Shutterfly Winners

I had MG pick three winners randomly out of a hat. Congratulations to:

Cara, Megan & LeeAnn

Shutterly Giveaway!!!

When Shutterfly contacted me about doing a giveaway they had me at 'free cards'. My favorite part of Christmas is sending and receiving Christmas cards. It really is. Each card I receive is like a present to open. I love getting to hear from my family and friends through the good old fashioned method in my mailbox and I love showing my kids where the cards came from. It's exciting to get cards from all over the world.

When the hubby and I packed up our belongings and moved over 800 miles from our family and friends in May of 2001 I was sad but secretly I was excited to be sending out our first holiday cards in December of that year. Yes, I do think about Christmas cards that far in advance. That first year I didn't have much luck finding darling Christmas photo card designs and although I did send out cards that year I didn't stumble upon Shutterfly until Christmas of 2006. Shutterfly was the first company I found to allow more then one picture in their flat card. That year I chose a 4 x 8 flat design with 9 pictures to display my darling 18 month old daughter. They did not disappoint me in 2006 and they still don't today. You won't be sorry if you take the time now to browse through their darling card collection for this year. Check out their photo cards here. Or their Christmas card collection here. Or you could order a photo gifts here. My only problem now is how to narrow down my selection for our 2011 Christmas card but the card above is definitely a top contender.

Shutterfly has kindly offered to give 3 of my readers (your chances are very good here!) 25 free cards this Christmas season. To enter just leave me a comment telling me your favorite Christmas tradition. One entry per person please. Giveaway will end on midnight of November 9th so enter before then.

Are you a blogger? Want another chance at 25 free cards this holiday season? Register here.

Found Safe Candy Corn!

I had a few minutes to kill at my local drug store Bartell's and so I spent it like I do every October, reading all the labels on the candy I knew wouldn't be safe for my children. I'm always hoping one day I'll come across something that was worth my time in reading label after label, this was one of those days.

SAFE CANDY CORN.
EGG FREE, PEANUT FREE, TREE-NUT FREE, WHEAT FREE & DAIRY FREE.
Hard to believe isn't it? Thank you Jelly Belly for giving my child the chance to try candy corns for the first time in her life. They were $3 for a 3 oz. bag at our store and worth every penny!

Don't forget to start getting ready to make your own Mr. Bones for Halloween dinner!

Although I found my Jelly Belly candy corn's locally you can also order then here on Amazon (Amazon is also my picture source above). Wishing all of our allergy friends a very safe Halloween!

*As always check your own label before you allow your allergic child to eat these. You are responsible to verify what is safe for your own child.*

Feeding Squirrels

Photo Credit: http://www.freestockphotos.biz/stockphoto/11661

We had a great success this week. MG & I found and spoke to the lady who kindly feeds the birds and squirrels in our neighborhood every day. Unfortunately she's been feeding them peanuts in the shell and we find them all over our yard every day. We introduced ourselves and explained MG's allergies. Then we kindly asked if she would consider feeding them sunflower seeds instead of nuts.

I wasn't sure how she'd react because we could tell that feeding the animals meant a lot to her but thankfully she was so sweet to us. She said she'd gladly try sunflower seeds. I'm so grateful to find people who are kind to those who suffer from life threatening allergies even when they don't have to.

Exciting Delivery

We got an exciting delivery recently ....

A closer look....

We recently discovered Chocolate Soybutter! It is gluten free, peanut free, treenut free, dairy free & egg free.

We are loving it and are confident that if you are a soy butter fan you'll love it too! Be sure to check out I.M. Healthy or Amazon for the best deals on getting it shipped to you.

Mexican Pizza

I got the idea for Mexican Pizza's from, Cheap, Fast, Good!, by Beverly Mills & Alicia Ross. Since trying their recipe I've adapted it to the likes of my family. The recipes contains only ingredients. You can decide on the quantity.

Mexican Pizza

corn tortillas

refried beans

sour cream (optional)

taco seasoning

cheese (optional)

salsa

avocado

shredded lettuce

Preheat the oven on a medium broil. Place the corn tortillas on a baking sheet and broil both sides of the corn tortilla just until crisp. About a minute and a 1/2 per side.

Meanwhile place about 1/2 cup of sour cream in an bowl and mix with 2 tsp. taco seasoning. Set aside.

Remove from oven and spread beans over corn tortilla, then sour cream mixture, salsa & cheese. Place pan in oven and brown until cheese melts. Watch closely so the edges of the corn tortilla don't burn.

Don't forget to check the labels of the products you are using carefully to make sure they are free of the allergens you are avoiding.

After removing from oven top with avocado and shredded lettuce. We cut the pizza for the kids in pizza wedges.

Enjoy!

Bunny Buns with Mom's White Frosting

Our church has a kid magazine that MG receives every month called The Friend. In the April 2011 issue there was a recipe for Bunny Buns. MG insisted we make them. They are a lot of fun to make with a child and easy to adapt to egg and nut free. You can follow the original recipe in the link above our our modified version below.

Bunny Buns

1 package active dry yeast

1/4 cup warm water

1 cup milk, warmed not quite to boiling (or dairy free substitute)

1/3 cup sugar

1/2 cup shortening

1 teaspoon salt

1 T. dry egg replacer + 4 T. Warm water (or 2 eggs)

1/4 cup orange juice

2 tablespoons grated orange peel

5 1/2 cups flour, sifted

1. In a microwave safe cup or bowl, warm 1 cup milk and set aside.

2. In a small bowl pour in 1/4 c. warm water and sprinkle yeast on top. Lightly stir twice and set aside.

3. In another small bowl mix the egg replacer and the 4 T. warm water. Get out as many lumps as possible and set aside.

4. In a large bowl mix the warm milk (or dairy free substitute), sugar, shortening and salt. Let cool then add the egg replacer mixture, yeast mixture, orange juice and orange peel.

5. Stir in flour a few cups at a time to make a soft dough. Let stand for 10 minutes.

6. Knead dough 5–10 minutes on a lightly floured surface until dough is smooth and elastic. Place it in a lightly greased bowl, turning once to grease surface. Cover bowl with a clean towel and put it in a warm place. Let dough rise for 2 hours, or until double in size. Punch dough down and let stand for 10 minutes.

7. On a lightly floured surface, roll dough into a rectangle 1/2 inch thick. Cut dough into strips 1/2 inch wide and 14 inches long. Roll between hands into rounded snake shapes. Cut one strip into pieces 1/2 inch long, and roll into balls.

8. Place one long piece of dough on a greased cookie sheet. Place one end of the strip over the other to make a loop; bring the end that is underneath up and cross it over the other end. Place a ball of dough on top of the bottom loop.

9. Cover bunnies and let rise in a warm place for 45–60 minutes, until nearly double in size. Bake at 375ºF (190ºC) for 12–15 minutes.

Dough read to rise.

Covered Dough. I warmed mine next to the dishwasher to help it rise on a cold day.

Dough doubled and ready to be punched down. A fun job for a child to help with.

MG punching the dough.

The dough rolled out and cut in strips ready to be rolled into 'snakes'.

MG was in charge of making the small balls.

Bunny Buns ready to rise. Make sure to keep them covered while they are rising.

The end product is not only adorable but delicious! See my Mom's White Frosting recipe below.

Mom's White Frosting

1 cup shortening

2/3 cup cold water

1 tsp vanilla
(I added 1 t. orange extract instead of the vanilla for the Bunny Buns recipe.)

2 lb powder sugar

Mix all ingredients. Reserve some frosting in different bowls to make different colors. This recipe is enough to frost 2, 8" cakes or in this case one batch of bunny buns with leftover to spare.