Blueberries, strawberries, and coconut-almond syrup on whole-wheat, crisp waffles.
My kids like to color pictures of flowers for the cemetery on Memorial Day Weekend. We started this tradition years ago. I print a bunch of line art flowers from the web, and the kids color them with markers while we drive to the cemetery. Continue reading
Since I am a potato farmer’s daughter, I make this potato salad for many picnics and get-togethers. Continue reading
My mother-in-law makes the best bread. In fact, she is famous among her neighbors for her delicious baked goods. Continue reading
Last year, my husband and four oldest children ran (or biked) in a 5 kilometer race. I was pregnant, and I stayed home with the littlest kids and planted the garden. Continue reading
A simple but sometimes forgotten snack.
Perhaps maybe it was all the muddy buddies I sampled a few days ago, but I am feeling ready to get healthy. One of the hardest things about eating dairy-free Continue reading
Muddy Buddies from the Dark Side…of chocolate, that is. I love dark, dark chocolate–like bitter chocolate. I think 85% chocolate is about perfect. I have been known to eat 100% bitter chocolate. You might think I am crazy, but I love the taste. Maybe it is just my inner-self, healthy-wanna-be calling out to avoid sugar that inspires me to like bitter chocolate; but whatever it is, I like it.
My 12-year-old learned how to make muddy buddies at school and wanted to make them for us at home. If somebody is willing to make you food, you say “Yes!” My son shares my love of dark chocolate. In order to make these less sweet and more dark chocolaty, we substituted half the powdered sugar for cocoa powder. It is divine.
One of the things I’m looking for when I share a dairy-free recipe is availability of ingredients. Non-dairy butters are sometimes hard to find or expensive. I hate being limited to one ingredient, so we made it again, trying four different oil products in the same recipe. Then, I did a blind taste test with the family to see if they could tell a difference and see what was their favorite. Here are the different oils: Nucoa buttery sticks, peanut butter oil, refined coconut oil, and canola oil. You can read about some of the fat options to replacing butter here, Replacing Butter.
Nucoa is typically what I use as a butter substitute. The muddy buddies are a little drier and less clumped than the other ones. Any flavoring in the margarine doesn’t stand out under all the chocolate.
Sausage and potatoes pair up for a quick and easy dinner, perfect for a busy night.
This dinner is for all the busy people out there: the moms who have three kids on three different soccer teams, the families with seven children, the dads whose kids think they can only cook cold cereal and toast, or you. It is family tested and approved. Continue reading
