22

Saturday was my 22nd birthday, and yes, Taylor Swift's song "22" was on repeat until I couldn't possibly listen to it anymore. :)

 

The morning started off with a new tea blend called Paris (how perfect!!) that my sister brought back from her Indiana trip, and the best crepes I have ever tasted.

 



 

One of the hardest parts about being gluten intolerant is finding substitutes for old favorite recipes.  Crepes were always a favorite of mine but I never could find an *edible* gluten free recipe (they mostly tasted like cardboard).  That all changed when I made the Blackbird Bakery's recipe for the first time earlier this year - Best. Crepes. EVAH!  They are better than any crepe that I have have ever had.... seriously amazing.

 



My sister and I still kept up our old "sleep over" tradition.  Each of our birthdays we watch a favorite movie, eat a whole package of oreos (my all time favorite cookie), snack on extra birthday cake, and then paint our nails a "new crazy color" if we haven't fallen asleep yet.  This year we changed a few things up and had even more fun!

 

After throwing away several bottles of hideous nail polish from past sleepovers I decided to buy colors that I wouldn't mind using all throughout the year.  My whole world stopped when I found "my blue" color.  Scotch brand is tricky to put on, but you can't be picky with "natural" nail polish - it's just a little bit harder to work with.  Their colors are amazing though!

 



 

I have a confession to make - my cake didn't make it to my birthday.  The mistake was that I made it a week in advance.  Homemade coffee ice cream, gluten free chocolate cake and mocha frosting doesn't last long around here.  At all.



 

We ended up getting out an old exercise dance game, giving ourselves facials, painting our nails and totally pampering each other until about 2am.  Oh, and we couldn't stop laughing the whole time. :)



 

I have some AWESOME news that I can't wait to share later on this week!!

 

Happy Tuesday

~~ le

Scrumptiously Sweet || Quickest Dessert Ever

Desserts don't always have to take an hour to make - sometimes I just can't wait that long :)  I came back after a trip to TX and found out that this dessert was already a big hit with the family.  My sister has made it for us several times since, and it really does give me my *chocolate fix*.

Pour some frozen cherries, melted chocolate chips, and homemade caramel in a bowl - it's that simple.  The chocolate and caramel mix together and just ooze over the cherries.... you really have to try this!!

Here is my sister's homemade caramel recipe.

Combine 1 cup coconut sugar, ½ cup full fat coconut milk and 1/4 teaspoon sea salt in a saucepan over medium heat.  Simmer for about 10 minutes or until it gets really dark and thick.  Remove from heat and add 1 teaspoon vanilla extract.  That's it!

I pour my chocolate on the very top after the caramel so it doesn't harden too fast over the frozen cherries :)

Scrumptiously Sweet || Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies

There are only a few things that I crave more than chocolate chip cookies.  Pinkberry, Mexican Food, Homemade Ice Cream and Cupcakes to be exact.  I used to bake the most amazing triple chocolate chip cookies ever - really..... but then I had to get rid of all gluten from my diet and I can't ever have any again.  This recipe from the Urban Poser is very close to the "real" thing!  They are gluten free, egg free, vegan, and paleo (aka, the worlds healthiest cookies).  I'm glad that they don't *taste* like the healthiest cookies ever :)

**Click Here For The Recipe**

These are the best when they first come out of the oven.  I'm not really sure how long they will last because we never have any leftovers :)

~~Happy Saturday

The Last 9

It's been 3 months since our ducks gave us any eggs.  3, Trois, Tres, THREE.   This morning I used 1 of the 9 remaining eggs to save my breakfast.  Have you ever tried "vegan" gluten free pancakes?  I try not to eat them unless I really need to, but this morning I had a huge craving for pumpkin pancakes.  After cooking one of the pancakes I decided that I would rather go without breakfast than eat the stretchy-glue-like mess in the pan.  The only thing that saved my stomach today was the addition of one of our last duck eggs.   The pancakes turned out light and fluffy, and I was able to have my pumpkin breakfast!

 

I'm hoping that these ladies will start laying again soon.... (No pressure gals, but I just put you on the internet)