure to scrape the sides and the top to get the little chunks of chickpeas and process again until they're combined. Put in the chocolate chips and stir it if you can, or pulse it once or twice. The mixture will be very thick and sticky. With wet hands, form into 1 1/2" balls. Place onto a piece of parchment paper. If you want them to look more like normal cookies, press down slightly on the balls. They don't do much rising. Bake for about 10 minutes. Yields about fourteen 1 1/2" cookie dough balls.

a few things i did differently: i put the chick peas in the food processor first, just to make sure they were fully chopped up. you know, because they are chick peas. i also placed the dough balls on directly on my cookie sheet, as i don't have any parchment paper. they turned out fine and didn't stick like i thought they might. finally, my dough bites were not really dough bites. my dough balls were maybe 2 in. and i needed to cook them for about 15 min. the recipe yielded me 10 regular sized cookies. slightly squishing them with a spatula made them look more like cookies, as the way you put them in the oven is the way they come out--the shape doesn't change much during baking. i flattened them a bit once i took them out of the oven.

these treats are really rich, in my opinion. we had them fresh from the oven and they were good and gooey. all i could think about while gobbling it up was that it would taste even better with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. texanerin and many of her commenters said these cookies need to be eaten warm. mine have been out of the oven for a while and are definitely room temp by now and they still taste pretty good, i think. i thought the dough was pretty yummy, in small amount. it was really sweet, but the cookie itself doesn't taste sweet... just indulgent.

i will definitely make these again. very few ingredients, super easy clean up, and most of all a healthier and delicious treat!

do you think this is something you will make? 

zach drying off the beans

zach chopping up the beans

ben wants in on the chopping fun

before

after

thanks for reading about this week's treat!

natalie's first birthday

the day started with natalie waking at 1:20 am. just 10 minutes before the official start of her birthday. i rocked her for a while and thought about how one year ago joe was probably just handing her over to me for the first time. i told natalie this and she laughed. that's my girl--all smiles at 1:40 in the morning.

several hours later we got up for the day. i had a lot to do, but i tried to spend as much time as possible playing with natalie. i had to finish up her birthday video by adding pictures of her on her birthday. she loved the music and watching the baby on the computer monitor who smiled back at her. she kept yelling "hiiiee!!"so cute!

we went shopping at whole foods for a dairy and soy free mix. if you ever need an allergen free cake mix, i highly recommend you check out cherrybrook kitchen. so yummy! i've used the chocolate chip cookie, brownie, and cake mixes. i love that you can eat the batter without the worry of contaminated eggs.

for dinner she had real food. for the first time! no pureed or smashed anything. she did so well! and she had her very first cupcake. by the time we did cupcakes, natalie was very tired and starting to show it. i dipped my finger in the frosting and offered her a lick. initially she swatted my hand away, but then she took a small taste. it definitely got her attention and gave her the energy she needed to make it through the rest of the night. ha!

it was a great day. and natalie seemed to know it was her special day. i love that girl to pieces. i'll try to post some pictures of her eating her cupcake tomorrow.

happy birthday to my one year old girl!

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

treat tuesday #3: chocolate chip cookie pie (posted on a wednesday)

first up, a couple of questions answered!

we picked our first two strawberries today (the third one disappeared... skunk, bird, lizard, boy???) so not quite ready to make shortcake yet ;)

i bought the happier than a bird... sign here.  so fun!

i bake when natalie is sleeping. most of the time, it takes all day long. i do a little during her first nap and a little more during her second nap. if she takes a third nap, score! if not, i wait until joe comes home to finish up. which stinks because then i have to clean up before i can make dinner. am i the only one who can't make dinner in a dirty kitchen?

the mystery stuff in the jars was cupcake! i found the idea here. loooved it! so festive and delicious. you can read the detailed directions at the tomkat studio, but basically i baked a few red, white, and blue cakes. cut out some circle shapes. stuck them in jars with frosting between each layer. added more frosting and sprinkles to the top. and wah-la! the real directions say you can use cupcake pans and just cut the cupcake in two. i say do not try that or else you may find yourself having to make a mad dash to wal-mart for circle shaped cookie cutters, more cake and frosting mix, candy quick, and sprinkles for decorating the oodles of cake pops you will have to make with the cupcakes that do not fit into the jars. i imagine that would be a real big bummer. 

now onto treat tuesday business!

------------------------------------------------------------------

i am not a cake person, but cookies and pie? love 'em! it should be no surprise then that this treat was close to the top of my list for treat tuesdays. in fact, it was in the number one spot, but got bumped to three due to ripe bananas and strawberries. it was worth the wait.

this is another little goody from our best bites. have i mentioned how much i love that site? have you checked it out yet? you must. the recipes and photos will make you want to cook.

chocolate chip cookie pie. this dessert was rich. i gained three pounds the week i made this due to the fact that i had to eat a whole pie by myself. yes, i had to. let's start with the fact that i made two pies; one following the recipe as is and the second one with allergy free substitutions. i was giddy with excitement to see how they compared.

to make this following the original recipe, you will need:


to make this using dairy and soy free ingredients, you will need:


you will also need a pie crust--homemade or store bought, whatever floats your boat. just make sure it's 9 in. and deep dish.

to get started, i set out all of the measured ingredients, so all i had to do was read the recipe, dump, and mix. i have read about doing this, but never really thought it would make that much of a difference. hello! it makes a HUGE difference and i will be doing this from now on. i encourage you to give it a try if you haven't--you will be a convert for sure!


i didn't have the choco. chips measured, because i was going to use the measuring cup with flour in it. 

the next thing i did was beat the eggs for the original cookie pie. once they were foamy i poured them over the sugars, since those ingredients were going to be mixed soon anyway.



after that i beat the eggs for the allergy-free recipe. from here on i worked with this recipe until it was finished, because i didn't want to contaminate my allergy-free version. once my allergy free cookie dough was mixed, i poured it into a pie crust (pre-made, purchased at raley's, dairy and soy free!)

next i followed the directions and made the original cookie pie. this is a nestle recipe, by the way. poured that into a pie crust (same kind) and that's that. easy peesy lemon squeezy.


original recipe on the left; allergy free recipe on the right.

the pies baked up nicely. i needed to add 10 minutes of bake time to the allergy free pie.

we ate them that night with some homemade coconut vanilla ice cream. we had guests and i served them each a small slice of both pies so they could do a blind taste test, only i didn't make them wear a blind fold. that would have been funny though!



the results? they may surprise you. no one could tell which pie was which. the pies definitely had different tastes. the original pie was made with dark chocolate and one tester didn't like the dark chocolate, so he preferred the allergy free pie. ben also did not like the dark chocolate. it seemed like the only preference was based on the kind of chips i used. isn't that great?! i was excited to know this. and just think of the possibilities. peanut butter chips, toffee pieces, white chocolate and macadamia. i look forward to making cookie pie again and again!

what is your favorite kind of cookie?