Concoction #2 I Smell Apple Pie!

Well it smells like apple pie...

It tastes like apple pie...


But I did not make apple pie!

I made apple pie cookies! Yesterday. Not today, but don't be surprised if I do bake cookies before 9:30 am. It can happen!

They look and smell amazing!! 

The recipe is here: http://glutenfreeonashoestring.com/gluten-free-apple-pie-cookies/


These are one of the most delicious cookies I've ever made!!

I did experiment and tweak this recipe a tad due to my lactose intolerance/dairy free lifestyle.

That meant no white chocolate chips! ... =O Oh the horror!!

Also that meant no 10 tablespoons of butter..... Hot Damn! That's a lot of mother-freaking butter!

Instead I split it half & half between my butter substitute saviors: Earth Balance buttery spread and Coconut Oil.

I will admit it: I was totally scared to use the oil! I know it's a good fat substitute but I was silently freaking out that I might ruin these cookies that I've been dying to make! Especially since Nicole Hunn (author of Gluten Free on a Shoestring) advises against the tweaking of her recipes because her recipes have been perfected and if you mess with them there is a strong chance you will fail!

Well, I didn't fail! My mixture of butter and Coconut oil came out fine. And I think that with the chocolate chips these would have been too sweet.

I would like to try substituting some butterscotch chips if I could find them dairy free. It'd be like caramel apple pie! Can you say YUM?!

Scrumptious! 

Ryan even complimented on how good they were. And Ryan can be a tough cookie to crack! Or crumble? ;)

Oh and by the way, I should totally be a food photographer because aren't those the most beautiful cookie pictures you ever did see?!

Am I making you hungry yet?!

Enjoy your day dreaming of these beauties!

Concoction #1: Apple Butter

This morning I made my first batch of apple butter!

 I don't know when it happened, but I am officially a morning person!

Good morning!!

Gluten free German Pancake for breakfast!

Totally quick and easy! Definitely a new breakfast fave!

We're going to call this batch Experiment #1 because there are some things I will definitely do differently on the next batch.

For starters I will use a sweeter apple. I used Macintosh in this experiment. That is what we picked at the orchard last week and that is the apple I prefer to bake with, besides Granny Smith. But, alas, making apple butter is not baking and I was hoping for a sweeter taste. Although it's bitter I'm sure it will work great in recipes! I plan to try out an Apple cinnamon muffin recipe later or tomorrow and I am going to sub in my apple butter for the apple sauce in the recipe.

So a little side note: use a sweeter apple for apple butter!

*FYI: No, I will not give you the recipe because it is not mine to give. If you want the recipe please go visit glutenfreeonashoestring.com or search the Gluten Free On A Shoestring page. The woman is amazing! 

 The apples are in the cauldron!

Immediately my kitchen smelled Ah-mazing!

45 minutes later: "Wands at the ready... REDUCTO!"

Seriously, Harry Potter runs through my blood because these were my exact thoughts (and words because I like to think aloud to myself.)

Anyway, my apples reduced and were on the right track. A little while longer yet for it to thicken... and BAM!

I did it! I made apple butter!

It's a little chunky still. I would have dumped it in the blender and smoothed it out but I couldn't because I recently broke my blender, but I did whip it a little with the hand mixer and then stirred with a spoon to smooth. 

Defiantly some improvements to be made next time but this will definitely work in some recipes I plan to use. 

And I can't wait to make (hopefully) improved batches! 

Page Check!

The results are in! Check out the Journey to a Better Health page in the tabs to follow my health journey. And thank you for stopping by. This is still a work in progress but it will get there eventually right?!

Introduction... or somethin like that

Good morning! Welcome! Thanks for checking in!
A little intro will do for now. P.s. I am writing this on my kindle so excuse any auto-correct mishaps! All this touch screen Crap is really great and all but I dislike typing on anything but an actual keyboard.
I finally decided to start my blog! Yay! ... I have no idea what it's really going to be about so bare with me please. <was that the correct "bare"?
Okay enough of the hooplah.

     I'm kind of sick of the whole life on Facebook thing but of course I won't get rid of it. How else can I see everyone's kids pictures, laugh at their excitement over a dinner plate, keep in touch with people I never talk to and all the rest of the extreme entertainment it has to offer. I'm not judging, I'm guilty of half of that shit. But I do want my life off Facebook a little bit. Since I'm home now I figured I needed to get myself out there. And by out there I mean a different part of the internet because I really don't like to leave the house.

So... this is where you can see what's going on with me and mine. Or maybe I'm the only one who looks at this but that will be okay. Like I said, I'm at least putting myself "out there."

As the title says: this is just a little step into my world, my ever growing new world. Recently, I have made some lifestyle changes that have sent me on a new path. And for the most part I am really enjoying it. It pretty much all started because of this really crappy stomach/intestinal issue that I've been having (more about that later) that has gotten so severe I can't really do anything or go anywhere. Totally sucks! But because of this I've gotten to become (temporarily) an official stay at home mom, start a healthier diet regimen, and this has all led to a much happier mindset. I like it and I hope it sticks.