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Gluten and Dairy Free Soft Pumpkin Cookies
With it being Fall, pumpkin season is in full swing here! I’ve made a few different pumpkin cookies recipes, and these are definitely my favorite! They are really soft with just the right amount of spice. Many people make their own gluten free all purpose flour mix, and I have in the past as well. But lately my go-to gluten free flour is Pamela’s brand. I think it tastes great and bakes well. My husband (who is not gluten free) often says “Wow! These are gluten free?” when I present him with baked treats. You do need to carefully measure your gluten free flour using the scoop and level method.…
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Gluten Free Instant Pot Pasta E Fagioli Soup
This is one of my go-to soups for busy weeknights. Add a green salad and a loaf of gluten free bread, and it’s also a great meal to take to a friend. Actually, this soup is hearty enough to be a meal by itself. If you add the pasta right before you serve it, it holds its shape and texture better. Two of my kids have been strictly gluten and dairy free for years, and I recently found that I need to be gluten free as well. Fortunately there are quite a few great gluten free pastas on the market these days! I have made this with gluten free ditalini,…
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Poetry Teatime!
It’s been a LONG time since I’ve updated the blog. My younger two will begin 1st grade next week after Labor Day, and we are still homeschooling! One thing that we will be incorporating into our regular weekly schedule is a Poetry Teatime. So, we thought it would be fun to invite my mom over to join us for our first tea party of the school year (a week early.) I made a super yummy and entirely gluten free (and mostly dairy free) spread of fancy tea party foods. We picked some flowers from the backyard and lit a candle. It was all so lovely and we can’t wait for our next…
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Refried Cuban Black Beans w/Extra Veggies
I’ve made “refried” beans with other recipes, but this one is the best. And it’s freezer and prep-ahead friendly! I also love that I can get in a lot of extra veggies this way! Black beans seem to work best for hiding a lot of extra veggies, but I’ve used pinto beans as well. Both options are delicious. I use my Instant Pot all the time, and pressure cookers and beans are a perfect match! My kids are gluten and dairy free so I topped these with dairy free “cheese” and avocados. Serve hot or cold with corn chips for dipping. Forgot to soak your dried beans last night? No problem! Just…
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Homemade Cream of (Anything) Soup!
I really try to use only real food in my cooking. This is not to say that I don’t sometimes reach for a processed or pre-packaged ingredient, but in general I try to avoid them. In some cases this means added expense, but usually it leads to a more frugal meal plan! Such is the case with cream of (anything) soup. And, have you ever looked at the ingredients in a can of condensed soup?! Not the most appetizing ingredient list! I don’t use cream of soup very often, but there are times when I want to make a casserole, and it calls for a can of cream of mushroom or…
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Powders, Pills, and Liquids, Oh My! Our Supplement Routine
I have three kids. All three take supplements. My 4 year old and 3 year old both have theirs mixed in with a morning smoothie. In an effort to make our mornings easier I pre-prep morning smoothie packets, as I’ve posted about before. I do the same thing with supplements. For my 11 year old, I pre-sort his into a 7-day pill sorter. He can then just open the correct day and take his own vitamins. For my youngest, I use these 2 ounce food storage containers. For Lily, who takes the most supplements as part of her TNI (targeted nutritional intervention) protocol, I use two of these 8 packs of 1 ounce dressing containers. This…
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Morning Smoothie Time Saver
See that delicious green smoothie? It’s even better when it’s quick and easy. Making a smoothie isn’t that time consuming compared to preparing dinner. However, there are quite a few steps and those minutes add up. To make the smoothies I’ve batch prepared here I’d have to pull out all of the bags of frozen fruit and greens, boil and drain the greens (helps reduce oxalates), roast the beets in coconut oil, chop the ginger, wash two pans and a strainer, open the bags of frozen fruit, pour the fruit into the blender, close the bags of frozen fruit, add homemade coconut yogurt, add liquid, put all the bags back in the freezer, blend, wash…
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Taco Tuesday – GAPS Style
Taco Tuesday has always been a regular part of our weekly meal plan. (Seems a little funny to share our Tuesday dinner on a “What they Eat Wednesday” post! lol) Obviously, the girls can’t have tortillas or taco shells, but the beauty of tacos for dinner is that you can make the components and everyone can customize their meal according to taste or dietary restrictions. I also love this meal because it’s quick and easy to put together. I cook the ground beef in advance in my slow cooker, and then package it up for my freezer. When I have a recipe that calls for browning ground beef, that step…
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Easiest Ever Ground Beef in a Slow Cooker
One of the best time-saving kitchen tips I’ve found is that you can cook ground beef in a slow cooker. Recipes that call for ground beef usually require you to brown it first (slow cooker or otherwise). Personally, I despise raw meat. Looking at it, touching it, cleaning up afterward… it is high on my eww factor list. And, I have this thing for totally and completely cooking meat. My husband jokes that I like my steak cooked like a piece of cardboard. I disagree with that. Hmph. However, I will admit that I like meat well done, and I probably brown my ground beef longer than most…you know, just to…
