Quick Kebabs

One of my favorite and oh-so-easy weeknight dinners. Pick some veggies ( I like bell peppers,onions and mushrooms- I never quite know if the latter is considered a veggie or not) , some pineapple- for distinctly carribean flavor, and some chicken smothered in barbecue sauce. Stick them in a pallet pleasing rainbow through skewers, season with salt and grill about 10 minutes... serve with rice and some guacomole for extra taste. Crack open a light beer and...
Voila! Backyard Bahamas.

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Dairy-free Queen

Yep. Still on the dairy free wagon. Breastfeeding is definately not the land of milk and honey... well maybe honey.Every time but a drop of milk passes my lips, my baby becomes a misery. However I think the lack of dairy is making me a more creative eater. However, recently I've been craving some good old fashioned choc-chip cookies and am also very sad about not being able to get a big box of yummy chocs for the big day of hearts. So I took a trip this week to Whole foods for some un-holy foods; read: junk and chocolate.

So along with my usual tofu, organic meats and sesame seed butter,I found so many delicious dairy free items to gorge on.

1. Cherrybrook Kitchen Fudge Brownie Mix with Chocolate Chips, Peanut Free!, 16-Ounce Boxes (Pack of 6): I bought this for my birthday as a substitute for my cake.
2. Home Free Mini Chocolate Chip Cookies 5 Oz. Box (Pack of 6): These are great tasting, but the texture isn't that great. However they are organic, nut free and dairy free.
3. So Delicious Minis Frozen Dessert, Non-Dairy, Organic, Fudge, 10.98 fl oz, (pack of 6): One of the best finds ever!! My daughter and husband both loved these too, so now after one night I have to go buy more. These ice creams are made with coconut milk and are so tasty! Organic, natural ingredients and dairy free and sweetened with agave which is a much healthier alternative to sugar. I can't wait to go try more by this brand.
4. And finally a tasty cookie! Andean Dream Quinoa Cookies Chocolate Chip is gluten-free and dairy free and vegan and has quinoa and TASTY!!! So much so that I will continue eating this cookie even when I'm allowed dairy. 

So, if you are lactose intolerant, or vegan or just creeped out by beverages squeezed from a cow's udder, but still want some chocolate, then do like I do, and buy some of these yummy treats. Now excuse me, I must wipe the chocolate from seeping from my pores.

Love and agave sweetness,
Kerry the Momster

Chocolate-free Chocolate

One of the saddest days of my existence was the day the doc told me I had to eat a hypo-allergenic diet until we could tell if something I was eating was causing my baby's acid-reflux. He said no nuts, no dairy, no berries... essentially everything I eat on a daily basis (cheese, peanut butter, granola bars,strawberries, chocolate!!)

I starved for the first day, and then got my hiny into the nearest Whole Foods Store to take a look at their insane everything-free selections.

My first stop:the chocolate aisle (Hey, a girl's got her priorities)
I bought three brands: Twilight, Boom Choco Boom and Buccaneer. All of which are dairy free, nut free, etc.

The Twilight bar tasted gross, like some floury, goo with very little chocolate-y-ness. It went into the trash. I was desperate, but not that desperate!
Next I tried the Buccaneer, which would have sufficed just fine. It wasn't that bad, and my hope picked up.
My final stop on the taste train was the Boom Choco Boom Dark Chocolate Bar. Lo and behold, we had a clear winner. I swear I heard angels sing. If I didn't already know this was some frou-frou, wimpy version of chocolate, I would never have known!

So if you are stuck in my dilemma, sing Boom Choco Boom all the way into the store. They even have coupons online!

Another fantastic discovery: Sunflower seed butter; it's tastier and healthier than peanut butter.


                                                                       Love and yummies,
Kerry the Momster

Hey lil punkin'

I love pumpkin anything, so this time of year is my favorite for baked treats and pumpkin flavored lattes at all my favorite places. Here is a recipe I was hoping to use for thanksgiving, but seeing as I have been put on a hypoallergenic diet for a while (my baby was having issues, so the doc wants to see if it's something I'm eating), I won't be able to try this until later on. But please let me live vicariously through you, with this new spin on pumpkin pie, as a delicious cheesecake. This is the recipe for the Cheesecake Factory Pie, so it's bound to be good!

Cheesecake Factory Pumpkin Cheesecake
Originally posted to recipelink.com by Elly, Ohio:

Crust:

1 1/2 cups graham crumbs

5 Tbsp. butter, melted

1 Tbsp. sugar

Filling:

3- 8oz.pkgs. cream cheese, softened

1 cup sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

1 cup canned pumpkin

3 eggs

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 tsp. nutmeg

1/4 tsp. allspice

Whipped Cream

Mix crust ingredients together, just till coated and crumbly. Press onto the bottom and 2/3 up the sides of an 8" spring form pan. Bake for 5 min. at 350. Set aside.

Combine cheese, sugar and vanilla in large bowl, mix until smooth with an electric mixer. add pumpkin eggs, and spices, beat till smooth and creamy. Pour into the crust. Bake for 60-70 min. or till the top turns a bit darker. Remove from oven and allow to come to room temperature, then refrigerate. After it has thoroughly chilled, remove the pan sides and cut. Serve with whipped cream.

Love and sweetness,
Kerry the Momster

5 little pumpkins

Terrible quality of pics (I took them on my phone), but we made these for my daughter's class party.

1. Bake: I cheated and bought pre-made choc chip cookie dough which we baked as a big flat piece. 
2. Cut: The pre-made doughs swell more than regular sugar cookie dough so it's best to bake first, and then cut shapes while the dough is still hot. So we cut pumpkin shapes out of the cooked dough.
3. Melt: I bought a packet of orange candy pieces from Walmart, and melted in the microwave for 40 seconds, and stirred. Check your pack for instructions.
4. Ice: I used the melted candy to ice the cookies and then using a knife drew lines in half circles to create the pumpkin effect.
5. Decorate: My daughter then added green m&m's to the top as the stem, by dabbing the back with a little candy. She also decorated some with orange and brown sprinkles, and a few with smiley faces (not pictured).

 Love and pumpkins,
Kerry, the Momster

 

The Big 5

Today its official! My little baby is a bonafide five year old. One can't even classify her in toddler terms anymore in clothing, and she no longer has a car seat, but a booster! So grown up!

Of course, this rite of passage requires cupcakes at school. So she decided she wanted chocolate. I decided I did not want to make regular cupcakes- as often they are not that chocolate-y, but something more along the line of brownies. Brownies don't make for the same cute,colorful, celebratory indulgences as cupcakes however, and thus I made a new concoction. A hybrid of brownie and cupcake, ingenious!

It was as simple as mixing two recipes together, and the only real talent came in mathematically trying to figure out the bake time, as brownies have a shorter cook time. I was afraid that the cakes wouldn't rise sufficiently, and although they did not rise as much as regular cupcakes, they still came out spongy, but moist and speckled with Ghirardelli chocolate chips. The perfect choco-combo!

We dressed them in blue frosting, sprinkles and colorful toothpicks that I found on sale at Target. And my "big" little girl was off to school, looking all five and alive, leaving me with a whole bowl full of cake mix (I had double because of combining two recipes).But no fear, preggo-mama is here, and will certainly be ingesting the two-layer, choc-chip, brownie cake I was able to bake from the leftovers.

In conclusion, mixing the two recipes worked great and I baked at 325 for the number right in the middle of the two (35 minutes for the cake, and 25 minutes for the cupcakes).

Of course I sampled a few already...And by few I mean 9 ;)


Love and sugar
Kerry, the Momster

Goodness Gracious, Baked Balls of desire.

I had the great fortune of stumbling onto the most inspiring baking blog about a year ago. I have baked a few items off of here, and still plan to make many more. I can't keep up with all the skilled sugary compositions, as just as I get done making one, there are 3 more I want to create. The blog has an equally cute name to match the darling confections, Bakerella.

I made these delectable cupcake balls, coated in candy, for my daughter's school. I had several people ask me for the recipe, and I also referred them to this site. There are so many ideas on here!- any season or occasion. Try the cake pops too. And now there is even a Cake Pop book.

 

And some more of Bakerella's creations:

Love and Sugar,
Kerry, the Momster

Bad, but oh so good, breakfast.

I have fallen in love. With a cereal!

I can't justify starting the day with this much chocolate, and sugar, but as a late afternoon pick me up, or semi-healthy pregnancy snack, this is seriously delicious stuff. My husband says it tastes as though it should be an ice-cream topper (which I have yet to try, but sounds completely feasible!)

Target's own Archer Farm Chocolate Chunk Hazelnut Biscotti Granola!! It's one of about 10 different cereals they have for $3.99. When I do want to eat if for breakfast, I cut down the sugar quotient by mixing it with a sugar-free granola, or Corn flakes.

Can be purchased in Target Stores.

Love and sugar,
Kerry, the Momster