Guess What I'm Cooking!

Ugh, so remember how excited I was that the computer error in my child support case got fixed? 

Well as it turns out, IT'S NOT FIXED. 

They are now intercepting 40% of it and have yet to be able to tell either myself or Mr. Attorney Man where it's going. So frustrating!!! I'm all over it, but in the meantime guess who at least got their food stamps reinstated!?!

I know, I realize that makes me sound like white trash, but whatever, I'm past caring at this point. But anyway, yes, we are pretty happy. The kids and I have been cooking/baking/eating up a storm over here and so I figured that this would be as good a time as any to answer one of the questions that I get asked most often in real life and on this blog.

"Uh... wait. So... if you don't eat gluten, one of your kids doesn't eat dairy, and (for the most part) you only eat organic products... uh... what the hell do you eat?"

Food.

Yea, that's pretty much what we eat around here. Food. Other stuff just doesn't taste very good!

So allow me to take you through a couple weeks of eating at my house and throw in a few easy recipes along the way!

(I'll add a little disclaimer in here that no, you probably can't eat like this on a food stamp budget alone, but because my kids diet is medically necessitated my ex is court ordered to pay a portion of our grocery bill).

So if you were to come over for a meal, this is what you might find yourself being fed in my kitchen:

Blueberry pancake muffins (click here for the recipe).

Strawberry cream muffins:

Amaranth flakes with banana, flax seeds, and goji berries (just add almond milk):

Banana bread:

Teriyaki salmon, quinoa, and veggies:

Grilled Cheese sandwiches with a sausage and banana flower:

Raw honey on gluten free toast...

... that looked really boring so I made it into a robot!

Banana and broccoli dolphins to go with the fish I didn't take a picture of. I had no real reason of doing this except that I was bored for about 5 minutes and that's when stuff like this tends to happen...

Tacos:

Nachos:

Ivory Teff Flour quesadillas (obviously not cooked yet):

Chickpea protein pasta (with dairy free cheese):

Cesar salad with Greek yogurt Cesar dressing (if you guys haven't tried Bolthouse dressings, you are missing out! I can't vouch for all of them but you cannot tell the difference between a "regular" creamy Cesar and their 30 calorie protein yogurt dressing).

And yes, sometimes we make treats as well.

Hot chocolate:

Homemade brownies with mint coconut ice cream:

And uh... sometimes mommy needs a mommy snack after the kids go to bed. Do you want to know an easy way to have chocolate covered strawberries? Dip them in a pudding cup:

Full disclosure I took this pic months ago, but I make this more than I would like to admit

Do you want a few recipes?

Here is one of our household favorites, breakfast ice cream sundaes!

Breakfast Ice Cream Sundaes

What you will need:

One cup of frozen Greek yogurt
One Waffle
Chia seeds
Chocolate chips
Berries
Vanilla Wafer (they make gluten free ones now!)

Directions: 

Place the waffle in a bowl and then put a scoop of the frozen yogurt on top:

Place the berries around the frozen yogurt (I also squish a few and drizzle the juice on top so that the kids think they have syrup) and then sprinkle the chia seeds and a few chocolate chips on top of everything. Lastly, just stick the Vanilla Wafer on top!

Enjoy!

Now let's play a game! What do you think I'm making??

Well here's a big hint:

If you are looking for a healthy alternative to Teflon cookware, I'm in love with this PTFE and PFOA free pan. And no this wasn't a paid advertisement, I really just love it.

Alright, please tell me you guessed this right or I'm going to be a lot little bit worried about you.

Omlets!

If you don't have time for an omelet in the morning, my kids are BIG fans of breakfast cookies, and I'm a big fan of how easy there are to make.

Breakfast Cookies 

What You Will Need:

1.5 Cups uncooked oatmeal
2 Ripe bananas, mashed
1 Cup unsweetened applesauce
1/3rd Cup dried cranberries
1 Tsp vanilla extract
1 Tsp cinnamon
Coconut oil to grease the pan.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

And then put everything in one bowl. It really is that easy!

Then mix it all together.

The Boy Child especially loved the mixing part.

Eventually I told him that it was time to put the mixture on the pan (greased), and... well, I guess I should have been more specific that we were going to take it out of the bowl...

Then he mixed some more.

And some more...

Until I had to wrestle the bowl out of his hands.

Simply put the mixture onto a greased pan (choose your own cookie size) and bake at 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes.

Next up is one of my favorite recipes because it's easy and makes so much that I get three meals out of it (for The Girl Child and I. The Boy Child can't eat the dairy)

Crock pot Lasagna:

What You Will Need:

12 Uncooked lasagna noodles
16 Ounces ricotta cheese
12 ounces shredded mozzarella cheese
4 ounces Parmesan cheese
7-8 Cups sauce
3 Tbsp half n half
1/4 Tsp salt
1 large beaten egg

In a bowl combine and mix the half n' half, ricotta cheese, salt, and egg.

In another box combine and mix (just with your hands) the mozzarella and Parmesan cheese.

Start layering the crock pot beginning with the sauce, uncooked noodles (break to fit), ricotta mix, and top with shredded cheese. Repeat this process until you are out of ingredients, ending with shredded cheese. Remember that the uncooked noodles are going to absorb the sauce so use a little more than you think you might need.

For a 4.5 quart crock pot, cook on low for 6-8 hours or high for 2-3. You will know it's done when you stick a knife in and can feel that the noodles are soft, hence my knife holes in the picture below.

I think what surprised me the most about this recipe is that it doesn't come out soupy. It cuts well and stays together nicely.

Enjoy!

Alright, I think that's enough for today. I'm going to go "cook" some goo for the kids and try to keep The Boy Child from actually eating it.

Edited to add that it was a long day and then I cheated and ordered a gluten free pizza, which I rarely do, and it was just as amazing as I was dreaming it would be.

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If You Liked This, Read This!

"Easy Bake Blueberry Pancake Muffins"

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"How To Buy What You Love, Even When You Can't Afford It"

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