How do you spelt goodness?

My title is my attempt at being funny...

How it is working?

When purchasing ingredients sometimes companies are kind enough to put recipes on the packaging to give you some ideas.

For example we are all probably VERY familiar with Toll House and their cookie recipe.

Today I want to share something that I found on the back of my Arrowhead Mills Spelt flour bag (hence the spelt joke).

Spelt Chocolate Chip Cookies

1/2 C Earth Balance, softened
3/4 C turbinado sugar
1 Ener-g "egg"
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 3/4 C spelt flour
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 C vegan chocolate chips

Mix all of the ingredients in a bowl.

Take a tablespoon scoop and place about 2 in. apart on a greased cookie sheet.  They will need to be patted down if you want a flatter cookie (I found that these didn't spread as they cooked like a traditional all purpose flour cookie will).

Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes.

This recipe made 30 cookies.

They were completely delicious, of course you can't really go wrong with a chocolate chip cookie.

I really enjoy the "nuttier" flavor of the spelt flour and I think it gives it another layer of taste which just ramps up the yum factor for the cookie.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend.  I have decorating and cookie baking to do?  What is on your to do list?

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Elf on the Shelf

I am one of those parents who has the Elf on the Shelf.

Before you roll your eyes, or think less of me let me explain.

I am not one of those parents who takes tons of time to have the elf wreak havoc all over my house.

Seriously who thought this was a good idea...I mean after all YOU have to clean it up:

This site is dedicated to 101 ideas of trouble...WHAT is that about?
The point of the elf is to move him from room to room so that he can "listen" and "watch" the kids and report back to Santa each night (how else could the jolly one keep up with who is on the naughty and nice list).

I did find on Pinterest some very neat ideas with what you could do and I wanted to share:

Source: pickleheadsoup.blogspot.com via Karen on Pinterest

Source: asmallsnippet.blogspot.com via Lindsay on Pinterest

The last one is my kind of elf!!!

Do you have any holiday shenanigans that you participate in?

Have you gotten suckered into being an elf owner?

Happy Wednesday to you all!

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SparX

As a Mom Ambassador with Mom's Meet I am given a chance from time to time to sample products.

Most recently I was sent SparX made by Xlear.

Fruit Flavor

Citrus Flavor

These are the cutest little candies, in such pretty pastel colors.

The benefit of these candies, over other crunchy sweets, is that these are sweetened with xylitol.

Xylitol is a plant based sweetener that is recommended by dentists as it can improve your dental health and strengthen your tooth enamel.

What's more the candies don't have any artificial colors or flavors...Amen to that.

My kids were quick to split these up and devour them.  I have to say they were tasty and I am going to look for them in stores the next time candy is on the grocery list.

With trying to provide better treats for my kids I will be sure to check for xylitol as an ingredient when making my choices.

If you would like to know more about Xlear you can visit their website or check them out on Facebook.


I received this product for free from the sponsor of the Moms MeetSM program, May Media Group LLC, who received it directly from the manufacturer. As a Moms MeetSM blogger, I agreed to use this product and post my opinion on my blog. My opinions do not necessarily reflect the opinions of May Media Group LLC or the manufacturer of the product.

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Peanut Butter Shortbread

I was given an opportunity by Mom Central and Food Lion to participate in a bake off blog tour.

I thought about what I wanted to present and instead of going with a family favorite I went with something new:

Peanut Butter Shortbread

The recipe is easy but delicious!

You can put these together in about 20 minutes.  Which makes them perfect for throwing together for a teacher's gift, or maybe for a holiday pot luck.

Ingredients

6 oz unbleached all purpose flour
2 oz sugar
4 oz smooth peanut butter
2 oz Earth Balance (or butter if you prefer)

Soften the peanut butter and Earth Balance in a bowl and add in your flour and sugar.

Stir until combined and then press into an 8x8 pan and bake at 350 degrees for 12 minutes.

Allow them to cool completely and then top with melted semi-sweet chocolate.

I used 2 semi sweet baking squares melted in the microwave to top these treats.

Allow the chocolate to cool before cutting into squares.

Do you have a recipe that your family loves?

Food Lion is hosting a baking contest through November 28th.  Entries can be submitted here.

You can enter recipes into four categories:  Appetizer, Main Dish, Side item, and Dessert.  Twelve lucky grand prize winners will receive a $500 Food Lion gift card....that is a lot of food for the holiday time!

So get baking and submit your entries today!!!

I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour for Mom Central Consulting on behalf of Food Lion. I received a promotional item to facilitate my shopping experience and review

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Vegan Palm Sugar Cupcakes

On Friday I had a bit of a panic when I realized I was supposed to bring in 4 dozen cupcakes for a quarterly birthday celebration in my 10 year old's classroom.

Have no fear!

With a copious amount of baking ingredients on hand I was very pleasantly surprised to turn out these beauties:

Palm Sugar Cupcakes (vegan)

2 1/2 C all purpose unbleached flour

2 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp sea salt

2/3 C Earth Balance (softened)

1 3/4 C palm sugar

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

2 egg substitutes (I used ener-G egg replacers)

1 1/4 C almond milk

Combine everything in a bowl and mix until combined.

Pour into cupcake liners and bake at 375 degrees for 18-20 minutes (until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the center).

This should make about 30 cupcakes (just make sure you use about a tablespoon of batter per liner).

Now these are delicious on their own but they taste EVEN better when topped with vegan chocolate buttercream.

The cake is moist and light.  

The palm sugar gives the cake a toasted flavor to it which really gives it another layer to put it a step ABOVE just a regular cupcake.

I had to have a bite....I just couldn't help myself.

How palm sugar is made is pretty cool.  Take a moment and head over to Wholesome Sweeteners and check out their process.

What flavors of cupcakes do you enjoy?

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New Kid on the Block

No I don't mean these New Kids

As fantastic as the hair was for Donnie, Danny, Jordan, Jonathan, and Joey I am referring to a new yogurt on the block:

I was selected to participate in a tasting of their yogurt.  

Muller has teamed up with Quaker to bring their European delight to this side of the Atlantic.

I was sent:

Two FrutUp (peach passion and cherry)

Three containers of the Corner (Greek with almonds, blueberry, and crunchy granola)

As soon as the box arrived my wolfpack of children were too excited to be contained and each had to pick out one to try.

The frutup have fruit on top instead of the traditional "fruit on the bottom."  My daughter particularly liked this because she was able to eat all of the fruit and then add granola to the yogurt on the bottom.

My boys each chose a corner yogurt and had fun scooping over portions of the topping as needed.

The overwhelming response was YUMMY.  Followed by this expression from my 5 year old:

I think that means he really REALLY liked it.

What I think is the most useful about the corner yogurts is that you can control the amount of add ins.

Guess What!

 I get to share this yummy product with my readers.

I have 10 coupons for free yogurt to giveaway.  The only catch is that you have to be on the East Coast, currently that is where it is being sold.

So check out their website here, and see if there is a location near you.  If so leave me a comment and a way to get in touch with you so I can get you some coupons.

You can also check them out on Facebook and Twitter to stay up to date on the latest happenings.

I hope you all have a wonderful Thursday.

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Fish Cakes and a Winner

This weekend my husband was in the mood for something out of the norm, food wise.

I find we get stuck in ruts with food and the variety of food we eat gets a little stale.

Enter the Fish Cake!

These are very simple to make, much like the black bean cakes.

Ingredients:

.75 lb of Cod (wild caught not farm raised)
1 baking potato, peeled and diced
1/4-1/2 C panko bread crumbs
2 green onions finely chopped
1 clove of garlic diced
1 tbsp mayo
1 egg, beaten
2 tsp Old Bay
juice from 1/4 of a lemon

Simmer you cod for about 3 minutes in water (till the fish turns white).

Boil your potato until it is fork tender, then drain and set aside.

Put all of your ingredients in a bowl and mash with a fork.

If the mixture is too wet add more bread crumbs (hence why I put 1/4-1/2)

Patty out the cakes and fry in a skillet with some vegetable oil until golden brown (about 3 minutes on each side).

These came out wonderfully.  They were crispy and full of fish, not overwhelming with fillers.  The cod was mild in flavor and didn't have "fishy" smell or flavor about it.

We made 12 cakes that were about the size of the palm of my hand.  If you wanted you could make them smaller and they would make a perfect appetizer for a party. 

I have not forgotten about the my giveaway for Conscious Box that I put up on Friday.  I would like to announce the winner is Tonya!!!! 

Congratulations Tonya November's Conscious Box will be coming your way later this month.

I hope you all have a fantastic Monday.

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Trick or Treat (giveaway)

You  may have thought that Halloween was over

But guess what....

I have a treat for one of my lucky readers.

Today I am hosting a giveaway for the November Conscious Box.

You see it is their 1 year anniversary and to celebrate they are giving away boxes packed with all sorts of surprises (sorry they didn't tell what the goods would include).

However if I can say one thing it is the these boxes are always loaded with wonderful treats (both to eat and to use, i.e. soaps, hand sanitizers, face masks).

I know you would be completely psyched to have this arrive in your mailbox:

So are you ready to get you win on?

Just use the Rafflecopter below and I will announce the winner on Monday November 5th.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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