Healthy Wheat-free Pumpkin Cakes

These super-moist, healthy pumpkin cakes will be sure to please your kids! They are wheat-free, refined sugar-free, and yet they still manage to fill the kitchen with the delightful scent of autumn baking, and to satisfy tummies with the pleasant pumpkin taste that goes with the season. My kids enjoy turning their cakes into jack-o-lanterns by adding chocolate chips.

Healthy Wheat-free Pumpkin Cakes

4 eggs
1/3 c. agave nectar
1/4 tsp. stevia powder
1 c. extra virgin coconut oil
1 (15 oz.) can pumpkin puree
2 cups barley flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. salt
** grain-sweetened chocolate chips (optional)

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

In a bowl, mix the eggs, agave, stevia, oil and pumpkin with a mixer until well-blended. Slowly add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt, stirring until thoroughly combined.

Spread the batter evenly into a large ungreased baking pan (I use a 15-inch x 10-inch x 2-inch Pyrex baking dish, but two smaller dishes could also be used).

Bake for 25 minutes. Cool, then use pumpkin-shaped cookie cutter to cut pumpkin cakes. Add grain-sweetened chocolate chips for jack-o-lantern faces.

Note: These can also be cut into bars and/or topped with a cream cheese frosting (try tinting yours with some natural orange food coloring).

Homemade Agave Marshmallows

I've looked for a marshmallow recipe that uses unrefined sugar for YEARS. About five years ago, a friend and I tried a recipe that called for brown rice syrup. We were disappointed by the result. It was a gooey, sticky, brown mess that didn't resemble marshmallows AT ALL.

Yesterday, while searching for something totally different, I stumbled across Volcanic Nectar's link for an agave marshmallow recipe, complete with instructional video. I couldn't believe how easy it looked, so I tried it immediately. It worked beautifully. Last night we had stevia hot chocolate, and each of us got an amazingly delicious marshmallow in our mug.

In the past I've wanted to make fudge, but have found that many of the best recipes have marshmallows or marshmallow creme in them. Now I can try making fudge thanks to this fantastic marshmallow recipe!

Check out the fluffy goodness!

Halloween Candy

This year I've been working on some special treats for my boys that they will enjoy on Halloween. We will have candy bars and taffy, made without any refined sugar. They've already sampled the goods, but the bulk of it is packed away until Halloween.

For the candy bars, I used the Legally Raw Bar recipe from The Daily Raw Cafe. I had to make a few changes, the biggest being that I used peanuts instead of the mixture of cashews and almonds, since my son is severely allergic to cashews. I used agave instead of honey, and I didn't put any sweetener in the caramel part, since I thought it was already sweet enough with the dates. These bars taste like a cross between a Mounds bar and a Reese's peanut butter cup. They're great! I think if I made them again, though, I would melt grain sweetened chocolate chips mixed with some coconut oil and use that for the chocolate coating. The coating in this recipe is very tasty, but it doesn't harden up even after being in the freezer. If you want your bar to have a solid, non-messy coating, you might want to do the same.

For the taffy, I used a really neat recipe using brown rice syrup found at HeidiLogic. Some friends joined us and we had our very own Taffy Pull. It was so much fun. We made three different flavors - peppermint, almond, and orange. I recommend using a lot of flavoring if you really want to taste it. We did small amounts of each and wished we'd added more. I'd say a tablespoon would be a good amount.

I'm storing the candy bars in the freezer and the taffy in a glass jar on the counter. It will be fun to give the boys some special candy on Halloween!

Creamsicle Cupcakes

I apologize for my lack of blogging recently. The good news is that while I haven't been blogging, I've been discovering lots of amazing recipes and trying them out on my family. I've also been doing some writing for Associated Content. I'll post links to some of my health-related articles soon.

The first new recipe I'd like to introduce was created by Lauren over at Healthy Indulgences. If you haven't been to her blog, prepare yourself. You're going to want to go out and buy ingredients for every recipe she has on there. It's filled with incredible and inventive recipes. I've tried three of her recipes so far, and all three have met and exceeded my expectations, which is actually a pretty rare occurrence for me. Usually when I find "healthy" recipes on-line, I get my hopes way up only to find them dashed when the food doesn't turn out the way I imagined. Lauren's recipes are a different story.

I recently made her Creamsicle Cupcakes. And what a hit they were with my family! I loved making them. They were so unique, and I loved the fact that the recipe includes two entire oranges, peel and all. I had never boiled oranges before. It was a cool experience.

Here are the changes I made to the recipe:

#1 - I used Bob's Red Mill Gluten free flour mix instead of the almond meal (Toosht can't have tree nuts). This flour worked wonderfully in the recipe.

#2 - I used 1/2 c. agave nectar instead of the mixture of stevia and erythritol for my sweetener, and this worked great as well.

#3 - Again, with the orange puree and the cream cheese frosting, I used agave (to taste) instead of stevia. I was pleased with the results

**Lauren's focus is to make her recipes low-carb. I greatly appreciate this since I don't like to OD on carbs. The changes I made to the recipe made the carb count quite a bit higher, so just take that into consideration when you are eating them!

The Versatile All-Day Snack Cake

My husband created a cake recipe that is definitely a family favorite. We literally eat some version of this cake everyday. He makes a couple batches in the morning, and we get to eat it at meals and snacks all day long. It's so nice to have tasty cake whenever we want it. This is not a birthday-style cake. This is a slightly sweet cake that you can spread cream cheese or butter on. This recipe is so great because there are several different ways to make it. We alternate each day so that we eat a variety of grains in our diet. It is a key way that we avoid eating a lot of wheat. This recipe is also egg and dairy free.

Buckwheat Cake
(This is a thick, hearty cake that tastes great with peanut butter or cream cheese, or just by itself. One of our favorite ways to eat it is to mix extra virgin olive oil with organic peanut butter. We break up a piece of buckwheat cake into the mixture and allow the pieces to soak. Then we eat it from the bowl.)

Preheat the oven to 400º.

Place a stoneware or Pyrex baking dish (approx. 8x11) in the oven (while it is heating up) with a small strip of olive oil (enough to cover the bottom and sides once it's hot).

Meanwhile, mix together:
2 cups buckwheat flour
1 tsp salt
4 tsp baking powder

Then:
Pour in 2 cups water.
Pour in 1/4 cup olive oil.
Pour in 1/4 cup agave.
**Optionally you can add a 1 tsp. vanilla extract or 1 tsp. lemon extract

Stir everything together thoroughly, especially the bottom where dry flour collects.

Pull out the heated stoneware from the oven.

Pour mixture into the stoneware. It should pour easily like cake batter.

Bake for 16-18 minutes.

Makes 8 servings. (28 carbs per serving)


Barley Cake (with Barley Ginger variation and Barley Chocolate variation)
(This is reminiscent of an English pudding cake. It is very much like a pudding in the middle, with a crisp outer crust. We like to melt butter on top of this and eat it warm.)

Preheat the oven to 400º.

Place a stoneware or Pyrex in the oven (while it is heating up) with a small strip of olive oil (enough to cover the bottom and sides once it's hot).

Mix together:
2 cups barley flour
1 tsp salt
4 tsp baking powder

Then:
Pour in 2 cups water
Pour in 1/4 cup safflower oil.
Mix in 2 tsp. stevia powder.

***To make the Barley Ginger Cake, add 1/8 c. ginger powder (and less than this if you don't like as strong of a ginger taste).

***To make the Barley Chocolate Cake, add 1/8 c. cocoa powder.

Stir everything together thoroughly, especially the bottom part where dry flour collects.

Pull out the heated stoneware.

Pour mixture into the stoneware. It should be slightly thick, and you will need to spread it out with a spatula.

Bake for 16 minutes

Makes 8 servings. (19 carbs per serving)

Note: This cake stays very pudding-like in the middle even when it's done.


Rye Cake
(This cake is thinner than the buckwheat cake but has a wonderful flavor and texture, also very good with cream cheese on top.)

Place a stoneware or Pyrex in the oven (while it is heating up) with a small strip of olive oil (enough to cover the bottom and sides once it's hot).

Meanwhile, mix together:
2 cups rye flour
1 tsp salt
4 tsp baking powder

Next:
Pour in 1 3/4 cups water (add slightly more if too thick).
Pour in 1/4 cup olive oil.
Pour in 1/4 cup agave.
**Optionally you can add a 1 tsp. vanilla extract.

Stir everything together thoroughly, especially the bottom part where dry flour collects.

Pull out the heated stoneware.

Pour mixture into the stoneware. You may need to spread it out with a spatula.

Bake for 16-18 minutes.

Makes 8 servings. (31 carbs per serving)

Sloppy Beef

My husband spends just as much time in the kitchen as I do. By his own choosing, he makes a big, warm breakfast for us everyday. When the kids and I get up in the morning after he has already left for work, our breakfast is waiting for us in the warmer drawer. We are so spoiled! One of the many bonuses of having a cooking husband is that he enjoys experimenting and creating his own dishes. He's more daring than I am. Some of his experiments end up becoming family favorites. One such experiment was Sloppy Beef. (Yes, he names his experiments too!) My boys loved the sound of this meal, and so before they even tried it they thought it seemed cool. When they actually tasted it, they loved it. I feel like laughing every time I say "We're having Sloppy Beef for dinner." and it's even funnier hearing my two-year-old say "Mommy, I want some more Sloppy Beef!" This recipe came about one Saturday evening when I was exhausted from the week and from taking care of a new baby along with my two boys. All we had in the fridge, pretty much, was a pound of grass-fed ground beef, so my husband cheerily sent me to sit down and said he'd whip up a dinner for us. Sloppy Beef was the result. In case you ever need a quick, easy meal that even kids love (at least ours do!), here's the recipe.

Sloppy Beef

1 lb. ground beef (or other ground meat)
water
minced onions
garlic powder
parsley
thyme
basil
marjoram
oregano
pepper
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/4 c. rye or buckwheat or oat flour
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 Tbsp. agave

Heat a pan on medium with 1/2 c. water.
Once the water is boiling, crumble the ground meat into the pan.
Brown the meat by letting it sit with the lid on, stirring occasionally.
Once meat is browned, drain liquid.
Add another 1/2 c. water and stir into meat.
Add several shakes of minced onion flakes (or 1 large onion, chopped and sauteed).
Shake in your desired amount of the other spices.
Grind in some fresh pepper (3-4 grinds).
Add another 1/2 c. water.
Add 1/2 tsp. salt.
Add 1/4 c. flour and stir into meat. Evenly distribute meat throughout the pan and cover the lid.
Turn heat down to medium low.
Let simmer for 3-4 minutes.
Stir in 1 Tbsp. olive oil and 1 Tbsp. agave.
Cover again and let simmer approx. 4-5 minutes.

Serve in bowls with spoons.

Note: You can add or remove spices as desired in this recipe. Put in what you like! Also, you can add more agave if you want it sweeter. We find 1 Tbsp. per lb. of meat to be just right for us.

Sweet Mustard Dressing

I like to make my own sauces and dressings in order to avoid unwanted additives and refined sugars. Here is my favorite salad dressing recipe:

Sweet Mustard Dressing

6 Tbsp. cold-pressed extra virgin olive oil
2 Tbsp. dijon mustard (any mustard you have on hand will work fine)
2 Tbsp. organic apple cider vinegar (you can substitute a variety of other vinegars if needed - organic white distilled vinegar and white wine vinegar have worked for me in a pinch)
2 Tbsp. agave nectar or honey
1 garlic clove, crushed

Place all ingredients in a container with a tight-fitting lid and shake vigorously until well-blended. Store in refrigerator and shake before using.

Sand Cups for a Pirate Party

For Toosht's 2nd birthday yesterday, we had a pirate theme and I made Sand Cups for the dessert. I used chocolate pudding for the bottom layer, a homemade version of Cool Whip (my sister's recipe) for the middle layer, and crushed Barbara's Vanilla Snackimals animal cookies for the top "sand" layer. Colorful paper umbrellas were the finishing touch. I thought the Sand Cups were great, but they seemed almost too sweet to me. In the future a variation I may try will be to use plain whipped heavy cream rather than the Cool Whip recipe. It was rich and sweet and maybe didn't need to be so sweet with the already sweet chocolate pudding and crushed animal cookies. My boys and my guests didn't seem to mind the sweetness, however!

CHOCOLATE PUDDING

2 cups whole milk
1/2 cup agave nectar
1/3 cup cocoa powder
4 teaspoons arrowroot powder (or cornstarch)
3 large egg yolks
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon sea salt

Sift (so as to avoid clumps) the cocoa into a saucepan, then add 1 1/2 cups of the milk and the agave. Bring to a simmer, over medium-high heat. Remove from the heat.

Meanwhile, whisk the remaining 1/2 cup of the milk, arrowroot powder, salt, egg yolks, and vanilla in a bowl. Gradually whisk the hot mixture into the egg mixture. Return to the saucepan and cook over medium-high heat whisking constantly, until the pudding comes to a full boil. Reduce the heat to maintain a simmer, and continue whisking until thick, about 2 or 3 minutes more.

Pour the pudding into 6 small cups. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or ideally overnight until set.

(Note: I doubled the pudding recipe in order to have enough for everyone at the party.)

HOMEMADE COOL WHIP

1 c. heavy cream, whipped
10-12 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/2 c. agave nectar

Cream together cream cheese and agave. Add the already whipped heavy cream and mix until combined. Chill until ready to use.

A note about Barbara's Snackimals... the only flavor without cane sugar is the Vanilla flavor.

Bug Birthday Party

Toosht's 2nd birthday is coming up this weekend, and I'm remembering the bug-themed party we threw for him last year. DH and I spent a couple of hours the night before the party decorating each bug cupcake uniquely with our naturally colored frosting. We used Panda licorice pieces for the bug heads. The cupcakes themselves were made using Martha Stewart's chocolate cake recipe (plus my modifications). We cut off the tops of the cupcakes, split the tops in half, and then put them back on the cupcake bases to resemble wings. To do the dots and lines with the frosting, we cut off the corners of plastic sandwich bags and squeezed the frosting out through the holes.

We also did a batch of cupcakes that were frosted normally, with white cream cheese frosting, and then we placed pretend frogs and bugs on top of them. I sewed a very simple tablecloth to add to the theme.



There were hors d'oeuvres too. We served ants on a log (celery topped with peanut butter and raisins), caterpillars (jack cheese, grapes, and carrots for the antennae), and lady bugs (dates and cherry tomatoes).

This was such a memorable party (for me, anyway!). It was so much fun preparing all these buggy treats in celebration of my precious little guy's first year of life.

Christmas Morning Cinnamon Rolls

I've tried several cinnamon roll recipes over the past few years, and none of them were as good as I hoped they would be... until last year when I found a recipe on the Food Network. My sister and I have made these rolls more than once now, and while they do take a lot of preparation, they are so amazingly good for special occasions. I'm not sure why this recipe is better than the others I tried. I'm wondering if the trick is with the use of egg yolks.

Here were our cinnamon rolls on Christmas morning '07!


The recipe is here. Below are the modifications I made to the recipe.

For the dough I used:

1/4 c. agave nectar in place of the 1/4 c. sugar in the dough.

6 oz. goat milk + 3/4 Tbsp. white distilled vinegar in place of the buttermilk.

unbleached flour in place of all-purpose flour

sea salt in place of kosher salt

Also, a tip I got from my friend Leah, who is a culinary genius, is to use dental floss to cut the dough (instead of a serrated knife). The floss creates a really clean cut and is much easier than a knife.

For the filling I used:

1/2 c. agave nectar in place of 1 c. brown sugar

For the icing I used:

3 Tbsp. heavy cream (organic/raw cow or goat milk would've been fine here) in place of 3 Tbsp. milk

agave nectar to taste in place of 1 1/2 c. powdered sugar (I used MUCH less than 1 1/2 c. agave here... it doesn't take much agave to make the icing very sweet.)

Agave Nectar

I've had several people ask me for more information about agave in recent months. For a great overview about agave, I recommend reading Debra Lynn Dadd's write up on it here.

Agave is one of my favorite natural sweeteners because it tastes very much like sugar in recipes. It is a liquid, so it does behave a bit differently than granulated sugar. I usually use 3/4 c. agave for every 1 c. sugar in a recipe. Sometimes I'll go as low as 1/2 c. agave per 1 c. sugar, but I tend to prefer things less sweet.

I also like agave because it doesn't spike insulin the way refined sugars do.

As for where to get agave, you can find it at health food stores, but it's expensive. The cheapest way we have found to buy it is to order a case of it from Amazon. We usually buy Madhava Raw Agave Nectar. You can also order in bulk from Agavebythecase. On that site you enter in the products you are interested in buying and they e-mail you a quote for how much it would cost, shipping included.

At this time, according to Debra Lynn Dadd, Mexico is the only country that produces agave nectar (some have asked if it's possible to find agave produced in the U.S.).

Fantastic Cranberry Sauce

I've always loved cranberry sauce, and this year I made some using agave nectar. Wow, it was delicious, and SO easy to make. We didn't have any cranberry sauce left over after Thanksgiving dinner. I ended up making an entire new batch so that we would have it to go along with our other Thanksgiving leftover foods!

Cranberry Sauce

1 bag fresh cranberries
1 c. water
3/4 c. agave nectar

Place cranberries, water and agave in a saucepan. Bring to a boil and continue boiling for 5-7 minutes until the cranberries have popped and sauce has thickened. Stir several times while the mixture is boiling. Allow to cool, then refrigerate.

A Chocolate Cake Recipe for All Occasions

Martha Stewart has a fantastic chocolate cake recipe that I have altered to fit my family's preferences. This cake can be used to make sheet cakes, frosted birthday cakes, cupcakes and more.

Here are my changes to the recipe:

*Instead of all-purpose flour, use unbleached flour.
*Instead of 3 c. sugar, use 2 or 2 1/2 c. agave nectar (I tend to use the smaller amount and the cake is still plenty sweet).
*Instead of buttermilk, use plain organic yogurt, OR use goat milk, organic milk, or raw milk with an added tablespoon of vinegar.
*Instead of vegetable oil, use virgin coconut oil (high oleic safflower oil would work well too).

I usually use my basic cream cheese frosting recipe when I frost this cake.

Cream Cheese Frosting

8 oz. cream cheese
1/2 c. butter, softened
4 T. honey or agave
1 t. vanilla

Beat cream cheese and butter until fluffy. Beat in honey or agave. Add vanilla.

For Tie-Dye's birthday last year I made a lion cake using this recipe. I got the lion idea from Martha Stewart's website as well. She used buttercream frosting to do the lion's face, and licorice for the whiskers. I just whipped up some organic heavy cream, liquid stevia, and natural yellow food coloring for the base of the lion's face and in between the two cake layers, and then used cream cheese frosting for the mane and face.



Tomorrow is Tie-Dye's 4th birthday, so today I will be making chocolate cupcakes. I'm going to try a little experiment and turn them into Chocolate Cheesecake Cupcakes. For the cheesecake filling I will use 6 oz. softened cream cheese, 1/4 c. agave nectar, 1 egg and 1/8 tsp. sea salt. I hope they turn out!

***As a side note I wanted to let you know that my posts may continue to be less frequent than usual this month and next, not only because it's a busy time of year with birthdays and holidays, but because I'm now 9 months pregnant and my baby is due in 23 days! Once the baby has arrived and we're all settled I should be able to resume more regular posts. Thanks for your patience!

Another Pumpkin Recipe

Here is another recipe we have been enjoying this season. I like it because you can really taste the pumpkin, and it's so moist.

Pumpkin Bars (aka Pumpkin Cake)

4 eggs
1 c. agave nectar
1 c. virgin coconut oil
1 can (15 oz.) pumpkin
2 c. unbleached flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. sea salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

In a bowl, mix the eggs, agave, oil and pumpkin until light and fluffy. Separately, mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Stir into the pumpkin mixture until thoroughly combined.

Spread the batter evenly into an ungreased 9x13 dish. Bake for 25 minutes in preheated oven.

These can be enjoyed plain or topped with whipped cream cheese, or topped with a cream cheese frosting. Enjoy!

Lil' Pumpkin Cakes

Last year we started what I hope will be a new tradition, when we ate cute mini pumpkin cakes after our trip to the pumpkin patch. It was the perfect way to end our lovely autumn day.

These cakes are so much fun to make! To get the round pumpkin shape, I used the mini fluted stoneware pan by Pampered Chef (which I don't see on their website right now, so I don't know if it's available any longer). However, you can use any mini-bundt style pan, or use two regular sized bundt pans and make one big pumpkin cake. You may need to adjust your baking time for larger cakes.

Lil' Pumpkin Cakes

1 1/2 c. agave nectar
1/2 c. unsweetened organic applesauce
1/2 c. cold pressed olive oil or organic virgin coconut oil
1 tsp. vanilla
2 cups canned pumpkin
4 eggs
2 c. unbleached flour
3 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. sea salt
2 tsp. ground cinnamon

**Cream cheese frosting and natural orange food coloring (see Jack-O-Lantern cookie post for frosting recipe)

**Cinnamon sticks and fresh mint leaves for decoration.

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour mini-fluted pan. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Set aside.

In large bowl combine agave, apple sauce and oil. Blend in vanilla and pumpkin, then beat in eggs one at a time. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Spread batter into prepared pan/pans.

Bake in preheated oven for 30-40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cakes comes out clean. Allow to cool.

After cakes have cooled, place one cake upside down and spread a good layer of frosting on the flat part that is facing up. The frosting should act like glue so that when you set another cake right side up on top of the first cake, they will stick together. Then frost over the "pumpkin" shape until covered as desired.

Cut a cinnamon stick into small pieces and stick into the center of each cake to make the "stem." Garnish with fresh mint leaves for the "vine."

Happy baking, and Happy Fall!

Jack-O-Lantern Cookies

October is here! This time of year I start thinking about the great scents and tastes of the season. Pumpkin is one of my favorites. I enjoy coming up with special treats for my family to match the time of year. Last year I made these jack-o-lantern cookies and will most definitely make them again.

To make the cookies, use the Sugar Cookie recipe from Sweet Savvy and cut them out with a pumpkin shaped cookie cutter. Once you have baked the cookies, you can use any frosting recipe you like. I prefer to use a simple cream cheese/butter recipe:

Cream Cheese Frosting

8 oz. cream cheese
1/2 c. butter, softened
4 T. honey or agave
1 t. vanilla

Beat cream cheese and butter until fluffy. Beat in honey or agave. Add vanilla.

Color the frosting to your liking using Seelect Natural orange flavoring.

You can frost the cookies and leave them as plain pumpkins, or you can use grain-sweetened chocolate chips to create the jack-o-lantern faces.

PB (&J!) Cookies

My friend Leah gave me this great natural peanut butter cookie recipe. I made them last night when we had company and they were a hit, as usual!

Peanut Butter Jam Jams

3/4 c. natural sweetener (brown rice syrup, agave nectar, or honey, or a combination - I did 1/2 c. agave and 1/4 c. brown rice syrup)
1/2 c. butter
1/2 c. natural sugar free peanut butter (preferably organic)
1 T. milk or cream
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 egg
1 3/4 c. unbleached flour or whole wheat pastry flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
Fruit jam or jelly (100% fruit, no sugar added)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Combine butter, peanut butter and sweetener in saucepan and heat until butter is melted. Remove from heat and mix well, adding milk and vanilla. Whisk in egg.

In separate bowl mix together flour, baking soda and salt. Pour butter mixture into flour mixture and stir until smooth and combined.

Drop heaping tablespoons full of cookie dough onto ungreased cookie sheet or stone. Using your thumb, make a gentle impression in the center of each cookie. (If the dough is sticking, try wetting your thumb.) Fill each impression with a small amount of jam or jelly, using a small spoon.

Bake for 10-15 minutes.

Yum Yum!

My Favorite Ketchup Recipe

Ketchup was another item we initially gave up when we started our healthier lifestyle, but I soon found that Whole Foods carried a ketchup that was fruit-sweetened. I liked it and we bought it several times, but it was very expensive, and Whole Foods is quite a drive, so I learned to do without it.

Then I came across a wonderfully simple ketchup recipe that was easily altered to fit our diet. I love this recipe! When I make it I like to double the recipe, pour it into three different glass jars (that I've collected over time from other condiments), freeze two of the jars and keep one in the fridge. I have been making it more and more now that I have a child who likes sauces of all kinds.

Give it a try and see what you think!

Easy Homemade Ketchup

8 oz. sugar-free tomato sauce
6 oz. sugar-free tomato paste
2 Tbsp. white vinegar
1/4 c. agave

Mix all ingredients and refrigerate (freeze any extra). Refrigerated ketchup should stay fresh for about a week.

Oreos

This summer Tie-Dye participated in our church's Vacation Bible School week. As is my custom before my kids attend an event, I found out in advance that they would be having snacks in their classroom each evening, most likely cookies. I was a craft teacher for the preschool classes, so I decided I'd pack some cookies for Tie-Dye and then just scope out what kind were being provided for the rest of his class. They were given Oreos and some sort of yellow powder mix drink. The first night, Tie-Dye had the cookies I brought for him and his water. The following day I searched all over for a homemade Oreo cookie recipe and finally combined a couple different recipes and altered some things until I came up with this:

Homemade Oreo Cookies (aka Faux-Reos)

COOKIES:

• 1 cup agave nectar
  

• 3/4 cup unsalted butter

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1 large egg

• 1 tablespoon water

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 3 cups unbleached all- purpose flour

• 3/4 cup cocoa powder

FILLING:

• 8 oz. cream cheese, softened
  

• 1/2 c. butter, softened
  

• 4 T. agave nectar
  

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. In a medium-sized mixing bowl, cream together the agave and butter. Add the salt, egg, water, and vanilla and beat until smooth. Beat in the flour and cocoa until well combined; the dough should be very stiff.

2. Roll the dough into balls about the size of a shelled chestnut, or a “shooter” marble - the big marble you use to shoot at the little ones. Place the balls on parchment-lined or lightly greased cookie sheets and flatten each ball until it’s 1/8 inch thick, using the bottom of a glass dipped in cocoa powder. You may also use a cookie stamp, for a more realistic faux-reo effect. To get a nice crisp cookie, it’s important to press them thin use a ruler on the first one so you can see just how thin 1/8 inch is. (If you press them thinner than 1/8 inch, you run the risk of having them burn.) Place the baking sheets in the refrigerator to chill the dough for 30 minutes.

3. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Bake the cookies for 18 minutes or until done. It’s important to bake them just the right amount of time: too little and they won’t crisp properly; too much and they’ll scorch. Watch them closely at the end of the baking time, and at the first sign of darkening edges or first whiff of scorching chocolate, remove them from the oven immediately: Remove the cookies from the baking pans and cool them completely on a wire rack.

4. To make the filling: Beat cream cheese and butter in mixer bowl until fluffy. Beat in agave to taste. Add vanilla and mix well.

The batch made a little over 100 wafers, so I could have technically made 50 Oreo sandwiches.

I just made Oreo sandwiches as needed and kept the rest of the plain chocolate wafers in the fridge for DH and the boys to snack on. They loved the cookies both ways.

Also, the recipe says to chill the dough in the fridge for 30 minutes, which I didn't do. The hardest part was pressing them out with the bottom of a glass because sometimes they would stick. I had to keep putting lots of cocoa powder on the bottom of the glass to help them not stick as much.

Tie-Dye was very pleased to have his special Oreos each night. On the second night, immediately after the children finished their cookies and drinks, three different children complained of tummy aches. One boy actually had to lie down and we had to get his dad to pick him up early. This was yet another confirmation to me that the packaged, processed foods our children are exposed to are not good for their little bodies.