Sharing Gluten Free Recipes

So I was recently told that I haven't been sharing my gluten free recipes.  :(

My bad.

I basically use my recipes but substitute gluten free flour when my recipes calls for flour.  I have found that King Arthur's Gluten Free All-purpose Flour works well cup for cup.  I think my favorite GF All-purpose flour is in a Blue Bag called Dakota.  I find this one at a local Country Nutrition Store.

Jackie, from Blessings Overflowing, is friend of mine that has been cooking allergy free for her son.  You can't go wrong with her recipes.  (If you do not have egg or dairy allergy, you may use your 'normal' ingredients.)  I have tried a lot of her recipes and we enjoy the Chocolate Pumpkin Cake and the Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars.

I also get recipe ideas from Make it and Love it.  She is also a gluten free cook.

Want a recipe for your crockpot?  No problem!  Here is a site where I look:  A Year of Slow Cooking.  She even tells you what/how to make it gluten free.  I think I will be trying this Gluten Free Oreo Cheesecake Slow Cooker Recipe next...yum!

I will try to post actual recipes that I use.  I guess that means that could be a New Year Resolution for me in 2014.

Elf on the Shelf Story with Stickers

So we have an Elf.  He has been with us for 7 yrs now...

He is a good Elf, no mischief from him.  :)

He usually likes to hid and listen to the kids.  These kids for the most part are good kids...always on the nice list.

Our Elf, Percy, knows that we have been working on storytelling in Homeschool.  So he decided to help us out...

One night he left for the kids a pack of stickers and he started a story for the kids using the story.  He encouraged the kids to add on to his story.  The kids looked through the sticker pack to get ideas.

The Elf's story started with 2 penguins that wanted to go sledding...  :)

Gluten Free Strawberry Pie

One of my favorite things is Strawberry Pie.

I have always made my pie using my Mom's recipes for the pie crust and the strawberry jell.  Delish!

This year due to going gluten free for my girls, I switched out the flour for gluten free flour.  So this pie crust recipe will work with either gluten free flour or regular flour.

I came accross a recipe for Fresh and Super Simple Strawberry Pie Filling (only 3 indredients) and decided to try it instead of making the jell.  The results were wonderful!  A certain uncle made sure he had a second piece before the end of the day.  :)  He knew it was gluten free, but he said he could not tell.

The recipe for my pie crust is below.


1 stick softened Oleo (butter)
1 (3 ounce) package Philadelphia Cream Cheese (generic works just as well)
1 cup flour (gluten free if needed.  I use an all purpose gluten free flour.)
+ extra flour for rolling

Mix the 3 ingredients together in bowl.  Roll the dough out and then place it in your pie pan.  Bake pie shell at 400 degrees F for 10-12 mins.

The recipe for the Pie Filling I mentioned above can be found  here.

Enjoy!

Dino's for Girls?

Yes!  Girls can play with and love dinosaurs too.  

Have you noticed though that if you would like a girly dinosaur shirt, you may have a hard time finding one?

My middle daughter was invited to her friend's birthday party.  We didn't know what the birthday girl wanted  so I asked her Mom.  The Mom mentioned that her little girl loved dinosaurs and wanted a shirt with a dinosaur.  

So, my middle daughter picked out the colors and the dinosaur outline and I went to work.   I even made a matching hair bow.   

  

To make this shirt, I printed a dinosaur pic to use for a pattern.  After I cut the dinosaur out of fabric, I zigzagged it to the shirt.  Simple.  You could even hand sew this if one doesn't have a sewing machine.  

Crayons, Stickers, and Paper...Oh, My!

Any guesses what this is?

Why, it is a travel art studio for my youngest.  It holds her crayons, paper, and stickers.  

I used Velcro at the top and bottom to keep it closed when not in use.  

Now, who is ready for vacation?  

Butterfly Cake

Another Birthday came and went.

My middle child celebrated her 6th birthday.

She was able to pick out  the colors for her butterfly cake.  She was very happy with the way her cake turned out.

I am so happy that I learned how to decorate cakes...  My kids love being able to ask for a specific type of cake.   (I remember my own mom decorating cakes for my brothers and me.  So I wanted to be able to do the same.)  My kids enjoy having a special cake for their day.

Of course, I made this a gluten free chocolate and white cake.

Minnie Mouse Cake

My youngest is 3.  

How is that possible?  

Here she is in her finished Dress and Ears.  

   

 I also made her a gluten free Minnie Mouse Cake.  It was both white and chocolate.  The white cake mix was Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free White Cake Mix.  The chocolate was Betty Crocker's Gluten Free Chocolate Cake Mix

Minnie Mouse for the Birthday Girl

Someone is almost 3 years old.  

She told me she wanted a Minnie and Mickey Mouse Cake for her party.  

Then she informed she needed to have ears with bows like Minnie Mouse ... 

and a Minnie Mouse dress.

More ruffles

I love ruffle fabric.  I made me a gray skirt.  Yeah, for making something for me!  I used an old black tshirt as a lining under the gray ruffles.  

I had enough left over to make my youngest one too.  :)

Going on Safari...

I love how Safari Mickey turned out!  

Homemade Christmas 2012

Another Homemade Christmas...

Another apron for my girls.  The aprons are personalized with their intials.  These are made from repurosed jeans.  Here is a tutorial for the jean apron.















A rose scarf - this is made from felt.  I sewed the scalloped circles together to make the flowers.  Then I sewed the flowers to the felt scarf.  This could be a no sew project by using a glue gun.

A friend of mine asked if I could make a dress for her daughter out of some material that she had.  This is what I made.  From what I hear, the daughter loves it!  

Front of Dress

Back of Dress

Is it an Apron or a Bag?

Is it a bag? or...

an Apron?


It is both.

My girls love to paint.  With these bag aprons, it is easy to keep our paint and paintbrushes put away.  When  they are ready to paint, we empty the bag and change it into an apron.  

These were gifts for Christmas.

Carry It All Bag

For Christmas, I was given fabric and a pattern for a bigger bag.  The giver thought that I would make it for our cruise.  Well, I made it sooner!  I love this bag.  It is big enough that I can carry my kindle, and some entertainment for the kids.  Well, my other bag could do that...but this bag is bigger because I can also carry gluten free treats.  :)

 It has a zipper for my phone, keys, and money.  On the other side it has two pockets.  Great for the snacks or Kindle.

This pattern also included a mini bag.  The mini bag does not have a zipper, but it does have the pockets.  I have made one for one of my daughters.  I need to make another for my youngest daughter.  The mini size is perfect size for kids.  I let both girls pick their colors for the bag.  

This is the bag for my almost 6 year old daughter.

This is the inside of her bag.

Here is a picture to compare the bags.  

I don't think this picture really shows how much bigger my bag (on right) is compared to the mini (on left).  

My daughter with her bag.

Easy Find for the Tooth-Fairy...

I knew my middle daughter would eventually have a wiggly tooth.  I knew that I would have to pull it out eventually.  That day finally came.  They grow up to fast.  She did not cry when I pulled her tooth out.  No, she instead asked for her tooth pillow.  (I actually made this for her when I made my son a tooth pillow.)

This little pillow has a little pocket on the tooth shape to hold the tooth for the tooth-fairy   I know that the tooth-fairy loves this idea because she doesn't have to search for any teeth under pillows.  :)  Plus, the kids love it because they don't have to look for their reward from the tooth-fairy.

Crayon Holder

Both of my girls love to color.  They often carry their crayons in a box or a bag.  However, the crayons were always rolling off the tables or getting lost.  I decided to make a crayon roll.  The top of this crayon roll folds down over the crayons and then rolls up.  On the outside, I have a piece of ribbon that my daughter can use to tie the roll closed.  My oldest daughter loves this as she can take this in the car and her crayons will not roll away.

To make this I used a piece of felt, fabric, and ribbon.  The great thing about making this myself is that I can make it the size that is needed.  I lined up my daughter's favorite crayons (the Twister type crayons) and cut my fabric to fit.

Now my girls have informed me they need a bag to carry their color books and crayon roll in...off I go to sew so more.

Travel Items

I wanted to make some travel items for our kids for Christmas.

I ran out of time.

So, instead I made these travel items for their birthdays.  My son already opened his present.  My almost 6yr old daughter saw my son's pillow and wants her own.  She will be so excited to see her own flower pillow and toothbrush holder.

So, seat belt pillows and toothbrush holders -  Easy gifts that are needed because we are going on a cruise to celebrate our FREEDOM!  We have paid off our final debt (does not include the house).   We will be traveling with our children, so I decided to make the kids seat belt pillows and toothbrush holders.  These will also be used for our trips to my parent's house or other overnight trips.

Want to make your own?  I'm sure there are plenty of ideas on Pinterest.  For the pillow, I made a small rectangle of leftover fabric and added straps (and velcro).   Adding straps allows me to tie the pillow to my youngest's seat so she can not drop it.  Would you like a tutorial?  Here is one for a simple pillow from my friend Jackie at Blessings Overflowing.

For the the toothbrush/toothpaste holder, I used a hand towel, leftover fabric, and a piece of elastic.  Here is a simple travel toothbrush holder tutorial from my friend Jackie at Blessings Overflowing.

Skylanders Cake

My son is 8!  How is that possible?  8!

He knew what he wanted for his cake.  Skylanders.  I decided to make a Skylander portal and then use his favorite character on the cake.

This was actually my second attempt at the cake.  The first one fell apart...let me explain.  I usually make and decorate the cake a day or two before the party day.  I have not had a problem with cakes falling apart before.  But, this cake was different.  This cake needed to be gluten free so my youngest could eat cake at her brother's birthday party.  I have learned that I can not make a gluten free cake 2 or 3 days before a party.  Thankfully, his party was in the afternoon so I could bake and decorate the cake over again.

This cake was gluten free.  I used the Bob's Red Mill White Cake Mix and a glass bottle of Faygo.  It was iced with butter-cream icing.

Mug Banana Bread

So one day, when I had nothing to do....yeah, right.  Truth...my youngest daughter wanted to watch Elmo on the computer.  So while she watched Elmo, I browsed through recipes to try on Pinterest.  ( you may find me here on Pinterest.) Not just any recipe,  I needed easy gluten free recipes.  (Gluten free?  Yes, I'll share the story another day, when I am bored, I mean, when I have a moment.)  I have had a few fails with some recipes, but I am not afraid to try.

I came across this Mug Banana Bread and thought it would be easy to substitute gluten free flour.   I also liked that it only used half of a banana.  I don't know about you, but in this house, all of the bananas get eaten except for the last one.  One!  What do I do with one banana besides make a smoothie or freeze it for later (which of course means it is forgotten about)?  I have the answer.  Try this recipe that I found here that links to Vittles and Bits .

Sorry, I forgot to get a picture of the bread in the mug...I guess that means I'll need to make it again.

Mug Banana Bread

3 T + 1 tsp all purpose gluten free flour

2 tsp sugar (or 1 packet stevia or sweetener of your choice equivalent to 2t sugar)

2 T brown sugar

1/8 tsp salt

1/8 tsp baking powder

1/8 baking soda

1 egg

1/4 tsp vanilla extract

1 T vegetable oil

1 T lowfat milk

half a banana, mashed

cinnamon, for sprinkling (optional)

In a large microwaveable mug lightly misted with non-stick spray, blend flour, sugars, salt, baking powder, and baking soda.  Add egg and mix until all the dry ingredients are incorporated.  Stir in vanilla, oil, and milk, then mashed banana.  Microwave 1 1/2 to 3 minutes depending on your microwave.  (Mine took 2 1/2 minutes)

Enjoy!

Card Games...

Let's make homeschooling fun!  It is really easy to do and it is simple.  Many families already do this and may not realize that they are homeschooling.  What is this simple, easy trick?  Playing card games.  

This card game is called Story Smash Up.  In this game, you create sentences using word cards that feature your favorite scenes from Disney movies.  The more you play, the funnier the sentences.  It is a great way to talk about nouns, verbs, and sentence fragments.  You can even use them to answer the Who, Did What, Where questions.