{Simple} Cranberry Sauce

This blog is no longer actively updated, please visit my new site at MintGrapefruit.com to keep up with new recipes and all the other whats-goings-ons

Cranberry sauce is a staple at our thanksgiving table, and I’m not going to lie…I really prefer the can. I know, I know, but it just works on so many levels, as wrong as it is and I think about it every time I turn the can over and just hear it fall out on to the plate.  This year I decided to play around a bit and come up with a new cranberry sauce that could be used at the table…in addition to the can of course.

This only uses a few fresh ingredients, and is really quick to prepare. You could adjust the sweetness to your liking, you could even add nuts if you like a little crunch.

1 bag fresh cranberries, rinsed
1 cup tangerine juice (about 6 tangerines*)
1 apple
4 tbsp. honey
¼ cup raw sugar (more or less depending on your tastes)
*1 tsp. xanthan gum (optional)

Combine all ingredients in a pot, along with ¾ cups of water. Bring to a simmer. Simmer until you have the texture you would like. Stirring occasionally. If you would prefer a thicker consistency, add the xanthan gum. Mix well. Sauce will thicken slightly as it cools; can be eaten warm or chilled.

*You could use store bought juice or any type of orange. I just happened to have a lot of tangerines on hand.

Mimi's Play Dough

I came across a large canister filled with flour, and me being me struggled to just throw it out. Why throw it out you ask? Well, if I had to take a guess the flour in this canister was at least 6 years old and it was just plain ol’ all-purpose white flour which I don’t use anymore anyway, so…throwing it seemed to be the right option.  Well I sat staring at the flour thinking of all the things I could use it for (I even sent texts my friends to see if they could use it for anything), since it was too old to use for food my mind was instantly thinking crafts.  I thought of homemade modge podge, paper mache, salt dough…then I looked over at my son, sitting at the kitchen table sifting through his poor selection of play dough. My mind was made up…PLAY DOUGH! And of course my little helper was eager to help.

Now you can go on Pinterest and find oodles of different play dough recipes, but I am sticking with my mom’s recipe that she used when I was a kid. (I posted something a few years ago, you can see it here.) I am Gluten-Free, my son is not, and so making the dough using regular flour wasn't a concern for me. BUT, if you child is Gluten-Free then I would substitute the flour; use rice or even GF oat flour. I personally haven’t tried it using other flours but I would assume it would work fine.  (Here is a site called Creative with Kids that shares her gluten free play dough recipe.)

Mimi’s Play Dough

2 cups flour

1 cup salt

4 tsp. cream of tartar

1 tbsp. oil

2 cups water

Food coloring*

Mix all the ingredients in a large pot. Stir and cook over medium heat until the mix pulls away from the sides. Constantly stir! This is an arm workout.  (*If you want to have all one color, add the food coloring to the water and mix in while heating.  If you want multiple colors, once you take the dough out of the pot, divide the dough and knead the food coloring in.)

Once the dough is formed, put on wax paper and knead until smooth.  Store in an airtight container (nothing metal), you could even use old empty play dough containers.

He wanted multiple colors, and we were short on food coloring so the only color he wanted that he wasn't able to get was purple; maybe next time.  We added the food coloring in at the kneading stage, and I let him do the kneading.  You may need to add more coloring as you go if you want a more vibrant color.  

Now go play!

{GF} Fruit and Nut Muffins

Today is Easter so you would think I would post something Eastery...well, as much as I would have loved to write about homemade peeps, cream eggs, peanut butter eggs, etc.  (Which it is my intention to make every year.) I just never get around to doing it.  This year I felt like Easter snuck up on me...so even though I am making dinner today I decided that I was going to raid my pantry and fridge.  I like having things I can grab in the morning for a quick breakfast. I decided on muffins, I had a mango that needed to be used and various other fruits and veggies.  There are two major changes I would do with this recipe that I wasn't really paying attention to while I was adding all the ingredients.  The first one is the sugar, I would substitute some of the white sugar with some honey or just cut it back all together, depending on the fruit you use you may not need so much. And two, the oil...oh my, as soon as I poured it in the batter I thought "What the hell am I doing!?!" a cup of oil is A LOT, and I have apple sauce and bananas...shame on me!  So at the end of the directions I will let you know the substitution quantities.  

Asking the family what to call these muffins, since Trash Muffin didn't sound so great, I got GFG Muffins. So, here is the recipe..

GFG Fruit & Nut Muffins
(Gluten Free Goodness)

1 1/4 cups sugar
2 1/4 cups gluten-free all purpose flour
1 teaspoon xanthan gum*
1 tablespoon cinnamon
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup carrots, grated
1/2 apple, peeled and shredded (I would have used a whole, but the one I used happened to be half eaten)
1 mango, diced
1/2 cup blueberries
3/4 cups craisins
1/2 cup zucchini, shredded
1/2 cup chopped pecans
3 large eggs
1 cup vegetable oil**
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
ground flax seed

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, prepare a muffin pan with either liners or cooking spray.

Mix together the sugar, flour, xanthan gum, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

Combine all the fruit, veggies and nuts in a bowl. (You could use any combination of what you have on hand, but try to keep the moisture levels similar)

Add the fruit and nut mixture to the dry ingredients and stir to combine. Add the eggs, oil**, and vanilla. Mix well.

Pour batter into the prepared muffin pan filling about 3/4 of the way full.  Sprinkle muffins with about 1/4 tsp of flax seed.  Bake for about 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Notes:
*Only add If your flour mixture does not already includes xanthan gum or guar gum.
**Oil substitutions that would be great in these muffins:
   Use 1 cup of unsweetened apple sauce
   Use 3/4 cup mashed ripe banana (about one banana)
   Use 3/4 cup of any other fruit puree or butters
   Use 3/4 cup drained crushed pineapple

**Featured on Gluten Free Tuesday Linky 8/13/2013 with Easy Green Mama**

   

Cranberry Mango Millet Salad {via Healthful Pursuit}

It's spring, well at least it's technically spring...we are currently in a winter weather advisory, so yay! {enter sarcasm} I am ready for warmer weather! I'm ready to be outside, take a hike, go camping, and just BBQ'ing with friends. I'm ready for the brown to change to green and the flowers, I'm ready to start my garden and eat fresh foods...yeah, I definitely ready for the warmer days.

Yesterday I attended my first Goddess Gathering, I met new women, ate good food and came home with a few "new" clothes. A couple baby girls were blessed and it was just a very positive and fun day in the Hollow. It was a potluck so I wanted to make something that I new I could eat as well as something good. I figured there would be a few vegetarians and others with food restrictions...plus when ever I go to anything like this I make some thing new that other people may like and I may like but knowing that my household probably won't eat it. (That way I know it won't be wasted.)  I wish I took some pictures...not only was it a potluck we also did a clothing swap...there were SO many clothes!

I have had millet in my pantry for a while and have been trying to find different ways of using it. I came across a salad recipe from Leanne Vogel, from Healthful Pursuit, it is a Cranberry Mango Millet Salad. It was really good...the salad was a combination of millet and quinoa mixed with mango, dried cranberries, almonds, onions and spinach all tossed in a lemon poppy seed honey Dijon dressing. Delish!

To see the recipe click here.

Vegan Dark Chocolate {Gluten Free}

Craving chocolate? I was. With only three ingredients needed, I made some Vegan Dark Chocolate (and sprinkled some crushed almonds on top).

Phone Picture...not really a good one

To make this chocolate, you need coconut oil, agave syrup and cocoa powder.  That's it!

On low heat, melt 1/4 cup of coconut oil.  Once it is melted, remove from heat and add 3 tbsp agave syrup and 2/3 cup of dark cocoa powder.  Stir to combine. 

Once again, bad phone picture

Line a baking sheet with parchment or foil, pour the chocolate mixture. Sprinkle with nuts, dried fruit or anything else you may like.  Put the baking sheet in the refrigerator so the chocolate can set, it will only take about 10-15 minutes.

Break or cut into pieces. It turned out sort of bark like, with a softer consistency   You could probably pour into silicone molds if you wanted to.  I also think this would make a great chocolate base for peanut butter cups or peppermint patties. So stay tuned for some peanut butter cups...I am going to see if I can borrow a silicone mini muffin pan...yum!

Homemade Chocolate Syrup

We are currently out of chocolate syrup in our house, we always have chocolate syrup (it seems to be the only way I can get my son to drink milk).  Since, like I am sure many people are, I am trying not to spend money on things I don't have to and store bought chocolate syrup has fallen into that category.  Then I remembered that I saw something on Pinterest {Love Pinterest} about making your own, so I decided I would give it a try. There aren't many ingredients and I have them all so here it goes...

Homemade Chocolate Syrup

1 1/2 cups sugar
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (I used Hershey's Special Dark)
1/8 tsp salt
1 cup water
1 tsp vanilla

In a small saucepan, mix together sugar, cocoa, and salt.  Add water and whisk gently until well mixed. Bring mixture to a boil, stirring occasionally.  Reduce heat and cook 1 minute.  Remove from heat and add vanilla.  Cool.  Store in the refrigerator, fills a pint sized jar. Use just like you would normally use chocolate syrup; on ice cream, in milk, on a spoon...

I happened to still have the empty bottle of Hershey's Special Dark Syrup in our recycling so I pulled it out just to check the ingredients. Here is what is in the pre-made stuff, in the order written; High Fructose Corn Syrup, Corn Syrup, Water, Cocoa processed with alkali, Sugar, 2% or less of; Salt, Mono- and Diglycerides, Xanthan Gum, Polysorbate 60, Vanillin, Artificial Flavor.  Yep, I must say I like making my own with just a few ingredients.  I think I may play around with the sugar, and maybe substitue some with honey and see how that goes.

A satisfied taster!

I wish I had some ice cream to drizzle it on...

Side note...

I also mixed up some Taco Seasoning today, also super simple. For about 3/4 cups of seasoning, I combined 3 tbsp chili powder, 3/4 tsp garlic powder, 3/4 tsp onion powder, 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes, 1/4 tsp oregano, 1-1/2 tsp paprika, 3-1/2 tsp ground cumin, 2 tsp salt, 3 tsp black pepper. I have it sealed in a jar waiting to be used.  I will let you know how it is after our next taco night.

Homemade Crispy Chicken Tenders

My little helper

It feels like I haven't posted anything in a while, I guess I have just been preoccupied with other things. But, I'm back!

Because I have been busy, like a lot of other times I have been looking for quick meals. We usually have a chicken nuggets or tenders a couple times a month and finding ones that are gluten free (and reasonable priced) isn't always the easiest. So, I decided to make our own. These are so easy to make, you can make ahead and freeze, make the night before or like me prepare them in the morning before work. (All the picture were taken via my phone and the ones of the tenders themselves were taken by my husband...so if they aren't the best quality, I'm sorry.)

So here it is:

Gluten Free Crispy Chicken Tenders

1 pound chicken tenders
3 cups corn Chex cereal
2 cups regular potato chips (any flavor would work to, and probably be quite good)
1 tsp paprika
1/8 tsp pepper

uncooked

4 eggs
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup Dijon mustard
Salt and pepper

Combine Chex cereal, potato chips, paprika and pepper in a food processor, pulse until a desired consistency. (My son did about 4 good pulses.) If you don't have a food processor, combine in a large plastic bag and smash. Set aside, can be made well in advance if kept in a sealed container. (Save any left over crumb for later use.)

In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, mayonnaise and mustard. Place all the tenders in the egg mixture, season with salt and pepper and toss to coat, if you have time let sit for about an hour in the refrigerator.

Place about half of the crumb mixture on to a large plate, a pie pan would work great. And take one tender out and cover in the crumb mixture then placing it on a greased cookie sheet. Repeat until all the tenders are coated.

Cooked (not much changed, a little more golden)

Bake at 425 degrees for about 15-20 minutes, turning half way through.  (I drizzled a little honey on mine...Yum!)

To make ahead and freeze; prepare all the way through but line your cookie sheet with foil. Once all the tenders are laid out, place the whole cookie sheet in the freezer for about an hour. Remove from the freezer and place the tenders in a large zip top bag, return to the freezer. When ready to bake place frozen tenders on a greased cookie sheet, bake at 425 degrees for 30 mins or so depending on your oven.

SO Easy! Enjoy!

Another take on chicken...

I wanted to do something a little different with chicken, we always tend to just roast our chicken with some rub or glaze, which by all means is fine.  But, I was wanting something different.  I rummaged in our fridge and decided to make a mushroom stuffed chicken breast and wrap it in prosciutto...sounded good to me!

Chicken Prosciutto Roll with Mushroom Stuffing

served 3

2 large chicken breasts
1 pint mushrooms, chopped, use your favorite!
2 garlic cloves, minced
5 slices of prosciutto
2 tbsp dry sherry
1/4 cup shredded pepper jack cheese
1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
salt and pepper to taste

Chop one slice of the prosciutto and combine with the mushrooms and garlic in a large saute pan, add the sherry and cook on medium heat until the mushrooms are tender, season with salt and pepper to taste.  Set aside to cool.

Mean while, butterfly the chicken breasts and lightly pound them out until you have a uniform thickness.  Lay out two pieces of the ham, lay one of the chicken breasts on top of the ham. Spoon half the mushroom mixture over the chicken breast and sprinkle with half the cheese.  Carefully roll the chicken and prosciutto, place in a baking dish seam side down. Repeat with the other breast.  You can use tooth picks if needed.  (A good amount of cheese will ooze out of the rolls while cooking, add more cheese if you would like.)

Bake at 400 degrees for about 40 minutes (may vary depending on your oven)

Slice and serve with rice and a salad.  Enjoy!

**This can be made a day ahead and refrigerated or you could even make ahead and freeze. To freeze, after they are rolled you could either wrap individually with plastic wrap and place in a freezer bag or lay on a cookie sheet and place in the freezer for about an hour, remove and place in a freezer bag.  Thaw in the fridge before cooking.

A Week of {Easy} Gluten Free Lunches

I have always struggled with packed lunches, more so because of scheduling and time then of what to eat. This year, amongst other things, I would like to be better about planning and getting my lunches together ahead of time so I'm not running out the door thinking "crap! I forgot about lunch!" Maybe I will be better when I'm making my son his lunch too, but for now his day care provides his, so I'm on my own.

I start by planning out my grocery trip and figuring out what we will do for dinners for the week, I rarely ever think about lunches. A lot of times my lunches are just leftovers from dinners so it works out. Every now and then I get the idea of making my lunches ahead of time, either the night before or on Sunday.  Well, that rarely ever happens, nights are usually hectic and I just want to sit once my son is in bed and Sunday's well it is all and good but I usually get caught up with something else or just forget.  So, I somewhat planned and am sharing my weeks worth of easy GF lunches.  

Dilly Tuna Salad Sandwich with a small side salad

2 slices of Udi's White Sandwich bread, or what ever your preference is
1/2 can white albacore tuna, in water
1/2 tsp (or so) of dried dill, use fresh if you have it!
1 tbsp mayonnaise, adjust to your liking

Mix tuna, dill  and mayonnaise in a bowl. Easy peasy! (I am sure you have made tuna salad before at some point so I am sure I didn't need to tell you how it works.)

For the side salad, use your favorite greens and toppings, the options are endless.  If you didn't want to make a sandwich you could always just add the tuna to the salad.  Here is what is in my salad, I just used what I had on hand: Chopped romaine lettuce, carrots, sunflower seeds, pepitas (pumpkin seeds), chia seeds with a dressing of equal parts olive oil and balsamic vinegar with just a pinch of salt and pepper.

Loaded Salad with celery sticks and peanut butter and strawberries

For this salad I used red leaf lettuce, carrots, cheese cubes, yellow pepper, dried cranberries, sunflower seeds, pepitas, chia seeds and shaved turkey with a olive oil and balsamic dressing. 

Chicken & Vegetable Stir-fry over Rice with a few "lunch box" snacks and carrots & hummus

This was a dinner left over, made by my wonderful husband (not the best picture though).  The night before I prepped everything he needed so he was able to just throw it together for dinner.  I also added just some quick grab and go snacks, a cheese stick and fruit snacks.

3 chicken cutlets, sliced into about 1/2 inch pieces (optional)
1-1 1/2 cups each of:
  broccoli florets
  shiitake mushrooms, sliced
  zucchini, sliced
  peppers, sliced
  snow or snap peas
1/4 cup carrots, thinly sliced
1/4 cup water chestnuts 

Cook Chicken and set aside.  Add vegetables to a hot wok, starting with the longer cooking.  Carrots, broccoli, peppers, peas, zucchini and then mushrooms.  Add the chicken and the water chestnuts, stir in sauce.  Serve over rice.

Sauce (makes about 1/2 cup)
1/8 cup tamari soy sauce
1/8 cup (or less depending on your taste) sesame oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
1-2 tbsp. fresh ginger, grated
2 heaping tbsp smooth peanut butter

Combine all ingredients in a small bowl, set aside until ready to use.

Turkey & Cheese Sandwich with strawberries and a cheese stick

Ok, so you may have noticed that I don't put my sandwiches together before hand, there are a couple reasons why I would rather assemble on-site.  One, I like to toast my bread (especially since switching to GF) and two, I can't stand soggy bread.  The only sandwich I will make an exception for is a good ol' peanut butter and jelly, but that is it.

Vegetable Fried Rice

So this lunch was the result of a fridge raid, I just grabbed some things and threw them together.  We had leftover rice and peas and mushrooms. In a wok I heated olive oil, added minced garlic and the mushrooms and some chopped onion.  Cooked that for a bit, then added the rice and peas.  I added some GF soy sauce and a scrambled egg for some protein. Viola! Simple and done in like 10 minutes.

I hope you like my easy lunches, I would love to know some GF lunches that you enjoy!

My top 12 of 2012!

The year is over, and I know I am a couple days late, it has been a long yet quick 2012.  I have made a couple life changes this past year which have made me stronger and healthier.  I accomplished my first triathlon, which I never thought in a million years (and probably anyone who knows me) thought I would ever do. I have completely changed how I eat, going gluten free has been a blessing.

So, I thought I would share my top 12 viewed posts of 2012 (in order from oldest to newest), thank you for following and listening to my rants, struggles and adventures! 

Adventures in Training #3: January recap & February Goals

Vegetable & Tofu Stir Fry

Recycled Crayon Disks

Antojitos: Mexican Pork Tarts

Super Chocolate Cake with a Homemade Fluff Icing

Homemade Chocolate Ice Cream

Moms Meet: Kashi Chocolate Soft Baked Squares

One Week Down: Gluten-free

Pumpkin Sweet Potato Soup

Sandy and Vegetable Quinoa Soup (GF)

My First Gluten-Free Thanksgiving (with recipes)

GF Stuffing

Sporty 3rd Birthday!

It's a soup kinda day!

Potato Soup - My top viewed post!

Looking forward to more in 2013!

More {Gluten-Free} Cookies

Since I've been experimenting with cookies, I've decided to tackle two types that are not a "traditional" cookie.

The first is Potato Candy, I never even heard of potato candy until I met my husband. His grandmother always made it when she made all her other Christmas cookies. It is really simple and would be a good way to use a little of leftover mashed potatoes. I had some natural peanut butter leftover from my peanut butter cookies and we have a lot of potatoes, so it made sense to give them a try. Now, if you want to use up a bunch of potatoes, this isn't the way to do it; unless you want A LOT of candy. A little potato goes a long way. (I used a little more peanut butter then I probably should have, other than the oozing peanut butter, no one complained.)

The second, Coconut Macaroons.  I had some coconut and just really like them, so I made them! The original recipe called for some regular all-purpose flour so I altered it to make it GF.

Cookies! (Gluten-Free and Peanut buttery)

This weekend was somewhat productive, I was able to finally get to the grocery store, cut my hair, hang out with friends and clean out my car. All were much needed. On a side note, before hanging out with our friends Friday evening, playing Quelf (which I highly recommend!) we ordered pizza from our favorite pizza place.  I am happy to say they now have a gluten free pizza which is pretty good, but not comparable to their regular pizza. With all that I was also was able to fit in Cookies!

Since not eating gluten I have been missing my something sweet after dinner. I am cheap frugal so I haven't been buying much in the way of pre-made / processed GF products. Therefore, no easy grab and go snacks or cookies. So, I decided to make my own! Here is a super easy peanut butter cookie with four ingredients (five if you add the chocolate chips) with ingredients that you probably already have. 

Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies

1 cup peanut butter (I used GF natural)
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp GF vanilla
1/2 cup chocolate chips (optional)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  In a large bowl or stand mixer, combine all the ingredients except the chocolate chips.  Carefully mix in the chips.  The dough will be slightly crumbly but that is okay.  Make tablespoon balls of the dough and roll in sugar.  Place the balls on a greased cookie sheet and gently flatten with a fork.  Bake for about 15 minutes, depending on your oven it may take more or less. Makes about 2 dozen.


I wasn't sure how these would turn out, but they had a really good flavor and texture.  If I knew the dough wouldn't spread, I probably would have flattened them a little more. But they were a hit with even the gluten eaters in the house.  I had to remind them that they can have some but remember that I can't eat theirs so make sure I get some of mine.  I plan on experimenting more with cookies since it is cookie season, I also really want to try making my own GF pasta, that may happen over my holiday break from work.  


Enjoy!

It's a soup kinda day!

Often we get together with our neighbors friends and do group dinners, this weekend was no different. We all gathered at our house for pot roast, potato soup, and of course some thanksgiving leftovers.

I made the potato soup, sorry I know the picture isn't the best, with a little help from our friend Mickey. The soup was really simple to prepare. What you need:

5 lbs. potatoes (I used russet), peeled and cubed
1/2 lb. bacon (or 2 tbsp. olive oil)
1/2 cup celery, chopped
1/2 cup onion, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
6 cups chicken broth (gluten free of course!)
2 cups whole milk (use could use non dairy)
1/2 cup sour cream (optional)
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper (optional)
Salt, to taste
Pepper, to taste
Garlic powder, to taste

Optional (but highly recommended) Toppings:
Shredded Cheese
Green Onions
Crumbled Bacon
Sour Cream

If you are using bacon, brown the bacon in a large stock pot, remove the bacon and let drain.  Add the celery, onion and garlic to the bacon drippings (or olive oil) and cook until soft.  Add the stock, bring to a boil and add the potatoes.  Reduce the heat to medium and add the milk and sour cream if using, let simmer until the potatoes can easily be mashed.  (You could puree the soup, but I prefer a few chunks here and there.)  Add the herbs and spices, adjust to taste. Serve with toppings.

Enjoy!

**Linked on Gluten Free Tuesday Linky 9/24/2013 with Easy Green Mama**

Sporty 3rd Birthday!

This year was a fun year for my sons birthday, this was the first year he really understood what was going on and he talked about for weeks before. Every morning he would talk about his party and who he wanted to invite, he told me what kind of cake he wanted, and he told us (what seemed like every minute) what toys and games he wanted. He was ready to turn 3! (It meant that he wasn't little anymore.)

Daddy and the birthday boy!

We originally wanted to have the party at the local fire house, but supposedly there was an event that day (I don't recall anything going on, which is very disappointing, hopefully it was just rescheduled). So we switched gears and went for a Sports Themed All-Star Party. We used our church fellowship hall which is also a gym, so there was plenty of room for kids to run. There was also a playground outside that we ended up using also. My son had a blast! He told us how much he liked it, it was great!

Here is what we did, the invitations were from Simone Made It, I really recommend her products, they were really easy to use and she has a pretty large variety of different party themed packages.

This is the one we used, the ticket invitation is what sold me!

www.simonemadeit.com

Even though I made up everything, I ended up only using the invitation and the bag toppers.  I ran out of time setting up and I decided I wasn't going to try to control a room of 2-3 year olds.

The cake is always my favorite part.  My son loves chocolate and that is all he wanted, I decided on doing half chocolate and half yellow.  He kept telling me he wanted a tiered cake like on the cover of Dr. Seuss' Happy Birthday to You!  But I wasn't going to make a tiered cake for a 3 year old.  I was looking on Pinterest, like I do way too often, and came across a really neat cake in the shape of a 3, so I used that as my inspiration. You can see my inspiration here.  It was really easy, make two bundt cakes and cut to form a 3, (I used boxed cakes so no recipes sorry.)  I decided to ice the cake to look like balls to keep with the theme. 

 I wish it was a little cleaner, but I must admit it is was hard to ice the inside of the bundts. No one seemed to mind other than me, or at least no one said anything.  

When it came to the other snacks, we decided to keep with ball park flavors.  We had "nachos", Corn dog bites, peanuts, and just for a healthy alternative, a veggie platter.

Since I couldn't eat the cake, I decided that I wanted the snacks to be GF so I could enjoy them also.  For the nachos, I made a really quick queso of Velveeta and Ro*tel served with corn chips. For every 16 oz. of Velveeta I used one 10 oz. can of Ro*tel.

The corn dogs, I must admit I was really excited about these.  I used a mini muffin pan, you could use a larger one but I wanted hot dog in each bite.  I made corn muffins, using Bob's Red Mill GF Corn Bread Mix and added a piece of hot dog to each muffin, about 1/2 inch slice.  Baked them according to the package, they only took about 12-15 minutes. They were so good, I could have eaten the whole batch! 

I think the party went well, my son told me he had a great time with his friends.  I will definitely have his parties some where other then our house from now on, or at least until he decides to only have a couple friends over (which hopefully will be soon.) I have a lot of ideas for future parties, granted if he will think they are as cool as I do, well that is a different story all together.  

Some random birthday pictures:

Getting ready to blow out the candles!

Outside playing with friends!