pretty piece of cake

it's icky out

what's a girl to do..

a girl who just finished a 

cake decorating class ?

bake

decorate

take lovely photos

so I can remember

that amazing look

simple

elegant

and delicious

so I sent it off to church with the family

I stayed home with Little Man and his sniffles 

The family  & our church LOVE

that it's gluten free

casein free

peanut free

soy free…

it is not sugar free

or fat free

it's FULL OF SUGAR

AND FAT

but it's so so lovely

what are you doing during the dreary month?

Baking

Princess was inspired by 

our Black Raspberries

she made this..

and YES I ate this

it was amazing

Gluten free

Lemon cake

with Lemon Icing

and Fresh Black Raspberries

from the FARM 

seriously yummy looking right?

even better tasting! 

our Baker even made

"spiced cake muffins" 

later she whipped up toffee icing

OH my!

LOVE the kitchen

missing frozen pizza? EMERGENCY PIZZA HELP

Going GLUTEN Free

has been really good for our family...

everyone is feeling SO much better,

 & healing is happening in our systems. 

Less inflammation, 

less of everything ICK that comes from having

Gluten sensitivities

but

we make our own bread

our own cookies

our own muffins

our own dinner rolls

from scratch

we make nearly 

EVERYTHING

even pizza 

from scratch

but 

sometimes...

you KNOW those times,

when you've been EVERY place BUT home

running, running running

ALL over creation

and what you REALLY want is something simple

easy

not dramatic

just yummy food

that is 

a bit of a 

shortcut.

AND

sometimes

as much as we LIKE

 Dinty Moore Beef Stew

(which is gluten free/Casein free fyi)

we just don't WANT it

we want something

crunchy

cheesy

easy

like

frozen Pizza

but have you ever LOOKED at the price OF

gluten free FROZEN pizza?

it's just .. 

WOW expensive

and being on the 

DAVE RAMSEY plan

doing that

is like watching ME hyperventilate

because you'd be doing that 

WOW expensive frozen pizza TIMES 8

which = fall over in the isle paying

or

8(WOW $$) = FOITIP

(a little home school moment)

WAIT!

times 8?

Are you counting Dusty & Teanie?

Do the bunnies REALLY eat pizza too?

no

but C.S. & Machine Man eat about 2 of them each!

2(C.S) + 2(M. M) + M + P + B + L.M = 8

That said

we've looked for 

alternatives to the frozen gf pizza.

now 

PLEASE do not misunderstand.

we HAVE a wonderful

amazing 

gluten free crust we MAKE from scratch

but this post is NOT about 

those happy times.

THIS post is about when LIFE is CRAZY

and 

YOU NEED HELP

when making from scratch is just 

NOT 

possible ! 

when?

When would that be?

ok..

list of reasons to NOT make from scratch...

exhaustion

preservation of sanity

lack of time

energy

patience

illness

defeat

too much traffic

eating at a pizza party with friends

the list is really endless

but

it's there if you stop to look..

so in THOSE cases

I have a freezer with a case of these inside!

UDI's to the rescue!

yep

super yummy, 

crunch crusts

and right there in my freezer

but WAIT!

Pizza.. YOU are eating PIZZA?

what about that Little Man is allergic to Casein?

that MILK protein thing you blogged about 

HERE

HOW can he have Pizza with out CHEESE?

isn't Buddy allergic to Dairy too?

What do you feed THEM on those Emergency Pizza nights?

you don't make them eat frozen PEAS do you?

oh..FEAR NOT

we are not that cruel

though

truth be told Frozen Peas are a favorite of Little Man right now

Mama did her research

&

they eat THEIR pizza with this

not always with cheddar.. but

If I find the Mozzarella

I buy it.. 

this time they didn't have it at the store

and ya know what?

the boys didn't care they LOVED it

it is casein free

gluten free

soy free

 & who KNOWS what else it's free of

it's wonderful

it tastes good

and it MELTS more like cheese 

than any other "fake cheese"

because of SOY allergies

this is the only "fake cheese" we've found so far

thankfully it's also the BEST

this is our favorite "topping"

I know

it's probably awful

but as far as I recall none of us are allergic to any ingredients

also it tastes good

AND

we eat so darn good ALL the time

it's sort of OUR way of feeling

AMERICAN

(giggling)

now. we ARE American's by the way

and we LOVE our Country

we just don't GET how most folks here eat...

there are no words 

Buddy is SUPER excited! 

he LOVES his pizza

look at Little Man GO after that slice!

I love watching him eat things that he LOVES to eat

Toddlerhood is SO fun 

OH MY! 

what sauce?

oh..

any that has not gluten or cheese or well any dairy

we like Trader Joes Pizza sauce

but we often get other kinds

we just 

READ 

READ 

READ 

all the lables

so there ya have it

if you EVER need a fast and easy pizza crust

this one's fun & fast, 

just top it and pop it in the oven !

gluten free, dairy free, HOME made Chicken Nuggets

Gluten Free?

yes... 

makes things difficult

Dairy free

yes.. some of us (little man) are Casein free

yep 

that makes it MORE difficult 

but

we shall NOT be defeated

we WILL eat wonderful, nutritious, delicious foods!

To start

I got some eggs

I always save my shells,

my coffee grinds

my onion peels

potato peels

carrot peels

celery ends

etc

to go into my compost

I would LOVE a super cool compost bucket

like this neat one from OXO

or

like this one from RSVP

or

like this one from Le Chef

the French White Ceramic is darling

and it's being square is just

SO 

unique!

instead

for NOW

I am being very 

"Dave Ramsey" 

as we call it here at the farm

meaning 

Penurious.

what does "penurious" mean?

Adj.	1.	penurious - not having enough money to pay for necessities hard up, impecunious, in straitened circumstances, penniless, pinched poor - having little money or few possessions; "deplored the gap between rich and poor countries"; "the proverbial poor artist living in a garret"
	2.	penurious - excessively unwilling to spend; "parsimonious thrift relieved by few generous impulses"; "lived in a most penurious manner--denying himself every indulgence" parsimonious stingy, ungenerous - unwilling to spend; "she practices economy without being stingy"; "an ungenerous response to the appeal for funds

 you could also say cheap..

but penurious just SOUNDS nicer

but ..

really isn't

so we also say

"dave"

and I just use a bowl to put my kitchen compost in!
then I send out Buddy to dump it in the BIG compost

adding a little salt & pepper

I scrambled about 6 eggs  

in an ENTIRELY different bowl

cut up a bag (previously frozen)

of Chicken Breast

any meat works for this

chicken tenderloin, a WHOLE chicken

with bone

with out bone

really it's quite versatile 

yep

it's a super handy helper here at the farm

some day 

when I am not in construction zone

and I have a real kitchen again

I will be 100% 

(ok 95%)

Nourishing Traditions girl

making my own EVERYTHING

but for now

I need some healthy shortcuts

and Betty is THERE for me 

but as THERE for me as Betty is..

she's a bit bland

and THAT is ok

because I AM NOT!

I add a bit of 

Sea Salt

Mrs. Dash

Herbs de Provence

Garlic

Paprika

to her blend

I usually use a brown bag..

but improv is a good thing

and ALL I had was Ziploc

so 

Viva la Ziploc! 

I mix Betty's Blend

and MY spice blend together

by carefully CLOSING the bag

and shaking it a LOT

Buddy LOVES to do this part!

I just like to be the one who CLOSES the bag

because

well..

need I explain?

then I plug in and preheat my fancy dancy ELECTRIC skillet

I actually like this BETTER than any other way to cook it

I have had this for 14 years or so

it was my Tante Renate's before it was mine

I LOVE IT!

it has traveled ALL over the United States of America with us

that and my crockpots..

but to be frank, I am on like my 5th crockpot

and this thing is ONLY NOW

starting to show it's getting worn down..

I add my oil

now..

this is OLIVE OIL

yes

extra virgin 

yummy 

and all that.

(I get mine at Costco)

but it is again IMPROV of me to use it

because usually I use

cold pressed, organic (etc etc etc)

Coconut Oil

I get mine from Tropical Traditions...

but we ran out!

and Olive Oil is a plenty in our lives

(Costco is LOVED!)

so I will use it for this recipe

now to bread my chicken

I don't follow Betty's instructions EXACTLY

I drop my chicken in the GF mix

and then in the egg mix

and then BACK into the GF mix

shaking it well

and making sure it is evenly coated at each step

I do it all at once

as it is neater, cleaner and faster that way..

NOW I am ready for the cooking process

the THING about cooking in Olive oil is..

I won't get QUITE the same SEAR

as I would with Coconut oil

as the two oils have different smoke points

so I have a fan going

and my heat is a little less than is typical

see how nice it's starting to look..

cooking for a WHOLE crew

Machine Man

C.S.

Princess

Buddy

Little Man

Opa

and myself

means

a whole LOTTA chicken

so I grab a chair and a soda

(love coca cola)

and fry away..

putting the chicken between layers of paper towel to absorb the oils

it's the BEST!!!!

the breading LOCKS in the moisture making it hard to overcook 

(at least I think so)

so it ends up a crunchy nugget shell

with a moist piece of chicken inside

YUMMY!