My kitchen's been busy

Am I the only ones whose kids think they need a snack at least every ten minutes? It's funny because my father-in-law said he read a news report that said homeschooled kids are generally skinnier than their in-school counterparts. I had to laugh because we seem to eat all day long. We generally eat very healthfully, but still.

I think we are kinda tired of the packaged choices we get here. When you eat Gluten free, dairy free and very little refined sugar, the choices are limited. So I got busy these last few days and tried some of the Paleo baked goods out there. I don't want my kids to feel completely deprived of treats and I think, based on how attached one of them got to her Halloween candy, we may have reached that point. I do want my kids to eat healthfully, but I don't want them to have a frustrated relationship with food. The truth is, healthy treats can be super yummy and I set out to prove it this week :)

I made some orange scones yesterday out of my Gather cookbook.

 I added a maple orange glaze. I found a basic glaze recipe and tweaked it:

1 Tbl maple syrup
1Tbl almond butter
1/2 Tbl honey
1/2 Tbl coconut oil
Juice from half an orange.

I think this glaze can work on all kinds of things and the orange juice can be replace. The scone recipe is simple and versatile too. I'd like to try blueberry lemon ones and make a lemon glaze. Yum! Last night we ate our scones with a lemon chicken soup and Casey was shocked that they were gluten free. I'm not sure he's been so excited about any previous Paleo breads or treats. I ate the last scone this morning and yes, I dipped it in my coffee ;)

I also tried a pumpkin granola bar recipe with oats, but it came out more like bread. It's good, but not great--the texture is a bit off.

I just took these brownies out of the oven. They call for two cups of almond butter, but that's like $12 for a batch of brownies! Not gonna happen. I used the crunchy peanut butter that's been in my cupboard for awhile because I bought it by accident and no one here prefers it. They smell incredible! I'll let ya know how they taste.

And for a different kind of cooking, I made my first batch of lotion bars today!!! I think they're pretty awesome! A full update on how my "make your own" efforts are going is coming soon!