Raspberry Peach Pudding Cake

This is one of our favorite desserts. I like to put it together before supper so that it's ready after. :) Usually I make it with just raspberries, but I had some frozen peaches in the freezer, so I tried something new tonight. It came out pretty good!

Raspberry Peach Pudding Cake

Fruit:

2 cups fresh or frozen berries (blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, or peaches)
1 teas. cinnamon
1 teas. lemon juice (optional)

Cake:
1 cup gluten free flour
1/4 teas. xanthan or guar gum (optional)
1/3 cup sugar
1 teas. baking powder
1/2 cup milk of your choice
3 T. canola oil (or melted butter or coconut oil)

Topping:
1/2 cup sugar
1 T cornstarch
1 cup boiling water

Put fruit in a greased 8x8 pan. I used about 1 pound of peaches and scattered about 1 cup of raspberries over them. You can add as much fruit as you like, it only makes it better :) Sprinkle with cinnamon and lemon juice.

In a mixing bowl combine flour, sugar, baking powder, milk, and oil. Spoon over fruit.

In small bowl combine sugar and cornstarch. Sprinkle over cake batter. Slowly pour boiling water over the whole thing.

Bake in preheated 350 F oven for 45-50 min. If your fruit is frozen, it may take a couple extra minutes. Just check to see that the cake is done in the center and fruit is tender.

Gluten Free Cinnamon Raisin Bread

Today I made the most awesome loaf of gluten free bread that I have ever made! (yeah, I'm a little proud of that!) Last week I tried a cinnamon raisin bread recipe, and I wasn't impressed. It tasted alright, but it was dense and not very soft. So today I tried again, and I don't know what I did, but I did something right! This loaf came out beautifully! It baked up perfectly with a nice rounded top (I have never made gluten free bread that kept a nice shape, they are always kind of flat). It was soft  on the inside, not dense or dry. I don't know if I'd be able to do it again, but I'll share with you exactly how I did it.



Gluten Free Cinnamon Raisin Bread (dairy free, sugar free)

1/2 cup warm water (110 F)
1/4 cup molasses
2 1/4 teas. yeast

1 cup raisins
1 teas. vanilla extract
2 T warm water

2 3/4 cups all purpose gluten free flour*
1 1/4 teas. salt
2 1/4 teas. guar gum (or xanthan gum)
2 teas. cinnamon

1/4 cup olive oil
3 eggs
1/4 cup warm water

In a small bowl, or glass measuring cup, combine 1/2 cup warm water, molasses and yeast. Set aside to proof, about 5 minutes. In separate small bowl, combine raisins, vanilla extract and 2 T warm water. Set aside.

Combine dry ingredients in medium sized bowl. To the dry ingredients, add yeast mixture, olive oil, and eggs. Add rasins (with soaking liquid) and 1/4 cup warm water. The dough will be like a very thick batter and very sticky.

Pour dough into a greased 9x5 loaf pan. Let it rise in a warm place until the dough reaches the top of the pan. (I let mine rise at room temp for an hour and a half.)

Bake at 375 F for 30-35 minutes. Remove from pan and place on a cooling rack.

*Flour mixture is 2 parts brown rice flour and 1 part starch (I usually use a mixture of potato starch and tapioca starch, but arrowroot was on sale this week, so my mixture was brown rice and arrowroot)

Chaos to Order (free ebook) Review and Link

Yesterday was a slower day than usual. We finished our school lessons early, the kids were busy playing, and I had a few extra minutes to read some emails and browse some helpful homeschooling sites.

One site that I am subscribed to is Homeschool Freebie of the Day. Every day they offer some free online resource, sometimes it's a video clip, many times it's an educational ebook. Lately, I have been working on getting our home more conducive to homeschooling, eliminating the unnecessary and rearranging schedules and furniture to make life easier. So, I was happy when I saw yesterday's freebie was an ebook called From Chaos to Order: 25 Tools Bringing Organization to your Home.

I had opportunity yesterday to read through the ebook. It is not your typical how-to-get-organized book. It has nothing to do with where to put your papers or how to organize your sock drawer. This book is about restoring order to your life, and doing it biblically. Each 'tool' is presented first with a verse from Scripture. God created everything to have order, and Malia Russel uses the Bible to show God's design for order in the different areas of our lives.

This was the most helpful and encouraging book I have ever read on the subject of getting organized. It is biblical, and it makes sense. Here is the description on the back of the book:

Women have a yearning to create a home, a place of order, beauty,

comfort and peace. However, the compulsion to do it right often collides

with feelings of guilt, inadequacy and frustration.

This encouraging book is solidly based on the fundamental truth of

God’s Word, Malia’s personal experiences, and insight gained from

practical information, personal application and Scripture references.

working with hundreds of women every year. Each chapter is filled with

This book will help turn modern homemakers from overwhelmed to

overjoyed!

I highly recommend this book to any mom who, like me, gets overwhelmed, frustrated, and just plain needs help and direction! I plan on reading through this again, and probably again. :) You can get get the free download here (it's the resource for Jan. 31). And you should also check out Malia Russel's website, Homemaking 911.

 

A New Year

So, I'm a little late getting a new post up for the new year... but I've been a little preoccupied with life. We took two weeks off at Christmas time and travelled to Maine to be with family. It was a good visit, we really needed the time away, but I was glad to come back home and get at things again.

Joy has finally settled into a mostly predictable routine. It has been challenging with three older ones to focus on the baby and figure out her needs, but I'm getting there. She is growing well and smiling big smiles and starting to babble and coo. :) I have not been good about taking pictures, but I will try to get some new ones soon. (On a side note, you can read her birth story here if you are interested.)

I always love the beginning of a new year. A time to reevaluate and refocus. I don't usually make resolutions, too much pressure. But I usually make a mental list of some things I'd like to focus on. My main focus right now is homeschooling.

I started Emma with kindergarten last summer, thinking I'd get ahead and be able to take time off when the baby came. Well, we didn't get too far, and we didn't do school all over November and December. So I've picked up where we left off, and we've been on a roll for the past two weeks. I have been using the kindergarten curriculum from My Father's World. It has been fun, and easy from a teaching point of view since it includes everything you need.

I have also been doing some lite preschool work for Julianna and Ethan. It is mostly to give them something to focus on, and to give them some special attention so that I can give Emma the attention she needs without the younger two needing to be in on it as well. It is working well, and I'm encouraged that this homeschooling business can be done. For the younger two we sit down and do some reading, focus on letters and numbers, and learn some songs and poems. I have been loosely following this free preschool curriculum. It is easy to do with both Julianna and Ethan, and doesn't take very long. They feel like they are doing something special.

This new season in my life is incredibly busy. It takes a lot of energy and focus to keep up with four kids, a husband, and a house to run. But I am learning, and there have been plenty of curves!

I will be sharing when I can, I've got some things in mind.... So stay tuned! :)