Snow fun and Ice Cream

So it is the middle of April in Wisconsin, A week ago it was in the 70's and a week from now it is supposed to be in 60s. However, yesterday and today it is like this.

It started snowing yesterday, and we have gotten about 6 inches. It went from total Spring loveliness to this. Kind of sad, kind of beautiful. This is Wisconsin for you though. It can snow well into May.

Our puppy, who is getting huge, and being a winter puppy is in heaven. She was missing the snow. Allie was so happy to. It was perfect playing snow. Fairly warm outside, and big, heavy, fluffy flakes. They played outside for over an hour.

They had so much fun, and Allie did her favorite thing. She ate tons of snow. She absolutely loves it. That gave me an idea. I wanted to make snow ice cream all winter, but kept forgetting about it. This was perfect, fresh snow, and a little girl who loves to eat it.

Here is the recipe I used. I found it on-line by typing in snow ice cream recipe. Anywho,

1 gallon fresh snow
1cup sugar
1 T vanilla
2 cups milk
makes 8 servings

Gather the snow, and add all of the other ingredients. Mix it all together, and serve. Super easy, and really super yummy. We put chocolate sauce on it. My husband would not eat it though. He said he will not eat dirty water. He thinks anything that falls from the sky is dirty. I can see he logic, but well I still am going to eat it.

Well that was our evening yesterday. I have been working on tons of projects lately. Hopefully I will get better about posting and show you some. Have a great day.

God Bless,
Shelly

Cabbage and Turkey Sausage or "Homeless Shelter Food"

I got married almost 10 years ago, and in those 10 years I have kind of learned to like cooking. Since I have Celiac Disease, and need to eat gluten free that has become a basic necessity. The thing I hate though, and will to my dying day is grocery shopping. Especially with no plan. A couple of years ago I discovered a website calledwww.e-mealz.com. It is awesome. Every week you get a list of meals and the grocery list. They try to keep it to a certain budget. There are tons of plans to choose from, and recently they added a gluten free plan. Yeah! I used to just take a regular plan and substitute gluten free items in, but this works better. My daughter and I have to eat gluten free, my poor husband has to go along for the ride. Honestly, most things taste just fine, and he is a little picky. He has realized just to be happy that I cook now, and don't insist on going out to eat all of the time.

One of the meals this week was a cabbage and turkey sausage thing. I love cabbage, but I have not had it at all since we have been married. My father-in-law was over the night I made this too, and my husband said that his dad and himself hate cabbage. I was like well then you will have to go get something else because this is what I made. It was on my list. They both said they would try it. Right before we ate it, my hubby said it looked like food from a homeless shelter :) I said if it is good enough for them, then it is good enough for us.


you be the judge:)

Well after we all tried it, the verdict was that it was pretty good. My father-in-law said the cabbage he had growing up was always soggy. This was just steamed slightly so slightly crunchy. We all kind of liked it. My daughter and I really liked it. The boys endured. Anyway, it made for a good laugh.

Just so you know, I do not get paid by E-mealz for the endorsement. They really are a wonderful company, and I love my life with them.

Have a Happy Thursday,
Shelly

Gluten Free Lemon Cake Bread and H.O.T. Mamma Night

Holy Cold Friday everyone. I don't know what it is like where you are, but here it is freezing. When I got up this morning it was -20 degrees F, and that without the windchill. With the wind chill it felt more like -40 F. Want to move to Wisconsin? I actually like it, as long as I can be inside where it is warm. My poor hubby has to be outside in it, so I feel bad for him. Thankfully, winter is not forever so we will manage.
I am so excited for tonight. Some of my awesome girlfriends have put together a monthly night for us to get out. We call it the H.O.T. Mamma Group, or Horribly Over Tired Mamma Group. I am not horribly over tired, but that is because I only have one kid. Most of my friends have three or more so they are. However, I love to get out with the girls. We are going to one of those Japanese restaurants where they cook your food in front of you. Love that place. Then we are going over to my sis-in-laws house for snacks and games. I can't wait. Since I have to live the gluten free lifestyle, and so do my sisters, I always bring something that I know we can have.

Betty Crocker is my favorite lady. They came out about a year ago with some cake mixes, brownie mix, and cookie mix. They are great alone, but on their website they have some great recipes that you can make using these basics. For tonight I made the
Gluten Free Lemony Yellow Cake Bread

Looks so yummy to me. The house smells great. My husband might even eat this if their our leftovers. He will not normally eat my gluten free stuff, but he loves lemon so he just might. Here is the recipe from their website.
1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 8X4 aluminum loaf pan


2.Follow directions on box for cake. Add two teaspoons of lemon extract and 1/4 cup of poppy seeds to batter. Mix well.

3.Pour cake mixture into loaf pan.

4.Bake for about 50 minutes at 350 degrees.

5.Allow cake to cool in the pan on a rack.

6.Frost the cooled cake with a Lemon Glaze:1 cup of confectioner's sugar, 1/2 stick of softened butter,1 teaspoon of lemon extract, 1/8 cup of poppy seeds and water as needed (for icing consistency)

7.Drizzle the Lemon Glaze over the entire cake

I will let you know how it tastes. I hope you have a great weekend, and happy crafting. I have some great plans for the weekend.

Picnik and Udi's Bread

Good Morning Everyone!

Today I am going to share with you a couple of items that I love. I love tips from others, and I actually heard about these products from other blogs. I have tried them my self and totally agree.

The first item is for those of you that have to stick to a gluten-free diet. I have mentioned before that I have Celiac Disease. It is a condition that causes my body to be intolerant to gluten(wheat,rye, barley, and sometimes oats). I have know that I have had this for about 4 1/2 years now, and things have come a long way. Bread is difficult. How a long for a soft, spongy, peanut butter and jelly sandwich. I have a couple of homemade loaves that I like, but in regards to store bought the best is Udi's. Many stores carry it, or  you can buy it online at http://udisglutenfree.com/. I have tried many different kinds and this is by far the best in my opinion. It still is not exactly what I have dreamed, but it is as close as I think I will get.

The next item I am going to tell you about is actually a website for picture editing. I use it for most of my picture editing. The site is www.picnik.com. It is wonderful. You can sign up for a free account. With this you can do so many things, but for a very small fee you can upgrade to a premium account and do so much more. Check them out.

Just so you know, neither of these companies are paying me to say these things. This is just totally my opinion, and I just wanted to share. Hope you like them.

I will be getting together with my aunt today to do some crafting, and later today I will be going through some second hand clothes from my other aunt. I will have some fun things to show you tomorrow. Have a great day.

Shelly

Donuts and Doggy Training

A little over four years ago, I was diagnosed with Celiac Disease. It is an intolerance to gluten which is basically found in wheat, rye, barley, and sometimes oats. Basically everything. They have come a long way in these four years with what is available in our small town. Most things you can get, but they can  be expensive. The thing I miss the most is a good donut. There is a company that makes some, but they come frozen and a thawed donut is just not the same. For Christmas, I got a mini donut maker from the adult gift exchange on my husband's side. It even came with seven recipes. This is a heaven sent blessing. Sometimes taking a recipe that is not gluten free and making it so can turn out weird, but  this was wonderful.

                                           I made a chocolate glaze for them too. Yum Yum!

                                                 This is the wonderful new contraption.

                                              This is who makes the thing; Bella Cucina


I used the Basic Donut Recipe from the instruction book that came with it.

1 cup flour ( I used Authentic Foods All Purpose Gluten-Free Flour the Classical Blend)
1/2 cup flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
4 tbsp cooking oil ( I used canola)

Stir dry ingredients together. Add egg, vanilla, and milk and beat 1 minute with mixer or by hand. Add oil and continue to beat for 1 minute more. Bake according to the machines directions. This made 25 mini donuts.

I then mixed 3 tbsp chocolate chips and 1 tbsp milk in bowl. Microwaved it for 3 intervals of 10 seconds for the glaze.

It was so delicious!  The kids thought so too.

                                             My niece, Leah   My nephew, Lincoln    My daughter, Allison


On another note, puppy training is going well. Josie already knows to ring the bell by the door to go outside, and goes potty outside most of the time. I know we have a long way to go, but I am pleased so far. She definitely has spunk, and loves to chew. I have told Allie a lot in the last few days, that if it is on the floor that it is far game for Josie. The floor is staying cleaner :)

I hope tomorrow to post some pictures and maybe a tutorial of a must have for a puppy in the cold, Wisconsin winter. Until then, have a good night, and God bless.