A Gluten, Dairy, Grain and Nut Free Christmas
October - December is my absolute FAVORITE time of year! The baking the crafts, the movies, the family time feels so awesome! We spent Christmas in the country, which was very relaxing.
One of the most awesome things about spending Christmas in the country, is the quite. Everyone slept so peacfylly. One of the neighbors brought two large beautiful bags of oranges over...they smell and taste like gluten & dairy free heaven. We had so many in fact that we decided to make some fresh pot pourrie in the slow cooker!
To do this, I lined the slow cooker with a "slow cooker liner" to make clean up a breeze. Next we filled the pot with fresh apple slices, orange peek, a few whole oranges, cinnamon sticks, allspice berries, nutmeg and whole cloves. This concoction is literally holiday in a pot! The spells of Christmas and Autumn and wafting throughout the house.
For dessert, I decided to make Juli Bauer's Paleo Magic Brownie Bars. I have been having serious trouble with nuts and grains lately, and I have been a bit down about celebrating the holidays without my normal grain laden fare. However, Juli's site: paleomg.com never disappoints. She makes amazing recipes and this recipe in particular does not disappoint. My parents were my test tasters. They NEVER lie if they do not like something. They loved these. My dad actually had a few! Sometimes you need a treat that does not make you feel as if you are under any dietary restrictions. The only change I made was adding enjoylife chocolate chips ontop of the brownie layer. The recipe can be found here.
We made quite a few fun treats. My mom made rub balls (not gluten, grain, nut or dairy free). I made gluten & dairy free rice treats for some of the neighbors kids. I used envirokidz cereal and Christmas cookie cutters to shape them. I had fun making these and personally think they are adorable!
We also made a gluten, grain nut and partially dairy free chocolate house. I have never made a gingerbread house and although I would love to make one, I was a bit intimidated by making a gluten free one. Next year, I will be up for the challenge. Fortunately, I do not react if food touches dairy, so we were able to use enjoy life chips for the chocolate parts, and white candy melts for the top. We had such a blast making these!
I pray that God blesses you all with a fabulous 2014!
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