DELICIOUS Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe (Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Egg Free, Soy Free!)

I was so excited yesterday when I tasted the cookie dough for these gluten free cookies!  Normally, tasting gluten free cookie dough is not always a pleasant experience--so I was delighted to find that this tasted the SAME as "normal" cookie dough!  Afraid I might be delusional and imagining things, I subjected my mother-in-law to a taste test and she said that it did, indeed taste like regular gluten filled cookie dough!

I've adapted this recipe from one of my favorite gluten free cookbooks, "Gluten Free Baking Classics" by Annelise G. Roberts.  Her original recipe is very good, but we are unable to use regular vegetable shortening like Crisco (soy) or eggs.

I have found that the different shortening brands have a varying degree of moisture in them, so depending on which brand you use, you may have to adjust the amount of flour by a tablespoon or two.

Feel free to shoot me a message/comment if you have any questions.  Enjoy!

Gluten Free Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe

·         ¾ cup Spectrum Butter flavor soy-free shortening

·         ¼ cup Earth Balance soy free Butter flavor spread

·         ¾ cup granulated sugar

·         ¾ cup brown sugar

·         2 Tbsp. ground flax seeds + 6 Tbsp. HOT water (stir & let sit for a few moments until it gels) OR 2 large eggs.

·         1 Tbsp. vanilla

·         2 cups + 2 – 4 Tbsp. gluten free all purpose flour*

·         1 ½ tsp. baking soda

·         1 tsp. xanthan gum or guar gum

·         ½ tsp. salt

·         12 oz chocolate chips (Enjoy Life  brand is gluten/dairy/soy/nut free).

1 cup chopped nuts, optional.

*I used the all purpose brown rice flour mix found in Gluten Free Baking Classics; however, I also really like the King Arthur Gluten Free All Purpose Flour Mix.  Best results achieved if the brown rice is the super finely ground.

Start with the 2 Tbsp. flour and bake a test cookie.  You may need to add an extra 1-2 Tbsp. to get the cookies the desired consistency. 

1.  Preheat oven to 375 F.  Combine ground flaxseed & hot water; let sit.  In a large bowl, combine flour, baking soda, xanthan gum, and salt.

2.  Beat shortening and butter spread together until blended.  Add both sugars and beat until fluffy.  Add flax gel (or eggs) and vanilla and beat again until fluffy.

3.  Add flour mixture a little at a time, stirring after each addition.  After  all the flour has been mixed in, mix at medium speed for 1-2 minutes.

4.  Add chocolate chips (and nuts, if desired) and mix until evenly distributed.

5.  I like to do a test cookie before baking a whole batch to see if there is enough flour.  If it comes out too flat, add 1-2 tbsp. more flour and blend well.  Then, drop heaping tablespoons of dough onto cookie sheet a few inches apart.  Bake in center of oven for 8-10 minutes until edges are golden.  Cool on wire rack.

Making some order out of this Chaos!

If any of you know about our last 9 months, you know that it has been utterly chaotic. At the end of April, we moved out of our house in Hutschenhausen because black mold had grown in the wall between the dining room and bathroom. It was making all of us quite sick. We lived with our friends, the Cloutiers, until the beginning of July.

During our time there, we celebrated Mother's Day, my 30th birthday and made many wonderful memories :)

At the beginning of July, we moved back to our Hutschenhausen house because the Cloutier's had to move and the landlord had "fixed" the mold problem. Within 1 week of moving back in, a young couple rented the Hutschenhausen house and so we had 2 weeks to pack everything and be out. So, July 19th, 2010 we moved out of our Hutschenhausen house and in with our friends, the Nuccios. On July 22, at 10pm, we went into the labor and delivery ward at the german hospital in Landstuhl. Five hours later, Jocelyn Elise was born! To say it had been a busy week would be an understatement.

A few weeks later, we "found" our next house, but were told it wouldn't be ready to rent until the beginning of September. September came and we were informed it would be ready by mid-September. That too came and went. During that time, I was hospitalized for a week with what they initially believed was a blod clot in my brain. Five days later, I was released and told there was never a blod clot!

Finally, on October 8, 2010, we began the move-in process for our new house in Hohenecken. We were SO excited to finally live in our own, mold-free home! The excitement was soon replaced by a mix of horror and dismay. Our belongings that had been stored for the 6 months we were in transition had molded! It literally took us WEEKS to sort, throw away, salvage and clean everything. By mid-November, we were finally starting to feel settled.

A month later, on December 14th, we flew back to Oregon for the holidays and for my sister Bethany's wedding. It was a wonderful time, and we really enjoyed being back and seeing our family and a few friends. We came back almost a month later on January 13, and were surprised and blessed to find that many of our friends had cleaned and organized our house for us!

This amazing gift gave us the opportunity to start fresh! And so now, I want to begin to make order out of the chaos that is my life. Figuring out what my girls need from me, how to be a true help-mate to my husband, and what it means to passionately seek after the Lord.

I'm not really sure where to start, but I think I'm just going to take baby steps. Tomorrow, I am going to sit down and think through what I can do to facilitate Moriah's spiritual, emotional, social, mental and physical (abilities) growth. . .

IMHO: OsoCozy Diaper Review

Have you ever started out hating something, and then wake up one day and realize that you actually like it? It always surprises me when that happens--especially when it happens after I've already decided to sell something. Well, this is the story of my love-hate-love relationship with OsoCozy diapers.





OsoCozy All-In-One Cloth Diapers
Price: $12.95-$13.95
Description: These diapers are made in the USA by stay-at-home moms & grandmas. Like almost all AIO's, they have a soft, waterproof outershell made of PUL (Polyurethane Laminate). Unlike most AIO's, the inner is NOT made of synthetic fabrics. Instead, it is made of 100% cotton gauze prefold cloth diapers--the trusty, dependable diaper moms have used for years.
Care: Machine WashableClosure: Hook & Loop Aplix brand
Colors: White, Green, Aqua

Sizing: SMALL 7-13lbs MEDIUM 13-18lbs LARGE 18-25lbs TODDLER 25-35lbs

IMHO
If you know anything about me, you know that frugality and practicality are top priorities for me. So, it's probably not too surprising that when I found these diapers for a super price, I jumped at the chance to try them out. After my husband and I made the decision to cloth diaper, I started looking into the different options and became quite overwhelmed by all the decisions and the initial cost. I really didn't want to shell out $$$ only to find that I didn't like a diaper or find that it leaked.

Aside from the great price, the other thing that made me what to try the OsoCozy AIO's was the innovative construction. Although I've never used prefolds as diapers, when Moriah was born she was the spit-up queen and prefolds were the only thing I could find to use as burp cloths that could absorb the spit-up fast enough. From that experience, I knew that prefolds were super absorbant and I like the idea of using prefolds without having to deal with Snappi's/pins and covers. Although they're not the cutest diapers ever, it did seem like a fabulous marriage of functionality and frugality--so I bought 6.

The diapers arrived fairly quickly and even though my baby wasn't due for another couple of months I prepped them right away in excited anticipation :) The diapers looked super cute and seemed to be very well made. I was sure that I would love these diapers--I showed them to friends and started to plot my next purchase of them.

Fast forward a few weeks to baby's arrival and our foray in to cloth diapering. Can I just say I was completely unprepared for how HUGE cloth diapers look on newborns? It didn't seem to matter what brand (I didn't have any "Newborn" sizes) or type I tried at first, they all seemed to swallow Jocie! Enter my dislike of my new OsoCozy diapers. I had been so excited to try these and then they completely engulfed my little girl. The fit seemed awkward, the tabs overlapped so they wouldn't lay flat and the diaper just seemed so bulky. I did NOT like to put these on my tiny princess! I would have sold them immediately if it wasn't for the fact that I had next to no cloth diapers and without these I'd have to use disposables for part of the day. Mind you, my dislike of this diaper had nothing to do with the actual performance--it just conflicted with my aesthetic values--I have yet to see this diaper leak. After putting up with this diaper for a few weeks, I was shocked one day to find myself wanting to put this diaper on my baby. Now that she has filled out a bit more, the tabs don't overlap and the diapers are actually TRIM under her clothes :)

PERFORMANCE: The bottomline--this is a GREAT diaper. It has never once leaked! Even on nights when Jocie has slept for 8+ hours, there was only slight wicking coming through the label. I love that it's 100% cotton against her skin. I give it a 4.9/5

USE: This diaper couldn't be much easier to use unless it put itself on the baby! Simply fasten the aplix and you're done. I give it a 5/5

CARE: I love that there are no complicated routines to follow with this diaper--just rinse, wash, rinse and then tumble dry on low or line dry. Like most AIO's, it does take longer to dry than hybrids or pockets, but it doesn't take any longer than my other AIO's. The biggest issue I have is that the tabs don't seem to stay attached to the laundry tabs and I end up with diaper chains--an issue I could easily fix if I wanted to make separate laundry tabs to attach before washing. I give it a 4/5

FIT: I bought the size small, which is supposed to fit babies from 7-13lbs. I started using them on Jocie when she was about 8.5lbs. Although they looked HUGE on her, they never leaked and weren't any bigger on her than our BumGenius small AIO's. She's about 9.5lbs and they fit her quite well--and look like they'll fit her for a while longer. Now that she fits into the diaper better, they are actually quite trim on her. I give it a 4/5

DURABILITY: I have been using these for about 6 weeks now and they seem to be holding up well. The inner cotton (the prefold) is in great condition, has no stains and gets more absorbant the more it is washed. The outer PUL has some pills on it due to the tabs coming undone in the wash and snagging the PUL. The Aplix is still in fabulous condition. I give it a 4.5/5

APPEARANCE: Again, these aren't the cutest diapers on the planet and with only 3 color choices it's not likely that anyone will be buying these diapers for their looks. Luckily for OsoCozy, most people who cloth diaper care more about the function of their diapers than the form--especially the cost-conscious. I give it a 3/5

COST/VALUE: These are some of the most affordable All-In-Once Cloth diapers available. They average about $2 less than most AIO's available from the big name brands--spread that over several diapers per size, and the savings would be pretty significant! I give it a 4.5/5

OVERALL: 4.3/5 Although I went through a short period of hating these diapers, I actually find that these are some of the first diaper I reach for once my BumGenius AIO's are soiled. I reach for these before my pockets and before my Flips!

Old Fashioned Adventures....

I never got to meet my paternal grandma. She died as a result of a tragic car accident when my dad was only 11. Grandma Doris left behind a legacy both through her children as well as her writing. Growing up, I loved it when my mom would read us stories from "Musings of a Mother" --a collection of Doris' musings on motherhood, being a wife and a follower of Jesus Christ and "Mommy of the Mixing Bowl"--a biography of grandma Doris' life.

As a child I loved the stories because it was a way to "meet" my grandma and hear about my dad's childhood. Now as an adult and mother of two, these musings are treasures of wisdom that I can learn from. The world I live in today is vastly different than it was 60 years ago when Doris penned these thoughts, but the life lessons she share still are so relevant! Today I find myself wishing that my copy of the book wasn't hiding in storage--I can't wait until we move into our new house and I get to upack it! So, in case you were wondering about the title of my blog...this is where it came from!

As for the old fashioned adventures, I am a stay at home momma and find myself thoroughly enjoying it! I love baking, sewing, photography, being with my sweet little girls and most recently cloth diapering. I thought it might be fun to chronicle my adventures for anyone who might be interested. SO here it goes....