Lucy's Gluten Free Cookies

I have been meaning to share with you for months the ultimate in yard art:

Your eyes do not deceive you this person has the tail end of an airplane in their front yard.



I admit this is not the best photo, but I was trying to snap the pic while driving (not terribly safe).  

I am not sure what the significance is to them, but it is definitely different.

Today I want to share with you some cookies that I have sampled and absolutely fallen in love with.

Lucy's Gluten Free Cookies

Like all good moms Dr. Lucy Gibney created these cookies when she discovered her child had severe food allergies.

They have a dedicated bakery in which they select only the finest ingredients to ensure that none of the common allergens make their way in.  In fact peanuts and tree nuts aren't even allowed in the building.

The cookies are:

Gluten free

Vegan

Contain no peanuts or tree nuts

0gm trans fat

0mg cholesterol

Non-GMO

All natural

I know what some of you might thinking.  That the cookies won't be very tasty because of they are gluten free or that they just can't be good if they are vegan.

Well I am here to let you know that is just not the case. 

I was sent 3 varieties to try:

Currently Lucy's offers 7 flavors total:

Sugar Cookie

Cinnamon Thin

Chocolate Chip

Oatmeal Cookie

Ginger Snap

Maple Bliss

Chocolate (which is a chocolate cookie with chocolate chips..my favorite)

The flavors are out of this world and the cookies have just the most delicious crunch to them.  Should you not scarf the entire box down the cookies will retain their crispness for several weeks once opened. 

All of the varieties are good by my favorite (no surprise to my husband) was the chocolate and chocolate chip.  These cookies had tons of chocolate chips in them and my sweet tooth craving was perfectly satisfied with one or two cookies (that doesn't mean you don't want to eat the whole box just that you will be satisfied after 1 or 2).

However let me say that the maple bliss was perfect with a scoop of coconut milk ice cream and the ginger snaps had quite a bite to them (a little too spicy for my children, but I enjoyed them very much with a cup of hot tea).  So for those of you who aren't chocolate fans the maple and ginger can provide a delicious treat.

I always like to share some love when I have a product to sample so I would like to offer to one of you, my wonderful readers, a chance to win a box of Lucy's cookies (so you can taste the deliciousness for yourself).

To win a box of cookies just use the rafflecopter below. 

The giveaway will be open until Friday June 15th.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Mexican Pizza...YUM!

Summer is in full swing here in the South (humidity and all)

With that comes the nice sunshine and rain to grow a bountiful garden. 

We have increased the number of raised beds and then the coolest thing we've added is a teepee to grow beans.

The kids can go inside and play.  Once the beans grow the kids can play inside and then eat beans if they feel the need for a snack. 

The garden has produced thus far tons of lettuce, spinach, and kale.  Most recently we have gotten some onions and tomatoes which we used on Mexican Pizzas that we made yesterday.

I don't know why we didn't think of this sooner as it just delicious and so very easy to make.

Mexican Pizza

flour tortilla shells (you'll need 2 per pizza)
1 can of refried beans (I used the black bean variety)
1 jar of your favorite salsa
cheese
vegetable oil
tomato (for topping)
green onions (for topping)

Brush both sides of two tortillas with vegetable oil and place on a baking sheet.

Bake in a 400 degree over for 10 minutes (5 minutes per side).

Top on tortilla with beans (however much or little you like).  I mixed 2 Tbsp of water with the beans to make them easier to spread.

Top beans with salsa (again however much or little you like depending on your salsa preference)

Place second tortilla on top.

Smear the top with salsa and then sprinkle cheese.

Bake for 10-12 minutes at 400 degrees (just long enough to melt cheese).

I sprinkled green onion and tomato fresh from the garden and then served.

This was enjoyed by everyone and is a quick dinner I look forward to serving again.

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Caramel Birthday Cake for Mom

This past Sunday was my mom's birthday (to protect the innocent I won't reveal her age)

She asked for a pound cake with caramel frosting.

There was a standard to live up to, as the best pound cake with caramel frosting comes from a woman by the name of Frances who ran my youth group when I was younger.

I was pretty sure I wouldn't live up to Frances' standards, but I gave it my best shot anyway.

I took a recipe of my grandmother's for pound cake but made the error of using all purpose flour instead of cake flour.

This wasn't a complete fail, but the cake turned out a bit more dense than I would have liked it.

So here is the final product:

I took the picture in the Mexican restaurant we went to (sorry I should have taken the time to style it).

Nana's Pound Cake

2 sticks butter
1 3/4 C sugar
5 eggs
2 C cake flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp vanilla

Cream your butter and sugar with an electric mixer.

Add eggs one at a time (incorporate fully before adding next egg).

Fold in flour, salt, and vanilla.

Pour into greased and floured bundt pan.

Bake for 70-80 minutes at 350 degrees.

For the frosting I went with a recipe I found of Paula Deen's (I figure she knows what to do with butter and sugar).

1 stick butter
1 C packed brown sugar
1/3 C heavy cream
16 oz (1 box) confectioner's sugar
1 tsp vanilla

Melt butter in saucepan over medium heat.

Add brown sugar and heavy cream, bring to a boil.

Pour in mixing bowl and add vanilla and confectioner's sugar.

Beat with an electric hand held mixer until it reaches spreading consistency.

This was the easiest frosting to make.  I was quite intimidated as caramel makes me nervous, but I couldn't have been more pleased with the turn out.

By the looks on their faces I have to say I think they were pleased:

I am going to keep working on the pound cake, because it wasn't exactly what I wanted.  If any of you have suggestions for good pound cake recipes comment below, or e-mail them to me, I would love to give them a try.

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