Holiday Cookies

This year I was determined to get some baking done with the girls, and being that things have been stressful and I haven't been feeling well...I decided to cheat a little!

Through my buying club, I bought Cherrybrook Kitchen's Gluten-free Sugar Cookie Mix. Since I had to buy in bulk, I received 6 of them (which ended up being a good thing-lots to practice with!)

Our first batch was done according to the directions on the box, with a few modifications, using canola oil instead of margarine, hemp milk instead of soy milk. The girls have a current obsession with Frosty the Snowman, so our goal was to make snowmen. Once the batter was mixed, I began to add some all purpose gluten-free flour to the mix in order to soak up some of the oil in order to make the dough easier to roll out.

The girls had a blast, and we used Enjoy Life chocolate chips for eyes and some dried fruit and raisins to decorate.

Today we made another batch of cookies, only this time our goal was to make candy cane cookies. I did things a bit differently-I added almost a cup of the all purpose gluten-free flour while mixing the batter, and we also added some peppermint oil for that "candy cane" flavor.

Once the batter was ready, we divided it in half and added red food coloring to half of it. The dough was still pretty oily, so we were not able to really roll it out like traditional candy cane cookies. Instead- I made two long rolls-one white and one red, and then broke off chunks in order to make my candy canes.

The girls really enjoyed this, and made lots of creations on their own.

*The only thing I would do differently next time is add some xanthan gum to the batter when I added the extra flour. I think adding so much extra flour through it off bit, and some of the first batch didn't stick together as well as the second batch (when I sprinkled some in).

Recipe: Vegtable Stir Fry

Here is a quick and simple meal I threw together last night. It went over much better then I expected! You never know how new foods will go over over with little ones, but I did some things to help make it more appealing. I used corn spaghetti noodles-which they love, and I used vegetables they were familiar with. It really is beautiful with all the colors- I really wish I had taken a photo so you could see!

With this stir fry, I gave the girls some tuna fish (made with canola mayo and chopped up celery), and some black beans. For Mara, I just added the black beans into the stir fry and she ate it all up!

Ingredients:

• 1-2 carrots, chopped
• 1/2 cup broccoli
• 1 stalk celery
• 1/4 cup peas
• 1/4 cup green beans
• 1/4 cup corn
• 1-2 tbsp canola oil
• 1/2 tsp basil
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1-2 tbsp alternative bread crumbs (I used Orgran's All Purpose Crumbs)
  
• corn spaghetti, or any other alternative pasta

Cook pasta as directed. In a wok or frying pan, add the canola oil and carrots. Cook for a few minutes to soften the carrots, and then add the rest of the vegetables. As the vegetables begin to soften, add salt and pepper to taste. When pasta is finished cooking, add it into the vegetable mix. Add the basil, and then the bread crumbs. With the bread crumbs, I just added a bit at a time, stirring and adding until noodles were completely coated.

Very simple and delicious!

Sorry

Sorry it has been so long since I have posted! I wish I could say that I was out decking the halls and enjoying the holiday season, but sadly, I have not! I have been having the worst luck, with not feeling well due to allergies flaring up, and then I threw my back out last week which left me unable to do anything at all for awhile.

So again, I am sorry, and I promise I will be back! I have one final paper left to write and turn in tomorrow and then I am completely down with school for awhile. I had my finals last weekend, and am so looking forward to having a break!

I will hopefully post some recipes this weekend. Hope your all enjoying this holiday season!