Tag Archives: gluten free

Monday Musings: No-Candy Valentine’s Day

As I promoted my “No Sweets” post on Instagram, an interesting comment thread ensued. In it, a discussion about how a grandchild requested a candy-free Valentine’s Day because he wants to pursue a healthier lifestyle, and a grandmother who was greatly offended and who intends to ignore/refuse his request.

It got me thinking…how would I honor this request if one of our children asked for this? In fact, how could we do a low-sweet, non-commercial candy (chemical sh**storm) Valentine’s Day?

So here is our plan:

1. We are going to purchase fruits that can be cut with heart-shaped cookie cutters. So far, we are up to kiwis, mango, pineapple, melons, bananas, and apples. HERE is a way we have prepared apples before. We may bake those, and do the rest raw…although I have heard that grilling pineapple is delicious, too.

2. For the ones that are prone to discoloration (bananas for sure, maybe the raw apples), we are going to roll them in organic cocoa powder. THIS is the one we used for Christmas that we plan on using again (no affiliate links in this post – feel free to click).

3. We are going to make our own chocolate dipped strawberries and kiwi pops – jury is still out on which organic chocolate I have the heart to melt – definitely NOT my Wei of Chocolate stash. I’ll probably go with the Enjoy Life brand if I don’t find anything else. HERE is a great how-to video on coating fruit with chocolate. We use Spectrum Palm Shortening instead of coconut oil because coconut is another food we avoid due to allergies for the Sweet Pea Kids.

4. Last on our list, we are going to make a gluten-free, more natural version of THIS brownie recipe from the book Deceptively Delicious by Jessica Seinfeld. The recipe calls for adding in carrot and spinach purees along with the chocolate and sugar…YUM. Besides replacing the flour with my favorite GF blend from Bob’s Red Mill, we do not use cooking sprays or margarine in our home. We’ll adjust as needed and bake from there!

Deceptively Delicious by Jessica Seinfeld

So while it isn’t going to be a no-sweet or chocolate-free for us, I appreciate the comment thread because it got me thinking about how we can have a gluten-free, non-commercial candy celebration. It isn’t convenient, that is for sure, however, some of these things can be made ahead and frozen (kiwi pops, brownies) so that the work is spread out over a few days instead of one big day and night of preparation the day before St. Valentine’s Day.

Happy Valentine’s Day! Find us over on Instagram (SPF handle) throughout the week – Puma or I will post pictures of our progress through these ideas 🙂

Gluten-Free Easter

We have children with food allergies…biggest one being gluten. We also stay away from soy and artificial food coloring. So we are doing lots of toys and limited candy.

Here is what I have lined up for their Easter baskets so all the kiddos have the same loot and I don’t have to worry about cross-contamination or curiosity:

I literally cannot bring myself to buy any other chocolate out there – this is literally the best and they are starting to make more child-friendly flavors. They weren’t too crazy about the chili or the orange infused pieces…peppermint was a big hit, and I am guessing that the pink salt is going to disappear 🙂

Gummy fruit

Lollipops

Dr. McStuffins is a little juvenile for Puma, got them because she wants to be a vet when she grows up; Otter will love the little food and water to feed her babies.

Pinball games for the boys

We also have a VERY SPECIAL DELIVERY coming from Georgetown Cupcake – can’t wait to see their faces when we get to Easter Brunch at my aunt’s house on Sunday and they have their GF Easter treats from their favorite cupcake shoppe 🙂

I waived the sugar restriction because I am willing to put up with a couple of days of crazy (it literally makes Night Owl into a filter-less maniac) so that we can treat them to some candy. I am fingers-crossed that we all survive. Monday will probably be a reading day for Night Owl – I don’t know if he will be able to be still…

For those of you that celebrate, have a blessed Easter. I know that the season has nothing to do with eggs and bunnies, really. We are so thankful for God’s mercy and the sacrifice of His beloved Son for our redemption and salvation. As I embrace and treasure our children, I cannot even imagine the love that God and Jesus have for us – it is beyond my human understanding.

Tuesday Tips: Heart-shaped Apple Snacks

Does anyone else out there like to shake it up a little and keep things “fresh” for their Sweet Peas? I do. However, our fun has to be fast and easy. Here is a fun way we have been enjoying apples.

I have been using a heart-shaped cookie cutter from William-Sonoma to make these fun mini-hearts for our kiddos to snack on. Served fresh, you can pair them with spreads (our favorite is the Cocoa Almond spread from Trader Joe’s), dips, or cheese.

Here is how we do it. I included the ruler size because I am a doubter. When someone writes a recipe or makes a video and tells me they used 1/4″ slices, I want to know if they are guessing, or they really mean it. No guesswork involved for our friends:

First, slice an apple into 1/4″ rounds.

The diameter of the apples that yielded double hearts from one slice were 3 and 3/8 inches in diameter. These were Jonagolds that we bought from Costco.

Now that we have the OCD part out of the way, here comes the fun stuff 🙂 The how-to is under the pictures, in the captions.

Make star-centered hearts by centering the shape cutter on the apple.

To get two hearts out of the same round, start by placing the wedge of the shape cutter over the stem of the apple.

Then move the shape up and cut your second heart.

You can serve them plain, or with a spread, dip or cheese:

Or, you can add cinnamon and sugar and serve them raw:

Night Owl’s favorite way is to have “hot apples” – he loves them warm out of the oven 🙂

Charger was my big helper on picture day – he helped brush them with melted butter, and then we sprinkled them with our cinnamon-xylitol blend.

These were baked for 10 minutes in our 350 Fahrenheit convection oven.

From start to finish, the raw version takes about ten minutes. The hot apples took about 30 minutes to prep with little hands help, and then 10 minutes in the over. We snacked on the scrap edges while we were prepping, and saved them to munch on throughout the morning.

I think this kind of project is perfect for Sweet Peas who want to help in the kitchen, especially on big cooking days like Thanksgiving, Christmas or Easter. It’s enough for them to really help, without taking a chance at inadvertently having one of your major dishes altered in a way that may test your gentleness when you are feeling “perfect” pressure.

It also makes a delightful Sunday morning treat. The “hot apple” version is great for cooler weather. I can see us doing this with different shapes as the seasons change. Why buy guilty gummy treats infused with chemicals and questionable ingredients when you can turn apple slices into fun shapes? Who says that fresh can’t be fun??

As you may have noticed, this treat is also gluten-free. I can see us making these to take along when we go out to dinner, party, etc., and we want to ensure our kiddos get a “safe”, yummy treat. It’s simple enough that we could bring enough to share, and also budget-friendly so we could do so without straining the wallet.

I hope you enjoy making these with your Sweet Peas. Leave us a comment and let us know how you added your own moxie to the idea 🙂

Munchkin Meals: Food On The Go

Another month has passed and Munchkin Meals from A Healthy Slice of Life are back! Nothing remarkable has really changed with T’s meals and/or eats so I thought I would switch it up with some things he has been enjoying on the go.

Snacks are always a little hard for me — nothing *too* messy since it will end up all over him/me/the stroller/the car, needs to be something I can grab fairly quickly while trying to get us out of the house, I don’t like to default to bunnies, O’s or the like and variety is important to me since he is more of a snacker/grazer than a three meal a day kind of kid.

So what have we been taking with us these days?

Fresh Fruit

I know, this is easy and obvious, but… it is easy and obvious! (And nutritious). Berries are still in season here on the coast but will probably be slowing down right about now. Super fast to throw raspberries, blackberries or strawberries into a snack cup & go.

Grapes are another awesome farmer’s market find these days and again, just throw into the cup & head out.

Apples, plums, and asian pears are abundant right now from one of our local favorites, Inzana Ranch. I chop the plums and pears but these little Fuji apples are such a perfect toddler snack with minimal preperation. I just peel the skin and he eats them whole.

It is a great car/stroller activity too and I have recently read across the internet that apples have enzymes or acids in them that are supposedly supposed to help with teething pain which is another major plus since T is currently cutting all four incisors at once (:

taking an apple out with him on Halloween!

As I mentioned last month I have a love affair with bananas despite their long distance travels and nothing has changed this month. They are just so darn easy!

loves his bananas

perfect for stroller rides

Dried Fruit

T is LOVING on raisins lately — lucky for us in addition to great fresh fruit Izana Ranch also stocks various types of yummy raisins!

this week we decided to try the “crimson”

These dried blueberries from Trader Joe’s are also great, nothing added — just freeze dried blueberries.

Baked Sweet Potato Rounds

I make up a big batch of these at once and they are perfect for on the go. Cutting them in rounds makes them less squish-able then chunks and therefore less messy for us. T loves them.

Gluten Free Grahams

We are lucky enough to live very close to a Whole Foods & T has really been happy about these gluten free cinnamon graham crackers lately. Again, trying not to make a habit of it, but they are super easy to just throw into a snack cup and be done with it.

Chickpeas

I forgot to snap a picture but recently I have discovered what a great snack whole garbanzo beans are! I buy the Eden Organics because their cans are BPA Free or else I make our own using dried beans. Beware, they will get stinky QUICKLY if left in a car, diaper bag, etc. but they are a nice switch up from fruit and crackers and a great source of fiber plus some protein. They are the perfect size for little toddler fingers, too.

What foods do you take for your toddlers or children when you leave the house? Do you have any go to or easy snack options? T & I both thank you in advance for any ideas (:

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Tag Archives: gluten free

Monday Musings: No-Candy Valentine’s Day

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Gluten-Free Easter

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Tuesday Tips: Heart-shaped Apple Snacks

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Munchkin Meals: Food On The Go

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