Gluten & Dairy Free Dutch Sugar Cookies

I loved loved loved making cut out cookies with my Grandma.  For a while I thought I had to come to terms with the fact that those days were long gone.

But, Christmas isn't Christmas without Grandma's sugar cookies....

So to keep me from having a meltdown my first Christmas as a Celiac my Mama & Papa searched high and low for a recipe.  It just so happened that we got lucky the first time and they chose a good one!  I don't know where it came from, but I thank whoever created it!  It's even dairy free so I didn't have to change a thing.. except the frosting of course!

You are only naughty if you eat ALL the dough!

These cookies are addicting!  And to tell you the truth they are easier to make than Grandma's old recipe.  With hers you had to make the dough and then chill it for what seemed like EVER to my little mind.  I didn't have patience for that! 

Now these are the new Christmas tradition!  Everyone always looks forward to them, and I always have to double the recipe because noone can stop eating them!

Gluten & Dairy Free Dutch Sugar Cookies

2 1/2 C Featherlight Mix*
1 t Baking Powder
2 1/2 t Xanthan Gum
1 t Salt
1 C Sugar
1 C Butter Flavor Crisco- believe it or not this is GF & DF
1 Egg (or 1/4 C Liquid Egg Sugstitute)
2 t Vanilla

Preheat the oven to 350.  In a small bowl whisk together the flour mix, baking powder, xanthan gum, and salt.  Set aside.  Cream the Crisco and sugar.  Beat in the egg and vanilla.  Add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, mixing enough to combine.  Work the dough into a soft ball. ( For me it is always easy to work with, but if it isn't add in a bit more of the flour mix.)  Using about 1/2 at a time roll out to 1/4 inch thickness.  Cut out in whatever shapes you want and place on an ungreased cookie sheet.  Bake for about 12 minutes- don't overbake!  Cool a bit before removing them from the pan to a cooling rack. 

*Feather Light Flour Mix:
1 C White Rice Flour
1 C Tapioca Flour
1 C Corn Starch
1 T Potatoe FLOUR- not starch

Whisk this all together and sift it good.  This amount leaves a bit leftover thats perfect for using to knead and roll out the dough.  Of course double it if you double the cookie recipe like I do! :)

I don't have a photo of any finished and frosted cookies...
We were all too busy eating them to take the time
to take a picture before they were gone!

That's my girl, loving Cal's  new weather tec floormats
that I got for Christmas!

Creamy Crockpot Lasagna Soup (Gluten & Dairy Free)

We love lasagna, but a lot goes into putting it together.  There are so many pans and dishes and so much patience put into cooking the noodles,  browning the meat, sauteing the veges, making the homemade sauce and ricotta and then finally layering it just so.  Sometimes I just don't have the time for that!

This delicious soup gives you all the flavors and creaminess of a good meaty lasagna, but it comes together easily, quickly, and with a much smaller mess.

Creamy Crockpot Lasagna Soup (Gluten & Dairy Free)

1 lb ground turkey
4 C beef broth- separated
4 garlic cloves- minced
1 small red onion- diced
1 T italian seasoning
1 T dried basil
1 T dried parsley
1/4 t pepper
1 28 oz can diced tomatoes with juice
1 6 oz can tomatoe paste
1 C tomatoe juice
2 C uncooked pasta*
1/4 C cashew ricotta- click here for my recipe
1 T nutritional yeast


Brown the meat and season with the Italian seasoning.  Throw 3 cups of the broth, garlic, onion, diced tomatoes, paste, juice, and the rest of the seasonings in the crockpot.  Stir it up and add the meat.  (remember to start soaking your cashews for the ricotta now too) Cook on low for 8 hours (high for 4-5 would work too).  When there is about a half an hour left add the remaining cup of broth with the pasta.  Stir in the cashew ricotta and nutritional yeast before serving.  Go ahead and garnish with a scoop of ricotta and some fresh herbs if you like!

*I'm always a Tinkyada girl- You can break up their lasagna noodles and throw them in to cook, or just use whatever you have on hand!

Here's my inspiration for this recipe...

The leftovers make a great lunch!

Flourless Double Dark Chocolate Chip Muffins (GF, DF, SF)

As I enjoy one of these little guys for breakfast I knew I just had to share how to make them.

They are gluten, dairy, sugar, oil, grain, and potentially nut free- but you would never know! Perfect for finicky tummies!

Original recipe is here!

Flourless Double Dark Chocolate Chip Muffins

 1 C natural peanut butter*
2 large ripe bananas
2 eggs
1/2 C honey
1/2 C unsweetened cocoa powder
4 T flax seed meal
2 t vanilla (make sure it's gf)
1 t baking soda
1/2 C enjoy life dark chocolate morsels



*you can use almond if you can't do peanuts, or sunflower if you can't do any nuts at all

Preheat your oven to 375.  Spray your muffin pan with spray or use liners.  Throw everything except the chocolate chips in your blender.  Blend until smooth.  Fill each muffin cavity 1/4 - 1/2 full.  Bake for 10-12 minutes- until the tops are set.  Let these guys cool for at least 10 minutes in the pan before you enjoy them!

Piña Colada Smoothie

This is by far one of my favorite smoothies to make! It's fun to pretend I'm sipping it on a beach somewhere rather than looking out my window at something like this....

Ok, ok... It's not that bad.... Yet!

It's coming though...

This was my view of Cal from work on November 13th! Too soon for snow!!

Piña Colada Smoothie

1 big handful of spinach- don't be skimpy, get those greens in your belly!

Half of a fresh pineapple- use the other half to make another one tomorrow! ;)

8 baby carrots

2 cuties

1 banana

1 Apple

1 C coconut milk

Throw it all in your blender and blend until  smooth. 

So delicious!!  And be jealous of my Disney cup! :)

Zucchini Noodles with Scallops in Spicy Vodka Sauce (gluten free & dairy free)

I always wanted a Veggetti.  This was the first time I used it and I decided that it definitely was money well spent.  I love it!!  I snuck so much good stuff in this meal and you couldn't even tell that it didn't have real noodles.

seriously.... love it!

Zucchini Pasta with Scallops in Spicy Vodka Sauce

2 T EVOO
4 Garlic Cloves- minced
1/2 C Vodka (Tito's)
1 (14oz) can Crushed Tomatoes
1/2 C Cream Cheese (Go Veggie)
1/4 t crushed red pepper
1 T sugar
2 T parsley
2 T basil (fresh if possible!)
salt & pepper- to taste
1 lb Scallops
3 Zucchinis

Heat EVOO over medium in a large pan.  Add the garlic and cook for a couple minute until it smells nice and yummy!  Add the vodka and let it cook down to about half.  Add the tomatoes, cream cheese, and seasonings- stir well.  Use your handy veggie spiral pasta thingamajig to add the zucchini noodles to the sauce.  Let thicken and cook for about 5 minutes.  In another small pan heat some oil over MEDIUM heat (too hot and your scallops will be tough).  Add the scallops and cook until they are just opaque.  Add the scallops into the sauce and let simmer a couple minutes more.

Because you are eating zucchini noodles instead of real noodles you can certainly afford to have some delicious garlic bread (and some good read wine) with this meal!  I load whatever GF/DF bread I have on hand with Earth Balance spread, garlic powder, my homemade Italian seasoning mix, and some nutritional yeast. Turn the broiler on low and throw it in the oven while you dish out the "noodles" until the bread is nice and golden brown.

DIY Gluten Free Bisquick

The Betty Crocker Gluten Free Bisquick is soooo useful.... but also so expensive!  Aldi had a product that had the exact same ingredients which was a little more reasonably priced.  When I was comparing ingredients between the two I decided why not just make this myself?  I appreciate the effort by both companies, but I can do a bit better.  It's always good when you get the chance to save money and eliminate processed food from your life in my opinion!

Decent ingredients, but some of that
stuff sounds a little nasty! Aluminum? Soy?
Is that really necessary? NO

At first I couldn't find any recipes for Gluten Free Bisquick.  There were plenty for regular bisquick and I thought I was going to have to take one of those and make it GF.  That's not what I wanted, and most of them weren't even dairy free. Not gonna work!

Finally I found this one from Carla's Gluten Free Recipe Box!

This is how I do it....

1 C White Rice Flour
1/2 Brown Rice Flour
1 1/2 C Potato Starch
3 T Sugar
1 T + 2 t  Baking Powder (Make sure it's GF and aluminum free)
1 1/2 t Xanthan Gum
2 t Sea Salt

In a big bowl whisk everything together.  Sift it a bunch of times to make sure it's good!  Store it in a sealed container.  I use my big mason jar.  You can use this just as you would the boxed stuff.

My favorite thing to use this for is pizza crust!

From the heart of the "skinny bitch" in the pink bikini..

I sure as shit am not all about that bass...

What happened to women just simply encouraging one another?  Don't we get enough pressure from society to be perfect?  Do we really have to throw more fuel on the fire and bully each other?

Now I could be wrong, but I'm pretty for sure that if I sang a song about "fat bitches" that it would be considered incredibly rude, politically incorrect and most importantly hurtful...even if i was "just playing."  I wouldn't even think of doing that... ever (I didn't even like typing it :/)!

It's just wrong to joke about.  And what about those "stick figures"?  I'm sure there are boys that love to hold them at night too!  Don't people realize it is just as wrong to criticize someone for being too skinny as it is for being overweight?  It hurts them just as much.  Let's just not criticize at all!  How about we try that because what we have going on now clearly isn't working.

damn right!

Since when did women decide they always have to be competeing with one another?  Why do we always want something we don't have and someone else does?

This is me... the real me... and I am not always proud of it...in fact sometimes I am scared of mirrors because I can't stand seeing the reflection that is looking back at me... and that is a heartbreaking feeling.

It makes me feel incredibly guilty not only because my body does amazing things and I need to appreciate it, but also becasue I know there are women out there who look at me and want to look like that... and I get to and I don't even appreciate that body all the time..

Maybe that really does make me a "skinny bitch"...or maybe I'm just overwhelmed with the hate that is thrown around..

What you don't realize is what it takes for me to get to look like that... it's actually one of my silver linings.  This brings me to another important point.

Your body is just the vehicle that drives your heart and soul around.  You need to keep it well maintained.  Sometimes your parts malfunction and need maintenance.  It's about being healthy.  You give your vehicle what it needs and none of what it doesn't.  If I run on diesel fuel there is no way I would put gasoline in my tank.... that would be a disaster!

Not a day goes by that I don't watch what I eat...not because I'm watching my figure.  Nope, it's much more important than that.  It's so I can live!  I work hard, play hard, do yoga to manage the stress of life and disease, and I watch everything I eat (because I have to!)... And the silver lining of all that is I get to wear that binkini... somewhat confidently... :/

You may look at me rocking that pink binkini and get that jealousy ... but what you also don't realize is that I look at you and am jealous too... maybe of your hair or skin or the fact that you can eat like a normal person....


I guess my point is that we need to love our own bodies, stop comparing, and stop body shaming everyone.  And stop judging books by the cover, you don't know the story or struggle that's inside simply based on the fake/genuine smile on the outside.  A body is a body, it's your vehicle and you only have the one so you might as well own it and love it!  I know it's easier said than done....

I remember going to a college football game and watching the dancers at halftime.  I remember thinking that I could never do that because I would have so much anxiety about getting out there in front of people in that skimpy little outfit.  There was one girl in particular who was just owning it... seriously shaking what her mama gave her front and center and loving life!  I was in awe and so jealous!  I could never do that.   I couldn't take my eyes off of her!  She had a lot more to shake than I do, and she appeared so secure with herself.  It was beautiful, she was beautiful!  I envied her, I want that feeling.

Unfortunately chasing that feeling in today's society is like trying to find a split window vette in my price range... virtually impossible! But guess what, I'll keep trying to find that split window!!