Happy Birthday to Confessions Hubby!

This post is going to be a quick one. Today is the Confessions Hubby's Birthday! Happy birthday, honey! We enjoyed a family dinner and then presents and cake. Well...no cake for me, since I am doing a Whole 30.

Actually, it wasn't as hard as I thought. I think that I am just about through the sugar withdrawal here on Day 5. And yes, it was withdrawal. I think that is one of the hardest parts of the Whole 30, in the first 2 weeks. You honestly don't realize how much sugar is in the foods you eat. Just for a fun (or not?) experiment, watch your labels for an entire day and see how much sugar you consume. It is hidden in weird places. During a Whole 30, you cut out all types of added sugar: brown, white, raw, agave nectar, Splenda, stevia, etc.

So, since I didn't eat cake, I played around in the kitchen and came up with this little dish.

It's so simple, it isn't really a recipe. Sliced organic bananas, coconut milk (full fat from the can) drizzled on top, toasted hazelnut pieces over the top and some cinnamon to finish it off. YUM!

Well, friends, I am going to say good night! I am off to run a 5K in the morning!

Wish me luck!

 

 

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Holiday Goodie-Swap

Tis the season of holiday craziness! I love this time of year...the cards, the holiday parties, the family traditions...

Reading the holiday-themed magazines...

 

Going to holiday shows and pageants...

 

Holiday parties with friends...

 

Dressing up in red and green clothes... (Or dressing my child in them...)

 

Holiday baking...

 

Visiting Santa...

 

Decking the halls...

(Day view)

(Night view)

 

Making gingerbread houses...

 

And the Elf on the Shelf!

 

This holiday season has seemed to pass by extra quickly for The Confessions family. A few days ago, our Elf on the Shelf, Elfie, brought Sadie a paper link chain so she could count down the days until Christmas. I cannot believe that there are only 6 days left! Fortunately, our last "busy day" is tomorrow, so after tomorrow, I think that we can settle in and just enjoy being together.

On Monday night, I had the pleasure of attending a Goodie-Swap. If you are looking for a fun idea for a holiday party, this is a great one. If you have never been to a goodie- swap before, here is how it works. You make a food (or craft or whatever) to share with each person attending the party. When you attend the party, you get to collect one item from each person, and you come home with a basket of goodies!

Our goody swap was food-related. I wanted to make these sweet and salty spiced nuts, because they are delicious! Then I considered making this minty hot chocolate. But in the end, I decided to make my grandmother's butter cookies. These cookies are extra special because I used my grandmother's recipe AND her cookie press to make them. They are light, crunchy, and buttery! (Plus, they are super cheap to make and use ingredients that you usually have on hand anyway: sugar, flour, butter, milk, vanilla, eggs, and baking powder!)

 

 

 

Click here to view my post on how to make these butter cookies!

 

I made three varieties: flowers with a cherry center, camels with a chocolate sprinkle for the eye (because when else will you ever have a camel cookie??), flowers with red sprinkles, and Christmas trees with red and green sprinkles. My personal favorites are the ones with the cherry center. I forgot to buy maraschino cherries, so I used cherries from a can of cherry pie filling that I had. I just rinsed them off and cut them in half and set them fit in the flower centers before baking.

 

 

 

I came home with lots of goodies, including white trash party mix, gluten-free chocolate-oatmeal cookies, cheese rings, fresh-baked bread with pesto-butter, and more! (Read: I came home with lots of goodies that I do not need to be eating!). Hopefully the whole family will get to enjoy all the goodies!

I thought this was a great idea for a party and it was fun catching up with friends. And we all made samples to share with each other, so we had fun snacking, too!

 

Later this week, I have my second annual holiday brunch with my college friends! I am looking forward to a relaxing morning catching up!

 

Reader Question: Do you host any holiday gatherings? Do you have a favorite one that you attend? What is your favorite tradition?

 

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Surprise! A Star is Born!

Every year, Sadie's preschool puts on a school Christmas Pageant. I blogged about it two years ago, but last year I didn't. I was pretty busy this time last year getting ready for my sister Adrienne's wedding. Anyway, last year, Sadie was so excited about her school show. She practiced and practiced. We arrived early to get great seats on the front row, knowing our child would be the cutest in the class. The moment finally arrived, when we sat, cameras ready. She got up on the stage and... cried her little eyes out. This was so crazy, because if you know Sadie then you know... She's NOT shy.  

So this year, as the annual pageant approached, Ryan and I found ourselves getting nervous. We kept giving her advice.

• If you get nervous, just look for me of the front row and I wil smile at you.
• No one will be looking at you- they will be looking at all the other kids n stage.

We even resorted to bribery.

• If you stay on the stage and do a good job, we can eat anywhere you want after the show. Any restaurant!
• If you do a good job, I will buy you a ______. (Insert toy name here.)

On the day of the show, we weren't sure what would happen, but we held our breath and...

Surprise!

A star was born. Not only did she sing her heart out, but she smiled the whole time and put on a little show.

Then on Sunday, she did it again at the church Christmas pageant. One of the funniest moments was when she and the rest of the four-year-old angels (irony?) approached the stage. Our little diva was surprised to find herself behind one of the tallest little boys. I guess after getting a taste for performing, she was not going to take a back seat. She elbowed winged her way up to the front where she could enjoy the limelight.

 

A moment of surprise occurred when she realized the Baby Jesus was being played by an actual baby... Not a doll.

Don't you love little surprise moments?

I also love surprises you can eat. Like these cupcakes.

 

They look like ordinary white cupcakes with cream cheese frosting, right?



But if you open it up (or bite into it), you will find a sweet surprise inside! Sweet cherries!

If you need a tutorial on how to make filled cupcakes, click here. For these cupcakes, I used Comstock Cherry Pie Filling for the surprise inside. They I carefully covered up the evidence with cream cheese frosting.

Yes, I know my cupcake decorating needs work. Santa, if you are reading, I could use some cake decorating tools.

So go forth, my friends. Enjoy the surprises of the season!

 

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Paleo Pumpkin-Apple Muffins

Usually, by this time of year, I would have gone through about 10 cans of pumpkin.  All of the bloggers I follow have been cooking pumpkin EVERYTHING and it all looks so delicious and wonderful.  Finally, I am joining the bandwagon.  I have been tweaking a recipe for some Paleo Muffins.  I was going to make apple muffins, but then I thought… “Apple + Pumpkin…” and these muffins were born!

These muffins are a bit more dense and have a slightly different consistency than a traditional wheat flour muffin, mainly due to the pumpkin and the coconut flour.  They are slightly sweet, but not overly sweet.  If you like them sweeter, then you could always add one more tablespoon of honey, although I have not tested them with 5 tablespoons.I would say they are slightly sweeter than a corn muffin.  I added a pat of real butter to mine (not Paleo) and that made these muffins even better.  I decided to have the husband taste-test them, just because I know he is a pickier eater (sorry Honey, but you know it is true) and he gave it a thumbs-up. 

 

Paleo Pumpkin-Apple Muffins

(adapted from Cindy’s Table’s recipe, found here.)

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup coconut flour (found at Earth Fare or other health food stores)
• 1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
• 1 tsp. nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 can or pure pumpkin
• 1 apple, chopped (I left the skin on mine)
• 1/2 cup coconut oil (melted)
• 4 Tablespoons raw honey
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract

Preparation:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  In a mixing bowl, combine the flour, spices, and baking powder. In a separate bowl, combine the other ingredients and mix well.  Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix until combined.  Divide evenly into 12 muffin cups.  Bake for 20 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean. 

Note: these do not rise like regular muffins, so you can fill the muffin cups to just below the tops.

I think next time, I may try a plain apple version of these.  I think that could be a delicious alternative. 

 

In other news, I just signed up to run in one of my favorite 5K Events: The Reindeer Romp!  I’ve been running some on the weekends and it feels good to be running again.  Since I have not been running as often, I am a little slower (3 miles in about 39-40 minutes) but I am hoping to improve it just a tad before the run on December 1.  I have run this race for several years, and it is always lots of fun.

(Ryan and Me in 2010)

This race is a part of Rock Hill’s annual Christmasville Festival.  I LOVE Christmasville!After the race, there are all sorts of fun events to help get you in the holiday spirit, including:

• ice skating
• carolers
• gingerbread house contests
• chili and soup cookoff
• storytime and crafts with Santa

and more!  If you are local, I have to say that this is one of the best events for kids!  I can’t wait!  You can click here to view one of my previous posts from Christmasville. 

Lemonade Cupcakes

It sure does feel weird to be publishing a post at 9 a.m. rather than late at night!  I am home with a sick kiddo today.  You know, I always hate for her to be sick, but there’s something so sweet about a sick child.  They are so cuddly and pitiful. 

Yesterday when I published my pasta salad idea, I told you I had a cupcake recipe to share as well.  Hello, lemonade cupcakes!

This was a last-minute dessert idea that I had yesterday when shopping for items for our tailgate/picnic.  On the way to the grocery store, I was thinking about making cupcakes, but I wanted to make a “summery” cupcake.  I knew I had seen lemonade cupcakes on various blogs and probably on Pinterest, too.  But I had never pinned a recipe or bookmarked one.  When I arrived at the store, I quickly Googled “lemonade cupcakes” and I came across this recipe.

It had pretty good reviews AND it was a more of a “sorta-homemade” cupcake, which suited me just fine.  (Sorta Homemade=packaged ingredients with a few items added in.)  Since the picnic was in just a few hours, I wasn’t looking for a very long or complicated recipe. 

This was very simple and easy.  I didn’t make many changes.  The only thing I did differently from the original recipe was add about a teaspoon of the lemonade concentrate to the cream cheese frosting, just to give it a little more lemon flavor. 

I wanted them to look like a glass of lemonade, so I added yellow sugar crystals, yellow straws, and a tiny lemon slice to the top.  :)

The cupcakes had good flavor and really did taste like lemonade!  Give these a try if you need to make a dessert for a party or gathering this summer!

I’ve already got another post ready to go for tomorrow about a special condiment that most of you have probably not tried.  I’m going to keep it a secret for now… but if you are a hot dog fan… then you are going to want to try this out! Stay tuned for details!

Readers: What is your favorite food to take to a picnic or tailgate gathering?

Happy Easter!

Hello friends!  Happy Easter from the Confessions family!  I’m planning a post recapping our weekend, but I thought for now I would share one of our family traditions with all of you… our annual Bunny Cake!  We make this cake every year on the night before Easter, usually right after we finish dyeing our eggs! 

Start with 2 round cakes.  Bake according to package directions or make from scratch.

Keep one cake whole.  Cut the other into 3 pieces, shaping as shown below.

Assemble the pieces.  Trim the “ear” pieces so they rest up against the head.

Ice the cakes.  White for the face, pink for the ears, green for the bow tie, and blue for the eyes.

Use toothpicks and jellybeans to define the eyes, teeth, and decorate the bow tie.

 

Tada! 

Oh… and if you somehow manage to screw up 4 extra cakes in the process, what do you do?

That’s right!  Make cake pops!  But that step is only for those of you who have issues while baking the cakes.  :)

I hope you are having a sweet Easter and enjoying some time with friends or family!