Experimenting with sugar free alternatives

 If you have read my blog for probably any amount of time, you would notice that I try baking things with sugar alternatives.  One of the big reasons is because Casey is Diabetic, but there are other reasons too, sugar is not healthy for anyone.  I also have issues with using the chemical alternatives to sugar, I just would rather use something that is natural.

Anyways...  I was excited when a representative from Xylitol USA contacted me because I have been wanting to try xylitol and I have only heard good things about it from others.  What is Xylitol you ask?  Here is some information about it.   

I decided to make some chocolate chip cookies using xylitol.  I used the recipe I talked about in this post.

I made a few changes, first swapping the white sugar for xylitol, and I did half and half white and wheat flour, and I used dark chocolate not semi-sweet.  In the pictures they look a little overdone, but they are not, they are darker because of the wheat flour.  These cookies are soft and chewy and delish.  I actually think that me using half wheat flour affected the recipe more than the xylitol.  I can not tell a difference with using the xylitol, and I can not tell you how excited that makes me.

There is a couple other reasons I am excited about xylitol; it doesn't allow bad bacteria to grow, which will be helpful with my youngest daughter and her UTI's.  And it is good for your teeth.  I put an order in for a few things to try out, toothpaste, lollipops, candy and gum, I'll let you know what I think about those when I have a chance to try them.  I would feel so much better about letting my kids have a treat knowing that it is made with xylitol and that it has health benefits.  And I think I may have finally found a natural alternative to sugar that actually acts like sugar does, yay!

Xylitol USA has given me the coupon code FIRST 

it will give you 10% off your first order

They also told me about a special offer they have going on right now.  For the first 5,000 customers that purchase $20 or more of products, a 1 lb. bag of xylitol will automatically be added to your cart free of charge.

Disclaimer:  Xylitol USA sent me a complimentary sample of xylitol.  I would not have accepted it if it wasn't something I was truly interested in.

Hi

So, I haven't felt like blogging. I have felt like cooking things instead, and not taking pictures of it. I did take a couple pictures. I made Strawberry freezer Jam the over the weekend because we were running low, I sweetened it with agave nectar, yum!

I made an apple pie (baked in a paper bag), along with applesauce, and apple juice. We got a case of organic fuji apples a couple of weeks ago and they are yummy. Fuji apples are my favorite, they are crisp and just the right amount of sweet. That pie is now gone and I think I may make another, with fresh made whip cream it is so delish. Now we also have a case of oranges and I really want to make some fresh juice.

The girls made a fort in their room over the weekend, they even slept in it. After I took this picture Casey came home and helped them remake it even bigger and better. That is pretty much all they did over the weekend was play in the fort.

There has been crafting but no pictures of it. This morning we had a scare with the furnace, we thought that we may have to get a new one, but after it was fiddled with, I guess it just needed reset. Cross your fingers that was all it needed, we can't and don't want to buy a new furnace at the moment :)

Oh, and I found out about Swiss Days, I am an alternate, so if someone drops out, there is a chance I will still get in. I'm not sure how I feel about that, I think I would almost rather just have had a yes or a no answer. Then I could at least know if I need to prepare or not, oh well.

That's all for now!

Best sugar cookies EVER

These are by far the best sugar cookies I have ever made or tasted.
Yesterday I ate an undisclosed amount of them.
I found the recipe here.
I have one tip, I had to keep adding small amounts of milk to the icing until
it was a good consistency. Also, I halved the recipe and it made a ton.
Be warned: you will want to eat them all.

The day in which I finally made delish chocolate chip cookies

I have had a love hate relationship with chocolate chip cookies. I love to eat them. I have for years hated to make them, and I haven't made them, because for some reason they never work for me. They usually end up flat and too crispy, or really greasy. I have tried lots of different recipes and played around with recipes, with no luck. It frustrated me to no end. Give me any other cookie recipe, it could be the most complicated cookie recipe ever, and I can make them perfectly. But the darn chocolate chip cookie, oh how I have hated you!

Until today, I decided to give it another go after reading this.
Oh chocolate chip cookies, how I love you and your perfectly chewy crispy outsides and your yummy soft inside, I have finally found the recipe for me!

Now, go forth and make some for yourself!
Here is the recipe, and I do have one tip: After you make the dough, let it sit in the fridge for an hour or two before you bake them.

Just please don't blame me when you have eaten too many of them :)

Quilting, Baking, and Hailing

I finished up the quilt block for Lolly for A Notion or two this morning.

That pear fabric in the center she designed herself, isn't it cute?

She asked for a log cabin block with a pear applique.

I tried baking with a new stevia product I found, I was a bit disappointed in the results. I made snickerdoodles. If you have seen my normal snickerdoodles, you would know what I mean. When I bake them using sugar, they spread out and fluff up and they are beautiful. These ones, not so much, they taste alright, but I think I can do better.


It has all the sudden turned cold here. It is hailing today. I guess fall has officially arrived.

Peaches!

My parents have some peach trees, so we have had peaches coming out of our ears.

I made my first attempt at baking with Stevia. I made some peach muffins and they turned out pretty good, I can't even tell the difference with the stevia instead of sugar. I think my next attempt with it will be some cookies. I have issues with sweeteners like Splenda because they have chemicals in them that are bad and I would rather not have my family eating them. So when I found Stevia in it's natural form I was super excited, it will make it possible to bake things for my husband without it affecting his diabetes, without nasty chemicals!

If you are interested you can get tips on how to use Stevia here.

The only thing I could do without is opening what felt like a million packets :)

As far as I can tell the only way Stevia is sold is in these packets.

I also made raspberry peach freezer jam using Stevia. I don't know why I have never made jam before this because it was super easy and it turned out super yummy too!

I think this is the start of a long relationship between me and Stevia, it is my new best friend :)

And after making all these yummy peach things, and cutting a ton up ( I now have enough frozen peaches for 30 smoothies) I still have more peaches, I think next it will be peach cobbler!

Homemade Samoas

Yes, these are homemade girl scout cookies. I made them last night, and they are delish! I really can't tell you how happy I was to find this Samoa recipe. Let's just say finances have been super tight and I have been feeling sorry for myself that I didn't have any money to buy girl scout cookies. Solution? Make them myself! I do have one tip if you decide to try these, the recipe says chocolate chips are okay to use for dipping the bottoms in, and that is what I used because I already had some. I would definitely buy good chocolate if you can, it melts alot better than chocolate chips and you won't be "icing" the bottom of your cookies with the chocolate like I did, you'll actually be able to dip them.

I'm really still here

So, it's been awhile since I posted. I have been busy and trying to cut my time back on the computer, because the internet seems to have this capability to suck my time away.
I made my new kitchen curtains and a table runner! I love them!

We celebrated Kinsley's birthday on Sunday with Family. She has turned into this awesome reader, She recieved tons of books, and I made her a new bag to take to the librairy. She turned 9, I can't believe I have a 9 year old, I guess that's what happens when you have your first baby at age 20!

I made my very first cake from scratch, icing and all. (Don't look too close, the icing is oozing off one of the sides) For those of you that know me or have been reading for awhile, that might be a shock because you know that I worked as a cake decorator for years and years. I have decorated probably thousands of cakes. But until Kinsley's birthday I had never made a cake from scratch, and let me tell you, IT WAS THE MOST DELISH CHOCOLATE CAKE I HAVE EVER EATEN, if I do say so myself!
Oh, and it wasn't just me that loved it. Casey's grandfather said that I did a damn fine job with the cake, which made me smile! And my brother said it looked like the chocolate cake from the movie Matilda. (I love that movie by the way) Which I took as an awesome compliment because that cake looks delish, well it looks delish until you see the cook that made it and she wipes her nose all over her arm, but anyways. Homemade birthday cakes here on out!

I have also been sewing alot! I have a ton of shows coming up, and I am determined to be more prepared for the Farmer's Market this summer, I know it's still February but hey, I have to plan ahead!

Baking {ALL DAY}

My cute new mixing bowls got broken in today, and by today I mean ALL DAY.

I have been baking since this morning, with the exception of driving to and from school, and the grocery store run I had to make because I didn't have enough cocoa. The last batch of cookies are just barely out of the oven.

I even rolled my own oats for the oatmeal cookies I made.

I put craisins in mine instead of raisins.


My favorite are pictured above, Surprise cookies, yum!
But I also made 2 batches of Snickerdoodles, and 2 batches of Peanut butter bars, sorry, there's no link for the peanut butter bars, and I am too lazy to type it out at the moment.
Why you ask did I make so many cookies? Because my sister Lacy is getting married tomorrow and tonight is her wedding dinner and she asked me to make treats.
It was fun baking ALL DAY, but now I am tired. Good thing I don't have to make dinner :)

And tomorrow I get to make her Wedding Cake!