Kids Earn Electronics Point system/Chart

Thought I would share our new "earn your electronics time" for the summer system.  After a week off school I was already tired of the arguing and the "I can't think of anything to do" (code for: I want to play something with a screen…).  So.  This is our new earn as much time as you want, up to 2 hours worth.  One of the issues we had run into before is that one boy, in particular, would quickly complete his chores while the others dawdled.  So "no electronics til the house is clean" just meant he would do twice the work of other siblings to get it done.  I wanted something that was more "fair" - if he wants to do more, he gets rewarded for it.  If you don't want to do anything, fine.  It might take you a week to collect enough points.  I kept it simple - printed this off and hung it on the bulletin board.  I made notecards with the points (10-100) on them and hung them below). They do it all on their own - collect their cards whenever they do a job and turn them into me to be allowed to set the timer so I can look at the jobs they did. My house is brilliantly clean and everyone has voluntarily done jobs they never thought of doing before. Note that things I'd like to see them do more of (read, practice music, write letters) are worth a lot of points. These jobs are on top of their normal chores with the exception of a few that they are required to do (like piano) but attitude sometimes gets in the way of.  Yesterday the inside of my windows got cleaned, the microwave got scrubbed, the chairs and stools were wiped down, siblings were helped, they read for an hour straight, etc all VOLUNTARILY and without complaint.  I win.  P.S Their fast/head math skills as getting pretty good too…hahahahahahaha 

Write a nice letter to someone in the family = 50 points

Write a nice letter to your penpal or that you need to send = 50 points 

20 min reading = 50 points
20 min Bible reading = 100 points

20 min drawing/coloring = 50 points

Play a board/cardgame with a sibling = 50 points

Help a sibling with a job or piano/homework = 25 points

Help with dinner or a meal = 25 points

Pick up entryways = 25 points

Wipe down the baseboards/door = 50 points per room

Wipe down the lower section of the walls (as high as you can reach) = 100 per room

Make sure stairs and hallway are clean = 25 points

1 load of laundry washed, folded and put away = 100 points

Organize your drawers = 25 points per drawer

Empty dishwasher = 50 points

Load dishwasher = 50 points

Clean and wash off tables = 25 points

Clean and wash off counters = 25 points

Wash chairs = 25 pts a chair, 10 pts a stool, 50 pts each for leather furniture (use baby wipes)

Clean microwave = 25 points

Take out garbage and put in new bag = 25 points

Sweep wood floors = 50 points

Sweep tile and vacuum rugs = 50 points

Clean living room and big room = 50 points

Practice piano/music = 50 points per 15 min

Wash a window = 10 points a window

Clean a pet cage/dishes = 25 points a cage

Clean the car - trash and picked up = 50 points

Vacuum the car = 100 points

Weed a flowerbed/shovel snow/sweep driveway = 100 points a piece

200 points = 20 min electronics time (Isaac, Luke, Andrew - ages 8-12)

100 points = 20 min electronics time (Ben - the 5 year old)

Strawberry Mango Pie (Gluten free, dairy free, soy free, egg free)

Isaac brought this recipe home from school in his Spanish workbook with the idea I could "fix" it so it would be allergy free. Sure enough, a few tweaks (and the addition of a layer of strawberry) and we were good to go.

Crust:
1 box Enjoy Life Graham cookies or Sugar cookies (gluten free or regular graham cracker would be fine too)
3 T melted coconut oil
1/8 c sugar

Press into lightly oiled pie pan.  Bake at 325 degrees for 10-15 min or until edges begin to lightly brown.  Cool completely.

1 lb frozen chopped mangos, thawed
1 c chopped strawberries
1 can cream of coconut (find it near drink mixes such as margarita mix, etc.)
1/2 c warm water plus 3T
2 envelopes unflavored gelatin plus 1/2 envelope

Strawberry layer:
Dissolve 1/2 envelope gelatin in 3T warm water.  Blend 4T cream of coconut with strawberries until smooth.  Add gelatin mixture.  Blend until throughly mixed.  Pour into pie shell.  Chill til firm (about 2 hours).

Mango layer:
Dissolve 2 envelopes gelatin in 1/2 warm water.  Combine remaining cream of coconut and mangos in blender and blend til smooth.  Add gelatin mixture and throughly combine.  Pour over strawberry layer. Chill til firm (about 4 hours or overnight).

Serve with cool whip or whipped coconut cream if desired.

Dairy-free Dark Chocolate Mint Truffles

One of the next things on my list is to find a few Christmas goodies we can all have.   It's really no fun to try to keep 4 boys out of a counter full of special treats for everyone else.  Being a huge chocolate fan, I started easy.  These are dairy-free and, depending on what kind of chocolate you use, gluten free, soy free, corn free as well.

Dairy-free Chocolate Mint Truffles

11 oz good quality dark chocolate (I used 85% Lindt bars - they are soy, corn and dairy free).  How dark of chocolate you use is completely up to you.  Enjoy Life makes chocolate chips that are very allergy friendly and safe and are not as dark.
1/2 c coconut cream (top of can of separated (ie. do not shake) full fat coconut milk
1/2 tsp peppermint extract (optional - can omit and substitute vanilla)
up to 1 T sugar if desired

For rolling:
Powdered sugar (preferably organic - usually corn free)
Flaked coconut
Crushed candy canes (would not be corn free)
Baking cocoa (this WILL make them darker)
Sprinkles or sugar
Chopped nuts

Heat coconut milk.  Break chocolate into small pieces and add to hot milk - if using chocolate chips, no need to break them smaller.  Add sugar as desired (using the 85% I found it was a little dark in this application and I added about a tablespoon) and peppermint extract.  Stir until smooth.  Let cool on counter, stirring periodically to keep from separating.  When cooled, refrigerate until firm.  Scoop out cooled and hardened chocolate and form into small balls, rolling in your choice of toppings.  Place in small candy papers.  Makes about 30 candies.

Nut free "peanut butter" cookies grain free dairy free gluten free egg free

Have to post this here so I can find it - I just dug through 6 months of facebook posts to find the link!  My sister found this recipe and introduced it to us this fall when she was visiting.  I KNOW it sounds crazy, but I swear, they are GOOD.  We tried several versions - including tahini.  Believe it or not, the tahini ones were my favorites!  These can also be made with peanut butter, sun butter  or almond butter.    The only thing you need to watch is that it is the ALL NATURAL version.  No added oils, etc.  The original is here:

http://www.texanerin.com/2012/04/grain-free-peanut-butter-chocolate-chip-cookie-dough-bites.html

They worked great for us - particularly for Ben who is ridiculously hard to find snacks to take to preschool.  The only downside is I ate more than my fair share.  You know, because they're almost "healthy".

Not Peanut Butter bites

• 1¼ cups canned chickpeas, well-rinsed and patted dry with a paper towel
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• ½ cup + 2 tablespoons tahini (sesame seed paste - usually you'll find it in the peanut butter aisle)
• ¼ cup real maple syrup (or honey) 
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• a pinch of salt (unless you're using a nut butter that has it already)
• ½ cup mini chocolate chips (Enjoy Life is completely allergy safe or regular Nestle mini chips if small amounts of soy are tolerated) or flake off a Lindt 80% bar for another soy dairy corn free option
• Preheat oven to 350°F.  Combine all the ingredients, except for the chocolate chips, in a food processor and process until very smooth. Scrape the sides and process again til smooth. Stir in chocolate chips.  Important: do NOT eat the dough.  It tastes awful. LOL  No idea how it works, but I swear when you bake it they taste good!  The mixture will be very thick and sticky.  Wet hands and form into 1½" balls. Place on a piece of parchment paper. Press down slightly on the balls to form a cookie shape as they won't rise much.  Bake for about 10 minutes. The dough balls will still be very soft when you take them out of the oven. They will not set like normal cookies.  Store in an airtight container at room temperature (or in the fridge) for up to 1 week.

Thanksgiving/Christmas dinner recipes

Someone asked me recently what we do for special dinners like Thanksgiving and Christmas.  Easy.  We eat a traditional meal.  Just in a non-traditional way. Our Thanksgiving meal included turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, sweet potato casserole, cranberries and rolls with butter and jam.  All allergy free.  This year I actually cooked and forced it on everyone and no one seemed to know what was allergy free and what wasn't.

Dairy free mashed potatoes with gluten free, corn free gravy:

While there are several substitutes for milk in mashed potatoes (nothing, chicken or turkey stock...), this is what we prefer.  This is going to sound a little weird, but you need a can of full fat (important) coconut milk.  Canned coconut milk separates to form a thick "cream" on top and a watery section on the bottom.  Do NOT shake your can up.  You want to skim off the thick "cream" on top.  Believe it or not, this gives the best non-dairy creamy mashed potatoes we've tried.  Add salt as desired.  For gravy we have people allergic to both wheat and corn, so most traditional gravy recipes are out.  Instead, the best sub we have found is garbanzo bean flour (no really!).  I felt like most other starches made a "slimy" texture - we've tried potato starch, rice flour, tapioca flour, guar gum, among a host of others.  Since corn has one of the best gravy textures I tried to look for a starch that would be similiar.  Garbanzo bean flour is awesome!  It gives a very "normal" gravy texture and has great flavor in gravy (while the beans are a little strong for my taste in a lot of dishes, here it serves to accentuate the meaty flavor).  I mix it with a little water to form a thick paste as use until desired thickness is reached and flavor with salt, pepper and garlic.

Cranberries:

This recipe was adapted from a family recipe that came from my husband's great gramma.  I'll give you both versions - though the request from everyone is now for the adapted version over the original.

Original:
1 bag cranberries
1 orange, peeled
1 apple
Sugar to taste

Revised:
1 bag cranberries
1 pear
1 bag frozen raspberries (or 2 containers fresh)
Sugar to taste

Partially thaw raspberries if using frozen.  All ingredients (for both versions) add in small amounts to food processor and blend until desired texture is reached.  Add sugar to taste as desired.

Sweet potato casserole:

This one is still in process.  I still am not fully satisfied with something about it, but I can't pinpoint what quite yet. ;-)  No one else seems to care - they think this version is just fine.

5 c boiled, mashed sweet potatoes
3/4 c desired milk (we use lite canned coconut)
3/4 c sugar
1/4 c coconut oil (if working with hot mashed sweet potatoes just add this directly to them. If working with cold, melt and add)
1 tsp vanilla

Combine and pour into 9x13 casserole pan. Top with:

Topping
1 c flaked coconut
1 c chopped nuts (optional - could also sub out for 1/2 c oats)
1 c brown sugar
1/3 c flour (regular if tolerated, gluten free if not)
2 T coconut oil

Using a fork, mix oil (cold) into flour.  Add remaining ingredients, mix and pour over top of casserole.
Bake at 325 for 30-45 minutes or until potatoes are bubbling and topping is browned.

Dessert:

I didn't get it done this year, but I'd go with Pumpkin Pie ice cream with Enjoy Life Vanilla Honey Graham cookies.  http://cornerunderthestairs.blogspot.com/2011/02/allergy-friendly-dairy-free-vanilla.html

Pamela's Gluten Free Parker House Dinner Rolls (adapted to be dairy, egg, corn and soy free as well)

Finally found a dinner roll recipe that makes a presentable roll.  These are gluten free, dairy free, egg free, corn free and soy free.  They have nothing in them.  They barely exist.  Kidding, kidding.  But it starts to feel that way when cooking for us!  These were adapted from Pamela's which is one of our favorite gluten free brands.  You can have the bags of bread mix auto shipped from Amazon for really inexpensive - it makes a decent sandwich bread and pizza dough (or we use it as flatbread) as well.  We also love their chocolate cake mix - it makes a chocolate cake that is actually passable and can be made dairy and egg free.  Their website is here for more recipes as well: http://www.pamelasproducts.com

Parker House Gluten Free Rolls (adapted)

Ingredients:

• 1 bag or 3-1/2 cups) Pamela's Gluten-Free Bread Mix
• 1 T yeast packet 
• Ener-G egg replacer made to equal 2 eggs
• 3/4 cup canned lite coconut milk 
• 1/4 cup coconut oil
• 2 Tablespoons sugar
• 3/4 cup warm water to proof the yeast for 10 minutes
• Additional Pamela's Gluten-Free Bread Mix or white rice flour for dusting

Directions:

Proof yeast in 3/4 c warm water.  Let set 10 min.  Meanwhile in liquid pyrex type measuring cup (or measure into microwave proof bowl), measure coconut milk and coconut oil.  Microwave 1 min or until oil is almost melted.  Cool til the 10 sec rule can be employed (old fashion yeast proofing - if you can hold your finger in 10 seconds the liquid is cool enough to not kill the yeast).  When cool enough add to yeast mixture along with remaining ingredients.  Mix in a mixer using wire whip attachment for 3 minutes on med/high.

Carefully roll the dough out of the bowl, using a large rubber spatula, into an oiled bowl. Let dough rise with a warm, damp towel over the bowl in a warm place until it is just less than double in size (about 45 min to an hour).

Gently roll the dough onto flat surface that has been liberally sprinkled with more Pamela's Gluten-Free Bread Mix (or rice flour). Sprinkle additional Pamela's Gluten-Free Bread Mix (or rice flour) on top, and gently pat down dough to about 3/4-inch to 1/2-inch high.

Cut rounds using a 2-inch biscuit cutter, and place them on an oiled cookie sheet about a 1/4 inch apart. Let raise again for an hour.

Bake in a preheated oven at 350° for 25 minutes.

364 days ago...

A year ago we were enroute to Moscow.  Wow!  A year ago!  It's been such a long year and sooooo much has happened (and she's changed so much) that it hardly seems possible that a year ago she wasn't with us yet!  In honor of Gotcha Day tomorrow, I present Russia through Luke's eyes.

Literally the first thing he was desperate to find - he HAD to get a picture of the license plates in Russia.  Must a number thing...

And the "mustache" sign...

This is the building where we had court.

And our first stop after arriving in Tver, the police station.  See the crumbling bricks behind him.  The whole building was like that.  On another note, Esther's not the only one who has grown a lot in the past year! Apparently Luke did too!