Chocolate Breakfast Cookies (gf/df/nf/ef)

I am loving the new site Pinterest. Have you all found it yet? I just love it for everything. I am finding so many great craft ideas, kid activities, clothing ideas, things for a future house someday, and recipes. It is great to see so many gluten free recipes come my way on Pinterest. My recipe boards is getting kinda big with all the things I've been pinning. You can follow me on Pinterest too. However, I ran into a Pinterest set back. I pinned a cookie that was tagged as breakfast cookies. I thought I could easily substitute some ingredient to make them work for gluten and diary free, but when I clicked on the pin to follow the link it turned out that the person just uploaded a picture of something they made without saying how. So I started a search on Google for breakfast cookies. I knew what I wanted, something with chocolate, and I didn't want something that looked like a granola ball. I wanted a healthy cookie that I could give my daughter for breakfast or for myself to eat as I rushed out the door in the morning. So I came up with my own. You can enjoy these anytime of  the day though.

This recipe is very simple, but very healthy. I use oats (make sure they are GF), which are healthy as we all know. If you are uncomfortable with oats you can use quinoa flakes instead, but you might need to use more since the flakes are much smaller then the oats in volume. I use flax seeds, as well, which are very good source o-mega 3's, Lignans which are natural estrogen and antioxidants, and fiber. I also used Sunbutter because it's a good source of protein. I added cocoa for flavor and it's also good for us too and goes great with Sunbutter too. 

Chocolate Breakfast Cookies
1 cup Oats (or quinoa flakes)
1/4 cup flax seeds, pre-ground amount
1 cup Sunbutter
2 Tbs Coco powder
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
In a large bowl mix together oats, ground up flax seeds, coco, sugar, and baking soda. Add Sunbutter, vanilla, water, and mix until well combined. On a lightly greased baking sheet put tablespoon amounts on the baking sheet, about 2 inches apart. I used a cookie scoop. Bake for 15-18 minutes. Makes about 18-20 cookies.

New Twist on the Birthday Cupcake

For my daughter's birthday I wanted to jazz things up a bit but make things easy for me as well. So I made my traditional Chocolate Pumpkin Cupcakes but I did them in a new way. A friend of mine made these for her daughter's birthday and I thought it was a great idea. Ice cream cone cupcakes. What's not to love? They don't need a wrapper and it's a novel idea. I had the kids decorate their own and they had a blast. I put down a base layer of frosting and then they did the rest.

Ice Cream Cone Cupcakes
Follow recipe from Chocolate Pumpkin Cupcakes
Gluten free ice cream cones

Here's how to do the rest. 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Place the cones in a muffin tin and secure with tin foil to keep them upright. Use a small ice cream scoop or a tablespoon to spoon into the ice cream cones. With the small scoop it was two scoops per cone. Bakes for 30-45 minutes. They take a long time. The normal recipe takes more time then normal none pumpkin cupcakes, but with the cone they take even more time. So check them every 10 minutes after the standard baking time with a toothpick. It is done with the top is solid and the toothpick comes out with a few moist crumbs. Take out of the oven and let them cool out of the muffin tin. Makes 14.

Chocolate Pumpkin Cupcakes

In my post about Socially GF with Kids I talked about chocolate cupcakes that I keep in the freezer just for birthday parties. I gave short directions on how to make them, but I wanted to spend some more talking about them, because these cupcakes are a life saver.

When I first went gluten free, just for me, I read the G-Free Diet by Elisabeth Hasselbeck. In her book she asked a friend of hers that has a gluten free child to give tips on how to do gluten free with kids, because as we know, it's a whole different ball game with kids. This mother told how she always kept cupcakes in the freezer. She had a bag of white cupcakes and bag of chocolate cupcakes. She would call the mother of the birthday kid and find out how the birthday cake was going to be decorated so she could get it decorated to match. This is a fantastic idea. I haven't gone the extra step of decorating the cupcake to match or even have two different kinds in my freezer, but for now my child is young enough that you put chocolate anything in front of her and she's good.

I first started doing this around my daughter's 1st birthday. She wasn't gluten free yet but I was and so were a few friends and family members. I ordered a cake for my daughter's birthday and made these chocolate pumpkin cupcakes for everyone else who couldn't have the gluten full cake. My daughter ended up not liking the cake I bought for her, and asked to have one of the cupcakes I made, she never had either before. She loved my cupcakes over the expensive cake I got just for her. So ever since then I make these cupcakes just for her birthday and keep a stash of them in the freezer for every other occasion. I've brought these cupcakes to birthday parties, baby showers, weddings, graduation parties, baby dedications and any other event requiring cake to be served.

My daughter's Ponyo cupcake cake for her 2nd birthday.

I don't feel too guilt about making and bringing my own cupcakes either. If someone wants to go out the way to provide for us, great! However, that doesn't always happen. We do have a whole bunch of cousins that have the same food allergies as we do so any time there is a wedding or baby dedication on that side of the family they usally provide something or at least gives us a heads up if they will or won't. But not all family members have that kind of foresight.

When I first came up with the idea to mix pumpkin with my cake mix to make pumpkin cupcakes, was at the same time as my daughter's birthday. Her birthday is in the fall and as soon as the leaves change color I buy every can of organic pumpkin I can get my hands on. So since her birthday is in the fall and pumpkin is so fitting during that time of year, I thought why not. If you can use black beans to make brownies and they are healthier, why not pumpkin and cupcakes? So I did and they are fantastic. Now I make them all year round. No one knows and pumpkins are so healthy that I love that extra health kick to an otherwise junk food, plus the pumpkin makes them extra rich. You can really do this with any canned squash that you like. I've used three kinds of cake mix to make these cupcakes and all of them work great. I've used Betty Crocker, Pamela's, and Namaste. I do think Namaste and Pamela's are the richest, but Betty Crocker did pretty well too.

Chocolate Pumpkin Cupcakes
1 box GF cake mix of your choice
15 oz can of pumpkin (make sure it it puree, not pumpkin pie filing) 

Preheat oven according to the box directions.
Mix cake mix and pumpkin together till well combined, do not over mix.  Either spray muffin pan or use paper liners to keep the cupcakes from sticking. I like to spray the top of the muffin pan even when I use liners, just in case they over flow a bit. Use a small ice cream scoop or cookie scoop or tablespoon to fill the pan almost completely full. Bang and shake pan around to make the batter settle and release any air bubbles.  Bake 10-15 minutes longer then what the directions say. They are done when a tooth pick inserted in the center of the largest cupcake comes out fairly clean - just a crumb or two. They are very dense and rich cupcakes so if their is a tiny bitty big of batter still on the toothpick, don't put them back in the oven, they are done. Makes 12 cupcakes.

Socially GF with Kids

From:Stock.xchng

Being gluten free with kids always makes life extra challenging. When it was just me it wasn't too bad, I just had to worry about myself, but add a GF kid into the mix and suddenly everything becomes more complicated. There are birthday parties, play dates, family gatherings, and Sunday school snacks that can all become a logistic nightmare. Here are some of my tips to help get by these social situation challenges.

Birthday Parties

• For birthday parties I always keep a bunch of chocolate cupcakes in the freezer. I like to use Namaste Chocolate Cake Mix and one can of pumpkin puree and make cupcakes. These take about 10-15 minutes longer to bake. Once cooled I put them in gallon size freezer bags and freeze them. When it's time to go to a party I pull one out and take it with us. By the time it's cake cutting time at the party the cupcake is thawed. If you want to you can go an extra step and decorate the cupcake to match the birthday cake.

• I also find out what kind of food will be served at the party. If it is a pizza party I'll bring a couple slices of my homemade pizza. If it is just snacks then I'll bring some of our own GF snacks, and I always bring enough to share, because sometimes kids like what I bring and want to give it a try.

Play Dates

• I always bring lots of snacks, because I never know what my daughter will be in the mood for. I always have crackers, a jelly and sunbutter sandwich, fruit, rice cakes, and yogurt covered raisins. Just like the birthday party situation I bring enough to share.  Kids eat with their eyes first and often they like what I bring. We go through a lot of fruit and yogurt raisins that way, but I'm always happen to share. You never know, you might inspire another parent to bring along these healthy snack options other then chips and cookies for next time. 

Sunday School 

• This can be the hardest challenge depending on your church, but for me it wasn't too hard. You can read more of that story here. I made up a list of snacks for our church to buy to give the GF kids more options, for awhile all they did was Chex, which is cheap and find, but kinda boring. This is the list I suggested:
• Kinnikinnick animal cookies
• Fruity Pebbles just went gluten free and Rice Krispies, and their snack bars
• Rice cakes
• Envirokids Gorilla Munch 
• Annie's makes gluten free cheddar bunnies

Diaper bag/back pack/purse

• For snacks on the go I always keep the following in my daughter's back pack: crackers, yogurt raisins, all natural fruit leathers, cereal bars or snack bars (such as Enjoy Life), animal cookies, roasted edamame or soy nuts, and some times apple slices or a banana.

 Restaurants

• Eating out is always hard, but it is extra hard with kids. Not every restaurant has GF options on their kids menu. I now choose where we eat when going out by looking up the kids menu online. If they have something that works, then that is where we go.  

• Here is where we go and what we order for our daughter.
• Red Robin: grilled chicken on a stick, or a burger with cheese without the bun and no seasoning. I always make sure that the fries for the whole table are GF (without seasoning) and that fries that come with our meal are without seasoning too because my daughter likes to hop from lap to lap, this way if she eats from everyone's basket she is safe. 
• Chick Fil A: Grilled nuggets. I love this restaurant! As soon as I say grilled nuggets they automatically offer to change their gloves. Plus, I love their toys with the kids meal: books and learning toys. 
• Mexican places (Chili's and On the Boarder): quesadilla on corn tortillas or grilled chicken.
• PF Chang's: noodles and brown rice
• Village Inn and Perkins: yogurt, fruit, scrambled eggs, and hash browns.

Family Gatherings

• The best way to make this work is to send out emails to everyone (if it is a pot luck type meal) and list all the things that are ok. If you give brand names and places to purchase that makes things easier for everyone. It's better to do a list of what is ok then a list of what isn't ok. 

• If only one person is making the meal offer to help, if they don't want help find out what is on the menu and bring something similar. I love making GF items for gatherings because someone will say "This is the best _____ I've ever had, what is in this?" Then I have the joy of telling them what is NOT in it and they are always shocked then ask for the recipe. 

I hope this gives you and your family some relief this summer as you go out to BBQ's, picnics,weddings, birthday parties, and play dates.

The Mommy Prospective of Gluten Free

I just wanted to share something that has been on my mind for the last few days that I think shows the great love that people can have and the wonderfulness of God in all circumstances.

My daughter has been gluten free for a year now. We decided to take her off gluten because she wasn't growing the way she should and she was having constant diarrhea.  When my daughter was a baby she would put on a few pounds every month, like a normal child, but when she turned one things started to really slow down. She has always been small, she was born small, so for her to kinda stop growing was a  concern. The rate at which she grew was at regular intervals, but had decreased quite a bit since she started eating what we ate. Even with half of her parents eating gluten free it still didn't seem to help her out much. So when she was a year and a half we talked it over with her doctor and took her off gluten. She started gaining weight and her height took off. People who haven't seen her in awhile are always in shock at how much she has changed in a matter of months. So as any good parents I protect her health quite a bit.

Before GF at 14 months, in size 9m.

After GF at 2, in size 2T

Thankfully we have supporting family and friends who understand and see the change it has made in her little life. I am thankful and very blessed to have a church family who cares and has done what they can to make sure she gets the right kind of snacks. At times snack time hasn't gone well for her. They normally serve a brand of cheese like cracker snack that my daughter use to love, but of course she can no longer have them. This broke my heart when I realized this would be a challenge for her and for me when we she went gluten free. The staff, (bless them!) made the nursery gluten free for when my daughter was there. It worked out very well.

This week my daughter graduated to the next level in the churches childcare, which is pulling on many of mommies heart strings: my little girl is growing up, she needs me less, and her peers are starting to become a bigger influence on her. Not to mention a whole new group of teachers to educate about gluten, this is the part I've been thinking about for days now. I didn't sleep much worrying about this and thinking about scenarios of conversations I might have to have with people and preparing for the worst. I prayed about it, but somethings are just really hard to let go. But letting go is what needed to happen. I had to force myself to understand that God put this little girl in my hands, he is trusting me with her, and it isn't the other way around. He has her best interest in mind long before it even pops into my brain.  So I calmed down and handed it over to God as best as I could. When I dropped her off at her new class tonight I started my whole long speech about what she can't have and how it should be handled and what they should do...starting to sound like that super annoying parent.

Then the best thing in the world happened. The staff stepped up and took care of my fears, and talked to me about what all they could do just for my daughter. They offered suggestions and promised to take care of it from then on out so I wouldn't have to worry about this sort of thing ever again. I was so ready to lay down the law, as it were, and put on my boots and stomp around to get my way, but instead God showed up and said "Do not be afraid" (as he so often does in the Bible). He meet mine and my daughters needs and took care of it all before I really even had the chance to do something and it was all taken care of at once. No meeting to deal with it later or "we'll do that next time," but right then and there. The churches staff and I worked things out in a polite, friendly, timely, and in a loving matter right then and there. 

Just as God says in his word:

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. Philippians 4:6

In other words, pray about everything, but don't stew, worry, or get anxious about anything. God knows all and will handle all, we just need to trust him and have faith. All things work out in his perfect timing. We may not understand why and when or even how, but he does. This week is the perfect example of this scripture. I worried, but then I prayed and God took care of it perfectly. I am so thankful that God took care of everything and for the wonderful children's staff at my church. It's amazing what happens when you let God take care of everything.

Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? Matthew 6:27