Happy 6th Birthday Howie!

We celebrate Howie's 6th Birthday with BUGS!  He has been planning on his bug party for a few months now and *together*, he and I pulled it off.

We made bug decorations, thought of some simple hats for the guests to make, dreamed up a few games (pin the spider on the web and bug relay races with butterfly nets), made signs for the party, baked "safe" chocolate chip muffins for everyone to enjoy- even the birthday boy- and had some fun, bonding time over the event.  

The budget?  

I didn't keep as close of tabs on it this year as I did last year.  

But my estimations were around the $35 mark.  

The most important thing for the preparations this year was... doing it together.  

By including my 6 year old in the planning, things didn't look quite as polished, 

but the final product was quality time together which is much more important. 

He was energized by spending time over the details with me. 

And it turned out great. 

Looking for bugs in the backyard.

Gluten-Free Carrot Muffins

We are going more and more gluten-free these days.  The following is a recipe I created to make carrot muffins that are gluten-free... and edible!  Go figure.  They also happen to be free of any milk, eggs, soy, corn, and artificial dyes.

In attempt to get my kids to consume less sugar and more veggies, I modified an already yummy recipe to include honey instead of cane sugar and carrots instead of applesauce.

Gluten-Free Carrot Muffins

Dry Ingredients:

2 ¼ cups gluten free bread mixture (garbanzo bean flour, millet flour and sorghum flour)

½ cup tapioca flour

2 tsp baking powder (I make my own that uses ingredients to avoid corn)

1 ½ tsp arrowroot

1 tsp baking soda

2 tsp cinnamon

½ tsp ground cloves

½ tsp sea salt

Wet Ingredients:

2 ¼ cup steamed and pureed carrots (using Vitamix)

½ cup local honey

1/3 cup coconut oil, melted

2 tsp vanilla

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Mix dry ingredients in mixer.  Whisk wet ingredients in bowl.  Combine wet and dry ingredients in mixer.

Grease mini-muffin tin with coconut oil.  Place batter in muffin tin.  Bake @ 350 for 30-35 minutes. 

Yummy to eat with SunButter, Almond Butter or Peanut Butter.  

Now if you will excuse me... I have to go intercept Johnny as he is grabbing muffins off the counter and consuming them faster than I can make them. 

Wiggly Teeth

We are approaching that magical phase of life when teeth start to wiggle and the Tooth Fairy comes to visit at night.  While we are still waiting for Howie's first loose tooth, he and I prepare by making a tooth-fairy-certified pillow.
As my BFF says, "The tooth thing sneaks up on you.  Be ready."
Such great wisdom.  

We chose the fabric, Howie cut out the monster's teeth and chose the buttons for eyes, and together we make the lower lip a pocket for the treasures.  

And Poof!  

In an afternoon, we have a pillow all ready for our Tooth Fairy friend to leave some goodies.  

Now, back to wiggling those teeth...

Spring is Here!

Let the backyard picnics begin.