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     On Sunday, we had family and friends over for dinner and I made a big Mexican food feast with tacos and burritos.  Lindsey made delicious refried black beans. (Spoiler alert: She will be sharing that recipe soon!) And I made some plain rice to go with everything.  I wasn't sure how much to make with the number of people that were coming (10, plus kids), so I cooked 4 cups of rice.  It made 8 cups of course and by the end of the evening, there was hardly a dent made in that bowl full of rice!  
      My husband said not to worry because he would pack some in his lunches for work.  But, the next day I also realized that I also had some milk that was hitting the expiration date and I knew just what to do.  It was time for a batch of rice pudding! 

     For me, rice pudding is a true comfort food.  My mom used to bake it when I was a kid.  It is basically a custard with rice in it.  I know some of you don't love raisins, but they are such a burst of sweetness in this custard that doesn't have a lot of sugar in it.  (Only half of a cup!)  This is a really nice dessert to enjoy during the cold winter months. In some parts of the country, rice pudding is made with maple syrup in it.  That sounds delicious!  And, don't forget, rice pudding is gluten-free! There is even a recipe book all about different varieties of rice pudding! But for me, I stuck to the traditional recipe that I love. 

Old Fashioned Rice Pudding

     Be sure to store the leftovers in the fridge.  Go ahead!  When you have leftover rice, make some pudding!  So many people have rice cookers now, rice pudding might become your go to dessert! 
       I made those place mats!  You can find the directions for them on Handmade Monthly. 
​       Be sure to come back tomorrow for Friday Faves! 

Guys, ever since my husband admitted he had a problem, we have been living the gluten free life. I have ventured into gluten free land before, but now it is a whole new world. Everything I bake must be gluten free or he can't eat it. Generally he says I just shouldn't bake things because he doesn't need to be eating it anyway. Sometimes though, you just need a treat. I cannot eat all the cookies all by myself!

Okay... I totally could actually... but why should he miss out??

Well, I was on a quest to make a pumpkin chocolate chip cookie that wasn't quite so cakey, but more like a regular chocolate chip cookie. Now, it ALSO had to be gluten free!

I am here to tell you guys... I did it! I found the best gluten free pumpkin chocolate chip cookies!

These gluten free pumpkin chocolate chip cookies are soo good!

Don't judge that it is almost March. Pumpkin can, and should, be consumed year round.

Friendly reminder, pumpkin is good for you.

So anyway, my favorite gluten free flour mix definitely came in handy this time around. Bob's Red Mill makes great gluten free flour blends! This one comes with the xanthan gum already mixed in. It is a 1 to 1 ratio. I like that a lot. It takes very little effort to switch out basic cookie recipes for this great gluten free substitute.

Here is another great thing about this recipe: it is egg free! You are just a short step away from making it vegan. So... if you want to, go ahead and do it! You could switch out the butter for your favorite vegan butter, and use these vegan chocolate chips instead.

I'm lookin' out for you my vegan and gluten free friends!

So, go make these gluten free pumpkin chocolate chip cookies and try not to eat all of them at once! (Although, you totally could. I would not judge you.)

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     I am giving you this brownie recipe by popular demand! I developed it out of necessity and it has become my go to recipe for brownies, which is amazing because I have a recipe that I have used for years that I thought was the best of all.  Let me explain! 
     In my church, I lead the children up to age 11 years old in music.  Each year we are responsible for a program that teaches about all of the things the children have learned in their Sunday classes throughout the year.  Music is a large part of this program and we work on about 9 (or so) songs throughout the year until the fall program.  In order to motivate my kids to sing their very best, I have used a "Brownie Points" system for a couple of years.  As the children improve as they learn each song, I award them brownie points.  Then, at the end of the program, when they have sung their very best, I bring them brownies. (They always sing their very best.)  
      Here is a copy and paste printable of the brownie point stickers I have made to add interest to this process.  I tell them in advance that we have a goal of 9 to 10 stickers per song in order to earn the brownies. I make a poster listing all of the songs and award stickers across as the year goes by.

       At the end of Primary, after the program, I hand out the brownies.  There are a few children who need to eat gluten free, so the first year I did this,  I made both regular and gluten free brownies.   The gluten free brownies were so popular and delicious, I only made those this year.  
     We do a lot of mustache themed activities in our singing time.  It is just a gimmick to add a little fun to singing time.  So, this year I cut the brownies into mustaches with a cookie cutter.  The kids loved them.  My husband loved eating all of the scraps! 

     I recently took a batch of these over to some friends, who incidentally must eat gluten free, here is what they told me about these brownies: 

• They are so chocolatey
• They aren't to thick or thin
• They are chewy on the inside
• They have that nice crackly thin top that brownies should have. 
• They are just so good! 

Double Chocolate Gluten Free Brownies      This recipe adapted from runningwithspoons.com

     Now, fast forward to Christmas Treat Plates!  This are going to be a hit on those I believe! 

     So, the moral of the story is, don't let the words "gluten free" scare you!  These are some of the best brownies you will ever eat!