Almond Joy Drops

Another sweet treat to share! This is a super simple recipe that makes a big batch of cookies that are stored in the freezer for those chocolate cravings I get once in a while all the time... Hope you enjoy them as much as I have!

Almond Joy Drops

3 c. shredded coconut

1/2 c. cocoa powder

1/2 c. honey

3/4 c. coconut oil, melted

Combine all ingredients in a bowl. Spoon onto a baking sheet covered in parchment paper. The mixture was very crumbly at first but once the coconut oil started to solidify again it became easier to work with.

Pop the tray in the freezer and store frozen cookies in a freezer bag or container. These can be enjoyed straight out of the freezer- you know how fast those chocolate cravings can come on!

I've been having a tough time trying to figure out how to feed Sawyer solids since his body has had a tough time adjusting since we started a couple months ago. After talking to another mom she encouraged me to give a call to Sawyer's doctor and see what his advice would be. I decided to call the gastroenterologist to see how long it would be to get an appointment and God blessed us with an opportunity to take a cancelled appointment for the very next day! The GI doctor was impressed with Sawyer's growth but said his system is just going to be delayed from healing after the allergic reactions early on. He said to stick with just rice cereal twice a day along with a powdered probiotic to mix in the cereal once a day for a month. At the beginning of January he said we can start very slowly with pureed foods.

We are on day three with the probiotic and Sawyer seems to be no where near as gassy as he has been and he is sleeping very well! Selfishly I want him to be eating more solids so I don't have to nurse as often but that time will come and I'm sure I'll be sad when it does. Until then, I'll continue to feel exhausted, but all to the glory of God! I was really encouraged by this devotional I read the other day:

"I drew them with gentle cords, with bands of love, and I was to them as those who take the yoke from their neck. I stooped and fed them. Hosea 11:4 NKJV

What a picture of humility! What a picture of motherhood! We spend years drawing our children with gentleness and love. We take the burdens and cares of their world upon our shoulders. We take the yoke of their sin and mistakes upon us. We stoop and feed them.

Sometimes as moms we feel like we have emptied ourselves for our children...and that is a good thing. Romans 5:8 says, 'God demonstrated His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.' Jesus emptied Himself of everything for us. And He did it for us before we came into a relationship with Him, striving to live godly. When we were in our sin and wanting nothing to do with Him, Christ died for us, and that demonstrated His love for us.

For some reason before we have children the idea of dying to self seems more spiritual, and we look for opportunities and people for whom to lay down our lives. Then we marry and have children and feel like we aren't able to do for God what we once did. We can feel like we have lost our identity and purpose. Sisters, we must see that this call of motherhood on our lives is the closest opportunity to be like Christ we will ever have on this earth. We lay down our lives for our children while they are yet sinners. And we keep laying down our lives until every last one of them comes to Jesus. What an amazing privilege! What an amazing honor!"

 
I hope that encourages you moms out there that feel the same way. At the end of the day, the smiles from this boy make it all worth it!

Pizza!!!

I did it! I made gluten-free, dairy-free pizza! It may not have been perfect but it satisfied my craving! I used a combination of a few different recipes to pull this one together so I'm pretty shocked it came together so well. I found a gluten free crust recipe then combined that with toppings from a chicken alfredo recipe and a dairy-free "alfredo" sauce recipe. You'd never guess what the alfredo sauce was made from... Cashews! Take a look!

Dairy-Free "Alfredo" Sauce 

(not tree-nut free)

1 c. raw cashews

4 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 onion, chopped

2 c. water

1 tbsp. lemon juice

1 tsp. sea salt

1/4 tsp. pepper

Boil cashews for 10 minutes to soften for a smooth sauce. Meanwhile, saute the garlic and onion until soft. Toss boiled cashews, onion, garlic, water, lemon juice, salt and pepper into the blender and blend for two minutes.

And there you have it! A dairy-free alfredo sauce that will knock your socks off!

Gluten-Free Pizza Crust

1- .25 oz. package active dry yeast

1 c. warm water

1 c. sorghum or amaranth flour

1 1/4 c. brown rice flour

2 tbsp. ground flax seed

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. dried oregano

1/2 tsp. dried basil

1 tbsp. honey

1 tsp. apple cider vinegar

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Dissolve yeast in water and let sit for 5 minutes. Combine the flours, flax, salt, oregano and basil. Add yeast mixture, honey and vinegar. Stir well to combine. I had to use my hands to get the crumbly mixture into a ball.

Press or roll dough onto a flour pizza pan. This was my only problem with the finished product, the crust was way too thick so next time I'll make sure to roll the dough much thinner. Parbake the crust for 5 minutes before adding toppings.

I cooked up some diced chicken then spread a layer of the alfredo sauce followed by the chicken, spinach, diced tomatoes and another layer of alfredo.

Bake the pizza for about 20-25 minutes until toppings are lightly browned.

Like I said, the crust was too thick but other than that it had great flavor!

Here's little munchkin man loungin' in his exersaucer today. What a goof!

My new favorite place

Well, it's been over five months since we've started the elimination diet adventure and to be honest, I'm in a bit of a rut. I've definitely have the hang of what I can and can't eat and thankfully we're down to just wheat and dairy! But, I want pizza. I want a krispy kreme. Yes I feel so much better from eating healthier and yes I those foods are bad for me but it's just where I'm at right now.

So enough of the pity party, let's talk about what's been going on the last few weeks! Pinterest has been a great source of inspiration for dinners. Only problem, I keep forgetting to take pictures so I can share them here! I'll keep working on that!

I do however have to share about the place Brent and I went last night on our date called Sub Zero Ice Cream. I am in love! So basically it's ice cream that is flash frozen right before your eyes! To start, you choose from a list of cream bases, which includes a non-dairy coconut milk base! Then you choose your flavor, which I chose peach. And finally you choose any mix-ins, and I chose raspberries. They stir the base, flavor and mix-ins together in a bowl and then flash freeze it into ice cream using liquid nitrogen. It's seriously the coolest thing! Here's a couple pictures of the place and my delicious, frozen creation.

 

 
Just staring at that picture makes me want to back now! I'll work on getting pictures of some of the "pinteresting" recipes I'm planning to make this week :)

So it's been almost a month since Sawyer has started solids and we've seem to run into a few problems. We started with pureed avocado and then once he figured out his swallowing reflex we moved onto chunks of avocado, cooked sweet potato and banana over the course of a couple weeks. He started getting really bad gas so we took out solids for a couple days and then decided to try rice cereal. My intention was to avoid rice cereal and purees after doing some research on baby led weaning. There's a lot of advice out there on the what, how, when and why to starting solids and it can be a really confusing! But with Sawyer's sensitive system I'm not sure what's going to be best for him. Even now with the rice cereal he is still having a lot of gas. We've been trying gas drops daily for almost a week to try and help. I'm not worried about him not getting enough nutritionally because breastfeeding provides all the nutrients he needs at this age, but he has an interest in food that I want to allow him to explore. I'm hoping things will start getting better for him soon! Here's a fun picture we snapped one of the nights he was eating avocado. Love those faces!

Gluten Free Expo Inspiration

Recently a Gluten Free Expo came to Utah and a friend and I went to check it out. I have to say it was well worth the $8 entry fee! We tasted tons of samples while we were there and came away with a bag full of more samples and coupons!

I learned a lot about new products I can try and found some inspiration for a few new dinner ideas! One of the coupons we received was for $1 off Schar brand products and they have a gluten free bread that I thought I would give a try. For lunch last week I made a BLT with the bread and fresh tomatoes from the garden. I've also had the bread as toast for breakfast and I'd say it was a great gluten free alternative. It looked and tasted like the real deal!

I found a link to download another $1 off coupon here!

I also thought I'd share a little fall treat. Dairy-free pumpkin spice steamer! It was super simple to make the pumpkin spice syrup (I got the recipe here) then I just stirred a few spoonfuls of the syrup into coconut milk and warmed it up in the microwave. I'm sure you could make it much more fancier but when your dairy options are limited this is a delicious substitute.

Here's a little peak at how Sawyer is liking his introduction to solids! Hehe.... It's so funny to watch him try to figure out this food thing. He makes super funny faces and wants to grab the spoon as I feed him. Love this messy face!

Roasted Tomato Soup

We had this roasted tomato soup last week to use up some of the tomatoes from our garden. I've pretty much never had anything outside of the canned Campbell's tomato soup so this was so much tastier and healthier! I found this recipe here on the gluten free goddess blog. 

Roasted Tomato Soup

Roasted tomato ingredients:

3 lbs. of tomatoes (I actually weighed them)

Garlic cloves (I used about 4) 

Balsamic vinegar

Italian herbs

 

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place sliced tomatoes and chopped garlic in a baking dish. Splash with olive oil, and vinegar. Sprinkle with herbs- I used a herb grinder (see picture below). Bake for about 45 minutes.   

Soup ingredients:

2 tbsp. olive oil

1 onion, peeled and diced

1 tsp. dried basil

1/2 tsp. red chili flakes (optional)

2 cans diced tomatoes

3 c. chicken broth (about 1 1/2 cans)

1/2 tsp. sugar

1 bay leaf

Salt and pepper to taste

While the tomatoes are roasting, add olive oil and onion to a soup pot and cook onion until soft. Add remaining ingredients and stir to combine. Add oven roasted tomatoes. Cover and simmer for 30-40 minutes. 

Discard bay leaf and puree the soup using an immersion blender, which I don't have, or use blender and puree in batches.

Return soup to pot and add additional seasonings if desired. You can also add a cup or two of coconut milk like I did for a more creamy consistency. Now if I could just remove the dairy and wheat from a grilled cheese... 

 

Black Bean Burgers

Well after a few weeks of not posting I have a few updates and lots of recipes I want to share! For now, I have a great recipe for black bean burgers that we had for dinner a couple weeks ago. We've still been trying to find ways to cut our grocery budget since the food I'm eating is much more expensive so my husband has gracious approved of a meatless meal once or twice a week. We are pretty big meat eaters and I thought it would be hard to find meatless meals we would enjoy but so far it hasn't been too bad! These burgers were so easy to throw together and they tasted great!

Black Bean Burgers

1- 16oz. can black beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 green bell pepper
1/2 onion
3 cloves garlic
1 egg (I used 1 tbsp. ground flax and 3 tbsp. water)
1 tbsp. chili powder
1 tbsp. cumin
1 tsp. hot sauce
1/2 c. oat flour- ground up rolled oats (or bread crumbs for non-GF)

In a medium bowl, mashed beans with a fork until thick and pasty. Add pepper, onion and garlic in food processor (I used the magic bullet) and process until finely chopped, add to beans.

Stir in egg (or flax), chili powder, cumin, hot sauce and oat flour.

Combine black beans mixture well and shape into four patties. Place patties on an aluminum foil covered baking sheet and place in the freezer for about a half hour before grilling so they hold together better while cooking. Grill burgers for about 5 minutes on each side or until desired doneness :) I served Brent's on a bun and mine with lettuce, tomato and ketchup. Such a cheap and easy meal!

Sawyer went to see the gastroenterologist last week Monday. The doctor said Sawyer is growing great, which I already knew! And he said to stay off dairy for another six months until he is a year old. He also said we can try to introduce wheat again at a year. So for the next six months it's no dairy or wheat... But I'm so thankful we've come so far from having no idea what was going on to having his allergy problems pretty much under control. God has really blessed our journey and given me a persistence I never would have been able to come up with on my own.

I read this verse today, Proverbs 16: 3, "Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and he will establish your plans." So true for any challenge we face in life!

Here's Sawyer and his buddy Josh playing in the leaves! Josh is like Sawyer's big brother, they have so much fun together!

Honey Coconut Curry Chicken

I love curry. Brent not so much. But I squeeze it in our menu once in a great while :) Tonight I made a curry that really I just threw together so this recipe may not have the exact measurements I used but I'll try to come close!

Honey Coconut Curry Chicken 

1-2 tbps. olive oil

1 1/2-2 tbsp. curry

1/2 onion, finely diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 lb. chicken breast, cut into 1/2 in. chunks

1 1/2 c. coconut milk

1 c. canned diced tomatoes, drained

2-3 tbsp. tomato paste 

2-3 tbsp. honey

Heat the oil and curry powder in a large skillet for 2 minutes. Stir in onion and garlic and saute for 1 minute (I actually added a little chicken broth here because I didn't want the onion and garlic to burn from no liquid, again, part of my throw it together-ness). Add chicken and cook about 7-10 minutes. Stir in coconut milk, tomatoes, tomato paste and honey. If you want to thicken your curry like I did just mix 2-3 tbsp. of water with 1 tbsp. of cornstarch and stir into the curry. Simmer about 30 mins. Serve over rice.

I used a different curry recipe as a base but I changed a few things, so if you want the real deal, try this Curried Coconut Chicken recipe instead.  

Egg update: I've had eggs for four days now, no reaction. Hmmmf... well who knows what Sawyer reacted to in the bread but I guess I'll just stay away from Udi's GF bread. I don't want to say I'm completely in the clear, I'll give it two weeks before I'll say for sure he's good with egg.

I got my shipment of cloth diapers last week! Ready or not.... I'm still trying to get the right fit on him because he's peed out the top and sides. His last couple changes have been good so I think I'm getting it! Brent made me this super sweet "clothesline" for drying the diapers. 

Anniversary & Apple Crisp

This past Saturday my husband, Brent, took me out for date night to celebrate our six year anniversary! We had such a great time! I'm so blessed to have this amazing man that God hand-picked just for me as my husband! We went to a restaurant called Tucanos Brazilian Grill. Brent and I usually go twice a year because we signed up for the birthday club and we each get a free meal during the month of our birthdays. They have the most amazing food but I was a little worried about what I could have there. I called ahead to make a reservation and asked if they had any allergy information available. To my surprise everything on their salad bar has a sign indicating any allergy information! Then when we got there we informed our meat servers that I couldn't have dairy or gluten so whenever a certain meat would come around they would let me know if the meat had dairy or gluten. I was very impressed and it made so much easier to just enjoy dinner and not worry about eating something I shouldn't have!

This past Friday I was able to add egg back in my diet but we didn't have much success... On Friday morning I ate a couple slices of Udi's gluten free bread that has egg whites listed as the fourth ingredient and by Friday evening Sawyer had these weird white chunks in his poop and starting spitting up like crazy. I had some again Saturday morning and by mid-day his spit up was literally projecting from his mouth! Poor kiddo! I decided to avoid egg starting Sunday morning and he is doing much better. I feel like I still want to pin down his reaction to egg so I want to try eating just cooked or scrambled eggs in the next couple days and see how he does. 

Last night was our kickoff to Life Group! I'm so excited to be back in community with my brothers and sisters every week to dig into the Word together and just love on each other. Having a little one now makes it more challenging to be in God's Word so I know I need more accountability right now in my life. Even though most of the evening I was attending to the needs of a hungry and fussy baby, I still enjoyed the time I did have hanging out with everyone last night. I brought an allergy free apple crisp that I could eat and it turned out great so I'll share the recipe with you!

Apple Crisp 

10 c. apples, peeled, cored & sliced

1 c. granulated sugar

1 tbsp. flour (I used oat flour which is just ground up rolled oats)

1 tsp. cinnamon (I used 2)

1/2 c. water (should have gone without, or less)

1 c. quick cooking oats (I used rolled oats)

1 c. flour (also used oat flour here)

1 c. packed brown sugar

1/4 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. baking soda

1/2 c. butter, melted (I used coconut oil, melted)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Combine sliced apples, granulated sugar, 1 tbsp. flour, cinnamon and water. Pour into greased 9x13 inch baking dish.
3. Combine oats, flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda and coconut oil until crumbly.
4. Bake for 45 minutes or until topping is slightly browned.

Once again, I failed in the picture department but here's a picture before it headed into the oven. Trust me when I say it was beautiful and delicious when it came out!

Getting Sawyer to sleep has been one of those tough things for us and we are slowly learning but this week we had a breakthrough! Sawyer fell asleep unswaddled AND on his belly! Wahoooo!

Baked Salmon & Oatmeal Cookies

Here's a couple great recipes I've made a couple times and though I'd pass along! We had this super simple salmon for dinner on Saturday night. I got the recipe here on Allrecipes.com, seriously my favorite recipe site!  

Baked Salmon

2- 6 oz salmon fillets

2 cloves garlic, minced

6 tbsp. olive oil

1 tbsp. fresh basil, chopped

1 tbps. fresh parsley, chopped

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. pepper

1 tbsp. lemon juice

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Combine the garlic, olive oil, basil, parsley, salt, pepper and lemon juice. Place the salmon fillets (I used one large fillet and had leftovers) in a baking dish and the pour marinade over the fish. Place in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes (I flipped the salmon halfway between my marinating time). Bake for 35-45 minutes until fish easily flakes with fork.

Now the cookie recipe I got from another mom whose son has allergies as well. I was so confused as to what to do before I decided to start the elimination diet and she was so sweet to answer a lot of my questions about how she was working through her son's food allergies. She is also blogging about her experience and shares this same recipe here!

Oatmeal Cookies

3 bananas, mashed

1/3 c. applesauce

2 c. rolled oats

1/2 c. raisins (I used dried cranberries)

1 tsp. vanilla

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 papaya, cut in small chunks

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine all ingredients.

The "batter" is difficult to form into a ball so you can either ball up or spoon out the batter onto a greased baking sheet.
 

Bake for 20 minutes, I smashed my cookies down right when they came out so they looked a little more like oatmeal cookies than oatmeal balls.

Store the leftovers in the refrigerator. I found it was easier to store them with parchment paper between each layer of cookies. Also if you heat them up they are much better as leftovers!

Here's my boys getting ready for bed. It's so sweet watching Daddy put Sawyer to bed, they sing songs and cuddle, it's so precious!