Keepin' it Simple. Keepin' it Real
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Come back tomorrow for another quick tip to help you simplify your Christmas by focusing less on spending and more on celebrating.
Can you believe that my Certain Little Someone (who is getting woefully Bigger and Bigger each day, and is not so Little anymore) requested to have the same birthday cake at his fourth birthday party that he had for his second birthday party? Apparently, it made a big impression on him! Or maybe the spectacular fail of his third birthday cake made an even deeper impression (*snort*). In any case, I obliged and made him a replica of his second birthday cake decorations, but I did update the actual recipe a bit.
Since his second birthday, I have been blessed to discover the wonders of spelt, and I knew that I just had to make his birthday cake out of spelt flour. Finally, a yummy-tasting, staying-together, not-so-crumbly cake that everyone - including the birthday boy - could enjoy. Yes!
I am happy to be over at Baking Whole Grains today, sharing my super easy and almost-healthy allergen-free birthday cake recipe.
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I honestly haven’t really been indulging my sweet tooth much lately, but that doesn’t mean I won’t share a treat or two with you, my friend. This particular one I made for a gathering a week or two ago, so I shared it with lots of other people and only had a tiny little piece myself.
Thank goodness, too, because it was quite delicious, and I’m pretty sure I would have eaten the whole pan if left to my own devices.
Moral of the story: sweet stuff is for sharing. If you’re going to make it, you’d better share it.
So I’m sharing it with you today over at the Grain Mill Wagon. See ya there!
Sharing at Titus 2sday, Teach Me Tuesday, Domestically Divine Tuesday, Traditional Tuesday, Women Living Well Wednesday, Works for me Wednesday, Frugal Days Sustainable Ways,Homemaking LinkUp, Whole Foods Wednesday, Encourage One Another, The Mommy Club, Simple Lives Thursday, Your Green Resource, Fight Back Friday, Friday Favorites
I just love it when I find a recipe that is so delicious I can’t resist it, and yet is healthy enough that I don’t feel the least bit guilty indulging. This is just such a recipe! These tasty and healthy donuts are made from whole grains, fruit, and healthy fats, with no refined sugars. They’re also egg-free, wheat-free and dairy-free if you’re on a limited diet. And they don’t taste like any of that! They just taste like yummy. Want the recipe? Get it at the Grain Mill Wagon: Banana Oatmeal Donuts.
I’ve got one more delicious grain mill recipe coming up for you next week - you’re going to love it! Another healthified indulgence, my favorite.
Sharing at Titus 2sday, Domestically Divine Tuesday,Teach Me Tuesday, Traditional Tuesday, Healthy 2Day Wednesday, Allergy-Free Wednesday, Whole Foods Wednesday, Works for Me Wednesday, Women Living Well Wednesday, Frugal Days Sustainable Ways, The Mommy Club, Tastetastic Thursday, Simple Lives Thursday, Your Green Resource, Freaky Friday, Fight Back Friday, Friday’s Favorites, Better Mom Mondays, Homestead Barn Hop, Motivating Monday
I hope you all have a safe and blessed Independence Day! We are going down to our state capitol and having a picnic, watching a parade, listening to the Navy Band play, and - naturally - catching the fireworks show. Promises to be fun!
On the menu:
Chicken Salad Sandwiches on Sourdough Bread
Sunbutter & Jelly Sandwiches on Allergen-Free Bread
Red White and Blue Fruit Salad
Apples
Baby Carrots
S’Mores in Jars
Speaking of S’Mores in Jars, here you go:
These are the easiest to make ever! In a pint-sized jelly jar, layer the following:
Repeat the layers, screw on the lid, and there you have it: a portable picnic dessert that everyone will love!
Aren’t these cuties… well… cute? Little bundles of shortcake joy! I brought them to our church’s annual Picnic on the Grounds to celebrate the Fourth of July as part of the potluck lunch. The platter was cleared so fast, I barely had time to grab one for myself and Baby Boy! Thankfully, I was a smart one and had saved a few of the biscuits at home, so the boys enjoyed those for breakfast this morning. (Dessert for breakfast is a wonderful thing, don’t you think?)
I made both a regular and an allergen-free version of these and both turned out pretty well. Both options are included in the simple recipe below.
*You can use your own favorite biscuit recipe, of course! If you use the ones linked here, simply omit the sweet potato or squash. Otherwise, follow the recipe as directed.
These are a QUICK yet festive option for your Fourth of July celebration!
They are fairly EASY, although they do involve a few extra steps.
How CHEAP they are depends on how much you have to pay for the strawberries. This time of year, they’re usually still available for a decent price.
They are pretty HEALTHY! I used white whole wheat in the biscuit dough, and palm shortening as the fat. I had sucanat for the sugar in the strawberries, which is the healthiest version of sugar you can find. Plus, I used the stevia in the whipped cream, which is an even better sweetener choice.
Today’s post is brought to us by my friend Erin at The Humbled Homemaker. She’s writing about one of my very favorite things… strawberries!
Ah-strawberry season. It’s almost over in my Southern state of North Carolina, but it’s just beginning elsewhere. One of my favorite summer pastimes is picking berries. And although I love eating them raw (and sometimes right off the plants!) or in a summertime smoothie, one of my family’s favorite desserts is a warm-from-the-oven, juicy strawberry crisp.
But I’ll admit: The strawberry crisps I’ve made in the past have been anything but healthy. But since we only have fresh strawberries once a year, we “sacrificed.” However, the more I’ve learned about healthier alternatives to conventional sweeteners, the more I’ve realized that with just a few minor tweaks I can convert old favorite recipes into treats that come with much less guilt-not to mention less detriment to my family’s health!
Without further ado, here’s my new, improved “healthified” strawberry crisp recipe!
slicing up fresh sweet berries
stirring together the dry ingredients
cutting in the butter... almost done!
Have food allergies in your family? I make this gluten-free/dairy-free version for my daughter!
Thanks, Erin! Visit her at The Humbled Homemaker where you will find not only easy, healthy recipes like this; Erin is full of great tips for natural homemaking and child-rearing.
Sharing at Traditional Tuesdays, This Chick Cooks, Simple Lives Thursday, A Little Nosh
Wow,Secret Recipe Club time came around fast this month! It totally caught me by surprise near the end of my OAMS cycle, and due to poor planning on my part, I happened to be completely out of flour and oats. That pretty much eliminated any baking, and I didn’t have time to try any main dish recipes. Thankfully, Cupcake Muffin, my assigned blog, came to my rescue with a simple recipe that not only requires minimal ingredients (that I happened to have on hand, miracle of miracles) but that also tastes amazingly delicious. Even better? I’m the only one in the house that can eat them, so they are all mine. Muahahahahahahah! There are some perks to being the only person in the house without any dietary issues.
As for next month: I will not run out of wheat flour and I will finish my Secret Recipe Club long before it’s due. I’m trusting you all to keep me accountable, OK?
Now back to my assigned blog: Cupcake Muffin is written by Sara, a grad student at Berkeley who cooks up some pretty amazing stuff. From creative ways to serve vegetables (Carrot Fennel Salad, for example), to delicious new twists on old dinner-time favorites (try the Chicken Tinga Tacos), to decadent desserts (how about some Grapefruit Mint Tarragon Chocolate Tart?), she’s got you covered! After all, she’s been blogging since 2007, so there’s a lot of great content to be discovered.
For reasons already mentioned, I chose to make her Orange Chocolate Chip Macaroons, which turned out to be quite serendipitous. Orange and chocolate is a combination I love , and I always enjoy trying new recipes to utilize it. These macaroons were no exception! Delicious, in a word. You definitely won’t be able to eat just one.
I made only a portion of the recipe, since, as I mentioned, I’m the only one in the house who can eat these. So here’s my small batch version, which doesn’t differ much from Sara’s original recipe.
Number of servings (yield): 12
I would recommend using Let’s Do Organic or Tropical Traditions dried coconut for this recipe, as most other versions have lots of sugar and other unnecessary ingredients in them. If you use the right kind of coconut, these will actually be some pretty healthy cookies!
These cookies were so QUICK to make - they do take a long time to bake up (25 minutes) but the prep time was minimal, 10- minutes or less.
Deliciously EASY, too. For some reason I always thought macaroons were hard, but not so!
This recipe uses minimal ingredients (especially in a small batch, which is great if you don’t need a large quantity), so it’s a great CHEAP treat.
If you use the right kind of coconut, and chocolate chips with real ingredients, these cookies can be relatively HEALTHY. They still have sugar, so they’re not a health food, but they’re a healthier option for snack than most cookies (especially store-bought ones!).
Intrigued by the Secret Recipe Club concept? Join here!
Linking up at:
Hearth & Soul Traditional Tuesday
Valentine’s Day is quickly approaching, and as usual, my mind turns to thoughts of chocolate. Chocolate daydreams and Valentine’s Day just go together perfectly, no matter your age.
And so do chocolate and strawberries. Especially when they’re in cute little shot glasses! These will be a hit with adults and kids alike, and of course, true to form, they are so easy.
You will need the little plastic shot glasses if you want them to be in this cute little miniature form. I found mine at the Dollar Tree and thought it a worthy investment for such cuteness.
Strawberry Layer
Chocolate Mousse Layer
For Strawberry Layer:
For Chocolate Mousse Layer:
