A Sweet Birthday

Vanilla Bean Cheesecake with Walnut Pecan Crust

Today was a big day in our home because it was my husband's birthday. My husband is gentle and kind and thoughtful and godly and fun. I just love him. He's had some really tough days at work lately so I wanted to really make his day extra special. He requested cheesecake for his birthday so I happily honored that request. To my immense relief, the cheesecake turned out well. See the recipe below. My 3Cs were so excited that it was daddy's birthday. They each made him an original something special out of Legos. Our littlest C made a little restaurant with two people eating enchiladas. Cute, no? (Can you tell we live in the Southwest where chile is practically ground up and put in a baby's bottle?) Our middle C made a boat and a jet...so boyishly fun. And our oldest C made his daddy a Lego ipad. So cool. He worked on it for hours and was so excited to give it to his daddy. All of their creations were a big hit. I framed a few of my husband's recent photos (he has a great eye for photography) and got him a few other little things. My mom-in-law joined us for dinner and we had a nice time together. It's my prayer that our love would wash away some of the stress and exhaustion he feels from his 12 hour work days. We love you!

Lego ipad

For the (gluten free) cheesecake recipe...

Post-Vacation Smoothies

Hello! We've been out on a little vacation and family get-together. We attended a surprise birthday party for my aunt over the weekend. The get-together wasn't a surprise but the fact that it was for my aunt and a month ahead of her birthday was a surprise and a lovely one at that. My mom has three sisters and the sisters planned a great party with yummy food, summery decorations and a slideshow of the guest of honor . Another big hit was the jib jab card that my cousin put together. Hilarious. My 3Cs love their cousins, big and small, and had their fill of wrestling around with the grown cousins and swimming in the hotel pool with their little cousins. Father's Day was celebrated in there and then it was time to head home. So, what is one to serve hungry husband and kids for breakfast after being gone all weekend? Why chocolate peanut butter banana smoothies of course! Yes, I winged it but they were tasty. Here's what I did...

Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Smoothies
1 very ripe banana
3/4 cup of chocolate chips, melted
Couple of tablespoons of natural peanut butter stirred into melted chocolate
Vanilla almond milk
Crushed Ice
Melt chocolate chips in microwave and stir in peanut butter. Add ice, almond milk, banana, and chocolate peanut butter to the blender and blend away. Serves 4.


Not bad in a pinch. And now off to the grocery store.

Good Morning! Have a Cupcake

Our morning sky from a few days ago. We're a bit more overcast today.

Happy Monday to you! I hope you had a wonderful weekend. I had a blast this weekend at a retreat with some homeschooling friends. It was refreshing. It was fun. It was food for my soul. Before I left home, we celebrated the final birthday for our 3Cs. Our middle son turned 7. He spent the day at work with my sweet husband (his workplace is a golf course so a pretty cool place for a seven year old) and he got to chase coyotes in a golf cart, learn to drive a golf cart and hit some balls. Meanwhile, back at home, I was whipping up another new birthday treat that is gluten free. I don't have any photos to show you because they are all gone. Which I like to think is proof that they were good. The cupcakes have a good nutty flavor and texture and don't require using pricey almond flour. The frosting is rich and fudgy. Honestly, I'm wishing there were some left so I could have one. Right. Now. And given the quality ingredients, it actually wouldn't be all that bad to begin the day with one of these goodies. Here are the recipes:

Flourless Chocolate Cupcakes*
1 1/2 cups dark chocolate chips
1/2 cup almonds
3 eggs
1/4 cup grapeseed oil
1/4 cup agave nectar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon celtic sea salt

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees
2. Place chocolate and almonds in a food processor
3. Grind until the consistency of coarse sand
4. Pulse in eggs, grapeseed oil and agave
5. Then pulse in vanilla and salt
6. Spoon batter into muffin pan lined with paper
7. Bake at 350 degrees for 12 - 15 minutes (mine took a little longer to firm up)
8. Cool and frost with Vegan Chocolate Icing
Makes 10 cupcakes


Vegan Chocolate Frosting*
1 cup dark chocolate chips
1/2 cup grapeseed oil
2 tablespoons agave nectar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract (I used up my vanilla with the cupcakes so I used Hazelnut extract. Yum!)
pinch celtic sea salt

1. In a small saucepan over very low heat, melt chocolate and grapeseed oil
2. Stir in agave, vanilla and salt
3. Place frosting in freezer for 15 minutes to chill and thicken
4. Remove from freezer and whip frosting with a hand blender until it is thick and fluffy  (I got interrupted while I was making the frosting (can anyone relate?) so I had to thaw and refreeze a little bit to get it right.)
5. Frost over cupcakes

*Recipes from the ever wonderful Elana's Pantry.