Grain free-refined sugar free Cinnamon Apple Butter cupcakes with whipped frosting

Sorry for the delay! I was having trouble accessing my blog and still haven't been successful in adding the photos I wanted, but at the very least,for now, here is the recipe. This recipe is honestly THE best grain free dessert I've ever made and/or eaten if I do say so myself! 👌😆 It started as a basic regular Pinterest cupcake recipe I'd saved,and then I went ahead and made my personal changes in flours, sweeteners, and my secret ingredient,or shall i say special ingredient since it's now no longer a secret! 😬 The recipe calls for apple butter and I'm sure that store bought would work just as well, but,I  use my homemade crockpot apple sauce which really more closely resembles a chunky apple butter. Best of all it's 100% natural with no sweeteners added. Just peeled ,diced ,fresh picked apples, hefty amount of cinnamon and a pinch of  cloves& nutmeg , along with some chia seeds for extra health boost.... slow cooked for hours until a wonderful apple sauce/butter is left. I store it in the fridge in mason jars for whenever I need a dessert filling, topping or spread.
      Sooooo.... that's a bonus recipe, now onto the actual requested recipe that I use to make these cupcakes Grain free,refined sugar free and with a  nice consistency& texture. Plus, they're healthy!! Now these are not dairy free,however,feel free to try swapping the butter for a dairy free alternative if you have one. Often mashed Avacado or Coconut oil can replace butter,however I love these so much I haven't dared to stray. I have used Ghee which although Butter, it is clarified and during the process it ends up with nearly  no casein so is often a suitable option for those trying to limit such. So it's your call! The "frosting" is a heavy whipped dairy topping so again you can choose to omit the topping or perhaps try a coconut cream topping instead. But, the recipe as I make it is exactly as follows:

-1cup Flour (I use about 3/4cup combo of almond and cashew flour and the remaining 1/4 Tapioca            flour.  The  tapioca will give it a moist spongy cake consistency so i def recommend sticking with that!)
-1/4cup Butter softened (I use grass fed or Ghee)
-1/2 cup Coconut Sugar (if you prefer less sweet try 1/3cup- if doubling the recipe i lessen it to 3/4 cup)
-1 egg
-1/2tsp vanilla
-1/2tsp Cinnamon (I don't even measure and using more is fine!)
-1/2tsp baking powder
-1/2tsp baking Soda
-1/4tsp salt
-1/2cup Cinnamon Apple Butter (or in my case my special ingredient to which I attribute the flavor and sweetness- my crock pot chunky Cinnamon apple sauce/butter)
  *Mix well until it's super smooth and well whipped. Pour into lined cupcake tray and bake at 350 until knife comes out clean from center. This recipe makes about 6 large cupcakes. I often dbl it because they go incredibly fast!
Now,these make great muffins if eaten this way without any topping at all. But if it's a sweeter dessert type thing you are after then my easy peasy  frosting is as follows:

1pgk Cream chz (I usually try to find Organic Neufchâtel, but any regular cream cheese works!)
1pint Organic Heavy or Whipping Cream
*toss both right into stand mixer and beat together until it starts to thicken.... then add in your sweetener  (typically I use 1packet of Organic Stevia OR a couple pinches of Organic Powdered sugar. Just make it "to-taste" as you prefer or omit all together)
And whip it a bit more till thick enough to be spreadable. (It will firm up even more when refrigerated.

Once your cupcakes have fully cooled (very important as the frosting melts easily!) slither on some whipped cream chz frosting and enjoy!!! 👌😛

HOMEMADE HEALTHIFIED FRAPPUCINO

Ok...so sorry for the delay in getting this up here,but here we go, homemade healthified frappucinos are within your reach.😁 Its way easier than one might think. Im sure there are multiple ways to create them, but here is what I did.
    It started with me freezing some coffee into cubes using an ice tray. This is actually a trick to making Iced coffee that isnt watered down...you use coffee ice cubes. So, I had a bag of coffee cubes in my freezer already and had been craving a Mocha Frapp all day but was trying be good and cut back on sugar and also the budget.😉 So....it occured to me that Frozen coffee was the main ingredient and I went from there. I tossed about 4-5 coffee cubes into blender, and then a mix of plain unsweetened cashew milk and just a very small amout of chocolate almond milk. The chocolate Almond milk is sweetened so therefore I put very little. It was just enough to add some "mocha" flavor! I loooove the Frapps that have things crumbled in them like brownies or coconut or chocolate chip....but being GF and low sugar now I dont indulge much anymore. Well, I just tossed one of my GFCFSF brownies (see my previous instagram post abt these)
 I had stored in my freezer into the blender with the coffee cubes and milk and blended all togther! In less than 5min I had myself a gluten free,dairy free,very low sugar yet deeeeeeeelicious Mocha brownie crumble frappucino!!!!
   Im addicted now. I just finished my Frapp creation of today....this time no brownie, instead I tossed in unsweetened coconut and a few organic dark choco-chips. Get creative according to your taste buds and feel better about drinking it knowing that you control exactly what goes into it! No chemicals, artificial flavors, refined sugars or processed junk.  ENJOY!!!

Lemon Chia Scones

I came across a recipe for clean eating scones on pinterest and then simply adapted/changed it up a bit to make it gluten/grain free and refined sugar free. The recipe as I use it as follows:

1TBS. Fresh Lemon zest

3TBS. Coconut nectar (I also threw in just a small spoonful of coconut palm sugar.) Feel free to use whatever sweetner or sugar you prefer

2TBS fresh squeezed lemon juice

4tsp Chia seeds (although I added in more!)

1/2tsp. Salt

1tsp. Pure Vanilla extract

1 1/2 Cups flour (for me this was Cashew flour to make them completely grain free. If you are only going for gluten free you can swap it for your GF flour or combo of flours of choice. Rice, Millet, Quinoa,etc...)

2TBS. grass fed butter (I havent tried yet, but butter alternatives would probably work such as non dairy butter, coconut oil, or mashed avacado)

1/2cup Plain unsweetened Greek yogurt. (Again I havent tried, but other dairy free yogurts should work, or goats milk yogurt)

*set aside 2tsp Milk (I used cashew milk) to brush the tops of scones before baking .

-of your batter is thick/dry enough to split into scone shapes ahead of time go ahead and place onto baking dish atop parchment paper. If it seems to wet/gooey, simply place batter on parchment lined baking dish in one big pile and then cut them afterwards.)

Bake at 425° until tops are browned and the centers seem done. Cool and enjoy.

Camping Weekend was a huge success! The weather was like Hot,Sunny Summer everyday...just perfect for lake swimming, stream splashing and drip drying in the sun. Hot sunny days mean the cooler nightime temps are just right for sleeping with just one layer of PJ'S and a cozy blanket,and it means you wont freeze during the dreaded middle of the night port-o-potty trip. If youve never been camping, especially with a family,I can tell you,it is a LOT of work for a weekend,but,I can also tell you that it is well worth the work and makes memories the kids will have for years and years to come. This trip we had both family and a large group of friends with children tag along. It made for bunches of super duper happy,busy kids who were entertained so simply right up until bedtime the entire weekend! The majorty of the work involved in Camping is in the preperation,packing and then set up.

After youve successfully set yourself up a nice organized "camp home" it then becomes a very simplified,laid back life for the weekend that follows. I was on a mission to ensure our comfort and maximize our space with some organizational tricks Ive learned over the years from experience as well as pinterest. Our tent seperates into 3 small "rooms" by attaching the included curtain dividers and makes it just right for a Main center area to house our clothes and micellaneous items and have room for changing. The center is full height so its ideal as the changing/living area, whereas either of the side rooms are lower in height and just enough space to comfortably fit a large air mattress. We place all 3 kids on one mattress in their "room", while my husband and I have our room on the other side. We use a folding platform made specifically for air mattresses which lifts it up off the ground much like a bed at home. I actually prefer to bring along actual comforters and blankets and sheets versus individual sleeping bags. It feels more like home, and I was never a fan of being zipped inside a small bag anyhow! 😄

When it comes to keeping thing organized and fairly clean....within reason,this is camping afterall,there is no CLEAN as you know it, but there is a level of "camp clean" as we say! 😂 Ive learned through our years of camping that while suitcases are great for travel,they arent ideal for tent use. They sit on the floor,close to moisture, clothes never ever stay in them the way they arrived which means clothing gets stepped on, mixed up,wet and lost. I LOVE our plastic rolling drawers!!(Pictured above) They are basically portable dressers! They take up extra car space,but are so worth the extra cramming. They keep clothes off the ground,dry,easily accessible and well organized just like at home. Theyre found easily and affordably at Target in various sizes and shapes. I also always make sure to bring along a couple of mesh laundry sacks (easily found at Dollar tree) and attach them to the curtain divider tabs using shower curtain rings, one in each bedroom area. This keeps all the dirty laundry seperated from the clean,contained in one spot,off the ground and when we go home its easy to transport right inside to the washing machine without ever mixing in with the clean stuff.  I also used my shower curtain clips to hang a small cheap organizer similar to a shoe organizer you would hang on the back of a door,and used it to hold micellaneous items such as extra batteries,tissues, hand sanitizers,bug spray,sun lotion, wet wipes,flash Lights,etc. All of these micellaneous items were packed and transported inside a giant plastic tub with a lid along with our affordable camp game supplies like glow sticks,sparklers, head-strap lights,and art supplies. I purchased pretty much everything from our local Dollar tree! I even found the cutest little items to help jazz up our humble camp abode a bit. I found these great little Solar powered lights that stick right into the ground. They're made for lighting walkways or gardens,and made for a great way to light the way to the front of our tent and mark were the stakes were to avoid tripping. For $1 a piece you cant go wrong! I even added some adorable decorative string lights wrapped around each side Of our front door. Theyre battery powered by just AA batteries so they're easy to switch on in the evening and just add a cute little "homey" feel as well as clearly marking our way to the front door in the dark. Another simple but very helpful trick is to bring along some sort of basket/laundry bin type thing to place right outside your camp door to house dirty shoes upon exiting and that way they're right there as you exit. In the past we would always wind up with dirty shoes scattered inside the tent or if they did get removed they would end up scattered and seperated outdoors or even stuck under the tent. Placing our little laundry basket on top of a little entry mat in front of the door is an easy way to remind the kids to slip off their shoes before entering and keeps them safely in a pair where they can slip them back on before hitting the dirt again! 

One of my most favorite pinterest finds was our nightlight. You take a gallon jug of water and one head-strap light, strap the headlight aroud the jug with the light aiming into the water,turn it on and it creates the perfect amount of glowing light within the tent to keep the kids from being scared and allow you move about without tripping while not shining brightly in your eyes or keeping anyone awake. I set ours up dead center of our tent on a short little folding side table,but on the ground works just as well. 

Probably equal in love is my tidy personal potty stall I set up for the kiddos! Its one thing for me to hold my breath and quickly brave the portolet,but its a whole other thing to attempt to cover the seat in rolls of paper and then hold a child on the seat while squatting in front of them at a very unfavorable level😝😝while crammed in a tiny hot claustrophobic space and remind them not to touch anything over and over! 😲 Sooooo....I designed the perfect solution. I came across a pop up changing station meant to be used for changing at the Beach. It comes folded into a small carry tote and instantly pops up into an adult height stall that can be pinned to the ground and has a large zippering door. I simply set up our travel potty inside which also unfolds and uses regular old plastic grocery sized bags. I place wipes, tissue and hand cleaner right next to it and Voila! Instant portolet that is about as clean as they come! 😊

So thats the basics of our Camp home set up. Once thats all set its onto the fun! 

For the most part the fun is made with nothing  but nature amd imagination,no supplies required! But, we did bring along a few simple favorites. Camp art is always fun, and is made by bringing along some cheap paints and brushes. Our canvases are found by collecting rocks. My daughter loves doing this and then bringing the painted rocks home to place in our garden.

 

Another Fun activity required nothing other than some rolls of cute designer tape found again at Dollar tree and some good ol'sticks. The kids used the tape to decorate their own personal walking sticks to hike the camogrounds with.

A really fun group activity that we saved for the very last day because it kept them busy during the packing up process is a simple nature hunt! I had brought along simple brown paper bags and written a checklist of items on them. I handed them out and Sent them off to find natures hidden treasures!

Theres also a fun game of balloon Badminton using some plastic fly swatters and a balloon....so simple and yet so fun! 

A few other fun and simple things we always do are glow sticks,sparklers,smore making,but,this year I expanded on those basics a bit as well. Glow sticks can become a really fun game of Night time ring toss or bowling by wrapping a glow stick around a stick in the ground and then tossing circular glow sticks at it, or fill your empty water bottles with glow sticks and use them as bowling pins. For Smores this time we used ice cream cones stuffed with mini marshmallows,chocolates of choice (be creative and think reeses,mints,etc) and even dried fruit,wrapped them in foil and let them slowly melt for a bit. I suggest turning them often however to avoid a burnt side on your cone. 

Foil Packet cooking was my thing this year and I even did bbq ribs inside a foil packet!!! They turned out delicious! I simply placed 2ribs per packet,covered in sauce,wrapped them up and placed right next to the flaming fire in the hot coals. 

 

The rest of the weekend was spent watching the adorable gang of kiddos all creating their own fun together,racing across the sand into the lake swimming area, splashing around in the stream area that feeds the lake, collecting bugs and spending countless hours just hanging out on the floating wooden docks scooping up frogs and fish with a cheap little net. They were soaked,mud covered, and happy as could be!

And THAT is what camping is all about! 😁

Healthy dinner X 5, on a budget!

   Feeding a hungry family of 5, while following the dietary restrictions of 2, as well as pleasing the picky palate of 2 others, while keeping it simple yet healthy AND affordable can seem difficult. I dont have time to be cooking seperate meals for individual diet needs and tastes,nor the budget to be purchasing all specialty store healthfood ingredients all the time. When I say we are a hungry family of 5, I am not exaggerating....we go through food like....well....just ridiculously fast...I cant think of a fitting analogy at the moment! 😂😂My kids can out eat a grown adult easily....and then you add in the two of us who ARE grown adults and there goes the food.😫  On top of that I need to make sure mine is gluten free while my oldest daughters is gluten,dairy and sugar free...and as free of additives as possible....and then also get my younger two to actually eat it.  It sounds more difficult than it actually is these days though,as Ive pretty much gotten the hang of it! As always,I do my best to keep it healthy while also realizing I need to be balanced and just do the best I can for our personal circumstances.
    So...the above photo is a perfect example of what this looks like for us. I started with a package of premade-fully cooked,frozen GF chicken patties that happened to be on sale for a very good price at our local Shop Rite that week!! Major score! Obviously it isnt the ultimate health food, but at the very least they were GF,Non GMO and preservative/hormone free. So, theres the "balance" I feel OK with. Next,I always have a bag of salad mix or greens along with a bag of eiher broccoli slaw mix or chopped rainbow salad mix on hand. Theyre inexpensove and I can get a couple of meal sized salads out of them.Obviously to be even cheaper you can chop your own head of lettuce and keep it in a ziploc. I often do this during the .99 lettuce sale! While the chicken patties were in the oven I quickly dumped a bunch of my salad mixes into a lage bowl,and grabbed whatever additional salad toppings I had. This time that was some cherry tomatoes& avacado which I typically buy fresh each week on grocery day, and I added in some green peas as well which were frozen. I always,always have a back up stash of frozen veggies since theyre readily on sale (.99a bag) and still a healthier option than junk food! After the chicken was done, I sliced up a few of the patties atop the salad. Now, my husband and I ate ours exactly as pictured,salad with the works topped with a drizzle of balsamic dressing. However, the other 3 had other plans...but no problem, I can work with them within reason without creating extra work for myself. I used the chicken as the base for all of us and went from there. That was the "No-Negotiating" item! For my oldest who still uses her hands to eat (utensil use is still a work in progress),and with her dietary restrictions, I just simply chopped her chicken patty up along with some of the avacado,tomato and peas from the salad. My middle daughter just wasnt in the "salad mood" appearantly and so her chicken patty,tomato,lettuce and avacado went onto some toast along with a slice of cheese...still the same protein and some veggies,but with compromise. 😉 Then onto my son,the youngest and pickiest of the crew.He NEVER eats salad...ever! But, he loves chicken and surprisingly he also loves peas!!  So, the compromise for him was to serve his chicken patty atop a bowl of brown rice (again,I went with the frozen,easy heat kind this time.) as an extra and affordable "filler upper" 😉 and his favorite veggie of choice,peas! Thats that..... One main dish that fit everyones needs and tastes with just a few slight alterations for each. Happy kids who cleaned their plates and happy well fed parents with them. 😊 Its all about the balance and compromise and a bit of convenience thrown in too! 😉
   In general I stick to this same idea for most meals. I always make some sort of main food that suits all and then allow them to work out which vegetable and/side theyll eat it with...within reason. If Ive made something new or something they arent a big fan of, my rule is they have to have a small bit of it,but can pair it with something they do like such as pasta,rice, or ketchup! Never underestimate the power of Ketchup!! I buy Organic with basic ingredients (until I attempt homemade).
To keep to our budget...which if you are curious is Under $200 a week total for 5 of us. By UNDER, I mean as far under as possible! $150 makes my day.😁 Even lower and Im doing a happy dance! I admit I would be a health food fanatic if the  budget had the room,and would probably spend hours daily inside specialty health food markets reading labels and going crazy analyzing every ingredient and only buying fresh and cooking from scratch if I had the time.But, that is NOT my reality and I have better things to do with my time and energy....specifically 3 better things that I save it for specifically! 😊😊😊
    I go with my health "tier" method and work my way down to whichever tier is doable at that time. Example-Produce: -Organic is best -Fresh is still better -Frozen is better than canned- Organic in a can is still better than a twinkie or some Spam!😜
 AND pretty much the same for other foods as well....work my way down. For meats,I will either sacrifice my prreferred cuts in order to buy organic such as thighs and drumsticks instead of breast, or Ill forgo Organic and opt for at least an antibiotic and hormone free version....or 100%grass fed ground beef when on sale and so on.  I keep a stock of frozen veggies for quick sides in a pinch, Organic canned beans, anything similar when on sale. Bags of potatoes,onions and sweet potatoes stay long,can be bought cheap. Pasta is another easy and filling food to have on hand. For us, I need the GF type so I stock up when on sale or from Trader Joes. Pasta can easily be healthfied by adding in chopped veggies,meat and a sprinkle of Hemp seeds. If your kds wont eat the veggies in the pasta you can try chopping them up or even pureeing them and putting them right into meatballs, as well as some hemp or flax seeds. Sauce can hide a lot! The same goes for brown rice, its easy to keep around and filling!Using sides like potatoes,pasta and rice allow me to use better quality proteins and toppings for optimal nutrition and still keep them full. If you arent a big starch fan you can always try some "faux" veggie based versions like Cauliflower rice, Zuchinni noodles,spaghetti squash etc. They require a bit more work,but are still fairly inexpensive and very delicious! And if Picky kids are an issue,just work with them within reason, and find easy ways to use the same base meal and and alter it to keep them all healthy...think salad to sandwich, over rice or pasta, or bring out the ketchup! If I were to choose one healthifying ingredient to always have it would be a toss between my chia seeds or my hemp seeds....they can be spinkled over everything and give a great health boost to any dish with little flavor change so the kids stay happy.
    Hope some of that was helpful...thats how we roll around here. We work with what we got and healthify it as much as we can! Keep it Simple, Keep it healthy...Keep it fun!

Easy Peasy healthified Marshmallows!

Homemade Marshmallows done simple and healthy!!!!

I am always looking for easy ways to to make our own healthified versions of common well loved sweet treats. Marshmallows topped my list! Ive come across many recipes for making your own,but in case you didnt know this about me.....I am a very busy Mama....you may even say Im a Uniquely Busy Mom!! 😂😂

This means that when I see a recipe calling for a candy thermometer I am instantly scared off! Im sure plenty of busy Moms enjoy all that measuring and watching and checking and doing things just right.......Im not that Mom! 😝

So, when I found this recipe I knew it was the one for me!!! ONLY 4 INGREDIENTS!!! I cannot take credit for its genius, I simply discovered it on Pinterest! A Moms best friend for sharing and finding ideas! 😉 

Here is what you need:

-1cup pure Maple Syrup

-2 Egg Whites

-2 Tbs Gelatin (Organic grass fed is best of course,but Im not gonna lie...I used cheap plain Knox gelatin 😜)

-2tsp Pure Vanilla extract

-1/2 Water (Ok so technically this is a 5th ingredient....but who counts water!?)

The process is every bit as simple. Just toss in your Maple syrup,egg whites and vanilla into your stand mixer and let it begin mixing. While its busy mixing put your water and gelatin into small saucepan on stove and heat it just till the gelatin is dissolved.It doesnt take long at all. Once its dissolved,take it over to your mixer which is still going,and gently pour it in. Let the mixer continue for  10 minutes. Thats plenty of time to grab your baking dish and grease it up with some coconut oil and dusting of whatever flour you have. At the 10min mark you turn off the mixer and it will be filled with what looks like Marshmallow Fluff! Just scrape it out and spread into your greased pan,pop into the refridgerator and chill. Its best to do so overnight,but at very least a few hours. Once theyre set,you can go ahead and cut them into squares and enjoy! I store ours in mason jars in the fridge. Taste wise, they will have a subtle maple flavor,which personally we enjoy! You can also get creative and flavor your marshmallows with Cinnamon, or replace the vanilla extract with other flavors like almond, or fruit extract.Im thinking about trying chocolate marshmallows with cocoa powder next! Let me know what you think!!! 😁

PS- We can also confirm that you can indeed use these to make healthified krispie treats with!! 

Rainy Day fun!!!

Potato Stamps!

This is such a simple,cheap,fun activity of mine! My own Mother introduced it to my brother and I when we were kids and then I carried it on through my years of babysitting,teaching,nannying....and as I was making potatoes the other day it dawned on me that Id never introduced it to my owm kiddos! So, when we found ourselves stuck at home today  on a gray rainy day, just perfect for some creativity...out came the potatoes! All you need for this is some potatoes,and some paint. The first part is for us Moms (or other adult).  Just halve your potatoes,  and then carve out some simple shapes into the center. I used a knife to trace out my shape and then hollow out the inside of the shape. I went with a heart,star,lightning bolt and what was supposed to be a flower,although the result was somewhat debatable. Thats the great thing about doing things with kids,they're very forgiving and easily impressed! Now,onto the fun! Choose a few fun paint colors,squeeze them out onto a paint pallet or even just right onto the paper you will be stamping on. Take your stamp,dip until the surface area is covered. You'll probably want to do a couple practice stamps to get the excess paint off...or just go with it! 😁 My kids favorite was using a combo of colors on one stamp. Hope you enjoy!

        I figured I would also share a couple of other simple fun ideas that cost little to no money while on the topic anyhow. Recently, in the dollar section of our local Target, we found this fun craft tape designed to look like a road. You can also find it at Craft stores. I did nothing other than stick two long, straight strips of the road tape onto my sons bedroom rug and then grabbed a couple of his matchbox cars and let the races begin!! It seems like such an obvious, old news sort of thing, but something about it being new made it so exciting to my son, and siblings can all join in of course! The laughter that ensued while racing Mommy was the best though....pure joy...worth the rug burn. 😂😂

Our all time top fav' though is DANCE PARTY!!!!  This is our go-to activity for sure! Ive always loved to dance,plus this way Mom gets a workout in while simultaneously entertaining everyone! All we do is turn Pandora or iHeart radio on the TV, find a good beat,crank it up and go crazy! Im sure we are quite the sight....and sound as we belt it out into our hairbrush mic's,but who doesnt love a good laugh right!? Its a blast! Its the ultimate way to get the energy out,burn some calories,pass the time and make memories that will not soon be forgotten. 😊 If you really wanna get creative,bring out the pots&pans&big spooons and start banging to the beat as you march in a parade. My kids like taking turns as parade leader and making our marching band parade upstairs and downstairs and in/out of rooms or on/off the couch! If the banging isnt your style, theres always simon says...dance version! Simon says "do the funky chicken" "now twist" and so on! Karaoke battle, pass the mic, lip sync contest, show your best moves, conga line, name that tune, the list goes on! If you have access to music you can pretty much be busy all day. 😁It entertains playdate friends as well. When it comes to dance party time its definitley the more the merrier! 

Of course being we homeschool Im always needing ways to keep learning happening in fun ways as well. For my youngest,he is still working on his preK skills,especially letter recognition and sounds. He instantly becomes much more into it if it involves a game,so we often do our "letter hunt" game. Choose a letter,or for us whichever letter his workbook is focusing on that day, and he hunts around the house for either the letter itself or items that begin with that letter. His sister likes to help out by following him around and making checkmarks on paper as he finds them. When we decide we are done he counts how many checks he got! Again, so simple and ordinary but they love it. 

We have so many more that Id love to share,but I dont want to make this blog post any longer! 😁😁 So, another time! Until then....keep it simple,keep it healthy and always keep it FUN!!

Grain free PB Muffins

Muffins!!! Ive always been a lover of baked goods,and Muffins top my list because they just make the perfect side kick to my morning cup-o-joe! But,sadly,as you know most premade,store bought muffins are full of sugar and other processed ingredients and preservatives. Even the gluten free versions some stores offer are most often the same. They simply swap the processed gluten containing grains for processed GF grains and still add in the sugar and preservatives. Plus,even when make yours with all fresh ingredients and cut the sugar and use alternatives,it just takes time,measuring,cleaning,etc. So,while thats fine once in a while, I also need a super quick,easy recipe using as few ingredients as possible that I can whip up in a pinch while still being grain free,protein packed,and HEALTHY!  This is just that! The simplest of all muffin recipes. 3 Ingredients!!

*Nut or Seed butter

*Bananas

*Eggs

These 3 ingredients are a solid base batter for any quick easy baked good. In The case of the muffins pictured above I went with Peanut butter chocolate chip! So I obviously used Peanut Butter. I personally used an all natural PB that already has flax amd chia seeds in it which as you all know....I love! Extra health and protein kick! The chocolate chips are optional,but I used super dark organic chocolate. 

I hate the clean up left after baking from using a bunch of seperate dishes and spoons to mix and measure and divide wet from dry. So.....I don't! I literally toss everything into my kitchen aid mixer all at once. For this easy a recipe I don't even measure anything!  The only measurement I will give you is to say that you will need at least 1egg for every 2 bananas you put in. Other than that it goes something like this: drop in 2 bananas, crack in an egg, scoop out "a bunch" of PB and mix! If I had to guess Id say I probably used about half the jar,but using more wont hurt,and using less will just make it a little more "gooey" and less bread like,but still tasty! 😁 Toss your Chocolate chips or whatever else you like in your muffins right in while mixing and you are all set! To avoid having to grease/scrub muffin pans I use cupcake liners. Simple! When Im done all I have to clean is my one Kitchen aid bowl...and a spoon! 

The variations of this recipe are endless so be creative according to your taste preferences. Using Peanut butter will definitley result in an obvious Peanut butter flavor,so if you arent a fan, I reccomend Cashew or Almond butter....or a combo of the two.If you dislike or need to avoid nuts all together you can use sunflower seed butter.  If you prefer things on the extra sweet side add in some honey or maple syrup.  For other flavors,try diced apple and cinnamon,or reduce the banana and swap it with apple butter/sauce. Berries are always delicious! Ive even done applesauce/shredded carrot & raisins with walnuts. Theres always shredded coconut and dried fruit....really whatever you can think up! Give it a try! 

(*As usual I bake at 350* until knife comes out clean)

Happy Muffin making to you!! 

Creamy PB-Banana-Chocolate popsicles

Creamy PB-BANANA-CHOCOLATE posicles

Sorry for the  delay in getting this recipe up here! In true "busy mom" style,I didnt have a free moment to sit down and type it out until just now. My trio of cuties and I had a great day enjoying the warm sunny weather we have all been longing for. Saying it was wonderful is an understatment for sure! We definitley made sure to take advantage of it today!!

Its actually this lovely weather that inspired the above frozen treats! I am a huge Ice Cream fan,and while I absolutely allow myself and the kids to indulge , if I can also make a healthified and delicious version to feel even better about eating than why not!? I also love that these are completely dairy free as well as having no refined sugar, which means my oldest daughter can partake of this yumminess as well without breaking her special diet!! Major plus! Ok,well enough chit chat....onto the recipe! The base of the recipe is nothing but Bananas...thats it....so simple! From there you can flavor as you like....I chose to go with Pb &chocolate because who wouldnt...right!? So, I started with the PB first by simply adding....you guessed it....Peanut Butter! Yep,just all natural unsweetened PB and some nice ripe bananas, blend/mix/mash together however you prefer (I used my kitchen aid mixer). I just kept adding in PB until I was satisfied with its flavor. Then I simply filled my popsicle molds about 1/2 - 3/4 of the way, leaving room for the chocolate layer. Next,I again used the base of bananas, this time adding in unsweetened cocoa powder and sweetening with a small amount of coconut sugar. You can just as easily use Raw honey,or maple syrup or stevia,or any.other alternative you like. I didnt measure....sorry I rarely do! Its the busy mom way...less dishes to wash and less steps to do. 😄 I just added,mixed,tasted...repeat until you are happy! Thats it!! Although, as usual I couldnt resist adding in just a little extra something healthy. I went with half an avacado and tossed it into the chocolate batch while mixing. This is entirely optional so do as you like! Just pop into freezer and by the next day you have yourself a decadent,creamy,rich and tasty treat you feel good about indulging in! I even rolled mine in Coconut today after it melted just a bit. Yummmmm..... My kids ate them all up in one day,so safe to say they are a keeper. 😉 As a side note,if popsicle style isnt your thing,this recipe works perfectly as an "ice cream" alternative as well. I put whatever didnt fit into my molds into a reusable plastic container with lid and actually ate it for breakfast. I find there is just never a bad time for IceCream! 😁😁

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Brandi Nicole Oberempt

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Banana-Nut Date bread

   Today was a Banana bread day,seeing as how I bought a massive quantity of bananas during this weeks grocery trip! Plus, banana based baked goods are my favorite since they rarely ever need any extra sweetener, and are extremely simple to make. I can easily toss all the ingredients into my mixer,mix them all at once and then pour into my baking dish and pop into oven to bake while Im busy cleaning house or whatever else we have going on.
    I dont really have one specific Banana bread recipe I stick with, and I change it up often and usually adapt whatever recipe Im using anyhow depending on what I have in stock. Todays recipe was based off of a grain free recipe I have in a book and as usual I made my own changes in the flour used, doubled the bananas, changed the oil used, omitted the extra sweetener and replaced butter with avacado to make it dairy free,plus I threw in chia seeds for extra nutrients and protein. After all my changes the recipe is as follows:

1/4 cup Coconut oil
2Eggs
2Bananas
1tsp Vanilla
2Tbs Avacado
3Cups grain free flour (in my case it was half   cashew / half almond)
1tsp Baking Soda
1/2tsp Salt
1Cup chopped dates (I didnt measure,i just       chopped up a handful
*optional-couple handfuls of Chia seeds
*optional-chopped walnuts (I only sprinkled sliced almonds over top)
*optional- if you prefer things very sweet you can add raw honey. Original recipe calls for 1/2cup,but I omitted this all together! For me,by adding a second banana versus the 1 called for,plus the dates it is plenty sweet.

I baked it at 350 for probably 30min,just watch for the edges browned and test center with a knife.

Give it a try! Never be afraid to go ahead and make your own personal changes to suit your own taste and preference.

Choco-Coffee-Banana Donuts

CHOCO-COFFEE-BANANA Donuts
         Is your mouth watering already!? 😉 well, I won't keep you waiting..... The recipe,as it was shared with me is posted below, so go right ahead.....start baking! 😁
       In the meantime, I will share with you the slight variations I made to the recipe and baking method due to the fact that this Busy Mom was working with what she had so as to avoid a second trip out with kids in tow on this rainy,dreary,wear pajamas sort of day we are having here!
      So, first of all the recipe calls for Coconut flour, which not only did I not have, but,if you read my previous blog on baking favorites you would know that I personally have an aversion to Coconut flour. I'm actually betting based on the flavors in this recipe and the small amount of flour needed that I wouldn't mind the coconut flour for this, but being I didn't have it, I went ahead and substituted Almond flour. I did also add in just a small dash of Tapioca flour for texture, but if you are eating strictly Paleo style you can simply skip that. It isn't necessary.
      Ok, so made the flour swap,and then it was onto my next issue. I do not have a food processor! It's on my list of kitchen gadgets I desperately need to get, but for today all I had to work with was a cheap blender. To make this work, I had to ignore the directions given to process together just the dates,banana and honey. My cheap blender was not about to blend them up without the addition of some wet ingredients to get it spinning. No problem, I simply tossed in ALL the ingredients together, all at once, and then pulsed the blender until the dates chopped up enough to keep it going on low speed and let it whip into a smooth batter. It actually wound up perfect and even better than if I'd had the processer , because of my third and final issue......Donut pan! I don't have one of those yet either and the store I ran out to didn't have one either. However, they did have the most adorable little mini donut press. It's essentially a waffle maker that produces mini donut shaped treats versus waffle shaped. It's used the exact same way.    Now, being I had used a blender for my batter, it worked to my benefit because all I had to do was simply pour the batter right from blender pitcher into the donut press molds, close and wait. Due to the grain free gooey batter I found that I needed to leave them in for 2 cooking cycles before removing. I did this until all the batter was used up. For the donuts with edges that had overflowed a bit, I used  my handy dandy kitchen scissors to trim them up quickly.  This part is what took the most time as my donut press only makes 4 mini donuts at a time. I will definitely be investing in some large sized donut pans so that next time I can bake a couple large batches all at once,but I do love my cute little donut maker!
           Onto frosting time..... I just grabbed whatever dark chocolate bits we had left and used our make shift double boiler, a.k.a.- glass dish over a pot of boiling water! Let it melt and tossed in some coffee grounds.I only had French vanilla, but it gave it a nice extra flavor! I only dipped one side of my donuts since I was low on chocolate, but next time I'm definitely going for completely chocolate coated. One quick dip for each donut and then my son requested sprinkles, so while not Paleo friendly, we sprinkled some pretty blue sugar across half the batch. Sometimes a little sprinkle is just neccessary! 😉 They didn't last very long as they were most definitely kid tested and approved here. We Especially loved them after they had cooled in the refridgerator for a few minutes because the chocolate coffee dip hardened back up and made a delicious shell coating over top!
            Just as a side note, as a few other options. This batter would also make some super delicious waffles if you have a waffle maker, or pancakes in the frying pan,
or even mini bundt cakes, so just adapt it to whatever your kitchen is stocked with and ENJOY!!!

Focus on the positive...

  So, I shared this quote on my Instagram page a few days ago with the promise of an upcoming blog entry about how my unique journey has taught me how to do just as it says. Well.... Here it comes! 😀 Keep reading...

    I will preface this entry by saying that as I've mentioned before, I am usually, in all honesty, just winging it as I go. That's just my own personal style and what works best for my own Uniquely busy life! So, you may notice that I can be long winded, full of many words, and a tendency to ramble on. I am literally writing what I'm thinking at the very moment I'm writing it, and going whatever direction my thoughts begin to lead me. I am,in the very true sense, sharing my very thoughts and feelings out loud as I go. It's one of the reasons writing is in its own way always been a therapeutic outlet for me. I'm not one to often discuss my struggles out loud. I usually reason them out with myself, in my own head, give myself a pep talk and continue on with no one really being much the wiser. It's just my way. Don't get me wrong, I am an open book if one should start asking me about my life. I never mind sharing information that may in any way help those on a similar journey as my family or discussing how we have dealt with the negative aspects. It's just that I dont typically like to dwell on the negative aspects of our situation myself because as is quoted above, I do my very best to focus on the positive and not let myself get caught up in the things that are beyond my control. Those things are just small, though sometimes unpleasant, minor details that I refuse to let take control of my overall story. It doesn't mean they don't get me down at times, or that I never have moments of feeling  completely overwhelmed , but I do my best to take a breath, refocus and remember that one bad moment doesn't have to mean a bad day and one bad day doesn't make a bad week, and some bad times dont make a bad life.

     However, that being said, I am going to relay some details about a recent day, not necessarily all that uncommon,or even all that rough in comaprison to others, in effort to help drive home my point of how my unique journey has made those above quoted words so strong in me. I apologize for the unpleasant details I am about to share, but if I'm going to be completely raw, honest, and REAL....well, this is my life....some days, not all! 😜

      Last week, we will say Tuesday, though my brain has issues keeping days straight so who knows! Anyhow, Tuesday was just an ordinary day, with ordinary plans of breakfast, schoolwork, cleaning and play, nothing major. I woke up late because for some reason I've been having insomnia last couple weeks. It was fairly quiet when I awoke, which I chose to enjoy instead of dragging myself out of bed to go get the kids and start our day right away. This plan often backfires on me, and I should've known better ....really I did, but I chose to ignore it! My oldest daughter, as many of my readers already know has complex special needs due to diagnosis of Angelman Syndrome which has meant that many many skills and milestones have been extremely delayed due to motor control, balance and coordination, and processing issues in addition to being non verbal and dealing with difficult to treat seizures. This includes a delay in self help skills such as toileting. One of the largest victories our choice to begin homeschooling has brought is in that exact area.....3yrs ago we said goodbye to daytime pull ups  finally at the age of 7, and now only use nighttime pull ups for sleep because that unfortunately is a  little ways off still.....  though we WILL get there! Well, all this now explained, back to Tuesday morning
....I woke up late, and while having made huge progress, I'm aware that my daughter is still prone to some issues with "holding it" and this is especially true in the late morning as she requires me to come and get her out of her room and assist her downstairs. Well, basically upon my arrival at her bedroom door, I instantly knew it was one of those mornings, an accident had occurred and let's just delicately say that it was not all "contained." Sorry again, but that's our reality some days.  Anyhow, this isn't all too uncommon or new to me after many, many occurrences during younger years,although it is becoming much more infrequent,dare I even say very rare. I simply grabbed the sheet and blankets surrounding her (thanks to one of my Mom tricks of double layering the bed for such happenings)wrapped them around her and carried her downstairs to the tub where I unwrapped , threw the sheet and blankets into washer and quickly sprayed her down in the shower before letting her unwind and
relax herself (she is obviously uncomfortable when this occurs& I do me best to not embarrass her or make her feel guilt when she cannot always control it) in her most favorite Bubble bath! I washed myself up, and continued on as usual....onto breakfast making! The morning went by uneventfully as I got completely caught up in cleaning and organizing the kids rooms upstairs as they played. I should've been paying more attention to my daughters non verbal signals, but I was so distracted I didn't. I should've realized how much time had passed and made myself stop what I was doing and bring her to the bathroom regardless, but I didn't. (Looking back in retrospect, she had been subtly signaling me, but I thought she was just trying to trick me into stopping what I was doing and bring her downstairs to eat, as she does this often. It was not her fault, and I apologized profusely to her later on! )   So, much to my dismay I was called into my middle daughters room who had an idea what had occurred, and  discovered that another "accident" had happened  and shall I just say the carpet was slightly affected this time. (Again, I'm sorry to share these unpleasant details, but I'm doing so to express my point which I will soon share.) My cleaning project had to be put on hold for this new one, and I again simply carried her downstairs, into the bath for her and into the washer for the clothes. As for the carpet, nothing some detergent, baking soda and a shop vac couldn't easily fix. (try it! For heavy soils, simply wash as usual and then coat the area with generous amount of baking soda and allow it to sit for a couple hours before vacuuming it up. It absorbs all the moisture and odor for a deep clean!) The house at this point was full of a bunch of half finished cleaning projects as well as
new messes that had been made as I was attempting to finish the others, but it was lunch time by now so I made something quick for the kids, swept up beneath my daughter for probably the 5th or 6th time already that day as she leaves a trail of crumbs everywhere she goes. She still uses mainly her hands to self feed and I often allow her to roam about while doing so as it keeps her busy while I am busy! That's what brooms are for anyway right!? Since I'd been cleaning all morning, I decided we should probably get some school work done, so the half done projects had to wait a little longer, and we moved into our classroom to grab our books. My middle daughter sat and did whatever pages she could manage without my help, and my youngest sat tracing his letters, meanwhile I decided to try a fairly complicated multi step Math word problem with my oldest just to assess where she may be with that. Homeschooling has been an absolutely amazing, eye opening discovery for us when it comes to my daughters abilities and we are constantly left in awe and shock as we continue to discover how much is going on inside her brain all these years. I'm only just beginning to scratch the surface and find ways to let her finally show us , which will be an entirely seperate blog post of its own in the future. We have learned that she has processing issues and requires much more
time than an average person to sort through her thoughts and then control her body enough to express them. Well, fast forward probably half an hour after I read her the math problem aloud and explained what it was asking, I sat her back down with the same problem in front of her, and took out her iPad and pulled up the page on her communication app with numbers. I asked her to go ahead and answer if she knew it. I will leave the details of how this works for another time....the fact of the matter is she answered it! It was correct! At that moment the chaotic, mess filled day and feelings of disappointment and set back completely disappeared! That one single moment made the day amazing, awesome, worthy of celebration, and cause for joy!
     What does any of this rambling about my day have to do with you and your life or with anything really !? It's all back to that quote at the beginning " take life day by day, and be grateful for the little things. Don't get caught up on what you can't control. Focus on the positive." That's it. THAT is exactly what my Unique journey with my daughter has taught me. No, life is most definitely NOT
always easy, or pleasant, and it can be messy, chaotic, disorganized, disruptive and catch you off guard at times. Sometimes I'll admit these moments and days get the best of me and I feel
overwhelmed with setbacks and it seems as if everything Id been working on is lost and we have taken a giant step backwards. Often times the pressure of knowing I am the main one in charge of the teaching and caretaking can begin to weigh on me. But, the thing is if  stop and think about it for a moment I realize that
had we not come so far forward, we wouldn't have had any backwards steps to take in the first place would we!? Sometimes when days seem full of complaints, and rightfully so most times, I remind myself that the very things I am complaining about are among the very same things that I once only hoped for.  In my case, it may be complaining and being upset over the "accidents" that occurred  after so long without any. I stop and I remind myself that just a few years ago an occasional "accident" seemed like a dream and my daughter doing Math of any sort would've been met with complete disbelief and doubt. If I  were to only focus on the setbacks and the cant's and the bad moments scattered amongst all the wonderful ones, then I'd miss just that. I'd miss all the wonderful beautiful and amazing moments. Those moments are the moments that matter and the only ones that count in the end. I realize that sometimes the tough moments and set backs are not within my control. Often times they are not even within my daughters control as she deals with a body and brain that do not always cooperate together and seizures and medications that can sometimes impair her ability to think as clearly on certain days. My heart breaks for her for those reasons, but I do my best to teach her by example that it's quite alright to make mistakes and have a bad day,and to just move on and enjoy the good times! After all she is the very one who has taught me just that! The moments I am ever so grateful for. To be honest, if not for the difficult moments I might not be as grateful for all the others, and for that lesson learned I am thankful. I know, after having gone through what we have been through with our daughter, that an accident to clean, or a messy house, or a chaotic day of appointments,or even weeks full of setbacks, out of sorts children,cranky days, and the like are nothing in the big picture. They are in fact a far cry from even being counted among the worst times. Trust me, as cliche as it may sound, I am well aware that "it could always be worse." I've had worse! Yet even then I realize it still could've been worse. We have had many scares over the years, and because of them I appreciate just how much worse things could be, and how quickly it can happen. Its because of this that I know the value of taking things a day at a time, enjoying the good moments within each day, and taking a deep breath and refocusing during the bad moments.
       That's that! My wisdom for  today, my pep talk to myself mainly, but if sharing it aloud can help anyone else...than why not! Really, even though I applied it mainly to my journey of raising a child with special needs, it can be adapted to apply to any situation in life and not just for Moms, but for Dads, and even those without children. Regardless of what difficult moment you may be going through, always remember to take it a day at a time. Find beauty in each day. Focus on the positive and try hard not to worry too much about the things that are not within your control. There is nothing you can do to change some things, and worrying over them will only stop you from enjoying what you can!