Coconut Ice Cream - Dairy Free!

What's better than a bowl of ice cream?   A bowl of homemade dairy free coconut ice cream!  YUM! 

This is my favorite, I like it so much and when I have it I don't feel like I'm just having to be content with some non-dairy alternative.  My husband isn't dairy free and he likes this better than regular vanilla homemade ice cream. (And all homemade ice cream is 100x better than store bought!) 

you know I can't help myself!!! I keep the chocolate chips in the freezer and put them in/on everything possible!

1 can Thai Kitchen Coconut Milk

1/2 cup sugar (more or less depending on how sweet you like it.

1-2 tsp vanilla to taste

empty the can of coconut milk into a metal mixing bowl, add sugar and vanilla and mix together.  Taste test and add more vanilla and sugar if desired, Cover with seran wrap and chill in fridge.  Pour into ice cream maker and make according to ice cream machine directions.  we use this one 

Now, as I'm enjoying this heavenly, easy to make dairy free ice cream, I'm listening to this song I love that we sometimes listen to at the end of my BodyFlow class during final relaxation.  I need to learn this song and sing it to my kids at bedtime.  

A Hundred Thousand Angels by Bliss

                    

      

What's the Most Sacrilegious Thing Your Hubby has Done?

So this is a super random post, but I just finished making a batch of my famous Granola Bars (adjusted to be Gluten free, using Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free Oats and Puffed Brown Rice Cereal) and as I was cleaning out my KitchenAid mixing bowl, I couldn't help but cringe at the memory of when my husband desecrated it...I don't know if I'll ever get over it....One time, when the toilet was overflowing, he took the bowl from my KitchenAid mixer and used it to scoop out yucky toilet water.  I think I had to stop myself from crying and he did not understand what the big deal was...he said it was the perfect size bowl for the job and we could wash it...um...is that not the saddest story ever? I don't know how much bleach I used and how many times I repeated the process before I could force myself to use it again and not buy a new one... Actually come to think of it, he also wronged me and my kitchenAid in the moving process 2 years ago, he put something heavy and metal on top of it in the moving box without any paper or towels in between and there is a big chip of paint off the top.  Those 2 things might be the worst things he's done in our marriage. (I gotta admit he's a good one despite these 2 travesties) I love my KitchenAid Mixer!

So, my question to you is, what is the most sacrilegious thing your hubby has done with your treasured possessions?

Oh Mr Sun, Sun Mr Golden Sun feat. a Belle Dress

Oh happy day!!!!  After a month of having sick kids, then ice storms and bad weather, we've been cooped up and feeling crummy for about a month now!  And finally the sun has come out and it was warmed up!  Yesterday I was able to take the kids out to the sand volleyball pit to play in the sand and then we went swimming in the hot tub and enjoyed being outside.  Today is another beautiful day, we spent the morning at a playdate at the Disney store and J wore her custom made Belle Dress made by my mom and had a blast, then when we got into the car she kept complaining that it was too hot and I had to put the AC on!!!  Talk about changes in the weather!  Having the sun back again, I feel like a new person!

I've been meaning to show you guys this Belle Dress my creative mommy made, she is the best!  I was getting tired of buying princess dresses for $20-30 that literally are falling apart after one day.  J freaks out about any strings hanging off her clothes, she gets grossed out and I have to be trimming those frayed princess dresses constantly.  So my mom made her this nice dress for Christmas.  Here she is dancing and singing in her Belle Dress.  She had just watched a DVD with clips of Jackie Evancho while she competed in America's Got Talent and wanted to sing like her...I just love 3 years olds...no inhibitions!

Gluten Free Diet 3 days in...

Gluten Free (and Milk Free) Chocolate Covered Peanut Butter Cookies

 

Alright, it's been crazy around here with sleep issues, then sick kids, but here's the update!  :)  My sister has Celiac Disease which is genetic and has been Gluten Free for about 5 years or so.  My younger brother, a Freshman in college was starting to have some issues and after going to specialists who couldn't figure out what was wrong with him gave up and said, you are fine you are just weird...basically.  But then my mom took him to her doc who has an integrative practice and is great at getting to the root of the problem.  He discovered B vitamin deficiencies and irregular thyroid and advised him to get some testing done by Entero Labs.  It came back he also has a genetic gluten intolerance, however it does not show up as celiac in the typical blood tests.  I've wondered if my daughter had gluten sensitivity for a while and even had her do a blood test for celiac a while back which came back negative.  But with the new info from my younger brother's lab work, it indicated that he has genetic gluten sensitivity inherited from both parents and the lab work said any siblings probably have it as well.  Then I started coming across all this info on gluten intolerance and Hashimotos and am learning that a lot of thyroid problems are caused by gluten intolerance!  I was diagnosed with Hypothyroidism in highschool, which is pretty young to get diagnosed for that.  I was diagnosed with Hashimoto's when I was trying to get pregnant with my second and it wasn't working.  Once I switched from levothyroxine to Synthroid and got my dosage up a lot higher, I finally got pregnant.  ANYWAYS.....So we are trying a gluten free diet, my daughter and I.  She sometimes wakes up with horrible stomach pains, screaming like a woman in labour at night and I've started to notice the correlation between those episodes and a dense gluten dinner, such as pasta.  Dietary changes aren't super easy but we're going to give this a try.  Thankfully I have my sister to refer to to know good alternatives!
Here are a couple of our gluten free things we had this week so far.  The plan is to test by elimination and then have some in a few weeks and see if there is a reaction.  It's a lot cheaper test to start out with than the lab testing.

Gluten Free Pizza

 Mini gluten free pizzas!  A corn tortilla topped with some pasta sauce and shredded mozarella cheese.  Baked in oven at 400 until cheese was bubbly.

Gluten Free Peanut Butter Cookies....smothered in chocolate!

 This is the easiest cookie recipe I've ever seen.
1 egg
1 cup peanut butter (smooth or crunchy)
1 cup sugar
bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes!  That's it.
Then I melted some dark chocolate in the microwave (dairy free) and dipped the cookies in covering both sides.  Placed on parchment paper and let set in the refridgerator till set.  Oh my goodness this was some good stuff!!! I haven't had a reese peanut butter cup in forever and this was awesome!!!

Awesome dairy free chocolate you can find anywhere!

Dairy Free Dessert Recipe - Tiramisu

Dairy Free Tiramisu

 

 So, ever since I have gone dairy free, I have had some moments where I have craved tiramisu or cheesecake, my favorite desserts, and the frustration of not being able to have them has been driving me crazy at times!!! lol.  I mean, I am a dairy lover, I love drinking milk and all my favorite foods are dairy based.  (which makes sense when you learn about food intolerances...you usually eat and crave the most of what you are sensitive to.) Anyways, my husband recently went to Maggiano's (one of my favorite places with the BEST Tiramisu) and I couldn't take it anymore, I had to find SOMETHING I could have that was similar.  I found this Free Dairy Free recipe for Dairy Free Tiramisu here.

This recipe is actually SUPER easy and really good!  I was nervous about Soy Pudding because I use soy milk but I'm not a total fan.  Anyways, this was better the next day after setting in the fridge a while.  The first day I thought it was just OK, but after letting is sit for a while, it just got better and better...and the good quality crumbled dark chocolate on top really made this dairy free desert super good!  I use Ghiridelli dark choclate because you can get it dairy free and it's really good.  

So here is mainly what you need to make this awesome milk free recipe!

 

Dairy Free Chocolate

 

Soy Milk

Add to that a bit of sugar, salt, vanilla and cornstarch and you've got the makings of a tasty dairy free tiramisu! (I left out the liquors because I didn't have any).

For full recipe, go HERE.  You won't be disappointed!

ENJOY!

Easy Half Apron

I Heart HALF APRONS!

Well, I've been wanting to make a cute hostess apron/half apron for a long time now, so when one of my friend's birthday's came up it gave me the motivation to find some good apron patterns online.  There are actually quite a few hostess apron tutorials that look good, but since I don't have a lot of time, I tried to pick on that wasn't too complicated.  I used the Quick and Easy Apron Tutorial from a Feathered Nest, a new blog I just found through my search for free apron patterns and am LOVING it!!!  Now, it probably should have gone a bit quicker but I sometimes can't figure out if I'm just not comprehending instructions well or if they aren't clear to begin with...but it was pretty simple and easy to figure out...I think my brain was just fried!  Anyways, it was fun and I can't wait to go fabric shopping and make more!  I need one of these! :)

Cute half apron!  I love that it ties in front!

And if you aren't into sewing but want some apron fun, check out these funky retro hostess aprons...

 

 

Wordless Wednesday

So I haven't blogged at all really this year yet! I've been too sleep deprived to do or think of anything interesting to share! :P But the great thing about being a mom, is even though you are sleep deprived and your brain barely works and you can't say a sentence that makes sense...you can still have fun with your kids and they won't notice your shortcomings!  Here is what I HAVE been up to recently...

 

OUR FIRST SNOW THIS SEASON!

 

A New Outfit from Strasburg Children that we picked out with Grammy while she was visiting last week