Trail Wind Carnival

Liam's school had its carnival last night. I took both kids and mostly chased Cassia while Liam played games. He won a cupcake, lots of candy, and two rulers. When we got home the first thing he told Jerad was "GUESS WHAT I CAN DO MEASUREMENTS NOW!!" Only Liam. The best thing was when we were walking over a lady called approached me and said she had an extra bracelet for unlimited games and gave it to Liam. 


Cassia's favorite part was the watermelon (she had two slices) and getting in the way. Liam liked knocking over ducks with a bean bag (he hit two), jumping in the bouncy house, and getting lots of yummy things at the bake sale. I had made GF coconut cookie bars, butterscotch brownies, and vanilla cupcakes with coffee frosting. When we went to the bake sale there was a gluten free section and I saw a little boy's mom buy him one of my GF cupcakes, it made me happy. There were a few more (GF pumpkin cookies) and I bought one of each (this is the first time in 9 years I've been able to eat something from a bake sale, very exciting).  Also there was a cover band that played Pink Floyd, that was pretty awesome.

Liam and the inflatable slide

bouncy house. Cassia was very made she didn't get to go in.

This is my children all night, constantly going in opposite directions

these little girls were dancing with Liam in line. The one on the L has beautiful eyes

Liam dancing

cupcake!

Liam's cupcake he won in the cupcake walk

Cassia after stealing Liam's cotton candy

Food arrived, birthday party made

Our box of organic produce arrived from Full Circle Farms and we had a party to celebrate. More of a get together, but since it was my friend Becky's birthday a few weeks ago we called it a birthday party. We had hamburgers, side salad, hummus + veggies + chips, rainbow cupcakes, and watermelon. We used our new veggies as burger toppers and for the salad (tomatoes, spinach, red lettuce) and other stuff left from the Farmer's Market like onions. Liam helped me bake the cupcakes. They were supposed to be a cake, but I think you need 2 cake mixes. Rainbow cake will come later. 

As for the box, it was nice but don't think it is something we will keep doing. There wasn't enough in there for a week, so I am going to try Bountiful Baskets. One of my friends in Utah does it and it's much cheaper.

www.bountifulbaskets.com

divide the cake mix into 6 separate colors (I felt smart for matching the spoons to the colors)

decorated by Liam

This is not what it looks like

No, these are not mint chip muffins. They are cherry and poppy seed muffins. Liam added green food coloring. A lot of green food coloring. 

"I'm an alien!" (seconds later shirt was covered in green food dye)

 

Day before the day: Thanksgiving prep + baking with Liam

The prep list (basically what I'm making, Jerad starts tomorrow):

• Rub the turkey with lemon zest, kosher salt, and oregano (Jerad is baking it tomorrow)
• Make 2 pie crusts
• Make pumpkin pie + pumpkin cheesecake. Save back some pumpkin puree for pumpkin eggnog shakes tomorrow.
• Bake cornbread and let it dry for stuffing tomorrow
• Make Jell-o for Jerad friendly dessert (he doesn't like pumpkin)
• Successfully make homemade whipped cream

As of 3:34pm, everything is done. It was not without a few disasters though:

• Liam helped with the pie crust when my back was turned (pictured below)
• Dropped and broke a pickle jar on the floor (no worries Jerad, it wasn't the expensive ones you and Liam like)
• I cracked an egg and instead of going in the bowl,. it landed on my son. 
• Poured 1/2 a teaspoon vanilla extract into the cream then spilled the rest on the counter
• Liam poked the pumpkin pie. I told him to leave the pies alone, they were cooling. He poked the cheesecake and says "it's cool! I eat it". They finished cooling in the fridge. 
•  

We had a great morning though. I came in the kitchen and Liam had the table set, two plates with one banana on each one. "come eat your banana mama!". Only 4 and already making breakfast. 


And then later I cracked on egg on him.
Liam "Mama, why you do that?"
Molly "I'm not sure."
Liam "You need to say sorry"
Molly "I am very sorry"
Liam "It's OK"
Molly "should we go change your clothes?"
Liam "Yes. You did it"

whipped cream

Liam made the decor

salt rub

salt rub... hope I did it right.

Gluten free pie crust

Liam mixing up the pumpkin pie (pre-egg)

finishing the pie. after change of clothes.

he also made the cheesecake filling

and helped withe the pie. he told me. "i helped you with the pie" yes, you certainly did.

whipped cream success! thanks to Thanksgiving 101!

GF Chocolate Banana Muffins

It's snowing and raining in Boise this morning, so we decided to stay in and bake muffins. I let Liam pick ingredients, we ended up with chocolate banana muffins with white chocolate chips. I added some flax meal, shredded coconut, and some chopped almonds. We used GF white rice and garbanzo flours and Bob's Red Mill GF baking soda. Yum!

Liam mixes the dry ingredients

putting the dry mix in the pureed bananas, vanilla extract, canola oil, and egg

fin! picking the perfect one for him (and picking the right one for me)

GF Zucchini Muffins

Based on a recipe from the Babycakes NYC cookbook. Altered a little by me. 

You will need:

• either one cup of rice flour and one cup of tapioca, or one cup rice flour and one cup fava bean flour
• 1/2 Cup flax meal
• 2 Teaspoons baking powder
• 1 Teaspoon salt
• 2+ Teaspoons ground cinnamon (I always add more)
• 1 Tablespoon ground ginger
• 1/2 Cup canola oil
• 1 egg
• 3/4 Cup agave nectar, or 1 cup honey (will give it nice golden top). Sugar will do, add about 1/2 cup or more if you like things sweeter. 
• 3/4 Cup milk (cow, rice, almond, goat, whatever)
• 1 Tablespoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup shredded zucchini (you can add 2 if you want, I prefer it with one)
• 3 Tablespoons applesauce (or you can use one banana)

1. Preheat oven to 375, prepare 12 cup muffin tin
2. Wisk flour, flax meal, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and ginger
3. Add oil, egg, agave/honey/sugar, milk, and vanilla
4. Stir until smooth
5. Gently fold in zucchini and applesauce
6. Fill muffin cups until 1/3 full and bake for about 22 minutes (will vary by elevation, so stay nearby and check them often!)
7. Remove muffins and let them sit 15 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack and let them cool. Store in airtight container up to three days. 

Tips:

• GF dries out fast, so adding banana or applesauce helps prolong the shelf life
• Agave and honey metabolize better than sugar and are better on the glycemic index, so if you are watching weight or your health its a good substitution. Honey is usually cheaper. 
• Muffins are often better GF than bread because the smaller shape is less crumbly and the paper or silicone cup will lock in moisture better.
• Avoid substituting GF All Purpose flour, you can use one cup of that and one cup rice flour. GF AP gets really dense and dry in baked goods.
• For egg allergy add more flax and xanthum gum.
• Poppy seeds are also good in this, or use lemon extract instead of (or with vanilla)
• Lemon or orange zest is also good and gives it a citrus twist. 
• If you plan on baking muffins often, I suggest investing in silicone muffin cups. I've had mine for four years and they are still in perfect condition. They are used several times a day during the holidays and i even use them to make corn bread, mini quiche, mini meatloafs, and or course cup cakes. They are about 6$ for 12.