Red Velvet Cake

Here is another Pioneer Woman recipe that I have converted to make a gluten free treasure.

GF Red Velvet Cake

Ingredients

• 1 cup Shortening
• 1-3/4 cup Sugar
• 2 cup Coconut Flour
• 1/2 cup Tapioca Starch
• 1-1/4 teaspoon Salt
• 2 whole Eggs
• 1 cup Buttermilk
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
• 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
• 1-1/2 teaspoon Vinegar
• 1-1/2 ounce, fluid Red Food Coloring
• 1-1/2 teaspoon Cocoa Powder

Preparation Instructions

Preheat oven to 330 degrees. Thoroughly spray a large (18 x 12) sheet cake pan (or you can use a slightly smaller jelly roll pan) with nonstick baking spray. Be sure to get in all the corners of the pan.
Sift together flours and salt. Set aside.
In a separate bowl, stir together buttermilk, eggs, vanilla, and baking soda. Add vinegar and stir. Set aside.
In a separate small bowl, mix together cocoa and red food coloring. Set aside.
Cream together shortening and sugar until fluffy. Alternate adding the flour mixture and the buttermilk/egg mixture until all combined. Pour the red mixture in and beat until combined.
Pour batter into prepared sheet cake pan. Use a large offset spatula or knife to even out the surface. Bake for 20 - 30 minutes. Remove pan from oven and allow cake to cool in the pan for 20 minutes. Place a large cutting board on top of the cake pan, then invert the cake, allowing it to turn out onto the cutting board. Allow cake to cool completely before icing.

Cream Cheese-Sour Cream Frosting1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, room temperature
2/3 cup confectioner's sugar
1/2 cup sour cream

Beat sour cream, confectioner's sugar and cream cheese in a large bowl until well blended. Spread the frosting over the cooled cake.

Keep cool.

This was a huge forth of July hit. I hope enjoy it as much as we did.
-Kenan

Chocolate Cake - Gluten Free Perfection :)

One of the hardest things to wrap you head around when you go gluten free is "How on earth will I ever go to a party again?"

Gluten Free means eating ahead of time so you don't arrive at a party hungry. It also means always having a stock of cupcakes baked in the freezer. That way you always have a little something to take to a birthday bash. With a gluten free little one, parties are the hardest.

Cross contaminating food is so common. When was the last time you needed just a little more peanut butter on that sandwich? Did you use the same knife to spread as you did to get seconds? Sure you did! We all do! But, you just contaminated the peanut butter. That goes for the jelly, mayo, sour cream and anything else you can think of.

Parties are hard!

But this is one of my favorite take with you cake recipes. I love this one. I even passed it on to a bunch of teenage boys and they LIKED it. Now I know they are teenage boys and they will eat anything. But these were awesome.

GF Chocolate Cake

1 cup Coconut Flour

 1/2 cup Almond Flour

 1/2 cup Tapioca Flour

 1 Teaspoon Zantham Gum

2 cups Sugar

1/4 teaspoon Salt

4 Tablespoons (heaping) Cocoa

2 sticks Butter

1 cup Boiling Water

1/2 cup Buttermilk

2 whole Beaten Eggs

1 teaspoon Baking Soda

1 teaspoon Vanilla

Preparation Instructions

Note: I use an 18x13 sheet cake pan.
In a mixing bowl, combine flours, sugar, and salt.
In a saucepan, melt butter. Add cocoa. Stir together.
Add boiling water, allow mixture to boil for 30 seconds, then turn off heat. Pour over flour mixture, and stir lightly to cool.
In a measuring cup, pour the buttermilk and add beaten eggs, baking soda, and vanilla. Stir buttermilk mixture into butter/chocolate mixture. Pour into sheet cake pan and bake at 330-degrees for 20 - 30 minutes.

*This recipe is an adaptation from www.ThePioneerWoman.com . Love her site and recipes.
http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2011/02/devil-dogs/


Cream Cheese-Sour Cream Frosting
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, room temperature
2/3 cup confectioner's sugar
1/2 cup sour cream

Beat sour cream, confectioner's sugar and cream cheese in a large bowl until well blended. Spread the frosting over the cooled cake. 

Keep the cake refrigerated since the frosting is made with perishable items.

I have to say this cake eaten cold tastes wonderful. I can't describe it.No pictures on this one b/c I was to busy licking my fingers :) Check out Pioneer Woman to see what they looked like. :) They didn't last long at all!

3-2-1 BLAST OFF!

What an absolutely awesome weekend we had! Cole, the girls, myself, and Libby (the bulldog) joined my Mom, Dad, and Patton (their bulldog) on a weekend RV trip to the great state of Florida for the very last shuttle launch.

My parents always tried to take us to historical places as kids. I guess Cole and I are alot like them. We are so grateful that they opened their traveling home to our crazy crew.

The girls did GREAT. They sat in their carseats for 8+ hours there and back. And they did NOT have a tv. We did cheat a little and let them play with the iPhones. But they pretty much entertained themselves with coloring and reading stories. I love their little imaginations. And we even got to read a chapter book. I guess that is what happens when they are strapped in their car seats and don't really have a choice. I think they, actually, did like chapter book. :)

We got there late on Thursday night and the girls were so disapointed that we were not going to see the "rocket ship" that night. However, they were up bright and early ready to watch it on Friday. We did not get as close as we would have liked. But we were there. Some people had been there for days camping to make sure they got to see it. We were not that die hard.

What an awesome experience. It is hard to even describe it. The shuttle is HUGE! But when I watched it ascend into space I understood exactly how small we are. We were miles away from the shuttle but the nervous energy was all around. Most of the people I talked to had a hard time putting the experience into words. The crowd did a countdown and everyone cheered. The cheering was coming from miles around. It was absolutely awesome. Even made me a little teary.

Do you know how hard it is to take pictures

with a 2 year old on your hip screaming in your ear?

I do!



Some of the people I met came as far as Iowa (27 hours in the car with 2 kids...brave lady!).

The cool thing about the experience was there was all type of people! Families, motorcycle gangs, rich, poor...it was a huge mix.

It was also awesome to know that we experienced history! My babies (even though they will never remember it) can say that they were there.

Once they saw the "rocket ship" the girls were ready to come home.



Why? Because their school books were scheduled to arrive while we were away.

Ansley screamed and jumped up and down when I got the arrival notice from Fedex.

Once we got back home, Ansley ran into the house begging to open the box.

We got unpacked.

And Daddy-o did the honors.

 They were really excited. Just look at their faces!

 Daddy-o pulled out the Bible curriculum and began reviewing it.

 Ansley was glad it came with some "toys for Charlotte".

And guess what was printed on the inside of the box!

A shuttle to put together!

Daddy-o saved the day with his mad construction skills.

What an awesome way to end our weekend!



Friends

Don't you just love a good friend?
Someone who knows you better than you know yourself.
Someone who knows how you are going to respond, before you even hear the question.
A person who is like a breath of fresh air no matter how long it has been since you have talked to them.

Now I know some of you are thinking that Prince Charming should be my best friend. And he is. But, there is nothing like that childhood friend.

I have one of those friends. She has been my friend since the 7th or 8th grade.

Our relationship actually started because of a fight in the girls locker room! I know, it is an odd place for a relationship to start. But, that day while the bullies were at it throwing names around and hurting others, we became friends.

I don't know who stood up for who, but that day a wonderful friendship began.

The funny thing is before this day we had played softball together, lived across the street from each other, and been in class together for YEARS. To my knowledge, we had never even spoken to each other.

We have had our ups and downs. There was a time that we shared every minute together. We dreamed our dreams together. We almost wrecked cars together because we were laughing to hard to see. We went through a carwash in a convertable together. Her mom was my mom and my mom was her's.

There was also a time we let a person come between us. We even went a year or so without speaking. We went to seperate colleges. We made new friends.

 But I knew that she was only a phone call away.

We were at each other's weddings and cried tears of joy when we heard about each expected baby.

She has moved all over the country. She has moved back.

As of now we live in the same town, and we still don't get to see each other as much as we like. But she is my friend. And I love her.

I am so glad my sweet Ansley has a good friend. I can see the adventures they will have together. The memories they are making now are just as special as the ones I made. They are just as opposite from each other and the same all rolled into one. They are the yen to the other's yang. They encourage each other and pull each other along when the other is feeling scared. They are quick to tell each other to be nice and share. They talk like to old women. They talk like I feel. They are special.

Don't you just love a good friend?

I do!

Ugly Cookies

A few weeks ago, I realized that I have some sort of allergy to one of the ingredients in the package mix of gluten free cookies. It is a crazy allergy. All I have to do is breath in this unknown ingredient and boy do I know it.

Since baby girl can't have gluten and I can't have (or prepare) packaged gluten free cookies. I have been on the search for the perfect gluten free cookie recipe.

Gluten has been a thorn in my side. It is a total downer sometimes. It makes cookies chewy and yummy and perfect.

Today I took on the mission of perfecting my sweet baby's favorite cookie.

I must confess! I just made the ugliest cookies EVER!

See! I told you they were ugly! Those don't even look like cookies.

They are not burnt, sliding off the cookie sheet, or hard as bricks. But boy are they ugly.

You know they are ugly when  your 3 year old refuses to eat a cookie! UGLY!

And to be honest, I didn't want to taste them either.

BUT, I am so glad I did. These cookies might be ugly, but wow! They taste great!

A few minor adjustments, like temperature and bake time. Oh, and with gluten free, you can't just drop a tablespoon of dough on a cookie sheet. You must form the cookie into something that looks like a cookie.

This is what they looked like before the oven. All pre-shaped and smashed.

And afterward?

I am so glad you asked!

PERFECTO!

Just to make sure I wasn't fooling myself, I tricked Prince Charming. He didn't even know they were gluten free! Now that is what I call success!

The Ugliest Cookies

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cup coconut flour
• 1/2 cup almond flour
• 1/4 tapioca flour
• 1/2 teaspoon xantham gum
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup butter or margarine, softened
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar (I used sucanat)
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar (I used sucanat)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 large egg
• 1 (12 ounce) package Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels

Directions

1. PREHEAT oven to 350 degrees F.
2. COMBINE flours, xantham gum, baking soda and salt in small bowl. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until creamy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in morsels.
3. Shape a tablespoon of dough into a ball and gently flatten it into a disk shape (It should look like a cookie you would want to eat.) Drop shaped cookies onto a greased baking sheet.
4. BAKE for 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

.

And enjoy!

Father's Day

Father's day weekend (well pretty much every holiday weekend) has been a blur since Cole and I started dating. I know I am not the only one who splits time between families, but now that there are children, naps, special diets, out-of-towners, crazy family members, nieces, nephews, circus clowns, monsters, and the peanut gallery things get REALLY crazy!!
This holiday weekend was not all that different, but we did get to spend some wonderful time with Aunt Donna, Aunt Cayce, and the kiddos. It is so nice to have a neice and nephews who are all the same age. Now, when I say the same age, I mean 5 children three years old and under. Yeah it gets crazy and LOUD! And that doesn't even count the 3 older ones.
Most of the time we were all together at Cole's parents house. The house is old!
Really old.
I am pretty sure it is about 90 years old at least.
The house is apart of a working farm.
The farmers are his parents.
I think Cole's dad has lived about 75% of his life in that very house.
Do you think that is crazy?
I do!
People don't do that these days.

My Cole secretly wants to be a farmer. I can see him living that lifestyle until he is completely bald and I am completely gray (we may not be to far from that right now). :) We both love the idea of the simplicity of the farm. Hard work, lots of love, a some rain = food and love!
I, secretly (or maybe not so secretly), would love to have an old fashioned litter of children gathered around my large kitchen table. I am trying to get Cole on board with that. He keeps mentioning something about running out of room, diapers, sleeploss, bottles, strollers, and a bunch of other things. I don't remember all of those things with the girls.
Just the perfect little angel looking at me.
Yup! That is what I remember. :)
Being at the farm usually gives Cole a nice little refresher. I say "usually" because let's face it, his family lives there and boy are they all different! But, this weekend was good. He spent time fixing things (I can't even pretend to know what it was...something about a wagon and hundreds of pounds...I don't know), talking to his sis, worry about rain with his dad, and eating at his mom's kitchen table. Overall it was a great weekend.

Happy Father's Day, Daddyo! We love the you and the dreams you dream for us all! We can't wait for the next adventure in our story called life!

Pizza Roll

These pizza rolls happen to be the easiest things in the world to make. I am pretty sure you could make them up and stick them in the freezer (that way you always have something on hand to serve on one of THOSE days).

1 roll of pizza dough (we used thin crust)
pizza sauce
cheese
toppings of your choice
olive oil

Roll out the pizza dough on a lightly floured surface.
Spread a layer of tomato sauce

Add cheese and all of your toppings (I used two types of cheese and pepperoni)

Begin rolling the pizza crust into a log.

Brush the roll with a little olive oil.
Place in an oven preheated to 375 degrees and bake for 15-25 minutes or until brown.
Let cool and slice into 2 inch pieces. Enjoy!

I forgot to take a "straight out of the oven shot". But this is the sliced one. I have to say it was YUMMY!

I am pretty sure this would be great to wrap in plastic wrap and put into the freezer (if it were to make it that far). I would not bake it first. Just defrost and bake as instructed.

Now for all of my gluten free friends.

I attempted to make this gluten free. It was a gluten free failure. GF pizza crust is way to sticky to roll. It turned into a mess. I actually scooped it off the pan and threw it into the sink. A friend ours actually asked why there was lasagna in the sink. Charlotte ended up eating a gluten free pizza. I will continue working on a way for this to work for her.