Going Dairy-Free: Zucchini Bread

I didn't have to do anything to this recipe; it is originally dairy-free. And it makes a TON! This is what's left of a dozen muffins, a whole loaf, and a smaller loaf made in a pyrex dish. (Which is great, because I love to freeze things for later.) However, there are much healthier options that I can and do plan to try. Applesauce instead of oil, whole wheat flour for at least half the flour, cutting down on the salt and sugar... Allrecipes.com is great because there are reviews with the recipe, and according to Teresamas, Iowamom, and Princess Sandra, to name a few, these substitutions should work pretty well.

The fact that my husband likes this recipe is saying a lot. But late last night, after he got home from his bowling league, when he said, "Honey, you've really got something with this recipe. After tacos, beer, AND brushing my teeth, it still tastes pretty good!" -- well, for what more could one ask in a commendation? :) Seems we've found a keeper.

Going Dairy-free: Whoopie Pies

Recently I was made aware that acne can be caused by a dairy allergy. On the chance that a dairy sensitivity may be responsible for my skin problems, I'm cutting it out of my diet for 3 weeks--or longer, if my skin clears up. That is a BIG downer for 2 BIG reasons: baking and creaming my coffee. I have found that, while soy milk is fine for cereal, it just doesn't get the job done as a coffee creamer. And I LOVE to bake! Butter and milk are in so many things that my family enjoys, so I'm having to find which substitutes work best in our favorite recipes. Yesterday, I tried dairy-free Whoopie Pies. These amazing little cakey cookies are usually SO yummy, but not this time. :( Well, okay, I shouldn't be so hard on them. They were fine--just not like the last batch that I made! But I'm thinking that it had more to do with the fact that I was out of vanilla.

Because the texture was good, and the mouth-feel was still normal, I'm going to have to say that soy milk works for the milk substitute in this recipe. I'll just have to load it with vanilla or some other flavoring next time.

Coming Soon: Baby Pants!

These are a rough draft of some pants that I'm making for my shop. I LOVE how wide these little legs are--this is like a 70s flash back, baby style! Adorable! Nick's not too crazy about the wideness, tho. Not sure--I might make them a little less bellflowerish. Any opinions on that? I'd love to hear from you!

I'm also going to try to make a few girls' jumpers to go with them. I was thinking, so many people like to dress their kids alike, but what do you do if you have a boy and girl? I guess your only choice would be to coordinate fabrics (unless you just dress one like the opposite sex). So, we'll see how long my reddish brown corduroy fabric stash holds out, and I may be able to crank out a few pairs of matching outfits in fall colors. How fun!

I've Been Busy!

I've been working on a few things, so please forgive my absence over the last week or two. Here's a quick snapshot of what I've been up to:

Pillowcase dresses for my shop.

Some hot/cold packs. Not sure yet if I'm going to add them to my shop. Although small, they're heavy and I'm afraid it wouldn't be worth it to ship them. I don't know yet. What do you think?

If I could post pictures of my laundry piles, dusted tables, and vacuumed floors, you'd get the real picture of what I've been up to, but these will have to do. Wouldn't want to bore you!

It's Our Anniversary Today!

Today is Nicholas' and my 3 year wedding anniversary. We didn't have a honeymoon (it came in the form of apartment hunting in Virginia so that we could move) but we had a honeymoon baby! So there have been some rocky parts, but it's been mostly good and the more mountains we climb together, the happier I am that we've stayed together. Let's hope that continues. :)

I LOVE you, Darling!

PS We're spending our anniversary at Pizza Hut with the kids, for a hurried dinner so that we can get to Wed. night church. Isn't that romantic? lol