The FIRST Day of our Christmas

The twelve days of OUR Christmas start today :) My son will be traveling to see his father for Christmas Day so I made a call to Santa and asked him to stop by a few days early. Luckily for my kids, I was always a great client of Santa's back in the day and he was beyond willing to oblige with a trip to our house on the night of December 21.

On the FIRST day of our Christmas, the gift I gave we gave our kids was: COOKIE MAKING MEMORIES!

 

Christmas cookie making is a long standing tradition in our family. I remember being a small 5 year old girl standing on a dining room chair in the kitchen of my grandmother as she expertly made dough and rolled it out to the perfect thickness. She had what felt like a hundred cookie cutters waiting for us, all destined for greatness one adorned with colored icing, sprinkles, red hot candies, and little silver balls.

The kitchen was full of bags of flour, sugar, and mixing bowls all put to good use. The stove was crowded with pots and pans full of candies and chocolate mixtures in the making. It smelled amazing and looked like the single most important duty for the holidays to the eyes of an enchanted five year old. My grandma was the most amazing baker I had seen. I'm pretty sure she had most of those recipes memorized, a fact that hurts now that I do not have copies of them all to pass on. She knew what to do, how to fix "mistakes", and exactly when to take cookies out of the oven at the moment they reach perfection. More than 25 years later, I am still working on that skill. Maybe it's something only a grandmother can do.

I am not a grandmother, although I feel that old some days! I am a mother longing to create memories with my children and family that will live on fondly in their hearts even once I am gone. Just like my warm memories of Grandma Cocoa's baking days.

My son is not interested in the baking aspect and my daughter a little young still (but I have hope for her!) so the rolling, cutting, and baking of the cookies fell on my shoulders. Turning on the Christmas music and starting at my task I was taken back to that brown and blue kitchen I loved back in 1985. I do not have the hundreds of cookie cutters Grandma Cocoa did but I have a few and my kids chose two that they'd like to decorate; gingerbread men and Christmas trees, two of my favorites.

I like to think they both inherited her amazing cookie skills and made some memories of hanging out with their parents around the holidays. Their parents definitely cherished the time.

We opened a bakery

We did it. We decided to start our own little bakery with the goal of making safe goodies for food allergy sufferers to enjoy.

The main goal would be to get our goodies into classroom and birthdays throughout the land to let every kid feel completely normal and part of the group. No more "special" plates for kids. They'll get the same piece of cake or cupcake or cookie that everyone else does. This might not seen like a lot to most people, but to a kid (and the parents of these kids) its monumental.

The Bon Bakery came to be from the delightful way Ben said his name when he was little. "I'm Bon" was always followed by the most infectious, beaming, friendly little smile this world has ever seen. No one on the outside could tell that at a moment's notice, that smile could disappear behind a swollen face and hives thanks to food. Nor could they see the anxiety that any of those reactions could make that smile disappear forever. This bakery is "Bon's" Bakery.

Its driven by his Momma and step-dad who have an insane love of cookies, both our kids, and baking treats. Combining these three loves has driven this passion to a new personal level. We want to help kids like Bon experience things. Hopefully, people who are nervous to cook for an allergy kid will reach out to us. It IS daunting and scary if you're not used to it. After five years of navigating this food allergy jungle - we're veterans, but always looking for new ways to spread our goodies and the message behind them.

We've had a little boy sit alone with a different treat because a classroom treat that was brought in wasn't safe. It hurts. We've had a little boy who has been teased for his different "safe treat" during class parties. It infuriates. And we've had a little boy smile so big and squeeze us so tight when we've been able to recreate something he thought he couldn't have. Its inspiring.

Please visit our Etsy store at http://www.etsy.com/shop/TheBonBakery or find us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/TheBonBakery. Help us spread the word and educate people to the needs so many kids and adults face. We might not be able to find a cure, but we've yet to meet a problem that a really good cookie can't make better - especially a safe cookie.

Blood, tears, and ice cream

How are you doing with your Bible?? I’m working on it. Done in 90 days? No. But I’m not giving up – and that’s the point. I’ve started this before and never made it. I get through about a chapter a day and that’s good for me. Fifteen to twenty minutes of good for your soul time each day. I’m still recommending it to everyone! Get on it! You’ll thank me! Or at least think about it.

My blogging hasn’t improved but work has been busy. And school. And my kids have been funneling illnesses and injuries through this house faster than I can keep up (I am begging the pediatrician to start a punch card program so every 11^th visit is free).

The baby, who is no longer a baby, got her head stuck between the wall and a chair this weekend – and in the process of freeing herself since she couldn’t wait the .2 seconds it took me to get to her, she tore that little piece of skin between your gum and inside of your lip. I’m pretty sure she lost half the blood in her body and the Bounty paper towel company should add me to their Christmas list (in case my spill prone household somehow wasn’t on it already). Being the calm, cool, collected veteran momma I am – I handled it. No ER trip. I kicked it around, but we’re good (yes I checked her teeth too).

And that night, her brother (her peanut and tree nut allergic brother, I might add) ate some homemade ice cream. HOMEMADE people, as in, his mother meticulously read every label for every ingredient and let him make ice cream because “I never get to have fun ice cream – it always has peanuts.” Sadly, someone mislabeled something – or we have a new allergy. Welcome anaphylaxis (google that if you want to know the Hell we live in) and a trip to the ER. And not to mention, the sobbing little boy scared that the ice cream will kill him or that "they're going to cut me open to get the peanuts out!". He was a sobbing petrified mess, which broke his momma's heart and made for TWO sobbing messes. 

He’s fine. He’s on some meds for a few days (steroids). I’ve called and screamed at every company who SWEARS their food is safe. And I’ve made an allergist appointment to check him for something new. And for the next month, he’s back to an existence of no “fun ice cream” because we can’t be sure what the issue was.

I know that everyone wants their kids to be happy. To have what they want. And to enjoy life (and the yummy things!) but what I wish people understood is that some kids can’t. Lots of kids. And in some cases, like my son, food can be deadly. If you don’t get the big deal about peanut butter in schools and why it needs to be removed, stop and think for a minute. My son can’t have fun ice cream. He can’t eat many candies. Cookies, cakes, cupcakes, pies….all of that is out. Granola bars aren’t safe. Many cereals aren’t safe. I could go on.

Companies need to be more aware. I know they want to turn a buck and I know that these labeling are more of a legal hassle to most of them than anything. But its people’s lives. Kid’s lives. Food allergies are real things that real people deal with.

I’m madder than Hell at something. Either a company or an allergy. I’m frustrated that I currently cannot focus my anger at either possibility. I’m sad that the smartest, funniest, smiliest, most polite, energetic, greatest Lego builders I’ve ever known can’t have “fun ice cream” and faces the potential of death on a daily basis. It’s a lot for a kid. And his mom.

Keep your peanut butter at home. My kid just wants to make friends, have fun, and not die. He’s not asking for much.

Sneaky Veggies solve ADHD?

I'll fully admit: our six year old is a handful. His teacher deserves a very special award after this year, and we should problem prep next year's teacher well.

He's not a bad kid. But he's an excited kid. A curious kid. An energetic, implusive, active, funny, charming, mesmorizing, magnetic, leader of a kid. And did I mention he's smart? First, in a discipine situation he can and will call out your irrationalities and offer a more logical solution. Seriously. You can't flaw his logic at time. And school wise? He's reading third grade books and well beyond his class in all other subject. Execpt for keeping quiet, sitting still, and not keeping his hands to himself.

I'm sure you can imagine where the school is pushing us on this one...ADHD-ville.

I'm not going to say he doesn't have it. I don't know. But I do know that at 6, its really not possible to diagnose him. He doesn't know who he is or how he "fits" into this school. But clearly, there are some issues.

I've been doing a lot of research and I found that magnesium deficiencies can cause these symptoms. I don't know about all of you - but I was scractching my head: what gives us magnesium? As I went down a list of high magnesium foods lightbulbs started going off. The list consisted of nuts. Peanuts. Legumes that are not safe for my allergy boy (things like chick peas and legumes very close to peanuts).

Could his food allergies be hurting his ability to function? It possible. I'm on a mission to get other good veggies into him and to cut artificial colors, dyes, and unneccessary sugars. The best part? My boy is on board. He's so smart, he sees the issue, understands how food affects his body, and is gung-ho. I hope this works.

No matter how smart though, he's six. He hate broccoli, spinach, and other leafy greans that could be helpful. Basically, if its not corn, he's not interested. I've stayed strong over the years to offer other things and not "cave" to his corn - but he still wasn't GETTING those things.  So I've started working with the Deceptively Delicious cookbook by Jessica Seinfield and playing with purees. Our first attempt has gotten rave reviews, and I don't think either kid knows they're getting carrots!

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Applesauce Muffins with Carrot puree - from Deceptively Delicious

TOPPING
2/3 cup old fashioned oats
1/4 firmly packed light or dark brown sugar (I RECOMMEND DARK)
1 teaspoon cinnamon (I'd do 1 1/2-2 teaspoons next time)
2 tablesppons soft tub spread, melted

BATTER
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup old fashioned oats
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon (I'd to 1 - 1 1/2 teaspoons next time)
1 cup unsweetened applesauce (next time, I'll use natural applesauce for a little flavor)
1/2 cup non fat milk
1/2 carrot puree (could use butternut squash puree too)
1/2 cup firmly packed light or dark brown sugar (I recommend dark)
1/4 cup vegetable or canola oil
1 large egg

- Pre heat oven to 400, prepare 12 cup muffin tin with spary or muffin papers.

- combine topping ingredients together and mix well to crumble on top.

- Combine flour, oats, baking poweder, baking soda, and cinammon in a bowl. In another bowl, combine applesauce, milk, puree, sugar, oil, and egg. Combine with the dry ingredients - mix it up, but not too well, its going to be lumpy.

- Divide the batter between the 12 cups (I'd say about 3/4 of the way full)

- Sprinkle with the topping (do it pretty well, you'll want that crunch and flavor).

- Bake for 18-20 minutes, until a toothpick is clean when poked in.

- Allow muffins to cool and serve them up!

These are great for breakfast, snacks, or on the go!


Next? Spinach in our son's BELOVED cheesy shell's recipe. Here's hoping!

I know what we're going to do today...

Make a Perry the Platypus cake! Easy right!?

Actually. It is.

I almost fell over when my son declared he wanted a Perry the Platypus birthday cake. I'm sure you're all familiar with him (especially if you have a 6 year old) but in case you're not, here he is in all of his glory:

Yeah. No small task. I searched Pinterest, baking blogs, Disney blogs, and anywhere else I could think of and I found the GREATEST Perry tutorial ever. So easy, I could do.

Here is the link to the blog I worked from: http://dabbled.org/2010/06/perry-the-platypus-cake-tutorial-the-prep-work.html

This site was a life saver. I've never worked with fondant before really so it was good. There were a TON of great tips too - not just for this cake. Really, if you want to fondant - check her out!!!

I made a few changes from her post because I didn't have time to make fondant and I couldn't find the tootsie rolls she mentions. I also took her advice and made more of a grassy like base, instead of her cute jelly bean one.

Wilton Mashmallow Fondant is great. I know, I know - through my blog surfing I saw a lot of people who swear by making their own. And good for them, I'm sure they're cranking out an awesome recipe that is super yummy - but I am simply a far too busy mommy who wanted to wow her kid at his party.

I saw this stuff at Michael's for about $8 a box, $7.50 at JoAnn's (where I got mine) and then a few days after the party, I saw it at my Meijer grocery store for $6! You can guess where I will go next time.

This fondant was reall easy to wok with, color, and spread onto the cake. For a beginner, it was a lifesaver and really forgiving. So if you are trying this, or anything else, just remember "Wilton Fondant will save my novice butt and make me a superstar!"

Moving on, I baked the cakes like the blog said, the used rice krispie treats to create the shapes for his eyes, legs, beak (is that what it called?), and his tail. Different than the blog but it felt a little more stable and, being a clumsy newbie to this, my best bet.

I did a dry run to make sure the sizes were ok:

And I thought it looked good. I dirty iced it from there, wrapped the body in blue and the legs/beak/tail in an orange-yellow tone.

I decided the eyes would be better made of just fondant, so I rolled up some white for that. I reserved some fondant and colored it black for hair and pupils, and VOILA!

Perry the Platypus!

And he was definitely the star of the show at the party with some fun candles!

So don't be scared! Do some homework, think it out, and amaze them!

Birthdays are consuming my life

As a PSA to those looking to add another baby to the family, look at your calendar first. My children's birthdays are 17 days apart. I should have planned that a bit better. Right now, the minute Christmas is over, I go into birthday mode. And for the months of January and into February I am working on something for someone's birthday every moment of limited free time that I have.

Don't get me wrong, I love love love these kiddos so I'm WILLING to do it! I just wish I had a little space between. I'm a planner, this is why these birthdays consume me.

Moving on....my son turns 6 today (happy birthday big guy!). We needed a school treat yesterday to pass out to all of his classmates. And thanks to me being such a tech savvy mom - I have him hooked on pinterest too :) His pick? These INSANELY cute lego cookies (he loves him some legos!).



Here's the original link: http://cakecentral.com/gallery/2250165/lego-cookies

So, I got to work for my boy! I didn't see a recipe for this but it seemed self explanatory and I am BEYOND happy with the results. I got out my handy Christmas Sugar Cookie and icing recipes and rolled the dough out (they're below if you're interested)

Using a pizza cutter, I just cut the size and shapes of rectangles and square that I wanted.

Baked, iced, and then I fliped M&M's upside down for the bumps. Someone in the original post said they used regular sized M&M's, but in the future if I did this again, I'd use the mini's and make smaller cookies.

The final result for us:




Packaged and ready to go:




The kids loved them, they were NOT hard to make, and I think they look pretty darn cute!!

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Sugar Cookie Recipe (about 24 "normal" cookies, #'s will vary based on your lego sizes/shapes):

1 cup butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon
vanilla extract
2 teaspoons baking powder
3 cups all-purpose flour

Preheat oven to 375°F. Cream butter and sugar. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Add baking powder and flour one cup at a time, mixing after each addition. Dough will be stiff and should NOT be refrigerated. Roll dough out 1/8 inch thick. Bake cookies on ungreased cookie sheet on middle rack of oven for 8-12 minutes, or until cookies are lightly browned.

Watch them close - 8-9 minutes is usually the best outcome in my oven

Icing Recipe:
1 cup confectioners' sugar
2 teaspoons milk
2 teaspoons light corn syrup
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
food coloring

Combine in bowl, mix to consistency desired, add food coloring and you're ready to go! Icing dries HARD!

Granola doesn't mean death!

I don't recall if its been mentioned but my son, who is five, has life threatening allergic reactions to any peanuts, some of their legume cousins, and tree nuts. Its a bit of a double edged sword. On one hand, these items are easy to work around in my kitchen. He used to also be allergic to dairy, eggs, soy, all legumes (I'm talking green beans, peas, etc), and cinnamon. Having outgrown most of those, working to cook without nuts and peanuts is easy.

Finding food "off the shelf" or visiting restaurants? Still sucks.

So its my mission in life to give him variety. And a semblence of normalcy. And to understand that he needs to be vigilant, but we can deal with this.

With school starting up, I wanted him to be able to take a granola bar to school with him along with his juice, sandwich, trail mix (another homemade safe recipe!) and fruit. I want options for him, not just the same old lunch every day. However, the next time you're in the granola aisle at the store - spend 45 minutes reading every box from every granola bar maker - you won't find one he can eat.

Thankfully, I'm determined :) And this was really an easy recipe.

B-Safe Granola

Ingredients
2 cups rolled oats
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup wheat germ
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup raisins (optional)
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup honey
1 egg, beaten
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Generously grease a 9x13 inch baking pan.
2. In a large bowl, mix together the oats, brown sugar, wheat germ, cinnamon, flour, raisins and salt. Make a well in the center, and pour in the honey, egg, oil and vanilla. Mix well using your hands. Pat the mixture evenly into the prepared pan.
3. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes in the preheated oven, until the bars begin to turn golden at the edges. Cool for 5 minutes, then cut into bars while still warm. Do not allow the bars to cool completely before cutting, or they will be too hard to cut.

I'll say, cut them while they're a little warm yet - but LET THEM COOL before you move them. Seemed to break less for me. B has never had granola before and thought they were ok but could maybe use some chocolate chips. Hey, I can oblige that - the rest of them IS pretty healthy. So we're trying them again this week with chocolate chips and I'll let you know the outcome!