can you beet red velvet?

we started our monday afternoon with iced coffee.

laura (aka chimmie) came in town with her kiddos for a last hurrah trip before school starts up.  christina dropped in for a coffee and ended up staying until bedtime.  now that is what the mullies is all about.  impromptu cooking!!!

i got all tingly from this reader comment that came through this weekend from this previous post and i have to share it:

"I assume you'll get this message even though it's an old post. But thought I'd comment on the post that changed our lives! Thank you! Thank you! I wanted to send an email with more info, but maybe that's not allowed. Anyway...

I get tons of emails and truly believe I was meant to open that one from Jamie (featuring your blog), as we were likely going to take my son in for evaluation. Anyway 2 days into gluten-free I stopped taking notes and knew were weren't going back! The change has been pretty easy since he willingly gave up donuts, pizza, goldfish etc- you know he must be feeling better! With school starting, hoping to get into a better routine and try more foods. Onward and upward! Thanks again, Alyssa"

you absolutely, unequivocally made my day Alyssa.  thank you so very much for sharing... i'd love to hear more from you!  my fire is lit.  this post is dedicated to you and to all of the hot mamas, papas and foodies that are making small or big changes for the lovies in their lives.  

here's my mullies promise.  real food, real world.  this.is.what.really.happens.  thumbs up, thumbs down, messes, whines, laughter, screw ups, celebrations... all one bite at a time.

how much time do we have?

let's chase the sun.

all we can do is try.

chasing the sun

there will be no perfection here.  i want to show you what it looks like when you attempt to kick the fake food out and try to get kids to eat more vegetables and other new foods that they just aren't familiar with right away.  what happens when you start cooking from scratch?  what happens to your sanity?  is gluten free just a trend?  no no to gmo's?  artificial color can cause hyperactivity!?!?  can i really do this?  do i have the time?  you mean this takes practice!?  it's just one big can of oye's as you ponder altering your family's food life.

if i might inspire another to make a change (no matter what size), you better believe i'm gonna show & tell how it's going down in crazytown.  i'm going to try.  it's an ever-evolving lifestyle change.  one that was solidified when abbie's ADHD and sensory processing symptoms went bye bye 10 months ago.

booo-ya to the oye oye.

know this:  you are in control.  you get to write your story.  mine is uncharted and so is yours.  take whatever you can chew on and swallow slowly.  set your own pace and put a sweatband on.  you're sexy and you know it.

america is in a serious fake pickle with her food right now and i wanna have some fun with getting my family and yours back on track.  that means more posts like this and i'm even going to start taping videos of the craziness that happens in the mullies.  the good, the bad and the funny.  oh lordie.

it's time to stir it up.  school is about to start.  i need to start thinking about making lunches again.  i can't wait to roll up my sleeves as a food ambassador and continue helping my school district bring food education back into the classroom and healthier options back into our schools' lunches.

so go get your apron on with me, my hot mamas and fellow ambassadors.  let's start having more adventures in the kitchen with our kids shall we?  it's so much more fun when you have some friends with ya.


let's get back to our red velvet night...

we loaded my dishwasher twice.  we savored our wine.  we fed 7 kids and ourselves.  whew.

we jumped right in.  what a night.

laura told me how much she missed her red velvet cake.  and i was like, "well i got me some beets from my box, so let's figure it OUT!!!!" why no fake red #40 in this house?  check out this article on fake food coloring and you'll see why we drop kicked the artificial rainbow from our kitchens.

note: we realized that boiling the beets whole was going to take too long, so we took them out and diced them after a few minutes.

please take note for freak sake:  baking POWDER, not soda.

our simple and not so normal ingredients for our "cream cheese" frosting.  pine nuts. PINE NUTS!!!

eat your heart out dwight schrute!!!

gotta love the bunny ears.  this is how the cupcakes looked before they deflated.

laura introduced us to vegan pad thai (a little too spicy for the kids) with kelp noodles.  holy ballz do i love kelp noodles.  you really must try them.  i found mine at whole foods.  i'm totally nuts for Kimberly Snyder's nutritional guide & cookbook, The Beauty Detox Foods.  so far, this and every.single.other.recipe has been a huge, yummy success.  my chimmie must have told me 20x's about her and how much she loved her book & recipes.  i am officially hooked.

for the kids?  we cooked up some brown rice pasta, roasted broccoli and cauliflower and cut up some strawberries (seconds were for blackmailing).  forgot to take pics.  oops.

not bad eh?  our first time and the next will be even better.  they came out all puffy and lovely and then they popped like a toot and went flatty-boom-batty.  argh.  we're gonna leave out some beets next time...  too much moisture.  i adjusted the recipe below and i'll update the post accordingly each time i tweak it, promise.  leave a comment if you have a suggestion for our next round!

the two boys did not like the cupcakes.  2 thumbs down, 5 thumbs up.

you can't beet it.

gluten free real red velvet cupcakes with dairy free cream cheese frosting
inspired from natural red velvet cupcakes made with beets

1/2 c diced and boiled beets until tender with a fork (we used 3/4 c and it was too much we think)
1/3 c melted coconut oil
1 1/4 c coconut palm sugar (or organic sugar)
1.5 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 1/4 c gluten free flour (155 g)
1/4 tsp sea salt
1.5 tsp baking powder (not soda)
1 c almond milk
2.5 T cacao powder

dairy free cream cheese frosting
adapted from Kimberly Snyder's vegan cream cheese
1 1/4 c pine nuts
1 T coconut oil (room temp)
1 tsp sea salt
2.5 T + 2 tsp almond milk
1.5 tsp pure vanilla extract
1.5 c organic powdered sugar

whiz all ingredients in a food processor.  place in fridge or freezer to firm up.



fill up your arms and run forest run

all we can do is try

love live love

xoxo