Orange Sherbet

1 orange + 1 Tbsp sweetener (we're partial to agave) + 2 cups ice + Vitamix= Delicious orange sherbet

If you've got a bit of safe vanilla (careful- alcohol and glycerin are often corn derived, so we make our own vanilla from potato vodka and vanilla beans) put a splash of that in there and it'll taste like a creamsicle!

Bob's Red Mill

Bob's Red Mill xantham gum is wheat based and corn free (yay!).

I'm a sucker for homemade frappacino. 

Water

Instant coffee (I usually use decaf)

Stevia (make sure it's allergen free) or sweetener of your choice

Milk of your choice (we use coconut milk)

Xantham gum 

Put all these in the blender. Blend.

Add ice, blend until smooth. I have a Vitamix and I love it an insane amount.

Play around with the amounts of everything until you find something you like. I like to sometimes add some homemade chocolate sauce, vanilla or mint extract to create different tastes. It satisfies my sweet tooth for minimal calories.

Chewy Pretzel Bites

Note: These were yummy! Easy to make, fun to eat. Delicious with mustard.

Please excuse the cell phone pics, they were taken in the midst of baking three batches of pretzels:)

From the blog Mel's Cafe:

Chewy Pretzel Bites*Note: if using active dry yeast, increase the yeast to 1 tablespoon. Proof the yeast in the warm water and sugar (let it bubble and foam – maybe about 5 minutes) before adding it to the flour and salt.*Makes about 2 dozen pretzel bites
INGREDIENTS:
Dough:2 1/2 cups (10 1/2 ounces) all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
2 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast
1 cup (8 ounces) very warm water
Topping:1/2 cup (4 ounces) warm water
2 tablespoons baking soda
Coarse salt (optional)
3 tablespoons butter, melted
DIRECTIONS:
In a large bowl or the bowl of an electric mixer, place the flour, salt, sugar and yeast. Mix to just combine. Add the water and mix well, adding more flour, as needed, a bit at a time to form a soft, smooth dough that clears the sides and bottom of the bowl. Knead the dough, by hand or machine, for about 5 minutes, until it is soft, smooth and quite slack. The goal is to get a really soft dough that isn’t overly sticky. Lightly flour the dough and place it in a plastic bag; close the bag, leaving room for the dough to expand, and let it rest for 30 minutes or up to 60 minutes.
Preheat your oven to 500°F. Don’t be afraid of the high heat! This is what will help those pretzels to brown up perfectly and stay soft on the inside. Prepare two baking sheets by lining them with parchment paper or lightly greasing them.
Transfer the dough to a lightly greased work surface, and divide it into about four strips of equal length. Allow the pieces to rest, uncovered, for 5 minutes. While the dough is resting, combine the 1/2 cup warm water and the baking soda in a liquid measuring cup (deep enough to dip the pretzel bites into). Make sure the baking soda is thoroughly dissolved. Sometimes I have a hard time getting the baking soda completely dissolved, so I just lightly stir up the mixture right before adding each pretzel.
Cut each strip of dough into about 6-8 pieces, about 1 to 1 ½ inches in width. You don’t have to be completely exact, just eyeball it. Dip each pretzel bite in the baking soda solution (this will give the pretzels a nice, golden-brown color), and place them on the baking sheets. Sprinkle them lightly with coarse, kosher, or pretzel salt. Allow them to rest, uncovered, for 10 minutes.
Bake the pretzels for 7-8 minutes or until they’re golden brown. Bake one sheet at a time – it won’t hurt the other pretzels to chill out for a little longer.
Remove the pretzels from the oven, and brush them thoroughly with the melted butter. Keep brushing the butter on until you’ve used it all up; it may seem like a lot, but that’s what gives these pretzels their ethereal taste. Eat the pretzels warm, or reheat them in an oven or microwave on low heat.
Recipe Source: adapted from this version

Homemade Buttery Pretzels

Note: These were superb. These are a sweeter pretzel. Although good with salt, they would be FABULOUS as a cinnamon & sugar pretzel.....however, I was out of cinnamon (seriously, who runs out of cinnamon?!). I couldn't get the baking soda water to thoroughly mix, so my son kept stirring in between me dipping them.

I'm sorry the pics aren't the best- they were taken on the fly with my cell. Trust me, they were delicious!

From the blog My Litter:

Homemade Buttery Pretzels

Ingredients

• 4 teaspoons active dry yeast

• 1 teaspoon white sugar

• 1 1/4 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)

• 5 cups all-purpose flour

• 1/2 cup white sugar

• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt

• 1 tablespoon canola or olive oil

• 1/2 cup baking soda

• 4 cups hot water

• 1/4 cup kosher salt, for topping

Directions

1. In a small bowl, dissolve yeast and 1 teaspoon sugar in warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.

1. In a large bowl, mix together flour, 1/2 cup sugar, and salt. Make a well in thecenter; add the oil and yeast mixture. Mix and form into a dough. If the mixture is dry, add one or two tablespoons of water. Knead the dough until smooth, about 7 to 8 minutes. Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl and turn to coat with oil. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 hour.

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C). In a large bowl, dissolve baking soda in hot water.

1. When risen, turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and divide into 12 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a rope and twist into a pretzel shape. Once all of the dough is all shaped, dip each pretzel into the baking soda solution and place on a greased baking sheet. Sprinkle with kosher salt.

1. Bake in preheated oven for 8 minutes, until browned.

Bread Machine Pretzel Bites

Note: These were very yummy. A good "dip in mustard" pretzel. Instead of forming into a pretzel shape, we cut them in 1-1.5" pieces. I thought it was going to be a lot of work to boil them and then bake; but it wasn't a big deal at all.

I'm sorry the pics aren't the best- they were taken on the fly with my cell. Trust me, they were delicious!

From the Blog Dine & Dish

Recipe: Homemade Pretzel Bites for the Bread Machine (from All Recipes.com)

• 1 1/8 cups water (70 to 80 degrees F)

• 3 cups all-purpose flour

• 3 tablespoons brown sugar

• 1 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast

• 2 quarts water

• 1/2 cup baking soda

• coarse salt

• melted butter – not in the original recipe, but a must for mall food pretzel like experience

1. In bread machine pan, place the first four ingredients in order suggested by manufacturer. Select dough setting (check dough after 5 minutes of mixing; add 1 to 2 tablespoons water or flour if needed).

1. When cycle is completed, turn dough onto a lightly floured surface. Divide dough into eight balls. Roll each into a 20-in. rope; form into pretzel shape. In a saucepan, bring water and baking soda to a boil. Drop pretzels into boiling water, two at a time; boil for 10-15 seconds. Remove with a slotted spoon; drain on paper towels.

1. Place pretzels on greased baking sheets. Bake at 425 degrees F for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown. Brush with melted butter. Sprinkle with salt.

King Arthur Brand

King Arthur Brand flours are good to go. They do have malted barley flour in them, but I was told by the company that it not corn derived. I was so happy to hear this, as I love me some King Arthur flour.......it's always fun to not have to change:)

That said, the son-son and I had a pretzel baking night. We tried 3 different recipes, figuring that at least one would come out edible. It turns out that we LOVED all three and will be adding them to our recipe collection. We used some melted Olivio Coconut Spread brushed on the tops, and King Arthur flour.

When a recipe calls for oil, I usually use coconut oil when possible. In these recipes, it was used to oil the counter. Normally I'd use olive oil, but figured that was too strong of a flavor for this and so I used canola oil. I'm still unsure of canola oil as I've heard things about how it isn't good for health reasons; but I'm not completely convinced. I just use it sparingly and as a last resort. Word to the wise- "vegetable" oil is most often corn or soybean oil.

Machine Bread Pretzel Bites

Easy Homemade Pretzels

Chewy Pretzel Bites

Butter

We found an awesome product, Olivio Coconut Spread, to use as a butter replacement. I've gotten used to it and have actually grown quite fond of the taste. It has a buttery mouthfeel and is kind of sweet. It melts like the real stuff and is fantastic on toast, especially with a bit of cinnamon sprinkled on top.

Even my husband likes it, and he doesn't like the taste of coconut.

Treating the sickies is a whole new beast

My son woke up with a dry hacking cough and couldn't get back to sleep. We tried lemon water and honey, and it just wasn't cutting it. I ended up giving him a sucker (Yummy Earth Organic Lollipops) because I didn't want him to choke on a cough drop since he was coughing so hard and was in bed.

My kids are rarely sick, and when they are I do natural remedies whenever possible (the only medication any of them has ever had was when I had to give him Benedryl after the original soy incident ). When looking through medications, I can see that even homeopathic remedies are no longer "safe", as they are often cornstarch pellets.

This morning, I called Ricola to find out if they were safe. I was told that their "starch syrup" is corn based. 

Please remember to check the ingredients on everything, every time you buy it. Something that was safe last time may not be safe this time- companies change their ingredients and formulations all the time without warning.

Please don't trust me on things. Use this blog as a jumping off point to do your own research. What I've been told may not be fact, or maybe it was true when I was told and won't be true tomorrow.

Things that are safe:

Honey...Don't Cough- this is 100% pure buckwheat honey in individual packets

Bee M.D. Organic Honey Throat Drops by BestSweet, Honey Lemon flavor- organic brown rice syrup, organic eucalyptus oil, organic evaporated cane juice, organic flavors*, organic honey. I was told by Miss Rita at BestSweet that there is no corn nor corn derivatives in this product or the other flavor.

I'm waiting on a reply from:

Whole Foods 365 Everyday Value Cough Ease for Kids Homeopathic Cough Syrup- citric acid*, honey, purified water, sodium benzoate, sucrose*. This also states that it contains 0.001% alcohol which I'm also questioning, as alcohol is often corn derived. I will update when/if I get a reply.