A winter's day at the beach

I am so done with winter.

Bring on the warm, bright, summery days....anytime now.

A day at the beach just isn't *quite* the same in the winter......when I say "day", I mean an hour MAX because it was FREEZING!

But fun all the same :)

The boys loved it....running around, climbing on logs and rocks.

Oh to be little again, and not be worried about the cold, or the fact that your earache might come back if your ears get the wind in them.....;)

But...there really is nothing quite like "sea air"......cold or not, it's refreshing!

Hope you're all having a great weekend!

xoxo

No-Flour, Gluten-free, Sugar-free, GAPS / SCD Diet Chocolate Banana Cupcakes. Now, that's a mouthful ;)

So.....I've mentioned before that my boys are on a fairly restrictive diet to try and help Toby's tummy troubles.....and yes, I really *should* be on it too, but it's just so hard!

It's called the GAPS diet (or the Single Carb Diet), and the short version is that you need to avoid all sugar, and anything that turns to sugar in the gut (such as all grains, starches, unfermented dairy products, fruit juice, etc).  I know....sounds impossible, right?

But it's not. We've proven this for the past 6 months. And yes.....almost everyone around me thinks I'm depriving my kids of all the fun snacks.....but it's so worth it for the difference it makes to Toby's tummy, and just for the fact that they now eat a very healthy diet. 

Before we started, my kids ate a normal "kid" diet (although I bought the "organic"/healthiest versions of everything)....lots of noodles, crackers, cookies, bread, etc etc. Now they eat  fruits/veggies/yoghurt/nuts/cheese/meat, etc instead! 

BUT......they still need little treats :) C'mon....what's life without treats, right?

So...I have a few "go-to's" in my repertoire now....and this is one of them.

Looks yummy, right? :)

Here's the recipe.....I've sort of adapted it from a few different ones, and customized it to what works best for me.

3 cups Almond Meal

1 tsp Baking Soda (not really GAPS "legal")

1/2 tsp Baking Powder

3 Tbsp Organic raw cocoa powder

3 eggs

2 bananas (mashed up)

1/2 cup Raw Honey (the only sweetener that doesn't hurt the gut)

1/4 cup melted organic butter (salted) or coconut oil

1 Tbsp Vanilla extract

Do the usual.....mix the wet ingredients together, mix the dry ingredients together, and then add the dry to the wet.

Preheat your oven to 375F, then put the cupcakes/muffins in the oven and turn it down to 350F. It always takes exactly 17 minutes in my oven, but bake for 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Icing Recipe:

This is what really makes them yummy.....

1/2 cup Butter

1/2 cup Cream Cheese (I cheated and used organic store-bought, but you can make your own by putting homemade kefir through cheese cloth)

1/4 Raw Honey (you can add more or less depending on how sweet you want it)

1 T Organic Cocoa Powder (also....add more or less depending on how dark/chocolatey you want it)

I added strawberries on top today, but raspberries are delicious too :)

Psyched much? ;)

They never last too long around here. Not even for the picture.

Enjoy!