As usual I'm playing catch up and I'm still trying to finish up all of the posts surrounding my son's second birthday party. I cooked everything from scratch (with help from my mom and step mom) and happily, everyone complimented me on both the party itself and all of the food (which was really awesome because although I planned the meal, I was winging the recipes - some I had made before but didn't write down, like this one, and some I completely made up)! We eat gluten free, dairy free, soy ...
soy free
GF Pumpkin Spice Cake Recipe; Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Soy Free, Nut Free Recipe
This pumpkin spice cake recipe is a hit! It was loved by everyone at my son's 2nd birthday party, even those who aren't gluten free, dairy free, soy free, and nut free so I figured it would be great to make again less than 2 weeks later for my grandpa's 90th birthday that was being attended by both gf and non-gf diners... We had my son's 2nd birthday party a few weekends ago and he had a BLAST (I promise I'll have a post dedicated to it)! As always, I have to make everything from scratch for ...
GF Pumpkin Pancakes; Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Soy Free, Nut Free Recipe
I can't believe it's that time again! Has it really been a year since I meant to post these gluten free, dairy free, soy free, nut free pumpkin pancakes? I read an article last night that blames the pumpkin spice obsession on Starbucks who created the pumpkin spice latte back in 2003. Well, sorry to say but my family has been obsessed with pumpkin spice everything for much longer than that! Even the newest member of the family loves these, in fact, they're his favorite flavor of pancakes so we ...
Convection Roast Whole Chicken; The BEST Tasting Chicken Ever!
Whew.....We have been busy! My little one's second birthday party was last weekend and we've been going ever since. He was such a little party animal - he partied too hard and then got sick! Nothing too serious, just a cold but I'm afraid to say that now, 3 days later I've developed it. Luckily, I knew this would happen so 2 days ago I convection roasted 2 whole organic chickens and made 3 batches of my homemade bone broth (I make it in the crock pot, directions here) so we've already been ...
Organic Canning; Black Raspberry Preserves
Have you ever had black raspberries? Apparently they are native to North America. They're a wild raspberry and they have a more rich taste, some call it "wine-y". I personally like the tartness of red raspberries but I'm pretty sure my little guy likes these better and I know my husband does. So, what are Black raspberry preserves? Preserves in general are very similar to jam, they are fruit and sugar, cooked to form a thicker spread. Same ingredients, the only difference is that the fruit is ...
Summer Canning Series; Preserving the Harvest, Week by Week
It's the middle of peak canning season and I have NO time to do it :( On top of all of the things that normally keep you busy during the summer in Michigan (fun things like vacations up North, boating, etc) my family has been crazy doing other stuff. I got my real estate license, my son has had to start patching his eye for 6 hours a day (long story and I'm not going to go into it), my Etsy business has been doing pretty well (Wedding season, you know?) AND my husband and I started a business. ...
Soy Free Stir Fry, Bok Choy, Broccoli and Chicken; Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Soy Free, Nut Free Recipe
First harvest of the season! It's always so exciting to start reeping the rewards of all of you hard work all spring! My garden was going strong and then, overnight all of my brassicas started to wilt :(. I was so bummed, especially to see 3 heads of bok choy so wilted they had to be pulled. I figured out the cause (read about it here) and it was spreading so I decided to harvest the 6 heads of baby bok choy that were still looking perfect, then I had to decide how to use them. This was also a ...
Dairy Free Corn Chowder; Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Soy Free, Nut Free Recipe
One of the best things about holiday cooking are not only the traditional holiday meals, but also the traditional after holiday meals. This one may surprise you but it's become a staple in my house both after Easter and after Christmas with leftover ham. My husband doesn't eat ham and bean soup that my family always made growing up to use the ham bone and leftover ham (I personally love it and have a ham bone in the freezer waiting) so for years I was left questioning "what can I make with ...
Easter Egg Fruit Tray; An Easy Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Soy Free, Nut Free Easter Dish
So, in usual style (which is late), Easter was yesterday. I made a few different spring themed dishes for our Easter brunch, including gf mini chocolate coconut donut bird's nests, a bouquet of flower cupcakes (for my grandma's 86th Birthday which she recently celebrated) AND a few Easter egg fruit trays. I was up early yesterday dunking donuts in chocolate, crafting mini eggs out of coconut and naturally dying icing to make my cupcake flowers when I remembered I had also told my mom I would ...
Bacon Braised Turnip Greens; Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Soy Free, Nut Free Recipe
One, two, three, four....turnip seed packets. Really? I don't even like turnips that much. What was I thinking ordering all of these seeds? I was delusional... mezmorized by these bacon braised turnip greens (specifically, these greens paired with maple glazed pork chops and homemade mashed potatoes). Honesty, you could probably make these with any greens AND if I wasn't so drunk on my new found turnip green love, I probably would have loaded up on beet seeds instead, because I bet the greens ...