Vegan Coconut Milk Whipped Cream, YUM!!!!!

You'll never miss the "real" whipped cream when eating this.

Ingredients

1 can of coconut milk (full fat not the light coconut milk)

1-2 tablespoons (sweeten to taste)

1/2-1 teaspoon vanilla extract (flavor to taste, sometimes I use lemon, almond or even coffee flavoring depending on what I'm using it on)

1. Place your can of coconut milk upside down in the refrigerator and chill overnight or longer. I always keep a can in my refrigerator at all times.

2. The next day turn can right side up and open. Drain the clear liquid coconut milk out of the can. Scoop out the solid coconut fat out of the bottom of the can and put in the bowl of an electric mixer with the whisk attachment. Add sugar and whisk on med/high until sugar is incorporated. Add the flavoring and scrape down the side. Continue to whisk on med/high until desired whip cream consistency is reached. Chill for later use or serve right away. Enjoy!

GF Gingerbread

Just in time for the holidays here's a yummy treat.

Ingredients

2/3 cup Molasses

1/2 cup Sugar

1/2 cup butter + enough hot water to fill a 1 cup measuring cup

2 eggs

1 cup White Rice Flour

1/2 cup Potato Starch

1/2 cup Tapioca Flour

1 1/2 tsp. Xanthan Gum

1/4-1/2 tsp. Salt

1 tsp. Baking Soda

3 tsp. Baking Powder

2 tsp. Ginger

1 tsp. Cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. In the bowl of an electric mixer (with paddle attachment) add molasses, sugar, butter/water mixture, and eggs.

3. In a large bowl add all dry ingredients and whisk slightly to mix.

4. Cream your liquid ingredients until just combined. Slowly add the dry ingredients while mixing on low speed. Once combined turn mixer to med/high and beat until well combined and fluffy (about 2 minutes).

5. Pour batter into lightly sprayed square glass dish and bake about 30 minutes.

6. Once cooled sprinkle the top with powdered sugar and serve. Enjoy!

Gluten Free Triple Mac & Cheese

If you've grown up or lived in the Atlanta area for any amount of time then you know the OK Cafe. They're an Atlanta land mark well known for their famous triple cheese mac & cheese and all things yummy and southern. Don't even get me started on the fried pickles or sweet potato chips. This is a gluten free take on their mac & cheese recipe.

INGREDIENTS:

8 ounces Gluten Free elbow macaroni

2 eggs

3/4 cup whole milk

1/2 cup half and half

1/2 cup heavy cream

1/2 teaspoon chopped parsley

1/4 teaspoon sugar1 pinch cayenne pepper

3/4 teaspoon sea salt

1/2 tablespoon dry ranch salad dressing mix

(if you can't find a gluten free mix just leave this out)

10 ounces sharp Cheddar cheese, grated

5 ounces Monterey jack cheese, grated

5 ounces Parmesan cheese, grated

PREPARATION:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Cook the macaroni according to package directions, drain and set aside.

3. In a large mixing bowl, beat the eggs. Add the milk, half and half,
cream, parsley, sugar, cayenne, salt and ranch powder and mix until well
blended.

4. Add the macaroni, cheddar, Monterey Jack and Parmesan cheeses
and mix until fully incorporated.

5. Pour into a large baking dish.

6. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for
30 to 35 minutes.

Cat Head Biscuits NOT Gluten Free

These biscuits are NOT gluten free. I have had several family members ask for this recipe so here it is, enjoy! In my archives I have a gluten free version posted under January 2010 names Southern Style Biscuits.

Cathead Biscuits
(Makes about 18 large cathead
biscuits)


2¼ cup Cake
or Pastry Flour
4½ tsp. Salt
2½ tsp. Sugar
Big Pinch
Baking Soda
2 Tbls. + 1
tsp. Baking Powder
3 Sticks unsalted
Butter, very cold
6 cups All-purpose
Flour
1 quart cold
Buttermilk (about 4 cups),

Preheat oven
to 425 degrease.

1. Blend the first 6 ingredients together in a
food processor until the butter is cut into large pea sized pieces.

2. Add butter mixture to the 6 cups of flour and
stir slightly.

3. Add the cold buttermilk and mix dough until it
just starts to come together.

4. Roll out on floured surface until the dough is
½ to 1 inch thick. Cut and place on
baking sheet. Brush tops with melted butter.

5. Bake at 450 for 5 minutes. Reduce heat to 400 and continue to bake about
18 minutes or until fluffy and golden brown.

Check out Livylegs

So we had an annual check up for our youngest with Celiac and after many years of being under weight and height she's perfect. She's always been perfect to us, but it's nice to see the positive results of living gluten free. Who says you have to look and feel sick with Celiac it's amazing what a little time and healing can do.

GF Vegetarian BBQ Wedding Meatballs

The gluten filled version of these meatballs were served at my wedding almost 15 years ago, yikes were does time go? Everyone fell in love with them and most couldn't believe they were vegetarian. I have been giving the recipe out ever since and can't begin to count how many weddings I've been to were I find these little goodies on the buffet table. As a result they have been renamed "The Wedding Meatballs" as that's how people ask for the recipe. To this day I can't visit our photographer without bringing him a batch. When I had to go gluten free these were one of my comforts foods I missed the most. I'm happy to say it was easy to make them gluten free and they our back on my the menu, Yeah, insert happy dance here :)

Wedding Meatballs
2 cups certified gluten free quick oats (I use the Bobs Redmill certified gluten free oats)
2 cups gluten free toasted breadcrumbs (use your favorite GF bread, toast and grind in chopper)
2 small onions, minced
4 large eggs, beaten
3/4 cup pecan or walnut meal
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. sage
1 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup milk
2-4 oz cream cheese, room temp. (depending on the humidity and moisture of the air. Start with 2oz if the mixtures seems a little dry add the full 4 oz of cream cheese.)

BBQ Sauce
2 cups ketchup
1 cup water
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1 to 2 tbsp. liquid smoke (depending on your preference for mild or strong smoke flavor)

Heat vegetable or canola oil in a large frying pan. Mix all the meatball ingredients together in a large bowl. Roll into small meatballs and fry. Drain the meatballs on paper towels then place in a large casserole dish. place all BBQ Sauce ingredients in a small sauce pan and heat over med heat until warm and well combined. Pour sauce over meatballs and Bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes.

Note: Depending on the type of gluten free bread you are using it is OK to add extra milk, water, or even another egg to add moisture to the meatballs. Gluten free breads can have a tendency to be very dry and dense so feel free to play around with the recipe.

Meet My New Girls

I love, love, love cows, so when I stumbled upon this painting it was love at first sight. I have always had a passion for interior design and fell into it as a profession several years ago. Needless to say I have always had a flair for the unique and odd statement piece to put in my house. This piece speaks to my odd sense of humor and style. These two lovely girls are prominently placed in my dinning room overlooking our family meals. Good thing I was raised vegetarian and we don't eat beef. Can you imagine the guilt sitting there eating a burger or steak with these two lovely gals staring at you. For the record my 8 year old thinks the picture is great, my 11 year old on the other hand says it's a creepy painting. That's the thing I love about art, everyone has an opinion. Believe me this piece has made for some interesting responses by my dinner guest.

Do you ever ask yourself, why did I want to homeschool?

Have you ever had one of those days when you look at your kids and say, these wild animals can't possibly be mine, NO Definitely Not My Little Angels! Or maybe you think, they were switched at birth or they must be just like their father and certainly nothing like you. I think every mom has had those days and adding the pressure of homeschooling only increases those not so pleasant days. Let's face it we moms try to do it all and somehow have the expectation that peace, love and thankfulness will be poured down upon us. What's worse is when our kids don't bend at the knee and praise us with thankfulness we get hurt and take it personally. Why do we moms do this to our self's? Because we moms are liers. Lets face it when was the last time you sat around in a group of mom that were really honest. They never tell you they were in tears all day the day before. That they fed the kids cold cereal for dinner all last week. Or (yes I'm guilty of this one) they put the kids in the hot tub and call it bath time. Oh no, all you ever hear about is about how little Johnny was reading at 3, doing long division at 5 and creating world peace by 10. So you sit and listen to these stories and think, wow I must be a complete failure. You think what am I doing wrong, my kid is 8 and still struggles with reading or my kids cry when they hear the word math. What's worse is we moms completely buy into the competition instead of remembering why we wanted to home school in the first place.

A couple years ago I was on complete home school burn out and quite frankly my hubby had enough as well. One of the best things I found was Todd Wilson's website and his books. They are very short quick reads that gave me a light hearted way to stop being so hard on myself and start enjoying my kids again. Even my hubby read the books and wow what a difference he stepped up and started getting involved in the kids school as well. Since finding these short little books I have given several out to my friends and all I seam to hear back is thank you so much I needed these books, thank you, thank you! Check out Todd's books and website.

http://www.familymanweb.com/

Shirataki Noodles, Love them or Hate them?

The new super noodle is everywhere right now. You can hardly turn on a cooking show without seeing Shirataki noodles being used. After all what could be better than a low carb, low calorie, gluten free, healthy guilt free pasta.

Well after doing extensive tastings here's what I found. They seem to have a love hate relationship with my family. I love them the rest of my house hates them. These noodles are not at all like a traditional gluten filled Italian pasta. They are much more an Asian noodle. They work wonderfully in a stir fry, miso soups and all kinds of dishes on the Asian side. As for the Italian side I found them to be a little to mushy and chewy to work well. I will say they have a bit of a funky smell when you first open the package. After rinsing the noodles the smell goes away but I think that may have been what turned my family off.

I would recommend getting a package and trying them for yourself. check out the link below for more info on these noodles. They also have some recipes on their website you might want to try.

http://www.house-foods.com/

Homeschool Day at Biltmore Estate September 22 & 23

Growing up in the Asheville, NC area was one of the most enjoyable times of my life. I can't believe I've never taken my kids back to see my old stomping grounds. Well it's time to remedy this with Biltmore's 10th Annual Fall Home school Days. Check out the link below to get more details. I would highly recommend this event for the kids.
http://www.biltmore.com