Day 8 of the 12 Days of Giving - Blankets to Homeless Shelter

Today we decided to help the homeless again. I saw a news report on the need for items in the local homeless shelters. They advertised for Soul’s Harbor and said they were experiencing a lot of people in need. We decided that blankets would be a good item to donate. We went to Wal-Mart, grabbed a few blankets and some gloves. It’s definitely not much, but it is cold out and I know we like snuggling with blankets! We also decided to throw in a package of apple cider mix. I can’t imagine not having a warm place to come home to or a nice cup of cider/tea/whatever. There are so many little things that we take advantage of everyday. We are so blessed to have a warm home, plenty of food, clothes, toys, etc. We’ve been trying to be extra thankful for everything we have and take for granted. Every evening we pray and say what we are thankful for. My son is always thankful for his toys, which is fine, but I’m hoping after all of this he is thankful for more than just material items and toys. It’s going well so far! Be prepared for what he has in store for the rest of the days of giving – I’m very impressed!

Orange Currant Cinnamon Rolls

I’ve been thinking of brunch recipes we could have on Christmas morning and I knew I wanted to make some cinnamon rolls. However, you can’t just wing it on the day of – trust me, I’ve tried that and it doesn’t always work. These were actually supposed to be scones but I wasn’t paying attention and following my standard cinnamon roll recipe so once I got in the middle of making the dough I knew I had to commit! Good thing I was spacing because these are great! I’m sure they’d be awesome as a scone too but the cinnamon roll works so great, we may not try the scone! I was missing my "Granny Grunt" this morning and decided to use her plate for my picture. The holidays are hard when loved ones are gone but its little things that make you remember and enjoy their spirit! This makes 12 cinnamon rolls.

Orange Currant Rolls

Dough

1 cup white rice flour

¾ cup amaranth flour

½ cup potato starch

½ cup arrowroot starch

1 Tbsp xanthan gum

1 Tbsp yeast (1 packet)

½ tsp sea salt

1 tsp baking powder

¼ cup stevia

2 Tbsp olive oil

1 egg

¼ cup applesauce

¾ cup almond milk

½ cup water

1 tsp vanilla

Filling

¼ cup coconut oil, melted

½ cup coconut sugar (or brown sugar)

2 tsp cinnamon

½ cup dried currants

Icing

1 cup powdered sugar

1 tsp coconut oil, melted (or butter)

Juice and Zest from one orange

• Mix together dry ingredients in a large bowl. In a small bowl, mix together water, almond milk and yeast for dough and let set for a few minutes. Add in applesauce, coconut oil, egg and vanilla to dry mix and blend well.
•  Pour in milk mixture and blend on medium speed for 2 minutes. 
• This part is key. Put a large rectangle piece of plastic wrap onto your counter or tabletop to roll the dough on. Pour dough onto plastic wrap and spread into a rectangle. Place another sheet of plastic wrap onto dough. Roll out into a thin rectangle. Remove top layer of plastic wrap.
• Spread the coconut oil for filling over the dough. Sprinkle on coconut sugar, cinnamon and currants. Take the long side of the dough and roll over the rest. 
• A trick here is to roll the dough using the edges of the plastic wrap. The dough is sticky and hard to roll if you use your hands. Cut dough log into 1” pieces. 
• In a greased 9x13 pan, place rolls cut side down. Cover and let rise for about 20 minutes. Bake at 350°F for 25-30 minutes or until browned on top. 
• Mix together icing ingredients and spread over warm rolls. 

Day 7 of the 12 Days of Giving - letters to family

So today’s “gift” is a non-monetary, heart filled gift, straight from the innocence of a child. My son wanted to do something for some of his favorite people. I thought we’d put together some letters. For Father’s Day one year, I did this for Caleb. I put together a little questionnaire and his answers were so cute and funny. I thought it would be cute for Christmas too. I won’t post the exact letters because our family members haven’t received them yet and I don’t want to spoil the surprise. All I did was think of a few questions that he could answer honestly. Some were related to Christmas, others were not. His answers were truly honest, all his own and so sweet. When kids are that age, they say whatever they think, as silly or as funny as it may be. Their innocence is so amazing sometimes. It’s easy to forget they are just children but this little project brought joy to us and I’m sure it will bring even more joy to the recipients. Below are a few questions that you could use for ideas. Really any type of question or thought can be put on to paper. You could even just ask them what they want to write to their person. Kids can talk about anything; I’m sure they’ll think of something to say! If you happen to do this, let me know what some of your questions/answers are! It would be fun to share!

"The soul is healed by being with children..."

What is ____’s favorite color?

What is _____’s favorite thing to do?

What does _____ do for fun?

Why do you always want to go see _____?

What is your favorite thing about _____?

If you could do anything for ____, what would it be?

What would _____ ask from Santa for Christmas?

Peanut Butter Cupcakes with Peanut & Chocolate Sauce

This evening my husband wanted peanut butter something. So I was going to make a cookie and my son pipes up with I want a peanut butter and jelly cookie! It then evolved into a peanut butter chocolate cupcake; so you can thank them for this creation. I was so impressed with the flavor and texture of the cupcake. It is very moist and airy tasting; not at all dense like some gluten free baked goods can taste. The sauce however was supposed to be a frosting so I did have an epic fail moment there. Oh well – it tastes wonderful! Be on the lookout for a peanut butter and jelly cookie something or other though – that sounds like I challenge I’m ready to try! This makes 9 cupcakes

½ cup sweet sorghum flour

½ cup brown rice flour

¼ cup almond flour

¼ cup tapioca starch

1 tsp baking powder

½ tsp baking soda

1 tsp xanthan gum

½ tsp sea salt

1 cup almond milk

¼ cup applesauce

¼ cup peanut butter, creamy (almond butter would work also)

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

Chocolate Sauce

¼ cup carob chips or chocolate chips

1 Tbsp almond milk

Peanut Sauce

¼ cup peanut putter

½ cup peanut butter powder (PB2)

¼ cup tapioca starch

½ cup powdered sugar or coconut sugar

½ cup almond milk

• In a large mixing bowl, combine flours, starch, baking powder, baking soda, xanthan gum and salt. Add in milk, applesauce, peanut butter, egg and vanilla. Blend over medium speed for about 1 minute or until ingredients are well combined. 
• Pour batter into greased muffin tins (or tins lined with baking cups). Bake at 350°F for about 20-25 minutes or until cupcakes are baked through. Let cool about 10 minutes. 
• While cupcakes are baking, combine ingredients for chocolate sauce in a glass bowl. Microwave for about 30 seconds or until chips are melted. Stir to blend sauce. 
• In a separate mixing bowl, combine peanut sauce ingredients and blend over medium speed for about 3 minutes or until well combined. 
• Drizzle peanut sauce over cooled cupcakes. Top with drizzled chocolate sauce. 

Day 6 of the 12 Days of Giving - Daycare & Free Store

There are times that I realize my children are very spoiled. Sure I like to blame it on the grandparents (who do a great job of spoiling) but we are also to blame. When my son was a baby, I must have bought every outfit I saw for him to wear. We didn’t have much money then so I’m not sure how we afforded it all but it was ridiculous. We had a garage sale, I’ve given clothes away to friends, donated them and I STILL have so many boy clothes! You’d think my daughter would have too much but her amount is fairly reasonable. The problem is not just clothes, but toys too. My son has every tiny little cheap toy you can think of and my daughter just refuses to play with hers. She prefers toilets or trashcans and the pantry items. She’s out of control. Anyway, we’ve started storing the older toys that don’t get played with as much and they haven’t missed one toy. So instead of just hoarding these barely used toys and clothes, we decided to donate them to the local free store. There’s really no sense in these boxes just taking up space – especially when I know they will be get MORE toys and clothes next week. My mom has a daycare so we are also going to be taking some toys there so she can rotate them out every once in a while too. I really thought my son would be more upset about this but he wasn’t. Obviously, he didn’t care about the clothes are working on being too small anyway but he wasn’t upset about the toys either. Some toys he said were “silly baby toys” anyway. I admit, I’m part of the problem. I keep everything…. I mean everything. My son had these toys that I thought “oh my gosh, we have to keep that. He smiled for the first time playing with that.” or “Remember this one?? He did this… or that…” Whatever the case was, I apparently thought it was a momentous occasion in our lives and we HAD to keep that toy. I’ve gotten over that – somewhat. It was tough, but those bags and bags of baby clothes and toys are finally going. Of course, I kept some of his favorite things and outfits (too many I’m sure) but the rest I’m ready to part with… I think. 

Never Fail Pie Crust & Banana Coconut Cream Pie

I’ve mentioned before that my mom is an awesome cook – like the best I know! She has a pie crust called “Never Fail Pie Crust” that she uses for all her pies (of course my favorite being her pumpkin pie). It is awesome – flaky, buttery, crisp. This is my attempt at her pie crust with gluten free flours. It doesn’t hold a candle to hers but it will work for me! This recipe makes about 2 pie crusts.

2 cups GF all-purpose flour (I used a mix of sweet sorghum, white rice and tapioca starch)

1 tsp xanthan gum

2 tsp baking powder

1 Tbsp Stevia or sugar

¾ cup butter or shortening, cold (I used dairy free butter)

¼ cup lukewarm water

1 egg, divided in half (save the other half for an egg wash to brush over the pie tops)

½ tsp vinegar

• In a mixing bowl, combine flour, xanthan gum, stevia, baking powder and butter. Blend until mixture is slightly crumbly. 
• Add in water, egg and vinegar and blend until ingredients are well combined. Pour dough mixture onto a clean, floured surface. 
• Split into two equal portions and roll each portion out as desired. 
• NOTE: This also freezes well. After rolling, place parchment paper over crust and roll crust up. Cover with plastic wrap and freeze up to two months. To use after freezing, just thaw at room temperature or in refrigerator. This crust is good for pies, cobblers, pot pies, etc.

BANANA COCONUT CREAM PIE

My father’s favorite pie is Coconut Cream. Over the last couple years, his health has declined rapidly. He has grown up eating junk and refuses to change his habits. His typical Coconut Cream Pie was loaded with sugar, fat, carbs, etc. Little does he know that I’ve greatly modified my coconut masterpiece into a low carb, low fat, low sugar, gluten free treat! For Thanksgiving this year I decided to add a little twist to it and add some bananas. It turned out great and gave the pie extra flavor! This makes one regular pie.

1 pre-baked GF pie crust (recipe above)

1 overripe bananas

1 cup almond milk

1 cup coconut milk

3 Tbsp arrowroot starch

1 tsp vanilla

½ tsp sea salt

¼ cup coconut flakes, unsweetened

½ cup whipped topping (for dairy free, use coconut cream)

1 Tbsp coconut flakes, toasted

• In a small blender, combine ½ banana and almond milk and blend until smooth. Pour mixture into a sauce pan over medium heat. In the blender, mix together arrowroot starch and coconut milk until smooth. Add in vanilla, salt and starch mixture to banana mix. 
• Bring to boiling and cook for about 5 minutes until mixture starts to thicken. Remove from heat and continue stirring for about 5 minutes. Let pudding set up for a few minutes. 
• Meanwhile, thinly slice the remaining banana half and place slices in a single layer along the bottom of the prebaked pie crust. Pour on pudding mixture. 
• Refrigerate for about 2 hours or until pie is set. Top with whipped cream and sprinkle on toasted coconut flakes. 

Day 5 of the 12 Days of Giving - Food Pantry

Ok – I have to be honest today. Today was supposed to be caroling with our church kids. I teach 2^nd grade and Lane is in the Pre-K class. We were so looking forward to it. I don’t think I've been caroling. I really love seeing all the kids together and having fun. I’m so thankful they let me help out. My body had different ideas which don’t involve being outdoors or around children. I've had a nasty cold since before Thanksgiving. One round of meds didn't work so a trip to Urgent Care was my afternoon. Two meds later, I’m at home with a fever.  Wash your hands people, there is nasty crud going around! 

Anyway – I had to move up a plan for today’s day of giving. Today has turned into food pantry day. My son had a hard time understanding this. We always have food and it seems like we are always grocery shopping. We eat mostly raw, real food so we don’t have too many pantry items – only fresh fruits, veggies, etc. They don’t last long and are very perishable so we had to do some grocery shopping for the food pantry. Lane’s first choice should come as no surprise to those that know him – mac & cheese. Then he got some Kool-Aid, fruit snacks, hot cocoa, cereal, stuffing mix, some soups, canned veggies and fruit. I mean really - I think he hit the essentials :) We got a large amount of stuff and I think my son understands a little better that he should be thankful for what we have. He may hate asparagus and give me the stink eye when I make him eat it, but at least he has fresh foods to eat! I must say it was odd buying all of those things that we don’t eat anymore. I forgot how easy and convenient it is to buy a can of soup or a package of macaroni and cheese. Either way – I hope it helps someone!