Wednesday, December 20, 2006

Eat your heart out Betty Crocker

I am pretty darn proud of myself. How about a batch of gluten free, casein free (no wheat, no dairy) sugar cookies shaped like MANATEES? Oh yeah! I found a Manatee cookie cutter last summer. My middle daughter adores all things aquatic. I'm furiously baking and cooking their foods so that I have treats for their holiday parties and goodies to take to GrandMa and Grandpa's and Nana's over the holiday. My kids are on the "autism diet" which means no wheat, oats, rye or dairy of any sort. Like most parents whose kids are on the diet, I make most of their meals from scratch. Including baked goods. Although today I used a mix from Cherrybrook Farms. Pretty good! I plan to make brownie trees for school. I made a batch of brownies in a round pan. Then you cut "slices" and add a rectangle cookie glued to the bottom for a trunk. I don't decorate since we use no artificial colors. Red and yellow dyes can make kids NUTS -- cause major behavior issues. Our trees will look like they just came out of a forest fire, being brownie and all. But the girls will gobble them up anyway.

Happy baking to all of you! If you have any ideas do share!

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Kim

I think Duncan Hines makes a vanilla frosting that has no gluten or dairy in it. But it is probably still full of sugar! Maybe you could decorate with dried fruit? Craisins, raisins, golden raisins, tropical fruits etc...

Anonymous said...

Teacher said.. Sounds like DaVinci code!

Sugar is my friend... I'm a scratch gal, even for frosting. Keeps the chemicals to a minumum. And baking is a therapy for me. I bought naturally colored sprinkles which cost more than truffles and then broke down and used a teeny bit of green sparkle sugar so my trees didn't look so - dead! Miss G was thrilled "It's a Christmas birthday cake!" The manatee cookies wowed her too.

The dried fruit is a great idea. I love craisins and they're red. I'll grab some tomorrow.

K

ORION said...

OK
My bad.
I know the shape of manatees.
You said your cookies were brown...
I remember your last post...(crapo-rama)
bad thoughts bad thoughts bad thoughts

Michelle O'Neil said...

Do you do the peanut butter muffins? Can your kids have peanut butter?

If you don't have the recipe, e-mail me and I'll send it to you.

For special occassions I frost a muffin (with PB & honey) and decorate with a cashew smile, peanuts or raisons for eyes.

I wish I could send out a big hug to all the moms that are baking special for their kiddos, not just for holidays but every day of their lives!

Love the manatee idea! A bit unconventional, but there might have been a manatee somewhere in Bethlehem. Ya never know!

We rock. Totally.

Trish Ryan said...

That sounds so cute! Of course, now that I think of it, many of my baking projects come out looking vaguely like a manatee...but I might enjoy it more if that was my goal starting out!