Irish Soda Bread - gluten, dairy and soy free!!

I cannot remember a time when I haven't made loaves and loaves of soda bread around St. Patrick's Day. One big bummer about family recipes is that they're not at all allergy friendly. Thankfully, taking a regular old recipe and making it safe for my family is a challenge I really enjoy!

This is my Nana's soda bread recipe. I'm sure it's similar to other soda bread recipes, but still....it's MY Nana's and that makes it very special.

2 cups flour
4 Tbsp sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3 Tbsp softened butter
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup raisins
1 Tbsp melted butter.

This was super easy to make safe for us. I used Namaste Perfect Flour Blend in place of the all purpose flour, Earth Balance soy and dairy free butter for the butter, and So Delicious Coconut Milk with a splash of white vinegar for the buttermilk.


Preheat oven to 375 and start by whisking the flour, sugar, baking powder, soda and salt together.


Cut in the butter until it appears fine and crumbly.


Add buttermilk and mix with fork until combined. Add raisins.


Now it needs a good knead for about 1 min. I usually flour up my hands and knead in the bowl. If the dough is a little wet, just add some more flour. Then plop it out on your greased cookie sheet.


Flatten the ball into about a 7-8in circle, approx 1.5in thick. Use a floured knife to make a X on top of the dough.


Bake for 35-40 min until top is golden brown and loaf sounds hollow when tapped.


Cool (which will be difficult because the smell is amazing!) Brush top with melted butter and ENJOY!

Wordless Wednesday

SOLD!

I can't get enough of my cricut. If I'm not working on projects for my own kids, I'm cutting stuff for friends, preparing to host a shower, or any other random reason I can find to use it. :-)

One of my friends from high school (and owner of Making Smiles Photography) posted on facebook that she was having trouble finding things in the theme her son had chosen for his bday party. Since I've seen the crazy prices stuff sell for on Etsy, I messaged her and offered to make a banner. We talked back and forth the whole time to get exactly what she wanted. Normally I cut characters in the theme, but she had me leave them blank so she could add printed clip art.

We were both pleased with how it came out!

Please excuse the giant teeth picture.
I like to work on projects over my lunch.
With that, my first project was sold! I guess that means I'm officially for hire and I might actually open an etsy store like some friends have encouraged me to do.

I suppose ideally, I'd like to sell enough to fund my habit but not so much that I don't enjoy it anymore.

One of my latest projects was this fun Dr. Seuss banner I made for Kelton's class for Dr. Suess week.

Katie's Birthday!

It's hard to believe our colicky non sleeping
{beautiful} little baby girl turned 4 on Feb 22nd.





Over this past year, she's really blossomed and come out of her shell. She's into princess everything, her babies, coloring, and bossing Konny around.

We've made a tradition in taking each child out for a special bday treat or dinner with just mom and dad. I recently found out that Wheat State Pizza has gluten free crust and bought a Groupon especially for the occasion! Katie loved having pizza from a restaurant for the first time ever! Afterwards, we went to Kohls because the princess insisted she needed a new dress for her party on Saturday (and it didn't cost us anything after coupons!)


I had orginally planned on just purchasing some Disney princess invitations but Katie said she really wanted me to make them, so I whipped up some glittery Belle dresses just for her!



They matched perfectly with her banner I reused from last year!

Her other banner was super simple, just circles and hearts.

What took the most time was the tulle wands and they were totally worth the effort. Katie was absolutely thrilled with them. I will definitely make these again!


The birthday girl was very specific in her requests for gifts this year. She asked Mimi for a new ladybug swimming suit and asked Nana for an orange leotard. Of course, both gma's were happy to meet these requests!



Nana also made Katie a quilt for when she moves from her toddler bed to a bigger bed (probably sometime this summer).


Other gifts included mostly princess items
and a !bike! from mommy and daddy.



Of course, we had rice krispy treats and puppy chow. Aaaand, a cake fit for a princess! All gluten free and soy free, of course!


My little beauty enjoyed every bit of it!



The other little beauty at the party was wearing one of my old favorites from Katie's closet.


Miss Braylee is the cutest little thing and we all love it when she comes over (although I'm not sure Jasmine would agree!)



After the party was over, we still had a little more fun with (one of mommy's favorite things), matching jammies! There was even a pair for Braylee!

Valentine's Day!

With all the birthdays this time of year, it's always easy for Valentine's Day to get lost in the mix. With some good planning and a couple late nights, there were plenty of treats and valentine fun to make it a special day!

Thankfully, Nana came to spend the day with Konny and I was able to get off work so I could make it to the lunch Banquet at Learn and Grow with Katie and Kelton's class party.

That also meant I wouldn't be getting in the shower at 5:30am, so I stayed up late making baked heart shaped chocolate donuts with raspberry glaze to surprise the kids for breakfast. The recipe was super delicious and very easy to make allergy friendly.


I left the donuts on the table with new Klean Kanteen water bottles for each of them. Katie was interested in her bottle but the boys were way more excited about their donuts!






Katie took strawberry rice krispie treats to Learn and Grow to share. Kelton took treats made with Fruity Pebbles. Marshmallow treats are no sweat to make allergy friendly, super quick and easy to make, plus the kids always love them. Can't go wrong there!


This year, Katie did sucker valentines too. These always turn out super cute and they have so much fun giving them to their friends.


I found this fun idea for soap valentines on pinterest. I made them for Kelton to hand out at school for his teacher, the office aides, nurse and principal.


With all the fun valentine ideas on pinterest,
I'm already looking forward to next year!