Gluten-Free Sugar Cookie Recipe 10/30/11

Today I tried making my first batch of Gluten-Free Sugar Cookies! It's been so long since I've have Sugar Cookies that I was eager to taste them. My friend Carolyn has much more experience on this and has told me that it will take some time to get use to this type of baking. I can tell she is right!

The Recipe called for 12-15min of bake time at 350F. After taking my cookies out I am sure it would have been better to have only baked them for about 10-11 min. and at a lower temperature. This batch came out very crunchy and a little too dark but still very tasty! 

All in all I think it was a success! I used Pamela's Baking and Pancake Mix 

Here is the link to Pamela's website with the Recipe below:

http://www.pamelasproducts.com/recipe/SugarCookies/477.aspx

Ingredients

1/2 cup butter or margarine (1 stick)
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
2-3/4 cups Pamela's Baking & Pancake Mix

Directions

Cream butter and sugar together, add egg and vanilla and beat together. Add Pamela's Baking & Pancake Mix. Wrap dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.


Roll out between two pieces of parchment paper until the dough is 3/8 to 1/4-inch thick. Cut out cookie shapes and place on a lightly greased cookie sheet. Leave space between the cookies, they will spread.


Bake at 350° for approximately 12-15 minutes, edges should be light brown. Let cookies cool slightly and use spatula to remove from cookie sheet; OR wrap and freeze dough, then slice and bake for fresh cookies in a 350° preheated oven for 14-17 minutes.


Ideas: Use egg white to wet tops of cookies and sprinkle colored sugar crystals on top before baking, or frost cookies with a mixture of powdered sugar, water, and food coloring after baking.


Note: brown flecks of almond meal will show in the cookies.

This Recipe is Linked to:

 

Beautify my Home Mondays-Homemade Cleaners 10/17/11

A couple of months ago I was at my friends Lauren's home for our monthly Keepers at Home meeting. The activity for the month was "How to make homemade cleaners". Lauren taught the girls and the moms how to make homemade Soft Scrub and an All Purpose Disinfectant Household Cleaner. I have to tell you, she demonstrated how the Soft Scrub worked on her kitchen counter with just a little of the scrub on her finger. She started to rub it in between the tiles of her counter and the dirt was removed almost immediately! I was sold! I got home and started to use it immediately and I love it! That same weekend my husband was helping me clean the bathrooms and he used it on the tubs and he was amazed on how good it worked! It left everything spotless and shinning! The best part is that it doesn't have any harsh chemicals or bleach (that the "real" soft scrub has) and your clothes won't get ruined :) These are the only cleaners I have been using lately and they do a great job!

I coupon, so I do buy the regular stuff when on special or for FREE, but it's great to know we can always make our own just because we can and we love them and they do just as well and sometimes even better than the store brands!

I asked my friend Lauren for her permission to post the recipes on my blog and she was more than glad to share them with all of you. I wished I had pictures of the girls during the activity but I didn't take any pictures that day :(

Homemade Soft Scrub

Picture taken from Pinterest

1 1/2 Cups Baking Soda

1/2 Cup Fragance Free, Color Free Laundry Soap (any kind will do, Purex brand is cheap)

10-15 drops of Grapefruit, Tea Tree,  Lavender, Rosemary or your favorite essential oil (choose one)

Combine All ingredients, keep adding baking soda until mixture is the consistency of cake frosting. If needed, add a little more liquid soap to achieve the  right consistency and store in a 2 cup container.

This is how it will look when you are done! Homemade Soft Scrub

Homemade All Purpose Disinfectant Household Cleaner

(Works like Lysol Antibacteril Kitchen Cleaner)

16 oz Spray Bottle

3 TBS Castile Soap

20-30 Drops Tea Tree Oil 

Fill spray bottle almost all the way then add Castile Soap and Tea Tree Oil. Shake to mix well

Note: I went to buy the Castile soap at the grocery store and it was going to cost me almost $20 for a small bottle. Then I went to Trader Joe's and found the Big bottle for only $16.99! Look around before you buy it pays off!

What other Natural Cleaners do you have? Please share...

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My Krazy Coupon Days 10/16/11

It's not about how fast we get there, it's about being Consistent!

Last Night I decided to Clean out my Coupon Binder and oh what an eye opener it was! A friend of mine told me a couple of weeks ago, there was going to be a Coupon class at our local paper and asked me if I was going to attend. I wanted to go but I also knew it was going to be something to a basics class and a "You've got to buy 5-10 Newspapers every Sunday if you are serious about building a good stockpile!" kind of motivational pitch. Is it true that you have to buy that many newspapers? Yes and No.

I met up with one of the friends that had gone to the class that day and asked her how she had liked it. Her response went something like this...
"Oh girl I was so motivated when I left that class. I went and bought those plastic card holders and a folder and when Sunday came along a went and bought 8 newspapers!" I looked at her with eyes wide open! She went on...
"I got home and sat down and started to clip all of my coupons one after another and another and another and then I realized I was never going to finish and I didn't. I gave up and there they sit. The class made it sound so good and I thought I could do this every week but once you get to it it's a lot of work!" "I can't believe you do this every week!"
"I don't!" I answered.

And so we come to todays Coupon Krazy days post. I know many of you do buy more than one Sunday paper I am one of them...surprised after my little story? Confession, I buy two newspapers every Sunday and not one more...for now! Hahaha :0)

When my friends come to me with stories like the one above and want my advice on how to start couponing because they seriously want to start their stockpiling I tell them to start slowly. Why? Because it's not about how fast we get there, but about being consistent! I have them start with one Sunday paper and give them the "File by Date" option. What is the "File by Date" option? Check out the video below.

With this option you don't have to be clipping coupons every week and waste time you don't have, specially if you have little ones. The down side like the lady in the video tells us, you can't take advantage of those last minute deals. I used the filing box after coming back to couponing (after giving up the clipping and category system), but I now use a folder with paper protectors that I take along with me to take advantage of those last minute deals :0) Take a look at my folder.

I print the date of what Sunday paper it was from on each side of every page

I carry these items in the folder, ready for any last minute deals at the store!

4in Folder

With the File by Date Folder system, we fix the problem of missing the  last minute deals!!!!

Once you are used to couponing decide what works for you if filing by date or by categories and then how many newspapers you want to buy. I have decided that two newspapers every week is perfect for my family. Maybe a year from now I will work it up to three.  

Next, you have to clean out your folder or filling box once a month. Remember I told you I only buy 1-2 newspapers a month? Let me show you what this looks like when cleaning out...

This was in the beginning...

Almost done...

OK, I am done now! Imagine if I would buy 5-10 newspapers every Sunday?!

This is just ONE month worth of coupons not used!

If you are serious about building your Stockpile: Prepare everything a day before you go shopping

Check out several websites that will tell you where and what deals to look for to help you out. Isn't it great that they have done the work for you already???!!!

I use Coupon Mom and The Krazy Coupon Lady

Both are FREE!!!!

1. Choose a day out of the week to go shopping! Mark it on your Calendar and make it a DATE! Rain or Shine KEEP that date!!!

2. Don't think you will only go to one store! You have to go to 2-3 different stores to get the best deals.

3. Don't be loyal to a brand, learn to be flexible! Generic is not always cheaper!

4. Don't Whine! Enjoy yourself, this is actually a lot of fun!

If you have any other website or tip please let me know, I would love to learn more about the art of SAVING money and Couponing!!

Blessings everyone!

The Best Blogs I Found this Week 10/15/11

Everyone loves a good recommendation every once in a while and I love giving it! This is the Fall (even if it doesn't feel like it in very sunny and hot Souther California!) What do we think about when we think of Fall? I don't know about you, but when I think of fall I think of baking,  taking out my light fashionable scarfs and going to the pumpkin patch to pick out a couple of pumpkins to decorate my front door (my kids are too big to enjoy the rides :0)


Today I want to share with you a couple of blogs and websites that cover everything that reminds me of Fall, I hope you enjoy them and try some of the recipes, craft and decorating ideas. Enjoy! 

Gourmet Caramel Apples

Last year was the first time I tried to make homemade Caramel Apples with my friend Carol, Angie and Angie's daughter Kristen. We all agreed they were the best! Carol and I had first made them at a Keepers at Home activity time and they came out perfect. When we made the Caramel Apples at my home we had some trouble with the caramel, it kept running down the apples. We couldn't figure out what we were doing wrong? Maybe the temperature wasn't the same? Maybe the apples had too much wax in them? We didn't know, but at the end it all worked out and they came out great! 
I found this recipe at Comfy in the Kitchen an it seems to be very similar to the one Carol tried with us and it looks just divine! I hope you enjoy them and share them with someone you like or give them as a gift to one of your kids teachers???

Comfy in the Kitchen 

30 Days of Thanks and Giving

I homeschooled my kids since they were in their crib and I did everything imaginable to teach them about everything imaginable to make sure they didn't miss ANYTHING and guess what? They still missed on SO MUCH! Just like all the other kids out there that went to public or private schools, thank you very much!  Anyways, I came across this activity book and it's one of the best Activity books I have found in the subject of Thanks-giving EVER!  It gives you 30 days of Thanks and Giving activities focused around Thanksgiving in small chunks. This is for the Pre-School and Elementary years children. For those that homeschool and those that don't. My son went to Special Ed classes for one year of his life and what I did is I would do these type of activities in the late afternoon or evenings as a family, he loved it. I hope you do too :)

The Ausie Pumpkin Patch  

Here You will find the 30 days to Thanksgiving Activity book.

Gluten-Free Soft Chewy Pretzels

I believe I have shared with you that I can't have Gluten as part of my diet anymore :( The typical Gluten intolerant person will have a lot of stomach pain and many other symptoms. For me it's not just your typical Celiac Disease symptoms but Gluten Ataxia, where Gluten attacks your brain and it's much more complicated.

This new adventure has brought new challenges and new food ingredients into my life and I want to share them with you. This week I tried Gluten Free pancakes for the first time and I must tell you they were Yum-O good! The Bread mix flour used in this Pretzel Recipe is the same one I used for the Pancakes. This makes these Pretzels a sure hit! Enjoy!

Sweet Nothings in the Kitchen 

Fall Decorations

I love to decorate my Front Entrance! I believe we only get one chance for First Impressions, let's make the best of it! I touched on the importance of this last year with my post on Beautify my Home Mondays, you can read on it later if you would like. I will again bring you great ideas with pictures later this week and today I will give you just a glimpse of what I will be sharing. I hope you will get inspired to decorate your home and enjoy this Fall season!

Modest is Best

It's that time of year again when we have to put away the Summer clothes and bring out the best Fall clothes we can come out with...or so  we hope! But let's not forget...Modest is Best!

I will be sharing a Modest is Best post later this week...Here is just a glimpse of the fashion looks I will be sharing!

Polyvore

That's all for this weekend I hope to share more later this week with my Fall Decorations and Modest is Best post. Let me know if you tried any of the recipes or ideas on the blogs shared today.
Have a blessed Weekend!

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