Gluten Free Graham Crackers made with oats

So I found this recipe a few weeks ago and thought, hmm how can I make these gluten free?  I miss Graham Crackers! Ya'll they turned out awesome, give it a try if you want something yummy to snack on, they are great on their own or covered in hazelnut chocolate butter....just saying :) They also freeze really well and are super easy slice and bake cookies to have on hand.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup gluten free oat flour (I just grind up oats in the coffee grinder (used only for making flours and spices) for this but you can also buy them) 
• 1½ cups all gluten free flour mix
• ½ cup dark brown sugar, packed
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1- 1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon 
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ½ cup butter, chilled & cubed
• ¼ cup honey
• ¼ cup water
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• optional: 1 tablespoon chia or flax seed (I used chia and it gave them a nice crunch)

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a food processor or mixer combine the first 6 ingredients. (If using chia or flax seed add here.)
3. Add cubed and chilled butter to the mix and pulse/mix until it resembles coarse meal.
4. Add honey, water and vanilla and continue to mix until it all combines.
5. Remove and shape the dough into a flat disk and place between two pieces of wax or parchment paper. (I found it easier to roll the dough w/o a sheet on top of the dough.)
6. Roll dough out until ¼ inch thick. Cut into crackers or shapes. Combine the dough scraps and roll out again to cut more shapes.
7. Place cookies on a Silpat or parchment lined baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes.
8. Cool and serve.

NOTES

To Freeze: After step 6, roll the dough into 2 tube shapes about the width of a 2-3 inch circle (or you can slice out some for now and then roll up the leftovers into one tube), wrap in wax paper and then place in a Ziploc bag, label and freeze for up to 4 months. When ready to bake, let defrost a little, slice into 1/4 inch circles and then follow steps 7-8.

Meal Planning and Food budgeting, oh my!

After two years in AmeriCorps I look at our current food budget and think I must be insane, we fed a team of 12 for much, much less a month then the 4 of us spend!  And, as the boys get bigger and their food intake increases, I am terrified of what will happen if we continue down this path.  The other main reason I am doing this is because Matt and I want to get the little we have on credit cards gone and get our overall spending more in control (hopefully start putting away for a rainy day or a vacation).  Since working is not a great option for me, with three kids and day care being so darn much, and since we love having me home with the boys, this is one way I can really contribute to the finances.  What are some other ways you stay-at-home moms help out?  I would love ideas. 

So I am embarking on the adventure of meal planning, limiting the food budget and still trying to eat whole, healthy, gluten free foods.  In that vein I have set a budget of $400 a month for all our food and have created a monthly meal plan.  I also want to start setting aside freezer meals for when the baby comes, so I plan on making extra soups and casseroles as I can.  We have two big addictions to regulate in order to do all this, the first is Eating Out (should be an easy fix, no more eating out) the second is fruit! I don't want to "fix" this but I do want to try eating more seasonably and more reasonably.  Lets just say I can't wait for the farmer's markets to open up around here. 

I found this cute meal planning worksheet online and have tried to include new and favorite meals on it.

 Some other small differences come from what I gave up for lent (buying treats at the grocery store, not so easy with pregnancy cravings) and the bread machine I got for Christmas (making your own GF bread really knocks costs down). The boys and I have been creating treats in the kitchen for the last month and I have been making GF bread products weekly as well.  I hope to continue to have the will power to do this and see where it all leads.  

Lastly, I am very ready to get a garden going, come on Spring! My little seedlings are going strong and I am excited to see what takes off this year.

I will try to get better about posting recipes again, It helps me to remember what we liked and how I made it and its always nice to share GF ideas.

Please leave me your favorite go to recipes if you have any!  I'm always on the hunt for simple, fast and healthy :) 

Easter! What a Week

Holy Week was very exciting this year.  Starting with Palm Sunday we had lost of fun getting ready for Easter Sunday.  

The church held an Easter egg hunt and activities for the parish children on Palm Sunday.  The morning started out rough but the afternoon was full of fun.

Orson got to decorate a cross

 play egg games

 won a cool rainbow streamer for winning said egg games

 color some Easter eggs

 Listen to Easter stories and the Easter Gospel

 and then go on an egg hunt

 Ferdinand found one too

 Then on Good Friday, I made GF Hot Cross buns (but forgot to take a picture) They turned out great, I used a new GF flour blend (C4C to make them) and changed the recipe a little (craisins for currants, more cinnamon, less cardamon and a lemon icing for the crosses. I think they will be a new Good Friday tradition in our home.  Later the Scarbrough family came over and we decorated Easter Eggs.

 We also played some dress up.  We love having the Scarbroughs in our lives and are so thankful for their friendships.

 On Saturday we took Matt's new truck out for an off road adventure with the local Land Cruiser club.

 I found so beauty in the day :)

 and Orson had so much fun that he actually took a nap on the way home

 Then we woke up to Easter Sunday.  The Easter Bunny left a little bit of fun for us

 Ferdinand was so excited for some new pacifiers!

 I made some Deviled eggs using Lynda's recipe and adding some pintrest style (Little cheepers)

 We cleaned up pretty well for church

 And then we headed over to the Scarbrough's house for Easter lunch and another egg hunt.

 Everyone was so fast it was hard to capture the hunt!

 Ferdinand just focused on finding his feet for this hunt

It was a lovely week and I feel very blest to have such an amazing family and new friends to share it with.

Baby Shower for a future Super Hero

Our very first couple friends, David and Annie (they met each other at the same time as Matt and I) are having their first baby!  We are so excited to have moved closer to D&A and I am so excited to share motherhood with Annie.  They are going to be amazing parents and to celebrate I planned a baby shower with her best friend from New York.  We decided on a Super Hero theme and ran with it.  The day went great and the dry run that I had the week before (yes my "mommy brain" confused the weekends and I had everything ready to go the week before the shower AND I made Matt and the boys drive all the way across town for no reason, yeah me) made the actual day a whole lot less stressful for me. 

The lovely mom to be

 

and my amazing co-host

 The decorations:

 Carrie found all sorts of cool comic books and posters to place all around

 

And I made Henry a wooden star banner and a superhero mobile for his nursery.  I also found and we a cool nursery rhyme comic book  for them to read to him. 

 Orson loved the yard, other kids and the dogs!!

 and Ferdinand loved all the attention

We also set up a onsie making station

 And for dessert I made some gluten free super hero rice crispy pops and peanut butter cookies, Russian tea cakes/Mexican wedding cookies (I added some almond extract to these, they are my new favorite) and Ice Box cookies rolled in red, yellow and blue sugar crystals.

It was so much fun and I can't wait for Henry to join us.