Life, Gluten Free

Believe in the New Year

We didn't get a white Christmas here, but we did get a white New Years!

Today, I received an email from our favorite toy shoppe wishing everyone a Happy New Year. I truly loved what was said in the email, so below I am sharing it with all of you:

Believe that a better world for our children begins with us and align your thoughts, feelings and actions toward that goal.

Believe in your dreams.

Believe in today.

Believe that you are loved.

Believe that you make a difference.

Believe we can build a better world.

Believe when others might not.

Believe there's a light at the end of the tunnel.

Believe that you might be that light for someone else.

Believe in yourself. Believe in each other.

Believe that the best is yet to be.

We have a quiet New Years where we reflect on the past year and decide what our personal and family goals are for the year to come.

We light candles and rejoice in everything that we have to be thankful for.

May you all have a wonderful New Year, where you believe that anything is possible and remember all that you are blessed with.

DIY Paper Dolls

Thanks to one of my favorite crafty blogs - The long thread - I stumbled upon some really neat web sites that offer free printables. Since my daughter is recovering from pneumonia, I wanted to spice things up and make it extra fun around the house. We printed out some paper dolls and had fun dressing them up!

These paper dolls would make a sweet last-minute stocking stuffer too.

*Note: I did print these out on card stock, which I recommend doing so that they are sturdy.

Here's the links:

Wee Wonderfuls

Gnomie Paper Dolls

Plus we printed some lovely gift tags:

Orange You Lucky

Whisker Graphics

Paper Crave

And from The Toy Maker, we printed out these butterflies. Simply tape two pennies in the circles on the butterfly and ta-da! They will balance on your finger.

And then I found a web site called First School. I love it. There are so many great activities to print. Our favorite is the Christmas Tree Colors and Shapes Activity. I cut out the shapes and my daughter glued them to the tree, matching the shape to its place on the tree. We talked about shapes and colors. We also did the Santa Wreath Shape and Color Activity.

Christmas Crafts

I meant to post these a while ago, but I was not able to and then my daughter came down with pneumonia. This totally floored us, though she is home from the hospital now and is recovering. We are thankful that she is improving and getting better each day.

I am careful with what words I use and I try not to exaggerate, but it was most definitely terrifying. That's not a word I would use lightly.

But when things like that happen, it always reminds me to try to be present in the moment. When we were in the hospital, I remember all three of us (myself, my husband and my daughter) laying in the bed together. This in itself was a feat, since the bed was not very big. But we managed it. I remember thinking, "okay, this is hard... I am definitely scared but we are all together and I feel safe. I know we can get through this and we will look back on it and remember, yes this was hard but we got through it together."

And in this season more than ever, we realize how very important it is to have family. The people you love and cherish are the ones that make your life so great. I am thankful for my mom who was there supporting us, thankful for our friends and family who reached out to us to let us know they care. Blessed are we because we have a true abundance of family and friendship in our life.

Pipecleaner Ornaments

These were fun and we hung them all around the house. We made some for friends, too.

- Take two pipecleaner sticks and cut them in half.

- This will give you four pieces, bend them together to create a snowflake.

- Tie ribbon, add beads - etc!

Pumpkin Pudding

My husband loves pumpkin and chocolate so I made him something lovely.

Pumpkin Pudding (no dairy, no gluten, no eggs, no nuts)

2-3 cups of pumpkin puree (3 if you are serious about pumpkin like we are)

1 package of mori-nu silken tofu

1/4 - 1/2 cup maple syrup (or sweetener of choice)

2 tablespoons melted coconut oil (2 tablespoons measured prior to melting)

dash of cinnamon

chocolate chips to garnish

Bake a pumpkin, allow to cool and remove seeds. Scoop out flesh in the food processor and blend.

Add pureed pumpkin to a bowl, remove 2-3 cups and place back into food processor. If you have leftover, you can freeze it for later use.

Add the rest of the ingredients to the food processor and puree until well blended. Serve immediately or allow to cool in fridge prior to serving (this will make it a bit thicker).

I made this again just the other day, but after I pureed all the ingredients - I tossed in some chocolate chips and turned on the food processor just briefly to get the chocolate chips mixed in. I cannot attest to the taste myself since I did not have any, but my husband was pleased and he doesn't fool around when it comes to things like this. Trust me.

Simple yet effective and a lovely orange color!

Since my daugher can't have soy, I made her pudding without soy:

Pumpkin Pudding 2 (no dairy, no gluten, no eggs, no soy, no nuts)

3/4 cup pureed pumpkin (I stole this from the pumpkin I baked for the above recipe)

1/2 cup coconut yogurt

2 tablespoons maple syrup (adjust to your sweetness level)

Blend in food processor or blender!

Sprinkle maple sugar or cinnamon ontop if you want.

I also made grain-free and nut-free pumpkin bars for Sophie's Halloween party.. they were a big hit. We've definitely used our share of pumpkin this year. It even appeared in our thanksgiving dessert. I made whipped sweet potato, pumpkin and banana with a coconut dried fruit crust.

Here's a picture:

Served with homemade banana coconut ice cream, Sophie's request.