Praise Indeed

Every once in awhile I'll come across a product that I like so much that I need to share it with you.

I picked up a few Zing Bars for my daughter, who is on a gluten and dairy-free diet. She's an active teenager who is always looking for an easy snack to grab. I made the mistake of "trying" one of them and now she needs to hide them from me because they are that good!

Creamy, crunchy organic peanut butter covered in a mouthwatering organic dark chocolate coating. Pinch yourself... it's healthy.

I was also thrilled to find that Betty Crocker has come out with a line of gluten-free mixes. These are priced less than the usual gf cake mixes that I've found. Thank you Betty, you've just made my life a little easier.


And lastly,

I love Method cleaning products. They use only natural and non-toxic ingredients. Check out these dryer sheets. Aren't they cute?

Have you come across a new product lately that you absolutely love?

Gut Issues

I guess something a little unusual about our family is that half of us are living with health issues that effect our daily lives. I have Crohn's disease and Miss Munchkin can not eat gluten or dairy. I'll talk about Crohn's in the near future, but today I'd like to touch on what is like to be a teenager on a restricted diet.

Almost 2 years ago, we learned that Miss Munchkin had food sensitivities and they were affecting her mood and behavior. The main offender was gluten. Gluten is a protein that is found in wheat and it is everywhere! Image if you're a teenager. No eating delivery pizza with your friends. No snarfing down fast food hamburgers. Nothing from the local bakery. School lunches? Nope. It was a huge lifestyle change for us. We learned to make bread and pizza dough using rice-based flours. She packs a lunch everyday for school. I send food or snacks with her to parties or overnights with her friends. It's become "normal" for us.

The good news is that it is easier than ever to eat gluten-free these days. You can buy prepackaged mixes for bread, brownies, cake and pizza dough at the grocery store. Our town even has a restaurant with gluten-free items on the menu. Miss Munchkin has learned to prepare her own food and can whip up a loaf of bread or pizza easily in the kitchen.

There are a few main items that she eats on a regular basis that she loves. I think these things help her from feeling like she's missing out. In fact, these are so good that her friends and family are often begging her to share! :)

Chebe pizza crust with soy cheese
Namaste Brownies
Pamela's Gluten free bread
Homemade Reeses PB bars
Silk chocolate soy milk
Chocolate Coconut Larabars
Bumblebars
Tofutti's Better Than Cream Cheese

Other staples include beef, fish, fruit, pastas made from rice, Rice Chex cereal, and Earth Balance Butter.

This Week

This week, I want to:

Try making Karina's delicious looking GF Brown Sugar Spice Pumpkin Bars. I'm always looking for easy things that Miss Munchkin can eat (and enjoy) and not feel like she's being deprived.

Learn how to replace a dull looking, over-exposed white sky in a photograph with a beautiful blue one.

Do a photoshoot with a Ubercute 4 year old boy that I know and his antique toy car. I'm thinking fields and the beautiful old red barn near our house.

Have Master Munchkin fling all the soft apples off of my deck and into the woods. They been sitting there a little too long, waiting patiently to be made into applesauce, making me feel guilty and a bit stressed out. It's time to set them free.

GF Banana Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

I found a "healthy" cookie that both my Munchkins can eat. I love being able to throw something at them on the way out the door or put this into their school lunches.

From Abby. These are gluten free, egg and dairy free.

Healthy Banana Oatmeal Cookies

1 1/4 cups whole oats
1/2 tsp baking powder
2 tbs brown sugar
a dash of salt
1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
2 mashed bananas
1 tsp vanilla
2 tsp olive oil

Preheat oven to 375°F. Mix the wet and dry ingredients separately and then combine, stirring well. Drop the cookies on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper or just in a glass pan. They may be a little loose, but that's OK. Bake for 15-20 minutes.

I highly recommend doubling this recipe and adding some dairy free mini-chocolate chips. :)

GF Girl

A few months ago, we found out that Miss Munchkin was sensitive to many of the foods that I have been feeding her since, well, birth. The biggie is wheat, but she is also sensitive to corn, milk, beef, pork and several other foods. She has always been incredibly active and often hyper, but the last straw was her extreme moodiness. Once we removed these foods from her diet and added several supplements, she started feeling much better and acting much calmer.

It's been a learning experience for me - figuring out what to feed this girl (whose favorite foods are a hamburger and a glass of chocolate milk). Through some trial and effort, we've found a diet that she can live with.

Some of our lifesavers have been chocolate soy milk, Pamela's Wheat-Free Bread Mix, rice crackers and rice cereals, peanut butter, tilapia fillets, bison meat, and turkey hot dogs. She eats lots of fruits and some veggies. We've been able to recreate some desserts. Tonight we made a pizza that she could eat.

Her doctor feels that we will be able to reintroduce all of the foods back into her diet at some point - except gluten.

GF No Bake Chocolate Cookies

Miss Munchkin is on a Gluten-Free diet and we adapted the following recipe so that she could eat it. I have to tell you - these are the best No Bake Cookies I have ever eaten! (And I have eaten a lot.)

INGREDIENTS:
* 4 oz butter or margarine (we used Earth Balance's Buttery Sticks)
* 1/2 cup milk (we used soy)
* 2 cups sugar
* 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips (we used a gf, dairy-free brand)
* 3 to 4 tablespoons peanut butter, optional (not really)
* 3 cups oats, quick or old-fashioned (we used Bob Mill's gf)
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

PREPARATION:
Place chocolate chips, peanut butter (if used), oats, and vanilla in a large mixing bowl. Combine the margarine, milk, and sugar in a saucepan; bring to a rolling boil. Boil for 2 minutes. Combine the hot mixture with the oatmeal and chocolate chip mixture; stir well.

Drop by spoonfuls onto waxed paper. Let cool and snarf.

Sidenote: Timing is tricky with no bake cookies. If you don't boil the sugar mixture long enough, the cookies won't set up and you will have to scrape limp, bendy cookies off of the wax paper with a spoon, hunch over the counter and scoop them into your mouth. It can be done, mind you, but it's much nicer when you can lift the cookies and carry them away (then you can eat them in bed or at the computer!). The key is not to start the timer until the mixture is at a rolling boil. I've found that the mixture gets a bit shiny when it's ready.