It's my 1st Measure it Monday!

I'm excited to start "Measure it up! Mondays"!!! I actually am NOT one who LOVES being in the kitchen. I enjoy baking, but cooking is just...there...to me. My husband actually really enjoys cooking and we would eat better if he was the one in the kitchen every night, but it can't work that way with his schedule. 

I am going to try and share a lot of the recipes. Many that we use are: Gluten Free, dairy free, sugar free, soy and peanut free, let's see what else??? And yes, they still taste good! Although it has taken lots of tries and continuing new things to get them that way. Others I use still have your regular wheat flours and sugars in them. I'll be posting some of both.

Just a short history...last year my husband choked and had to be put under to get the food out. Well, they found out that his esophagus was not working correctly and had a build-up of rings on the inside due to hidden food allergies...this is where our food allergy friendly food search began. It is a continuous journey, but I want to share what we have learned because it has taken me lots of time researching on the internet to learn some things, so here is a start today.

How can I make treats for the kids and not for the hubs on Valentines Day?!

I made a cookie cake (yes, from scratch and it tastes so much better than the store bought ones! recipe another time...) and cupcakes (just used boxed mixes on these) for my kids' school classes (neither allergy friendly), then a tray of cake pops/balls for each of their teachers and for my kids, and a tray of chocolate covered strawberries for my kids too. SO, I needed something my husband could eat...so I tried altering the cake pop recipe for my husband and it turned out pretty good. I use a different kind of chocolate chips for him that are dairy and soy free and melted them and used them to dip the cake balls and strawberries in and I had happy kids and a happy husband!

What do you think? Do these two look happy? 

Vanilla Cake Pop/Balls Recipe:

 (that came with my cake pop machine)

1 stick butter

1/4 c shortening

1 1/2 c sugar

3 eggs

1 1/2 c all purpose flour

1/4 t salt

1/4 t baking pwder

1/2 c milk

1/2 t vanilla

Altered Allergy Friendly Cake Pop/Balls Recipe:

1/2 cup coconut spread/butter (dairy free)

1/4 c shortening (from palm oil) OR use coconut oil

1/2 c stevia, 1/2 c honey, 1/4 c agave nectar

3 eggs (or you can substitute with ground flax seeds gelled in water. Did you know that?!)

1 c sorghum flour, 1/2 c rice flour, 1/2 c tapioca or potato starch

2 tsp xanthum gum

1/4 t sea salt

1/4 t baking pwder (aluminum free)

1/2 c almond milk

1/2 t vanilla

(You will have to cook these a bit longer than the "normal" ones and they will also need to be refrigerated if not eaten the first day.)

Dairy and Soy Free Chocolate Chips

Allergy Friendly Cake Pops:

  (The spots are from condensation. I put the cake balls in the fridge before I took the pic.)

If you have any recipes you would like to share, please leave them (or a link to them) in the comments. Happy Monday! 

(Tutorial for the little paper boats will be coming soon. They are the easiest thing ever and so handy! AND you don't need a machine to cut them out!)