Ricemellow Crispy Bars

I made these for the kids for Thanksgiving because they can be made gluten and casein-free. They do, however, have soy in them.

I got the recipe from the Ricemellow Creme website. I doubled the recipe and I also melted some extra chocolate chips with a little bit of Spectrum Organic Shortening and then iced the bars with that.

It was a big hit with the kids. :)

Ricemellow Crispy Bars

2 generous cups Suzanne's Ricemellow Creme
1 Tbsp butter substitute
2 cups dairy-free chocolate chips
6 cups gluten-free crispy brown rice cereal

Heat butter or substitute in small saucepan.

Add Ricemellow Creme and stir until smooth.

In a separate bowl, combine cereal and chocolate chips.

Gently mix warm Ricemellow into cereal mixture.

Moisten hands and press into 13 x 9" pan.

Chill until firm.

Cut into squares; store in refrigerator.

Eczema Relief Salve

Poor JJ has had such a tough time dealing with eczema recently. I've tried everything, but I think that he has a food allergy/intolerance that is causing, or at least aggravating it.

I want to get him tested using Optimum Health Resource Laboratories but I just don't have the funds right now.

Until then, I'm keeping his skin well moisturized. JJ is very fussy about what I put on his skin. He doesn't like any creams, saying that all of them burn. I was using coconut oil mixed with some lavender essential oil, but he didn't like the oiliness. So, I made the following salve for him the other day. It seems to moisturize well, and it provides some relief from the itching. While I won't say that he likes it, he tolerates it. That's good enough for me!

Salve

2 parts shea butter
2 parts cocoa butter
1 part beeswax
1 part expeller pressed coconut oil or other natural oil
1 Vitamin E softgel capsule
Lavender Essential Oil (I use Young Living)

Melt shea butter, cocoa butter, beeswax, and coconut oil over low heat, stirring constantly. When everything has melted, remove from heat.

Using a sterilized needle, puncture the Vitamin E capsule and add the contents to the salve, stirring well. Stir in a few drops Lavender Essential Oil, adding more if desired.

Immediately pour into glass jars. Let cool and cover tightly.

Gluten-Free Play Dough

Play-Doh has gluten and dyes in it that affect JJ and GracieGirl, even if they're just touching it and not eating it. (I could be wrong, but to my knowledge, the only person in this house who currently tries to eat Play-Doh is E!) Anyway, we make our own gluten-free play dough. I really dislike the smell of Play-Doh, so I love the homemade stuff almost as much as the kids do! Sometimes we add a couple drops of lemon or orange essential oil, but we usually just make the plain old, regular variety!

Gluten-Free Play Dough

½ cup rice flour
½ cup cornstarch
½ cup salt
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 cup water
1 teaspoon oil
Natural food coloring, if desired
Extra rice flour

Mix all ingredients, except additional rice flour, in a medium saucepan.
Cook and stir over low heat for several minutes, until it forms a ball. When cool,
knead well, adding additional rice flour, if needed, until dough is no longer sticky.

Store in a zippered plastic bag. I keep ours in the refrigerator.

JJ made pepperoni pizza and spaghetti with play dough. I think that E messed up the spaghetti before I could get a picture, but that pizza looks good enough to eat!

W.M.E.S.

Yep, it's Worst Mom Ever Syndrome, and I've got it, big time.

First, of course, the excuses:

1. I was tired. I remember when I used to say I was tired. I was clueless. I had no idea what tired really was. Tired is when falling asleep at 2:00am is considered early. Tired is getting woken up, time and time again, by pain and by children, during the few hours that I'm actually in my bed. Tired is feeling nauseated and light-headed, solely because of lack of sleep.

2. I was in pain. Meals have not been going very well around here. Sometimes, I just want to be able to throw a pre-made dinner in the microwave and call it good, instead of having to make everything from scratch, all the time. Nick has had to make all of the meals, and between the cooking and taking care of the kids and me and the house, dinner is often really late, which doesn't make for happy kids or happy parents! So, yesterday, I decided to help out. I got up and made Italian Meatballs and put them in the crockpot. I made another crockpot full of BBQ Chicken. I made Sloppy Joes, and Ranch Dip, and cookies, and bread. Since I can't usually stand long enough to make half a meal, this was a huge undertaking, and despite sitting down every few minutes and rolling around in my desk chair on wheels whenever possible, I was paying dearly for my efforts. Ouch.

3. It was just a little bit hectic in the kitchen. I was trying to get ready to go on a date with Nick. Yep, we were going to the bank together. It may not sound too romantic, but compared to last week's date at the dentist's office, I was looking forward to it. So, our wonderful mother's helper was here, and her little sister was here, and it was too hot to go outside so they were all underfoot, and loud, and hungry.

That's when I was hit with W.M.E.S. I was doling out food to the poor, starving children...and I gave E a slice of bread. The bread is the only baked good that I still make that has eggs in it, since Jay loves it so much, and I just haven't come up with an egg-free version that doesn't resemble a brick!

So, I gave E the bread, with eggs in it, and E is allergic to eggs.

What's really sad is that I didn't even realize what I'd done until later, after the romantic trip to the bank, when I was putting the bread away! I looked at the bread, caught my breath, and went to tell Nick what, as Worst Mom Ever, I'd done.

Thankfully, thankfully, thankfully, E obviously didn't have a huge reaction. There are two eggs in the whole loaf of bread, and he sure didn't react the way he did when he actually ate a portion of scrambled eggs. He did get some hives, and this morning, he's still itching away. He's doing it with a smile on his face, though. Yes, he still loves me.

So, E is suffering with hives and I'm suffering with Worst Mom Ever Syndrome. I wonder which will last longer, his hives or my guilt...

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Gluten-Free Rice Flour Blend

3 cups brown rice flour (I use Lundberg Farms)
3 cups white rice flour (I buy from our local Asian or Indian grocery store)
2 cups potato starch (not flour)
1 cup tapioca starch

Mix all ingredients together with a large whisk. Store in refrigerator or freezer. Whisk or shake before using.

GFCF Pineapple Banana Muffins

GFCF Pineapple Banana Muffins

1 1/2 cups GF Rice Flour Blend*
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp xanthan gum
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp RealSalt
2 large eggs, beaten
1/2 cup Sucanat
1/4 cup rice milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup coconut oil, melted
2/3 cup crushed pineapple, drained
2 c well-mashed ripe banana

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, whisk together Rice Flour Blend, baking powder, baking soda, xanthan gum, cinnamon, and RealSalt.

In a smaller bowl, whisk together eggs, Sucanat, rice milk, vanilla extract, and coconut oil.

Stir wet ingredients into dry ingredients, mixing just until incorporated. Gently stir in pineapple and banana.

Grease muffin tins or line with foil (not paper) liners. Fill 2/3 full.

Bake 15-20 minutes for regular-sized muffins or 10-12 minutes for mini-muffins, until toothpick inserted in center of muffin comes out clean.

Remove muffins from tins and cool on wire racks.

*Rice Flour Blend

3 cups brown rice flour (I use Lundberg Farms)
3 cups white rice flour (I buy from our local Asian or Indian grocery store)
2 cups potato starch (not flour)
1 cup tapioca starch

Mix all ingredients together with a large whisk. Store in refrigerator or freezer. Whisk or shake before using.

They Think They're Donuts!

I make pumpkin muffins, bake them in my smallest mini-muffin pans, and then dust them in powdered sugar. My kids actually think that they're donut holes! Of course, it's been awhile since they've had "real" donuts, but I'm just happy that they like these. There's no wheat, gluten, dairy, eggs, or nuts in these, which also makes me happy!

Donut Holes

3 cups Sucanat (I use Wholesome Sweeteners brand)
1 cup oil (I use Wilderness Family Naturals expeller pressed coconut oil, melted)
1 29-oz can pumpkin puree
2/3 cup water
3 1/4 cups Rice Flour Blend (recipe below)
2 tsp sea salt
3 tsp baking soda
3 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp xanthan gum
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp powdered ginger
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
Wholesome Sweeteners Organic Confectioners' Sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare mini muffin pans with oil.

In a large bowl, combine Sucanat, oil, pumpkin puree, and water. Whisk until well mixed.

In a separate medium bowl, combine the flour blend, sea salt, baking soda, baking powder, xanthan gum, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and nutmeg.

Add dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, mixing well with a wooden spoon.

Fill muffin tins with prepared batter. I use a cookie scoop.

Bake for 12-15 minutes until they test done.

Roll in confectioners' sugar.

Store in an airtight container.

Rice Flour Blend

3 cups brown rice flour
3 cups white rice flour
2 cups potato starch (not flour)
1 cup tapioca starch

Mix together with a large whisk. Store in refrigerator or freezer and use as needed. Whisk or shake before using. Use in baked goods recipes calling for a GF flour blend.

I prefer to buy my rice flours in an Asian or Indian grocery store because the texture is much finer and less gritty than the rice flours I've tried from the health food store.  I just have to be careful to read labels for possible nut cross-contamination.