Gingerbread cake. Yum.

Gingerbread Cake

2c organic flour (or gluten free mix)
1 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
1/2 tsp. sea salt
1/2c coconut oil or organic butter
3/4c organic brown sugar or honey
2 large eggs
1/2c blackstrap molasses
2/3c hot water

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 9" square baking pan and set aside.

Combine flour, baking soda, spices, and salt in medium bowl. In large bowl, beat together coconut oil/butter and brown sugar/honey until pale and fluffy. Add eggs, one and a time, beating well after each. Mix in molasses, then flour mixture, then the hot water. Mix well until batter is smooth.
Pour batter into prepared pan and bake in middle of the oven for 40-45 minutes, until a tester is clean. Cool in the pan, on a rack, for another 20 minutes. Dust with powdered sugar and serve warm.

An everything girl book.

I have been working on this chip board book for my niece Jubilee. It was such fun and I can't wait to make one for my son Jaxon. But not an everything "girl" book. I will post pics of his everything BOY book when I am finished. This could make a great gift for any occasion, adult and children alike.  I started out with this plain chipboard book. Picked out my papers, embellishments and stickers, attached everything to the chipboard page, then put a layer of modge podge on it. It really was that simple, granite it did take me 2 days. Then you attach it all back on the metal ring and voila you have a book!

Veggie Chowder. Yum.

This is my all-time favorite soup. Well this and black bean soup. And maybe Taco Soup.
This recipe is adapted from the Passionate Homemaking website.

Veggie Chowder...... with an allergy-free version

1/2c  red pepper, diced
1 onion, chopped
1/2c mushrooms, chopped
6T olive oil, divided
1 large diced baking potato
1 large diced sweet potato
1c cauliflower, chopped
1c broccoli, chopped
3-4c organic chicken broth
2c shredded cheddar cheese
1 tsp. sea salt
3 cloves fresh garlic, mined
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/8-1/4c arrowroot powder
2c milk
1 T fresh parsley
1/4 tsp. coriander
1/4 tsp. cumin
1/4 tsp. paprika
1/4 tsp. ground mustard

I chop the onions, mushrooms, garlic cloves and red pepper first and saute them until soft in  3T olive oil, when done add to crockpot. In the remaining 3T olive oil saute the potatoes, until soft, then add to crockpot. Add all ingredients to crockpot except cheese, milk, arrowroot and parsley. Cook on high 2-3 hours or cook on low 5-6 hours. About 45 minutes before serving whisk arrowroot and milk together until thick. Whisk the mixture into the chowder, then add the cheese. Turn crockpot to high for 30-45 minuted until cheese is melted. Top with fresh parsley. Serve with warm crusty bread or a spinach salad!!

** Allergy-free version**

45 minutes before the soup is done I whisk together arrowroot and rice milk then add to soup. I omit all cheese because rice cheese has a milk based casein, can't do almond cheese, we stay away from soy products and in my opinion all other cheeses are gross. :) Enjoy!

Morning Board: Revised.

First I must apologize for committing to 3 updates a week and then falling short to my commitment. I have been tending to a sick family and then I fell ill. Figures. But needless to say we are well (on the way to being well at least) and I am BACK! We have revised our morning board and put up some "schoolwork display" boards. Thought I would share some new pics :). I will be posting a new dinner recipe tomorrow. So keep a look out!

Allergy-Free chocolate cake!

Allergy-Free chocolate cake

1 1/2 cups gluten-free flour ( I like to use 1/2c brown rice flour and 1 c gluten free mix)
1/2 cup cocoa
1 cup sugar (I use honey, but you don't have to)
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 teaspoon guar gum or 3/4 teaspoon xanthan gum
5 tablespoons applesauce or melted coconut oil
1 tablespoon vinegar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 egg (or 1 tablespoon flax mixed with 3 tablespoons of warm water)
1 cup water
1/2c allergy free chocolate chips

Mix all dry ingredients in a bowl. Add all liquid ingredients and mix well. Stir in the chocolate chips. Bake in greased and floured 9" square pan (or lined with waxed paper), at 350 F, for 30 - 35, or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.

For an extra yummy topping I melt 1T coconut oil with 3/4c-1c allergy free chocolate chips and spread across the top, after the cake has cooled some. If nuts are allowed I would sprinkle some chopped walnuts or pecans on top!! Enjoy!

Powdered or Glazed..... that is the question!

So since I can't seem to remember to update my blog these days I have decided to update on Monday, Wednesday and Friday for sure!  I am going to continue to update with trials, triumphs, tips and recipes!!! Lord willing, and my memory willing. Maybe I should start taking Ginkgo in my old age. Or maybe just write myself a note. Anyways..... here is a new recipe!!

Gluten-Free Donut Holes

1 1/2c brown rice flour (I just grind up brown rice in my dry vitamix blender)
2c gluten free flour mix (or 1c sweet white sorghum flour and 1c tapioca flour)
1 tsp. xanthan gum
1/2 tsp. redmonds real salt
2 tsp. aluminum-free baking powder
1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/4c butter/coconut oil
1c organic sugar
2 whole eggs ( for allergy-free use 2T flax mixed with 6T warm water)
1/4c apple cider (if you don't have it you can use apple juice)
1/2c buttermilk (I used coconut milk)
oil for frying (I used organic olive oil but I would suggest using grape seed oil, as long as its light colored)

2c organic sugar
1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon

2c organic powdered sugar (or just put organic sugar in the vitamix 1c at a time and blend)


Mix flax and water if doing an allergy free version and let sit for 3 minutes. Cream butter/coconut oil and sugar in kitchen aid. Add eggs (or flax) 1 at a time. Mix in cider and buttermilk. Mix well. Add flours, xanthan gum, salt, baking powder, 1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon and nutmeg, mix well but don't over mix. Scoop out balls approx. 1 1/2 Tablespoon size and place on wax paper. Then freeze for at least 20 mins (I am usually about skipping steps where I can but DON'T skip this step). Heat your oil to 375 degrees. Now here's where this got tricky. My thermometer must be a lame one because it only goes to 200 degrees and because of this I burned the first few donuts. If your thermometer doesn't go very high you might have a donut burning-turn down the temp-lesson like I did. Enjoy the lesson, learning is a beautiful thing. I then ruined the next few donuts by cutting them open to see if they were done. Once I got my high-heated oil under control and stopped burning these poor things I figure I probably cooked them for approx. 4-5 minutes but you will want to cut open the first couple to make sure. Make sure you flip them so they can cook evenly. Then remove from oil and place on cooling rack. Cool for 1 minute and then powder or glaze. This is where the donuts get dramatic. To powder or to glaze?? EEEKK such decisions! We ended up doing both and therefore the drama was removed from my kitchen.

To powder- all you do is mix the 2c organic sugar with the 1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon. After donut holes have cooled for 1 minute, roll them in this sugar yumminess.

To glaze- You can just mix powdered sugar, vanilla and water if you want the easy way out. If you don't here's what I did:
1/2c honey
1/2c maple syrup
1/2c buttermilk (I used coconut milk with 1/2 tablespoon of vinegar to "chunk" it up like buttermilk)
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 -2 tsp. arrowroot

put all in a deep saucepan and stir to combine. Bring to a slow boil over medium-high heat. You don't need to stir it. Continue to boil until the icing is a light caramel color and should be thickening up. Approx. 5-7 mins. You don't want it too thick. Dip the donuts in the glaze and die from yumminess.  Feel free to lick your fingers, and sneak a donut hole...... or two. Enjoy!!

The family verdict was MANY thumbs up and everyone one of us preferred the glazed donuts... yum!