so- I feel like I often think of posting on the blog but get lost in feeling like a need a direction. So much has changed since I used to post on the regular- back in the newlywed photographer+scrapbooker days. I kind of fell of the face of the blog world for a while... I don't even know if I have ever shared on the blog what happened to derail the postings (and frankly, I don't have time now to scroll back and read through to find out- so I will just mention it briefly...) There were a couple years where there was a lot of heavy stuff going on. I had three miscarriages before giving birth to Keaton. I had no words to share with the world at that point. It was just.... yeah, again- I lose words. I got nothin. Anyway- tiny Keaton finally arrived and filled our hearts and kicked our butts. I started blogging again for a while when he was small...and then just kind of stopped. Life got busy, as it tends to. But every now and then I think- I should start posting again. But my life has changed so much, I wasn't sure where to start. And feeling like I needed a plan has kept me from starting at all. So, boo to that. I am just going to dive in. And- this is not to say that I will be posting regularly- but I will post as the desire arises and time allows. Whatever the topic. Scrapbooking, kids, photography, design, Waldorf, life - or- as you see in half that title up there- random recipes...
We avoid dairy in our house. Part of the reason is each of our reactions to it- Keaton looks like he has some crazy combo of ADD and ODD and just general angry coo-coo time-ness after eating so little as a couple cheddar goldfish... Ollie screams and cries and hurts inside... Ben gets totally tired... etc. (the other part is that if I think about it too much- cow's milk weirds me out. I mean, if you think about what it is, and where it comes from. But I won't go into that, cuz that's my deal. And maybe it's yours, too- and maybe it's not. But anyway- point is- since discovering the issues we have with dairy- I have had to modify/invent recipes for some of our favorite foods/treats. The most recent- and current household fave- is below.
(let me preface this by saying I am not a food photographer. One would think that photography is photography- but it's so not. I look at good food photography so much different after trying to get a decent + appetizing shot...)
crazy easy cinnamon+caramel rolls
these are dairy free (vegan even!) and mostly refined sugar free (there is a bit of sugar in the cresent rolls we use, but not so much that it effects me- and I am crazy sensitive to sugar...but decide for yourself)
preheat oven to 365 degrees
ingredients:
caramel goo-
1 T. vegan butter (Best Life Buttery Spread is our favorite)-
2 T coconut oil (melted before measured)
1/4 c maple syrup
1 t lemon juice
chopped pecans
*mix liquids and pour into greased pie pan. sprinkle in chopped pecans to your liking (just a few- or go crazy)
rolls-
two packages cresent rolls (we use Pillsbury- they are vegan, but do have a tiny bit of sugar- which normally I avoid completetly- but it's really not much in these, and it doesn't effect me, so we go with it)
*unroll the dough onto a flour dusted counter top and pinch/seal up the seams. Lay the two packages worth together to make one giant rectangle- long sides together (not like super long panoramic- but a good legal sized paper shape...make sense?)
cinnamon goo-
1/2 c almond meal
2 T coconut flour (this can possibly be omitted- but we had some on hand and I thought it might help and I've now only made it with it...but I if you don't have any, I assume it'd be ok without)
1 t cinnamon (or more if you want)
1/4 t nutmeg
maple syrup
*mix the dry ingredients. Now- the times I've made these- I drizzle in maple syrup until a nice gooey (slightly thinner than-) paste is created and I spread that on the dough. BUT- as I made them this morning- I realized it might be even easier to sort of baste the dough with maple syrup and then sprinkle the dry mix on top- might be way easier than spreading the paste with a spatula... which isn't that hard- but since we're calling these "Crazy Easy" let's go with easier!) Make sure you get the dough all evenly covered- almost to the edges.
Start at one long side and roll dough up snuggly. Slice into 12 even pieces. Place in pie pan. Cook for about 25 minutes (I end up using a pie crust shield on them when there's about 10 minutes left- to save the outer rolls and finish cooking the inner ones) When they are all golden on top and bubbly underneath- take out and let cool. THEN DEVOUR THEM.
Would love to hear what you think if you make them. :)
